Word of the Night from a Direct Response Copywriter: DEFENESTRATION

Awesome, awesome word.

Defenestration

The act of throwing someone out of a window.

Could be used to describe all sorts of other actions. Like being fired. Or being dumped.

"My boss just completed a defenstration of that secretary who always showed up late."

OR

"So she dumped you?"

"Total defenestration."

"Sorry to hear that. You were too good for her anyway."

"Thanks."

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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. I increasingly specialize in sales pages and landing pages. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.

Direct Response Copywriter Word of the Night: SIMILE

Simile

A comparison to enhance a description.

"The leaves fell like golden snowflakes."

A simile usually includes the word 'like' but not always.

"That person is dumb as a box of rocks."

The strongest fiction writers have always used powerful similes. Graham Greene was especially superb.

"The watch-tower gaped over their path like an upper jaw"

For the direct response copywriter, the simile is especially important but must not be overused. The goal of a simile in direct response copywriting is to engage the reader and get the reader to feel like they're using the product or service.

You really want to wrap a simile around a benefit.

"Staying at the ACME Inn and Lodge will make you feel like you're being worshipped."

"Getting the Martin Marketing System online is like having your own personal marketing consultant...but without the consulting fee."

Used properly, and sparingly, similes can help to improve response in direct response copy.

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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. I increasingly specialize in sales pages and landing pages. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.

Word of the Night from Your Direct Response Copywriter: ACQUIESCE

ACQUIESCE

A beautiful word. It means: to accept something reluctantly. To give in...and not like it.

"George didn't want to go to the mall with his wife: George hated shopping. And malls. But he acquiesced because he was about to ask permission to to on a 10 day golf binge to Scotland."

Acquiesce is not a verb I would use as a direct response copywriter but it's a word I would definitely use in serious fiction.

And no, direct response copy is not fiction.

Acquiesce has a silent 'c' which is somewhat rare. I also like the noun: acquiescence.

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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. I increasingly specialize in sales pages and landing pages. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.

Direct Response Copywriter Word of the Night: PUNTER

PUNTER

No...not the person on a football team who kicks the ball on 4th down.

Punter is a word used extensively in the British Isles. It's an elastic word.

It can mean customer.

"This direct response copywriter had better get the punters to buy our stuff. He says he knows what he's doing. We'll find out soon enough."

It can mean gambler.

"Look at the all the punters here at the racetrack today."

Punters 'punt' when they gamble.

"She took a big punt on that horse in the 3:15 at Haymarket. Maybe I should do the same."

It can also mean a person. Sort of a loose translation of 'guy' in America.

"Do you know that punter? I think his name is Rupert."

"I know the punter. Yes."

Punter also has a somewhat scatalogical meaning I won't discuss in a family blog like this.

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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. I increasingly specialize in sales pages and landing pages. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.

Word of the Night from Your Direct Response Copywriter: CYBERTRAMP

CYBERTRAMP

A great word and one I have to admit, shamlessly, that I created.

I have no shame because, for a while, I was, myself, a cybertramp.

The typical cybertramp habitat is the coffee shop. The coffee shop must have free wifi. Must. In the coffee shop, armed with nothing more than a 'vintage' laptop with a falterning hard drive, the cybertramp will buy a cup of coffee, take advantage of the free refills, and sit for hours in the same space, sucking up bandwidth and electricity, buzzed on a potentially lethal dose of caffeine.

These days, you'll also find cybertramps in fast food establishments, restaurants, donut shops, and bars. Pretty much anywhere with a wifi connection.

Many cybertramps have manners and will not clog up space when their chosen habitat is busy. But some cybertramps are rude and will take up several tables--even when the location is heaving with people looking for a place to sit. Some cybertramps smell but don't care.

Some cybertramps have full-time jobs and simply don't like to work at home. Fair enough. But most cybertramps are under-employed (at best). Some cybertramps are direct response copywriters and SEO copywriters who get paid to stuff blogs and articles with keywords like: direct response copywriter and SEO copywriter.

Occasionally, a cybertramp, to everyone's surprise, will get a full-time job where they have to show up at an office. This means they no longer need to be a cybertramp.

From time to time, the ex-cybertramp will visit their old 'office' and make fun of the people who are still cybertramps and still spending hours applying online for jobs for which they are not qualified.

Strangely, perhaps, many coffee shop managers are incredibly tolerant of cybertamps.

Where have you spotted cybertramps? Do they annoy you? Do you even care?

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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. I increasingly specialize in sales pages and landing pages. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here.