Let’s talk Big Game hunting; going after those accounts that, when you land, would dramatically increase your sales and profits. This month’s example is a great case study in Big Game Hunting in the business-to-business (B2B) space. The owner, Michael Nguyen, recently bought the company, Produce Results. They are a marketing agency in north Texas. Immediately upon taking ownership, he decided to move all his marketing efforts to small banks …
This new item of the month was inspired by a piece of direct mail I received last spring. Here’s a picture of the entire package: The box had a hand-written address label, and inside a pair of drum sticks, how clever! Also included was a small sheet on card stock with the message: I love the use of the personal URL (PURL), and the drum theme and personalization carried over …
In keeping with our theme of holidays and current events, this month’s feature is for February’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. I’m cheating a little this month as this item has been used here before, but with great success. I’ve had members use this piece since we first introduced it for the 2010 Winter games. The results reported back to us by members were so good, I decided to bring …
One of the biggest issues I encounter when consulting client on their direct mail campaign is their lack of clarity for the project. It’s vitally important that you clearly and definitively identify your goal for the campaign. Is it lead generation? Event promotion? Reactivation of dead customers? Sales generation? Each one requires their own unique approach, so before you start planning your campaign start with the end in mind and …
How We’ve Added Millions of Dollars in Sales Using a Single Marketing Strategy I have a question for you, and I want you to be perfectly honest with me. How long does your company follow up with prospects before you move on and simply start working the next prospect? To be clear, I’m not talking about how long your email drip campaign is. I mean real follow up, using multimedia …
Dan Kennedy, a well-known marketing guru, described being in the waiting room of a professional’s office on a fairly busy day and overhearing a conversation among several others waiting to be seen. The entire area was fresh from major remodeling, with new carpet, furniture, and several big flat-screen TVs. One person said to the other, “I don’t care about any of this. I just wish he’d be on time and …
I love this new item for quite a few reasons. First, it’s money, and who doesn’t love money! Most people have an immediate positive reaction to money, even if it’s fake, like the stretchy $100 bill. Second, the bill only adds $0.21 to your mailing, making the postage rate extremely reasonable, especially if you want to mail it at pre-sort postage rates. And last, it’s just flat out fun. Only …
When it comes to the sales process, there’s a standard set of objections that every sales person is going to hear, no matter what is being sold. The secret to success is to be prepared for these objections. The best way to be ready for them is to script them out in advance, handle them and memorize them. Top sales professionals do this all the time. An objection doesn’t necessarily …
Newsletters are so darn effective because, if done correctly, your customers and prospects READ THEM!! And guess what? When your customers and prospects read your newsletters and enjoy them, they’ll look forward to getting future issues and reading what you have to say! Just think of it – in a low-key, informative (non-marketing!) manner, you are communicating with your customers. Do not underestimate how vital it is that you regularly …
How would you like to… Triple your business with current clients. Maintain your net profit margin. Swipe your client’s credit cards automatically each month and continue to do so until they say stop. Get a 12:1 net profit return on your investment. Identify your best clients who very well may be great prospects for other services. Have a “Platinum” Level of Service for your best clients. Even out your cash …
We’re going to briefly going to talk about one of my favorite topics and strategies in marketing. In fact, we teach it and talk about it often in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner. It’s the Robert Collier principle. Robert Collier was a famous copywriter and author who stated, as a marketer, you want to enter to conversation already going on in your client or prospects head. Using current events, …
I get asked this question often. It gets asked during tele-seminars and one-to-one calls with clients throughout the country. People find it hard to believe that there’s a viable niche for a business like this, so let’s start from the beginning, long before I starting working with Keith (my father, with whom I started the business). Keith became General Manager (and later owner) of his first business, American Retail Supply, …
It’s the first thing your prospect or client is going to see, so you better make it count and certainly don’t leave it up to somebody else to decide what to do with it. Essentially the ‘rules’ are the same when using 3D Mail as they are with regular mail. When prospecting cold clients with 3D Mail, for my money, the ‘blind’ or ‘semi-blind’ is the approach I would take. …
