Dear
Friend and subscriber,
You
remember Sherlock Holmes don’t you? Holmes was the fictional
consulting detective invented by Scottish physician Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle. Holmes, as you know, is famous for cracking open difficult
cases and solving them with almost magical abilities.
So, grab
your inspector’s hat and let’s play Sherlock Holmes for just a
moment. We’re going to do a little spying today and see if the
“Sherlock” in you can turn up a few profit clues lurking all
around.
This is
the shortest course to the profit-land in this crazy business. We in
the direct marketing or mail order as we affectingly call it
“seeding.” Seeding is where you get on other businesses mailing
list . . . for the sole purpose of snooping and finding out what’s
going on.
This does
several things for you.
First,
you’ll start receiving offers from these companies. And these
offers can be golden to you by seeing exactly who’s mailing what.
You’ll see firsthand what their winners are, how they are put
together. And if you go the extra yard and actually order something,
you’ll experience firsthand how you were treated, if they up sell,
and how they run the customer service side of the business.
Simply
put, this is one of the best direct marketing educations you could
get. And best of all . . . it won’t cost you a fortune. Essentially
for the cost of a postage stamp or the time it takes to “sign up
for FREE Information” you can attend one of the best ‘Direct
Marketing’ Schools in the country.
You’ll
be tuned in to ‘real world-real time’ marketing methods and
strategies. This is one of the best ways to stay up-to-date with
powerful trends and marketing that’s cutting edge.
Second,
it’s a great way to build your swipe file. What’s that, you say?
Swipe file? YES! Swipe File! A swipe file is a collection of
marketing pieces that have a proven history of positive results.
These ads are bringing in bucket loads of profits, leads, store
visits or whatever action the ad is asking from the customer.
But how
do you know if these ads are profitable or not? It’s not really
that hard to figure this out . . . and you don’t have to guess. If
you see an ad or direct marketing promotion that runs over and over
or is mailed over and over, then you’ll know for sure it’s a
winner. Most marketers, especially small businesses cannot afford to
spend money on advertising that does not pay.
Once you
start building your swipe file you’ll want to see how you’re
marketing stacks up to the competition. This ideas you could use to
improve your marketing. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. In
mail order or direct marketing if you like, there are no secrets.
Everything is laid out there for you.
And by
the way, did I mention swiping is legit . . . it’s sharply slices a
huge portion of the learning curve!
Let me
tell you a quick story about one of the most successful, profitable
and effective direct marketing promotions to hit during the 20th
Century.
It was
1974 and Martin Conroy was commissioned to write a sales letter to
sell subscriptions for the Wall Street Journal.
No big
deal, right? After all it was only two pages printer front to back .
. . a mere 780 word letter.
This
super-successful sales letter mailed for 28-years with almost no
changes to the original copy. It raked in over an estimated TWO
BILLION DOLLARS in gross revenues!
So what
was the secret to this mega-success letter?
The
secret, according to industry insiders Conroy relied on a
little-known “trick” to cheat his way to writing the pitch.
It’s
helpful to know that Conroy’s letter was not beaten until 2002. It
was beaten in two consecutive tests . . . the first test Conroy’s
letter was beaten by less than 10%. The second by a huge 24%.
The
second letter was written by copywriting legend Mal Decker.
So, the
question is how did Mal Decker come up with a letter to beat the
‘unbeatable’ control?
The
answer . . . again . . . it’s surprisingly simple . . . and you my
friend can use this ethical “cheat” to produce blockbuster ads,
web pages, sales letters, and just about any marketing piece you need
to write.
Now I’m
not saying it's OK for you to straight out copy the ad word for word.
No not at all . . . I’m saying it’s fine to borrow ideas,
concepts and compelling parts that intrigue you and adapt them to
your marketing. Use these controls as models to write your own
blockbuster ads and marketing pieces. I
t’s a
great way to infuse new life in old copy and can often lead to more
sales and leads.
Until
next time . . .
Peace,
Emette E.
Massey
P.S. Want
to get a jump start on putting together your own swipe file? Give me
a shout at eemassey@yahoo.com
and I'll send you a FREE swipe file starter kit! Put “swfs” in
the subject line so I know it's not spam and I'll get it right out to
you.
