How To Get Others To Promote You NOW
By Jimmy D. Brown of Traffic F.U.E.L.
See if you can spot the similarity.
What do the following three statements have in common?
1. I can’t do it right now, but maybe later.
2. I’ve already got my mailings scheduled.
3. Let me get back to you.
Got the similarity spotted?
These are all typical responses that most people get when asking partners and affiliates to promote their offers.
Chances are you’ve gotten answers much like these, right?
Don’t despair … there are ways around the barriers of reluctance and passiveness.
Let me share some simple ideas for getting affiliates to take action on your promotions quickly. I use the acronym “N.O.W.” to describe three ways to get others to promote you now…
N – News
In journalism, no one wants to be “scooped” when it comes to newsworthy items. Sharing some big story that another network or publication broke days ago is a big “no-no”. You always want to be first when it comes to getting the word out.
That same philosophy applies to what I’ve labeled “The Principle of First”. The idea is simple: being “first to market” aids in responses. Those who let their contacts know about your news promptly will generate the greatest results. If they wait, someone else will break the news.
So, to apply this principle, you simply need to create some newsworthy buzz that your affiliates and partners can’t pass up on sharing with their network of influence.
**CASE STUDY**
Several months ago I decided that I was going to remove the archives from one of my membership sites. This announcement served as a strong motivator to get my affiliates to promote my site promptly before someone else did. The result was almost 500 new members paying monthly fees!
If you make dramatic changes to your offer, or create some other kind of “story” or “news” that warrants discussion promptly, you’ll find you can get many fence-setters active in promoting you.
O – Occasions
Another great way to motivate affiliates to get active is to use “occasions” that have a real deadline involved.
Some examples include –
* Product launches
* Firesales
* Live events (teleseminars, workshops, etc.)
* Contests
* Special offers
* Limited quantities
This is what might be referred to as “The Principle Of Force”. That is, you MUST promote the offer now or miss out simply because the offer will no longer be valid. You “force” participation.
For example: If you have a 3-day “firesale” set for a specific date, then anyone interested in earning commissions for referring customers to the “firesale” would be “forced” to promote it during your pre-determined timeframe or they’d miss out because the event will end.
My recommendation is that you schedule some kind of “occasion” every quarter. That should give you four significant spikes in your revenue each year, which can be a tremendous boost to your bottom line.
W – Wants
What do your partners and affiliates want? Seriously, stop and think about that for a moment. In fact, go one step further than that and ASK them a simple question…“What would it take for you to promote this offer this week?”
Make it happen.
I want you to remember the intangibles here: the sales of your initial offer aren’t really all that important. (Don’t freak out, hear what I have to say 
It’s building a lead list, an affiliate list and a customer list along with ADDITIONAL offers over time that makes the real money.
Consider this –
Option A:
Miss Ima Guru ignores your request to promote your offer as it currently stands.
Option B:
Miss Ima Guru accepts your modified offer which includes giving her 100% of the revenue she generates. You make nothing off her promotion…but in the process of her promotion she adds 500 new subscribers to your list, 75 new affiliates and 60 new customers.
Which would you rather have?
Whatever it takes to get people to promote your offer now, make it happen.
*** NOTE ***
Now, let me make a simple suggestion here: The deal you make should be directly proportional to the potential results the partner represents.
Some affiliates and partners bring more to the table and sshould be offered more in order to get them to participate.
That being said, you can get virtually any affiliate to promote you now if you make it worth their while. So, ask them, “what will it take?”
This is what I call “The Principle Of Fear”. That is, a feeling of “This is such a compelling offer, I can’t afford to miss out on this deal.”
All of this adds up to more involvement and participation among your affiliates and partners…
N – News +
O – Occasions +
W – Wants =
——————-
Other people promoting you NOW!
—————–
Jimmy D. Brown is the publisher of Traffic Jam newsletter and the owner of Traffic F.U.E.L. membership site. Drop by today to learn how to get completely free traffic to any website. Get your free traffic newsletter at http://directanddigitalmarketing.com/trafficfuel/
Filed under advertising, Blog, Traffic by on May 14th, 2012. 
Have you heard of Denny Hatch? He wrote ‘Million Dollar Mailing$’.
And now Denny’s come out with a new book. I won’t bore you with what I think of it.
Here, check out a little of what’s inside the book:
1. Advertising
“Advertising is, actually, a simple phenomenon in terms of economics. It is merely a substitute for a personal sales force — an extension, if you will, of the merchant who cries aloud his wares.” —Rosser Reeves
………………
“Advertising is salesmanship in print.” —John E. Kennedy
………………
Here’s the secret of successful advertising: interrupting what’s going on in the front of a prospect’s brain with headline, graphics, copy and action that seize upon a lurking fear or desire and exploiting it.
………………
“It is easier to write passably effective sonnets than one effective advertisement.” —Aldous Huxley
“Every man is constantly holding a mental conversation with himself, and the burden of that conversation is himself — his interests, his loved ones his business, his advancement.” —Robert Collier
………………
These self- conversations are frequently interrupted: a baby crying, a kitchen timer going off, a dog barking, someone at the front door, a fire engine going by, a piece of direct mail or catalog, a TV infomercial or a
telemarketing call.
If the marketing effort is dull … if it does not interrupt and keep on interrupting… the interruption is interrupted … and we resume the conversation with ourselves. The marketer has lost money. If you can capture the prospect’s attention, it is imperative to hold it. Once the proposition is laid aside, chances are very high no action will be taken.
………………
“Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.” —Marshall McLuhan
If your mailing piece or ad sends responders to your website, create a special URL that takes them to a page directly relating to the message that they have just seen. Many marketers simply list the generic home page, whereupon responders are consigned to roaming around Landing Page Limbo, and you have lost the order, donation or inquiry.
When was the last time you took a critical look at your home page/ landing page? Does that dog hunt? Or have so many people screwed around with it that it has become Landing Page Limbo?
