A Simple Way to CRUSH Your Competition

“What the #$&^@?!”
Have you ever shouted that one?

It’s when you create an ad, brochure or flyer that SEEMS so good… but for some reason it just doesn’t work when you actually publish it.

Argh… frustrating!

Fact is, your ads, brochures and flyers should actually help you get business… not just provide interesting reading material for those who see it.

I’m always amazed at how many businesses continue to use the same ad materials despite the results they’re (not) getting. It’s as if they’re thinking, “Hey, I need to send them SOMETHING!” When the responses don’t come, they rarely attribute it to their crappy sales materials.

Do you have live salespeople following up? If not, and you’re not seeing a flow of new customers despite getting the word out, your sales materials are 100% to blame!

Fact is, a well-written brochure, for example, can completely out-sell your competition by making their similar service seem lacking and inferior.

For example, I recently created a brochure for martial arts school. What it DIDN’T do was simply tell all the good things that it offers students. It ALSO told all the things that the COMPETITION doesn’t do… or does in an inferior way.

For example, I included details such as:

“And unlike other local schools, there are absolutely no expensive belt tests… no legally binding contracts… no complicated, impractical, rehearsed moves to remember… no ridiculous high kicks requiring Gumby-like flexibility…” and so on, each described in detail.

Why?

Because by educating your prospects, you’re acting like a consumer advocate, teaching them what to look out for. You’re actually telling them how to judge such businesses so they get more bang for their buck.

Result?

If done correctly, you develop massive credibility and actually program your prospects to regard you as the superior business because you are informing them about things that your competition says nothing about.

(Read that last sentence again.)

What naturally happens is that your prospects regard you as more caring… more open and honest… and, as a result, they begin to question why your competition isn’t doing the same. “Hmmmmm?”

LISTEN: If you have a brochure or flyer that’s not working as well as you’d like, I may be able to help you. I’ll take your current brochure and transform it from a lifeless piece of paper into a more effective, money-making sales tool… cheap.

CLICK to check out the deal I’m offering as a get-acquainted special for new BrochureCafe clients. It’s good only until March 31, 2010. So if you’re interested, contact me at: Drew@BrochureCafe.com ASAP.

In the mean time, take a look at your current sales materials. If you’re only talking about your own product or service, you’re missing the boat.

“But, Drew! I always heard that if MY products and services were great, I shouldn’t say how my competitions’ aren’t as great!”

HOGWASH! Who sold you on that philosophy? That’s like adjusting your car to run on only half its cylinders. Why would you intentionally sacrifice your sales power?

If this is how you think, for the sake of your business, snap out of it… and fast!

Success!
Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon™
http://www.Cashvertising.com

P.S. I still have a few remaining copies of the 12-1/2 hour advertising/marketing/sales training program, “The $50,000 Business Makeover Marathon.” They’re brand new, still shrink wrapped. But since they’re on cassettes, I’m slashing the price from $99 to just $47 with FREE shipping. (You save $80.25 over the CD version… and get same program!) It’s packed with great how-to info you can start using right now to boost your business. Read about the program contents here. Want one? PayPal me at: Drew@AdSurgeon.com (Hurry, quantities are limited.)

Scary DUMB: Can You Write a Better Headline for This Ad?

The photo is yummy. The headline stinks.

Hey Gang,

Talk about a missed opportunity.

Just look at this ad and how quickly does a better headline come to mind?

For me, it took all of 3 seconds.

(Click the photo a couple of times to read the body copy.)

It’s almost easy enough for a pre-schooler. Yet the copywriter, copy chief, marketing director, and everyone else involved either didn’t know any better… or simply kept their mouth shut. (Which is another way of saying they didn’t know any better.)

This is one of the best examples of advertising know-how ignorance. Not that these examples are so tough to find. But this one is simply so glaring.

Enough yakking. Tell me what they SHOULD have written for the headline. Don’t worry about submitting a polished, finished headline. Just tell me what you think the head SHOULD say. Take all of 60 seconds to do it.

My guess is that the readers of this blog know better than the people on the company payroll(s) responsible for this deliciously bad disaster.

