Are All Online Marketing
Junkies Drooling Morons?
You have to wonder …
Dear Web Business-Builder,
Maybe I’m just pissed that I logged on to Frank Kern’s site about a half hour after his launch last week and whatever he was selling was sold out.
Did you watch the videos? Cool stuff.
I didn’t know Frank was such an amazing lap steel guitar player. He’s obviously got a keen ear because the intonation was flawless. And the production values of his videos are truly amazing.
But here’s what I’m struggling with …
In one of the videos, Frank talks about “the rubber neck effect.” He asks you which you’d be more likely to gawk at, a field of daisies or a grisly car wreck. If you’re like most … it’s the car wreck. That’s why newspapers are filled with bad news.
Misery loves company … and reporters who bring back good news have skinny kids. So yeah, bad news grabs people’s attention in an e-mail subject line, no question. But will the rubberneck effect double your sales like Frank says?
If so, just about every online marketer in my in-box doubled their sales the very next day.
It was like Arma-freakin-geddon!
In fact, for the next several days my in-box was pure misery … filled with terrible … horrible … awful … morbid bad news.
But what was really depressing was the fact that so many of these e-mails, far from doubling sales, I’m sure tanked for the marketers who sent them.
See, plenty of marketers are out there swiping ideas here, there, and everywhere without understanding the context in which those ideas should be applied … kind of like going into hand-to-hand combat with a howitzer strapped to your back … or flailing away at an oncoming torpedo with a Swiss Army knife.
Perfectly good tools applied to the wrong purpose.
If one marketer sends out an e-mail with the subject line “bad news,” it’s a surprise. People are thinking maybe somebody died or something, so their morbid curiosity gets ‘em to open the e-mail. Brilliant!
But when everybody starts sending bad news e-mails at the same time to the same people, it communicates something entirely different. You know what it says?
It says, “You, Mr. Customer, are a drooling moron!” Good for sales?
Worse, many of the bad e-mails I received had no “turn” in them whatsoever. What’s a “turn” you ask?
A “turn” refers to how you recover from a copywriting trick. When you trick somebody into opening an e-mail, or clicking on a link — or otherwise use some clever pretext to draw people into a promotion before switching off in the real direction — there has to be a thread of logic that smoothes over the trick.
In other words, if you cry “FIRE” and there’s no fire — all but the dumbest fool is going to trash your e-mail. Worse, they’re going to stop paying attention to anything you have to say in the future. Is this any way to grow a business?
And I ask you:
Does doubling your open
rates automatically double your sales?
Anything’s possible, of course. But I’m sure Frank would be the first to tell you that if you do something to alter one metric (increase open rates for example), you can’t automatically assume that your click through, or your opt in, or your sales conversion ratios will remain the same. They probably won’t.
And if you trick someone into opening your e-mail without smoothing over the trick, the next ratio in your funnel is sure to suffer.
You’d think this would be just common sense. Obviously it isn’t.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I love Frank’s videos. He’s a brilliant marketer. His exhibitions of sheer mass control are astonishing. But I have to wonder how many more bad pieces of copy will come of them.
Case in point: In the first video, Frank receives a gorgeous Gretsch lap steel guitar as a gift from John Carlton. It’s only the second coolest gift he’s ever received from John.
What’s the coolest?
It’s the time Carlton took him aside and gave him this little bit of fatherly advice: "Cut the crap! When you’re writing a sales letter, just get to the damn point: Say ‘look, here’s what I got. This is what it’ll do for you. Here’s what to do next.’”
Well just like using bad news in a subject line, it’s real easy to take this advice out of context. Joe Blow marketer is watching the video and the next thing you know he’s doing this “here’s what I got … this is what it’ll do for you … here’s what to do next” thing in all of his marketing. How likely is it to work on cold prospects who don’t know him from Adam? Not very.
Do you suppose there’s a reason Frank charms the daylights out his prospects before telling them what he’s got … what’ll it do for them … and what to do next? I mean, what was the blues concert at the beginning of the video all about? Why the cool story about Carlton?