If there’s one statement, I hear almost daily, that makes my blood boil it’s: “That may work for YOUR business, but my prospects and clients too smart/sophisticated/rich to fall for such moronic tactics like a worry doll (or a pill bottle, bank bag, boomerang…). I’m a financial planner (or dentist, or contractor, or industrial B2B sales) and I just can’t see my people falling for that.” Hopefully this example will …
I want to talk about mailing lists… It’s certainly not a sexy topic to most, but it’s been my experience that proper list makes up 50% of the direct mail battle. Ask any copywriter who tells the truth (and only some will), and the truthful ones will tell you, in order of importance, the three biggest elements to successful direct mail: The list you mail: 40-50% of your success The …
Today I’m going to start a series with guest writer Keith Lee. If you don’t know, Keith is my father and co-founded 3D Mail with me in 2007. His passion is to educate and provide strategies to small business owners about the importance of providing exceptional Customer Service to each and every client they serve, each and every time. He does this with his one-of-kind “Make You Happy Management System.” …
Order forms are a key component of any direct mail piece and we could easily fill an afternoon on them, both online and offline. Frankly, most marketers don’t spend nearly enough time on them. Don’t think this only applies to an exchange of money. If you’re doing lead generation marketing where no money is exchanging hands, the techniques and strategies are identical. So why are order forms so important? Because …
I LOVE old ads. In fact newsletter reader and outrageous advertiser Dr. Gregg Nielsen in Waterford, WI sends me an old ad each month in his newsletter. Here’s a link to a classic ad written by legendary copywriter Bill Jayme. This example, like many of them, come from Richard Hodgson’s “The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of All Time.” Here’s a short excerpt from Hodgson’s on the “Psychology Today” letter …
Do you and your product/service have magic power? Of course not… But it can certainly appear that you possess magical powers. This is a great campaign if you have the solution for hard to solve problem. Or, if you have a solution to a problem that’s much easier than what the prospect is currently using. This would be a great grabber to use for either a lead generation campaign, or …
This week I want to share a worry doll letter. This is the 1st step in a 3-step sequence for dentists. It specifically targets baby-boomers and senior new movers. You can download your own copy of the letter right here. We have a handful of dentists right now using this model very successfully to attract new, affluent patients to their practices. We’re very specific about this particular target. We have …
This is the first time I’ve done a training on this subject so you’ll want to be sure you attend. During this training you’ll discover: Which businesses have lost or inactive clients, and how to best find them and bring them back The fives things you must have in order to make your lost client campaign a success The top six reasons why your clients don’t come back to …
You’ll need to whitelist our email address to ensure you receive updates from us regarding the product you purchased! Follow These Instructions for Gmail: 1. In your inbox, locate an email from travis@3dmailresults.com (ex. your welcome mail for the product you just purchased). 2. Drag this email to the “primary” tab of your inbox. 3. You’ll see that our emails will go to your primary folder in the future! For …
It’s no secret that I’m a big believer in using direct mail or why else would I be in the 3D Mail business! However there are a lot of great reasons to use direct mail, 3D Mail or otherwise. The biggest reason to use direct mail is it’s as close as we can possibly get to one-to-one, nose-to-nose, toes-to-toes selling without actually beating a path to our clients. Not only …
Just about every business, whether professional practice, B2B business, brick and mortar store, even “online only” businesses have people attend sales presentations, whether face-to-face, over the phone, or virtually, but leave without buying. Most sales people are dismissive of the saying, “I’ll be back…,” thinking, erroneously, that they’ve lost the sale for good. It’s not only entirely false, but very costly. Entire campaigns can and should be developed to reengage …
Do you want to use this same “Pocket Constitution” for your July newsletter or next direct mail piece? Well now’s your chance. This 3D Mail piece is sure to cut the clutter and gain attention during the busy summer months. Our long-time readers will instantly recognize The Pocket Constitution from June of 2013 when I originally thought of this idea for the 4th of July celebration. Many of our clients …
While a stick letter’s main purpose is simply to stop refunds (thus make the sale ‘stick’), or in continuity, delay the cancellation and keep membership intact, it certainly can go beyond that, as you’ll see in this month’s example. This comes from Kevin Lane, and we used a bag of shredded money. We’ve been doing a lot of work with Kevin and adding our creative and unique direct mail steps …
Shortcuts are critical to not only getting effective copy written, but written quickly and efficiently. There are numerous ways to speed up the process.
