Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
August 21, 2008
Issue #14
(… And Great Copy Into A WINDFALL
For Copywriters And Our Clients)
"There are certain prime human emotions with which the thoughts of all of us are occupied a goodly part of the time. Tune in on them, and you have your reader's attention. Tie it up to the thing you have to offer, and you are sure of his interest."
– Robert Collier
The Robert Collier Letter Book
Dear Business-Builder,
In the 35-plus years since I created my first little piece of direct response sales copy, I've written considerably more than a thousand direct response ads, television spots and mail pieces.
Because nearly all of them were direct response promotions, each produced an easily measurable and almost immediate result. And over the years, as I studied those results, my approach to strategizing and creating sales promotions began to evolve.
Today, my work process is very different than it was in those early years. My first thought is no longer about the product benefits or even the product's USP. Nor do I begin each project by thinking about all the rational "reasons why" my prospect should buy.
Please don't get me wrong: It's not that I've discarded any of these techniques. They still have prominent places in every promotion I create. But something else has risen to the top of my "to-do" list when creating a promotion – and that change has produced the closest thing to sales miracles I have ever witnessed.
Dinosaurs still roamed the earth when I started my writing career. Back in the early 1970s, there were no computerized mailing lists, no toll-free order hotlines, no affordable fax machines, no FedEx or other overnight delivery services – and no personal mentors or coaches for aspiring copywriters.
Thankfully, I had The Giants to instruct me. I read, re-read and re-re-read the wonderful guides left for me by those who had come before – particularly, Claude Hopkins' Scientific Advertising, Rosser Reeves' Reality in Advertising and John Caples' Tested Advertising Methods.
Thanks to these Giants, I "knew" every ad was supposed to begin by identifying the benefits my product offered to prospects – the ways in which it made their lives easier, richer, and more rewarding.
I knew I should use the most powerful of these benefits to craft a compelling Unique Selling Proposition … establish it right up front … and turn it into a mantra throughout my copy.
And I understood the importance of fully developing every "Reason Why" my prospects should buy.
But there was a problem: My only assignments were from fund-raising organizations – groups that had no product to sell and offered little if any direct benefit to the donor!
Giving them money wouldn't relieve your rheumatism, banish bad breath, give you whiter teeth or make you attractive to the opposite sex. Nor would it help you avoid a disaster in the health or wealth departments, or even save you time in the laundry room.
In fact the only tangible, personal result of forking over a ten-buck contribution was that you'd wind up $10 poorer!
Sure – there were vague benefits in the selfless act of giving away money to a worthy cause – like feeling good about the good you were doing. But even at that early age, I suspected that writing an appeal letter or TV spot saying, "Give me money – it'll make you feel good" – wouldn't exactly set the world on fire.
Here again, fate stepped in for me …
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
August 18, 2008
Issue #483
Dear Business-Builder,
The great investor Warren Buffet has a net worth of about $62 billion. That’s sixty-two thousand million dollars.
If your net worth is $10 million, Warren is 6,200 times richer than you.
If you’re worth $1 million, he has 62,000 times more money than you do.
If your net worth is $100,000, Mr. Buffet is 620,000 times richer than you are.
There are people whose businesses grow a hundred, maybe even a thousand times or more faster than yours does. For every new customer you attract, they attract 100, 1,000, maybe even 10,000 or more.
There are people who look, feel and perform ten, twenty, even thirty years younger than you do …
Who have far greater success in love and relationships (OK – maybe just in sex) than you do …
Who live better for less, have greener lawns, clearer skin, more hair, thinner waists and smaller butts, better-behaved or more successful kids, more friends or are more successful in some other area of life than you are.
Sorry – but you know it’s true. And no, I’m not trying to depress you – just trying to make a very important point.
So let me ask you: WHY do you think all those people are doing so much better than you in so many different areas?
Are they all thousands of times smarter than you?
Do they work thousands of times harder?
Are they thousands of times luckier?
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
August 12, 2008
Issue #479
Dear Business-Builder,
Sorry about yesterday. We returned from our ten-day vacation Sunday night and frankly, I’m still jet-lagged.
San Fran was outstanding. We stayed downtown and I swear I feel like we walked every square inch of it. And Chinatown. And Fisherman’s Wharf. And the Marina District. And Haight-Ashbury.
I’m pleased and somewhat relieved to report that the Pacific Ocean is still right where it was last time I saw it. No lower; no higher. And that Alioto’s still serves the best clam chowder I’ve ever sunk a spoon into.
