The other day, one of my readers asked me the following question, which I found rather interesting: “Why should the author of a product be included in their sales copy?” Seems like a pretty redundant question, right? Especially to any veteran copywriter or marketer worth their salt. But the question didn’t stop there. The reader […]
I used to teach marketing and selling at a local college here in Ottawa. And one of the things I used to help teach with — I also use them all the time when I want to learn and remember new things, too — was mnemonics. Mnemonics are tools or devices that aid retention. Do […]
A few years ago, something happened that provided incontrovertible proof of an infallible rule in copywriting. I knew it all along but never saw it proven to me in such a personal and direct way. The one element that can transform flimsy, “yeah-right” copy into a sales-inducing powerhouse, is proof. Besides poor targeting, lack of […]
One of the most venerable and common elements of good salesletters, following the headline, is the postscript or “P.S.” at the end. The end of every great sales letter should be capped with a strong P.S. We are often told that the P.S. is the second most read part of a salesletter, because after reading […]
Scarcity is an effective tactic often used in copywriting to create a sense of urgency in an effort to convince the undecided reader to make a purchasing decision. After all, people procrastinate, and they do for a variety of reasons. It’s simply human nature. So the goal of applying scarcity is to prevent prospects from […]
Throughout my research, I’m always surprised when I stumble onto websites that are professionally designed and seem to offer great products and services, but lack or fail in certain important elements. Elements that, with just a few short changes, can help multiply the results almost instantaneously. Generally, I have found that there are seven common […]
The most profitable and often overlooked free publicity generator is the news release (also called “press release”, although news release is a better term). News releases are not only great marketing tools but also far more credible and believable than advertising since they appear to come from an objective third party. While publicity is the […]
Part of my job as a copywriter includes, from time to time, creating names for businesses, products, and services. Choosing a name may be the single, most important business decision you will ever make. We are constantly bombarded with marketing messages. Limited by people’s very short attention span, your marketing message has to be effective […]
In 2005, I held three rarely given teleseminars with Gary Halbert and John Carlton. In this one, John Carlton shares timeless top copywriting lessons for free.