There’s a whole lot more to copywriting and persuasion than telling ‘em what you got … what it’ll do for ‘em … and what to do next.
Sure, there’s a time and a place for that … and it’s true … many marketers do blow it when it’s time to get down to brass tacks by meandering all over the damn place. But it’s the preamble that makes Kern the marketing messiah he is. His real secret is his persona, and the bond he creates with people. We love to buy from Frank Kern, because we love Frank Kern. C’mon Frank, admit it!
Now don’t get me wrong.
NONE of this is Kern’s fault …
You can learn a TON of great stuff from Frank Kern and other super talented marketing gurus. But here’s the thing …
When somebody says they have this “tactic” that will double your response, don’t do what most people do and copy it verbatim.
Analyze it. Pull it apart. Figure out what it is about human nature that makes it work. Find a way to use it strategically and in a way that’s unique to your business … that fits the positioning of that business … and that furthers your relationship with your prospects.
Have you ever heard a marketing guru say this: “I don’t care why it works, just give it to me and I’ll use it.” Well that’s just BS. If you don’t know why something works, you won’t know how and where to use it. And you’ll just end up spinning your wheels with ineffective marketing.
On the other hand, when you do know why something works, you can twist it in ways nobody else has quite thought of. You can combine it with other ideas in productive new ways. And you can clean up like Frank does.
That’s where true competitive advantage and sales breakthroughs come from. Not from mindlessly parroting what the gurus are doing.
Far too many people are taking bits and pieces of the marketing puzzle out of context … using them in the wrong ways or at the wrong time … and shooting themselves in the foot. They’re looking for automatic push-button marketing they can use without having to think.
Well, do you think Frank Kern thinks?
Trust me … this guy is no beach bum. Underneath the cool-as-a-cucumber, surfer dude image is a thinker with an intense curiosity and understanding of human nature. And that’s exactly what YOU need to cultivate in order to truly apply the marketing knowledge available to you.
It’ll be really interesting to see what happens when the postman drops that big box of Frank Kern’s voodoo on the front porches of thousands of online marketers all at the same time next week.
I’m betting all hell will break loose.
Until next time, Good Selling!
Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant and direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology, Masters of Copywriting, featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.SellingtoHumanNature.com
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44 Comments »
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or ask us anything. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
– Clayton
Comment by Sandy — August 20, 2008 @ 10:28 am
I guess we cannot blame Frank for this mass control thing. Everything well planed - big pre-launch - quick sell out! Let’s the fun begin!
Till next time
Comment by Tony Smith — August 20, 2008 @ 10:31 am
Excellent article! Yes, I noticed an influx of ‘Bad News’ subject lines
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Kern, Pagan and the others are just drug pushers! (see on my blog here)
great writing, love this site!
Tony.
Comment by Shelagh Jones — August 20, 2008 @ 10:42 am
I so agree!
There is a lady who usually writes sensible, thought-provoking stuff.
She "discovered" Frank’s stuff a couple of months ago, and it just so obvious when she decides to write something "a la Frank"
Including in her last three emails headlines of "bad news", "cancelled" and "bribe cancelled".
Knowing of Frank’s work -I giggle.
But I’d love to know what her non-IM readers think!
Comment by lawton chiles — August 20, 2008 @ 10:42 am
Daniel, you make an excellent point- dangerous weapons, if not in the right hands, can wreak havoc on profits. What transitions do you recommend when we use these subject line tips?
Such as SUBJECT: This Was HORRIBLE!
Body: Recently, many marketers got a sure-fire tips from master marketer Frank Kern. Chances are, they went to their computers, inputed the new tip, and watched the e-mails roll out.
Chances are, they just made a horrible mistake…
Like that?
