10:20am Wednesday
Saint Paul
Experts are everywhere.
A former boss once told me, “once you know more than the other guy, you’re the expert.”
Which is why you see gurus all over the place, having moved from Level 0 to Level 1, touting their expertise.
Nothing wrong with self-promotion, of course.
But there is always more to learn.
A few years ago I took a course named How to Turn White Space Into Advertising That Sells by Clyde Bedell.
“White space” being the portion of a newspaper you bought for your ad.
Bedell wrote ads in the 1930s and 1940s and helped successfully market a wide variety of products.
And because so many ads were terrible, he made a good living creating ads that actually moved products.
Ads like his aren’t so common any more. And, I’d argue, they’re less successful as a result.
Online, we have unlimited space to write as much as we want. We can test layouts and fonts and messages all day long. But we often fail to include the very elements that make an ad sell.
Bedell, and most of advertisers in history, didn’t have the luxury of endless space, and unlimited testing, and instantaneous changes to digital assets.
So it’s important to build on what works—including the sales elements that continue to succeed for mail-order companies.
Here are four still-in-print catalogs that you can request. The companies have been around for decades and continue to succeed with mail-order.
• Garrett Wade sells quality tools. Request their catalog.
• Montgomery Wards sells home goods. Request their catalog.
• J. Peterman sells clothing… and romance. Request their catalog.
• Music Direct sells high-end audio equipment. Request their catalog.
Copywriter, request these catalogs. They’re free, including shipping (at least in the USA).
Study them: the copy, the layout, the order instructions. Everything.
See how they use copy to convey feeling and ideas for a product you can’t touch.
(And, if you could touch them, perhaps their products wouldn’t be so interesting after all?)
Time to revisit my pages of Clyde Bedell notes—I have some ads to write.
And if you have ads to write… but your ads aren’t selling… let’s talk.
Best to you,
Jeffrey