Direct Response Marketing Copy & Strategy
9:02am
Saint Paul
“Can you drive?”
It’s a Sunday morning and I’m just arriving at my cousin’s house.
“Yeah,” I say. “Hop in!”
See, my cousin had come over the previous Friday to watch the Olympics opening ceremony.
And she invited me to join her at a church service where she and her daughters had been attending.
All I could think is: Religions know how to persuade. Market Research!
Continue reading “My Mega-Church Sunday Visit”11:29am
Saint Paul
Do you know of John Forde? He’s a direct response copywriter and author, including co-author of “Great Leads.”
Today John emailed a ChatGPT prompt to direct the AI tool to rate your copy on the four U’s: Urgency, Uniqueness, Usefulness, and Ultra-specificity.
(I’ve added a 5th U: YOU, the reader—make sure your copy addresses your reader! Anyways…)
Continue reading “ChatGPT: rate my copy! (Update to Death Squeal story…)”10:20pm
Saint Paul
I was browsing my bookshelf the other night, looking for something to start.
(I have more unfinished books than I have fully-read books. Not every book is worth finishing, I’ve learned… though many I plan to return to… I think…)
Now, I noticed my slightly neglected Dan Kennedy section. Dan is a prolific and accomplished copywriter and businessman who has recently fallen ill.
I pulled down my worn copy of The Ultimate Sales Letter and Continue reading “7 things you’ll learn in Dan Kennedy’s “The Ultimate Sales Letter”“
Your copy is only as good as the headline that gets the reader down the page.
That’s why David Ogilvy said 80% of your time should be spent on the headline.
It carries 80% of the weight. If they don’t read the headline, they’re not gonna read the body copy.
Here are a few ideas for your next Headline.
Continue reading “10 Ways You Can Strengthen Your Headlines (Starting Now!)”
Alexey Gaponov, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
#desire #focusingillusion #reactance #enemy #choices #marketing #indoctrination #sales #motivation #socialproof #authority #Ikea #blame #mimeticconflict #status #confirmationbias
5:24am
Saint Paul, MN
Yesterday I mentioned that burger joint’s weaksauce newspaper ad. It could be so much better.
Well it’s pretty early, but I had it on the brain all last night. I thought I’d write some more about the advert.
Continue reading “This German restaurant advert could be so much… besser“
6:12
Saint Paul, MN
Reader, this weekend I met with a PRL subscriber to discuss marketing emails that I am writing for his business.
Yep, my first paid copywriting gig!
We bounced around with other conversation topics as well, including my wife’s newfound interest in Reiki energy healing.
<cue eye-roll>
My friends asked what I thought of Energy Healing, a topic that’s looked down upon by science and society as being unconfirmed.
My answer? Continue reading “The Failure of Science”
#authority #computers #robots #reality #quantumphysics #nudge
#names #truth #sociamedia #authority
People are a suspicious lot, aren’t they?
If you offer to carry someone’s groceries through a parking lot, they’d refuse.
Offer to exchange money with someone, your $20 for their $10 in a clear win for the other person… they’d refuse.
Francisco Osorio, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Both situations are unusual, out-of-the-ordinary.
Humans like what’s known, what’s comfortable. Anything different from the status quo is…
suspicious! Continue reading “Why People Say NO to Your Good Ideas”