Have at it…

Drew

P.S. Don’t forget to click twice on the ad to enlarge it enough to read the body text. 😉

How to Slingshot Your Ad Dollars into the Toilet

Hey gang…

Here’s the perfect example of how to create ads that satisfy executives egos, “Oh look how creative and hip we are!” at the expense of actually SELLING the product they claim to be advertising.

http://dognpony.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/love-this-commercial-for-um-who-again/

Notice how they SPEED through the car’s features at the end (almost as an afterthought) seemingly to placate their consciences regarding what good advertising SHOULD contain. “Er… I guess we better put in something about the car.”

Sigh.

Thanks to Matt of the Dog & Pony Show.

Drew

“Picking Drew’s Brain”–The Dale King Interview

Dale King: Today, I’m interviewing author, direct response specialist and master copywriter Drew Eric Whitman. Hello Drew, how are you? EKUQHM22CGN4
Drew Eric Whitman: Well, the sun is shining… I have my health… I live in a beautiful part of the U.S… and have the pleasure to be associated with YOU… what the heck could be better? 

Dale: Drew, how did you get started marketing your services on the Internet?

Drew Eric Whitman:  Not too long ago 99.9% of all my orders for books and audio programs would come via checks and money orders sent to my post box. 

HA!  I remember telling someone, “No one is ordering anything online now!” and few were.  A trusted business advisor of mine asked me, “Why don’t you get a CompuServe account”  My response was something like, “CompuWhat?  HUH!?  What do I need that for?  What will I DO with it?” 

Even so, as far as advertising consultants go, I probably was among the first online.  I think this was in the late 80s.  My first site was pretty basic… no bells or whistles.  And that’s still most effective today.  When you create a web site, your goal is not that people say, “Hey, what an awesome site!”  Instead, you want them to say about the product you’re selling, “Hey… I want one of these!”  It’s the same with your advertising.  If you want to know if it’s a good ad, show it to your target market.  If they remark how beautiful your photos are… how skilled your font selection… even how clever your headline, YOU’VE LOST.  If they jam their hand into their pocket and rip out their wallet, YOU’VE WON.

Dale: Some Internet marketing experts advise newbies to steer clear of Internet marketing, because it’s too competitive. Do you agree with that assessment?

Drew Eric Whitman: No.  Of course, when you jump online, you join the earth’s biggest marketplace.  If you’re trying to sell a common product, of course the competition will be intense.  But too intense to try?  Nah.  You always have to try.  But try ONLY if you know what you’re doing.  Or try by getting specialists to do for you what you can’t. 

If you wanted to build a house, but you personally didn’t know which end of a hammer to hold, would you simply say, “Shoot!  I want a house, but I don’t know how to use a hammer.  Welp, I guess I should forget about this dream of building my own home.”  Of course not.  You’d find people who DO know how to hold hammers and let them assist you! 

And what kind of newbie are we talking about here?  An internet newbie?  Business newbie?  Copywriting newbie?  Industry newbie?  A so-called “newbie” might very well know more about how to construct a powerful-selling email than some of the old-timers who have been unsuccessfully sending one crummy email out after another for years.

 Dale: How is Internet marketing different now, as opposed to when you first got started online?

Drew Eric Whitman: More competition as more people jumped on board.  More merchant tools and technology.  But still, most online marketers still don’t grasp that to be effective, web advertising must still follow the rules of effective OFFline advertising that go back over 100 years. 

So, what you have is all the people who didn’t know how to create effective ads and who couldn’t afford the media cost to place them (in newspapers, magazines, radio or TV), with access to a virtually “free” medium on which to place ads that follow NONE of the rules of effective advertising. 

In other words, before we couldn’t SEE these people’s advertising because they couldn’t afford the media costs to place the ads.  But now, thanks to the internet,  we see them all.  Ugh.  For those who know how to write ads, we’re not so much afraid of these people’s ads as we are the clutter that our prospects have to wade through to find ours!       

Dale: How important has goal-setting been to your overall success?

Drew Eric Whitman: I’m very visual.  I picture what I want and drive aggressively toward it.  I’m not so much a “write-things-down-to-achieve” person.  The images of what I want are so burned into my brain that they keep me going. 