Do your email promotions have a viral marketing option (e.g., “Please forward to a friend or colleague who may be interested in this opportunity.”)?
Do you have an action device where it’s obvious how to reply? Is it easy to reach a real person at your shop — either by email or phone? If not, why not?
“Become indispensable — take on jobs other people don’t want to do.” —Ivanka Trump
………………
“According to a 2009 Proofpoint study of 220 leaders at American companies with over 1,000 employees, 38 percent employ staff to read or otherwise analyze the content of outgoing email, compared to 29 percent last year.
Why the big increase in surveillance? 34 percent said their businesses had been affected by the exposure of sensitive or embarrassing information, up from 23 percent in 2008.” —The Daily Stat, Harvard Business Publishing
………………
Emails are forever. Even though you have deleted or trashed an email, it lives — somewhere in your own computer and/or in the company server and/or out in the Internet.
“‘Companies that do use email to notify employees that they’ve been laid off or fired “do it because it’s easy,’ said Frank Kenna, president and CEO of Marlin. ‘It’s not the right way to handle it,’ he said, especially for situations where a worker is being fired.” —Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
………………
Getting fired is never easy, even if you see it coming. But when a dismissal borders on insulting, it becomes the stuff of legends. —Sarah E. Needleman
46. Humor in Advertising
“Is your copy funny or cute? (Avoid humor at all costs.)” —Milt Pierce
………………
“For the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine’s newsletter, Your Dog, I wrote a letter from the dean of the veterinary school emphasizing the credentials and expertise of their canine authorities. Then I added a second lift note — from a dog! — explaining why dogs hate the newsletter. (It makes their owners too knowledgeable, and teaches owners how to break dogs’ bad habits!)
Humor is usually risky, but in this case, proved highly effective. It added significantly to the strength of this control.” —Barbara Harrison
Note: Barbara Harrison used humor in a peripheral element — the lift note. It wasn’t the main piece of the effort.
………………
But cleverness and humor, traditionally, have no place in direct marketing. If the reader says, “My, isn’t this clever” or “Oh, how funny!” the thread of the argument is lost and so is the sale.
“Don’t use humor.” —Craig Huey
“Don’t be cute. Your advertisement can entertain a million readers — and not sell one of them.” —Andrew J. Byrne
“Your job is to sell, not entertain.” —Jack Maxson
• Be careful about cutting people, which are the most important assets. They can help you through tough times; they know your history. If you lose people now, when things pick up, you’ll have to hire new people and train them, which will impact productivity.
• Survival comes first.
………………
“People use the word ‘guru,’ because the word ‘charlatan’ is so hard to spell.” —Peter Drucker
………………
“Be a people person. Answer your own phone. Wander around the ballpark. Be at the gate to say good night to people.” —Bill Veeck
………………
“You’ll never have to apologize for giving people some fun.” —Bill Veeck, who sent 3-foot-7 stunt man Eddie Gaedel to pinch hit for the Cleveland Browns in 1951
62. Marketing
“Always underpromise and overdeliver.” —Marilyn Black
………………
“Marketing is only as good as the supporting infrastructure.”
—Dick Benson
………………
Creating a product or service is easy. It’s the marketing that’s difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
Put another way: It’s easy to make a football. Getting it into the end zone is tough.
With any new business — or existing business — start with the customer and work backwards from there.
————————————————————————————–
For more about Denny Hatch visit his site
here www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
————————————————————————————–
73. Murphy’s Law
According to numerous websites, Edwards Air Force Base was the site of the birth of Murphy’s Law. (“If anything can go wrong, it will.”)
In 1949, Capt. Edward A. Murphy was a project engineer who discovered a transducer wrongly wired. He said of the technician who was responsible for the goof, “If there is any way to do it wrong, he’ll find it.”
Murphy’s comment was noted, and he became world famous. Other laws:
- Nothing is as easy as it looks.
- Everything takes longer than you think.
- Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
- If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
- Corollary: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.
- If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
- If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
- Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
- If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
- Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
- Mother Nature is a bitch.
- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
- Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
- Every solution breeds new problems.
………………
“Corollary to Murphy’s Law: Everything takes twice as long as you think it will take — and then double that. Everything costs twice as much as you think it will cost — and then double that.” —Irvin Borowsky
Before taking such action, think through every possible scenario and potential collateral damage.
………………
“Very often the art of public relations is the art of private relations.” —Albert Lasker
85. Public Speaking
“PowerPoint makes us stupid.” —Gen. James N. Mattis
“Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.” —Edward Tufte
Many (inept) speakers use PowerPoint badly. They fill the screen with small type that can be read only by people sitting in the front row, and they proceed to read their speech off the screen.
A read speech is a dead speech.
If you do use PowerPoint, limit the amount of text on the screen, and make it large enough for those in the last row to read.
Obey the 10-20-30 Rule of PowerPoint: no more than 10 slides, no more than 20 minutes and no type smaller than 30 point.
………………
People come to a presentation to listen and take notes, not to read along with the speaker.
………………
President Obama uses the invisible glass Teleprompter system on the right and left side of the podium, so eye contact with the audience can be maintained while the speech is being read. I am not sure if he has a printed speech on the podium as a back-up, but most likely he does.
President George W. Bush and members of his administration were “Of my two ‘handicaps’ being female put more obstacles in my path than being black.” —Shirley Chisholm
“Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” —Rosa Parks
………………
“I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don’t think there is anything such as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you’re happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven’t reached that stage yet.” —Rosa Parks
99. Writing
Below are Ted Nicholas’ four rules I follow when I start to prepare copy.
1. Clear your mind. For some persons, this might mean lying down for a few minutes before going to work. For others, it could mean jumping in the pool or jogging around a track. Frolic, spend time with someone you love or go dancing. Do whatever comes naturally to you in order to have a clear mind for creative purposes.
