The Amazing Writing Secret of a Desperate Entrepreneur

You learn how to sell much faster if you study guys that made a lot of money doing this……

                On my last post, I wrote about how you can start to learn to write your own ad copy, and how the ability to write words that sell are so very important. I also talked about the importance of learning about this craft a bit before hiring a copywriter because when you need to hire one, you will know what to look for, why copywriters do what they do, what the different elements of ad copy are when you are conveying to them what you need, and so forth.

                I got mixed reactions from some people about this.  One or two people were foolish enough to believe that you could “easily” learn to do this for yourself.  Yes, you can learn it for yourself, however to be a really great copywriter, it takes years of intense practice and study, just like anything else.    

                In the words of Kevin Halbert, who is an excellent, highly paid ad copywriter and the son of the late Gary Halbert, possibly one of the best copywriter’s that ever lived states,

                “There’s is no such thing as a natural born ad copywriter!  It takes years of experience to become world class…If you’re new to ad copy, it’ll take you more in time and money to learn how to write good ad copy yourself…”

                Something like that.

                When I had an online embroidery company, I learned all of the nuts and bolts myself. I actually built my own e-commerce site and maintained it.  Sure, it saved me money (or so I thought) doing it myself, but it took time, perseverance, patience, trial and error and a host of other hassles that came out of Pandora’s entrepreneur box to keep things going.  Add up all of the other things I tried to do for the business and it all equaled BURNOUT. 

                So, if you are an entrepreneur and you are wearing a bunch of different hats in your business, I

One of Mr. Halbert's Greatest Ads

would suggest hiring someone that has some experience in writing ad copy first.  But, you may want to educate yourself in the area of copywriting before doing so.

                One of the books that you may want to take a look at is one that was written by the late Gary Halbert called “The Boron Letters”.  This is truly an interesting book and kind of fun to read because Gary is writing a series of letters to his son, Bond Halbert about the art of writing, and selling products using ad copy.  To make the spin of this book really unusual, he is writing these letters from prison!  (Don’t ask me why he is in there, I can only speculate it wasn't anything major.) 

                However, because he is not only an excellent copywriter, Gary Halbert is an excellent writer in general, making his stories and instruction as concise and clear as possible to his son.  The book is very interesting to read, and lays out all of the steps you will need to know to sell products using direct mail, and his son’s comments also update some of this information to selling products online and Internet marketing.

                If you want an excellent book on how to pick a product, and launch a marketing campaign using the written word to sell, the Boron letters is an outstanding resource that cuts through all of the junk and lays out exactly what you need to do, in very plain language.

Five stars, two thumbs up, bravo, and highly recommended.

               

                 

               

                

They All Laughed When I Said I Could Write My Own Ad Copy....

But Then I Sat Down At the Word Processor and They All Kept Laughing

If you want to get a good start on writing your own direct mail pieces then I have a few recommendations that I would like to make this week.  I'm sure you'll appreciate some insight into what makes decent copy.  It really isn't rocket science, but it does require practice to get good at it. 

You can learn about how to play a good round of golf without getting to be as good as Tiger Woods.  So, at any rate, this information will probably help your sales pages convert a little better.

Of course, there will be those of you that are thinking, “My gosh, he’s going to put himself out of business telling us about a resource like this.  After all, if we learn to write ad copy for ourselves what will we need him for?”

If you know anything about good ad copyists you will know that we're a finicky bunch; we don’t work for just anyone.  The entrepreneurs we most like to deal with are people that are educated in what we do.  So, our way of thinking is that if you understand some of what it takes to be an ad copy writer, then you will actually be a much better prospect or client than the average Joe Schmoe.   

Another angle to this view is that once you actually try your hand at writing your own copy, you will see that it isn't as easy as you thought. 

I’ll never forget the first (and actually the last) time I went golfing.  It always looked so easy on T.V.

and even though I just knew it always looks easier than it actually is, I learned something very profound about the sport.  Knocking the crap outta the ball down the fairway was easy and fun.  Getting that stupid ball to do what you want it to on the green was another story.

So, go ahead, give it a try.  Take a course, read a few books and break out the word processor. Writing ad copy is cheap to try and you will probably learn a few things about the craft.  