Comment by Joseph — August 20, 2008 @ 10:50 am
I think the whole scenario just shows that there is a crowd out there starving for fresh new ideas and angles when it comes to marketing – which is why whenever Frank puts out a cool new idea there is a mass adoption of that strategy. Feed the people what they are asking for…
Comment by Terry Breedlove — August 20, 2008 @ 10:52 am
Daniel -
Great insite. I feel that the real problem is the fact that even though we know better, everyone is always looking for that "MAGIC PILL." What should be driven home to all interneter and especilly the newbies is that you can make money online, a lot of it, but it is WORK. The easy button that you buy at Staples will not work.
Please everyone - remember that there is no magic pill, the real magic is learning to work smart, but remember you still must WORK
Terry
Comment by Leon — August 20, 2008 @ 10:53 am
You said exactly what I was thinking.Right down to Frank Kern is an exceptional marketer
(key point: because of the persona and Brand he created and established).But the bad news subject line….I not only deleted every
bad news email I then received that day - I regarded every
sender of "bad news" as a rank, obvious amateur.And the Carlton advice: ‘look, here’s what I got. This is what it’ll do for you. Here’s what to do next.’”Oh yeah, that’ll work!No engagement, no connection to the target audience, etc. etc. Take that advice literally and see what happens to your response rate.The context in Kern’s communications is a unique, established brand. That’s why it works so well. And that’s the problem with dispensing these random bits of copy advice as a mass solution.
Comment by Doug McIsaac — August 20, 2008 @ 10:57 am
Daniel,
I wholeheartedly agree, I actually unsubscribed from a couple of mailing lists from marketers that I had respected when things "got bloody" after Frank’s first video. Clumsily following the latest trick is not going to get me to buy from you.
Everyone is looking for that trick to make things work without having to do the hard work to get there. Guys like Frank Kern have spent years crafting their skill and while he has a great deal to teach (I have been to Mass Control and have signed up for his monthly coaching) there are a lot of fundamental tools that you need to have in your toolkit to implement them correctly.
Doug McIsaac
Comment by Martin — August 20, 2008 @ 11:00 am
Daniel…thanks for telling it like it is. Frank’s videos are entertaining that’s for sure - he’s created a character and I suppose people buy into it. It seems like these guys are all selling each other’s products…all telling us how to succeed on the Net. Try the "rubber neck" effect in a B2B market - you’d be out of business in a month. But, he’s catering to the masses and there’s plenty of money there if you can entertain - and he can!
Comment by Marcelino Latorre — August 20, 2008 @ 11:01 am
Point well taken Daniel. By the way thanks for the cool info on Speed Copywriting with David Garfinkel, looking forward to that! Take it easy
Comment by Allen — August 20, 2008 @ 11:06 am
I think the mindless copying is just proof that there are soooo many LAZY marketers out there who couldn’t think to save their lives.
Sure get ideas everywhere you can find them, then internalize them and make they your own.
Great article Daniel.
Allen
Comment by Eugenie — August 20, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Frank Kern is exceptional - his communications skills leave everyone else in the blocks. And as Daniel says, it’s not Frank’s fault there are a zillion numpties out there who appear to think they’re the only ones watching his vids and then having the "ah ha!" moment and reaching for the Beginner’s Book of Bad News Subject Lines.
Same with the Carlton-as-marketed-by-Kern "here’s what I got, here’s what it can do for you, here’s what I want you to do next" mantra. As a selling tool it’s way too blunt for all but the most stunningly talented or audacious; as a reminder of what all the rest of us are aiming to do, it’s peerless because it keeps you so magnificently focused. And this, as the vid makes clear, is precisely what John Carlton was doing with Frank when he said it: getting him to stand back, take a deep breath and refocus.
Comment by Clint Gray — August 20, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Human psychology and persona are never going to be magic pillified - real life experience and some thinking is needed…or have many off us lost the ‘on’ switch?
Comment by Linda M. Lopeke — August 20, 2008 @ 11:18 am
I agree with your point that it is essential you understand the "how" and "why" of things. Implementing advice out of context is a sure-fire way to damage your business and reputation.
