Are you direct response?

I met with a local business owner about a month ago. I know the business well and I was there to talk about some direct marketing and direct response copywriting. During that initial meeting, the owner was all about branding and image advertising in local publications. He had never heard of Dan Kennedy and direct marketing. So I gave him a brief introduction and handed him a couple of books.

Now, just a month later, we're about to start a direct marketing campaign PLUS we're going to measure everything through the POS system. He read the books and voraciously digested the information.

Sadly, this type of fast conversion from branding maven to direct response devotee is rare: people think that Dan Kennedy is nuts and that direct marketing is obnoxious and will destroy the brand. And the LAST thing a branding agency wants you to do is measure and track.

So I'm really looking forward to working with the local business...the owner gets it. And he's going to get some superb results using proven direct response techniques.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here for a direct response copywriting quote.

Copywriter reviews proofreaders...and laments

All the pages are in for my new website. I'm a terrible proofreader so I've used a proofreader in the past for most projects. So, with my site ready to go, I went to Elance to find a professional proofreader. In 12 hours I had 31 applications/proposals. Now, the way Elance works, you can see all the proposals on one page; you review the proposals and, at first, it's triage...you scan the first few lines of each proposal. All the proofreaders made the mistake of telling me what's important to them and not working out what's important to me. I detailed what I was looking for in my assignment request...I'm looking for a serious, professional proofreader. From some of the proposals.

My name is XXX, and I'm a former broadcast journalist who now works as a copywriter and editor. This sounds like a simple project for someone with my experience, and I'd be happy to do it for you.

How does being a broadcast journalist make you a professional proofreader? Here's a curious one...

I am an arts administrator and media relations coordinator with ten years of experience in press release writing, event coordination, and fundraising for the largest resident theater company in America.

Great experience but how does that help me get my website free of typos? I think it's best if a proposal from a proofreader does NOT include typographical errors...

I would love to help. I have edited multiple websites for spelling, grammar and content. I have an Education degree in English, as well as a Master's degree. Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

...especially if you say you have a Masters degree...in English.

Introduction: My name is Rishan C. Paul Pillai,33, from Sri Lanka.I am a new provider in the elance.com community.

Again...it's NOT good when the proofreader can't proof his own work. And age is totally irrelevant. AND THE WINNER...

I am XXXX, business owner of XXX and I provide copyediting, proofreading, and website content editing and testing services. I am a professionally qualified proofreader and copyeditor and I have 16 years IT experience including software testing.

Came across as a professional...even though the software testing isn't something I need.

I rarely bid on Elance work but it was useful and educational to get on the other side of the fence.

The lessons here...

• Get straight to the point in 'quick' copy.
• Be relevant.
• Read what the client wants.

Next up...a series about the creation of compelling content in the direct marketing environment. * I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment--for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here for a quote.

Copywriter admires a solid USP

Saw this sign in the neighborhood. Note the value proposition/USP: One-day bath remodeling.

It's a superb USP and a classic example of the speed approach to developing a solid unique selling proposition. It's a clear USP and it's achievable and realistic. The sign also includes the magic word, FREE.

The sign has a clear web address and upon further inspection, it's a solid website. Take a look. The USP is in the headline but could be a little more front and center. There's solid content. The copy is a bit SEO-ish but that's understandable.

Is your USP as clear as the one from Bath Fitter?

A direct response copywriter should have USP development and writing in his arsenal. I do. Contact me here to discuss yours.

On another note: I've added some additional pages to my website. One of the pages details the copywriter problems I solve and how I solve them. All feedback appreciated.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment--for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here for a quote.

Let's Get Vivid

Andrew Wood introduced me to direct marketing. He's a superb copywriter and a highly successful information marketer. I write copy for his company, Legendary Marketing. He provides me with a copywriting checklist and one of the items: Is the copy vivid?

I've been working to make my copy more vivid. This means stronger headlines with more metaphors, adjectives, and color. One additional technique...getting the senses involved.

"As you pass the grill room at Bogey acres, enjoy the aroma of perfectly cooked steaks."

"When you step to the first tee at Morgan Farms, enjoy the view of the perfectly manicured first fairway. Then enjoy the sight of a perfectly-struck drive bombing down the middle."

High converting copy should follow--somewhat--newspaper writing, especially tabloid newspaper writing. Let's take a look at an article from the New York Post about Courtney Love.

Celebrity train wreck Courtney Love is on fire again.

A curtain in the grunge rocker’s tony West Village townhouse went up in flames early this morning, prompting her to scramble to put it out while suffering a minor burn to her hand, FDNY sources said.

Note it's not "Celebrity Courtney Love" it's "Celebrity train wreck Courtney Love."

It's not her West Village townhouse but it's a 'tony' townhouse.

Now, let's take a look at The Sun from London...an article about a new soccer coach.

Villas-Boas will be fully aware of the need to make major alterations to the squad he inherits from predecessor Carlo Ancelotti, who was axed after failing to win a trophy last season.

It's not just alterations...it's 'major' alterations. Ancelotti wasn't fired, he was 'axed.'

Now, let's visit Dan Kennedy's website. Kennedy gets vivid with the best of them. From his blog titled: I Can Raise the Dead...

You’ve heard that “you can’t raise the dead.” Well, very recently, with a marketing campaign I got response from a dead guy. So I can raise the dead. Amazing. But if you were fortunate enough to be on my group call with the folks in my personal coaching groups, you heard me tell of even more amazing feats – theirs, not mine.

A vivid opening paragraph.

Last week, I wrote a headline for a client in the United Kingdom and it included the phrase:

GIVE YOUR BOSS THE RED CARD

Some soccer imagery there...get a red card from the ref and you're out of the game. The phrase was better than "Escape your day job." We'll see how it converts.

Either way, something I'm learning from the rock star copywriters--vivid writing. I'm building a list of adjectives and metaphors to get my copywriting more vivid.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment--for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here for a quote.

Copywriter asks, "why bother?"

So I'm working on direct response copy today and instead of writing, 'we'll send you...' I write: 'we'll RUSH you.'

And I'm looking for a slightly softer word than 'FAST' plus I'm trying to tone down a paragraph and make it more readable, more conversational. And yet 95% of the direct mail I receive is poor and obviously pounded out by someone without a direct response background. Or it's been watered down by lawyers and/or our brothers and sisters in branding.

I should have written the last sentence in the active voice: Lawyers and/or our brothers and sisters in branding have watered down the copy.

So...why bother? Why obsess over finding the perfect word and writing copy in the active voice and spending plenty of time really finding out what's going to motivate the reader to buy or hand over their email address? Why include specific numbers? Why do I write 'discover' instead of 'learn?'

BECAUSE...it's all about MAXIMIZING RESPONSE...we're different in direct marketing. All of us MUST use every technique and obsess over every word and sentence so that we maximize response for clients. Serious direct marketers understand it's all about maximizing response. And it works. A page I wrote is getting more than a 30% opt in for a special report and the client's client is swamped with qualified leads.

Sometimes people ask me, 'why do you like direct response?' Because it's all about the results and the results of the results.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I specialize in providing copy and content for the direct marketing environment--for clients around the world. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here for a quote.