I think more than goals, however, is a love for what you’re doing because (and this is important) YOU DO IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO DO IT.  When I’m working on my own projects, especially, work is really more like “play” to me. 

I’m very fortunate.  Creating advertising has been a love of mine since I was 11 years old and I passed out one-page catalogs that I typed on my father’s old fabric-ribbon manual Royal typewriter.  Then I cut pictures from my suppliers’ joke and gag catalogs and pasted them on my “camera-ready” sheet using a dark brown jar of rubber cement my dad had in his home office.  The jar had a screw-off lid with a long metal-handled brush that I used to dip into the mighty-powerful-smelling rubber cement and spread the thick goo onto the paper.  A few Xerox copies later, I was handing them out in class and collecting orders for things like whoopee cushions and phony chopped-off fingers.  (They were fun in the lunchroom.) 

That was my foray into direct selling, catalog marketing, and copywriting.  So if you love what you do—really love it—that love will help drive you to achieve your goals.  It’s the fuel.  Of course, every good vehicle needs more than gas.  It also needs a steering wheel and a course of direction.  So you do need some clarity about WHERE you want to go, and for most people written goals would probably be helpful.  

Dale: How important has reading been to your overall  success?

Drew Eric Whitman: I have a degree in advertising and was fortunate to train under the great Walter Weir, whose name is mentioned in many of the classic books of advertising copywriting. 

However, as a copywriter, I am self-taught.  Remember, I started writing advertising when I was a child so by the time my college classmates graduated with their advertising degree, I had already been writing ads, brochures, and sales letters for about a decade.  For some reason, advertising was always in my blood. 

I studied the greats of advertising: Caples, Hopkins, Schwartz, Ogilvy and others.  And most of all, I did it with a passion.  Even today, a powerful sales letter is a thing of beauty to me.  I know it sounds funny, but it’s this passion that has made me successful at what I do.  And at the same time, I believe I have an innate ability to write well and a great sensitivity for words and language.   

Dale: If you could recommend one book that all Internet marketers should read, what would it be?

Drew Eric Whitman: “Internet schminternet!”  Here’s a book ALL businesspeople should read: “Making Ads Pay” by John Caples.  Fascinating.  But one book is not enough.  So after you gobble that one up, read, “Tested Advertising Methods” also by Caples.  Then grab, “Breakthrough Advertising” by Eugene Schwartz.  And don’t miss, “My Life in Advertising /Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins. 

After reading these 4 books, you will know more about how to create powerfully effective advertising than 99% of your competitors.  And that’s no advertising claim.  It’s the damned truth.  Ignore this tip at your own peril. 

(Not 1-in-100 will do what I just suggested… to read those books.  Most won’t read just one of those books.  And this is exactly why most advertising on planet earth is ineffective trash.) 

If you want a fascinating crash course in advertising psychology and learn the little-known tricks that ad agencies use to persuade people, then I suggest my own book, “CA$HVERTISING“.

Dale: In your opinion, what technology has changed Internet marketing the most over the last 5 years?

Drew Eric Whitman:  Probably pay-per-click advertising, only because it gets people to your site.  But to me, the focus on technology is the wrong focus.  Spend your time focusing on how to write effective ads.  The technology is the technology.  It’s there to use if you want to.  But if your ads stink, all the tech in the world means nothing.  All you’ll do is spend money to get people to your cool, high-tech (but crappy) site.  And in a few seconds after you bore them to death, they’ll be off to someone else’s possibly low-tech (but well written, strong-selling) site, perhaps to spend money with THEM instead of you. 

“Huh?  How did that happen?  I have a cool Flash splash page… awesome music… cool moving type… and amazing mouse-over effects.  Sure, I never studied how to write ads, but look at how cool my site is! People will buy because they see how technically sophisticated I am.”  (Can you spell, “Out of business?”)

Dale: What new technology do you see changing Internet marketing over the next 5 years?

Drew Eric Whitman: Re-read my answer to the previous question.

Dale: If you could give my readers one piece of advice, what would it be?

Drew Eric Whitman:  Without question, the single most important thing I could possibly advise any businessperson—in any industry—to do, is to read the books I’ve recommended above.  To MAKE A STUDY OF ADVERTISING.  Learn what works… don’t simply “do stuff and see what happens.”  That’s what most businesspeople do, you know. 

