I got my toes in the water,
ass in the sand
Not a worry in the world,
a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today.
Life is good today.

Eric

Definitely keep the sand in a small bag.

Nothing would irritate people more than opening an envelope and having the sand pour all over their documents, in their food, maybe in their computer keyboard…

…not a good way to start :o)

A few headline variations (just off the top of head, more time definitely needs to be spent on this area alone)

* An Invitation To Test Drive The Softest White Sand Beach In The World

* Little Known Beach Town Claims #1 Spot For White Sand ‘Fluffiness’

* Revealed: The World’s Best White Sand Haven

* You haven’t experienced the world until you’ve napped on this secretive white sand beach

* 8 Reasons This White Sand Beach Will Change Your Future

* Little Known Beach Town Shares Their Secret For The Softest Sand In The World

* If Only They Could Make Beds With Sand This Soft… Can You Pass The Nap Test With Your Favorite Beach?

Not the best, but a few ideas that may spark something.

Troy

“You Can Vacation Anywhere In The World”
But Only 1 Beach Has Pillow Soft Sand

P.S. I Sent You Some

My question is should I send the sand loose in the envelope or in a small baggie?

The sand is from Clayton’s Favorite Beach[Siesta Key]

I’ll also take some advise from the masters on the headline?

Thanks

The added benefit of the promotional product inclusions is that the people who keep them tend to retain a favorable image of the company that sent it to them. Here’s an article about a study conducted a few years back by Georgia Southern University about the impact of promotional products http://www.ppa.org/Buyer/How+Do+I/Learn+More+About+Promotional+Products.

The conclusions of the study relate to branding, image and awareness rather than quantifiable results but the information is interesting.

Here’s a pdf printing tool I started using a while back. I was frustrated with the waste I got with printing a regular pdf and the sometimes odd formatting results when I tried to print 2 pages per sheet. I’ve saved a lot of paper and ink and it’s pretty easy.

It’s called FinePrint and it’s free. The site is http://www.fineprint.com.

I have no affiliate or other relationship with them but since the subject of printing pdf’s came up and this has been a good tool for me, I thought I’d pass it along.

I went from HP, with 150,000 employees to a company of 5 people!

Took a pay cut… but ohhhhhh so much happier.

I am with you on the digital stuff. A few of them I will read - almost all of the decent ones are printed, put in binders, and in a reference shelf close by.

Nothing I hate more than trying to find a pdf file I need.

Thanks as always! Troy

The big fuss around the company was print is too expensive (we were printing a 3000-page Unix reference manual I maintained at the time for $12/3-volume copy!), and they wanted to move to digitally displayed text because people aren’t going to be reading books anymore.

My counter argument was: “When’s the last time you curled up to read a nice book in digital form?”

You can’t conveniently highlight and mark up an online document with personal notes and reminders. You can’t set it aside with a convenient bookmark, then come back to the same spot the next night and continue.

I get a lot of ebooks from people known to the readers of this blog. My preference?: Print it out, put it in a binder, and read it in print form. I bought a big HP LaserJet with 1000-sheet trays so I can print fast and conveniently and use big toner cartridges for serious work.

And I go through mearly all of my mail. My wife used to sort and pitch the junk mail so I didn’t know about it, but that doesn’t happen now. Some I look at only briefly before discarding, but anything that looks more useful than the coupon packages gets reviewed.

I much prefer print for most stuff unless it’s from AWAI, Clayton, or others where I keep some on file for future reference.

Another reason for print is I use them as examples when I talk with prospective clients about *why* they need a good direct-response marketer instead of a “marketing group” doing their stuff. Some of these poor suckers have really bought into the song and dance coming from these promoters who talk about “creating buzz for your business”, building your image, or your brand.

It can be difficult to help them understand why a card-size piece shouldn’t have a call to action as the headline, but if you have other better-written pieces to compare, it’s easier to educate them. And I want educated clients who understand why what I do is better for their business instead of blindly accepting marketing-group whizzy-bang snake oil.

I went to the website of an ad agency in Denver recently, and they didn’t give me a single indication that they understood my problem or how they could help me solve it.

And the “case studies” they presented weren’t case studies at all. They were short video clips of inane subjects with no connection at all to what I’d find interesting, and one was for a service provider I’ve actually done business with many times! Pathetic…

This is a most enlightening and informative revelation. Thanks for bringing it to light!

CE

Dimensional mail means 3 dimensional.

So rather than just a letter, you send a letter with a puzzle piece attached, or a letter inside a small garbage can, or a letter with a bell attached to it.

All of these I have used with great success. They stand out and quickly get peoples attention.

Like the letter I just received from a take-out pizza place. It came with a bag of flour attached to the letter and explains why their flour is far superior to anything else on the market.

Rather than sending just a brochure like every other pizza place does, they sent a letter (with bag of flour) AND the brochure.

The letter gets you to pay attention to the brochure - and it got my business (their pizzas are ~ 20% higher in price than others… but their story was great and they did some dramatically different things to earn my business.

It doesn’t take much… just some new approaches. Dimensional mail is a great way to stand out from the crowd.

Hope that helps?

Troy