The Golden Thread – The Week in Review
March 16–22, 2003
Welcome to The Golden Thread Online, your free e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every Saturday, you will receive this recap of all the strategies, insights and opportunities we send to you and your fellow AWAIers each week. Whether it’s a message from a fellow writer about how he landed a new client … a technique from a Master copywriter for writing a control … an insight into how to succeed in a new market … news of a brand new writing job or business opportunity for you … you’ll find it here in this easy-to-access and always available “Week in Review.”
In This Issue:
- Direct Mail Debate: Should You Disguise the Envelope – or Not?
Michael Masterson discusses whether or not to disguise your envelope. - 7 Proven Ways to Find Your First Client
Lori Appling shares seven tips from AWAI members on how to land your first client. - How to Get Your Prospect to "Listen" to You
Discover how to grab and keep your reader's attention. - Five Tips I Picked Up at Last Year's Bootcamp for Writing Winning Catalog Copy
Krista Jones shares five secrets she learned about writing catalog copy from attending AWAI's bootcamp.
Direct Mail Debate: Should You Disguise the Envelope – or Not?
One of the arguments that has been going on in the direct-mail business for as long as I've been in it has been about the envelope. The question: Should you make it look like advertising and risk having it tossed – or should you disguise it as something else?
On the disguise side of the direct-mail-envelope argument are such DM luminaries as Herschell Gordon Lewis ("The only purpose of the carrier envelope is to get itself opened.") and Gary Halbert ("Remember, people sort their mail into two piles: the A pile and the B pile. Your goal is to get your mailing into the A pile.")
I once heard Halbert argue that a plain, No. 10 envelope, addressed in a typewriter font and bearing a first-class stamp, would always out-pull something with teasers and bullets.
The other side of the argument was made by Bill Jayme (another direct-mail hall-of-famer), who said that you should never disguise the fact that your mail is advertising. "Your outer envelope is where your prospect decides whether to stop, look, and listen. It's the come-on – the headline on the ad, the cover of the catalog, the dust-jacket on the book, the display window outside the store.
"This holds true for the business arena as well. Any competent secretary can recognize bulk mail. The secret to overcoming 'the secretary barrier' is to create an envelope that looks interesting."
Axel Anderson, who has studied the industry more closely than almost anyone else, says that in looking at 200 long-term controls, "not one fit the Halbert model."
My own opinion: The truth is somewhere in between. I've been involved in the mailing of millions and millions of direct-mail packages and hundreds – no, thousands – of tests. Among them, I've tested this particular argument at least a dozen times …and this is what I've found.
If you have so-so copy on the envelope, a fake first-class, personalized envelope will do better. But if your teasers and bullets are on target, putting them on the envelope will get you a higher response.
My practical recommendation to my clients is always this: Create the strongest envelope you can. It should state – in the most intriguing possible way – the essential and dominant promise of the copy. Do everything you can – with copy and graphics – to make opening the letter irresistible. Then put it in the mail.
If it works, back-test a plain, first-class-looking envelope on your rollout. Sometimes, that will work better. When it does, continue to test an advertising-oriented envelope against it.
[The above article is an excerpt from Michael Masterson's daily e-service, Early to Rise (http://www.earlytorise.com/awai). It's March already and if you're not on track on reaching your goals as a copywriter then you might want to consider looking into Michael's goal setting program. Believe it or not, there are a few simple goal setting techniques that will help you do more by working LESS. Visit: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/700SDDGC/TGT for details.]
7 Proven Ways to Find Your First Client
In past issues of The Golden Thread, we've featured success stories from students who have tried everything from mailing their own direct-mail packages … to students who jumpstarted their careers by finding a mentor or coach.
There is no one right or wrong way to sell yourself to an editor or client – but learning from those who have gone before you and applying their techniques to your client search is a great place to start. Take these seven for instance…
For Beverly Huttinger, it was as easy as sending in an assignment in to the AWAI Masters Program. Beverly's assignment was so good it was selected to test online and in the mail against a long-standing control for an overseas investment and retirement newsletter.
Monica Day reports that she's had some success with online websites such as creativemoonlighter.com. There's a great discussion right now about this site and a few others on the AWAI forum at www.awaionline.com/forum under "Self-Marketing." You should check it out.
Peter Fogel and Krista Jones both chose to take AWAI up on our call to challenge our existing control. Both submitted a headline and lead to us first and both have written several additional pieces for us since.
Cathy Cairns and Beth Erickson drafted sales letters to sell their services and mailed them to prospective clients. Beth was inspired after attending one of the AWAI bootcamps, but Cathy had already received seven assignments from Nightingale-Conant before she attended a bootcamp last year. Beth also credits her success to her copywriting coach, John LaBine.
Kammy Thurman used her resourcefulness and sent a cover letter and resume to a client that wasn't even advertising a writer's position. She expressed her interest to write for them – and, it turns out they did, in fact, need a writer.
And just last week, I told you about Peter Dobbs, who met his first client at a local Chamber of Commerce meeting. That's something to keep in mind for those of you who live in small towns and want to start writing locally.
