The Little-Known Marketing Secret That Allows You To Write Advertising Homeruns


By Emette Massey

You remember Sherlock Holmes don't you? Holmes was the fictional consulting detective invented by Scottish physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes, as you know, is famous for cracking open difficult cases and solving them with almost magical abilities.

So, grab your inspector's hat and let's play Sherlock Holmes for just a moment. We're going to do a little spying today and see if the "Sherlock" in you can turn up a few profit clues lurking all around.

This is the shortest course to the profit-land in this crazy fun business. The direct marketing or "mail order" business as we affectingly call it have a "secret" way of "spying" on the competition. It's called "seeding."

Very simply, seeding is where you get on other businesses mailing list

... for the sole purpose of snooping and finding out what's going on in your selected marketplace.

This does several things for you.

First, you'll start receiving offers from the company you inquired about plus competing companies. And these offers can be golden to you by seeing exactly who's mailing what.

You'll see firsthand what their winners are, how the copy reads, what offers are hot and ideas will start to catch fire.

And if you go the extra yard and actually buy something, you'll experience firsthand how you were treated, what upsells they offer, and how they run the customer service side of the business.

Simply put, this is one of the best direct marketing educations you can get. And best of all... it won't cost you a fortune.

Basically, you get a master's level marketing education for the mere cost of a postage stamp and the time it takes to "sign up."

Pretty damn cool, right? As my late marketing mentor Melvin Powers once told me, "There are no secrets in the mail order business."

You'll be tuned in to 'real world-real time' marketing methods and strategies. This is one of the best ways to stay up-to-date with powerful trends and effective marketing that's cutting edge.

Seeding gives you another huge benefit...

... A swipe file right at your fingertips.

What's that, you say? Swipe file? YES! Swipe File!

What's a swipe file? Hey, I'm glad you asked.

A swipe file is a collection of marketing pieces that have a proven history of positive results. These ads are bringing in bucket loads of profits, leads, store visits or whatever action the ad is asking from the customer.

But how do you know if these ads are profitable or not? It's not really that hard to figure this out... and you don't have to guess.

If you see a marketing promotion (advertisement, sales letter, squeeze page, etc.) that runs over and over or is mailed over and over, then you'll know for sure it's a winner.

Most marketers, especially direct response type businesses loath wasting money. Again, if you see an ad repeated over and over again, you can rest assured that it's making money for the advertiser.

Once you start building your swipe file you'll want to see how you're marketing stacks up to the competition. Ideas gleamed from your swipe file could be used to improve your marketing.

There's no reason to reinvent the wheel. In direct marketing (or mail order), you have learned that there are no secrets. Everything is laid out there for you.

And by the way, did I mention swiping is legit... it's sharply slices a huge portion of the learning curve!

Let me tell you a quick story about one of the most successful, profitable and effective direct marketing promotions to hit during the 20th Century.

It was 1974 and Martin Conroy was commissioned to write a sales letter to sell subscriptions for the Wall Street Journal.

No big deal, right? After all it was only two pages printed front to back... a mere 780-word letter.

But here's the thing. Did you know that one of the most successful and profitable sales letter ever written...

This super-successful sales letter mailed for 28-years with almost no changes to the original copy. It raked in over an estimated TWO BILLION DOLLARS in gross revenues!

Take one of the most famous copywriting controls, The Wall Street Letter written by the late Martin Conroy. He in fact swiped it from a sales letter written many years before.

So what was the secret to this mega-success letter?

The secret, according to industry insiders, is that Conroy relied on a little-known "trick" to cheat his way to writing the pitch.

It's helpful to know that Conroy's letter was not beaten until 2002. It was beaten in two consecutive tests... the first test Conroy's letter was beaten by less than 10%. The second by a huge 24%.

The second letter was written by copywriting legend Mal Decker.

So, the question is how did Mal Decker come up with a letter to beat the 'unbeatable' control?

The answer... again... it's surprisingly simple... and you my friend can use this ethical "cheat" to produce blockbuster ads, web pages, sales letters, and just about any marketing piece you need to write.

Now I'm not saying its OK for you to straight out copy the ad word for word. Not at all... I'm saying it's fine to borrow or swipe ideas, concepts and compelling parts that intrigue you and adapt them to your marketing.

Swiping is a great way to infuse new life in old copy and can often lead to more sales and leads.

So start your swipe file today and let the ideas flow.

