Copy by Ken

Now I can finally get excited about Android

2010-12-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

When I reluctantly gave up my Palm (because they were going out of business and had just officially announced the end of Palm OS) and I picked up the HTC Droid Incredible I was more than a little excited. There was such hoopla regarding the Android OS and the new smartphone specs were really impressive. BUT (that's a BIG BUT) coming from a Palm, where PIM apps reigned supreme, I was totally depressed when I discovered that Android had NO decent PIM apps to speak of at all.

For me, the most important of them was an outliner. I was an avid user of Natara's Bonsai and when I discovered that all of my outlines were basically rendered useless a long bout of depression set in. Every free moment I had was spent looking for an app to take its place and every search ended in disappointment and heartache. That is, till the other day. November 30th, 2010. That's the day another hopeless search for an "outliner" through Android's Market returned a surprising result... Android Outliner... huh? Android Outliner? Where the heck have you been?

I've searched in Android user forums, participated in gripe sessions about the need for this application, always hearing that because of the way Android OS is developed, we would never see any decent PIM apps on Android at all.

Then this shocker... someone was working on this all along. AND....it will sync with Bonsai!!! At least, that's what the developer promises. For now, you can import and export to Bonsai. I'll take it. It's in beta now but I'm loving it. As soon as it's commercially available out of beta I will be purchasing the "pro" version to get my organization back on track. Thank you, Alfred Fritz, for this long-awaited app. You've brought back the excitement of holding an organized life in the palm of my hand again. I may even begin to stop missing my Palm TX.

Making Yours The Only Choice

2009-09-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

By Dan Kennedy

One of the greatest things you can do for your client and his proposition is to lift him up out of the clutter and morass of a competitive environment and elevate him to the status of The Only Choice.

This is especially important in writing copy to sell on the internet, where just about everyone attracted to a site is searching and shopping other competing sites, or writing catalog copy likely seen by recipients of multiple catalogs in the same category – unlike solo direct-mail, for example, where you are often the only "salesman" who will talk to the prospect about your type of proposition.

I'm a very serious advertising and mail-order history buff, and I have – and constantly add to – a huge collection of old ads, advertising artifacts and curiosities, biographies of long forgotten ad men, and so on.

Let me tell you about one of the greats now unknown by most.

In the late 1920's, well into the Great Depression, a fellow named Alois Merke ran a lot of ads and made boatloads of money selling an electronic gizmo to grow hair on balding heads. His ingenious promise: "If I Can't Grow Hair For You In 30 Days, You Get This Check" was accompanied in most ads by a photo of the giant check or of him handing you the check (not a photo of the gizmo itself – a rather frightening helmet you strapped on and plugged in, reminding of a person in an electric chair).

The check was nothing more than a refund, the promise nothing more than a money back guarantee. But it was the means he used to focus attention on certainty of result rather than the implausibility of it all.

And if you laugh at this, there is, right now, a vibrating hairbrush being sold quite successfully via ads and direct-mail using exactly the same "technology" and promise as old Alois' electric helmet.

But none of this is the point I want to make this moment, just background. Alois' real brilliance was his copy that invalidated all other options for growing hair on the chrome dome, actual and imagined. For example:

"It is an absolute waste of time – a shameful waste of money – to try to penetrate these dormant roots with ordinary oils, massages and tonics which merely treat the surface of the skin. You wouldn't expect to make a tree grow by rubbing growing fluid on the bark – get at the roots!"

The bold-faced words are ones I marked for you. In total, this copy drips with scorn and disdain for competing choices and the foolishness of anyone who might waste their money on those other options.

It's a powerful, confrontational tone. The word 'waste' was strong and got visceral reaction in the late 1920's and early 30's when no one dare waste even a penny, money was so scarce. Scraps of soap were melded together, leftovers always became stew, children wore hand-me-downs not new, store-bought clothes.

'Shameful' another strong, harsh word; in that age, shame existed and really mattered. Being unwed past age 30, a woman pregnant out of wedlock, a man out of work and on the public dole, being dressed inappropriately, and certainly wasting anything, all sinful and disgraceful.

The copy names the inferior competing products and services then uses another power word: 'merely'. This, a very derogatory, dismissive term. (egs.: she was merely the governor of a dinky state, Alaska.)

Finally the copy is personalized and directly confrontational with 'you.' It doesn't say no one would; no reasonable person would. It says 'you wouldn't.' To which you are supposed to say in your head: "well, of course I wouldn't. I'm no fool."

This is a brilliant piece of work, squarely aimed at the most likely buyer; a balding fellow who has already bought and been disappointed by something else, or has considered buying other things but not been persuaded.

It elevates this device into a category of one: the only product that can actually work because all others merely do one useless thing while this does something entirely different.

This is the sort of thing I think a true pro with a passion for copywriting loves discovering and doing – something that rises above just marshalling ideas and information and crafting them into a well-written but fundamentally common sales message. There's too much of that, and, frankly, it justifies only common fees. But when you can do something that is a game-changer, like this example; elevating your client's product into a category of one, that elevates you as well.

