10 timeless marketing tactics - hunteridge.com timeless marketing tactics ... durstine & osborn...

OldMastersOfMarketing.com

Presents

10 Timeless Marketing Tactics

An Exclusive Panel Discussion With John Caples, Robert Collier,

Claude Hopkins & Rosser Reeves

With A Special Appearance By Maxwell Sackheim

By Kevin Seid OldMastersOfMarketing.com

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An Exclusive Discussion With John Caples, Robert Collier & Claude Hopkins

© 2003 Kevin M Seid All Rights Reserved Any unauthorized use, sharing, reproduction or distribution of these materials by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise is strictly prohibited. No portion of these materials may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever, without the express written consent of the publisher. Legal Disclaimers This book is intended for entertainment and educational purposes only. All materials of each respective marketer, including sales letters and advertisements, are copyrighted materials reproduced here under fair use provisions of U.S. Copyright Law. While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions or contradictory interpretation of the subject matter herein. This publication is not intended to be used as a source of legal or accounting advice. Please remember that the information contained may be subject to varying state and/or local laws or regulations that may apply to the user’s particular practice. The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, both federal, state, and local, governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising and any other aspects of doing business in the US or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader. The publisher and the author assume no responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of any purchaser or reader of these materials. Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations is unintentional. Neither the author nor the publisher make any express or implied warranties concerning the legal or ethical appropriateness of any marketing documents, materials, or instructions. If in doubt about the appropriateness or legality of any materials, you should obtain competent guidance just as you would with any marketing documents or materials you would develop on your own. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is NOT engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. This is in accordance with the principles adopted by the Committee of the American Bar Association and a committee of publishers. The author and the publisher do not warrant the performance, effectiveness or applicability of any sites or other references listed in this book. All sites and references are for information purposes only and are not warranted for content, accuracy or any other implied or explicit purpose. V 1.0.0

2 Copyright 2003 Kevin Seid – OldMastersOfMarketing.com


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Prologue Hello. My name is Kevin Seid, webmaster of oldmastersofmarketing.com, and 26-year old crazy fanatic of John Caples, Robert Collier, Claude Hopkins and the other “old masters” of marketing. Using the writings of these marketing legends, I wrote the following panel discussion you’re about the experience. I basically picked 10 tactics to discuss with them. Then I looked up their answers and formatted them in the way that I imagined they would’ve said them in a real live panel discussion. (Of course, I added a few of my own comments here and there) Pull up a chair. Ease back in your comfortable seat and relax. Start to imagine you’re facing three men seated in front of you. You notice that the first man on the left is John Caples, former Vice-President of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn Advertising Agency and author of Tested Advertising Methods and four other books on advertising. The man seated in the center is Robert Collier, the direct mail marketer who was able to sell almost everything under the sun and make millions – and the author of the sales letter bible “The Robert Collier Letter Book”. Next, you see that the third man seated is Claude Hopkins, author of the two landmark books My Life In Advertising and Scientific Advertising – and the inventor of such standard advertising techniques as test marketing, coupon sampling and copy research. Finally, turn your head to the right and say hello to Rosser Reeves, former president of Ted Bates & Co. Ad Agency, author of the two landmark books Reality in Advertising and one of the first marketers who first coined the technique “Unique Selling Proposition. As you continue to view the faces of these 4 marketing wizards, think about how excited you’ll be when you hear them explain to you about 10 timeless proven marketing tactics. You may have heard of all of them before, but you sense that you should continue listening to Caples, Collier and Hopkins anyway. You might like to be reminded of proven marketing techniques that you may have forgotten, wouldn’t you? And obviously, as you continue to experience this panel discussion, your brain will open up to new and creative ideas to improve your business. Close your eyes and picture how many new profitable marketing ideas you’ll generate for your business. Imagine all the time you will save, and how much money you will make as soon as you experience this panel discussion. Yours in success, Kevin Seid P.S. If you have any comments, you’ll be delighted to know that you can send them to me at [email protected]