2. Never write when you’re tired. You’re not going to try to drive or operate machinery when you’re tired.
3. Never write when you’re busy. If there are other demands pressing on you, tend to them first. I don’t think anyone can write well when they are watching the clock. Don’t try to write if you have appointments later in the day or errands to run.
4. Don’t write in bits and pieces. Once you’ve turned on your creative energy, you need to keep it flowing. I don’t stop until I complete a draft. I try not to stop even for meals.
Want to know more?
That’s an affiliate link. Hey, I got kids to feed.
Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under advertising, Aldous Huxley, business, Edwards Air Force Base, Landing page, Murphy's law, Peter Drucker, Rosser Reeves by on Mar 3rd, 2011. Comment.
When genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot. – D.H. Lawrence
Who doesn’t want to be the one at the party, telling the story nobody can resist?
Even better, how about telling the story you know everybody will repeat tomorrow?
It’s a great feeling, when it happens.
And I’ve just started reading a book that might help you make sure it happens more often.
It’s called “Made to Stick,” by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. I must have missed it the first time around. It came out in 2007.
But already, as I read, I’m thinking… wow, imagine how many people I could have protected from boring storytelling (mostly mine) in the time since.
Even more, though, I see huge parallels in the book that work for us, as copywriters.
Let me show you what I mean…
WHAT IT MEANS TO “MAKE IT STICK”
When the Heath’s talk “stickiness,” they’re talking about those messages that people can’t resist repeating.
You know them.
In fact, the book itself starts with one — an urban legend about the guy who wakes up in a tub full of ice, one kidney short, after a bad date.
Urban legends are great examples of “sticky” tales because they best get remembered and passed around, solely on the steam they pick up from those that stumble across them.
And like I said, wouldn’t you want to tell a story — or better, write an ad — that could do that?
Of course you would.
“Stickiness” in itself won’t make you rich, of course. But the nature of a sticky tale or marketing message is not just that it gets passed around, but also that readers WANT to pass it around because it instantly engages and hangs on to their imaginations.
Imagine, say the Heath brothers, hearing the story about the guy who wakes up in the tub of ice. He sees a cell phone and a note telling him to call 911. “Stay calm,” says the 911 operator, “we’ve seen this before — one of your organs has been harvested.”
Not true, by the way. But what are the chances you could relate that same story to a friend, a week from today? Pretty good. And I’ve only given you the short version.
Compare that to a memo from the boss or an ad from a business that’s jammed with nothing but charts, statistics, and multi-syllabic claims.
Instantly forgettable.
The case I’m making — and I credit it to what I expect to find in the book — is that the same principles that make stories and other messages “sticky” can also make
your ad copy more powerful.
In fact, let’s break it down right now, right here, and see what we come up with…
SIX “STICKY” PRINCIPLES, SIX SECRETS TO GREAT ADS
Not to preempt the impact of what you’ll find in the book (and I encourage you to check it out), “Made to Stick” narrows lasting message power to six characteristics.
As I read a summary of all six, I couldn’t help but notice how well they matched six big secrets to writing great copy… including a few secrets you’ve already seen written up here before.
For instance…
GREAT MESSAGES ARE SIMPLE:
The Heaths’ #1 principle is that simple messages stick best. Common sense? Absolutely. And a great parallel to what my copy colleagues and I often talk about as the “Power of One.”
In short, avoid giving too many points — even great ones — when you can. Instead, scale back to the single most important “takeaway” message. One great insight is much easier to absorb than a dozen (or even six… ahem) very good ones.
GREAT MESSAGES SURPRISE:
“Made to Stick” calls this the value of “unexpectedness.” In the world of copy, we might call it instead the value of “uniqueness.” Especially as in the famous “USP” or “Unique Selling Proposition.”
Why does it matter so much to make your message new? Simple. Who wants to listen to the same old tales or promises, again and again? Why stick around for details
you can get anywhere?
Every seasoned copywriter knows that curiosity can be as powerful a motivator as a big promise, especially when it’s relevant to what you know you’re selling.
GREAT MESSAGES FEEL REAL:
The book calls this “concreteness” and makes a great analogy that you might remember: years back, a food researcher wanted to get across that movie popcorn was full of saturated fat.
He could have made his case with graphs and charts. He could have spelled out the fat content in milligrams. But he realized that wasn’t enough. So instead he compared it to eating the equivalent in Big Macs.
Those kinds of analogies are more than just colorful. They make an idea feel real, by connecting something new to something instantly personal and understandable.
I would add that it’s not just the vividness that makes a message stick, but also what we teach in copy workshops as “specificity.” Details make readers soak up stories in a way generalities cannot.
GREAT MESSAGES ARE BELIEVABLE:
In sales copy, a lot of what you’ll do is bend over backwards to prove your claims. Testimonials, studies, hard numbers, mainstream media quotes, photos of a bank statement or sharply contrasting “before and after” shots… there are lots of ways to do it.
And many times, it’s only by making this case that you’ll make your sale. But, warns the book, be careful. What you’re doing isn’t forcing an audience to consent to your claims.
Rather, you’re putting them in a spot where they can feel like they’ve decided for themselves. Ask yourself, you might say, how much better would your own life be if you could do what my product claims you can do?
And maybe even, how much worse could it get if you pass up on this opportunity? And then make it real for them, by way of those proofs and similar examples.
GREAT MESSAGES GET YOU WORKED UP:
Why do fundraising letters always start out with a personal story? Because the more they mail out those requests, the more they realize: you get more money when you make it personal.
Statistics on how many people died in the earthquake in Haiti or how many buildings fell might make your eyes pops. But it’s the story about a little girl who lost her mother that gets people to open checkbooks.
That’s because we’re programmed to get emotional when messages hit closer to home — suddenly we’re not talking vague millions, but your neighbor, your daughter, your friend, your wife. We can see that. More importantly, we can feel it.
