I follow Dan Kennedy.
He has made an art of writing great marketing ads – he is also quite a good Entrepreneurial Mind.
He has really gotten writing ads, emails, letters and sequences to a science. In fact I disect each email he sends me.
He also sends out monthly newsletters (check out http://www.dankennedy.com/ and his group called GKIC) Glazer Kennedy Insiders Circle.
He recently emailed me five golden points that I thought I would share.

Dan Kennedy’s – 5 Secrets to Great Marketing Ads, Emails, Letters, etc.

Tweaking your campaigns:
1. There should always be an Offer or Offers.
Nothing should appear as an ad, be sent in mail or email or otherwise represent you business without presenting an Offer. You may be surprised to discover how much money is spent on advertising and marketing that fails this rule. Check the Yellow Pages, for example, and you’ll find plenty of expensive ads giving name, place, phone and “what we do” but no offer. There is a “science of offers” which you’ll learn as a World Class Media member.
2. There should always be a Reason to Respond Now.
Our members soon learn strategies for creating sense-of-urgency, so people respond rather than set aside, delay, procrastinate, or forget. You’ll learn to create Multiple-Response-Reasons copy and offers.
3. There should be Clear Instructions on How to Respond.
A common mistake is leaving what you want the prospective customer, client or patient to do next vague. You will be clear, direct and emphatic. (This entire structuring of offer and response instructions modus-operandi is one of the differentiation between ordinary advertising and direct response advertising.)
4. There should be tracking and measurement.
P.T. Barnum is oft-quoted as saying “I know half the advertising for my circuses is wasted – if only I knew which half.” The same quote is often attributed to retail pioneer John Wannamaker. Matters not who said it, YOU need to know what works, eliminate ALL the fat and waste from your advertising, insist on return on investment. We’ll show you how.

5. There should be Follow-Up.
Bluntly, most businesses are “sloppy” about capture of leads’ and prospects’ information and about effective, multi-step, multi-media follow-up, so there is a treasure trove of untapped sales and profit opportunity. As a Member, you will be forcibly focused by us on uncovering and mining ALL income potential in your business; plugging the holes in your bucket; putting an iron cage around your customers; getting more revenue from every customer.
Add these five things to every letter and promotional item you have and you will see them perform tremendously better!
Thanks Dan. P.S. Do you own a Motorcycle – you look like a biker?
Best,
Charles