This is Steve Harrison…
“The greatest DM creative of this generation.”
A bold claim, you might say, but that’s not me saying it. It was a claim made by the UK’s leading advertising journal, Campaign magazine.
Steve was one of the presenters at the direct marketing course ran by Drayton Bird’s European Academy of Direct and Interactive Marketing, or EADIM for short.
Let me tell you, Steve alone was worth the fee for the course.
And that’s saying something when you consider some of the industry’s biggest hitters were also there presenting.
It’s happening again starting this October. I’ll give you more details soon.
Best,
Rezbi
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under marketing by on Jul 6th, 2010. Comment. 
As Mastercard looks to expand into the UK market, they are planning to help out retailers by starting a Direct Marketing campaign, according to Marketing Week.
The fact that this is the first time Mastercard has considered a direct marketing service for its retailers proves that DM is far from dead, as a lot of people had predicted. It appears Mastercard have already run trials in the US and are now ready to enter the UK market.
Although they have entered into offering direct marketing services Mastercard are doing so under a new banner – that of Advisors Merchant Solutions (AMS).
According to Andrew Woodward, senior vice president for merchant solutions for MasterCard Advisors, AMS “will be a key component of MasterCard’s strategy as we look to grow, diversify and build our business with retailers in the UK”.
Best,
Rezbi
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under direct marketing by on Jul 3rd, 2010. 1 Comment.
This video may sound a bit like it was recorded in a municipal swimming baths (actually it was my partner Al’S quaint West Country residence) but once you’ve got over that, you may find it useful.
That’s because it deals with something I must have been asked a thousand times: how often should I mail/email my clients?
This reminds me of another hoary old favourite: how long should the copy be?
And both remind me of the philosopher Bertrand Russell’s remark that “What men seek is not knowledge, but certainty.”
Some people think they should be talking more often, lest their customers think they are being ignored; others think they should talk less for fear of boring them.
The truth is, as so often, that it depends on a myriad things. In this 2 minute 6 second clip I get pretty excited about the subject – but don’t let that put you off.
By the way, I have just finished putting together the examples for the first How to Write Proper webinar.
Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under Drayton Bird, copywriting, marketing by on Jul 1st, 2010. Comment.
If you read these serpentine ramblings you know I greatly admire the Venerable Denny Hatch.
Denny, with almost demented dedication, has over the last 26 years created the world’s largest organised direct mail library – over 200,000 samples.
But what is more important, he knows what worked – and what didn’t, and can tell you why, because he knows more than anyone about the subject.
18 years ago I rang his wife, Peggy (who is as able as he is!) to ask how many mailings he read a month.
“Between one and two thousand,” she replied. “Mind you, he doesn’t read all of them all through.”
“I should bloody well hope not,” I thought. “The poor man would end up in a loony bin if he did.”
Anyhow, since that time, Denny’s mammoth compendium of the best mailings ever - Million $$$ Mailings, created with Axel Andersson - has been my secret weapon.
I use it to cheat.
I thumb through it for inspiration – and for ideas to steal, adapt and use in seminars. It contains 71 of the most successful mailings ever written. Only last month I wrote something that pulled like an express train based on one line I spotted and “improved”.
I refer to it more than Caples, more than Hopkins, more than Ogilvy.
The only problem is, it is a WHACKING GREAT TOME, 477 pages long – I yearn to beat up recalcitrant clients with it. I can’t find the ideas I want quickly. And it is 18 years old, so some important new stuff is not in it.
Now, praise the Lord, Denny has come up with something that’s bang up-to-date, and a lot shorter. So I can find tested ideas to steal in minutes.
It’s a report called The Secrets of Emotional Hot-ButtonCopywriting. You can get it at http://tinyurl.com/29a5mv5.
But to call it a report does it too little justice. It is atreasure trove. I flipped it open just now and immediately saw an extraordinary opening line “I’m sitting in my wheelchair today, mad as hell” … imagine what that could do for your e-mail opening rates!
(Do not think for a second that what applies in direct mail does not apply online. It is pretty much all relevant – and the examples you see are from the best of the best in a business that has been around for centuries, not decades).
As the title says, the report is based on the turbulent, gnawing human emotions – the hot buttons – that make your customers buy. And it features the best mailings of the last 20 years. Only Denny could have put it together, because only Denny has this astonishing archive of material.
And Denny does something so many fail to do: he tells you WHY things work. You will never get this from some of the hyped-up piffle that sails into your inbox every day.
A friend just forwarded me (as a joke) one of those emails that say “all you need is this set of DVDs and booklets and your copy will “write itself” automatically.
What drivel!
Here, for $89, you can get what you really need – theCopy Thieves’ Almanac. I may use one of the mailings in a speech I make in a week’s time. I will certainly adapt another for some work I have to do for an investment client.
Here again is where to order: http://tinyurl.com/29a5mv5.
Why not make it the next thing you do? Just one idea could double the response from your next effort. I have seen it happen. I know.
Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
Filed under Drayton Bird, advertising, copywriting, marketing by on Jun 29th, 2010. Comment.
When I last ran a one day seminar in London, I used a simple weapon to get attendees. It was not direct mail. Not advertising. Not PR. Not a clever promotion.
It was an e-mailed survey, it got 16% response, and I made a few thousand quid.
That was partly because of the list and partly because of the person who signed it (not me). So this video is all about why surveys are such a deceptively powerful weapon. See what you think.
Would you like an example of how I use surveys?
I have a client who is setting up a business overseas. I suggested his launch could be based on a survey. So now he is writing some copy which I will edit/revise/trample all over.
We will get the survey results published in a newspaper (they’re always gagging for stuff to run). That will establish his name and give him credibility among his prospects. And that will lead to a series of other things I won’t bore you with.
The best survey format is anonymous, so people are happier to respond. I hope that is true of you, because I have stuck a survey in here – and I’d really appreciate your reply.
Two weeks ago so many of you said you’d like a writing webinar that I wondered what else would interest you.
So in the survey I’ve listed some – but not all – the topics I have bored the opants off people about in sundry places from Dubai to Sydney. Let me know which interest you and I will try to set something up. It takes no time at all to complete.
Oh, and I’ve also asked about something entirely different that I am running. It has limited numbers, so I want to know what the likely take up is.
I will tell you what results the survey comes up with, so you will know what interests other people
Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.commonsensedirectmarketing.com
P. S. The writing webinars will will start in about a week. The delay is because we have spent a ludicrous amount of time looking at the various options. None is perfect, but I think we have arrived at the best.
Also how we take your money is a pain to arrange. Don’t worry. I have a deal for you!
Actually I have two deals for you – but that’s for another day.
Two weeks ago so many of you said you’d like a writing webinar that I wondered what else would interest you.
So in the survey I’ve listed some – but not all – the topics I have bored the opants off people about in sundry places from Dubai to Sydney. Let me know which interest you and I will try to set something up. It takes no time at all to complete.
Oh, and I’ve also asked about something entirely different that I am running. It has limited numbers, so I want to know what the likely take up is.
I will tell you what results the survey comes up with, so you will know what interests other people
P. S. The writing webinars will will start in about a week. The delay is because we have spent a ludicrous amount of time looking at the various options. None is perfect, but I think we have arrived at the best.
Also how we take your money is a pain to arrange. Don’t worry. I have a deal for you!
Actually I have
two deals for you – but that’s for another day.Best,
Drayton
www.eadim.com
www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com
Filed under Drayton Bird by on Jun 25th, 2010. Comment.
