Copywriting – Page 52

So How Much Is A Workshop With Copywriter John Carlton Really Worth?

Master copywriter John Carlton is holding a workshop this coming May 2-4. What’s interesting is the way he and his business partner Stan Dahl have chosen to market the event. They’ve decided to auction off the 20 available places on eBay.

They are using a “Dutch Auction” process. How this works is that if you want to attend, you submit a bid along with everyone else who is interested. When the auction closes, the 20 people who submitted the highest bids get a place. The price for each place is then determined as the price bid by the lowest bid in the top 20. So, everyone who attends get to pay the same price.

Now, I have to give credit to John Carlton, he has been testing out a lot of new ideas and approaches lately and taking risks (for example, the “open survey” he did to ask why more people hadn’t joined his coaching club). I have to wonder a little about the wisdom of this latest idea.

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Remembering Legendary Copywriter Gary Halbert

Just received an email from Bond Halbert, son of the late, great Gary Halbert. It’s a year since Gary passed away. Can’t believe it. Cliche, I know, but it really is amazing how quickly time passes. Another sign of advancing years, I guess!

Anyway, to mark the occasion, there’s a new article up at the “Gary Halbert Letter” by Sam Markowitz. Sam was one of the last people to be a “protege” of Gary and he has written a report covering 5 of the “top marketing secrets” he discovered while studying with Gary.

It’s the post called “The Last Protege” .

As with everything at the “Gary Halbert Letter”, well worth a read.

Gotta run. I’ll share some more thoughts about one of the greatest copywriters of our time in a future post.

What Copywriters Can Learn From Supermarket Queues (…And Airports!)

Had to go into the city today for an adjustment at my chiropractor. On the way back I had to pop into a supermarket to pick up some groceries (ah…the exciting life of a freelance copywriter). Because it was lunchtime, there was a huge queue and I ended up having to wait about 10 minutes to get to the checkout.

Now, I generally hate queues (that’s “lines” for my North American readers) and avoid them if possible. However, if I’m stuck, then I’ll aim to make the best of the situation.

The first thing I tend to do is have a look around at the products on offer, looking for new products, any special offers and that kind of thing. I’ll also look for any ads and closely look at the magazine rack to scan the covers for headline and bullet ideas (You copywriters reading this did know that popular magazines are a great source of headline ideas? There’s a reason why many “A-list” copywriters are avid readers of the “National Enquirer” and the like).

The second thing I do is observe people in the queues and see what they do. As copywriters, it’s essential for us to be students of human behaviour and to understand what makes people tick. Today, I was absolutely fascinated to watch a lady in front of me as she checked out various products on the shelves that we passed, and added quite a few of them to her shopping basket. There must have been at least 5 or 6 extra items she bought simply because of the time she spent in the queue.

I’ve got to admit, I did the same, although to nowhere near the extent that the lady in front of me did! The lady behind me, on the other hand, didn’t seem to buy anything extra. Might have been because she didn’t have a shopping basket, only having picked up a couple of items.

So what’s the lesson for copywriters here? Well, supermarkets have long figured out that the more traffic there is passing a given spot, the more sales they are likely to make. That’s why the milk and other staples are always at the back of the store. Plus, of course, people are prone to make impulse buys while in a queue or line so the magazines and confectionery are always on display at the checkouts.

So, there are times when people are more disposed to making a purchase. If you can figure out when they are, then you have a good time to present an offer. For Direct Response marketers and copywriters, the “upsell” is an example of this. Once someone has already decide to make a purchase they tend to be receptive to making further purchases.

And airports? Well, people often have time on their hands waiting for flights so they are often quite open to some “retail therapy”. Years ago when I used to work in banking, I was involved in the financing for a bid for an airport. I was astonished to discover that something like 60-70% of the airport’s revenue and cash flow came from retail operations and things like car parking fees. Providing air services was, in effect, merely the opportunity to offer a range of other lucrative goods and services to the traffic generated.

