You may well have already taken a look at Nick Wrathall's Complete Guide To Copywriting, which I reviewed here a couple of weeks ago. It's aimed specifically at the under-served UK market, which is NOT quite the same as in the USA. If not, you MUST spare a few minutes of your time to read about a course that will teach you all you need to know about copywriting this side of the Atlantic.
To save you going back through my posts, here's another LINK
For the North American market, meanwhile, they don't come much bigger than Clayton Makepeace. His Profit Centre website has a number of products and access to some great free stuff to improve anyone's copywriting and marketing skills.
Even the best professionals keep an eye on the opposition and you can never know too much, which is why I subscribe to both Nick's and Clayton's newsletters - which are very different, as you can imagine!
You can get to Clayton's site HERE, or access his EasyWriters Marketing Club directly.
They're both big, bold and brash - and wildly successful - like the man himself.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The Little Number That Made a BIG Impact
I had fun completing an online quiz the other day. It was simple enough, but I learned a couple of valuable lessons, too.
Firstly, trust your instincts.
Secondly, 0.21 is a big number.
To explain: there were eight pairs of direct response ads, where essentially only the headlines were different . In each pair, there was a winner and a runner-up, as measured by the response they got when split-tested. Now, with some of them the difference in results between best and second-best was quite small - just a few percent.
A couple of the margins were much more significant, though. One, from memory, was about 45%, and another, 21%. Clearly, the one that 'failed' by 45% wasn't very good, but the differences in the 21% pair were smaller. Still, 21% is a big margin. One would be substantially more profitable than the other (by much more than 21%, incidentally - perhaps over 100%*).
So, clearly, they had to go with the better one. After all, 21% is a lot, but over 100% is massive.
Now consider the actual response results: amazingly, the 'winner' drew just 1.21% response and the loser (obviously) a mere 1%!
When clients worry about response rates of 2 or 3 percent they're missing the real picture: does the direct response campaign bring in more than it costs? is the first question that matters; can we improve it by a fraction of a percent and maybe double its profitability? is the second.
The mass mailing of that 1.21% letter, by the way, did very well indeed for the client concerned.
Oh, and the first lesson, about instincts? I made the mistake of listening to the advice of 'gurus' and voted for a couple of headlines I really didn't like. I'd been led to believe I was in a minority, though, and went for specific numbers and longer headlines (this was the US, after all). On those, I was wrong. Snappy headlines worked every time, even in the USA. Too many numbers just cluttered the ad and probably confused and deterred readers.
Which goes to show you can't believe everything advertisers tell you - even their advice about advertising!
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
* The cost of mailing a poor ad is the same as that of mailing a good one. If the product sells for, say $100, costs just $10 to make and you sell a thousand, you get $90,000. Then deduct the cost of the mailing to calculate the profit. If you've spent $72,000 dollars on mailing, say a hundred thousand homes, you'll be left with $18,000 profit. Now, increase the sales by 21%, which equates to another 210 sales at $90 - that's another $18,900 pure profit, giving a better than 100% improvement - from 0.21% increased response!
Firstly, trust your instincts.
Secondly, 0.21 is a big number.
To explain: there were eight pairs of direct response ads, where essentially only the headlines were different . In each pair, there was a winner and a runner-up, as measured by the response they got when split-tested. Now, with some of them the difference in results between best and second-best was quite small - just a few percent.
A couple of the margins were much more significant, though. One, from memory, was about 45%, and another, 21%. Clearly, the one that 'failed' by 45% wasn't very good, but the differences in the 21% pair were smaller. Still, 21% is a big margin. One would be substantially more profitable than the other (by much more than 21%, incidentally - perhaps over 100%*).
So, clearly, they had to go with the better one. After all, 21% is a lot, but over 100% is massive.
Now consider the actual response results: amazingly, the 'winner' drew just 1.21% response and the loser (obviously) a mere 1%!
When clients worry about response rates of 2 or 3 percent they're missing the real picture: does the direct response campaign bring in more than it costs? is the first question that matters; can we improve it by a fraction of a percent and maybe double its profitability? is the second.
The mass mailing of that 1.21% letter, by the way, did very well indeed for the client concerned.
Oh, and the first lesson, about instincts? I made the mistake of listening to the advice of 'gurus' and voted for a couple of headlines I really didn't like. I'd been led to believe I was in a minority, though, and went for specific numbers and longer headlines (this was the US, after all). On those, I was wrong. Snappy headlines worked every time, even in the USA. Too many numbers just cluttered the ad and probably confused and deterred readers.
Which goes to show you can't believe everything advertisers tell you - even their advice about advertising!
