World Copywriting Blog

Creativity

Why Your Next Million-Dollar Idea Is Right
Under Your Nose -- Or Else, Behind It

In a few hours, my new friend Mike Lamb will interview me for his Moneyroom Internet radio show.  Mike comes from the world of "real radio" -- he was a major-market DJ in several cities -- and I'm excited about the whole thing!

As I prepared for the interview, I dug deep into my memory and thought about what led me to where I am today.  The most amazing thing I discovered was the powerful effect of the creative process has had across the broad span of my life.

Everything builds on everything else.  What I'm doing today, and why I'm particularly suited for it, for example, traces back to age five when I created "The C&D Company" with my best friend Chris Soulen.  I don't know what we were selling, but, it does let me say I've been a business owner for 46 years! :)

In writing copy, not only does everything build on everything else, but, you can ethically and profitably use simple creativity to shortcut the time and effort needed to come up with the words that sell.

Am I saying you build your life the same way you write your copy?  Well... a life has far more to it than even the best piece of killer copy... but... in a sense, I am.

Because...

Determination

When You Write Advertising Sales Copy, Your Inner Resolve
Gets Reflected On The Last Row of Your Excel Spreadsheet

If I had to pick one aspect of attitude that makes the difference between profit and loss in copywriting, I would pick determination every time.

You know, the maniacal holiday shopping season has started here in America.  I heard on the radio at one Connecticut Wal-Mart, a shopper arrived at 3 in the morning just to be among the first to get in when the doors opened three hours later.

Now that's determination.

The shopper, Claude Samson, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "I think it's a little crazy and there's probably a simpler way of doing this, but at the same time, you are saving so much.

"When you are saving $30 or $40 on a gift, you're going to do what you have to do."

Good for her.  I'm sure she got what she wanted.

But how many times do we write copy without...

Stuffed

What does the day after Thanksgiving have
to do with great copywriting?  Plenty

He's an ex-Marine and a college dropout.  He was the Dave Barry of an earlier generation; on October 20 he turned 79 . In the liberal suburban Washington, DC-area household where I spent my first 18 years, columnist Art Buchwald was a hero.

He's still a hero of mine.  I don't buy his politics but I love his sense of humor.  And I greedily lust after his track record.

In 1952 (or 1953, depending on who you want to believe), Mr. Buchwald wrote a very silly (and well worth tracking down) column called "Explaining Thanksgiving to the French."  It concludes:

And so, on the fourth Thursday in November, American families sit down at a large table brimming with tasty dishes, and for the only time during the year eat better than the French do.

True?  Maybe; maybe not.  One thing's for sure:  On Turkey Day we definitely eat more than French do, no matter how many courses their feast is!

As I was filling myself up with turkey and trimmings yesterday, I couldn't help but think how what we do to our stomachs on Thanksgiving is exactly the same thing expert copywriters do to create home-run sales promotions.  That is...

Profit

How to Grow a Fatter Bottom Line
With Almost No Math Skills At All

As we Americans prepare for a day of edible abundance, it's good to think about the currency that puts the food on the table -- financial abundance.

Not just money.  Profit.

I bring this up because yesterday I was talking with a client who is has over a quarter-billion dollars' worth of sales to his credit.  He's savvy.  But he's starting a new business, and he's in learning mode about the Web.

I asked him if he knew about Direct Marketing Math.  You don't need graduate degrees in statistics to understand this.  You don't even need to have finished high school.

Direct Marketing Math is very simple... and yet it is basis for fortunes.  Countless millionaires; maybe even some billionaires.

It works like this:

Gratitude

In America every year this time the holiday Thanksgiving rolls around.  We forget our vows of low carbs and low-percentage body fat, and gorge ourselves gleefully with the bounty of the land.

I like this holiday.  Heck, I love this holiday.  It celebrates abundance and food, two of my favorite things in life.

My only concern is that people - Americans, and others - could be making the mistake of seeing Thanksgiving as an event, rather than as an attitude -- a way of living.

The attitude of gratitude is especially important (and valuable) in copywriting, since...

Zilch

Want to guarantee zero response to your copy?
Here's how most advertisers do it

One of the great things about advertising copy is it allows you to take a successful sales pitch that you deliver in spoken form, to one prospect at a time, and multiply it.

Some simple math:  If you have a winning formula with your spoken  words, and you get 1% response, and you put it in writing and in front of 100,000 people (in an ad, or a sales letter, or on the Web), then you get 1% x 100,000... = 1,000 responses.

That saves you from having to make a whole lot of sales calls.

The problem comes in when you start out with a written sales pitch that would never work in a personal, spoken, one-on-one situation.  That's like trying to multiply zeros. No matter how many people you put those words in front of, you still get no response at all.

But since so many advertisers use techniques that all but guarantee zero response -- almost defiantly -- I thought you'd ...

Value

What separates the men from the boys and the
ladies from the girls in copywriting?  It's this

I know a copywriter who's so good he got me to write a check for $5,000 today before I even knew what he was really selling.

I have absolute faith and confidence that it is money well spent.  Well, not just spent.  Invested.

This is not some cute little story I made up for my blog.  It's true.  I have taken some liberties, because...

Munchies

Trader Joe's Takes Cheap Gourmet Marketing To A Fine Art;
How To Take A Page Out Of Their "Mouthwatering Copy" Brochure

Do you know the way to Trader Joe's?

The California-based grocery chain has outlets in 19 U.S. states.  Yesterday I got their catalog in the mail and it is as rich with copywriting tidbits as it is with tempting teriyaki and appetizing ales.

I don't like to go to the Trader Joe's in my neighborhood -- on Masonic Ave. in San Francisco -- because it's almost impossible to park there.  They have a good-sized parking lot and there's always a wait... just to get a parking space!,"

But I like the way they market.  Here are some of the things I saw in their catalogue, called "Trader Joe's® Fearless Flyer®," that I thought were good examples for everyone who writes copy:

Teleseminar

If you aren't getting the clients you want to get from your Web site, I've got some really good news for you!

On Thursday, November 18, at noon Eastern (9 am Pacific), I did a teleseminar on that very subject.  It was all based on what I've learned through 20 years of successful experience, working with businesses in 81 different industries.

These are secrets I've used to revitalize dying or near-
dead businesses; turn startups into fast-growth winners;
and, in one case, add $5 million a year to a six-person
business's revenues.

The teleseminar is called "How to Get Customers from the Web." It's 60 minutes jam-packed with information you simply can't get this clearly explained anywhere else... at least all in one place, and in such a short period of time.

The good news is, we recorded it.  And it's available now on cd:

http://www.world-copywriting-institute.com/web

Best-selling author and marketing consultant...

Lessons from Las Vegas

It's good copywriting that brings billions into this town...
And you thought it was just gambling and forbidden fruits

I just got back from a long weekend seminar in Las Vegas.  I used to hate that town, but no more.  In the last two years I've come to appreciate and respect it, as quirky as it is and as out of step with the rest of the world it might be.

People come to Vegas with their dreams.  That's important by itself.  Many people give up on their dreams in life, and that's like driving your car down a dark road with your headlights off.  Neither wise nor safe.

Which brings me to the first important lesson I got for copywriting on my trip.  It's...