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Introduction Kevin Seid, Webmaster, oldmastersofmarketing.com: Thank you very much for participating in this program. My name is Kevin Seid, webmaster of oldmastersofmarketing.com. And I’m here with Robert Collier, John Caples and Claude Hopkins. And today we’re going to discuss some of the most profitable, timeless marketing techniques. So let’s get started. Tactic #1: Provide Free Samples Robert Collier, Author, The Robert Collier Letter Book: The first sale is always the hardest. The most difficult task is to win the confidence of prospects. John Caples, VP, BBDO Advertising Agency: A sample offer may lead to a sale. You can increase replies by emphasizing the word “Free”. Claude Hopkins, Author, Scientific Advertising: A good article is it’s own best salesman. It is uphill work to sell goods in print or in person without samples. Some say that samples cost too much. Some say repeaters will ask for them again and again. But they usually are the cheapest selling method. And persuasion alone is vastly more expensive. A sample gets action. Prospects may not be convinced to buy. But they’re still ready to learn more about your product. Robert Collier, Author, The Robert Collier Letter Book: Here is one of my sales letters for a manufactured pearl – I included a sample and challenged prospects to examine it in detail and compare it to a real pearl:

Dear Madam: Will you try this experiment? Ask your jeweler to show you a perfect deep-sea pearl. Put the enclosed Deltah manufactured pearl alongside it. Then try to tell them apart!



The jeweler can do it -- with the aid of his magnifying glass. But neither you nor any other person not an expert in precious stones can distinguish the natural from the manufactured pearl. In luster, in weight, in iridescence, in color, the little pearl we are sending you will measure up to all the requirements of the genuine deep-sea jewel. Step on it! It will stand the weight of an ordinary size man. Boil it in hot water! It will come out lustrous, with the soft opalescence that only a pearl can give. Weigh it! You will find it heavy, firm, and indistinguishable in any way from the natural pearl, except to the expert with his magnifying glass. Most society women, most of the start of stage and screen, have duplicates of their costly deep-sea gems made up in these manufactured pearls to wear at all public functions. For no one can distinguish them from the genuine. The only difference to the naked eye is in the price -- and you save that big difference. In New York, in Paris and London, pearls are in vogue this year. They are being worn for every occasion, with almost every conceivable costume -- with evening gowns, for parties and afternoon teas, for street, for shopping. The "Carmen" necklace of Deltah pearls, from which the enclosed pearl was taken, was made to sell in retail stores at $21 and is so advertised in national magazines at the present time. But if you will mail the enclosed card right away -- before the heavy Christmas rush begins -- we will send you this famous necklace, in the favorite 24-inch "Opera" length, fastened with a diamond clasp of white gold and genuine diamond, for only $15.75. Not only that, but we will send it to you for a full week's trial, without one cent of payment, to be tried out, to be examined, to be WORN for a week at our risk. If for any reason -- or no reason -- you are not more than delighted with it, send it back and you'll not be out one penny. Naturally, we can’t make offers like this to everyone, so even if you don't take advantage of it we should feel obligated if you would return or destroy the card. Naturally, too, you will have to take advantage of it right away, before the heavy Christmas rush begins. May we hope you will mail back your card now -- TODAY?

Caples: Samples stimulate action. It makes it easier for people to order. Hopkins: But it’s important to give samples to interested people only. Give them only to people who exhibit that interest by some effort. Give them only to people



whom you have told your story. First create an atmosphere of respect, a desire, an expectation. When people are in that mood, your sample will usually confirm the qualities you claim. Then you have the name and address of interested prospects. You can then start them on using your product. You can then give fuller information and follow up. Tactic #2: Money-Back Guarantees and Risk Free Trials Collier: Establish confidence in your offer with a money-back-if-not-satisfied guarantee.

After a thorough examination and 10 days' trial, if you are convinced that you want a (product x), you need send us only $5 than and the balance in conveniently arranged payments over the next nine months. But if you don't want to keep the (product x), remember you can return it without question, for you are no obligation in accepting this free-trial offer in this way.