 They say, “Hey, I have a product and I want to sell it.  And because of this, I will do this thing called advertising.  The way you do it is you write some stuff about the thing you want to sell… and then lots of people throw money at you!” 

 Yeah, right.  Sounds great, but how effective would you be as a surgeon if your attitude was, “I want to be a surgeon.  Surgeons take a sharp knife called a scalpel and they cut things.  My friend Steve has heart problems.  Tomorrow, after lunch perhaps, I will go to Steve’s house with my scalpel and begin cutting.” 

 Ridiculous, right?  Why?  Because this idiot doesn’t know the first thing about surgery.  Sure, he can cut.  Any monkey with a scalpel can cut.  In fact, both could equally as effectively cut off their own heads.  And sure you CAN advertise.  Anyone who can place an ad and pay for it CAN advertise.  But how EFFECTIVE will your surgery be if you don’t know WHERE to cut… HOW to cut… WHEN to cut.  How many sales will you make if you don’t know WHAT to say… HOW to SAY it… and WHEN to say it? 

Results?  Your patient dies… your ads bomb.  The missing element?  EDUCATION.  You need to learn HOW… FIRST! 

To get them started, I invite readers of this interview to subscribe to this blog by clicking the “EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION” or RSS feed buttons at the top-right of this page.  

Dale: Thank you very much Drew. I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview.

Drew Eric Whitman: The pleasure was mine, Dale.  <HANDSHAKE>

EKUQHM22CGN4

How Powerful Ad Copy Can Make You Drool Over a Bar of Bath Soap

Dear Friend,

I have a nice headful of hair.

And it’s a good thing, too.

Because every so often I have a “discussion” with someone that causes me to rip much of it out.

For example…

I just got off the phone with a friend who is writing a brochure. He and his wife sell homemade soap. Very nice soaps, actually. Beautiful colors and fragrances. Some look like nice big, juicy hunks of watermelon. Others resemble fresh orange slices… bright lemon wedges… and meaty chunks of coconut. Yum.

(Do you see what PVA’s–powerful Visual Adjectives–can do to your copy, regardless of the product?)

OK.. back to my hair ripping.

Oh, what the heck…. here’s the dialogue, as I remember it…

DREW: Hey George… you guys have some wonderful soaps here. These fruity soaps are especially appealing. But why just say, “Orange-Scented Bar Soap?” Or, “Coconut-Scented Bar Soap?” Why not really get into it?

Why not compare the soaps to the freshest, juiciest slices of Mandarin or Florida oranges?

Why not talk about how washing your face with it is like splashing your skin with liquid sunshine?

How the aroma reminds you of walking in the sunny, breezy orange fields of Florida?

And your coconut soap! Yum! Why just say, “Smells like coconut”? Why not compare it to the freshly cut coconuts in the sun-soaked western Caribbean… reminiscent of the milky white meaty centers and the sweet, luscious juice?

This is what powerful copywriting is all about. Putting sharp, bright, colorful imagery into people’s heads!

GEORGE: That seems a little over the top, don’t you think? After all, we’re not selling food… we’re selling SOAP!

DREW: UGH. (To myself.) Of course you’re selling SOAP, George, but you want to create some romance… some imagery… something that people can latch onto. It’s called SELLING.

GEORGE: All that doesn’t seem necessary.

DREW: NECESSARY? NECESSARY?! It’s not NECESSARY to sell soap, George! But if you ARE going to do it, why not do it well? Why not do it “aggressively?” Why not do more than your competition is doing? You’re not the ONLY one in this business, you know.

GEORGE: Uh huh.

DREW: I want you to make a fortune with these soaps. They’re great! But you need to do MORE than your competition. Don’t you want to stand apart… stand out?

GEORGE: Well, if doing what you’re saying was so great, why doesn’t anyone else do it?

DREW: Why does McDonalds sell billions of dollars worth of burgers? It doesn’t mean the people who eat all that cow grease are smart. It means they’re simply doing what they’re doing.

