I’ve mentioned before how top copywriters like John Carlton and David Garfinkel recommend regularly studying popular publications like “National Enquirer” and “Cosmopolitan” to glean ideas for headlines, stories, trivia and tidbits of potentially useful information to weave into copy.

And I’ve occasionally posted examples of “Strange But True” stories that have caught my eye and that provide some creative inspiration.

Well, not sure if it’s simply because of the slow summer season in the northern hemisphere, but I noticed a number of intriguing stories over the last week and I’ve decided to run an occasional column with a selection of these gems.

So I offer these items for your amusement and inspiration…

First up the amazing “Monkeys use trees to catapault themselves out of Japanese laboratory”.

Next…

… this one has it all… “Sex, voodoo and the murder of hotel heir Ben Novack Jr”.  James Ellroy, eat your heart out!

Can they be serious about “Armour made from ‘bullet-proof custard’”??

Finally, for today, a “World Cup” story.  This has been making the news pretty much everywhere, from what I can see, so you’re probably familiar with Paul, the “Psychic Octopus”.  Paul has been correctly “forecasting” every round of the competition so far.  He’s picked Spain to win the final, so we’ll see tomorrow if he’s managed to maintain his incredible record.

There’s a serious copywriting and marketing point to these examples, of course.  Curiosity is one of the most powerful triggers driving human action and the bizarre and unusual grabs people’s attention.  You can use examples like the stories I’ve mentioned as models to grab the attention of your readers and lead them into your sales message.

Of course, the art is to legitimately link the story to your product or service, otherwise you’ll most likely lose your reader.

UPDATE (12 July 2010):

Well, the “Psychic Octopus” did it! Spain beat Holland 1-0 as predicted making it a straight 8 from 8 correct predictions!

“100 per cent for Paul the psychic octopus”

Now, the mathematician in me begs to point out that this could be a complete fluke and is not necessarily evidence of predictive powers on the part of the “mystic mollusc”. However, the odds of 8 correct picks in a row are 1 in 256…so this is pretty spooky!

Must be the summer lull up in the northern hemisphere…

…as it seems to have been a little slow on direct response copywriting and marketing blogs of late.

And of those that are publishing, a number are resorting to the (quite legitimate) tactic of republishing earlier posts.

Having said that, here are some items very definitely worth your attention…

The great John Carlton has some wise words on “Money, money, money, money…” with an all too rare post on his blog.

One person who hasn’t dropped the pace is the magnificent and indefatigable Drayton Bird.  Several posts from him this week but “I have two left feet. Dancing lessons anyone?” is particularly worth your attention. (This was also guest posted over at the “Total Package”).

Actually at the “Total Package” some inspiration from the great man himself, as Clayton Makepeace poses the question “Are You A Direct Response Gazillionaire-In-Waiting?” I seem to recall this has been published before, but well worth the read.

Finally, copywriter John “Ritz” Ritskowitz is going to be relaunching his popular “Copywriters Toolkit” in a new and expanded version.  There’s an excellent preview video in “A Sneak Peek At The Copywriters Toolkit 2.0″.

Only 2 things I’ve noticed that I think really worthy of your attention this week.

Drayton Bird has been posting a lot of excellent material including…

“Is this the most underestimated, overlooked marketing weapon?”

Totally agree with Drayton.  Every time I’ve used this, the results have been great.

Over at the “Total Package”  there’s a guest post from copywriting legend Gary Bencivenga…

“3 Secrets For Multiplying Your Productivity, Success, Income And Personal Happiness As A Copywriter Or Marketer”.

Not to be missed!

Not too  much to bring to your attention this week (maybe I’ve been too busy working to spend much time on the blogs!)…

Lots of good material over at Drayton Bird’s blog, much of which I’ve already posted.

One other thing.  At Clayton Makepeace’s “Total Package” every week there’s a “Swipe Of The Week”.  This time it’s the classic “Coat Of Arms” letter from Gary Halbert (“The Single Page Sales Letter That Was So Amazingly Successful…They Had To Build A Bigger Bank”).

A “Must Have” for any swipe file.

Next in the series of videos from marketing maven Drayton Bird.

Great tips on 1) editing copy and 2) “charm”

Enjoy!

The great Drayton Bird has just released the first in a series of short videos containing some concise tips on copywriting and marketing.

The first covers a fix for a VERY common copywriting mistake…

Reminder of why the classic Gary Halbert standby opener of…

“If you want [major benefit of your product or service] then [read on]“

…is such a reliable device.

As a direct response copywriter and marketer, I like to read something every day about the business.

Problem is that there’s only a handful of blogs that publish regularly and also material that’s worthwhile.

One of them is “Pro Copy Tips” by Dean Rieck.  I stumbled across this when Dean very kindly included me in his “30 copywriting blogs that are actually worth reading”.

Since then, I’ve tuned in regularly to Dean’s blog and I was delighted to find out more about Dean in this interview…

Direct mail copywriting: an interview with Dean Rieck – Part 1

Direct mail copywriting: an interview with Dean Rieck – Part 2

Fascinating guy and some great tips for any copywriter.

This week’s crop of copywriting and marketing blog posts worth your attention…

From Drayton Bird, some fascinating research on the effect of offering discounts “Bribery works in mysterious ways”.

Ryan Healy, guest blogging over at Michel Fortin’s explains “Why People Are Addicted To Info Products” (makes me feel slightly better about buying yet another copywriting course!)

Ever wonder “What did Claude Hopkins and Gary Halbert have in common?” Drayton Bird (that man again!) explains in a guest post over at the Gary Halbert Letter.

…before you write a single word of copy.

As a direct response copywriter, I read an awful lot of sales letters and advertisements, as you can imagine.

The ones that tend to stand out to me are those that follow the advice of copywriting great Robert Collier…

“You must enter the conversation already going on inside your customer’s mind.”

In other words, what’s on their mind?  What’s bugging them?

Core principles never change, but the circumstances and the environment that your propects find themselves in do.

And how much do your prospects know about the market and competing offers?

One of the biggest mistakes I see is people making a generic or bland appeal to a market that’s already at a higher level of sophistication.

The “Robert Collier Letter Book” is included in “Gary Halbert On Essential Copywriting Books”.  It’s available on Amazon or direct from www.RobertCollierLetterBooks.com.

Seems like aeons ago, I wrote a couple of posts “Copywriting Books That Shaped The Business – Take 1″ and “Copywriting Books That Shaped The Business – Take 2″ where top copywriters shared their thoughts about which are the most influential books on copywriting.

While adding to my already vast collection of copywriting resources, I came across a couple of classic posts from the “Gary Halbert Letter” with some invaluable advice for new copywriters and marketers.

First up, before anything else, read “Scientific Advertising” by the great Claude Hopkins.

After that, devour the following books…

1. The Robert Collier Letter Book - by Robert Collier

2.  The First Hundred Million - by E. Haldeman-Julius

3. Breakthrough Advertising - by Eugene Schwartz

4. How To Write A Good Advertisement - by Vic Schwab

5. 7 Steps To Freedom - by Ben Suarez

6. My Life In Advertising - by Claude Hopkins

…and, of course, everything from the great Gary Halbert you can get your hands on.

Timeless wisdom from one of the greats.