Every kind of copy message works the same way. Tap emotions first and fast, get personal — it’s the only way to get doors to open consistently.
GREAT MESSAGES USE STORIES:
This might be the most instinctive “stickiness” secret of all. Like so many books in this vein, “Made to Stick” opens first with a string of stories, each of them proving the point better than the last.
There’s no fighting it — and no reason to fight it, either — people love a good story. Why? Because there’s no better, more painless way to package a message.
Stories seep into your conscious like good pop songs; with riffs and hooks that catch, and strings of notes you’re hard-pressed to forget. Stories flow automatically.
They give your imagination a backdrop. And a map to follow, so you can tell yourself and others the same story — and message — over and over again.
Does every great message have to be built around a great story? No. But it doesn’t hurt to have the story that tells it all, waiting in your arsenal.
I’m sure I’ll come back with more from “Made to Stick” as I get into it. Already, in fact, I’ve got a few more CR issue ideas percolating along those lines.
’til then, be sure to get a copy and check it out for yourself. I’ve already added it to my list of “recommended reads” on the Copywriter’s Roundtable website:
http://copywritersroundtable.com/further-reading
Contributed by John Forde
Guest Contributor
Filed under advertising, copywriting, John Forde by on Sep 28th, 2010. 2 Comments.
When genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot. – D.H. Lawrence
Who doesn’t want to be the one at the party, telling the story nobody can resist?
Even better, how about telling the story you know everybody will repeat tomorrow?
It’s a great feeling, when it happens.
And I’ve just started reading a book that might help you make sure it happens more often.
It’s called “Made to Stick,” by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. I must have missed it the first time around. It came out in 2007.
But already, as I read, I’m thinking… wow, imagine how many people I could have protected from boring storytelling (mostly mine) in the time since.
Even more, though, I see huge parallels in the book that work for us, as copywriters.
Let me show you what I mean…
WHAT IT MEANS TO “MAKE IT STICK”
When the Heath’s talk “stickiness,” they’re talking about those messages that people can’t resist repeating.
You know them.
In fact, the book itself starts with one — an urban legend about the guy who wakes up in a tub full of ice, one kidney short, after a bad date.
Urban legends are great examples of “sticky” tales because they best get remembered and passed around, solely on the steam they pick up from those that stumble across them.
And like I said, wouldn’t you want to tell a story — or better, write an ad — that could do that?
Of course you would.
“Stickiness” in itself won’t make you rich, of course. But the nature of a sticky tale or marketing message is not just that it gets passed around, but also that readers WANT to pass it around because it instantly engages and hangs on to their imaginations.
Imagine, say the Heath brothers, hearing the story about the guy who wakes up in the tub of ice. He sees a cell phone and a note telling him to call 911. “Stay calm,” says the 911 operator, “we’ve seen this before — one of your organs has been harvested.”
Not true, by the way. But what are the chances you could relate that same story to a friend, a week from today? Pretty good. And I’ve only given you the short version.
Compare that to a memo from the boss or an ad from a business that’s jammed with nothing but charts, statistics, and multi-syllabic claims.
Instantly forgettable.
The case I’m making — and I credit it to what I expect to find in the book — is that the same principles that make stories and other messages “sticky” can also make
your ad copy more powerful.
In fact, let’s break it down right now, right here, and see what we come up with…
SIX “STICKY” PRINCIPLES, SIX SECRETS TO GREAT ADS
Not to preempt the impact of what you’ll find in the book (and I encourage you to check it out), “Made to Stick” narrows lasting message power to six characteristics.
As I read a summary of all six, I couldn’t help but notice how well they matched six big secrets to writing great copy… including a few secrets you’ve already seen written up here before.
For instance…
GREAT MESSAGES ARE SIMPLE:
The Heaths’ #1 principle is that simple messages stick best. Common sense? Absolutely. And a great parallel to what my copy colleagues and I often talk about as the “Power of One.”
In short, avoid giving too many points — even great ones — when you can. Instead, scale back to the single most important “takeaway” message. One great insight is much easier to absorb than a dozen (or even six… ahem) very good ones.
GREAT MESSAGES SURPRISE:
“Made to Stick” calls this the value of “unexpectedness.” In the world of copy, we might call it instead the value of “uniqueness.” Especially as in the famous “USP” or “Unique Selling Proposition.”
Why does it matter so much to make your message new? Simple. Who wants to listen to the same old tales or promises, again and again? Why stick around for details
you can get anywhere?
Every seasoned copywriter knows that curiosity can be as powerful a motivator as a big promise, especially when it’s relevant to what you know you’re selling.
GREAT MESSAGES FEEL REAL:
The book calls this “concreteness” and makes a great analogy that you might remember: years back, a food researcher wanted to get across that movie popcorn was full of saturated fat.
He could have made his case with graphs and charts. He could have spelled out the fat content in milligrams. But he realized that wasn’t enough. So instead he compared it to eating the equivalent in Big Macs.
Those kinds of analogies are more than just colorful. They make an idea feel real, by connecting something new to something instantly personal and understandable.
I would add that it’s not just the vividness that makes a message stick, but also what we teach in copy workshops as “specificity.” Details make readers soak up stories in a way generalities cannot.
GREAT MESSAGES ARE BELIEVABLE:
In sales copy, a lot of what you’ll do is bend over backwards to prove your claims. Testimonials, studies, hard numbers, mainstream media quotes, photos of a bank statement or sharply contrasting “before and after” shots… there are lots of ways to do it.
And many times, it’s only by making this case that you’ll make your sale. But, warns the book, be careful. What you’re doing isn’t forcing an audience to consent to your claims.
Rather, you’re putting them in a spot where they can feel like they’ve decided for themselves. Ask yourself, you might say, how much better would your own life be if you could do what my product claims you can do?
And maybe even, how much worse could it get if you pass up on this opportunity? And then make it real for them, by way of those proofs and similar examples.
