One of his patented techniques was to make a character out of the advertiser, writing ads as if the clients themselves were actually talking. One Sackheim client was Frank E. Davis, “The Gloucester Fisherman”.  This is how Sackheim wrote for him:
“There is no use trying. I’ve tried and tried to tell people about my fish, but I wasn’t rigged out to be an ad writer and I can’t do it. I can close-haul a sail with the best of them. I know how to pick out the best fish of the catch… But I’ll never learn the knack of writing an ad that will tell people why my kind of fish—fresh caught, with the deep sea tang still in it—is lots better than the ordinary store kind.

This copy sold tens of thousands of tubs of fish right across the country. The authentic character of the Gloucester Fisherman brought life, and customers, to the product.

Here’s a snippet of Sumner’s copy: “Out here on the ranch we don’t pretend to know much about advertising, and maybe we’re foolish spending the price of a tractor for this space; but my brother and I got an idea the other night, and we believe you folks who read Fortune are the kind of folks who’d like to know about it. So here’s our story…”

One variation on the character gambit is the open letter. Norman Cousins resigned from The Saturday Review to launch his own World Review Magazine. Showing one heck of a lot of character, he put up $15,711 for three insertions in The New York Times. They were headed, “An Open Letter to the Readers of The New York Times.” He told them what was wrong with the journalism of the day and what they’d get from the World Review. That first round of advertising netted Cousins $54,923.00 in subscriptions.

Every viable enterprise has a character behind it somewhere. When you find it, then you know what’s unique about the company—and that’s at least halfway to great advertising!

Social Networking: Mywolfbook.com - Meet Friends - Meet People - Find a Friend.

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By Amanda Gagnon

My favorite author just announced me as his co-author! Okay, he didn’t really mean it and he’ll say the same about you, but what a brilliant way to earn a subscription to your emails – assuming, of course, you keep permission in mind.

Donald Miller’s co-author game gives the email marketing sign-up process a creative twist. Its format is likely to attract a flood of participants. And yes, it indicates my interest in his brand.

But it never once hints that I’m opting into his campaign. So although I like his emails and am pleased to have found them, I am annoyed that I wasn’t offered a choice.

The steps of the sign-up game are laid out below. Scroll down to marvel at how brilliantly it attracts subscribers. Then note how to improve this process in your own campaign by adding the most critical element of all: permission.

Step 1:
Tweet the Bait

A few keystrokes in exchange for fame and glory – who can resist this offer? It’s fun, it lets people celebrate themselves and it’s sharable by nature.

It’s brilliantly attractive to fans of Donald Miller, which is ideal, since they’re the most likely audience to enjoy and engage with his email campaign.

Step 2:
A Creative Sign-Up…Wait…a What?

This form invites participants into a fantasy role that they can show off to their contacts. It’s fun, but there’s no indication that this is an email sign-up form.

All that’s needed is a note that tells me I’ll now be receiving emails from Donald Miller. Then I can make an informed choice of whether or not to continue.

Step 3:
Not Your Average Thank – You Page

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a thank-you page. It’s a very creative use of a tool every opt-in campaign has, and it’s likely to get a high response. Talk about incentive! Participants are now on the lookout for this email.

But this thank-you page only tells me to expect one email. That’s not what I ended up with…

Step 4:
Is This a Confirmation Message?

I know to expect this email, so I’m glad to see it. It links me to the final part of the game, which motivates me to click the link.

In permission-based campaigns, though, this would be known as a confirmation email. Clicking the link would confirm my interest in receiving further emails. If that’s what happened here, I would have liked to have been told.

Step 5:
Fantastic Engagement, No Confirmation

This is a nice delivery of the page I originally signed up for. I’m pleased with Donald Miller and pleased with this process – that is, until…

Step 6:
The Promotional Emails Begin

I know I played the Donald Miller game, but I also know I never signed up for emails, so I’m a little surprised to find this in my inbox the next day.

