August 2008

Last week we talked about the subject line of today’s e-mail, which was a headline written by Bruce Barton, that ran for 7 years straight. The ad was for the Alexander Hamilton Institute, a 2-year correspondence course in business, and the question I asked was, “Why do you think this ...

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Bruce Barton said that, not me. In case you don’t know who Barton is, he was the founder and second “B” in BBDO — Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn — one of the world’s oldest and largest advertising agencies. Barton also mentored John Caples, author of Tested Advertising Methods, and ...

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There are two schools of thought about strengths and weaknesses. One says, if you work on your weaknesses, you’ll be so complete, you’ll be unstoppable. The other says, work on your strengths and have someone else do the things you either don’t particularly enjoy or the things you’re simply not ...

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Last week, Anne was at the grocery store and she sent me a one-word text: “rambutan.” I sent her back a question mark because I had no clue what she meant. It sounded like some sort of a command in a foreign language. “Look it up.” Turns out, a rambutan ...

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No doubt, next to your headline, your offer determines almost 100% of the success of any promotion you are making — assuming you’re making the offer to the right people, that is. Nothing beats a sweet offer, period. The sweeter the offer, the harder it is to resist, and the ...

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