Hopkins: When I worked to get the germicide product Liquozone, out of bankruptcy, we offered a 50-cent bottle for free. To each inquirer we sent an order on a certain local druggist for the bottle, and said, "We will pay the price." Then we sent a guaranty offering six $1 bottles for $5. The druggist would sign the warrant. If the results from those six were unsatisfactory, every penny would be returned. Consider how irresistible was such a proposition. A 50-cent bottle for free. Then a $5 lot under warrant. "Just say to your druggist that you are dissatisfied and your money will be returned without argument." I had a proposition which no reasonable person could refuse. As most people were reasonable, I knew that most people in need would accept it. My offer was impregnable. We received in the next year over 1.5 million requests for a free bottle. The average cost per request was 18 cents. The average sale per request was 91 cents. I went with Liquozone in February. We had no money, save enough to pay the rent. In our first fiscal year, commencing July 1, our net profits were $1.8 million. What was the secret of that success? Just buy a 50-cent bottle for everyone who sent a coupon. Then to guarantee results. We had confidence in our product, we had confidence in people.



Caples: Victor Schwab's famous ad for Dale Carnegie's book had the following guarantee:

It is not necessary to send any money now. You may pay for "How To Win Friends and Influence People" when it is delivered -- with a definite understanding that its price of only $1.96 will be refunded to you if you wish. If this book does what we claim, it will mean more to you than any book you have even read. If it doesn't we do not want you to keep it.

Hopkins: Many have advertised, “Try it for a week. If you don't like it we'll return your money.” Then someone conceived the idea of sending goods without any money down, and saying, “Pay in a week if you like them.” That proved to generate more responses. Somebody stated this idea in another way: One man said, “Try the horse for a week. If my claims are not true, come back for your money.” The other man also said, “Try the horse for a week.” But he added, ‘Come and pay me then.’ I naturally bought the second man's horse. Kevin: Some common variations of risk-free trials: • Delayed Billing: “Order now and we won’t bill you until next month.” • Postdated Check: “I will not cash your check until after the trial period” Tactic #3: Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Kevin: Our next tactic is Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – a marketing message that tells prospects why they should choose you, your company, and your products and services over all other available options. And what better way to explain it is the man who first coined it, ad man Rosser Reeves… Rosser Reeves: A USP makes it easier for people to remember your advertising and it helps pulls people over to your product or service. Why? People only have to remember this one strong claim. A USP has having three parts:



1) Each ad must make a proposition -- "Buy this product and you get these benefits". 2) The proposition must be unique -- something that your competitors do not, cannot or will not offer. 3) The proposition must sell -- it must be something prospects really want; it pulls them over to your product. The most memorable USP I developed was the one for M&M’s candies. At the time, M&M’s was one of the first sugarcoated chocolate candies on the market. So I said, "M&M’s melts in your mouth, not in your hands." Kevin: Some USP's today include: • Domino’s Pizza: "Hot, fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less,

guaranteed". • FedEx "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight". Reeves: However, the thing that is most overlooked by advertisers creating a USP is that it must be something people want. A toothpaste once claimed "It comes out like a ribbon and lies flat on your brush." It was a unique proposition but it did not sell because nobody cared about it. Kevin: So what is your USP? What is your selling proposition that briefly and clearly explains a single quality about your product that lets it stand out against the competition? Have you examined your business and focused on one of these things that your competitors don't offer: • Added value or service included in you offers • Bonuses and premiums • Convenient location, hours • Endorsement by a particular celebrity or authority • Exclusive niche you market to • Exclusive ownership for your product or service • Expertise in a particular knowledge or skill • Guarantees • Membership programs • Method of delivery or distribution • Price, discounts, payment terms • Service difference • Unique benefit in the product