You can’t go through life saying, “If others aren’t doing it, why should I?” Most people DON’T do things the best possible way. They do what they THINK is best. And since most businesspeople don’t know much about creating effective advertising, they DON’T do what could be most effective!

GEORGE: (Thinking.) (It sounds like a field of crickets.)

DREW: George, listen to me.

GEORGE: I AM listening!

DREW: You’re selling specialized soap. You’re not selling Ivory. Or Zest. Or Irish Spring. You’re selling EXPENSIVE soap that has 2 things going for it:

1) It’s visually beautiful, and…

2) It smells delicious.

To NOT play up the 2 things that make your soap so appealing is MISSING THE BOAT!

People don’t buy your soap because they simply need to get clean. They can get clean a lot more cheaply with a bar of plain ol’ eyeball-burnin’ Ivory.

(Ever get Ivory in your eyes? Death seems merciful.)

GEORGE: Yes… but…. people will know how it smells WHEN THEY BUY IT. Plus, everyone knows what oranges, coconuts and lemons smell like. They smell like oranges, coconuts and lemons.

DREW: Dear God help me. (To self.)

GEORGE:… so why take all that space to describe it to people who already know?

DREW: Because it helps persuade!

Look at it this way: if someone sees your brochure… and that someone likes the smell of oranges… then she is going to be romanced by a description that’s in keeping with what she likes.

(Read that again.)

It helps her imagine! It takes up more “space” in her brain by creating a mental movie of the product! Describe the juicy wedges… the sunny fields… the hand-picking that goes on in the orchards… that sweet bursting of aroma when you peel one.

And don’t stop there!

Create a deep mental hook with a phrase she won’t be able to shake. Something like: “The Orange-Juicy Way to Wash!” or something similar. Don’t call it “lather,” call it “Sweet Orange-Cream Bubbles.” This is how you make ordinary copy EXTRAordinary.

GEORGE: But won’t people think that’s a little manipulative?

DREW: It IS manipulative. And NO, they won’t think that.

Besides, ADVERTISING IS MANIPULATIVE! We manipulate people’s thoughts. That’s what it’s all about.

It’s not EVIL, unless you’re selling junk and your claims are misleading or downright false.

It’s all about sales, George. And there are degrees of selling.

Hey, let’s face it: you can call yourself a SELLER if you simply have something you’ll exchange for money. Or, you can be a SKILLED seller and incorporate those things that have been PROVEN to encourage people to buy. It’s your choice.

GEORGE: I hear what you’re saying, DREW… but all those fancy descriptions. I can’t get over the fact that we’re just selling soap to use those kinds of descriptions.

DREW: Sigh. (The sound of brown hair ripping.)

Do You Know the 17 Human Hot-Buttons?

It’s QUICK!  EASY!  CHEAP!

Those 3 appeals should be worked into everything you create.

Why?

Because they’re powerful, hard-wired hot buttons inside every human brain.

If you read my book CA$HVERTISING, you know about what I call the “LifeForce-8.”

We human beings are biologically programmed with the following 8 desires:

1. Survival… enjoyment of life… life extension

2. Enjoyment of food and beverages

3. Freedom from fear, pain and danger

4. Sexual companionship

5. Comfortable living conditions

6. To be superior… winning… keeping up with the Jones’

7. Care and protection of loved ones

8. Social approval

When I say, “Hardwired,” that means they’re nearly impossible to “remove.”

But there are also “9 Secondary Wants” that are LEARNED, and also important to know:

1. To be informed

2. Curiosity

3. Cleanliness of body and surroundings

4. Efficiency

5. Convenience

6. Dependability/Quality

7. Expression of beauty and style

8. Economy/Profit

9. Bargains

Do you see how QUICK, EASY and CHEAP fall smack-dab into that second group?

Fact is, people are L-A-Z-Y. We want results NOW! So if your product or service is, in any way, QUICK and EASY, say it!

For example, do you run a cleaning service?

“Announcing the QUICKEST & EASIEST Way
to Have a Sparkling Clean & Fresh Home
… for Less than $100 Per Cleaning!”

“But Drew! $100 isn’t cheap to clean a house!”

 It actually is, in some parts of the country. You get the point.

Do you run a website design service?