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
* The cost of mailing a poor ad is the same as that of mailing a good one. If the product sells for, say $100, costs just $10 to make and you sell a thousand, you get $90,000. Then deduct the cost of the mailing to calculate the profit. If you've spent $72,000 dollars on mailing, say a hundred thousand homes, you'll be left with $18,000 profit. Now, increase the sales by 21%, which equates to another 210 sales at $90 - that's another $18,900 pure profit, giving a better than 100% improvement - from 0.21% increased response!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
'It's Not The Despair That Kills, It's The Hope'
It's not an original phrase, but it's one we can all identify with if we think about it...
Sometimes, letting go is easier than fighting on - to give in is often the easy option.
However we phrase it, we know the feeling.
But this isn't the place for philosophising on the subject of despair. What I want to talk about today is the difference between success and failure, between comparative wealth and poverty.
Between them and us.
Which side are you standing on? Do you see wealthy or successful people as 'them'? Does resentment of their success mask your own feelings of discomfort over your own failure?
If so, remember you took the easy option.
Because, just as it's often easier to give in to despair, so it's almost always easier to accept our lot and not strive for something better. Failure is so much more comfortable, so often the easier path to take. And if you think I'm being unfair to those people whose choices are restricted by circumstance, remember I said 'comparative wealth and poverty'.
And anyway, many of the most successful people - however you choose to measure, comparative or not - came from the most deprived backgrounds.
And how we respond to our circumstances is always a matter of choice.
The easy path is to do nothing, the harder one is to do something to make things better.
If you're at the early stage of a new career or building a new business, you'll know you haven't taken the easy option.
But, unless you're a quitter, you will know you have made the better choice.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
Sometimes, letting go is easier than fighting on - to give in is often the easy option.
However we phrase it, we know the feeling.
But this isn't the place for philosophising on the subject of despair. What I want to talk about today is the difference between success and failure, between comparative wealth and poverty.
Between them and us.
Which side are you standing on? Do you see wealthy or successful people as 'them'? Does resentment of their success mask your own feelings of discomfort over your own failure?
If so, remember you took the easy option.
Because, just as it's often easier to give in to despair, so it's almost always easier to accept our lot and not strive for something better. Failure is so much more comfortable, so often the easier path to take. And if you think I'm being unfair to those people whose choices are restricted by circumstance, remember I said 'comparative wealth and poverty'.
And anyway, many of the most successful people - however you choose to measure, comparative or not - came from the most deprived backgrounds.
And how we respond to our circumstances is always a matter of choice.
The easy path is to do nothing, the harder one is to do something to make things better.
If you're at the early stage of a new career or building a new business, you'll know you haven't taken the easy option.
But, unless you're a quitter, you will know you have made the better choice.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
Monday, March 05, 2007
To Serve or to Sell?
You have a service or product to sell. You know there are people out there who could use what you have. What do you you do?
If you answered 'Try to sell what you have to those who need it' you'd only be half right.
If you said, 'Offer to help the people who need it' you'd be absolutely right.
People don't like being sold to, in general. There are always a few who will enjoy the process, but most people have better things to do with their time. What people do like, however, is having their problems solved for them.
Your job, then, is to identify the problem your product solves. Or find a problem and then identify a product, and set about helping people with their problems. They'll be more willing than ever to pay for it. So you won't have to go through the excruciating sales process, and neither will they.
They'll be happier, you'll be wealthier, and the world will keep going round!
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
If you answered 'Try to sell what you have to those who need it' you'd only be half right.
If you said, 'Offer to help the people who need it' you'd be absolutely right.
People don't like being sold to, in general. There are always a few who will enjoy the process, but most people have better things to do with their time. What people do like, however, is having their problems solved for them.
Your job, then, is to identify the problem your product solves. Or find a problem and then identify a product, and set about helping people with their problems. They'll be more willing than ever to pay for it. So you won't have to go through the excruciating sales process, and neither will they.
They'll be happier, you'll be wealthier, and the world will keep going round!
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Exploding the PS Myth
What's the PS myth, I hear you ask.
If you've ever written a letter, any kind of letter, you'll know the feeling you get just at the moment you sign your name...
Damn! I forgot to mention (whatever).
Now, that's where the PS is really useful. Whatever the whatever is that you forgot to mention, you can mention it in a PS:
PS I forgot to mention Aunt Maud is coming to visit on Sunday. For a month... (or whatever)
Another occasion you'll use a PS is when you've not forgotten a single thing you were planning to say, but then something else comes up just before you seal the envelope. Or, more annoyingly, just after you've sealed the envelope, addressed it and stuck the stamp on. Perhaps:
PS Angie has asked me to remind you that it's your turn to have Aunt Maud this Christmas.
You might think that those are the sorts of reasons you'll usually see a PS at the end of a sales letter, too. And you'd be wrong, hopefully.
Unless the copywriter is spectacularly inept, every part of a sales letter is there for a reason, including the PS. After all, if it was important to have the PS as part of the body copy, the copywriter could just as easily insert it before sending it to anyone.
No, the PS is not, or should not, ever be an afterthought, even if it's phrased to give that impression. In fact, plenty of top direct mail marketers and writers will tell you it's probably the second thing you should write, after the headline.
