http://guruknowledge.org en-us http://guruknowledge.org N/A daleking@guruknowledge.org Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:01:44 -0400 20 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1674/1/Creative-Direct-Mail-Ideas/Creative-Direct-Mail-Ideas.html Here are some creative direct mail ideas to attract and engage prospects. Creative Direct Mail Idea #1: Stealth MailI call this idea Stealth Mail because it involves making your letter look like a personal communication. People are very used to scanning their mail and quickly filtering out anything that looks like an ad. But if your letter doesn't look like typical advertiser mail, it stands a much better chance of being opened. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Corte Swearingen) Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1415/1/Case-Study-How-to-Get-a-Big-Boost-in-Response-by-Taking-Your-Marketing-to-the-Extreme/Case-Study-How-to-Get-a-Big-Boost-in-Response-by-Taking-Your-Marketing-to-the-Extreme.html Want a big boost in response and quick sales from your next direct marketing effort? Then take your marketing to the extreme. What do I mean by extreme? I mean unconventional, break the mold, out-of-the-box, reaches-out-and-grabs-people-by-the-lapel marketing. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1384/1/Building-Loyalty-6-Handwritten-Notes-You-Should-Be-Writing-To-Attract--Retain-New-Clients/Building-Loyalty-6-Handwritten-Notes-You-Should-Be-Writing-To-Attract--Retain-New-Clients.html A friend of mine that owns three restaurants simply sat down and handwrote a post card to his customer list inviting them to join his rewards program and he had a 20% sign up off that mailing. During the previous 6 months, he distributed two other post card mailings, without the handwritten message, and never had more than a 5% response rate. What made the difference? daleking@guruknowledge.org (Michael Kaselnak) Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1314/1/5-Marketing-Resolutions-For-Boosting-07-Results/5-Marketing-Resolutions-For-Boosting-07-Results.html So, how was your 2006? Meet your sales projections? How about profits? Did you hit your target, blow it away, or fall a little short? Regardless of how you did, and I hope you did well, '06 is history. But '07 is just getting started and there's still time to work in a few more resolutions. So, with that thought in mind, today I present you with...5 New Year's Marketing Resolutions. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1313/1/The-quotMarshall-Planquot-For-Customer-Aftercare-How-To-Spend-Less--Sell-More/The-quotMarshall-Planquot-For-Customer-Aftercare-How-To-Spend-Less--Sell-More.html My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is it because of the competitive prices? Yes, that's part of it. Is it because of the convenient location? Yes, that's part of it too. She also likes their produce department. But the biggest reason she likes to shop at the local Safeway is "Marshall." daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1312/1/Five-Deadly-Sales-Letter-Mistakes/Five-Deadly-Sales-Letter-Mistakes.html To be effective your sales letter must be opened, read, believed and acted upon. In order to do this it must attract attention, warm the interest of the reader, create a desire for your product or service and cause your prospect to take positive action. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1311/1/Write-On-The-Money-The-Ten-Commandments-Plus-Five-Of-Profitable-Sales-Letter-Writing/Write-On-The-Money-The-Ten-Commandments-Plus-Five-Of-Profitable-Sales-Letter-Writing.html According to the Direct Marketing Association, in 2003 U.S. direct mail marketing efforts produced more than $689 billion in sales. For those organizations who know how to use it direct mail always daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1310/1/How-To-Write-A-Smooth-Flowing-Sales-Letter-That-Produces-Profitable-Results/How-To-Write-A-Smooth-Flowing-Sales-Letter-That-Produces-Profitable-Results.html Here’s the scenario: Your company has made the final cut and you and a partner are scheduled to make the Big Presentation to the purchasing committee. Close the deal and the two of you will split a high five-figure commission, with significant residual income throughout the life of the contract. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1309/1/Four-Score-and-Seven-Years-Ago-Copywriting-Lessons-From-Our-16th-President/Four-Score-and-Seven-Years-Ago-Copywriting-Lessons-From-Our-16th-President.html It is a crisp, clear autumn afternoon. About 1:30. A full sun hangs in a bright blue sky. A large crowd mills about. The date is November 19th. The year is 1863. And the place is Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1308/1/3-Questions-That-Will-Get-More-Prospects-To-quotListenquot-To-What-You-Have-To-Say/3-Questions-That-Will-Get-More-Prospects-To-quotListenquot-To-What-You-Have-To-Say.html One of the most profitable advertisements in history was a print ad for the Sherwin Cody School of English. Written in 1918, the ad ran for over 40 years, generating millions of inquiries, and millions in sales. Penned by the legendary adman and copywriter Maxwell Sackheim, its captivating headline read: “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?” daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1307/1/How-To-Write-An-Attractive-Sales-Letter-That-Attracts-More-Readers/How-To-Write-An-Attractive-Sales-Letter-That-Attracts-More-Readers.html Do looks matter to you? If you're like most people -- including your customers and prospects -- the answer is "Yes." Particularly in sales, appearance is important. For example, in a competitive situation, all else being equal, the appearance of the salesperson may well be the deciding factor in who gets the business. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1306/1/How-To-Make-It-Past-quotWhite-Fangquot-and-Generate-Leads-From-Senior-Level-Executives/How-To-Make-It-Past-quotWhite-Fangquot-and-Generate-Leads-From-Senior-Level-Executives.html Direct marketing guru and author Denny Hatch has a colorful name for executive assistants. He calls these good people, whose responsibilities include screening phone calls, sorting the mail and helping to manage the daily activities of their high-powered bosses "White Fang." And these days "White Fang" has very capable assistants of his or her own in the form of caller ID, voice mail and email filters. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1305/1/9-Response-Producing-Headlines-And-Why-They-Worked/9-Response-Producing-Headlines-And-Why-They-Worked.html “The purpose of a headline is to pick out people you can interest…For the entire return from an ad depends on attracting the right sort of readers…The best of salesmanship has no chance whatever unless we get a hearing.” - From the timeless classic, Scientific Advertising, by legendary adman Claude Hopkins daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1304/1/Why-You-Should-Take-A-Tip-From-Zig-Ziglar-And-Apply-It-To-Your-Sales-Letters/Why-You-Should-Take-A-Tip-From-Zig-Ziglar-And-Apply-It-To-Your-Sales-Letters.html In his seminars and tapes world-renowned motivational speaker Zig Ziglar always talks about the importance of having meaningful, specific goals. And, he’ll drive home his point with the rhetorical question, “What would you rather be in life, a meaningful specific or a wandering generality?” daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1303/1/How-Long-Should-Your-Sales-Letter-Be/How-Long-Should-Your-Sales-Letter-Be.html Picture this. It's Monday morning and the weekly sales meeting has just gotten underway. After updating everyone on the overall sales numbers the boss says, "Now, I have a very important announcement to make. Management has determined that from this point on we want to limit every in-person sales call to no more than 15 minutes. We live in an age of short attention spans and if you can't close 'em in 15 minutes then you should find someone else to talk to." daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1302/1/Going-For-The-Sales-Letter-Gold/Going-For-The-Sales-Letter-Gold.html In the 1998 Winter Olympics downhill skier Picabo Street won a gold medal by the slimmest possible margin -- one 1/100th of a second. Anything less than the flawless technique she displayed and the total effort she put forth and she would have finished at best, second, at worst, completely shut out of the medal ceremony. She would have lost the chance to realize a lifelong dream, and, most likely, hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1301/1/How-To-Survive-Your-Moment-of-Truth-3-Effective-Ways-To-Open-a-Sales-Letter/How-To-Survive-Your-Moment-of-Truth-3-Effective-Ways-To-Open-a-Sales-Letter.html Your direct mail package clears a major hurdle as your prospect opens the envelope. One hand reaches in and pulls out the letter while the other sets the envelope aside. Unfolded now and in full view, the reader glances down at the first couple of lines. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1300/1/Five-quotNever-Forgetsquot-For-Sales-Letter-Success/Five-quotNever-Forgetsquot-For-Sales-Letter-Success.html Like everyone else, I can remember at an early age my parents telling me, “Never forget to look both ways before crossing the street.” Later on I listened as my eight-grade teacher, Sister Mary Coleman, counseled us boys to, “Never forget that a gentleman always gets the door for a lady.” From my high school football coach I can recall, “Never forget that there is no “I” in team.” And to this day I can still hear the resonant baritone voice of my first sales manager, Ed Harwick, saying, “Son, never forget that people don’t buy features, they buy benefits.” daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1299/1/How-To-Craft-Stronger-More-Compelling-Offers-That-Will-Boost-Response-Rates/How-To-Craft-Stronger-More-Compelling-Offers-That-Will-Boost-Response-Rates.html "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."Don Corleone, The Godfather If you want to improve the response rate to your direct mail the answer may be as simple as making a better offer. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1298/1/How-To-Get-Your-Prospect-To-Open-Your-Mail/How-To-Get-Your-Prospect-To-Open-Your-Mail.html You’ve carefully selected your list. You’ve labored long and hard over every word, sentence and paragraph. Your letter is a powerhouse of persuasion with every key element firmly in place, including compelling benefits, powerful testimonials, a superb P.S. and an impossible-to-resist offer. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1297/1/Extreme-Results-How-To-Use-Direct-Mail-To-Pull-Double-Digit-Response-Rates-and-Close-Sales-Fast/Extreme-Results-How-To-Use-Direct-Mail-To-Pull-Double-Digit-Response-Rates-and-Close-Sales-Fast.html Want a big boost in response and quick sales from your next direct marketing effort? Then take your direct mail program to the extreme. What do I mean by extreme? I mean unconventional, break the mold, out-of-the-box, reaches-out-and-grabs-people-by-the-lapels marketing. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/1296/1/How-to-Win-Over-the-quotMan-in-the-Chairquot-Salesmanship-Repetition-and-Direct-Mail/How-to-Win-Over-the-quotMan-in-the-Chairquot-Salesmanship-Repetition-and-Direct-Mail.html In a classic business-to-business print ad from the late 50’s for McGraw-Hill Magazines an imposing looking executive sits in his chair. He has both feet planted firmly on the ground, a scowl on his face. His hands are folded together in front of him and his elbows rest on the chair; he leans ever so slightly forward. To his right run these eight lines of copy: daleking@guruknowledge.org (Ernest Nicastro) Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/840/1/Dale-King-Interviews-Denny-Hatch/Dale-King-Interviews-Denny-Hatch.html Dale King: Today I'm interviewing author and legendary direct response specialist, Denny Hatch. Hello, Denny. How are you? Denny Hatch: I couldn't be better, thank you. Let me say that theword "guru" bothers me. Peter Drucker said that people called him a "guru" because they could not spell "charlatan." Dale King: Ha, ha. No problem. I'll definitely make sure I don't refer to you as a "guru," during the interview. Denny, tell our readers how and when you got started marketing on the Internet. daleking@guruknowledge.org (Dale King) Fri, 11 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/534/1/Dale-King-Interviews-Melvin-Powers/Dale-King-Interviews-Melvin-Powers.html Publisher of the Wilshire Book Company & Legendary Mailorder King, Melvin Powers Interview  Dale King: Today I'm interviewing the publisher of the Wilshire BookCompany, and legendary mailorder king, Melvin Powers. Hello Melvin, how are you? Melvin Powers: Good, thank you. Dale King: Melvin, tell our readers how and when you got startedmarketing on the Internet.   