“Announcing the QUICKEST & EASIEST Way
to Have a Beautiful, Custom-Prepared Website
for Your Restaurant for Just $499 Complete!”

Of course, you don’t have to use the same “Announcing” verbiage… it’s just an example.

“But Drew! Why do I need to TELL them it’s “quick and easy?”  Isn’t it better to just let them find out on their own and then they’ll know?”

[The sound of crickets chirping.]

Argh. This is advertising. Persuasion. Sales. You have to do more than simply HOPE that people will think the things you want them to think. You have to MAKE them think them. (Try saying that fast 10 times.)

In my own effort to make things quick and easy for people, I developed a new business: BrochureCafe.com. This is a boutique “ad agency” for people who want a one-stop shop for brochures, flyers and other marketing materials. For one low set price, they get their brochure (flyer, etc.) written, designed… even printed, and shipped to their doorstep, if they choose.

(In fact, there’s a $100 coupon at the website should YOU be interested.)

One way to make things LOOK easy is to make them visually “approachable.”

For example, in creating the BrochureCafe™ look, I didn’t want a cold, hardcore, corporate, Madison Avenue theme. No. Instead, I created something friendly and lighthearted:

 

Fact is, that which is familiar is more approachable. (Read that again.)

We fear mystery. Mystery denotes unfamiliarity and surprise. The image of a happy diner waitress serving frosty, whipped cream-topped fountain drinks and, er, brochures, is far more approachable than an uptight corporate dude in a suit and tie at his desk, or, commonly shown in stock photos, with his hand extended. Zzzzzzz. We’ve all seen that too many times before.

Bright colors are friendly too, aren’t they? They’re upbeat. Positive. Suggestive of happiness and energy. Contrast that to the gray and maroon in so many corporate brochures and websites. It’s not that it’s WRONG, but it simply gives you a different FEELING.

Pumpkin pie. Apple pie. Banana cream. Boy, do I love pie!

In fact, rather than throwing a bunch of text and numbers at people, on my Services & Prices page, I continue the familiar cafe theme and offer “Service by the Slice”…

 

… with the number of pie slices representing different ordering options. The copy reads:

ONE SLICE= Your Copy, Our Design. Give us your final copy. Our experienced graphic designers turn your words into an attention getting, ultra-professional-looking sales piece.

TWO SLICES= Your Improved Copy, Our Design. Give us your current copy. Our professional writers add fire and spice to boost its pulling power. Then our designers create a mouthwatering layout that your prospects will eat up.

THREE SLICES= We Do Everything—You Relax. Simply tell us about your product or service and our pros go to work for you… ad-agency style. This deluxe service includes a bold promotional concept… hard-hitting, strong-selling copy… and a gorgeous, can’t-miss design for the ultimate in impact and response. This is the best option if you want the greatest possible sales impact because it allows us to create from scratch.

Order it “A La Mode” and printing is included.

Hey… there’s nothing wrong with having some FUN with your business, is there?

Guess what… your customers and prospects like having fun, too. (Imagine that!) And while you might never think of it this way, doing business with you is an EXPERIENCE.

Did you ever consider that? People get more than simply the product you’re selling them or the service you’re providing! Every transaction is also an EXPERIENCE.

That means when they buy from you, they’re also buying the transaction itself: the mood, the emotions, the interaction, the body language (if in person), and all the communication.

All these things are piled on top of what you sold them. If you gave EL CRAPPO service, them the crappo is piled upon their purchase and chances are you won’t see them again. (Even if they loved what you sold them.)

If you give KICK-ASS service, this is piled upon what you sold them, and not only will they be happy with their purchase (assuming you sell quality), but they’ll remember you as being ENJOYABLE to do business with. (Hey, that wouldn’t hurt your business, would it?)

Can you honestly say that your present customers think it’s a JOY to do business with you?

“Aw heck, Drew. My business is NOT Disney World! My job is to simply sell what I’m selling and satisfy the customer. The process doesn’t need to be ENJOYABLE. It simply needs to be efficient and satisfactory!”

Why the heck not? You’re not like the majority of businesspeople who robotically process their transactions like a mannequin with a change maker on your belt, are you?