The redwoods were grand, Carmel was charming and Big Sur — despite the recent fires there — was breathtaking, Hearst Castle was amazing but frankly, a little sad. Probably the gloomiest house I’ve ever seen.
Santa Barbara seduced all of us and our three-night stay at Raffles L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills was interesting. Didn’t really see any celebrities in the bar, but James Woods did hop out of his car just as we hopped into ours.
And of course, three days of revisiting my old stomping grounds in South Bay and Hollyweird and the “V.I.P. Behind the Scenes Tour” of Universal Studios were a blast.
Now, I just need a vacation from my vacation.
But before I hit the sack, here’s some stuff I’ve been thinking about that I hope will help …
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
August 4, 2008
Issue #473
How to write better sales copy, faster.
Dear Business-Builder,
Short one today.
As you read this, I’m up to my eyeballs in what’s commonly known as “Family Time.”
Last Friday, The Redhead, my 15-year-old daughter and my 14-year-old son surrendered our dignity to the Department of Homeland Security … clambered into four First-Class seats on a Delta jet in Atlanta … endured the 4 ½ hour non-stop to San Francisco … rented a dorky minivan (aargh!) … and after a couple of days of sightseeing, began slowly winding our way south.
So far, we’ve spent one night in Atlanta, two nights in San Francisco and we bunked last night in Menlo Park. Today, we’re doing The Redwoods, Santa Cruz, Monterey and tonight we will collapse, exhausted, I’m sure, in Carmel.
Tomorrow, it’s on to San Luis Obispo and not one, but two tours of Hearst Castle … the next day, Santa Barbara and the beach. Then, it’s three nights at Raffles L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills.
If you need me, I’ll be in the bar. And if I know me, I’ll be nursing a double Grey Goose on the rocks.
So, since none of this has actually happened yet (it’s still last Tuesday, my time), and since I have a ream of copy still to do for my clients and another ream to finish up for my own products PLUS a webinar to prepare for my beloved EasyWriters Marketing Club (membership: Closed!) before I head out …
I’m going to cut right to the chase …
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
July 28, 2008
Issue #468
How Al Gore, Ted Danson, George Bush and I did it
Dear Business-Builder,
[CAUTION: If you love Al Gore, Ted Danson or global warming, you should definitely click here to go straight to the marketing lesson in today’s issue. Because I have some fun with them but the comments at the end of this issue should be about marketing – NOT tree-hugging.]
When someone said something naughty to me, my mama used to just give me a hug and suggest that I “consider the source.”
Her personal life coach – Jesus – said, “By their fruits, you shall know them.”
So please forgive me if I still think global warming is a steaming bedpan after a big chili dinner.
Because I’ve been watching the people who promote this mania. And frankly, I wouldn’t trust any of them with my wallet or my wife.
Take Al Gore, for instance. He’s been pounding this pulpit for more than a decade. And, well, frankly … the man is unhinged.
According to Al, the book and movie Love Story were based on his love affair with Tipper.
Sadly, according to the book, Tipper tragically passed away more than 40 years ago.
Evidently, her last words were “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Then she croaked – probably from sheer embarrassment after hearing that mind-blowingly sappy and blatantly ridiculous sentiment proceed from her own mouth.
So either that blond hottie Al’s married to now is someone else or Al has also perfected the art of reanimating human corpses. Either way, I have it on good authority that Al is also being seriously considered for The Nobel Prize for Medicine.
… Or was it Mortuary Science? I forget.
No matter – I hear Al has also taken bows for personally inventing the Internet. So I figure the Nobel Prize for Technology can’t be far behind – not to mention the Adult Video Network award for “Greatest Advancements in Porn.”
In fact, after hours of exhaustive research on the subject, I have officially determined that the ONLY thing old Al hasn’t won so far is the Miss America pageant. He was, however, Miss Universe in, oh … let’s say 1997.
I hear his baton twirling sucked, but he won the swimsuit competition hands-down. Unfortunately, he was later disqualified when the judges discovered he had taped his man-boobs together to enhance his cleavage. Returning that tiara must have been the most difficult day of his life.
So what’s next for Al? Well, you can pretty much start an office pool right now on when Albert will announce that he invented Earth Shoes, the WonderBra, Pringles, Maxi-Pads and Hip-Hop.
Face it: Al is the single most infamous “exaggerator” in America. In fact, if you, me or anybody else exaggerated as much as Al does, people would probably stop calling us “exaggerators” and start calling us shameless, bald-faced liars.
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