Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
May 14, 2009
Issue #59
Two real life case histories that prove
only savvy marketers are fit
to run growth-oriented companies
Dear Business-Builder,
It’s so predictable, you can set your watch by it …
Armed with only a skeleton staff, meager resources and big dreams, an eager young entrepreneur slaves 60, 80, and often 100 hours every week for years to grow his business.
He does everything right: He develops or acquires top-notch products. Watches overhead like a hawk. Reinvests every penny of profit. Becomes a student of great marketing and sales copy strategies – and a past master at implementing winning campaigns.
When it comes to sales copy, he never pulls a punch. He goes for the jugular – as far as the law and his ethics will allow – demonstrating the value his products bring to customers’ lives with edgy, can’t-put-‘em-down promotions:
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Posted by:
Daniel Levis
April 22, 2009
Issue #657
In this issue:
- Why almost everybody marketing online today has targeting wrong, wrong, wrong …
- An innocent little mistake that once corrected, instantly spikes the response to virtually any webpage …
- How to determine the intent of Web searchers who insist on using “ambiguous” keywords — so you can sharpen your message-to-market match and grow your business faster …
- And more!
Dear Web Business-Builder,
When Gene Schwartz wrote Breakthrough Advertising, back in the 60’s, the Internet was just a glimmer in some computer scientist’s eye.
Little could Gene have realized the massive implications this new media would have for the craft he loved so dearly and plied with such mastery.
Yet, most of what Gene wrote in that watershed book is just as applicable in today’s fast moving wired-world as it was then in the cumbersome days of typewriters and typesetting.
Some of what Gene had to say is even more applicable today than it was then. The chapters on market awareness and sophistication in particular …
Gene observed that different states of market awareness and sophistication required markedly different approaches to copywriting.
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Posted by:
Troy White
February 20, 2009
Issue #426
Fellow Business-Builder,
Never before has such foul language proved itself as a major business tool.
By now, I do hope you have heard of Gordon Ramsey, host of “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Hell’s Kitchen.”
If not, I would highly suggest watching the “Kitchen Nightmares” show sometime soon.
First, a WARNING: Thin-skinned folks need not tune in.
If you cannot handle foul language and incredibly abrasive personalities, do not watch Gordon’s show!
He is rude, loud, in-your-face, and LOVES swearing to get his point across (and everything is a point, so pretty well every sentence consists of swear words).
I am not going to go too much into Gordon’s past, but, rest assured, this ex-professional Scottish football player has a list of credentials that is long, and highly admirable.
He is now working on his 25th restaurant and many of them have multiple Michelin stars to their name (the most recognized and influential culinary ratings guide). He has multiple best selling cookbooks, 4 television shows and a DVD series, to name a few.
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
February 19, 2009
Issue #53
In this issue:
- How a “crazy (like a fox)” Canuck revolutionized the power of advertising copy in a dingy saloon …
- The deceptively simple secret that built the world’s largest advertising agency – and made its owner a cool $627 MILLION …
- The EIGHT things your ad copy must do to make the sale …
- Why image advertising is always second best …
- How to ensure your best prospect reads and responds to your promotion …
- Legendary advice on the writing process that will have you getting bigger winners more often …
- The single most profitable way to spend one hour this week …
- Why the “Long Copy vs. Short Copy” argument is specious …
- And much, MUCH MORE!
Dear Business-Builder,
When last we checked in on the great masters of advertising and copywriting, it was 1880. And John E. Powers – a curmudgeon of the highest order – ruled the advertising roost in America.
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Posted by:
Troy White
February 13, 2009
Issue #438
NOTE: Something VERY important and timely happened this past week around this article. I was meeting with Kory Basaraba, who penned this letter, along with someone who works at the furnace company, who ran the campaigns. When the subject of this letter came up, I was disgusted to find out the owner of the company STOPPED using the letter.
After getting incredible returns like they were with this letter, the owner decided it wasn’t worth the effort to keep running the campaign. To him, it was a lot of work, and expense (steak dinner certificates), and he honestly believed that it wasn’t worth the expense!
Sad … but far too common to skip over. I see mistakes like this being made way too often.
Let me ask you this: where else can you invest $1 and get back $6 within a month or two? To me, I would not stop investing that dollar until it stopped returning a profit. But many people look at the $1 they have to invest, and forget all about the $6 they get back. To them, they consider the $1 a cost … and go back to doing things their old ways (like spending $1500 a month on Yellow Page ads that return 5 phone calls and 1 or 2 sales … an actual number I know is accurate for their business).
We all say "I would NEVER do something like that!" … But I am willing to bet you have. Now is the perfect time to go back over what worked best for you in the past couple years … and run it again. I have a promotion I have run every President’s Day (which falls on Family Day in Canada), for the past 3 years. Each year it works as well as the previous year … and you can bet I am running it again next Monday!
This entrepreneur’s reaction is not all that uncommon … and I urge you to look back over your past promotions to find out which ones worked best … then question yourself on why you haven’t run it again. And if you haven’t run it recently … now is the perfect time!
Don’t worry about the $1 you have to invest… worry about how many times you can invest that dollar … because you are almost guaranteed to get repeatable results as the last time you ran it. When the campaigns stop returning a profit, ONLY THEN, do you stop running them.
It’s very easy to get caught up in all the new things you would like to try in your marketing … but never forget about where your real money comes from … systems that are proven to work!
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