The Copywriting Maven

For anyone who’s ever sat in a marketing brainstorming meeting where the ideas fly fast and furious, this one’s for you. So well done, you’ll think it’s practically a documentary!

My favorite part? The creaky, hoary threat of SOCIALIZED MEDICINE!

(Transparency alert: As a solopreneur who is dependent on her spouse’s heath insurance AND who has paid full-fare COBRA for a full 18-months after her husband was laid off, trust me. Next to no health care coverage, any decent coverage - even ’socialized’ - sounds pretty damn good to me.)

Ahh, the marketing engine of our times, the virtual town square, and well, your metaphor here.

Here’s a very clever Weird Al Yankovic vid, a parody of a well-known Doors song brought up to modern times. (I did find that Al looks a lot like the late, great George Harrison here, so maybe another Beatles parody won’t be far behind.)

Me? I’m “digitally distinct!” Woo-hoo. See … ?

Means my Google Quotient, my personal online brand is well, distinct. I’m a major GQ contender. Wonderful, something else I fear to lose if I don’t work hard enough. Sheesh. The pressure.

Calculate your own self-worth personal brand ID online right here.

Don’t hate me ‘cos I’m digital. The girl can’t help it.

I nearly fainted at the post office this morning. There, in my sparsely populated of late mail box, was something I hadn’t seen in ages.

I used to see these things all the time. Hell, I even wrote and produced these things all the time. (Man, I miss my printing mark-ups. That was some kinda nice income stream.)

Here it is. A slim-jim, tri-fold, 2-color (PMS & k), selfmailer from Aspen Publishers offering me a business book on a 30-day risk-free trial. It’s not spectacularly written or designed as you can see. Still …

I hadn’t realized how much I missed direct mail until this promotion arrived. This isn’t a fancy piece, just a great example of workhorse direct mail that used to be the lifeblood of traditional business publishing — and the mainstay of my business not so many years ago.

I get all misty just thinking about it.

I’m also thinking I wouldn’t be waxing poetic if there had been the usual big pile of Monday direct mail I remember from the olden days. But there wasn’t. Just a few items and this little bit of gold from direct mail past. Lots of copy, plain jane gray-scale cover art, and bullet points galore. Yum.

I’m thinking Aspen is running a test. Comparing the response rates between direct mail prospecting (I’ve bought from the publisher before but not on this topic) and electronic media. I’d love to know the stats. Even with the high price of postage and trees sacrificed, as marketers it’s hard to argue with 100% deliverability.

Compare that to the dismal >50% of email and you can see why B2B publishers may again be flirting with traditional direct mail promotions.

What do you think? A trend or a wistful remembrance of book marketing past?

photo credit: rockmixer

This made me so mad.

Here’s an excerpt from WSJ.com, What Won’t You Do for a Job? (I’ve bolded the salient points):

“Consider William “Tommy” Rollins, a digital marketing analyst laid off when Circuit City Stores Inc. liquidated in January. He soon met Brent Peterson, founder of InterviewAngel, a professional guide and toolkit offering interviewing tips in a binder. Mr. Peterson offered an unpaid tryout.

Mr. Rollins agreed to design free of charge an online sweepstakes where winners will receive a free copy of the guide, a résumé overhaul and a month of career coaching. He figured the start-up experience might lead to a paid gig there or elsewhere.

Mr. Rollins has provided 60 hours of free labor so far. The sweepstakes, launched May 13, proved immediately popular, according to Mr. Peterson. To make sure pro bono work opens doors for Mr. Rollins, Mr. Peterson serves as a job reference. “It is the least I can do,” he notes.”

Least, my ample ass. I generally don’t cuss in my posts, but I’ll make an exception here – ARE YOU SHITTING ME? (Ok, I left the f-bomb out. But trust me, I’m thinking it.)

60 hours of work for free for what, a job reference for a job not paid for? What’s wrong with this picture - am I missing something?

I fault both parties. Rollins for giving away in the very least $2,000 of marketing expertise. Peterson for taking surpreme advantage.

Yes, it’s an awful economy out there and employers are making prospects jump through hoops that in better times they’d never dream of asking. Read the full article and you’ll see what I mean.

So what might have Rollins done? Give the “maybe bossman” an outline of a campaign as the freebie and offer to do the project (for cash $$$) as an independent contractor. Bossman can accept or reject, of course. But at least they’re both still playing fair.

Instead of what I see here. Rollins’ campaign has been successful yet he STILL DIDN’T GET THE JOB, at least not when the article published. What he got was a pat on the back and the promise of a friendly reference. (Granted, now that the story made WSJ maybe some ethically-minded employer might take a look at Rollins with the idea of offering him a real job instead of schnorring (Yiddish for begging without shame) for freebies.)

As my Grandma Fannie, in her colorful way would say, “Give them a little leg, honey. But don’t give ‘em the goods until after the ring is on your finger.”

Good advice for job seekers, too. Even folks who will ‘work for food’ expect to be fed when the job is done.

And if you need to see it again, take another look at http://www.copywritingmaven.com/2009/05/27/humor-from-the-ad-trenches/

Be careful out there.