This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.

Be Your Own Boss

2009-07-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

My friend and colleague Bob Bly is one of the most experienced – and successful – copywriters I know.

In fact, McGraw-Hill calls Bob Bly “America’s top copywriter.”

On a recent visit to Bob’s Web site, I was blown away by all the valuable content ... but unfortunately, the material I thought would be most useful to you had a hefty price tag on it.

To make a long story short, I twisted Bob’s arm – and he has agreed to give away to my readers 4 of his Special Reports absolutely FREE!

For a limited time only, Bob has agreed to send you, at no cost:

** Free Special Report #1: How to Double Your Response Rates at Half the Cost.

** Free Special Report #2: Secrets of Successful Business-to-Business Direct Marketing.

** Free Special Report #3: How to Market Information Products.

** Free Special Report #4: Online Marketing That Works.

Each report has a list price of $29 and is about 50 pages of content; total value of this package of reports is $116.

But this week only, you can get all 4 reports FREE when you click on the link below now:

http://bit.ly/AqT3w

AND... You will also get a free subscription to Bob Bly’s monthly e-zine, The Direct Response Letter.

There are way too many marketing e-zines published today. But Bob’s is one of a handful actually worth reading.

And now, it’s yours free. Just click below to start your subscription:

http://bit.ly/AqT3w

There’s no cost. And you may cancel without penalty at any time.

Discover the secret to being your own boss

2009-07-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

http://bit.ly/16kxJ4 - Peter Bowerman's Classic... Updated for 2009!

The Well Fed Writer 2009 Edition is finally available - click on the "Books" link.

This was the book that got me started in copywriting. The Well Fed Writer is required reaqding for all of you thinking about following your creative muse and actually wanting to make a living from writing. Here's your blueprint for building your business.

All That Twitters is not Gold

2009-06-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am... was... addicted to twitter.

It held a fascination for me. It was very satisfying to see how quickly my posts reached the base we call our "followers." It was like a small ego boost to know that others found me interesting in some small way.

Checking for replies to my tweets became a sport. How many... how quickly... how diverse... how many agreed... how many did not. Sometimes I hurt people's feelings. Never on purpose. I was just being my old sarcastic self... in a very loving way. I hope no one ever took me very seriously. I think I've escaped without too much controversy. When I say escaped, I mean that I don't feel the need to check twitter 24 hrs a day anymore. I am not on it very frequently... or at least not as frequently as I used to be.

I am curious to know who else feels the same. Do you visit as often as you did even a few weeks ago? Or have your visits, like mine, dwindled to just a few times a day... maybe even skipping a day here and there? I plan on sticking around for awhile, I like the conversation... but boy is it ever boring when no one is answering you. I imagine that this is how that guy walking down the street talking to himself feels... he keeps talking but no one answers... so he doesn't even wait for answers anymore... he just keeps talking.

Do you twitter?

2009-05-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

I do. I may even be addicted. I have never been enamored with myspace or facebook, because I always felt that they were too invasive with regard to my private life. Twitter is quite different.

There are multitudes of "Internet Marketing/Social Media Gurus" who extol the virtues of getting as many followers as possible in the least amount of time. I followed some of their advice for awhile and followed anyone and everyone I could. Then I got a little more selective in who I followed... and then some I blocked. I didn't come to twitter to be subjected to the same vitriol spewed on sites like digg. I wanted to promote my freelance writing business through this new media and possibly have some fun at the same time.

Then I had to decide if I really wanted to share my true opinions on things such as politics on twitter. I know that once you go down that road you have the real possibility of alienating about half of your target audience.

So, I relied on advice I got from reading something of Bob Bly's... can't remember if it was a blog post, an email, in one of his books or whatever... but I do give him credit for the following (even though he got it from someone that HE respected).

It was a simple equation - one that I have taped to the top of my pc's monitor and I look at every day and think about several times a day.

SWL + SWL = SW

It is the acronym for:

Some people Will Like you, Some people Will not Like you... So What?

This great piece of advice helps you live what a good friend of mine calls as unedited life. It let's you be yourself. Because the things that alienate some people are the very same things that someone else will love about you.

So, I went with that philosophy and have let that be my guide on twitter. I post some humor that I make up, some that I find elsewhere, some that I remember from an old joke that might be appropriate in today's political climate... and it has served me well. I have made good friends there, I have found new clients, I have had fun and I recommend it for anyone who will appreciate the conversation that takes place on twitter without the caustic insulting atmosphere that exists on sites such as digg, facebook and myspace. I liken it to facebook for adults.

It could be the more mature audience... or the fact that your posts are limited to 140 characters... It's difficult to ramble.

Copywriter

2009-05-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

"A copywriter is a salesman behind a typewriter." So said Judith Charles. If you're looking for your copy to be a literary piece, hire a novelist... or a poet... If you're looking to sell something, hire a copywriter.

Ken Harrison
CopyByKen.com