The first person that I heard about writing ad copy for direct mail pieces was a guy named Dan Kennedy.   (Of course, this was when I first became a student of marketing.)  Dan has a great starter book that has been on the market for at least two decades called “The Ultimate Sales Letter. “ 

Dan Kennedy is a master marketer who has the distinction of being called “The millionaire maker” because he has helped a lot of entrepreneurs become millionaires in their businesses.  He has a huge following of successful entrepreneurs that he even calls it Planet Dan from time to time.

At least, that’s the buzz.

Dan Kennedy's Awesome Book

If you listen Monsieur Kennedy’s advice for very long, you will hear him talk about the importance of this type off writing – which is the ability to sell using your own words on paper and it is the reason why he decided to write the book, of course.

The book is laid out in plain, easy to understand language that will take you step by step through the process of writing advertising copy.  Not only does it give you excellent instruction, but it also gives you great illustrated examples of brilliant copy in a variety of situations. 

Anyway, “The Ultimate Sales Letter “is an outstanding resource and it will definitely get your feet wet in learning how to write your first sales letter, web site, video sales script or any other use you can find for this type of writing. 

It doesn't cost much and you can get it used from Amazon.com HERE ---> The Ultimate Sales Letter.

In the Gutter, Down and Dirty Tactics to Get Your Direct Mail Pieces Noticed

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

I got a call yesterday from a company that started something like this: “This is your second and last notice about a credit card that we will make to you….”  Now, that caught my attention big time because for a second, I thought I hadn't paid a bill or something like that. 

However, the message went on: “…to get an outstanding interest rate on our new offer, please stay on the line for this important message…..”  Also, a week ago, I got a letter in the mail that had a window on the envelope and it had my name on it, except the paper inside the window looked exactly like it was a check.  I eagerly opened it up, salivating over the idea that I would be able to take my wife out to dinner only to find that it was an advertisement and not a meal ticket.

My students at school would say that I was “dominated” and “owned”.

Even though this type of marketing and direct mail assaults are killer and sure to get me to open the mail, it is a two edged sword.  On one hand. I could just shrug it off and think, no big deal, on the other, I could definitely get mad about being deceived. 

Actually, I got mad about the call rather than the mail, because the call interrupted something important.

However, despite my reaction to both of them, the direct mail piece actually accomplished more than the call did.   The call was a one-step introduction whereas the direct mail piece required me to do at least two things, look at the envelope and then open it.

 (You can easily see which was harder to do.)

Anyway, I wound up opening up the envelope hastily, and of course, it was an advertisement.  However, no matter how disappointed I was, I started thinking, “What if they did this marketing right?”  I mean, what if they put some information of real value in there about their product or if they offered me something like a free trial or even an irresistible offer that I’d have to be crazy to pass up?

I’m here to tell you that it can be done the right way, and it has been done over and over again.  You can use these types of tactics just to get the mail opened, much like the direct mail ideas that I have told you about like three dimensional objects or the Doodleopes I wrote about previously.

Picture 1

The deceptive envelope trick isn't new but it is very effective and used by some of the best marketers on the planet. (see picture 1)

However, as I said before, if you use this tactic, you better make darned sure that you have something of value to say or offer them, otherwise this tactic could backfire and you could suffer a bad reputation. 

I would only use this tactic on first time prospects because chances are you won’t be remembered, unlike if you are sending out an offer to someone who already knows, likes and has been already doing business with you.

Picture 2

Anyway, you can get these types of direct mail pieces from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.  They have all sorts of great direct mail envelopes that you can order to help you get your foot in the door with potential clients or customers.  (See picture 2)  This company has all sorts of great envelopes covering almost every type of deception or occasion.  Check them out at the link above.

There’s a Chicken Foot Inside My Mail!!!!

Mark Ellis
Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

   

How would you like to craft a direct mail piece that you knew for sure would get opened without a shadow of a doubt?   Not only would your prospect open the envelope, but they would read the cleverly crafted sales letter that you provided for them without question.  Would that interest you?  Would it, Bunky?   

