Never heard of Mel Martin?
Join the club.
Countless direct response marketers and copywriters — some with a very high level of attainment — greet his name with a blank stare.
After Gene Schwartz helped Marty Edelston lay the foundation for Boardroom, it was Mel Martin’s copywriting fascinations that turned it into a $100 million a year operation.
He was so critical to Boardroom’s success, his name was kept a secret for fear he’d be snatched up by another company.
But ten years before Mel Martin wrote a line of copy for Boardroom, he pioneered a new and far more lethal brand of bullet called a “fascination.”
Even today, many copywriting bullets are rubber on impact. The prospect glances over them and returns to business unfazed.
Try this with the next list of bullets you encounter. Notice how tedious it can be reading bullets that always start with “how to” or “why.”
Prior to Mel Martin, most bullets were just typographical symbols wedged next to a benefit.
Mel changed the game and his ads successfully sold everything from cook books to almanacs to guides on continuing education.
- Want to learn the secret to writing bullets that automatically draw friends, power, love, money far beyond your fondest dreams into your life OVERNIGHT? See page 294.
Just click this link for one of Mel’s ads: For golfers who are almost (but not quite) satisfied with their game — and can’t figure out what they’re doing wrong.
Related Video: Targeting Your Ideal Prospects… Lessons from Mel Martin
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Albert Lasker was surely one of the most fascinating advertising figures of the 20th Century.
At the age of 12, he wrote, edited and owned a newspaper: the Galveston Free Press.
When he moved to Chicago at the turn of the 20th Century, the teenager took the tiny agency, Lord & Thomas, by storm. He became a client-getting magnet and within a few years, he increased his partial stake in the firm to sole ownership.
Now, there’s a new book about him called: The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and Arthur W. Schultz.
I amazoned my copy as soon as I read Ken Roman’s book review in the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Just found a slew of amazing Lord & Thomas houses ads which I’ll be posting soon.
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DO YOU KNOW:
- Triple exclamation points are a dead giveaway of advertising amateurs?
- That outrageous metaphors, like “Scottsdale on the Water,” undermine credibility?
- That investment cliches like “ground floor” cause many readers to immediately toss your sales letter in the trash?
You didn’t. Well that’s evident from this sales letter which hails from the distant year, 2007.
As the creator of the Ultimate Online Swipe File, I store more junk mail than any sane copywriter should and I recently unearthed this doozy.
Now, I don’t fault the principals of this real estate project for thinking big and pitching their plan to the public. Wasn’t that what everyone was doing in the sub-prime years?
And though cheesy, I don’t blame them for renting the most expensive restaurant in the neighborhood and trying to get the attendees soused on chateaubriand and claret in an attempt to loosen their wallets.
But they deserve everlasting condemnation for mailing such an appalling ad.
Yes, it’s an invitation for a free dinner and everyone knows there’s going to be a pitch. Even rich folks are willing to sit though a dog and pony show for a freebie.
But is there any hope of attracting a bona fide prospect with a headline containing “The Most Exciting Project in a Lifetime!!!”
This developer has gone “all in” as they say in poker parlance. He’s done a mass mailing to a compiled list and even rented a restaurant to host the would-be buyers. Yet, the copy reads like it was written by someone who uses a photocopier for a living — not someone who creates accountable advertising.
It’s probably too late to “rescue” this advertiser in 2010. And maybe in hindsight it’s a good thing that tepid copy capped response.
How many other clueless souls are out there today mailing pieces like this? There’s a greater number of clients than any of us could handle in two lifetimes.
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Imagine a company that spends tens of millions a year on lead generation — everything from TV and radio to full page space ads and direct mail and banners all over the net.
One such company is Fisher Investments with over $35 billion under management and headed by Forbes columnist, Ken Fisher.
How does such a behemoth screw up the email marketing basics like this?
Here was the email sent by Fisher Investments on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 2:38 PM PT. Imagine how many names this went out to with a marketing budget like theirs.
Subject: Surprising Prediction by Forbes Columnist Ken Fisher
Body: “If you have a $500,000 portfolio, you should download the latest report by Forbes columnist Ken Fisher. In it he tells you where he thinks the stock market is headed and why.
This must-read report includes his latest stock market prediction, plus research and analysis you can use in your portfolio right now.”
And now for the capper. There was no link in the email message.
This is an email marketing sin if ever there were one. The subject line was intriguing enough that it got me to open it — no small accomplishment these days.
Then I’m told an expert will be sharing a valuable prediction for where the market is headed. Okay, I’m ready for the content — beam me up Scotty.
And then…
They drop the ball. No link and no possibility for finding out this information. Moreover, there’s no chance for Fisher to gain a shred of business from such a gaff.
They did take the trouble to qualify the reader with the phrase: “If you have a $500,000 portfolio…” but that certainly wasn’t a condition for receiving the latest report. Was it?
Or maybe it was just a really sophisticated way of conveying that Fisher thinks the market is going sideways by omitting the link.
Either way, you always need to verify you’ve got a functioning link in your email message if your intention is to give your subscribers valuable content on a web page.