GREAT MESSAGES GET YOU WORKED UP:
Why do fundraising letters always start out with a personal story? Because the more they mail out those requests, the more they realize: you get more money when you make it personal.
Statistics on how many people died in the earthquake in Haiti or how many buildings fell might make your eyes pops. But it’s the story about a little girl who lost her mother that gets people to open checkbooks.
That’s because we’re programmed to get emotional when messages hit closer to home — suddenly we’re not talking vague millions, but your neighbor, your daughter, your friend, your wife. We can see that. More importantly, we can feel it.
Every kind of copy message works the same way. Tap emotions first and fast, get personal — it’s the only way to get doors to open consistently.
GREAT MESSAGES USE STORIES:
This might be the most instinctive “stickiness” secret of all. Like so many books in this vein, “Made to Stick” opens first with a string of stories, each of them proving the point better than the last.
There’s no fighting it — and no reason to fight it, either — people love a good story. Why? Because there’s no better, more painless way to package a message.
Stories seep into your conscious like good pop songs; with riffs and hooks that catch, and strings of notes you’re hard-pressed to forget. Stories flow automatically.
They give your imagination a backdrop. And a map to follow, so you can tell yourself and others the same story — and message — over and over again.
Does every great message have to be built around a great story? No. But it doesn’t hurt to have the story that tells it all, waiting in your arsenal.
I’m sure I’ll come back with more from “Made to Stick” as I get into it. Already, in fact, I’ve got a few more CR issue ideas percolating along those lines.
’til then, be sure to get a copy and check it out for yourself. I’ve already added it to my list of “recommended reads” on the Copywriter’s Roundtable website:
http://copywritersroundtable.com/further-reading
Contributed by John Forde
Guest Contributor
Filed under advertising, copywriting, D H Lawrence, Genuine Passion, Imaginations, John Forde, marketing, Online Writing, Reading A Book, Storytelling, Urban Legends by on Sep 28th, 2010. Comment.
Did you know the sounds different letters make can make your copy more or less powerful?
It’s true. Or, at least, it is according to G.W. Freeman.
He wrote an article around 90 years ago where he gives examples. How the letter ‘S’ can make your copy sound ‘faster’. How the letter ‘P’ can give your copy ‘power’.
And how the letter ‘H’ can give your copy ‘force’.
Maybe you have other thoughts about this. Let me know what you think.
Meanwhile, take it away G.W.
The Tone Of Voice In Copy
By G. W. Freeman
“EASY to write, hard to read,” was declared by Robert Louis Stevenson to be an axiom of the scrivener’s art . . . and advertising writing cannot escape the laws that govern the creation of all effective copy.
Two people utter identical phrases, and one repels by his truculent gruffness, whereas the other with soft and pleasing tones, charms.
That is a matter of tone of voice.
The printed word offers few mechanical devices for indicating stress and manner, and so the advertising writer must employ words as tools for modifying stress and tone, and by his literary style develop a pleasing tone of voice in his copy.
The pictorial side gets painful thought so as to make the advertisement appeal.
And then the one element that can really appeal to the mind and to the imagination is dismissed with “Make it brief,” or “Just talk naturally.”
“Natural” copy is the hardest to write. It takes most labor, that is, if it seems natural
For most copy that is written “just like you talk” reads like nothing under heaven.
Here is a piece of copy written “naturally” by an engineer for a manufacturer of rubber belts:
“. . . the present day farmer will buy only the best, regardless of initial cost, for experience has taught him that low first costs invariably mean higher ultimate costs.”
That’s natural writing.
But does it sound as natural as this: “Did you ever buy a likely looking scrub cow only to find that she never gave enough milk to pay for her feed? If you have, you’ve learned that low first cost does not always pay best. There are scrubs among farm belts, and there are pure-breds, and you know which kind will give you satisfaction.”
Professional rhetoricians bid us avoid “alliteration’s artful aid.”
And yet there is a valid reason why we, as copy writers, should employ it.
Alliteration formed the basis of the early poetry of our race, and that early influence is persistent.
Our forefathers, sitting through long cold evenings in their draughty halls, drank and sang in unison, eagerly beating time to the alliterative syllables of the song.
Consider this stanza from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (937 A.D.):
Her Aethelstan cynig,
eorla drighten beorna beahgifa,
and his brothor eac Eadmund Aethling,
ealdor laugne tir ge slogan aet Saecce,
suorda ecgum.
Vowels alliterated with any other vowels, as in the first and third lines. See how the b’s beat through the second line, and the s’s through the fourth.
Alliteration is valuable in headlines
“Montreal or Miami, it’s all the same to a Marmon,” is more effective than “Palm Beach or Quebec, it’s all the same to a Marmon.”
The value of the alliteration is in its swing and tinkle.
But alliteration is attractive and useful only in headlines. In body text it gives an effect of insincerity.
Consider this bit of copy which appeared in a booklet issued years ago by an advertising agency: “We produce copy that causes prospects to pause, ponder and purchase.”
That not only sounds strained, it bears the earmarks of the “smart alec.”
RHYME is always to be avoided in headlines, just as every copywriter shuns accidental rhymes in the body of his text
And yet, while rhymed headlines and rhymed text are anathema, rhymed slogans are worth their weight in platinum because they jingle around in the brain like an unforgettable tune:
“The Wilson Label Protects Your Table.”
“Read and Write by Emeralite.”
These belong right along with
“Thirty days hath September”
and
“Punch, brothers, punch with care, punch in the presence of the passengaire.”
And for the same good reason—we can’t forget the rhyme.
We all know that words suggest related ideas—connotation. The more pleasing the connotation, the more pleasing the effect of the word.
The classic horrible example once quoted by an otherwise intelligent advertising man was “Make the old home into a new house.” And I personally don’t believe that any advertising man, not even the boss’s younger brother, ever wrote that!