   Well, this is where you can get creative with your direct mail pieces and actually get prospective clients to look at your stuff. (I am of course assuming that you have a specific target market, and that you know that your clients are hungry for what you have to offer them.  You don’t want to try selling shot guns to blind people or Dick Cheney.  Ha!)

   Anyway, in my last incredible blog post entitled “If You Don't Read This I'm Gonna Croak!!!” I talked about moving heaven and earth to get people to open your envelopes and some of the basic things you can do to move things along and get people to absolutely open your mail.  Today, I want to make you aware of a few more things that you can do to get people to really open your envelopes and read your incredibly researched, tested and retested message that you know will make them want to grab their credit cards, cell phones, or check book and buy whatever it is you are offering.  At least, that is the theory.  

   If you are old enough like me, you will remember back in the olden days, the wonderful snack, Cracker Jack had a dimension to their snacks that made kids go gaga.  As a matter of fact, many cereal companies picked up on the idea and before legal and economic reasons started to interfere, putting prizes into these packages was a big hit.  Anytime someone says “Free” you can bet there will be an immediate attraction to the item or event.  I can’t tell you the number of times my wife wanted to drive clear across town because she saw an ad in a newspaper that Joe’s Warehouse promised the first 100 people that came into their doors a free $5 gift card. (We probably forked over $4.99 in gas just to get there.)

OK, so let’s say that you have sent out your direct mail pieces and your prospect gets a regular, legal sized envelope and you have it addressed and prepared the direct mail piece just as we told you to in our last direct mail marketing blog post.  But, this time when your prospect gets the sales letter in the mail, the envelope feels like there is something inside of it!!!

   If you were your prospect, would you want to know what was inside of there???   So, placing an item like a magnetic calendar, a pen with your business name, address and phone number, or any three dimensional object, would get someone to open your mail.

Now, you may be thinking, yeah, but that is gonna hike up the cost of my direct mail pieces!  Yep, it sure will, but considering the usual cost of a direct mail campaign, the time or money it takes to craft the sales letter, the price of your list or acquiring it and all of the other expenses, YOU WANT TO MAKE DOUBLE DARNED SURE IT GETS AT LEAST LOOKED AT, RATHER THAN THROWN AWAY!!!!!

   So, consider the slim increase versus what you could easily lose, which is the attention of your prospect.

If You Don't Read This I'm Gonna Croak!!!

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

What would you do if you sent someone an envelope in  the mail, and you would die if they didn't open it?  Would you just send the letter in a plain envelope?  Would you disguise it as a piece of junk mail?  Would that be a good idea?

I think a good idea would be to disguise the envelope in such a way, that people would be so curious about what was inside that they would go crazy if they didn't open it!  That is the challenge that business people face everyday when they create direct mail letters.

What usually happens when you send an advertisement in the mail is that a person gets the mail out of the mail box, glances at the envelopes, and then starts chucking the envelopes that look like junk mail and advertisements right into the trash.  This happens a lot when you are selling to or courting a company that your company is trying to do business with. People in business get tons of junk mail, so it is imperative that an enterprise like yours gets the other guy to open your envelope and start reading about your opportunity or product.

How can you do this?  Well, you just have to get creative. The most important thing that you can do is to make sure that you use handwriting on all aspects of the envelope, including the return address.  If you make it look very personal, whoever you are prospecting with your letter will think it is personal correspondence and more than likely open it.  (Once it is opened, you will need to keep their interest in the letter you sent them, but more on that subject in another post.)

Another way is to use some outrageous advertising techniques. Here is an envelope from  a company called "Doodleopes" As you can see in the picture, Doodleopes have unique designs on them that makes the envelopes look like they were "doodled" on with a blue pen.


These envelopes are designed so that they look like someone scribbled all over the envelope and is designed to pic the receiver's curiosity so much, that they will definitely want to open them.   This way you don't have to draw on the envelopes yourself and they will definitely get opened.

There are tons of other techniques like this that you can try at your business and you can see more of them right here tomorrow!

-Mark "Elmo" Ellis

Fear of Failure Will Kill Your Opportunities!

"Don't worry my dear, it is only a rat."
He said, beginning to run in fear,
"A stinking, slimy rat!!!!!"

