Unlike the slew of newspaper supplement ads over the last 15 years, with indistinguishable, clone-like design and formatting... This resveratrol (vinotrol) ad was one of the rare print ad triumphs at a time when online display and direct mail were … [Continue reading]
A 20-year long client rang me a few weeks ago about a new promotion we'll be doing and this landmark ad came up. For anyone under 30 whose mainstay is online display, don’t sneer at this newspaper ad - you know, those black-and-white long sheets … [Continue reading]
This headline is inspired by books like The One Minute Manager, The 4-Hour Workweek, and The 12-Week Year. All are memorable, all are bestsellers, so it's hard to go wrong with this concept as a headline. … [Continue reading]
You've seen this type of headline in many shapes and forms. Headlines like these: "When Doctors 'Feel Rotten' -- This Is What They Do!" "What a Sexologist Does in Bed" "Veterinarian's Own At-Home Pet Cures!" Similarly, this was a … [Continue reading]
I don't enjoy trashing sales letters... But if the shoe fits. I ripped open the stuffed envelope containing this newsletter ridealong with great expectations - especially after seeing such an intriguing lead. … [Continue reading]
I first met Porter Stansberry at Dan Kennedy's and Bill Glazer's seminar-summit in Dallas in November of 2005. Porter was a slender man in his early 30s and was one of the speakers on the last day. His company was one of the smaller Agora-related … [Continue reading]
Consider this. How many advertisers in the language learning market are pounding their heads right now... trying to create new ideas? Meanwhile, there's a bounty of treasure right under their noses -- ideas that could be getting them LOTS more … [Continue reading]
This piece mailed like gangbusters several years ago. It's rare when a self-defense or martial arts product crosses solidly into the mainstream. … [Continue reading]
WARNING! Weight loss is one of the areas most fraught with peril in all of direct response. There's oversight by multiple alphabet agencies due to all the bad actors who've perpetrated decades' worth of crazy claims. If you need further proof, … [Continue reading]
Ogilvy famously said: “Originality is the most dangerous word in the advertiser's lexicon." Perhaps that's doubly true in the information product world. I'd love to get back just a fraction of the dollars (and time!) squandered on brilliant ideas … [Continue reading]
Ad legend, John Caples, wrote about the most effective advertising appeals way back in 1932. Here they are: … [Continue reading]
Forget about the legion of space ads... Gene Schwartz was so prolific he had even more corporate registrations than some copywriters have ads... More companies than aging Hollywood stars have facelifts. … [Continue reading]
This 45-page bookalog mailed strong for several years, right up to the doorstep of 2019. Despite the package's success, Real Wealth couldn't endure the loss of its founder, Larry Edelson, who passed away in 2017 and the newsletter soon ceased. … [Continue reading]
I met Ron LeGrand at the late Corey Rudl's "Wedding Seminar" in Los Angeles in 2004. Corey was a shinning light in the world of marketing, but his life was cut short in a racing accident. Everything about Corey was fast. On the second night, I … [Continue reading]
The late Joseph Segel made a mint as the founder of Franklin Mint which he founded in his garage in 1966. He briefly retired in 1974 at the age of 43 before later founding the giant QVC television shopping channel, along with numerous other … [Continue reading]
The world at large calls them bullets because of the typographical symbol or glyph which resembles... well, ammunition. I think the direct response world is split between calling them fascinations and bullets, at least in the English … [Continue reading]
"Dear Friend, I once saw an old farmer lift the rear end of a pickup truck and push it off the ice where it was spinning its wheels. He had never touched a weight in his life. But that 's nothing compared to the little old ladies who have … [Continue reading]
One of my subscribers took my advice about testing this subject line: DO NOT BEND (picture enclosed) What kind of twisted mind would use this direct mail teaser copy as an email subject line? … [Continue reading]
This one ran BIG in the British press in the mid 1990s. Even though it's from yesteryear -- the five magic words in this headline -- represent a textbook ad in the "save money" category. This advertiser was prolific across British media for … [Continue reading]
Dr. William Fischer turned to Ted Nicholas when he ran into a brick wall with two failed book promos. Here's what the late, great Ted Nicholas wrote about it in his November 15, 2009 issue of "The Success Margin." "Bill Fischer, for example, … [Continue reading]
In the 20th anniversary issue of Health & Healing in 2011, here’s what Dr. Whitaker had to say about the unlikely success of Health & Healing with the launch package, “Give Me 90 Days...” that Clayton Makepeace cranked out in his hotel room. … [Continue reading]
Investment newsletter promos from a few years back are often outlandishly out of date. Except for one thing. Markets are cyclical... and eventually... the view from the rear view mirror becomes the view through the windshield. … [Continue reading]
You'll notice this April 1997 insertion in Ladies' Home Journal is little different than this version of the ad few months later in Better Homes and Gardens. It's not an exaggeration to say the writer's market straddles the line between business … [Continue reading]
Some people have their favorite songs, novels, sporting teams and travel destinations. Others have their favorite direct mail packages. One of my all-time favorite magalogs in alt-health is still “Killed By Conventional Medicine." … [Continue reading]
Link corrected. Anyone with the question of... "What's positioning in marketing?"... Need look no further than the opener in this promotion for a fast answer. And at $2,995, this trading alerts service surely qualifies as a HIGH ticket … [Continue reading]