How do you build one of the largest retail enterprises on the East Coast and keep customers returning for decades? With some of the winningest retail advertising you'll ever see... fronted by powerful PERSONALITY in copy! … [Continue reading]
Step into this time machine for a trip back to weight loss advertising from the wild and woolly 1990s. But this isn't your random hyperbole-laden diet copy, penned by a shameless huckster, that dominated the times. No, this is the once mighty … [Continue reading]
I'm still a sucker for self-help products. I've got bookshelves loaded with 'em... from books to DVDs to (I'm dating myself) cassettes and VHS tapes. And of course, there are more than a few direct mail packages laying … [Continue reading]
It's amazing the Sunday newspaper print supplement, Parade, is still being published. Newspaper print in the U.S. is in its last chapter and it's only a matter of time before this standby, founded in 1941, becomes extinct. While flipping … [Continue reading]
It's an upside down concept worth a look. It may have been Paul Michael who was the first to plaster a toll-free phone number at the TOP of his ad, above even the headline. I have helped all these people lose weight... and, I believe I can help … [Continue reading]
Amazon’s Audible service has disrupted many publishers like Nightingale-Conant. Of course, if you ask me, I’ll take the old school company AND the direct mail package. … [Continue reading]
Ah, back to enargia. Why do I keep harping on it? Only because some of the biggest mailers in the world use it as their go to creative approach. Just think of enargia like a swimming pool. With enargia, you're painting a picture that's so … [Continue reading]
Whoever thinks swiping is for lesser mortals couldn't be more mistaken. This ad first hit print in 1950 and it hails from the copy titan, Victor Schwab. "How I raised myself from a failure at 29 to become a $250 per day success" Of course, … [Continue reading]
Here's a whirlwind, 24-page pitch from my friend, Doberman Dan. This sales letter is an exemplary coaching and consulting promotion almost 10 years after it mailed. Doberman Dan is on a (very) shortlist of marketers and direct response thinkers … [Continue reading]
"In the early 70s, Mel Martin was hired as a copywriter by Herb Nagourney, the toothy publisher of The New York Times book division whose business was built on running coupon ads in unsold space in the Times. While there, Martin created what Edelston … [Continue reading]
You've got to hand it to these guys for the way they adapt to the times and vigorously test. This is the latest wrinkle of a product that's been sold by direct response since 1996. Here's the control ad that ran just a month ahead of this test … [Continue reading]
Here's a financial mailbox hit that's reminiscent of The Perfect Retirement Business. Both of these winners from yesteryear have STRONG business opportunity overtones. "Don’t fall for the “get rich quick” hype. I want to give you the … [Continue reading]
This isn't the kind of ad you see any longer today, neither on the West Coast of the United States nor the Gold Coast of Queensland. But it's one heck of a story selling ad. "The date was 18th March 1983. The curtain was about to go up on … [Continue reading]
(Yes, believe it or not, DVDs still play a role in lead generation, even today.) Looking for business development and lead generation ideas for 2021? Look no further than 2010! Ecclesiastes proves right again: "Nothing is new under the sun!" … [Continue reading]
How do you sell a $14,615 piece of exercise equipment with print advertising? Rom (Range of Motion) of North Hollywood, California showed how from 1990 through the mid-201os. … [Continue reading]
Mere book? Not on your life! Book advertisers learned over a century ago that you should NEVER conceal the fact that your product is a book... when you're selling a book. Why? Now matter how giant or accurate your claims may be... you … [Continue reading]
Is this the most irresistible envelope teaser copy of 2021? It's a bit like juggling live hand grenades... with the pins removed. These are bizarre times indeed, . … [Continue reading]
In February of 2010, (Yes, years ago but it was a great interview!) I had the chance to chat with author and former Ogilvy & Mather CEO, Ken Roman, at the invitation of my friend, Byrne Hobart. (I'm reposting with some edits in November of … [Continue reading]
This Weiss Research banner is all over the place in April 2021. Here are both the VSL and the old school sales letter. … [Continue reading]
If one of the world's best financial copywriters can spend two weeks preparing a sales pitch... and FALL on his face... Then FALL AGAIN a month later... working on the same pitch... Before coming up with a method so brilliant as it is simple... … [Continue reading]
This press ad is taking off like a rocket. My friend, Jeff McGeary, is the powerful pen behind this super supplement from Doctor Al Sears. Why is this ad so hot at the time of this writing in April of 2021? I'll take a stab at it. … [Continue reading]
The late Corey Rudl hosted this memorable seminar in Los Angeles in September of 2004. … [Continue reading]
Here's a successful mail package for the supplement "Reconnect." It's boasts a textbook offer lead. … [Continue reading]
UPDATE March 2021 The FTC settled this case with Agora Financial and it was relatively painless at $2 million A year ago, this had the makings of one of those "atom bomb" type cases. Instead, the fine turned out to be on the order of "a day's pay" … [Continue reading]
A mailing like this often ends up in the round file. Even when it comes to insurance a person actually holds. BUT... toss in a grabber and this ordinary mailing becomes EXTRAORDINARY. … [Continue reading]