I’m displeased that I was emailed without permission. I’m also interested in these tour dates. For me, the benefit of the email’s content outweighs my chagrin that my personal boundaries were crossed – at least for now – but others may not feel the same.

The Lesson

Someone who is pleased to get these emails may not unsubscribe now. But they also probably would have checked a box to opt in in the first place, especially if Donald Miller’s emails bring this same playful voice and level of fun.

Someone who wouldn’t have checked that box in the first place probably still doesn’t want these emails, especially since they arrived without any sort of request for permission. These people are likely to unsubscribe or remain as disengaged dead weight.

Even worse, some people who might have knowingly opted in to these emails may now be annoyed enough to mark them as spam or unsubscribe anyway.

So the lesson is this: fun and games can attract hordes of potential subscribers to your sign-up form. Once they get there, though, they’ll appreciate being told exactly what is happening – whether they want your emails or not.

And in the end, asking people to knowingly subscribe to your emails is the best way to build an engaged, long-term, appreciative list.

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ADMIN NOTE:

 While this article sounds like a novel way to get subscribers, you must be absolutely vigilant when it comes to FIRST getting permission throughout the process of collecting email names.

Sure it can result in fewer names collected, but those that DO provide their info know up front that future emails are to be expected…and indeed welcome!

Not only are you risking a poor response from your list, you may find yourself in the middle of a SPAM mess, if you don’t get appropriately informed permission from your subscribers.

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By Rebecca Swayze

Email Marketing

Just like a seasoned email marketing pro, a successful cowboy (or cowgirl!) always learns from his experiences and acknowledges his own limits.

He is self-reliant, innovative and constantly looking for new ways to succeed out on the frontier. And he always outsmarts his opponents using wit, knowledge and skill.

Saddle up your horse and read on to find out how your email campaign can benefit from the legendary ways of the Wild West.

Round Up New Subscribers

Cowboys are well-known for their dexterity. Cool, calm and collected, they are confident in their herding skills and never return to the ranch empty-handed.

Round up your interested subscribers with ease and seek out individuals who want to learn everything they can about your product or service.

Always remember to mention your newsletter to people you speak with offline. It’s a great conversation starter, and also leads interested people to your website to sign up.

Send a lot of personal emails? Add a hosted web form to your email signature so that prospects can sign up to receive your emails on the spot.

Be a Pioneer

While it’s great to work toward total uniqueness in business, the truth is that there are not many enterprises out there that are 100% unique.

There are other vendors that your subscribers can do business with, who sell the same things you do, and there are other companies sending email newsletters about products similar to yours.

The difference is all in the way you portray your product and your service. You need to carve a specific niche for yourself using your email campaign.

Highlight what makes your business stand out from others in your niche.

For Instance

If your town has a commercial barbecue restaurant, but you’re just venturing into email marketing as the one-store BBQ underdog, focus on the things that you do especially well that those other establishments don’t.

Trade Roles with the Barkeep

In Westerns, the barkeep is the main source of news for patrons and town-dwellers. He is well-connected, well-liked and well-respected; he really knows his stuff.

Make your brand the “go-to” source for your industry. Consumers are sponges for information, but don’t always like to find it on their own.

You must build trust and credibility in your brand, so that subscribers are ready and willing to read your emails when they appear in their inboxes.

Package all of the information you possibly can into easily digestible emails. When it’s time for your subscribers to make a purchase, they can revisit your emails and make an educated choice, from a brand that has informed them well.

Help Subscribers Pan for Gold

Mining for gold is a strenuous, backbreaking task. In the same way, it can be hard work for subscribers to dissect your emails and get to the meat of your messages.

Write emails that subscribers can quickly sift through to find the “nuggets” of highest value. Use headlines, bulleted lists, bold font and succinct, short paragraphs to grab their attention and keep them engaged.

By making your text scannable, readers will remain attentive and not lose interest in your messages.