I suggest you adopt the mindset: “I’m going to do everything in my power to make this customer ENJOY doing business with me!” Do that for a couple of months and see if it doesn’t have a major impact on your repeat business. Only a fool would think it would do otherwise. (Especially in today’s crummy economy, with millions of people experiencing financial turmoil… desperation… and depression.)

THINK: What could you do–starting tomorrow–that would make it more FUN for people to do business with you? Believe me… people need it now, more than ever. (And remember to tell them that you do it quicker and easier… and you save them moolah, too!)

“If a man insisted always on being serious, and never
allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would
go mad or become unstable without knowing it.”
Herodotus (484 BC – 430 BC)

Get crackin!

Success!

Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon™

Author of, “Cashvertising: How to Use More Than
100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make
Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone”
www.AdSurgeon.com
www.Cashvertising.com
www.BrochureCafe.com
www.WorldsGreatestSecrets.com

P.S. Let’s have some fun putting together your next brochure, flyer, sales letter! Go to www.BrochureCafe.com… shoot me an email… and I’ll cook you up a real winner!  😉

Follow-Up: How Lowe DID They Go?

Hey Gang!

You all hit the nail on the head with your comments about the Lowe’s ad. BOOM! Everything you said was dead-on.

Now allow me to simplify it all…

The #1 problem with this ad is that the headline gives no reason to read further.

I don’t blame the (crappy) body copy for this ad’s poor performance because it’s UNlikely anyone ever reached it! It’s kind of like blaming an airline for not making it to Los Angeles in time because of all the zillions of other planes waiting to take off… when your plane never pulled out of the gate!

I guess we can say the headline is its FIRST failure. But what a failure that is, right? Can’t we say, then, that the headline is the most important part of any ad? Of course. Because a poor headline can kill even the most amazingly constructed ad that’s packed with benefits, credibility, and a potent call-to-action.

But you’ve seen this before, right? Some slick ad agency or in-house marketing department creates as ad the way they THINK they should be created: CLEVER. Something gave them the idea that a CLEVER ad is a GOOD ad. Where the hell did that thinking come from? It came from the “image school” of advertising. The non-direct-response agencies who are apparently more concerned with creative expression than sales.

Think about it! This ad didn’t come from nowhere. It passed across many people’s desks… was carefully read by top  executives responsible for the marketing controls of a company serving over 14 million customers and 1,717 stores throughout the U.S. (stores in all 50 states) and Canada. They all approved it! They all thought, “WOW! So clever! This ad is worth spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to run!” No one stopped and said, “Huh!? You’re kidding, right? Who the hell taught you to write ad copy?! Rip it up and start over!!”

“But Drew! YOU don’t have 14 million customers! YOU don’t have 1,717 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. THEY apparently know better than you!”

They sure do. They know how to operate a massive chain of home- improvement stores far better than I’ll ever hope (or want) to.

But trust me. This ad isn’t the reason for their success.  

No AdAutopsy is needed on this one… you all said as much as I possibly could. You threw the patient on the table yourself… grabbed your own scalpel… and went to work. (Nice job.)

But it’s those who haven’t yet trained themselves to see the “violations” that really need to pay special attention to this blog. Because once they can spot the problems in other people’s ads… they’ll see them instantly in their own.  

Meaning? They’ll save a fortune in placing one “dud” ad after another. And–more importantly–make a heck of a lot more money as well.

I’ll have another “What’s Wrong With This Ad” soon. Keep your eyeballs peeled!

And, most importantly… thanks so much for reading. <HANDSHAKE>

Drew
www.Cashvertising.com

What Do YOU Think About This Ad?

How Lowe can you go?

This post is not about the fun Trinidadian dance–the limbo–that has you bending over backwards until your spine’s about to snap.

No.

It’s about one of the worst ads I’ve seen in a long time.

Too bad, too, because this one’s for a store I really like: Lowe’s.

Now, before I tell you why it’s so bad, I’d like to get your take on it. Am I wrong? Is it really a GREAT ad? Or is it a spine-snappin’ version of getting really low, low, low with your ad-quality standards?

I’ll be back in another post with my AdAutopsy(tm). Let’s check your Ad I.Q. and see if you and I are on the same page.