I absolutely love this new mailer, a pair of handcuffs! I suggest you give the letter I included a quick read to be sure you understand how they are being used, them come back here to finish this article. This particular letter example is intended as a cover letter, to go with a longer, “all inclusive” sales letter that covers all the details of the “Customer Appreciation” event. If you’re …
This week I’m going to show you a case study of a very successful piece we’re currently mailing in our business, using the self-mailing Pill Bottle. This is a piece that’s doing extremely well for us right now. It’s pulling around a 7:1 return on investment for us.
If you don’t believe the power of ‘why,’ here’s a short story from The Psychology of Influence, by Dr. Robert B. Cialdini: “A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer demonstrated this unsurprising fact by asking a small favor of people waiting in line to use a library copying machine. ‘Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?’
This next case study comes from the automotive niche. This is a campaign we created for a client. The name has been withheld as the client didn’t want his competitors to know what he’s doing. There are a lot of lessons in this letter, so settle in and get ready. You can see a copy of the letter here. It will open a PDF in your web browser. I encourage you to read the short 2 page letter and them come back and read the rest of the study.
Here’s the email I received from Nancy Anglis on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 9:54 AM. Why am I being so detailed? Well, I wanted to give you every bit of information I could because once you read Len and Nancy’s results, you may not believe your eyes. This one belongs in the Direct Mail Hall of Fame.
We’re going to start a new series of tips on using premiums and Free Gifts in your marketing. We briefly went over them a few weeks ago, and based on the responses I got, you guys want more! So we’ll start with a quote from my mentor, Dan Kennedy: “Too many marketers deal with premiums almost as an afterthought. This is a huge mistake. I know for a fact that premiums …
Most people think their premium needs to be something they sell. This is a myth that needs to be addressed and debunked right now. In almost all instances, a premium unrelated to your product will outperform a premium that IS related to your business. Here are a couple examples. For years in one of our businesses we have sent out a free Big Key Calculator to responders to our direct …
We’re picking up our discussion on premiums. The two-part premium is a great way to increase your response rates, and more importantly, your ROI. Two part premiums are a great way to cut the clutter, AND make sure you get the follow up response you’re looking for. One of the best I ever was for a financial group. It went to a highly selected list of CEO’s and CFO’s. They …
The worry doll is quickly becoming one of our bestselling 3D Mail items, and with the success stories I’m hearing from my clients, it’s easy to see why. The worry doll is designed to be used for lost/inactive client reactivation.From now until March 20, 2011 as a marketing tips reader, you can invest in the COMPLETE worry doll lost client campaign at never before offered prices.I’ve put together a program …
If I asked you who the 3rd easiest client or prospect is to sell to, and I knew of a way to get them to come back to your business, would you be interested? Would you even know who I was talking about? If you said reactivating your lost clients, you’re right! For my money, a lost client is the 3rd easiest client to sell to after you own, active …
…The One Eyed Man is King.” Erasmus (of Rotterdam) We know that Erasmus wasn’t talking about copywriting when he spoke those words some 500 years ago, but he may as well have been. In critiquing many 3D Mail sales letters the past 2 years it’s become obvious that many who do their own copywriting can be blind. Here’s where you’ll find discussions on a bundle of copywriting topics. First an …
After about a week’s hiatus (my apologies for being gone) we’re going to pick up our discussion on the most important elements of copywriting. To review where we left off, check out the blog on copy killers. Your headline needs to answer: Who care? So what? What’s in it for me (WIIFM)? Why are you bothering me? No small task by any means. Keeping those four bullets in mind, how long should …
Last week we hit the tip of the iceberg with headlines. A conversation that, quite frankly, could last a whole year. Here we’ll discuss the vital role that guarantees play in your marketing and direct mail. First some guarantee ‘basics’ that we must address. There are three chief types of guarantees, with a very quick blurb on each. We’ll expand on them later. Satisfaction Guarantee If under any circumstance you …