But aside from their connotation, are there any pleasing words—or unpleasing ones?
In and of themselves, pleasant or unpleasant?
THUS there is a displeasing sequence: The liquids, “1″ and “r,” are closely related in sound, and like people that are closely related, they do not get along well together.
Consider this sentence from a recent “Sunmaid Raisin” page advertisement in the Post:
“If you like delicious, wholesome, full fruited raisin bread.”
—
I defy anyone to read that the first time and not say, “delicious, wholesome, full fluited raisin bread,” or at least “Full fruited laisin bled.”
It’s like that classic tongue twister, “The rat ran over the roof with a lump of raw liver in its mouth.”
Discordant sounds have their use; however, for the skillful copy writer will employ them when he touches lightly on those conditions which he wishes to appear unpleasant.
Thus a Weed Chain advertisement, which described the “smug” content of the foolish driver who left his chains back in the garage.
But on the positive side of the subject, are there pleasing words?
Who does not roll such words as these under his tongue?
- Power
- Purple
- Promise
- Progress
- Proven
- Providence
And as for “profit”—the greatest of these is Profit.
Closely allied to “v” is “f,” and r-p-f is almost as pleasing at r-p-v.
Consider these trade names:
- Paramount Pictures
- Packard
- Peerless
- Pierce Arrow
and
- Ivory Soap
See how they are charged with “r’s” and “p’s.”
Contrast these two pieces of copy —one full of “r’s” with one “f” and one “p” and the other a succession of “k” sounds:
“She will be beautiful of course in the rosy future pictured by a mother’s dream.”
“Wash your hair becomingly, always have it beautifully clean and well kept and it will add more than anything else to your attractiveness.”
Now examine this from a recent Jordon offering:
“Nimble, snug and hammock swung close to the skimming road, this fascinating car glides lightly on its way.”
Count the “s’s”.
That’s the secret of its speed and action. For “s” is the symbol of the present active verb.
It denotes action.
To speed copy use short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Words filled with s’s.
But speed isn’t always what we are after.
Sometimes a client prefers that we obtain results—and that often calls for emphasis. To give weight to any point use, a few more words.
“Every drill is inspected 50 times” may be just as true as “Every drill is inspected time and again, thoroughly, painstakingly, and must meet no less than 50 separate tests”, but it carries less weight than the longer sentence.
Don’t be obsessed by the short-word, “mania”. If you want weight, and even if you need a long word for beauty, don’t balk at a polysyllable.
Short words aren’t necessarily “good old Anglo-Saxon”. Latin has given us “mob” and “vest” and “togs”.
If you want force, I suggest that you try out a few words with initial “H”.
‘H’ is a forceful letter.
Just open your mouth and let out a “whoop” or a “holler” and you’ll see why.
The Greeks called the H-sound a “rough breathing”.
Just listen a moment to this list:
- Ha
- Halt
- Hold on
- Hump
- Hey you
- Hark
- Hand it
- Here
- Hack
- Hit
- Hate
- Hell
That gives us a clue to the strength that has been injected into this headline – The Blue Heart guarantees excess rope strength – “The Blue Heart” sounds stronger than the word “strength”.
Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under advertising, copywriting, Writing by on Aug 15th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Did you know the sounds different letters make can make your copy more or less powerful?
It’s true. Or, at least, it is according to G.W. Freeman.
He wrote an article around 90 years ago where he gives examples. How the letter ‘S’ can make your copy sound ‘faster’. How the letter ‘P’ can give your copy ‘power’.
And how the letter ‘H’ can give your copy ‘force’.
Maybe you have other thoughts about this. Let me know what you think.
Meanwhile, take it away G.W.
The Tone Of Voice In Copy
By G. W. Freeman
“EASY to write, hard to read,” was declared by Robert Louis Stevenson to be an axiom of the scrivener’s art . . . and advertising writing cannot escape the laws that govern the creation of all effective copy.
Two people utter identical phrases, and one repels by his truculent gruffness, whereas the other with soft and pleasing tones, charms.
That is a matter of tone of voice.
The printed word offers few mechanical devices for indicating stress and manner, and so the advertising writer must employ words as tools for modifying stress and tone, and by his literary style develop a pleasing tone of voice in his copy.
The pictorial side gets painful thought so as to make the advertisement appeal.
And then the one element that can really appeal to the mind and to the imagination is dismissed with “Make it brief,” or “Just talk naturally.”
“Natural” copy is the hardest to write. It takes most labor, that is, if it seems natural
For most copy that is written “just like you talk” reads like nothing under heaven.
Here is a piece of copy written “naturally” by an engineer for a manufacturer of rubber belts:
“. . . the present day farmer will buy only the best, regardless of initial cost, for experience has taught him that low first costs invariably mean higher ultimate costs.”
That’s natural writing.
But does it sound as natural as this: “Did you ever buy a likely looking scrub cow only to find that she never gave enough milk to pay for her feed? If you have, you’ve learned that low first cost does not always pay best. There are scrubs among farm belts, and there are pure-breds, and you know which kind will give you satisfaction.”
Professional rhetoricians bid us avoid “alliteration’s artful aid.”
And yet there is a valid reason why we, as copy writers, should employ it.
Alliteration formed the basis of the early poetry of our race, and that early influence is persistent.
Our forefathers, sitting through long cold evenings in their draughty halls, drank and sang in unison, eagerly beating time to the alliterative syllables of the song.
Consider this stanza from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (937 A.D.):
Her Aethelstan cynig,
eorla drighten beorna beahgifa,
and his brothor eac Eadmund Aethling,
ealdor laugne tir ge slogan aet Saecce,
suorda ecgum.
Vowels alliterated with any other vowels, as in the first and third lines. See how the b’s beat through the second line, and the s’s through the fourth.