• Any other improvement that nobody nor your competitors offer Reeves: Of course, you can always redesign or create new products and services based on your USP. Kevin: And USP’s can also revolve around the next tactic: Tactic #4: Preemptive Marketing Advantage Reeves: The first advertiser can “preempt” a USP and become a pioneer. Then, the USP becomes his property. People identify with him. Kevin: In other words, you gain a huge advantage over your competitors if you become the first one to state a particular marketing message or position. As a result, you become the “innovator”. Reeves: It is possible to tell the people something about the product that hasn’t been revealed before. This is not a uniqueness about the product, but it assumes uniqueness. Hopkins: In 1919, I was hired by Schlitz Beer to pull them out of 5th place in the market. They let me tour the brewery. I saw how they washed their bottles in live steam. I asked them, "Why don't you tell people these things?" "Why," they said, "the processes we use are just the same as others use. No one can make good beer without them." "But others have never told this story," I replied. So I created their new campaign, “Our bottles are washed in live steam”, and Schlitz shot up to first place in sales. Reeves: Colgate preempted the message, “Cleans your breath while it cleans your teeth.” Then one competitor proclaimed, “Freshens your breath while it cleans your teeth, because it has a special mouthwash built in.” It cost this company millions of dollars to discover that it was simply only advertising its rival.



Tactic #5: Advertorials Kevin: An advertorial is an ad that is designed to look like a news item, article or editorial. Caples: If you use the editorial-style approach, you’ll have a powerful factor working in your favor. People buy newspapers and magazines to read editorial material – not ads. Readership studies show that the reading of editorial material is 5 times as great as the reading of advertising.

An open letter to the readers of The New York Times

Norman Cousins Two Dag Hammerskjold Plaza

New York, New York, 10017

My purpose in writing is to tell you that my colleagues and I have decided to launch a new magazine. The magazine will be published every two weeks. It will be called World Review. Ever since I resigned from the Saturday Review, for reasons you may know about, I have been thinking and dreaming about the possibility of starting a magazine that, quite literally, would belong to its readers and editors. This has never been done before. Usually new magazines call for a prodigious investment. The reason for this is the traditional way a magazine operates. Magazines and newspapers are the only products sold to the customer at less than the cost of the manufacturer. Advertising is expected to make up the difference. What compounds this problem is that the standard way of building a subscription list is through cut-rate introductory offers… [The ad later describes the contents of the new magazine and finally concludes by offering a subscription] ________________________________________________________

The New Ford Car

An announcement of unusual importance

to every automobile owner

by Henry Ford

Nineteen years ago we made and sold the first Model T Ford car. In announcing it to the public we said: "We will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of



the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one." If I were starting a business today, or asked to restate my policy, I would not change one sentence or one word of that original announcement. In plain, simple language it gives the reason for the very existence of the Ford Motor Company and explains its growth… ________________________________________________________

Look At All Three!

But Don't Buy Any Low-Priced Car Until You've Driven The New Plymouth With Floating Power

A Statement By

Walter P. Chrysler Thousands of people have been waiting expectantly until today before buying a new car. I hope that you are one of them. Now that the new low-priced cars are here (including the new Plymouth which will be shown on Saturday) I urge you to carefully compare values. This is the time for you to "shop" and buy wisely. Don't make a deposit on any automobile until you've actually had a demonstration…

Kevin: An advertorial can be entirely an opinion piece, a review, or an article giving information pertaining to your industry or field of expertise. The selling is hidden in the “About the Author” resource box.

John Smith is the author of “How to X With Y” and a leading expert in XXXX, YYYY and ZZZZ. He has appeared on numerous shows including Oprah, The View, Good Morning America, Today, The Tonight Show, David Letterman, Live With Regis, and Jerry Springer. John offers several free reports on X, Y and Z, plus a full interactive X assessment questionnaire at his web site xyz.com



Tactic #6: Stories Caples: Tell a story. This has been used in many ads that have become famous.

Often a Bridesmaid, But Never a Bride

Edna's case was really a pathetic one. Like every woman, her primary ambition was to marry. Most of the girls of her set were married -- or about to be. Yet not one possessed more grace or charm or loveliness than she did. And as her birthdays crept gradually toward that tragic thirty-mark, marriage seemed farther from her life than ever. She was often a bridesmaid but never a bride.