I also agree that the production values of these videos is vastly improving. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of erroneous content that the audience is not necessarily able to discern. But because it’s packaged so well they assume it must be the correct information or interpretation or whatever.
A case in point – having reviewed hundreds of these videos, there has not been one person yet who has correctly explained continuity programs and how they work. Not one. Including Frank whom I expected to know better. So I’ve decided to do something about that by posting a full and proper explanation, from conception through implementation options to the relationship to the financial statements for your business. When it’s ready, I’ll twitter about it and make it available free to anyone who is interested.
Linda M. Lopeke
The SMARTSTART Coach
Comment by Fred Black — August 20, 2008 @ 11:24 am
Daniel;Thanks for posting this. I was kind of interested in the product until I received 8000 emails about it. I received multiple emails from the same marketers. End the end, it pretty much turned me off on even looking at it. Like you say, it may not be Frank’s fault, but he could have asked his affiliates to show some common sense.
Comment by Mike — August 20, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Have clothes for all occasions…wear what’s appropriate for the occasion. Like that.
Comment by kit — August 20, 2008 @ 11:55 am
Yes, I am glad I was not the only one who had this thought about the pathetic duplication of words. Personally, I think Frank Kern just laughs when it happens.
Linda Lopeke, can you give your twitter info so we can get the mentioned explanation?! thanks
Kit
Comment by Craig — August 20, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
Headline:
Wanted, Z-Level markerters……. No thought process required……. Must be willing to endure a career of failure and humiliation, rewards of prosperity not possible…….
Advice is like a tool…. Any Monkey can pick it up and mimick what they have seen, but it takes a master to skillfully use and manipulate it to craft something spectacular!!
As Always Daniel, Thanks for sharing your profound wisdom……..
Craig
Comment by Phil — August 20, 2008 @ 12:12 pm
Our bad news email pulled like crazy.
our title was
"you win… we lose"
We DID have real meat behind the email too.
It’s our slowest month of the year, we’re over stocked and we owe money to our vendors.
I told them this.
We almost tripled our website visitors and almost doubled our sales on the day we sent it.
thanks
Comment by Mike — August 20, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Phil, "you win…we lose" seems like more of a good news title than a bad news title.
Comment by Chris Cade | Spiritual Stories and Parables — August 20, 2008 @ 12:46 pm
I was surprised at how many "bad news" emails I got within the 24-48 hours after that video. I almost put a filter on to auto-delete, but I knew it would pass… so I just manually deleted all of them without reading.
On the other hand, I used Frank/John’s technique just yesterday to GREAT success in my niche. My niche is spirituality, so my subject line was:
"But that’s NOT spiritual!"
I then went on to describe a few things that usually aren’t viewed as spiritual, and then showed how they actually are.
24 hours later, I see about a 25% open rate… and because my market is sometimes slow to open email, I expect that to reach about 40-50% by the end of the week.
Comment by Peter Schaible — August 20, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
I’d like to see more influencing with integrity from the practitioners of our craft and less nonsense.
Some of what we’re seeing here rises to the level of "Your shoe’s untied. Ha! made you look!"
How much confidence does a consumer have in doing business with you if your message (and its headline) has been deceptive, deceitful, or demeaning?
This is simply not smart, and good copywriters will rise above this level of tomfoolery.
– Peter
Comment by Philip Wong — August 20, 2008 @ 12:53 pm
Most astute point made Daniel.
Inside most of us there’s this rebel streak that’s been entombed under the drudgery of daily life. Frank represents this rebel by the Hollywood stereotype ala James Dean, and with the charisma to go with it - you got a killer combo!
I’ll bet Frank’s an understudy of Cialdini, Napoleon Hill, PT Barnum and then some.
Philip.
Comment by Michel Fortin — August 20, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
Brilliant article, Daniel!
Folks, read this post. It’s a gem.
Also, read this post again… but wearing the same glasses Daniel asks you to put on with his eye-opening article.
For example, just take a look at the headline alone:
"Are All Online Marketing Junkies Drooling Morons? You have to wonder…"
Now, that’s a piece of bad news if I ever seen one.