If you’re an email marketer, one way to get an immediate pop from your marketing efforts is to concentrate on your email marketing subject lines.
Hundreds of email marketers have already grabbed this subject line collection and discovered…
A Surprising Prediction by Forbes Columnist Ken Fisher
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Recently, I’ve had the privilege to work with a highly capable web designer who is familiar with the online marketer’s world of autoresponders, squeeze pages, WordPress customizations and many other things. I’m a big fan of her work.Carma Spence helps creative professionals nurture a thriving online presence that supports their career and business goals. She can help you develop a strategy for your website, squeeze pages and social media, as well as help you implement it. She customizes WordPress themes to fit your branding, designs squeeze pages to promote your products, services and opt-in bonuses, and helps you integrate a wide variety of online marketing techniques, including article marketing, into your overall marketing plan. For more information you can visit her website at http://www.dragonwyze.com, email her at carma@dragonywze.com or leave her a voice mail message at 815-642-4092 and she’ll return your call within 48 hours.
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Hard to believe the Bencivenga 100 Seminar was over 5 years ago.
I continue to meet and do business with many of the attendees of that historic gathering.
And speaking of attendees, the B-100 was like the Oscars of direct marketing. Legends and players of the highest caliber were all over the halls of the St. Regis Hotel.
I remember Doug D’Anna darting around in a dark suit in between sessions — an A-Lister on top of his game who was there to get better.
Gary called Doug, “one of my ablest competitors over the years” and it’s easy to see why.
Here’s a video where Doug walks you through one of his greatest DM achievements, The Great Retirement Betrayal. It was mailed in excess of 25 million times.
It’s called: “How To Write Long Copy That Makes Money.”
I’ve rarely seen someone so brimming with enthusiasm and so willing to share as Doug in this video.
(Full disclosure: I am not an affiliate and I get goose eggs if you buy Doug’s terrific DVD.)
Filed under Direct Response Copywriting Swipe File by
Yesterday was a rare day when I went to look at server stats and noticed hundreds of visitors came to my blog via an article in “The Guardian” by Tom Meltzer entitled:
“The advert that just keeps going: It’s probably the longest-running ad in newspaper history. So what’s the secret of its success?”
Tom Meltzer’s article was eyebrow-raising for two reasons.More on Shamed By Your Swiping? “The Guardian” Challenges Lawrence
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Seen any shiny objects lately?
It’s impossible not to because someone is always putting them in front of us.
And whether they promise more money, more Internet traffic or some combination thereof, there’s a seemingly infinite number of them.
Here’s what I’ve found.
One of the best mandates you can follow is to ignore the shiny objects.
Ignore the shiny objects and instead hone your core direct marketing and advertising skills.
Because every productive minute you spend today doing this can pay dividends for years to come.
And there are few direct marketing practitioners around who can hold a candle to Drayton Bird.
David Ogilvy said of him: “Drayton Bird knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.” Ogilvy also put his money where his mouth was and bought Drayton’s ad agency.
Drayton has been kind enough to share an extraordinary video with us.
I call it…
Drayton Bird’s Amazing Ad Crunch
One U.S. marketer said if he’d been getting Drayton’s free ideas he would never have wasted his time (or money) on an MBA.
Here are some of the highlights from this video:
- 3:59 The only 3 ways to succeed in business
- 11:39 Secrets for finding out whether something will sell before you launch it
- 10:23 Drayton dissects the response boasting power of not one but dozens of copy and graphic elements in this blockbuster insert. The additive effect this can have on your profits is astonishing.
- 20:35 Drayon’s client knows a few things about direct marketing. At last count, he was worth 531 million pounds. Drayton puts his ad on the x-ray screen and unveils the nuances of his lead generating machine.
- 21:41 What you need to know about the “ladder of loyalty” and why it means everything to direct marketing pros.
- 24:55 Why it’s necessary to explain “why” whenever you offer something free.
- 28:23 When to give up chasing prospects
- 29:10 Drayton’s take on this 1,909-word classic space ad…and a surprising benefit of long copy for those who *don’t* read.
- And much more…
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At last, after a l-o-n-g and tedious migration to a speedier server, I’m able to post new content again.
And this is one I’ve been itching to share.
26 years ago, the mega ad agency, J. Walter Thompson, ran this full page copy test in the New York Times, entitled, “Write If You Want Work.”
The candidates who took them up were given eight unusual writing assignments. Out of thousands who sent in their answers, ten people passed and joined JWT’s 85 member creative team.
Billy Bloom was one of them and he’s generously shared his winning answers to all of the questions.
What’s instructive about this copywriting assignment — really creative thinking assignment — is the concept of playing without a safety net. It conjures up images of an open tryout for an N.B.A. team. Here’s the court, bring your game…now show us what you’ve got.
And Billy definitely brought his game. Just sample his rendition of “Moldy Pizza Night” (Hit the PLAY button below!) sung to an omnipresent 80′s melody. If this track didn’t get the ad execs’ attention, nothing would.
Here are all eight of Billy Bloom’s winning answers to the J.W.T. copy test. (1.9 megabyte PDF)
Hit play button for “Moldy Pizza Night.”
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