image © Reuters

Why would anyone bet their company’s future on something that nobody has ever seen?

That’s exactly what’s happening with Apple’s iPad as publishers scramble to prepare for the introduction of the iPad in just a matter of days…
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Wanted Four Emails That DON'T Sell

I keed, I keed…

They suffer from what I call “Marketingitus”… and it’s a disease.

Somehow, they believe that there has to be a line in the sand between delivering “content” to build a “relationship” with their prospect… and then eventually getting around to clobbering them over the head with a nuclear-powered, mind-altering sales message the prospect will be powerless to resist.

As if once their dear reader, whom the merchant is now in a “relationship” with, has consumed the gooey richness of their “content”, they will just lay down for the sale… Read the rest of this entry

Work may be a four letter word, but so is life.

Just read a fantastic guest post by Sir David Garfinkle on John Carlton’s blog.

Sometimes we all need a good kick into ACTION

Given the big ole brains that read this blog and John Carlton’s,  my take may not be all that revelatory to you… but I truly believe this to be true and if it helps kick some of you into motion, then it’s well worth repeating (my clients and colleagues have surely heard me spout this before…)

Creating your own reality is scary business. Many entrepreneurs allow their head to float up into the clouds, dreaming of the possibilities, but they leave one foot firmly planted in “reality” – to be safe, grounded.

What we get out of life is what we most want at any given moment. Too often, what we most want is the security and safety of the familar.

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I had a disturbing conversation yesterday with a client and it absolutely blew my mind. 

Last week, he got a call from his long-time account rep at a ginormous company we’ll call Denture Virect… As you might have guessed by now, the guy was laid -off. And just like that, a stellar 20 year career with one of the biggest advertisers and spenders of online media dollars in the world was over — gone — right alongside about 40% of the rest of their staff. My client’s entire business relationship with them is now “under review” and could come to an unceremonious end any day, from either direction.

Yeah, it’s bad, bad, bad news out there… if you’re in the traditional big ad agency business, that is. Legendary ad-houses  like Ogilvy and BBDO are shedding staff while smaller agencies are closing their doors for good.

What this means for you, intrepid Internet entrepreneur, is that your skill and aptitude in effective direct response marketing is going to be more important than ever.

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Today, I want to give you some concrete ideas for building greater value in your offer – product, service, information, physical goods, whatever it is that you sell…

In my last post, we talked about the difference between Price and Value and how easy it is to get caught in the “discount trap”. Cutting your prices can often have precisely the opposite effect that the “price leader” is after. 

When times are tough, consumers are not so much after low prices as they are demanding of greater perceived value for their dwindling stash of money. 

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When I was a kid growing up here in Miami, my dad used to take me to watch the insanely popular local sport and parimutuel Jai-alai.

Now, if you’ve never stepped foot inside a Jai-alai fronton before, you’d be in the solid majority…

Jai-alai is played with a small as a golf-ball, hard as a rock “Pelota”, a ball that is caught and thrown using a “Cesta”, a woven basket worn on the hand.

The ball is traded back and forth like, sort of like psycho handball or racquetball on steroids at 100 mph+ speeds(!), bouncing off of an enormous 3-sided granite court with a wood side-court and netting to keep the ball from going into the audience.

Speaking of the audience, a Jai-alai audience is a betting audience which means it leaps to its feet at least 400 times a night. It’s THAT exciting, really.

So, what exactly does Jai-alai have to do with selling, you ask?

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This is the first in what I intend to be a series of posts where I will offer up some fertile swipe file material for those of you banging your head against the wall with your copy.

Eventually, we’ll have covered all the different areas of your copy where you might get stuck or be searching for a little creative mojo…

The idea here is to use these snips as a spring board and then season them to taste based upon your subject matter. Of course, some of these are simple and powerful enough that you can just plug them right into your copy and they work over and over again.

Here’s the first installment: Read the rest of this entry