Comment by Gregg F — August 20, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
For what it’s worth…
Daniel made a great point that I learned the hard way over time, and is why it’s important to have some sales background as a precursor to writing copy.
I know from painful experience that the Here’s what I’ve got, here’s what it’ll do for you, here’s what you should do next method does not work on cold prospects that do not know you (as Daniel mentioned). Maybe Frank/John would argue that it was obvious that the method was not supposed to be tried on cold prospects, but that’s not how it was presented. He said something like “Go out and use this and make lots of money like I did”. The method is obviously best used on “hungry” lists like desperate marketers who are open to buying almost anything (not cold call prospects who are completely oblivious to you or your products), but you don’t realize that unless you’ve got some sales background.
Yet another reason it’s useful to have some sales experience, rather than completely rely on the advice of gurus.
Comment by Shane — August 20, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Bad News- seems like anther little ‘Guru trick’ to sell something, maybe there own product?
Observation: as a salesperson who subscribes to many copywriting and internet marketing Guru’s- the last thing I need is anther tactic to grab peoples attention.
Seems like the Guru’s are plenty happy distracting us (the masses on-line) with but anther slick selling technique to attract more attention. If there is no substance in the tactic (why, how who, when) then I fear the tactic is yet anther ‘deferred reading’ that I’ll never get around to reading.
Better Advice- start talking to your customers and finding out what their problems are. Then use a headline that actually speaks to them directly. Instead of using anther trick to get an email opened- say something of value and meaningful and save your $.
My $0.02.
Comment by John Keever — August 20, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Outstanding article … I couldn’t believe the number of ‘Bad News’ subject lines in my Inbox after that video was shown!
… what ever happened to ‘modeling’ something as opposed to out-and-out copying???
Great post!
Comment by Dale — August 20, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
You make some great points. Too many people don’t understand how to use the tools. What works for one person may not work for some one else. Just copying is common. How many billion variations of "When I sat down at the piano…" have you seen? Or when Toys-R-Us was huge, it seemed like the population of China adopted you name it-R-Us for their business.
Watch your metaphors though. Not every skinny kid is starving. Some are built that way. I was a skinny kid and we had plenty to eat. In school I was consistently out-weighed by boys shorter than me. Even my younger brother weighed 31 pounds more than me when I was 19, before he grew taller than me.
Comment by Clarke Echols (resident scientist and all-around rabble-rouser) — August 20, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
I’ve always appreciated Daniel’s and Clayton’s no-baloney attitude about the stuff life puts on display.
And Frank Kern’s video was a nice break from “the usual”.
I didn’t get buried in “bad news” subject lines, though I saw a few that looked like wannabees.
The terse: “Here’s what I’ve got, buy it” is what consumer advertising is so about; e.g. “Hurry down, this deal won’t last…” But if it’s an important matter, responsible buyers will insist on time to think and consider. One of my rules when confronted with, “You have to act *now*!” is to simply say “no” and walk away. If it’s a good idea today, it’ll still be good a week from now…
I’ve done a fair bit of construction in my life, and tried a lot of trades, along with physics and engineering. I heard a saying many years ago that makes more and more sense every passing year…
“The person who knows “how” will always work for the person who knows “why”.
One of the keys to my acquisition of above-normal amounts of knowledge has come from my always, instead of saying, “Gee, look at that…,” saying instead, “I wonder *why* they did it *that* way…”
You learn when you ask why. When you ask how, you’re just another technician/technocrat/follow-the-crowd, ordinary bloke. And you’ll never get above the crowd.
When you know *why* you say things a certain way, rather than solely the mechanical *how* to say it, you become the artist/artisan/master of the craft.
And that’s what’s so important in Daniel’s chosen chain of words: “Selling to human nature”.
Clarke
Comment by Croz — August 20, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
Fantastic thread.
My observations are that it does not really matter what you say or write, you have to be alligned with the big boys.
