Here's a sales letter from one of the stalwarts of direct mail marketing and newsletter publishing. INFLATION as a topic (and opportunity, think inflation defense) is only heating up and this package treats it thoroughly, along with a laundry list … [Continue reading]
Here's another testimonial headline that hits the red hot core of this market. This ad for the Journey Toilet Lift has been going strong with insertions by the boatload since June of 2023. The key appeals for this product and market in general … [Continue reading]
Many years ago, I heard someone allude to these ads of Joe Karbo's for the M. Penn Phillips Company, but thought they were mystical... like the unicorn or mermaid. It turns out Joe Karbo successfully labored in the vineyards of real estate sales and … [Continue reading]
Howard Ruff was the man of the hour (or more like the decade in the 80s) in the financial publishing world powered by direct response. This 1981 ad on the now timely topic of inflation hails from Times Books, which Mel Martin was the marquis … [Continue reading]
Success in business and life boils down to the fundamentals... and TESTING! For us marketers and copywriters -- whether freelancers or founders -- we KNOW the importance of testing. Because you don't really know anything until you test. … [Continue reading]
Reading this long time control package for the Cooking Club of America, and the clone package for the Handyman Club of America, one is reminded of Malcolm Decker's advice about creating new control packages. … [Continue reading]
You can't come up with a stronger claim than CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Now granted, we as marketers and copywriters inhabit a kind of boxing ring, often laden with hyperbole. Only experience, and a lot of testing, can help you discern when's the right … [Continue reading]
This tiny advertorial or "tinytorial" saw over 100,000 insertions and was tested six ways from Sunday. It's very likely the ad with the MOST insertions in the history of business opportunity. But make no mistake! We're not talking just about … [Continue reading]
Just because you see an ad running far and wide doesn't mean it's ripe for the picking, even a decade later. To understand why an ad or headline "works" you've got to know "the deal" first. … [Continue reading]
This is a textbook "testimonial headline" in the world of book advertising. Book advertising in 2023? YES... it will continue to matter because it's a TRUE test of a an ad writer's mettle. As we've seen with the late 20th Century copy … [Continue reading]
The core of this mailbox winner goes back over twenty years and it hails from the mighty pen of Kent Komae. And even though this 10-year direct mail champion has been retired -- even the strongest controls fatigue -- you can still see the remnant … [Continue reading]
Dr. Chris Tomshack is a business development and practice management genius. He quickly built one of the largest chiropractic franchises, starting in the mid-2000s with the power of long copy... just like in this lovely ad! … [Continue reading]
Thankfully I can still go to "the well" (my archive room) and unearth alternative-health book advertising treasures like this Rodale classic for Dr. Arthur Brownstein's "EXTRAORDINARY HEALING." The Rodale of yore with direct mail as its backbone … [Continue reading]
From this moment on, forget everything you've ever read or been told about writing breakthrough copy that storms the gates of a HOT NEW market and yanks down record response. Sound impossible? Well it's not. Let me explain. … [Continue reading]
"OILFLATION" is one of those one-word portmanteau headlines popular in financial direct mail, to use a high-falutin word that would never come up in ad copy, meaning a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others. OPECALYPSE … [Continue reading]
The technology may be new -- an app or streaming online course instead of paper and ink or cassettes -- but the market has been around for over a century. … [Continue reading]
Even if you never dip your toe in the waters of the weight loss market, you can ALWAYS learn something from a successful ad. And this one had THOUSANDS of insertions from 2014 to 2019. … [Continue reading]
Here's a full page insertion that's been big in the UK for over a year. Notice this is an old school two-step ad with two response mechanisms: Freephone and postal mail reply coupon. This Hidden Hearing ad for "spectacle hearing aids" … [Continue reading]
Canna LS is going on five years (as of April 2024) in the ever dwindling pages of newspaper print in the USA. This advertiser has a strong presence in this market and always brings something worthwhile to the table of copywriting ideas. … [Continue reading]
Here's a Second Opinion supplements lead making the rounds in April 2024. Dr. Frank Shallenberger's newsletter excels at using the publication as a springboard for pushing supplements products. This is one of those "fix the root cause" pitches. … [Continue reading]
This package mailed in 1997 from Sam Biser's "University of Natural Healing." … [Continue reading]
It feels like only yesterday that I was standing atop the Saint Regis Roof and Penthouse chatting with the great Carline Anglade-Cole and the "Brazilian Jujitsu chiro copywriter" during Gary Ben's Retirement Seminar in May 2005. Pardon the … [Continue reading]
Great advertising ideas are timeless. They're independent of technology, platforms and the latest shiny objects. Here's a classic campaign. How do you build the biggest and best known speed reading franchise in history? By riding popular … [Continue reading]
You've just mailed a 124-page bookalog for a high ticket offer... And the prospect hasn't responded. What should you do? … [Continue reading]
The worldwide hair care market amounts to a whopping $91.2 billion in 2024 and continues to soar higher. In all likelihood hair care products have been around since the time of Cleopatra over two thousand years ago. So while these 1990s and … [Continue reading]