In my last blog post, I mentioned that one common theme at last week’s NEMOA conference was the importance of selling on value. In a presentation titled The Consumer is Changing, Are You? Lois Boyle-Brayfield of J. Schmid & Associates pointed out that all too often, merchants equate selling value with discounting prices. Big mistake! Lois offered a long list of ways to demonstrate value. Among them: (Click on the headline for more…)
December 4, 2009 – 4:15 am
I’m staggered by the number of catalogs I’m receiving this week: more than a dozen every single day. Where were they when I was planning my Christmas shopping between Labor Day and Thanksgiving? Yes, I’m still placing orders now, but my decisions have long since been made.
All too often, marketers forget that planning and buying don’t always take place simultaneously. This is especially true (click on the headline for more…)
November 13, 2009 – 4:15 am
Anyone involved with designing printed matter, websites and emails knows that not only does each typeface have its own personality, but some are more readable than others. Conventional wisdom (click on the headline for more…)
October 26, 2009 – 4:15 am
Bob Bly, the renowned and prolific B-to-B copywriter, wrote an especially interesting column in this month’s Target Marketing. In it, he ranks 19 different marketing channels, classifies them as “inbound” or “outbound,” and rates them by lead quality and ROI. (Click on the headline for more…)
October 21, 2009 – 4:15 am
Many entrepreneurs are so close to their own companies that it’s hard to perceive them through customers’ eyes. Two cases in point that I’ve encountered this week: (Click on the headline for more…)
October 12, 2009 – 4:15 am
It’s common for companies to treat everyone who requests more information exactly alike. Some mail them as often as they do their buyers. Others send information once and never again. Usually the best profitable option requires further investigation. (Click on the headline for more…)
September 16, 2009 – 4:15 am
When writing copy about a product, it’s natural to describe it. If that’s all you do, you’re making a huge mistake. Start by painting a word picture of the end benefit, and you’ll almost certainly increase sales. Action verbs wield far more power than static descriptions. As an example, Google “greenhouses,” scroll to the bottom [...]
September 7, 2009 – 4:15 am
Whether you write copy or review copy that others write, these simple guidelines can help improve your response: (Click on the headline for more…)
September 4, 2009 – 4:15 am
When writing headlines, subject lines and opening paragraphs, here’s a tool I find invaluable. (Click on the headline for more…)
The recent Mailorder Gardening Association conference included an excellent presentation by Robyn Waters, former Vice President of Trend, Design and Product Development for Target, on the subject of designing with heart.
Robyn dramatically illustrated that a crucial element of success is not identifying and jumping on the latest trend, but listening to what’s truly important to your customers on an emotional level.
One of my favorite examples (Click on the headline for more…)
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