Stories entertain as it sells. It goes deep into the reader's subconscious mind. It sells ideas and promotes action. Collier: Selling a boring machine is a dry subject. Offhand, you’d say it would be difficult to inject much life into it. Here is a letter which was most successful in bringing inquiries for a machine selling for about $2,500.00. It was mailed to a restricted field - Public Service Companies - and it brought interested inquiries in considerable volume.

When Millions Were Actually THROWN IN THE GUTTER!

Dear Sir: "The most expensive gutters in the world" -- that is what they called the canals of 1830, which cost $200,000,000 to build and were doomed by the locomotive. What do you suppose they will call the trenches of today, where whole gangs of laborers take days to dig up stretches of expensively paved streets, JUST TO LAY PIPES AND CABLES OR DRAINS UNDER THEM?" "The most expensive ditches in the world" -- probably. FOR THESE SAME HOLES COULD BE BORED AT A TENTH OF THE COST WITH A [Boring Machine]! All the work of tearing up paving, all the expense of resurfacing, might just as well be thrown into the ditch, for all the need there is of it or all the good you get out of it.

You see, the [Boring Machine] bores UNDER the street. It can make any size hole from 2 1/4 inches to 10 1/2 inches. It can bore any length up to 120 ft. It works as fast as a foot a minute, AND IT COSTS ONLY 10 CENTS TO 30 CENTS A FOOT!



"In 1930, we made plans for installing water mains in a newly incorporated borough", writes the Richland Township Water Co. of Windber, PA, "through which passes three paved highways. Our permit was conditioned upon NOT BREAKING THE PAVED SURFACE OF THE HIGHWAY. Thirty or more crossings were necessary. The [Boring Machine] enabled us to do the work in 1931 at minimum expenditure. We know of no better or more economical machine for its purpose. We completed the job for less than half the estimated cost of tunneling." We can save more than half for you, too. May we tell you how? Your name on the enclosed card will bring full information by mail, without obligation.

Kevin: The key point is this: drama Dramatic stories can attract people and highlight particular features of the product. Tactic #7: The “Damaged Set” or Scratch-N-Dent Sale Collier: In selling any big stock of goods, you’re bound to accumulate a large number of scratched, dented or slightly damaged sets. They’re perfectly good in every respect except that they cannot be sold as new. So every once in a while you bring them out and sell them in one huge discount sale. It usually generates a huge profit surge because people immediately want to buy them at the low cost. The trouble is that these damaged-set sales pull more than any ordinary ad. The orders keep rolling in long after the damaged sets are gone. Those extra orders don't cost us anything, so it’s more profitable to fill them with brand new books rather than turn them down.

790 Leftover Ulsters At A Big Discount! Dear Sir: In the rush and excitement of selling, in the past two months, of 21,000 "Keep Warm" Winter Ulsters - there was no time to pay attention to exactly how sizes and colors were running. The result is that now, with the season near its end, we find ourselves with 790 coats left over - in all sizes - BUT WITHOUT A COMPLETE RANGE OF SIZES IN ANY ONE COLOR!



There are dark grays and blues and beautiful brown heather-mixtures, in Greatcoats that we sold in the past all the way up to $47.00 - really handsome colors, all of them - but we can't be sure of having your exact size in the color you specify. And you know how the Overcoat season is - if these Ulsters are not all disposed of before Christmas, some of them will probably be on our hands until next Fall. So rather than carry any of them over until then, we have decided to make one sweeping reduction, and offer these 790 smart, distinctive, beautifully tailored Greatcoats of fine, warm, double-texture pure wool cloth - for only $27.65! This is the lowest price we have ever made on these all-wool "Keep Warm" Ulster Coats. Just try to find their equal - in style, in workmanship, in fine quality material for $40 or $50.

