From the category archives:

Copywriting

Worst Adwords Ad – Contest (CANCELLED)

by admin on June 8, 2010

I’m so sorry – but this particular contest got out of hand. The technique works fabulously well when you run through it on your own, on the telephone, or in a closed group. I hadn’t invited people to do this in public before, and, well… I’m afraid I led just a few people to say some insulting and upsetting things for overweight people, which, in the absence of the in-person moderation which brings these to positive conclusions, is the opposite of how I want to take care of the world.

It’s entirely my fault.

My sincere apologies.

G :-(

PS – There WERE quite a few creative entires, and I will post a winner from those previously entered on Friday, as promised. But please don’t post anymore (and I’ve deleted the 72 entries previously made).

{ 12 comments }

A Marketing Lesson from 1975

by admin on June 5, 2010

I was eleven years old in 1975.   I was also quite conceited, and VERY insecure.

I’d lived a fairly sheltered life in Great Neck,  NY  (Wall Street’s wealthy backyard – though I had the honor of living in one of the poorest houses in one of the country’s richest communities)

That all changed in the summer of 1975.

And no, I’m not talking about puberty… that was actually relatively uneventful (with the exception of an incident I won’t go into with a girl nick-named “Big Kim”)

I’m talking about one specific drive home with my sister and my Mom.

You see my Mom worked in NYC.  She was a fledgling psychotherapist (like 17 other people in my family) just starting to see patients in her midtown office.   I forget exactly why Laurie and I were with her that day, but I’ll NEVER forget the ride home.

Ask anyone from New York … getting across town in midtown Manhattan on a hot summer rush hour  is much faster on foot than by car.   Which is why my Mom drove us home through Harlem.  It was easier to go straight uptown and head east on 125th street than to try and get anywhere on 57th (around the corner from Mom’s  office)

So uptown we went.

And Harlem was quite a site for a spoiled Great Neck kid.

I had heard all the stories on TV, the shootings, stabbings, drug dealers, prostitutes, muggers, etc.  I had expected to see a veritable prison ward let loose on the streets.

But what I saw instead was quite a friendly, busy neighborhood with street vendors, men dressed all sorts of ways (some in suits and ties, others in jeans and t-shirts, others with “bling”, though they didn’t call it that back then, …. even a juggler and a guitar player, etc)

It lit up my eyes.

Until Mom turned down a side street and the car stalled.

She seemed a little worried, so of course Laurie (my sister) and I were too.  But she remained calm and said we should just sit there for a moment.

So we did.

And then it happened…

A large, Pink Cadillac (I’m really NOT kidding you)  with fuzzy dice pulled up behind us.   And two large, lean black men got out and started walking toward our car.

My Mom turned to us both in the back and said “You guys have been great kids and I love you very much.  But we’re probably going to die now and I want you to know it’s OK” (At least that’s how I remember it  - Mom might have something different to say)

Of course, a wave of anxiety shot through me.  I’d like to say I was planning something macho… but let’s face it, I was eleven and I didn’t even shave.

Before I knew it the men were on both sides of the car, motioning for Mom to roll down the window.

She did.    I don’t think she really had any other choice.

And then,  much to our surprise, the men didn’t take out any guns or knives.   Instead, they gently leaned into the car and said “Is everything alright?  Your kids OK?”

She smiled and said yes.

“What’s the matter then, car won’t start?”

The rest of the conversation I can’t remember.

But the two nice men pushed the car (with my Mom, myself, and my sister in it) over a half mile to the garage they were most familiar with.

And THEN they drove us home in their big Pink Cadillac 35 miles to Great Neck.

My Mom offered them $50 for their troubles and gasoline (a lot of money back then), but they refused saying “We’re all brothers on the road”.

And that was my first exposure to Harlem.

The people we THOUGHT were our worst enemies in a scary situation actually saved us.

And that’s the moral of the story for we marketers.

Because we spend so much time worrying about the competition, we never stop to think how we might work WITH them.

So that’s the question I’ll leave you with …. have you considered how you might work WITH your worst competitor?  The one you’re most afraid of? (Howie Jacobson and I, for example, refer people back and forth all the time, even though we compete for the same traffic.  Same with Terry Dean.  We each have our unique strengths and weaknesses, and dozens of clients buy from all of us)

I’m not saying to make yourself vulnerable.  By all means, be careful.

But they just might be relieved to think of YOU as a friend instead of an enemy too, and it might be worth a conversation.

Food for thought,  do you think?  (Let me know below)

Dr. G :-)

Do It Yourself |  Let Me Help You

{ 19 comments }

Disturbed Emotional Copywriting with Ben Settle

September 30, 2009

Let me ask you a question.  If the following four emails appeared in your inbox, which one would arouse your curiosity?  Which one would you be most likely to click?

“30% off today only”
“trust me on this one Glenn”
“it ends tomorrow”
“disturbing things I do in the phone”

Right?
Ben Settle is a master of mixing entertainment and sales. [...]

Read the full article →

My Best Thinking on AdWords, SEO, and Competitive Intelligence

July 15, 2009

Below you’ll find a FREE MP3 of an intriguing 45 minute conversation I had with my Director of Copywriting and Director of Sales at Rocket Clicks.   (NOTE: The call has been slightly edited to remove the details of our clients and their sites)
We did NOT intend to distribute this conversation, so I apologize for the [...]

Read the full article →

Copywriting Sucks! (Not)

May 18, 2009

Words sell.  The best buyers are readers.
Con artists use words to damage.  So do politicians.  Words used incorrectly can and do kill.  But words used correctly inspire and heal.
An ethical salesletter inspires the reader to act in their own best interest by truthfully and thoroughly answering 5 questions, with no reasons held back or toned down, yet nothing [...]

Read the full article →

Emotional Copywriting Magic

April 21, 2009

What if you understood something about your market that no one else did.
What if you could see the entire STORY your prospect was engaged in … the problem they were solving, what role they wanted you to play, how they wanted you to transform their lives with your copy?
This has got to be one of [...]

Read the full article →

Adwords Bragging

April 20, 2009

Sorry … just had to brag for a moment. (This is a testimonial received for The Naked Truth About Internet Marketing)
Email From A Client Who Previously Heard Me Present Hyper-Responsive Adwords Methods
“Hi Glenn, I just picked up your Truth Profits program and I gotta tell you…I was blown away by the PPC section you [...]

Read the full article →

Emotional Adwords Marketing – Comment

March 9, 2009

Sarah left an interesting comment about our list of 37 Emotional Benefits , and one which is almost always mentioned in one form or another when we consult with large companies about their branding … essentially  ”I don’t see _____ emotion on the list”.
Here’s how the list was developed.
We started with hundreds of our own [...]

Read the full article →

Adwords Emotional Copywriting Cheat Sheet

March 8, 2009

Adwords emotional copywriting cheat sheet — sorry for the delay!

Read the full article →

Adwords Copywriting Headaches

March 5, 2009

Every adwords marketer eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns.  They just can’t think of any more keywords, ad copy, or landing page changes to improve click thru and conversion.
Here’s a different way to break through your wall … try to do the OPPOSITE.
Seriously … spend an hour writing the WORST POSSIBLE ADWORDS ADS you [...]

Read the full article →