Clayton Makepeace presents: The Total Package. Business-building secrets for growth-obsessed companies.

September 02, 2010
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Posted by: Daniel Levis
September 1, 2010
Issue #1001

The Amazing Influence Secret
of a Desperate Philosopher …

Dear Web Business-Builder,

In 388 B.C., Plato urged the ruling politicians of Athens to banish all storytellers beyond the city walls, claiming they were a danger to society …

“They deal in invisible ideas,” he argued, “concealed within the emotion of art, thus influencing people without their knowing.”

Indeed, every effective story sends an emotionally charged idea out to us … essentially compelling the idea into us … so that we must believe.

When an idea comes wrapped in such an emotional charge, it becomes all the more powerful … profound … and persuasive.

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Posted by: Daniel Levis
August 25, 2010
Issue #996

The Story of My Wife,
and Red Fife …

Dear Web Business-Builder,

For normal people, writing and speaking are a means of expressing their point of view.

For you and me – on planet copywriting – we have an entirely different objective.

We write to create an effect in people that compels them to want to purchase a product or service when we ask them to do so.

Sometimes we create the intended effect. Sometimes we create no effect whatsoever. And sometimes we create the opposite effect to which we intend.

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Posted by: Daniel Levis
August 18, 2010
Issue #991

Dead Men Don’t Lie – Part 2

Dear Web Business-Builder,

Welcome to part two of this interview with the Godfather of modern marketing, Claude Hopkins.

In the first session, Claude laid the foundation of personal success. Today, we get down to some brass tacks specifics for success in business and advertising. Listen in …

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Posted by: Daniel Levis
August 11, 2010
Issue #986

Dead Men Don’t Lie – Part 1

Dear Web Business-Builder,

Are you sick, sore and tired of the crazy promises and hyped up lies that swirl around the copywriting and online marketing space?

Make a gazillion dollars in your underwear … push the easy button James, I’ll wait outside by the pool … copy and paste this little snippet of code to your site and take the rest of the year off …

If the person pitching you is a living, breathing, human being, you’ve got to be very careful.

But dead men don’t lie.

That’s why I called up Claude Hopkins the other day and asked him for his advice.

I recorded the call too. And I had it transcribed. Here’s how it went:

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Posted by: Daniel Levis
August 4, 2010
Issue #981

More Sales and Marketing Lessons
from Dirty Harry …

Dear Web Business-Builder,

Last week’s article about Clint Eastwood and the business lessons we can derive from his life and the characters he played seemed to hit a nerve.

So this week I figured I’d dig a little deeper into the story to draw some valuable parallels between Clint’s approach to movie making and marketing in general.

First off, there is the careful crafting of an enduring archetypal character that underpins so many of the various roles Clint played.

You may wonder what character and marketing have in common …

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