Alliteration is valuable in headlines
“Montreal or Miami, it’s all the same to a Marmon,” is more effective than “Palm Beach or Quebec, it’s all the same to a Marmon.”
The value of the alliteration is in its swing and tinkle.
But alliteration is attractive and useful only in headlines. In body text it gives an effect of insincerity.
Consider this bit of copy which appeared in a booklet issued years ago by an advertising agency: “We produce copy that causes prospects to pause, ponder and purchase.”
That not only sounds strained, it bears the earmarks of the “smart alec.”
RHYME is always to be avoided in headlines, just as every copywriter shuns accidental rhymes in the body of his text
And yet, while rhymed headlines and rhymed text are anathema, rhymed slogans are worth their weight in platinum because they jingle around in the brain like an unforgettable tune:
“The Wilson Label Protects Your Table.”
“Read and Write by Emeralite.”
These belong right along with
“Thirty days hath September”
and
“Punch, brothers, punch with care, punch in the presence of the passengaire.”
And for the same good reason—we can’t forget the rhyme.
We all know that words suggest related ideas—connotation. The more pleasing the connotation, the more pleasing the effect of the word.
The classic horrible example once quoted by an otherwise intelligent advertising man was “Make the old home into a new house.” And I personally don’t believe that any advertising man, not even the boss’s younger brother, ever wrote that!
But aside from their connotation, are there any pleasing words—or unpleasing ones?
In and of themselves, pleasant or unpleasant?
THUS there is a displeasing sequence: The liquids, “1″ and “r,” are closely related in sound, and like people that are closely related, they do not get along well together.
Consider this sentence from a recent “Sunmaid Raisin” page advertisement in the Post:
“If you like delicious, wholesome, full fruited raisin bread.”
—
I defy anyone to read that the first time and not say, “delicious, wholesome, full fluited raisin bread,” or at least “Full fruited laisin bled.”
It’s like that classic tongue twister, “The rat ran over the roof with a lump of raw liver in its mouth.”
Discordant sounds have their use; however, for the skillful copy writer will employ them when he touches lightly on those conditions which he wishes to appear unpleasant.
Thus a Weed Chain advertisement, which described the “smug” content of the foolish driver who left his chains back in the garage.
But on the positive side of the subject, are there pleasing words?
Who does not roll such words as these under his tongue?
- Power
- Purple
- Promise
- Progress
- Proven
- Providence
And as for “profit”—the greatest of these is Profit.
Closely allied to “v” is “f,” and r-p-f is almost as pleasing at r-p-v.
Consider these trade names:
- Paramount Pictures
- Packard
- Peerless
- Pierce Arrow
and
- Ivory Soap
See how they are charged with “r’s” and “p’s.”
Contrast these two pieces of copy —one full of “r’s” with one “f” and one “p” and the other a succession of “k” sounds:
“She will be beautiful of course in the rosy future pictured by a mother’s dream.”
“Wash your hair becomingly, always have it beautifully clean and well kept and it will add more than anything else to your attractiveness.”
Now examine this from a recent Jordon offering:
“Nimble, snug and hammock swung close to the skimming road, this fascinating car glides lightly on its way.”
Count the “s’s”.
That’s the secret of its speed and action. For “s” is the symbol of the present active verb.
It denotes action.
To speed copy use short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Words filled with s’s.
But speed isn’t always what we are after.
Sometimes a client prefers that we obtain results—and that often calls for emphasis. To give weight to any point use, a few more words.
“Every drill is inspected 50 times” may be just as true as “Every drill is inspected time and again, thoroughly, painstakingly, and must meet no less than 50 separate tests”, but it carries less weight than the longer sentence.
Don’t be obsessed by the short-word, “mania”. If you want weight, and even if you need a long word for beauty, don’t balk at a polysyllable.
Short words aren’t necessarily “good old Anglo-Saxon”. Latin has given us “mob” and “vest” and “togs”.
If you want force, I suggest that you try out a few words with initial “H”.
‘H’ is a forceful letter.
Just open your mouth and let out a “whoop” or a “holler” and you’ll see why.
The Greeks called the H-sound a “rough breathing”.
Just listen a moment to this list:
- Ha
- Halt
- Hold on
- Hump
- Hey you
- Hark
- Hand it
- Here
- Hack
- Hit
- Hate
- Hell
That gives us a clue to the strength that has been injected into this headline – The Blue Heart guarantees excess rope strength – “The Blue Heart” sounds stronger than the word “strength”.
Best,
Rezbi
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.hotbuttoncopywriting.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under advertising, copywriting, Writing by on Aug 15th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Do your prospects and customers find your messages hard to take in? It sounds crazy – but it happens most of the time.
Have you ever asked yourself why you communicate? Let’s face it: unless, like a politician, you suffer from a constant need to bore other people, you must have a purpose.
Maybe it’s to sell something: your product or service, or firm. Perhaps it’s to make something happen, or prevent it happening. Possibly it’s to clarify a misunderstanding or put over your point of view.
You may have many objectives. But whatever your purpose, I imagine you would agree it is, above all, essential that your audience understands what you are saying – quickly, easily and correctly. Otherwise, how are you to achieve your purpose?
Yet you may be surprised to know that many, perhaps most, printed commercial messages are ill understood by readers. The chief reason is that those who prepare them – writers and designers – know astoundingly little about what makes things easy to read.
For the most part, they rely on their own taste and judgement, or what is fashionable in “creative” circles. I put quotes round the word creative because, although the word implies originality, most slavishly follow whatever the current fad may be.
Slavish followers of fashion
Thus, if the fashion is for sans-serif type, or emphasising words regardless of their importance, or using certain words or phrases – like “strategic” or “key issues”, you will find many writers and art directors use them regardless of their suitability or how well they get your message across.
We can all have opinions about what we like, or what we think is tasteful, clever or well-arranged or visually exciting, but what really matters is, how well is your message conveyed? And oddly enough, a simple look at any daily paper reveals most of the principles.