So, if you’ve got captive traffic, what else could you offer them?

Why Most Government Advertising Sucks!

In a previous post I shared my opinion that most advertising by governments absolutely sucks. Here’s an example of what I mean…

I was waiting for a train the other day (on my way back from copywriter Pete Godfrey’s “Master Class 2.0” as it happens) and my eye caught a big display ad. The “headline” (I shudder to call it that!) was…

“Don’t Wait Any Longer. Move To Adelaide”.

And that was pretty much all there was. No bullets or body copy. No real call to action. At the bottom of this huge display ad was a website address plus one of those horrible logos that governments seem to love. The website address had a “biz” suffix so I’m guessing this advertisement was supposed to be aimed at businesses.

My first thought when I saw this ad was “Why?” Even allowing for the fact that I’m a copywriter and marketing consultant (and so “Reason Why” is imprinted in my brain!) I’d suggest that’s going to be the general reaction.

This ad is really horrible. It’s not clear who it’s aimed at. There’s no compelling benefit for the reader. No reason whatsoever why anyone would want to enquire further. In short, a total and utter waste of (taxpayers) money.

This is a classic example, in my opinion, of the advertiser being totally caught up in a “Me, Me, Me” world. It’s all about them. And that’s the reason why most government advertising sucks. Government employees largely live in their own little cocooned world where they are largely insulated from the “real” world.

In this instance, the South Australian government is presumably trying to lure businesses to Adelaide in an attempt to stem the economic decline of the state. Now, Adelaide and South Australia are nice enough places to visit and maybe live, but as a place to do business and make money? Well the fact the SA government is running these ads speaks for itself!

Now, when I’m referring to government advertising, I’m not talking about election campaign advertising. In that situation, the politicians have a serious interest in the outcome. After all, the primary motivation for any politician is to get elected! So, election ads will tend to be more effective (although see David Ogilvy’s comments in “Ogilvy On Advertising” about political advertising!).

There are also some rare examples of good ads run by governments. I saw this recently on the back of a bus…

“Not Registering Your Trainees Could Cost You $4,000. Call 1-800…”

To the point. Clear benefit and what to do if it affects you (maybe would be better if it “called out” more to the audience but it’s pretty clear who this affects and from a “purists” point of view I admire the economy in the writing!). Could question the advertising medium but I guess employers driving along behind the bus will see the message.

Copywriters – Some Home Truths About Making Money From Copywriting

Michel Fortin has a post up on his blog titled “Disillusioned Copywriter Demands The Truth”. Michel explains the background…

A disgruntled copywriter wrote me demanding clarifications. He believes most copywriters lie and exaggerate their claims of wealth. Let’s call him “Chuck.”

I understand where Chuck is coming from. Because I’ve been where he is. So I responded, not because I wanted to acquiesce to his demands but because I wanted to give him hope, ideas, and, dare I say it, a million-dollar education.

Now, Michel’s reply is comprehensive and contains excellent advice for any copywriter on how to make money. There are also a number of excellent comments from copywriters such as Ray Edwards and John Anghelache.

Couple of quick observations from my own experience…

1. Firstly, if you’re a freelance copywriter you are NOT in the business of writing copy! You’re in the business of selling your copywriting services! That means continual, shameless self-promotion! You need to market yourself and your services strongly.

2. Secondly, what you’re really selling your clients is not sales copy, or even marketing advice, but money and results! If you know what you’re doing, then the results your clients get should be many multiples of what they pay you (Assuming the clients have a real business, of course).

One of the key points Michel makes is that to make big money as a copywriter you need to get a “piece of the action”. Either royalties, a percentage of sales or have a partnership with the clients. Other copywriters such as Clayton Makepeace say the same.

Of course, another alternative is to market products yourself. That way you get to keep all the profits, but you have to bear the risk of course. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that the great copywriter Claude Hopkins lamented that his biggest mistake was not having a business of his own until very late in his career.

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