If your client or prospect doesn’t believe you, you’ll never sell a thing. The best way to use credibility is testimonials (although we’ll talk about a lot more than just testimonials). There are two kinds of testimonials that you want to use: outcome testimonials and testimonials that overcome objections. There are new laws that govern outcome testimonials (passed in 2010), particularly in the money-making/business opportunity and the health/weight loss niche. …
First, one step selling. In one step selling, the only job of your ad, whether that is a sales letter, post card, website, yellow pages ad etc, is to sell your product or service. It requires an immediate “Buy Now” reaction whether that be pick up the phone and order, visit our website and order, come in for an appointment etc. This biggest drawback to one step selling is it …
Lead generation marketing is the ultimate ‘pull’ marketing strategy. It allows people who are interested in your product or service to pull information for themselves about you and your business, rather than the usually ‘push’ marketing that you usually see. Almost all “Madison Avenue” marketing is push marketing. What you need for prospects to ‘pull’ information from you is great bait, or a lead generation magnet. This is something that …
Each month in my printed newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, which I produce for my 3D Mail Inner Circle Members, I review a fundamental element of copywriting or direct mail which I call Copywriting 101. For our newer members it’s a great place to learn a new skill. For our veterans, it’s a great review and will prompt then to go back to their previous letters to see if they’re using …
As I was preparing this tip, an issue of my Dan Kennedy No B.S. Marketing Newsletter arrived. One of the questions asked of Dan was, “Where you get good ideas.” Dan’s answer: “Raid the museum, go back and look at old direct response ads, to look back before you look forward.” This is exactly what you get here. Long time reader’s know I often reference and show old ads in …
You may be familiar with George Carlin’s bit on the 7 words you can’t say on television. It’s a dirty, but classic bit that just about every comedian or aspiring comedian can recite, or, at the very least get close. In the entrepreneurial world we have something similar. Words that we should live by, words that every entrepreneur should know, recite daily and work towards. I have eight instead of …
Speed. As a culture we’re obsessed with it. Say the name Chuck Yeager to WWII veterans and most baby-boomers and the name instantly means something. Over the next several tips, I’m going to reveal to you how you can create and implement at unprecedented speeds in your business. In sports, we clamor to see the fastest-this, and the fastest-that. For years people wondered if anyone could run a sub four-minute …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, and is also published in my 3D Mail Direct Marketing System. To get more information on the newsletter and the System, visit this link. When it comes to direct mail Dr. Nielsen is a legend. The Doc has graciously let me feature him in this series of emails. The first thing you’ll want to do …
It’s the back to school time around the country. But school is never NOT in session around here. What are you going to do this month to improve yourself and your business? This weekly marketing tip is a great place to start. In keeping with the back to school theme, This month we’ll tackle Econ 101, talking specifically about places where you can gain financial leverage in your business. First …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, to get more information on it. Visit this link. I’ve referenced the famous Gary Halbert dollar bill mailer a few times in this newsletter, and have shown you a few examples of how we’ve swiped it, and how some of our members have swiped it. This month, I thought I’d show you just another way that …
We’re going to talk about double readership path and copy cosmetic together this month, as they go hand-in-hand. For both items, it doesn’t matter if you’re using a 4” x 6” postcard, a one page sales letter, or a 48 page magalog, these techniques still apply. As much as I hate to admit it, and as much as it wish it weren’t true, the cosmetics you use to create a …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, September, 2010. To get more information on it, visit this link. Whenever you make an offer, you want it to be believable. People are naturally skeptical, especially when it appears that an offer is too good to be true. You’ll often hear this referred to as “reason why” copy in this newsletter. When you add a …