Only 790 Coats Left We have just 790 of these double-texture all-wool Greatcoats to sell at this low price. When they are gone, your chance to save on your Winter Ulster will go with them. But while these 790 last, you can get as perfect-fitting, as good-looking, as fine-quality a Winter Greatcoat as ever you would want to wear, at an almost unheard-of bargain. If you will just write your name and three simple measures on the enclosed card and mail to us, we will send you a "Keep Warm" Ulster - that will exactly fit you - by prepaid Parcel Post. You may keep the overcoat for a full week. Then, if for ANY REASON AT ALL you don't care to keep the coat, you can send it back AT OUR EXPENSE. But if you are so well-pleased with it that you don't want to part with it, just send us $27.65, the low price at which we are offering these last remaining 790 coats. SEND NO MONEY - simply mail the post card. But do it at once, this opportunity to save money will not occur again. Yours up to 790,



Tactic #8: Dollar Bill / ‘Grabbers’ Collier: Here is the most successful letter we have ever heard of - the famous "Dollar Letter". Pinned to its top was a crisp, new dollar bill - a real dollar bill. This letter pulled better than a 90% response. The writer of this letter told us that from 175,000 mailed, he got back $270,000, plus more than 90% of the $1 bills mailed out with them. But this was only the start. From the list of more than 150,000 people who gave that $270,000, further subscriptions were secured to the amount of nearly $14,000,000.

Dear Sir: Here's a dollar: - Yes it's a REAL dollar - nice and clean and new. Keep it if you want to, after you read this letter, but I don't believe you will, then. Here's what it's all about: I've made an investment -- of a thousand dollars -- in human nature -- human kindness. I've mailed a thousand dollars -- in a thousand letters to a thousand people picked at random. I have done this because I believe that every one is really kind, way down inside -- that no one is REALLY heartless -- and that the only reason why folks do not help where help is needed is just because these needs are not IMPRESSED upon them hard enough. And that's the mission of each of my thousand dollars, to impress the importance of a need. This thousand dollars is my subscription to the [Name of Hospital] -- and I'm investing in the belief that every one will bring back several more -- at least another with it. So our subscription -- which I'm starting in this way will be at least two thousand -- maybe five -- for there's going to be a lot of your sending a five or a ten -- or more -- when you mail my dollar back. Remember -- both my dollar and your dollar go to help crippled children. Will EVERY ONE come back? Will every one bring something more? Are people really kind -- or REALLY heartless? Have I made a good investment? What is YOUR answer?



Dollar bills and other gadgets attract attention. They're basically attention-grabbers or eye-openers attached to the top of the letter. Gadgets catch the eye and interest of your readers. You can paste, tie, staple or clip a variety of gadgets to your copy. It keeps them in the top of the desk. They are read and passed around to friends, family and co-workers. Of course, you should hook up the main idea of your letter to the appropriate gadget. They'll keep the idea in their heads and even talk about it to others. Kevin: Some ‘grabbers’ I’ve seen or heard of attached to direct mail include coins, rubber bands, keys, rings, a bag of pebbles, a bag of candy, you name it. For online web copy, ‘grabbers’ can be unusual pictures and graphics posted at the top of the web page. And it’s extremely important that the ‘grabber’ be relevant to your sales story or message. You must explain how the gadget relates to your sales message.

As you can see, I attached this rubber band to the top of this letter. Why have I done this? Actually, there are 2 reasons: 1. I have something very important to tell you, and I want to make

sure I got your attention. 2. Since you have forgotten to respond to the first letter I sent you, I

decided to enclose a rubber band you can tie around your finger so you won’t forget to respond to this letter.

Tactic #9: Memberships / Subscriptions / Book-Of-The-Month Club Kevin: Many businesses today offer some type of membership or subscription service. For an annual, monthly, weekly or daily fee, customers receive a certain amount of products and/or services on a regular basis. For businesses, the benefits of offering a membership or subscription service includes: • Generates a reliable, guaranteed “auto-pilot” income. • There’s little or no marketing to existing customers. You don’t need to

advertise to the same group of customers over and over again – it’s only when you ask for renewals.