Something else to consider: Find a mentor or get a coach. AWAI has a list of programs to fit every need, whether it's help with your writing or just help finding clients. The best way to determine which program is right for you is to send an email to Denise (memberservices@awaionline.com) and tell her what you're looking for.
Denise is an amazing coach, and she can point you in the right direction. We just added several new coaches to our Board who have a lot to offer in terms of helping you get your career off the ground or bringing you up to the level where you want to be.
And don't forget to check some of the other topics on the AWAI forum. I went through it today and found pages of tips I can use as well as some I'll be sending to you in future issues of The Golden Thread.
All these techniques are great – and we know they've worked for one (if not more) students in the past. Hopefully, they'll work for you too.
[Lori has not only watched AWAI copywriting students land their first client but she's also been witness to the Travel Writing students that got their first article published. She'll be at the Travel Writing workshop in Paris this year to help any and all students reach their goal of making money through travel http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/.]
How to Get Your Prospect to "Listen" to You
(…Based on an article by Michael Masterson: "How to Get People to Listen to You" and an article by John Forde: "Memories, Behavior, and the Volkswagen Beetle")
When you're trying to grab and keep your reader's attention the same rules apply to your writing as they do when you have your prospect standing right in front of you.
Most people, most of the time, are more than willing to listen to what you have to say, so long as what you have to say is interesting.
But what is interesting?
Dale Carnegie's explanation – first articulated in his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" – is as true today as it was back then. People are most interested in themselves.
Carnegie said that if you want to be considered a great conversationalist, you should say practically nothing. Instead, you should ask questions about the other person. The periodic question coupled with a lot of nodding will make even the dullest dinner guest appear to be a conversational maven.
So the secret to being an interesting conversationalist is to figure out how to keep turning the conversation back to the other person – his interests, wants, and needs, as well as his thoughts, opinions, and accomplishments.
As a copywriter, you already know the power of "You." You also know through the AWAI program that it's not always just using "You" that draws the reader in. It's about deeper emotions and benefits that connect you to your reader.
John Forde wrote a great article about this in a past issue of The Golden Thread (issue #3 http://www.awaionline.com/_pgs/_tgt_archive/2001-2/tgt_03.html titled "Memories, Behavior, and the Volkswagen Beetle"). Since most buying decisions start at an emotional level, not a rational one he suggests using vivid, emotionally charged memories to get your reader's attention.
For instance (and this comes straight from John's article), say you're writing for, an audience that's now 65 years old …
You might want to carefully drop in allusions to what life was like from 1950 to 1955. It was very different from the world today. You might at least want to get a feel for what attitudes were like then and try to filter your copy so it appeals to that perspective of the world. Choosing the right remembered details is how you make your message relevant to your prospect. Where they grew up … what major world events had an impact on their lives …what music they listened to … what jobs they might have held …
Other things you can do to encourage your readers to listen to you is to consider what we've found to be the most important elements of a successful direct mail package:
- You must figure out what the prospect is really concerned about and make sure most of the copy addresses that concern and not others.
- You must stress the USP of the product in the beginning, middle, and end of the promotion. If you are not sure of your USP, don't stop until you get one you like.
- Make at least one big and irresistible promise. It's fine to have dozens of smaller benefits and promises embedded in your copy, but unless you can come up with one overriding promise that touches all your prospect's buttons, you will never have a blockbuster success.
- Avoid phoniness of all kinds. The strongest copywriters speak with the clearest voices. Study the product until you find out how it can really help your prospect. Then get excited about the good it's going to do and let that excitement show through in your language. Search out and destroy all clichés, especially advertising clichés.
[To subscribe to John Forde's eletter, The Copywriter's Roundtable, visit http://www.agoramail.net/add.cfm?list=crtable. If you don't already subscribe to Michael Masterson's, Early to Rise, but would like to visit: http://www.earlytorise.com/awai]
Five Tips I Picked Up at Last Year's Bootcamp for Writing Winning Catalog Copy
As a direct-response copywriter, you're not limited to writing direct mail packages and email campaigns. Think about all the catalogs you get in the mail each week. Why not tap into that lucrative market?
At last year's bootcamp, Steve Leveen, co-founder and president of Levenger's, a multi-channel retailer that's been in business since 1987, provided the following tips for writing tantalizing catalog copy …
- Write the headline while you're looking at the product.
- Remember that your customer is sensory-deprived – he can only "see" the product. So, never repeat what has already been "said" by the accompanying photo (e.g., "a black leather case"). Instead, fill in the remaining sensory details by conveying the sound, smell, and feel of the product.
- Highlight an important benefit that is not immediately obvious in the photo.
- Make sure your copy is clean and clear. If you confuse your prospect, you risk losing the sale.
- Give your customer a reason to buy from this particular catalog (e.g., "a limited-edition widget that is available only here").
[Information about this year's copywriting bootcamp will be available soon. Keep watching for details in upcoming issues of The Golden Thread.]