- Baron Von Frankensteen
Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein

Fear.  Four letters that can really scare the crap outta ya.  Worse that having to deal with a Zombie apocalypse,unless you really are afraid of zombies, that is.  Zig Zigglar used to say that FEAR stood for False Evidence Appearing Real. I agree.

I used to be a professional trombonist. I can remember the very first time I had to play a solo in front of a group of people, I was scared to death.  I was so scared I almost knocked over a table.  The judge I was playing in  front of tried to keep from laughing when that happened, but he couldn't help himself.  However, on the evaluation sheet he sent back to my band director, he noted that I should persevere.

I did persevere and I got better and better at playing in front of people until I became energized by performing in front of a crowd.  Like I said, I did it professionally for the better part of 15 years and play in front of an audience whenever I get the opportunity to.

Now I'm an extrovert.  I love to speak in front of audiences, and look forward to doing that as much as I can.  I find it hilarious that it is the number one fear that people have, as a survey recently showed.  So, one day it dawned on me that the reason I don't have a fear of getting in front of people is that I have done it thousands of times.

That is the key to losing your fear.  Do it a million times over and over and you'll get used to it.  If there is some aspect to your business that you are afraid of (like selling face to face) I would suggest that you do it a lot.

Now, if I could just get over my fear of heights....

Happy Halloween

Mark "Elmo" Ellis

It's Frightening When You Can't Explain What You Do!

Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

You know, it's a scary thing when people ask you what you do and you can't really explain it to them.

I often get asked what an ad copy writer does, and the problem is I really don't know exactly what to say to people when they ask me that.  The best thing that I can tell most people is that a good ad copy writer is a person that can sell using words. So, to make it really clear to you exactly how this works I'm going to offer you an illustration.

Let's say there's a salesman and he selling silver bracelets. He's going to go up and down the street selling door-to-door and he's going to be lugging his wares with him as he goes. These are beautiful silver bracelets with some nickel plating and other beautiful features that he is going to sell. Ladies will just love them.  He goes to the first house and he knocks on the door and a bachelor answers the door. He doesn't have a girlfriend he doesn't have the time for one and he's never been married, so, there is no sale there.  He goes to the next house and knocks on the door and there's a little old lady who was trying to get rid of her jewelry and she had the giving it away to all of her granddaughters great-granddaughter's. So, she's not a buyer and that means no sale. He goes to another house where there is a married couple, however, the wife is allergic to nickel plating silver so no sale again. One of the houses he knocks on the door and there is a family with four daughters that just love bracelets and jewelry, however their father just lost his job, so therefore they cannot afford to buy any bracelets at this time. No sale. He spends an entire day and evening going up and down the street trying sell his races and by the third day he sells two bracelets to two different families.

Now let's compare this to somebody who knows how to write ad copy. A good ad copy writer will understand how to craft a sales letter that is dynamic and powerful and will lead a prospect through a series of logical and seamless messages that will lead to a sale. He will also understand exactly what hot buttons to push in order to get a person that is interested in silver bracelets to buy from him.   A good ad copywriter will also understand what it takes to get a person to open an envelope or a magazine or navigate to a website where there is dynamic content that people are interested in reading. A good ad copywriter will also understand how to network with list sellers so that they can find people who are very interested in buying silver bracelets. He will know that a good list broker can sell him a list that is highly targeted people on that are very interested in buying silver bracelets and has bought them recently. A really good ad copywriter will also understand that the absolute best list is a list of people that have already bought from him and like him. He knows that he can sell them more bracelets, more bracelets trees to hang the bracelet on, or jewelry boxes and other back end products and that these people will buy from him over and over again, not just bracelets also other products but are very similar.

The most powerful part about this type of sewing, using words instead of going door-to-door is that you can sell to thousands of people just by sending out a pile of letters, or writing a great advertisement for a targeted magazine or create a dynamic and powerful website with great ad copy on it which leads to a sale. That is what a really good ad copy person can do and it beats going door-to-door day in and day out.

It is this ability to duplicate your sales that makes an ad copywriter very powerful in the world of marketing.