daleking@guruknowledge.org (Dale King) Sat, 28 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/533/1/Direct-Mail-that-Gets-Attention/Direct-Mail-that-Gets-Attention.html Recently I heard another marketer say that "attention" is the most valuable commodity you can buy in marketing. It's true. If you don't have someone's attention, you'll never be able to deliver your message. Capturing the attention of your prospect is the first challenge of advertising. That's Why I Always Get Questions Like These... david@marketingbestpractices.com (David Frey) Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/532/1/-The-Retail-Advertisement-that-Grabbed-Me-By-the-Throat/The-Retail-Advertisement-that-Grabbed-Me-By-the-Throat.html Today there is so much advertising all around us that it's nearly impossible to break through all the clutter.   But if you own a business or are responsible for the advertising of your business, that's exactly what you need to do...break through the clutter.   Well, I was reminded the other day, that with some clever copywriting, you CAN break through the clutter.   Recently, I Did a "Daddy - Son" Weekend... david@marketingbestpractices.com (David Frey) Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/529/1/A-Most-Amazing-Direct-Mail-Letter/A-Most-Amazing-Direct-Mail-Letter.html The "Copywriting Chiropractor" has done it again! Who is the "Copywriting Chiropractor?" His name is Dr. Greg Nielsen and he lives in the megatropolis of Waterford, Wisconsin. Dr. Nielsen is a unique fellow...to say the least. His little chiropractic practice probably does more revenue per employee than any practice in the country. What's Dr. Nielsen's secret? He is one of the most talented copywriters I've ever come across. He could stop his practice tomorrow and become mega wealthy writing copy for a living. (I'm not sure why he doesn't...maybe he likes to crack people's backs more than he likes to write.) Here's Why I Keep Getting Dr. Nielsen's Letters... david@marketingbestpractices.com (David Frey) Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/528/1/The-Free-quotBreaking-Newsquot-Postcard/The-Free-quotBreaking-Newsquot-Postcard.html Marketing Tool # 1 - News Articles Many of you marketers know that there have been studies that have shown people are five times more likely to look at a news article, than an advertisement. Marketing Tool # 2 - Postcards You also know that postcards get seen and read at least five times or more than letters. (I throw 90% of my mail in the garbage - - but I do keep the good pieces :-) Marketing Tool # 3 - Websites If you're reading this, it means you're on the web. The ability to deliver your message via the web is simply amazing. More people than ever are going to the web to get their information. Now, What If You Combined All Three Marketing Tools... david@marketingbestpractices.com (David Frey) Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/527/1/The-Crazy-quotMedical-Filequot-Reactivation-Direct-Mail-Letter/The-Crazy-quotMedical-Filequot-Reactivation-Direct-Mail-Letter.html Because I belong to Dr. Nielsen's Chiropractic Marketing System, I'm on his mailing list and I receive his newsletters and mailings. It's a real privilege to be on that mailing list because he sends me some of the most amazing direct mail pieces known to man. This week I looked in my mail and was perplexed to find a manila file folder from Dr. Nielsen. Yes, the type that you use for storing medical records. It was hand addressed to me and had a fluorescent medical payment sticker on it and was secured by a small "06" sticker so that the file folder wouldn't fling open. And it even had an address label on it just like a real medical record would have. I thought to myself... david@marketingbestpractices.com (David Frey) Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 http://guruknowledge.org/articles/526/1/The-Secret-of-the-Amazing-Left-Hand-Glove/The-Secret-of-the-Amazing-Left-Hand-Glove.html Great marketing is all about getting your marketing message noticed and consumed by the people that would be most likely to buy whatever it is you have to offer. I'm about to show you one of the best examples of this principle in action that has ever crossed my desk. It was sent to me by Mike Lewis of Custer, SD. Mike received this package in the mail and took some photos of it and passed it on to me. (By the way, if you have any great examples of hot marketing ideas in action, please forward them to me and if they're really good, I'll publish them in my newsletter.) david@marketingbestpractices.com (David Frey) Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400