I catch some flack every now and again that all I show are consumer examples in this newsletter. Frankly, that’s just not true. A lot of examples come from my own businesses, all of which are B2B. Given that this month’s new item is in the B2C world, I thought I’d throw you B2B’ers this one. It comes from Jim Leuty of the Gel-Lite Candles Corp., in Mentor, OH. Jim …
It always amazes me at how few people do real, proactive marketing to trade show attendees at the events they attend. As an exhibitor and attendee at the Direct Marketing Associations (DMA) Conference and Exhibition, I received quite a bit of mail. But not nearly as much as I thought I would have being this was the DIRECT MARKETING trade show. They’re lose I guess. In this month’s example I …
As I was watching SportsCenter one evening a few days before the college football national championship game, the same reporter asked both coaches, Les Miles of LSU and Nick Saban of Alabama, in separate interview (and I’m paraphrasing), “What outside criticism has affected you and your team the most.” Sitting in my chair, I say aloud, “none…” and waited for their answers.With no shock to me they both answered, “None.” …
I had the great fortune about 14 months ago to meet a childhood hero of mine, Cal Ripken, Jr. at a seminar in Baltimore, MD. I was a huge baseball fan growing up and was an avid collector of baseball cards. I have over 5,000 cards up in the attic and can’t wait to share them someday with Carson, my son. Most of you also know I’m a big sports …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, September, 2010. To get more information on it, visit this link. This month’s S&D example comes from Inner Circle Member Pete Mitchell. Pete is a master at product launches, and he’s incredible at creating celebrity status, big pay days, and PR awareness. If you’re interested in a product launch, visit www.BustOutTheBigGuns.com. OK, back to business. This …
In this example, I’m taking you back to one of the first direct mail campaigns I implemented. It’s for Superior Display, a manufacturing shop we own in Bend, OR. They build custom and hardwood display cases (www.SuperiorDisplay.com). You could call this a “grass-roots” or even a Guerrilla Marketing campaign in a sense. As I was reading over the letter, it was really hard NOT to edit it before I sent …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, March, 2010. To get more information on it, visit this link. Steve Clark is the CEO and Founder of New School Selling Today (see www.newschoolselling.com) an international business development and marketing firm that consults and coaches thousands of sales executives and business owners annually in Australia, Canada and the US, and after you see what he’s done …
What is 3D Mail? When it comes to 3D Mail, 3D says it all. A regular envelope has length and width, but very little depth. 3D Mail has length, width and depth. It can be an envelope with something in it that makes it lumpy, or it can be a box, or a mini garbage can, or a bank bag, one any one of thousands of items. Why Does 3D …
If you read this marketing tip, you know we usually talk about direct response marketing, direct mail, and copywriting. We’re going to take a little break from that topic over the next couple weeks. Keith, my dad, and the guy I run 3D Mail Results with, recently published his first book on customer service called, “Out-Nordstrom Nordstrom – Creating the World’s Best Customer Service.” In honor of that, we’re going …
If you can get people involved in your copy, it will substantially increase your readership and, more importantly, response. Busy fingers increases response. The more involvement you get from the reader the better. You get an investment of time and readership, and when you get those, your response can only go up! Your challenge is to decide what you can do to get your readers involved in your letter. This …
Over the next tips we’re going to explore proven sales letter formulas. There are many formula’s out there, and we’ll cover the most popular one today, the problem,agitate, solve (PAS). A very basic version of PAS can be seen at this link. This is probably the most widely used formula by copywriters, and quite possibly the most reliable. You’ve probably heard that people are more motivated by fear of lose, or …