Hey mon… fire up the calypso music and shoot me your comments!

Success!

Drew
www.AdSurgeon.com

PRESS RELEASE: Super Bowl Ads Fumble!

Think this years’s Super Bowl ads were great?

Think again.

Averaging over three million dollars for one 30-second spot, the majority of this year’s Super Bowl advertisers demonstrated a knack for humor and entertainment, but set a money-wasting example for struggling small business owners trying to make their own cash registers ring, a study found.

California-based advertising consultant Drew Eric Whitman—author of CA$HVERTISING (Career Press)—said nearly all of this year’s Super Bowl commercials ignored all three of the foundational principles of creating effective advertising: 1) highlighting the product’s benefits, 2) distinguishing it from the competition, and 3) driving people to act.

In a nationwide survey of 525 small business owners, 94 percent said they would benefit if they patterned their own local ads after those shown during the Super Bowl. “Wrong!” exclaimed Whitman. “Instead of giving strong reasons to buy, those commercials subordinated their product to irrelevant—and often downright stupid—humor. Unfortunately, small businesses owners often take their cues from what the ‘big boys’ are doing. It’s a disastrous recipe to follow.”

For example, CareerBuilder runs a great website offering an invaluable service to millions,” he said. “And with today’s national unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, finding work is more important than ever. But to spend 60 seconds showing nothing more than ad nauseam repetition of underwear-clad office workers without one second on how CareerBuilder actually helps viewers find satisfying and rewarding work is an advertising disgrace. It might generate laughs, but showing out-of-shape people in underwear gives no motivation to visit the site and use their service.”

Citing another example, he said, “Volkswagen burns millions of dollars in just 60 seconds showing people playing ‘Punch Dub’— hitting your friend or family member in the arm whenever you see a Volkswagen drive by. Rather than entertainingly giving reasons to buy their products—focusing on quality, safety, fun, or performance—they bore viewers for a full minute with an archaic child’s game and say nothing about the car!” This is especially interesting since VW’s vice president of marketing, Tim Ellis, announced prior to the game, “There is a bigger story to tell about our brand.” “They had over 107 million people glued to their TVs during the game” exclaimed Whitman, “so why the heck didn’t they tell it?”

Whitman explained that the classic advertising-success formula, “AIDA”—get Attention… stimulate Interest… build Desire… and ask for Action was largely ignored by Super Bowl advertisers, and is unknown to most independent business owners struggling to stay afloat. “Your goal is not to get people saying, ‘What a clever ad!’ Instead, you want them to ask, ‘Hey… where can I buy one?’”

“Advertising is selling, first and foremost,” said Whitman, “and with the recession mercilessly battering businesses in most every industry, ads need to focus on sales, not entertainment. Taking cues from Super Bowl commercials to create your own campaigns,” he added, “might be a fun way to exercise your creativity, but it’s a sure-fire way to flush your ad dollars down the toilet.”

Don’t Step in the CRAPvertising: Study #2

Ready to Flush? Check out this beauty. (Click to enlarge)

You’ll learn 4 proven ways to ensure that prospects never call you.

 These techniques are especially good if you’re a recluse or otherwise particularly anti-social.

Heck… who wants to bother with pesky patrons? Making change is such a pain, isn’t it?

Enough sarcasm. These good folks just never learned how to do it right. Worse still, the ad rep apparently knew no better.

If it were me, I would have said, “Hey Joe, you have a great product here… but this ad sucks moose hoof. Let me tell you what’s wrong with it, and let’s work to make it better.”

Crappy ads make me mad.

That’s because hard-working business people are trying desperately to put food on their table. Struggling in this crummy economy. And the people who should be looking out for them… the ones whose interests would be best served (the media reps who take their money) barely lift a finger to help them do better.

But it’s actually worse than that.

Most of the reps, themselves, don’t know the first thing about creating effective advertising.

It’s true! Most ad reps are simply sales people. Few give a damn after the contract is signed. And it’s completely counter-intuitive! If their advertisers do well, they’ll keep advertising.

OK… rant over. What do YOU think? Please share your comments with me, won’t you?

Success! <HANDSHAKE>

Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon(tm)
www.WorldsGreatestSecrets.com