Direct Response Copywriter on the AWAI Bootcamp. Part 2. Drayton Bird.

By Scott Martin

One of the highlights of the AWAI 2013 FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp and Job Fair was Drayton Bird's speech.

Drayton Bird is a famous direct response copywriter. He's based in the UK and has worked for numerous agencies including Ogilvy. You can see his full info here.

A veteran of many direct response copywriting wars, the spry and youthful Bird gave a witty presentation. Here's what I took away ...

• Be careful if you decide to get married. Three of Bird's wives tried to kill him. I suppose the title of Bird's next book could be: Bird on Birds.
• Focus entirely on results.
• Keep pounding away until you get the results you really want.

Later, I had a chance to meet Bird and we talked about his excellent book, How to Write Sales Letters that Sell. In addition to providing salient advice about copywriting, Bird details how to approach potential clients -- the ones you want. The book is out of print now and copies cost around $50. Maybe I should sell mine!

If you get a chance to study Bird's work, it's worth the effort.

And here I am with Drayton Bird.

Thank you to the people at AWAI for getting Drayton Bird to Delray Beach.

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Before the bootcamp, I entered one of the competitions: the Clayton Makepeace Spec Challenge. I came 3rd out of 48 entries which was fun.

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I'm a direct response copywriter. I specialize in providing direct response copy for the direct marketing environment for clients around the planet. I specialize in sales page copy, landing page copy and copy that persuades readers to pull out their credit card and buy. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here if you have a project you'd like me to quote.

I'm also a Dan Kennedy Certified Copywriter for Info-Marketers.

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Disclaimer for the above.

The Dan Kennedy Copywriter for Info-Marketers Certification is awarded to professional copywriters who have successfully completed a course of study of preparation for such copywriting.  This Certification has not been provided by an accredited education institution.  It does not constitute endorsement of or liability for any individual copywriter by Mr. Kennedy or any companies or organizations affiliated with Mr. Kennedy. The client's relationship is solely with the individual copywriter retained via any agreement.

Direct Response Copywriter on the 'How To' Headline

By Scott Martin

At a copywriting conference I attended in April, the speaker said he loves the "how to" headline. Why? Because, in testing, a "how to" headline outperforms other headlines 9 times out of ten.

The "how to" headline is one of the most basic and I love its simplicity...plus it usually works. I'm sure you've seen dozens of "how to" headlines. For a direct response copywriter, the "how to" headline is a staple.

"How to Sovle Bad Breath Forever"

"How to Get First Class Tickets for the Price of Coach"

You also see "how to" headlines without the "how to."

"Look Taller Today"

"Get Cable TV for 60% Less"

You get the picture and speaking of pictures, I was recently in a large northeastern city visiting a hostelry. The men's room was plastered with cut outs from various and "sundry" magazines. This "how to" headline caught my attention, not becuase it relates directly to me...

In case you can't see it, the headline reads...

"How to Tell Your Girl You've Got Herpes"

Magazines are replete with "how to" headlines...because they get readers to read. If you're scratching your head wondering how to start the copy, trust the "how to" headline.

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I'm a direct response copywriter. I specialize in providing direct response copy for the direct marketing environment for clients around the planet. I specialize in sales page copy, landing page copy and copy that persuades readers to pull out their credit card and buy. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here if you have a project you'd like me to quote.

I'm also a Dan Kennedy Certified Copywriter for Info-Marketers.

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Disclaimer for the above.

The Dan Kennedy Copywriter for Info-Marketers Certification is awarded to professional copywriters who have successfully completed a course of study of preparation for such copywriting.  This Certification has not been provided by an accredited education institution.  It does not constitute endorsement of or liability for any individual copywriter by Mr. Kennedy or any companies or organizations affiliated with Mr. Kennedy. The client's relationship is solely with the individual copywriter retained via any agreement.

Direct Response Copywriter on How Not to Advertise

By Scott Martin, Direct Response Copywriter

If you're like me, you would rather have nails nail-gunned into your head than visit an office supply store for ink cartridges.

However, I needed ink so I got ready to visit my local 'big box' office store. Before making that ugly trek I remembered there's a specialist ink cartridge store less than 400 yards from my office. So I went to the company's website to check the price. As a direct response copywriter, I'm always interested in how a company organizes its site.

First, it was almost impossible to find a price comparison. To get a price, the company wanted me to complete a form asking for pretty much all my personal details. No thanks. However, once I found the right page and entered the number of the ink cartridge, here's what I got.

(Click for a larger image if you can't see this...)

This company is a locally-owned franchise. I hope they improve their website.

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I'm a direct response copywriter. I specialize in providing direct response copy for the direct marketing environment for clients around the planet. I specialize in sales page copy, landing page copy and copy that persuades readers to pull out their credit card and buy. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here if you have a project you'd like me to quote.

I'm also a Dan Kennedy Certified Copywriter for Info-Marketers.

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Disclaimer for the above.