Not least because it's generally thought to be the second thing a prospect reads - most people read the headline, very few read all the body copy (the first time) and a significant number of them will scan quickly to the end of the letter for the PS's and, just above those, the price.
So, a little forthought with your afterthoughts, please.
The next time you write a sales letter, think about the kind of killer copy you can include in the PS to get your prospects to go back to the top of the letter - and read it through the way it was meant to be read.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
PS The best thing is, if you think about it, they get to read your best killer copy (in the PS's) twice!
PPS There's still time for you to sign up for Nick Wrathall's 'The Complete Guide To Copywriting', where you can learn all you need to know about headlines, PS's and everything in between.
If you've ever written a letter, any kind of letter, you'll know the feeling you get just at the moment you sign your name...
Damn! I forgot to mention (whatever).
Now, that's where the PS is really useful. Whatever the whatever is that you forgot to mention, you can mention it in a PS:
PS I forgot to mention Aunt Maud is coming to visit on Sunday. For a month... (or whatever)
Another occasion you'll use a PS is when you've not forgotten a single thing you were planning to say, but then something else comes up just before you seal the envelope. Or, more annoyingly, just after you've sealed the envelope, addressed it and stuck the stamp on. Perhaps:
PS Angie has asked me to remind you that it's your turn to have Aunt Maud this Christmas.
You might think that those are the sorts of reasons you'll usually see a PS at the end of a sales letter, too. And you'd be wrong, hopefully.
Unless the copywriter is spectacularly inept, every part of a sales letter is there for a reason, including the PS. After all, if it was important to have the PS as part of the body copy, the copywriter could just as easily insert it before sending it to anyone.
No, the PS is not, or should not, ever be an afterthought, even if it's phrased to give that impression. In fact, plenty of top direct mail marketers and writers will tell you it's probably the second thing you should write, after the headline.
Not least because it's generally thought to be the second thing a prospect reads - most people read the headline, very few read all the body copy (the first time) and a significant number of them will scan quickly to the end of the letter for the PS's and, just above those, the price.
So, a little forthought with your afterthoughts, please.
The next time you write a sales letter, think about the kind of killer copy you can include in the PS to get your prospects to go back to the top of the letter - and read it through the way it was meant to be read.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
PS The best thing is, if you think about it, they get to read your best killer copy (in the PS's) twice!
PPS There's still time for you to sign up for Nick Wrathall's 'The Complete Guide To Copywriting', where you can learn all you need to know about headlines, PS's and everything in between.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Forecasting is Easy - Sometimes
Weather forecasters and pilots use a strange, universal language to communicate. When a forecaster wants to predict the weather for a certain airfield (this is called a Terminal Airfield Forecast, or TAF, by the way), he writes his forecast in a kind of semi-plain language that other meteorologists and pilots can easily understand. And when the actual weather is being reported by an observer on the ground, he uses much the same language.
Now, at the end of each actual weather report (called a METAR, or METeorological Airfield Report, if you're interested), there will often be a 'trend' added. This is a brief summary of the forecast for the next two hours. Just about the most common trend is for 'no significant change', written NOSIG in the strange, rarified world of aviation meteorology.
I think some marketers, and even some marketing consultants and copywriters, could adopt the term NOSIG for their forecast results. Not because they don't give good advice or write great copy, but because so many of their clients still aren't prepared to change what they do.
It's madness to expect different results if they repeat the same actions. It's expensive madness if they pay someone to help them and then don't listen to their advice or use what they create, but it happens all the time.
Some things and some people will never change, it seems. NOSIG there, then.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
PS. I understand from Nick Wrathall that there are still a few copies of his Complete Guide To Copywriting available at the introductory price, largely because he's barely started marketing it yet. It's good of him to give me a head start with it. Even more generous to still be offering it to you! Check out my previous post for the link. But HURRY!
Now, at the end of each actual weather report (called a METAR, or METeorological Airfield Report, if you're interested), there will often be a 'trend' added. This is a brief summary of the forecast for the next two hours. Just about the most common trend is for 'no significant change', written NOSIG in the strange, rarified world of aviation meteorology.
I think some marketers, and even some marketing consultants and copywriters, could adopt the term NOSIG for their forecast results. Not because they don't give good advice or write great copy, but because so many of their clients still aren't prepared to change what they do.
It's madness to expect different results if they repeat the same actions. It's expensive madness if they pay someone to help them and then don't listen to their advice or use what they create, but it happens all the time.
Some things and some people will never change, it seems. NOSIG there, then.
Roy Everitt, Writing for Results
PS. I understand from Nick Wrathall that there are still a few copies of his Complete Guide To Copywriting available at the introductory price, largely because he's barely started marketing it yet. It's good of him to give me a head start with it. Even more generous to still be offering it to you! Check out my previous post for the link. But HURRY!
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