Want to step up your marketing game a notch or two? Then get our free marketing power tool called "How To Fix Your Marketing In 5 Easy Steps." Get it here: http://salesletterwriting.weebly.com/

Article Source:  The Little-Known Marketing Secret That Allows You To Write Advertising Homeruns

5 Comments

Informations From: Taun17

  1. i-LEND is an online marketplace connecting borrowers and lenders for loans. Although i-LEND verifies credentials of registered users on the site, it does not guarantee any loan offers by lenders nor does it guarantee any repayments by borrowers. Users make offers/loan requests at their own discretion with the understanding of the risks involved in such transactions including loss of entire capital and/or no guarantee of recovery. Please read our Legal agreements to understand more. Invest P2P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Second Innings Home is the first and only premium home & health care service in India. Second Innings Home proposed across the nation features a beautiful campus ideally located in a well-maintained gated community in the format of a Star Hotel with luxurious amenities. It’s convenient to enjoy the privacy and to be near the city and nearby facilities. And yet it retains a sense of community spirit and the warmth of a small community. retirement homes in Hyderabad

    ReplyDelete
  3. Global Interscope is the best swimming pools designing in Hyderabad where the you can get all the facilities to improve better.

    Swimming pool equipment in hyderabad, Execution, Equipment Supplies, Services and Lifestyle Products.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KloudWIFI truly believes that reliable, fast networks have been the game changers in driving innovation, productivity and instant collaboration supported by the relentless growth of convenient cloud-hosted applications. Even with a powerful, proven network infrastructure like Cisco Meraki and Ekahau, the end user experience can only be truly optimized by considering all the internal and external factors to the end user experiences. wireless lan solutions partner in Hyderabad

    ReplyDelete
  5. Extremely well written paper, however a few more points can be added to make it all the more resourceful. Visit livewebtutors and make most of the valuable assignment help services as offered by the best in the business. Feel free to get in touch at any point of the day.

    ReplyDelete
Previous Post Next Post
  • The Case for the Google Pixel

    Software and internet giant Google shocked tech industry insiders and Android lovers alike with its pair of flagship priced phones about a month ago and most people haven't yet figured what to make of the new Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Both phones mark a complete departure from Google's previous w... Readmore

  • Life of a Soldier

    I could see the pontoon of young men trailing along the hearse before me, their gloomy faces lay lifeless above their heads and The Earth below us gurgled perhaps it had been waiting for its time, the moment it would bury all the corpses and the moral sincerity of people and end it ... Readmore

  • Issued With Another Body

    It was difficult for the people of Corinth to accept that one receives a glorified body after death. I still remember how afraid I was and how strange it was for me to leave my mom behind at Youngsfield when I had to get on the train for two years' army training. I had no idea what... Readmore

  • Book Review: Leave It in the Tea Tin by CJ Skipper

    She and I, ours is not a tale of love."It's too seedy to be love," she claims. "I get you off and you leave money on my bedside table." Genre: Contemporary, Literature Word Count: 5,260 Average Smashwords Rating: 5/5 stars My Rating: 5/5 stars I wasn't sure how to review this book at fi... Readmore

  • Techniques For Mounting A Successful Mobile Marketing Campaign

    Mobile marketing is currently the hottest tool for marketers as more and more people, or potential buyers, now own a cell phone. As this type of marketing is relatively new, there is not much advice around. This article contains a few tips and ideas to help you to get started with m... Readmore

  • What Is FABULOUS Leadership?

    Leadership trainers often review some of the necessities, and assets needed, for someone to be an effective leader. However, isn't there a difference between being effective, good, great, and FABULOUS? Amongst many definitions, the Oxford Dictionary, used extraordinary and wonderful... Readmore

  • 6 Cases Where Budget Cuts Don't Create/Cause Real Savings

    Are you, or do you wish to be, a real leader, manager, or a place holder? How will you react when there are obstacles, adversity, or financial challenges? Will you be myopic, attempting to put a band - aid on a hemorrhage. or will you look at the bigger picture, identify and realize ... Readmore

  • Want to Be Rich? Forget Passion - Follow Money

    What I'm about to say goes against almost every self-help book out there. It goes against what you've been told time and time again. And it might even go against your moral code. Then again, if you want to be rich, you might want to consider where your 'moral code' came from. The a... Readmore

  • Getting Hooked on Pills Can Be Life-Threatening

    Abusing prescription drugs and getting hooked on them has been a grave concern across the United States that is affecting not only people's health, but also their social and economic well-being. According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), nearly 2.1 milli... Readmore

  • Employee Evaluation Tools Can Become Obsolete - Bottom 10% of Employees Must Go

    We have seen proclamations touting such-and-such a new program or research to be the latest and greatest thing that will revolutionize companies. But is research from these promoters fool proof? Invariably time might prove that new revolutionary management program an albatross aroun... Readmore