• Existing customers continue to pay you on a regular basis. One of the marketing legend who pioneered this type of service was Maxwell Sackheim, best known as the copywriter who wrote the famous “Do you make these mistakes in English?” ad for an English course that ran for over 40 years. Sackheim developed one of the first "Book-of-the-Month” clubs and he’s here to tell us about it. Maxwell Sackheim: Well, the "Book-of-the-Month Club" was derived from the Little Leather Library that I developed with my partner Harry Scherman in 1914. At first, we sold books in drugstores bound with real leather. But it wasn’t profitable. We eventually offered a set of 30 imitation leather-bound books at a price of $2.98 by mail. We sold about 40 million books in 3 years. But in 1926, we phased out Little Leather Library and started the Book-Of-The-Month Club to sell books on a subscription basis. And we originally had this procedure: Every month, the editorial board would select a particular book, contact its publisher and arrange for a copy to be automatically shipped to each subscriber – but without any pre-notification. Instead, each subscriber also received a comprehensive, detailed review of the book prepared by the editorial board members. We stated to prospects that this service costs them nothing. Under the guarantee of satisfaction, in the next 12 months, subscribers would receive 12 books. After reading the review, and even after reading the entire book, a subscriber could return it and the charge for that book would be cancelled. Kevin: But unfortunately, you ran into problems right away. Sackheim: We faced a lot of cancellations and returns. It soon became apparent that no book could please everybody. Few subscribers accepted 12 books consecutively for 12 months. Kevin: And you solution to the problem is our next marketing tactic:



Tactic #10: Negative Option Plan Sackheim: The idea that popped into my head was: What if we could notify subscribers of the next selected book before shipping it to them? Send the book review to them beforehand and tell them that it will be shipped – unless within 2 weeks they mail back a form notifying us not to send it. This breakthrough was “the shot heard around the book world”, affecting booksellers, authors, publishers and the public. You just send a comprehensive description of the month’s selection in advance, allowing subscribers to say he does not want it – and either choose to exchange it or request a refund. And instead of the annual subscription feature, you offer an unfixed term of membership. Kevin: The Negative Option Plan is the same principle as the “Auto-Charge Renewal" used by many web sites offering subscription services: The subscribers' credit cards are automatically charged for renewals unless the customer explicitly requests to cancel his subscription. But the big important thing about The Negative Option Plan and the "Auto-Charge Renewal" is that they have been proven to bring more profit to subscription services simply because... Most people are extremely lazy to cancel their subscriptions – even if they want to! Thus, they'll continue to receive the monthly articles, books, etc. – as their credit cards are continuously billed. Sackheim: The Negative Option Plan has built multi-million dollar enterprises. It’s all based on removing resistance on the part of the prospect to order merchandise that he wanted but which through normal delay or inertia was put off until eventually the purchase was missed entirely.



Summary 1. Provide Free Samples The best way to convince prospects to buy your product is to have them try it out for themselves for free, rather than buy your product or service immediately. Prospects become less resistance to your offer if they personally see, hear, smell, taste and touch your product in action. 2. Money-Back Guarantees and Risk-Free Trials Responses to your offer will also increase if you also offer a money-back guarantee or trial. Prospect are more willing to accept your offer when it’s risk-free. 3. Unique Selling Proposition Your marketing must convey a marketing message that tells prospects why they should choose you, your company, and your products and services over all other available options. 4. Preemptive Marketing Advantage You gain a huge advantage over competitors if you are (or perceived to be) an innovator – the first one to state a particular marketing message or position – even if it’s something that every other competitor is doing. 5. Advertorials People are more likely to read ads that look more like news items, articles, editorials and reviews. 6. Stories Using a dramatic story in your ad or sales letter can attract more people and highlight particular feature in your product. 7. The “Damaged Set” or Scratch-N-Dent Sale A surefire tactic to generate a surge in your cash flow: Offer a sale of your scratched and dented and slightly damaged products at a considerable discount. Your customers will all jump at the low prices.



8. Dollar Bill / ‘Grabbers’ Attached To The Top Of The Letter Want to attract more attention to your ads or sales letters? Then attach a relevant item or gadget to the top of your letter. 9. Memberships / Subscriptions / Book-Of-The-Month Club Offering some type of membership or subscription service can generate a guaranteed, reliable income automatically without the need to market the same group of customers constantly over and over again. 10. Negative Option Plan Membership and subscription services become more profitable when you keep on automatically renewing and billing subscribers until they ask you to cancel their subscriptions. Most people are too lazy to request to cancel their subscriptions – even if they want to.