The fundamental thing to recognise about words, type and layout is simple. They are tools to convey your message as clearly and quickly as possible. As the great typographical authority, Stanley Morison, noted: “Any disposition of type which, whatever the intention, comes between the reader and the meaning, is wrong”.
As you will see shortly, if you rely on taste, opinion or fashion the result is often disastrous; but happily, two men devoted many years to discovering how better use of language, type and layout makes for better communication.
Decades of research
One was Rudolph Flesch, an American, who studied what kinds and arrangements of words, sentences and paragraphs are most easily read. The other, an academic at the University of New South Wales called Colin Wheildon, conceived the idea of learning not whether people liked or disliked certain layouts or type styles, but how well they communicated.
He did this by taking some 200 Australian consumers, getting them to read certain passages laid-out in various ways, then asking them to describe what they had just read. He also asked them how easy they had found a particular piece to read. In other words he wanted to know how well different layout styles and typographic styles worked from a practical, not an aesthetic point of view.
The original research took over two years. As far as I know it is the most extensive and thorough of its kind. It has been extended and repeated over the 20-odd years since, and came out three years ago in a full-length book with the title ‘Type and Layout’*. I recommend it if you want to make sure that whatever your message is, it gets through as well as possible.
In addition, since all messages aim to elicit a response – either, “yes, I understand” or “yes, I will do what you ask,” a lot of the results of direct response advertising can teach us lessons about what works and what doesn’t.
This piece distils some of the main things that have been learned from these three sources but the principal lesson is clear: people’s eyes and brains are lazy. If the eye has to adjust or make an effort, it will avoid doing so if possible. The same applies to the brain.
This should not surprise you: after all, how many business ideas – fast food, for example – succeed simply because people are lazy? First, let’s look at what has been learned about layout and typography.
A page of copy in serif type was comprehended well by 67% of readers. When the same copy was reset in sans serif, the figures nose-dived to 12%.
Why? Because the little “feet” on a line of serif type help keep people’s eyes on that line. So if you use sans serif type, make sure there’s plenty of leading – space – between the lines.
Perceived legibility of a series of headlines went down by over 20% when the setting was changed from capitals and lower case to capitals only. Imagine what happens to comprehension when someone sets a whole page in “caps” – which is quite the rage at the moment.
The eye recognises shapes, not individual letters, and a word set in caps has no shape, whereas the descenders and ascenders in caps and lower case give a word shape. What are descenders and ascenders? Well, in the word “shape”, h is an ascender and p is a descender.
Good comprehension slumped when type was set with ragged right setting (typically down from 67% to 38%) or, even more so with ragged left setting (67 down to 10 percent).
That’s because the eye has to adjust constantly. Often people set long passages “centred” – ragged on both sides. What do you suppose that does to comprehension?
For the same reason constant changes in typeface are not only ugly but confusing. This also applies to the needless changes in type size so fashionable amongst advertising agency art directors.
At least one person in ten has imperfect eyesight. So copy in very small type is usually unwise. And type set over tints or textures or colours so that it does not stand out clearly is fatal.
- Type set in narrow columns is easy to read – the eye doesn’t have to travel so far. Around 50 characters per line is about as long as it should go.
- Readers found headlines
laid out in a series
of “decks” or layers
like this were hard
to comprehend.
56% said they found headlines of more than four decks difficult.
Visual elements that point out of the layout – like people’s feet, or their sight lines – lead the readers out of the advertisement.
Illustrations that block off a column halfway down the page discourage the reader from travelling further.
Headlines marooned in the middle of the copy destroy the flow of that copy and halve good comprehension. So do headlines placed under the copy. The reader can’t be bothered to look up to the start of the copy.
Long, unbroken blocks of type are daunting. They should be broken up by crossheads, indents, and changes in type. Giving ‘shape’ to long letters also encourages readership.
- Huge headings take up expensive space you have paid for and only work if you have readers with arms 8 feet long.
When a lot of type is reversed out white on black, it kills response. In the case of one full-page magazine advertisement, response doubled when white on black was replaced with the normal black on white.
Captions are heavily read. If you run a picture without a caption, you lose the chance to communicate.
- Pictures of people’s faces gain enormous attention. Use them wherever you can.
Techniques that make for easier reading
If you buy The Wall Street Journal you will see how surprisingly easy the front page is to read. That is because it follows the rules laid down by Rudolph Flesch.
Best sellers and tabloid newspapers adhere to these techniques, as do direct response copywriters. They all have to make reading easy. Otherwise they go broke.
Sentences should be short. An average 16 words per sentence is ideal. The easiest sentence to read contains eight words. The average reader finds anything longer than 32 words hard to take in.
Paragraphs should be short, containing just one thought in each particularly the first paragraph.
- However, vary sentence and paragraph lengths to avoid dullness.
Words should be short and lively, not long and dull: eg, buy, not purchase; free. Not complimentary.
- Never use unnecessary words: eg, “for free” should be “free”; “miss out on” should be “miss”; “male personnel” should be “men”.
“You”, “yours” and “your” should appear 2-3 times more than “I”, “we”, “our”, “us” and “ours”. That’s because readers are interested in themselves – just as you are.
Use words and phrases at paragraph beginnings that encourage continued reading – like “And”, “Moreover”, “That is why” and “What’s more”. If you put questions at paragraph ends, this helps too. Why?
Because reader wants to know the answer – which is why you just read this sentence.
If you break sentences at the ends of pages and columns, this also encourages continued reading. Put ‘Please turn over’ or the like at the end of a letter page.
There are other points well worth knowing, but that’s all I have room for here. Thanks for reading through to the end; I hope you found it easy – and clear.
Best,
Drayton
www.directmarketingcourse.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under advertising, Art Directors, copywriting, Designers, Prospects, Sans Serif, Serif Type, Shapes by on Jul 26th, 2010. Comment.
