Copy Quiz
Indiana copy consultant Deborah S. Ramstorf asks 9 questions that she says show how well you know direct-mail advertising copy...
8 Copy Mistakes that Sabotage Results
In a presentation to a Direct Marketing Association convention, nationally respected direct-response expert Lee Marc Stein pinpointed eight common writing mistakes that hurt response...
5 Keys to Leaner, Meaner Copy
Florida writer Robert Warren suggests five techniques that will help muscle up the effectiveness of your advertising copy...
10 Ways to Tell if your Mailing Needs Long or Short Copy
One direct-marketing “expert,” unnamed here in order to protect the guilty, recently advised mail advertisers that letters and reply contents should be “short and a welcoming read.”...
13 Rules for Cost-Effective Advertising from David Ogilvy
The function of advertising is to sell. Advertising is the cheapest form of selling...
6 Proven Ways to Muscle up Personalized Copy
Mail advertisers have achieved response lifts of 200% and more by using database-generated messages tailored to the history and interests of the recipient...
8 Pointers on Writing Effective Copy
“Each product or service has natural strengths and weaknesses” to stress or downplay in your advertising, New Jersey consultant Robert W. Bly observes...
More from Russ Phelps on how to Create Killer Advertising
Your offer is simply your statement of what you propose to do for sales prospects in exchange for what you want from them — their money…
7 Factors that Boost Advertising Response
Copywriter Peter Fogel reports in DM News that many advertisers fail to take simple, but vital steps that turn readers into buyers. Astute marketers, he says…
12 Tested Pointers on Effective Design
Make your material reader-friendly. Each element should encourage readership, because if your prospects don’t read it, naturally they won’t respond to it…
8 Factors that Make Advertising Sell
Marketing consultant Robert Bly has isolated 8 factors that can help keep you from making costly mistakes that destroy potentially lucrative advertising…
12 Ways to Boost Response from Seniors
Contrary to the notion that older Americans eke out lives on pensions, experts estimate that one out of four enjoys an income of at least $75,000 a year…
8 Pointers in a Time of Skepticism on Boosting Belief
Make your claims specific. “Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck,” advertising man Claude C. Hopkins noted…
Ways Copy Professionals Overcome Writer’s Block
If your position requires you to do any formal writing – and nearly every position does – you’ve felt the terror of the blank page...
3 Psychological Triggers that Boost Sales
Legendary mail-order copywriter Joseph Sugarman thinks that psychological triggers can increase sales and response beyond what you would normally expect...
When - and When not - to Close your Letter with a P.S.
Almost every direct-mail authority urges advertisers to close letters with a postscript — after its headline, the most-read element in any letter...
8 Tips on Assessing Copy when you Aren’t a Writer
An advertising manager some years ago hired Bill Jayme, then — justifiably — the country’s most famous direct-mail copywriter, for a phenomenally wrong reason...
8 Ways to Make Your Advertising Work Better
Show your product. Your readers—especially those likeliest to buy your product—want to know what it looks like...
12 Tips on Writing Letters that Sell
When you are hungry for sales (and who isn’t?), sharpen your sales letter. It is the heart of your direct-mail package — and highly economical to change…
5 Pointers on Headlines
To maximize impact for your headlines, writes author and copy consultant Robert Boduch, keep these facts in mind when you are preparing a mailing piece…
8 Pointers On Effective Headlines
Noted British wordsmith Joe Robson and his colleagues offer us Yanks these tips on what makes headlines work...
Study Shows that Complex Copy & Graphics Often Backfire
K*I*S*S — “Keep It Simple, Stupid” — long have been watchwords in direct mail. Now, research by Princeton University shows scientifically that…
6 Ways Weasel Words Sabotage Advertising
Famous marketing sage Herschell Gordon Lewis once published an article in Direct magazine on legalistic qualifiers that deter response to advertising…
16 Ways to Generate More Advertising Leads
You can adjust your advertising both to increase your advertising’s lead-pulling power without decimating its image-building capabilities. Here’s how…
6 Ways to Boost Response with a “Johnson Box”
60 Years ago, ad man Frank H. Johnson tested if he could boost response by what is known today as a “Johnson Box”, which states the offer in a headline at the top of the letter…
Writing to be Believed
If your advertising’s readers do not believe what you say, you have wasted your marketing dollars — plus reinforcing your audience’s skepticism about your truthfulness...
Rule #1 of Productive Copywriting
“Good copywriters are not usually the most imaginative people,” writes nationally respected marketing consultant Terry Dean. “They don’t just instantly dream up winning headlines out of thin air”...
5 Ways to Power up your Direct Mail
Bob Stone, who wrote the classic book, “Successful Direct Marketing Methods,” says that this architecture makes for an effective letter...
8 Boring Elements that Make Copy Sell
People lust after novelty. And in advertising, according to Ohio marketing consultant Dean Rieck, that can cost them dearly...
13 Tips from John Caples on Writing Effective Headlines
The “announcing” concept can take different forms, such as...
Tips on Using Graphics and Typography
Graphic design and typography, when used correctly, can greatly enhance readership. Here are some tips from the experts on what to do - and not do...
6 Musts for Small-Business Advertising
The Small Business Administration says that a small business should devote 5% of its gross sales to advertising...
10 Proven ways to Boost your Advertising’s Credibility
No surprise, sales prospects have grown increasingly distrustful of advertising. The big surprise is that…
11 Keys to Effective Direct-Marketing Copy
Sell benefits, not features. Your reader doesn't care how many teeth are on your machine's gears. He only cares that your machine will grind his rocks into cement...
11 P.S. Techniques Proven to Boost Response by up to 300%
Consultant Mike Jezek reveals 11 often-neglected postscript techniques that can lift mail response by up to 300%...
7 Joseph Sugarman Pointers On Profitable Advertising
Once Sugarman ran an ad for a computer. He littered the ad with errors. He told readers to circle the mistakes and take $2 off the price for each mistake…
10 Tips on Long Sales Letters
Marketing consultant Kevin Nunley writes that long letters of up to 12 pages are increasingly popular with advertisers, and for good reason…
7 Basics of Successful Mail Advertising
Gain your recipient’s attention by making him or her a participant in your advertising. For instance, urge your reader to use involvement devices such as a sticker, with enticing instructions to scratch it off to reveal a freebie...