Epilogue Kevin: Got any other notable ideas? Caples: This checklist that I have is based on the results of hundreds of advertising tests, on millions of dollars in experiments designed to find out what kind of advertising sells and what kind doesn't sell. So the next time your prepare any ad or sales letter, put this check list alongside of it: 1. Does your ad attract the RIGHT AUDIENCE? Does your headline, photo or opening grab the attention of the RIGHT people -- your most likely prospects – the ones most likely to be interested in your product or service? 2. Does your ad HOLD the audience? Does your ad maintain the attention it achieved? Do your subheads pull people back into the copy? Does you first paragraph hold the readers? 3. Does your copy CREATE DESIRE? Do you promise plenty of benefits? Do you keep piling on advantages? Do you drive your main benefit home by repeating it several times? 4. Do you prove it is a BARGAIN? Is your price lower than usual? Are you building up more value and service? Are others paying more for the same benefits? 5. Do you establish CONFIDENCE? "Prove it is not a gyp." Do you give specific figures, testimonials, guarantees, or any other PROOF you have? 6. Do you make it EASY TO ACT? Have you told them what to do? Have you given them all the information they need so they can do it? Is it simple and easy for them to do it? 7. Do you give your prospects a reason to ACT AT ONCE?



Do you give them a GOOD REASON to act now? If your price is going up, say so. If supplies are limited, say so. If it's a limited time offer, say so. Have you given people a logical and believable reason to act right now? So if you ever need a quick, proven checklist to test your ads or sales letters, just ask yourself these 7 questions and your ads and sales letter will become cash-generating machines. Collier: With a due respect, Every good sales letter contains these 6 elements: 1. The opening: get the reader's attention by fitting in with his train of thought

and establish a point of contact with his interests. 2. The description: picture your proposition to the reader 3. The motive and reason-why: create a longing in the reader's mind for what

you are selling, by describing what it will do for him. 4. The proof and guarantee: offer proof of the truth of your statements, and

establish confidence with a money-back guarantee. 5. The penalty: get the reader's immediate action by warning him of the loss in

money, prestige or opportunity that will be his if he doesn't act at once. 6. The close: tell the reader just what to do and how to do it, and makes it easy

for him to act at once.

* * * It was at that moment that Caples and Collier went into a heated argument as to which are the winning elements of an ad or sales letter. I immediately stepped in to break it up. “Calm down,” I said. “Let’s all cool down and discuss this topic later.” And so that’s what I did. I invited Caples and Collier back to discuss how to craft a compelling ad or sales letter that sells. I also invited marketing legends Victor Schwab and Clyde Bedell too. I asked all four of them what should an ad or sales letter have to pull money. Click here for all the details. It’s an experience you’ll won’t want to miss…


http://www.oldmastersofmarketing.com/a.php?cb=adscrazy



References †Caples, John. 1957. Making Ads Pay. New York: Dover Publications. †__________. 1983. How To Make Your Advertising Make Money. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. * †__________. 1974. Tested Advertising Methods, 4th Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. *Caples, John, Fred Hahn (ed). 1997. Tested Advertising Methods, 5th Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Collier, Robert. 1937. The Robert Collier Letter Book (2003 Reprint). Oak Harbor, WA: Robert Collier Publications, Inc. ____________. Million Dollar Sales Letters For Your Own Use and Profit. Hopkins, Claude. 1927. My Life In Advertising/Scientific Advertising. Chicago: NTC Publishing Group. †Reeves, Rosser. 1961. Reality In Advertising. New York: Knopf. †Sackheim, Maxwell. 1975. My First 65 Years in Advertising. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: TAB Books. * The 4th edition of Caples' Tested Advertising Methods, the last version he wrote before he died in 1990, was primarily used for this report. † These books are way out-of -print…good luck! (You might want to try bookfinder.com).


http://www.robertcollierpublications.com/

http://www.e-comprofits.com/collier.html


http://www.bookfinder.com/

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