The Dan Kennedy Copywriter for Info-Marketers Certification is awarded to professional copywriters who have successfully completed a course of study of preparation for such copywriting.  This Certification has not been provided by an accredited education institution.  It does not constitute endorsement of or liability for any individual copywriter by Mr. Kennedy or any companies or organizations affiliated with Mr. Kennedy. The client's relationship is solely with the individual copywriter retained via any agreement.

Direct Response Copywriter on the AWAI Bootcamp. Part 1.

By Scott Martin

Or should it be boot camp? Either way, I spent a chunk of last week at the AWAI Bootcamp in beautiful Delray Beach, Florida. Over the next few days, I'll provide some thoughts about the event, focusing on some techniques I picked up and can share. I will also describe the event itself -- from the perspective of a direct response copywriter. I paid my way to attend so it was important to pick up some techniques and make some solid contacts.

Officially called the AWAI 2013 FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp and Job Fair, the event is an annual gathering of sorts for copywriters from around the world. Some are totally new to the game while many of the rock stars of direct response copywriting attend: Clayton Makepeace, Bob Bly, and Drayton Bird. Most of the events take place in the ballroom at the Delray Beach Marriott which is a resort hotel right next to the Atlantic. It's a pleasant spot and I enjoyed my walk back and forth over the Intracoastal Waterway to my hotel which was a little inland.

The event comprises seminars, speeches, contests, and a meet and greet (the job fair) where about 30 direct marketers can liaise with direct response copywriters.

Bill Bonner was the keynote speaker on the Wednesday night. Bonner founded Agora and is currently president of the company. He's a big name in direct response. I was especially keen to hear Bonner as I'm working on a promotion right now for an Agora entity.

He gave a wonderful speech, bouncing around from topic to topic. My biggest takeaway? He likes copy where the reader becomes the hero in the story. I'm going to use that technique more over the next several months.

Sometimes these gatherings can be a major pitch-fest but, for the most part, the bootcamp provided valuable speakers with useful information. So no complaints there.

In the next blog, I'll discuss Drayton Bird's speech.

Before the bootcamp, I entered one of the competitions: the Clayton Makepeace Spec Challenge. I came 3rd out of 48 entries which was fun.

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I'm a direct response copywriter. I specialize in providing direct response copy for the direct marketing environment for clients around the planet. I specialize in sales page copy, landing page copy and copy that persuades readers to pull out their credit card and buy. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here if you have a project you'd like me to quote.

I'm also a Dan Kennedy Certified Copywriter for Info-Marketers.

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Disclaimer for the above.

The Dan Kennedy Copywriter for Info-Marketers Certification is awarded to professional copywriters who have successfully completed a course of study of preparation for such copywriting.  This Certification has not been provided by an accredited education institution.  It does not constitute endorsement of or liability for any individual copywriter by Mr. Kennedy or any companies or organizations affiliated with Mr. Kennedy. The client's relationship is solely with the individual copywriter retained via any agreement.

Direct Response Copywriter on Fair Compensation

I'm not a fan of organized labor and I'm not a fan of collusion, coercion, and other dubious economic tactics. I'm a huge believer in market forces...and letting them do their thing. And supply and demand affect writing fees. And yes, there's a lot of supply.

In corresponding recently with Baytech, a digital marketing company, I provided them with a fair quote for some work. Turns out they want to pay 4 cents a word for content. For a 250 word article, that's $10 for an article.

The company is dumb for paying writers by the word. Baytech isn't exactly going to get taut, tight syntax. In my humble opinion and, I'm sure, the opinion of others in the digital marketing world, including many who believe that copy is extremely important in the big picture and understand copy and its potential impact, that's not a great rate of pay and/or remuneration.

You get the picture. I can pad with the best of them.

It's sad that a company would pay writers poorly. But I blame my fellow writers for accepting such pathetic pay. Don't you want to eat? What do you put in your car? Do you live in a tent in the desert?

On the company's website, the copy about the copywriting services reads:

Baytech has the absolute best in professional copywriters to ensure your copy harnesses and holds the attention of your viewers.

No you don't. You don't pay well enough.

The big boys of direct response pay writers a decent fee plus the potential for a hefty royalty because the big boys understand this simple fact: the direct response copywriter is the catalyst for whopping sales. Get a good one and you can earn big revenue. Pay 4 cents a word and you'll get...well...just look at the excerpt above from Baytech's site.

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I'm a direct response copywriter. I specialize in providing direct response copy for the direct marketing environment for clients around the planet. I specialize in sales page copy, landing page copy and copy that persuades readers to pull out their credit card and buy. Enter your info to the right for my free series: Seven Steps to High Converting Copy. Or contact me here if you have a project you'd like me to quote.

I'm also a Dan Kennedy Certified Copywriter for Info-Marketers.

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Disclaimer for the above.

The Dan Kennedy Copywriter for Info-Marketers Certification is awarded to professional copywriters who have successfully completed a course of study of preparation for such copywriting.  This Certification has not been provided by an accredited education institution.  It does not constitute endorsement of or liability for any individual copywriter by Mr. Kennedy or any companies or organizations affiliated with Mr. Kennedy. The client's relationship is solely with the individual copywriter retained via any agreement.