This week’s Marketing Tip of the Week is from Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. I absolutely love Jeffrey’s book. It’s one of my favorite 5 customer service books. Here’s a sure-fire way to determine how “what you say” will sound to the customer before you say it… a way to “test your talk” so to speak. PUT “GRANDMA” AT THE END OF EVERYTHING YOU …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, to get more information on it, visit this link. I stepped back a few years to get this month’s S&D example for you. But it’s a good one. Have you ever needed to get the attention of a VIP, big-wig, or important decision maker? It can be brutal. Gatekeepers, voice mail, un-returned phone calls and emails… …
This is a piece that’s doing extremely well for us right now. It’s pulling around a 7:1 return on investment for us. This is a follow-up solicitation for first time buyers of 3D Mail. You’ll notice it’s selling our “how-to” kit of 3D Mail sample letters, “The 3D Mail Sample Kit and Sale Explosion System,” which I’m sure you have (Wait…. You don’t have it? Fix that immediately at www.3DMailSuccess.com). …
I went back a few years in my swipe files to show you this example. It comes from long-time client David Loynd of Grand’s Garage in Escondido, CA. In fact, I think we met him at one of our first speaking engagements with 3D Mail over six years ago. He’s been using our items for a few years now and I finally get an opportunity to highlight him. He’s doing …
As you know I’ve been using the marketing and sales strategies of, arguably the world’s best direct response marketer, Dan Kennedy. He recently wrote the article below as a part of his series I subscribe to on “Renegade Millionaires.” This reveals how truly successful people look at opportunity, success, and even failure differently than the 99% of people out there who’re just scraping by. Anyway, I thought it was worth …
Here’s another great example where small numbers, and a little bit of elbow grease, can get you great results. It comes from my sister, Jenny, who is a member of a local Business Networking International (BNI) group. She convinced her BNI group to use our very popular and successful shredded money mailer. First, big kudos to Jenny for convincing a group of 25 peers to try something complete different and …
Have you heard about this? I know how everybody “talks the talk” about how they can show regular people can make money out of thin air, but I don’t think anyone with the clout of Dan Kennedy and GKIC has ever done it! Here’s the scoop. Dave Dee, the Chief Marketing Officer of GKIC (he works VERY closely with Dan at GKIC) is going to show you how you can …
If you read my e-mail tips, you know I LOVE using current events in my marketing. There’s a big one coming up in February, the Winter Olympics. What better way to break through all the noise and clutter than by sending your clients, prospects or patients their very own gold medal! This is a great direct mail piece to cut the clutter and increase your response rates! I suggest you …
Remember creating your own 3D Mail letter isn’t Leprechaun Magic! In keeping with the holiday theme and current even from last month (rememberthe Olympic Gold Medals?) and the Collier principle we’re celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Yeah, I know it seems early to think about St. Patrick’s Day, but we’re only 3 weeks away. You want to start thinking about it NOW so you’re not too late to take advantage of …
What you’re about to read was first published in my monthly newsletter, The Copywriter’s Corner, and is also published in my 3D Mail Direct Marketing System. To get more information on the newsletter and the System, visit this link. I wish I had thought of this 3D Mail piece, or at least take credit for the 3,322%. ROI, but I can’t. This new piece comes to us from longtime client …
“My name is Walter Bergeron, the GKIC Mark of the year. And I’m here at Info Summit with 3-D Mail Results. I just want to tell you guys about some of the products of theirs that I’ve used to help me achieve the Marketer of the Year status. As a matter of fact, it actually helped me earn the $1.1 Million that I received and used to present to GKIC, …
I know you likely weren’t a math major, and I certainly wasn’t (though I did get an ‘A’ in Calculus at Washington State University), but stay with me on this one as we start a discussion on sequential marketing. Sequential marketing is a sequence of marketing, with each one clearly referring to the previous one, all sent in a fairly condensed period of time, usually 4-6 weeks. You’ll usually double …
“Hey, James-Jimmy Nicholas here, I own a local marketing company out of Waterford, CT. We had such great success with our first mailing; a Boomerang Mailing. I decided to follow it up immediately, with the Compass Mailing for those that didn’t respond to the initial Boomerang Mailing. So, we took a swipe-file from Travis, and we basically did the prospects name, “Are you lost, we haven’t heard from you regarding (a …