It seems that these JV’s will eventually burn out as everyone just sends out the same stuff. I have even noticed this stuff coming from totally unrelated sites.
I have deregistered from most of the repeat email group.
As has been said, most of this advice is only relevant when applied with some amount of technique and thought.
Abundance to All
Croz
Comment by Brad — August 20, 2008 @ 9:08 pm
Seems very obvious to me…why do you think he calls it "Mass Control"?
Comment by Joe — August 20, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
That was the best advice I’ve read in YEARS.
Wished you had said it to me way back in 2000! It would have saved a lot of heartache.
Comment by John C. Babin — August 20, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
Hi all,
It is a sad time in direct marketing. Frank is cool guy but I think he is heading down a dead end. You have to ask yourself; what drives Frank Kern to do what he does? Hell the guy was all stressed to write the darn sales letter for Stompernet.
A huge red flag goes up when I see names like Frank Kern, Brock Felt, and that other (wanna milk people quick) guy Buck Rizvi.
Underneath it all, I think Kern is troubled.
Comment by J Michael — August 21, 2008 @ 1:06 am
I quite agree with you. As you pointed out, This Frank guy is pretty cool, but he teaches you to write like Frank, without being Frank. You are succintly correct, (can you actually do that??), in pointing out their is a huge disconnect with writing as Frank does, but not being Frank. Or better said, we don’t have the hair-uncut, the motorized skateboard and the blusey twangy guitar relationship with our lists as Frank does. Wait til you see his video on displaying testimonials indirectly with a sleight of hand mis-direction product that just happens to show good words about Frank… Yeah, we all have those laying around. Look forward to your next article. Thanks
Comment by Alan Stone — August 21, 2008 @ 2:06 am
Save the Online Marketing Drooling Moron Junkies !
Anybody ? :O)
Alan
Comment by Adam — August 21, 2008 @ 3:22 am
I watched Frank’s "rubberneck" video too. It was the first of anything I’ve seen from Frank. I must admit - he is VERY likable.
I also agree with Tony. You can’t just use just any stuff from just anybody, in any way you like - WITHOUT THINKING FIRST! I don’t care if it’s Frank, Tony, or even Clayton.
Here’s my story:
A friend of mine has been trying to sell a cool (IMO) piece of software for PDAs to a very particular niche. He’s a great guy, and a very talented programmer - but he SUCKS at marketing. He’s even worse than me. Not a single sale in 18 months!
Anyway, I said I would try and sell the product on condition that I get 50% of the net value of the sale. He agreed, and we started to sell it on a small auction site in South Africa. I ran multiple auctions, so it was easy to split test. The auctions were posted in the sporting/sporting equipment sections.
My original headline was "Multi-competitor Timer for PDAs (NEW ON MARKET)!" It got some views but no real interest.
After watching Frank’s video, I decided to tweak my headline on A FEW of my auctions to "It’s BAD NEWS … if your competitors get this before YOU do!"
The views skyrocketed on the BAD NEWS headline! And yes, we made a few sales - all from the "BAD NEWS" headline.
BUT … it was supported by really strong copy in the body of the advert. The advert had explicit BENEFITS, good layout and bullet points, a ROCK SOLID GUARANTEE, and a strong CALL TO ACTION. … All the stuff I’ve been learning over the past month or so.
I also have a 100% satisfaction rating for hundereds of past auctions, so I have an EXISTING TRUST BASE to work from.
I believe the changed headline got our advert opened many more times, but it didn’t sell the product, and the subject line didn’t mislead the reader! The sales were made by the body copy.
I personally would never go with just BAD NEWS. That’s just stupid!
Comment by Adam — August 21, 2008 @ 4:22 am
Sorry, I meant Daniel - not Tony. I get confused sometimes with all the great writers hanging out here….
Comment by Jeremy Reeves — August 21, 2008 @ 10:25 am
Awesome post…and a great technique for us to use to both craft our marketing skills and better understand human nature (I’m talking about looking for the persuasion element hidden within the technique and making it specific to us)
I’m going to start doing that with each technique Frank gives in the course…
Black marker - here I come!