Keep it Simple

Cowboys are not known for being flamboyant or over the top. They naturally understand the importance of simplicity in their day-to-day lives, and they embody it in the way that they dress and carry themselves.

If you struggle to put together your email campaign, let us help you. We have hundreds of professionally designed templates that are easy to customize.

Not sure if you want to commit to one specific look for your emails? Stick with plain text for now. Readers will appreciate the straightforward approach, and it can even seem more personal and sincere.

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Email is not effective if you send emails only when you want something”.  Email is very effective if you periodically send beneficial information that helps the recipient and actually increases the open rate when they are interested in getting an email from you.

Autoresponders are a great tool for not only being helpful to your recipient but also if done properly,  people are more likely to respond to them if they perceive them as giving them a benefit.

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The lawless times of spam e-mail are over, at least for U.S.A. based advertisers. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Advertising Act) sets forth specific needs for marketing via e-mail. The law has been tested numerous times because being passed and fines happen to be levied, property seized, people have even been sentenced to prison.

As an affiliate marketer obviously you do not wish to be about the incorrect side of this law. Luckily, complying with the provisions in the law is pretty easy. Here is what it demands:

No misleading or fake header info. This includes the “From:” and “To” fields.

No deceptive subject lines. You would like your client to know what you are promoting anyway, so this should be no problem.

Messages should be labeled as advertising. Once again, the moral is: no sneaky stuff.

An “internet-based” opt-out method should be supplied. You’ve 10 times to stop e-mailing a person once you have received their remove request.

Messages must consist of your company (or home) physical address. This offers accountability along with a way for that customer to verify that your business is actual.

Breaking any of these guidelines could lead to some fine of as much as $11,000 per violation! Honesty is now really the very best policy. You may be thinking: if this really is such a big deal, why is my inbox flooded with spam each and every day?

It is not a perfect world, and also the brief answer is that numerous of those advertisers are breaking the law. Commonly they are outside the United States in areas exactly where prosecution might be unrealistic. You, on the other hand, would probably be very easy to catch.

Be sure to study the detailed needs for yourself.

Additional Resources:

Guru Blueprint Review

Guru Blueprint Bonus

Guru Blueprint

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Holy Jeepers! I opened my email inbox to find dozens of messages from gurus and companies expounding upon their articles, books, seminars and papers on every topic known to marketing, all of them claiming to possess “secrets.”

I recently checked out some of these and was amazed to learn that things I’ve considered fairly common knowledge among those experienced with online marketing are actually secrets! Little did I know that I knew the secrets, too!

Things like Google search engine optimization techniques – most of which can be found on Google’s own website, free for the taking – are actually secrets someone is willing to share with you for a pretty price!

I’ve learned things like what I previously thought were the basics of email marketing, have been a number of closely guarded secrets!  So, the question now is, who leaked the information?

How about a marketing guru proclaiming email marketing expertise trying to sell research papers on email marketing while his own emails often end up getting spam filtered? This is a mistake for even a half-competent email marketer. I suppose that  the practice of pre-testing emails to make sure they get through spam filters of must be a ‘secret’ to this guru.

Yeah, I know that the word “secrets” can be very effective in getting your emails read. That doesn’t mean it’s not annoying and even a bit dishonest when I read that those gurus are willing to divulge those secrets in marketing magazines, conferences and ebooks. It is rather amazing that publishers and “marketing consultants” profess to be experts and try to spin commonly known information as secrets, especially when they are pitching their wares to marketing professionals.  How many of us bought into their ‘secrets’ when we first entered the internet marketing realm?  Steer clear newbies… you can learn these things for much less.  Use your resources!

I wonder if all of those secrets will ever be out in the open and the gurus will have to find another way to make us buy their over-produced, over-priced knowledge.

Technorati Tags: marketing secrets, gurus, marketing consultants, marketing expertise, email marketing

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