TO CREATE INTEREST IN YOUR DIRECT MAIL PACKAGE, YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE START
TO CREATE INTEREST IN YOUR DIRECT MAIL PACKAGE, YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE START
That's the most important part of your direct mail piece.
Imagine if you are watching TV, flicking channels.
Suddenly something catches your attention and you stop to watch. The first line acts just the same way. It's your best, and maybe your only chance, to capture your reader's attention. It must have stopping power.
Remember, you only have three seconds to capture your reader's attention.
Here are some great examples of how to hook the reader from the start.
"Call me Ishmael."
What a great beginning. Herman Melville knew the value of a hook as he set out to entwine you in Captain Ahab's struggle with Moby Dick. What makes it brilliant is that it immediately captures your interest.
Another memorable opening is from Charles Dickens book A Tale of Two Cities:
"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..."
You want to read on. So you do. The author has your attention.
Mystery writer Edward D. Hoch explains how to do that in novels. According to him the ideal opening should do three things: grab the reader, introduce a character and establish a setting.
Nathanael West did that in the first sentence in his book The Day of the Locust:
"Around quitting time, Tod Hackett heard a great din on the road outside his office. "
In direct marketing the rules are different. The lead should serve as a teaser, presenting a benefit or the promise of one, to spark the reader's interest in finding out more.
The famous letter for Wall Street Journal that generated over two billion dollars in new subscriptions was 'The two young men' letter. Written by freelance writer Martin Conroy it was a control package for eliciting subscriptions for 29 years.
That letter got you from the start. "On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college."
TO CREATE INTEREST IN YOUR DIRECT MAIL PACKAGE YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE START - To learn more about this author, visit Billy Sharma's Website.
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Yes, it's all about the start.
That's the most important part of your direct mail piece.
Imagine if you are watching TV, flicking channels.
Suddenly something catches your attention and you stop to watch. The first line acts just the same way. It's your best, and maybe your only chance, to capture your reader's attention. It must have stopping power.
Remember, you only have three seconds to capture your reader's attention.
Here are some great examples of how to hook the reader from the start.
"Call me Ishmael."
What a great beginning. Herman Melville knew the value of a hook as he set out to entwine you in Captain Ahab's struggle with Moby Dick. What makes it brilliant is that it immediately captures your interest.
Another memorable opening is from Charles Dickens book A Tale of Two Cities:
"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times..."
You want to read on. So you do. The author has your attention.
Mystery writer Edward D. Hoch explains how to do that in novels. According to him the ideal opening should do three things: grab the reader, introduce a character and establish a setting.
Nathanael West did that in the first sentence in his book The Day of the Locust:
"Around quitting time, Tod Hackett heard a great din on the road outside his office. "
In direct marketing the rules are different. The lead should serve as a teaser, presenting a benefit or the promise of one, to spark the reader's interest in finding out more.
The famous letter for Wall Street Journal that generated over two billion dollars in new subscriptions was 'The two young men' letter. Written by freelance writer Martin Conroy it was a control package for eliciting subscriptions for 29 years.
That letter got you from the start. "On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college."
TO CREATE INTEREST IN YOUR DIRECT MAIL PACKAGE YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE START - To learn more about this author, visit Billy Sharma's Website.
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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