Jeremy Reeves
http://www.GetClientsIn20.com
Comment by Peter Buick — August 21, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
Daniel
I like your point.
I also found it highly amuising that other leading product laucnh marketeers then promoted Frank’s MCC using the exact same techniques.
Now as can’t believe what they say positive or negative, guess what I did?
Yes I unsubscribed!
So yes your issue with only using part of the puzzle, does indeed have real-world ramifications.
So too with another of Frank’s video, the Selling 1 2 3 one. He left out step 4, which means it can’t possibly work!
No surprise then that I made step 4 as my own gift to the world.
Sorry but no dead bunnies are featured. Sorry about that!
Peter
Comment by Bernardo — August 21, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
You may not have noticed, but Kern had another variable in his tests that he either didn’t realize mattered (not likely) or he thought you wouldn’t notice. This one variable could account for the increased response rate regardless of what the e-mail subject line was.
That variable was…
The lists he compared to each other for open rates were not all the same lists. You can tell by the number of subscribers on each list.
Why does this matter?
Different lists could make a hell of a difference in open rate. Think of the difference in open rates for people who have bought multiple and/or high-priced products from you compared to somebody who has merely opted-in without ever buying. The open rate will most likely differ greatly.
Bernardo
Comment by Johannes Stockburger — August 23, 2008 @ 10:35 am
Hi,my assessment is: From the reactions of the marketers (using the suggestions all at once and without further thinking) you can see that Frank Kerns mass controll methods work.But for m there is another aspect: I do not want to be controlled by a mass controll system, I do not want to controll my customers, but to get paid by them for adding value to their lifes, and I am looking for a target market of thinking people who also do not appreciate efforts of others to controll them.
This said the techniques are obviously working, and it is important for me to understand them and use them in a sensible way: not to controll anybody, but to communicate in an efficient way, fo example which choices my customers have.
Johannes Stockburger
Comment by Paul Simister — August 23, 2008 @ 12:18 pm
The videos from Frank were very interesting but the best thing is the way that he has built up his marketing persona as the charming surfer dude and every contact builds on it.
Excellent blog and it certainly brings home the point how many people are looking for the easy answers without applying common sense. It’s incredible that anyone didn’t realise that the power of the negative was in the surprise and there wasn’t going to be any surprise as people rushed to use it.
I did like the "here what I got" cut the cr*p approach because copywriters can spin out to twenty pages what can be said in three but again it’s a shock tactic that wouldn’t work if everybody tried it.
Comment by Susan Connors — August 24, 2008 @ 8:01 am
Hi Daniel
Marketing it needs to be:
right type
right place
right time
I get sick of the eons of endless emails that flood into my inbox…
Some are really good and others well lets say they leave much to be desired.
Some people are copycats..having to hang onto someone else work and not be their own person
Like you said ..flooded emails with one straight after the other.
You can always tell when a launch is going to happen.
People love to know the person behind the marketing name. Be the person big, hairy, ugly or scary..we still like to get a glimpse of them.
For myself, I am starting somewhere in the middle..
http://www.marketingforlife.com.au
Needs work and more content …plans in motion and plenty of room for improvement.
All the best
Sue In Aus
Comment by Kenneth Yu — August 25, 2008 @ 12:14 am
Good one Daniel.
Incidentally, the Rubberneck Effect works like a charm in non-IM niches.
We did use "the trick", so that’s the one thing we did correctly.
But yup, using the subject lines "Bad News" did double the open rate–and started a buying frenzy with the market. We’re on course to make more than 50k with a $27 eBook, not too shabby.
However, I believe its a ‘boy cry wolf’ syndrome at work here. You’ll do phenomenally well the first time round, but as Clayton said, the market does have a long memory.
Do anything too often and you lose your effectiveness. However, its still a nice trump card to have whenever you’re running behind on your monthly targets–as we’d discovered firsthand :)