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Jun
11

Zinging along with Joe Sugarman

By | Copywriting, Direct Mail, Entrepreneur, Leads Generation, Social Networking, Time management and productivity, Wacky marketing ideas

2 Comments

A great recording just posted and a Calgary Writing class coming

Hope you had a great week.

One of the fun things I did recently was interview Joe Sugarman.

If you don’t know Joe, you may have heard of his sun glass line “BluBlockers”?

Many years ago, Joe was busy running a thriving ad agency when he ran into a line of unusual sunglasses. They were so unusual, he decided to test some unique marketing ideas he had.

One thing led to another and, next thing you know, he was selling 300,000 pairs of glasses every single month!

His line of glasses was a BIG success and allowed him to brand his name, while using direct response to make a mint in the advertising he did.

Something happened a couple years ago that went under the radar

…until the movie “The Hangover” came out.

Next thing you know, people were running to buy BluBlocker sunglasses and a huge sales surge enveloped the company.

Plus, it gave them an entirely new niche they could target.

Joe shared some excellent information with me on this private call.  Things like:

* how to leverage unexpected media attention
* why luck has played a huge part in his recent sales surge…and how you can position yourself to experience more ‘luck’
* the single-most important tool in the entrepreneurs marketing toolkit
* what technology has leveled the playing field for anyone running a small business
* how to find the hidden hook in your product or service (and the easiest place to start)
* 6 of his success secrets that got him where he is today, and will help you fast track your business growth along the way)
* one thing you can change in your ads that could double your response (as it consistently does for him, and it isn’t the headline)
* the counter-intuitive system for breaking free of mediocre sales

…and much more.

The interview with Joe Sugarman can be found here:
Right click and save to your computer

~ ~ ~ ~

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June 30, 2010

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Have a great weekend.

Troy

Apr
14

Creative Kijiji Ads

By | advertising, Copywriting, Wacky marketing ideas

1 Comment

Just saw this ad on Kijiji today and absolutely loved it!

I would be willing to bet he sold it in no time.

When I saw it, there were 26,857 viewers to this ONE single ad.

Amazing how a little bit of creativity and story telling can make your copy sing and your products sell out in no time.

In case it gets pulled down, here is the actual copy he wrote:

Date Listed 13-Apr-10
Price $9,950.00
Address Saskatoon, SK, Canada
View map
For Sale By Owner
Make Jeep
Model Liberty
Trim limited
Year 2005
Kilometers 142000
Colour Teal
Transmission Automatic
Fuel Type Gasoline
Drivetrain 4 x 4

OK, let me start off by saying this jeep is only available for purchase by the manliest of men (or women). My friend, if it was possible for a vehicle to sprout chest hair and a five o’clock shadow, this jeep would look like Tom Selleck. It is just that manly.

It was never intended to drive to the mall so you can pick up that adorable shirt at Abercrombie & Fitch that you had your eye on. It wasn’t meant to transport you to yoga class or Linens & Things. No, that’s what your Prius is for. If that’s the kind of car you’re looking for, then just do us all a favor and stop reading right now. I mean it. Just stop.

This car was engineered by 3rd degree ninja super-warriors in the highest mountains of Japan to serve the needs of the man that cheats death on a daily basis. They didn’t even consider superfluous nancy boy amenities like navigation systems (real men don’t get lost), heated leather seats (a real man doesn’t let anything warm his butt), or On Star (real men don’t even know what the hell On Star is).

No, this brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need.  It’s got special blood/gore resistant upholstery. It even has a first-aid kit in the back. You know what the first aid kit has in it? A pint of whiskey, a stitch-your-own-wound kit and a hunk of leather to bite down on when you’re operating on yourself. The jeep  also has an automatic transmission so if you’re being chased by Libyan terrorists, you’ll still be able to shoot your machine gun out the window and drive at the same time. It’s saved my bacon more than once.

It has room for you and the four hotties you picked up on the way to the gym to blast your pecs and hammer your glutes. There’s a tow hitch to pull your 50 caliber anti-Taliban, self cooling machine gun. I also just put in a new windshield to replace the one that got shot out by The Man.

My price on this bad boy is an incredibly low $9950, but I’ll entertain reasonable offers. And by reasonable, I mean don’t walk up and tell me you’ll give me $5,000 for it. That’s liable to earn you a Burmese-roundhouse-sphincter-kick with a follow up three fingered eye-jab. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Let’s just say you won’t be the prettiest guy at the Coldplay concert anymore.

There’s only 142000 on this four-wheeled hellcat from Planet Kickass. Trust me, it will outlive you and the offspring that will carry your name. It will live on as a monument to your machismo.

Now, go look in the mirror and tell me what you see. If it’s a rugged, no holds barred, super brute he-man macho Chuck Norris stunt double, then contact me. I might be out hang-gliding or BASE jumping or just chilling with my ladies, but I’ll get back to you. And when I do, we’ll talk about a price over a nice glass of Schmidt while we listen to Johnny Cash.

To sweeten the deal a little, I’m throwing in this pair of MC Hammer pants for the man with rippling quads that can’t fit into regular pants. Yeah, you heard me. FREE MC Hammer pants.

Rock on.

=====

Now THAT is the way to sell a vehicle!

If you need help writing ads that sell, my Small Display Ads report will definitely help.

Troy

Sep
15

Writing tips that create wealth

By | advertising, Copywriting, Entrepreneur, Success

To continue on from the last post about writing, here are the 5 basic components of a good story:

  1. PASSION. The big reason you need to practice your writing is to develop your voice and passion in the written form. The major problem with most marketing is the void of passion.  Most advertising is boooooooring.  And the results from the ads show it.  Get your voice and passion bottled up… inject it into your story… and you will have a winning campaign… guaranteed.
  2. YOU… or a hero. All good stories have a central character that the story is built around. (this is where your bullet points from the last exercise help). The story shares things from their perspective and is designed to eliminate readers who don’t like your point of view… and draw in those who do.
  3. The obstacle or antagonist. Every story must have a point… and an obstacle is usually an excellent point to use in your marketing materials. Share with them an obstacle you were faced with, how you overcame it, and what you learned from it.  A simple formula that works time and time again.
  4. The big moment. What one thing sparked you to take action?  What made you realize the problem you were faced with was a problem? What or who inspired you to take the action to fix the problem?
  5. The transformation. What happened as a result of all this?  What did you end up doing?  How did it feel to overcome the problem?  What are you doing for them as a result of your problem being solved, or to solve the problem?

This takes practice… as does any skill.

But this skill pays FAR MORE than any other skill I know of.

And you can only get better at it with age… vs many other skills that deteriorate as you age.

So… have you started writing yet?

Daily?

Get on it… your bank account will thank you.