Telling a Story to Sell Your Product

I received a great solo ad email from James Roche (www.infoproductguy.com) this morning and wow, did it suck me in! First the subject line read, “How to Tell Stories That Sell.” Since I’m learning all I can about copywriting and I know that storytelling is one technique writers often use, it caught my eye.

As I opened the email, expecting to find a hyped up ad for a new product or teleclass, I was immediately drawn into a story that James started telling right from the get go. It had all the elements of a good story — interesting characters, suspense and secrets, and a happy ending. What a great example and lead in to his new article — “How to Tell a Story that Sells Your Product and Service.’ 

After a great article that shared “three essential elements that make up stories that persuade, captivate, and sell,” James ended his note with just a brief one line note mentioning a teleclass that Lorrie Morgan-Ferraro of www.red-hot-copy.com will be holding next week. I’m sure James is an affiliate for Lorrie and the whole reason for the article and opening story was to have you see the power of telling stories in your copy and then to offer you a way to learn more about it. But the way James presented the information was masterful and smooth. I was certainly impressed. This was a great example of how to send out an effective solo email ad.

As I mentioned in an earlier post about Adam Urbanski’s direct mail package (which included the worry doll) I would love to contact James and find out what kind of response he gets from this campaign. I bet he had a huge conversion rate.

I’d love to post the entire email just to keep a record of it that I can refer back to. I may email James about that!

Until next time … 

Fear, Greed, and Lust … oh my!

Even though I’m still in the opening pages of the AWAI copywriting course, I’m already discovering that emotion is what motivates a person to buy — especially if you are addressing the reader’s fears, greed, and (gasp) lust, among other things. To be honest, I already knew this. It’s been drilled into my head by internet marketing gurus for the past couple of years but still, it was good to see it confirmed by copywriting experts. 

So while I am pouring over my junk mail, I’m going to be trying to figure out what emotion the writer was trying to tap into in the various pieces of mail I’ve collected.

Speaking of which, I got a great swipe file sample today from Adam Urbanski, a direct marketing biggie and internet extraordinaire (www.themarketingmentors.com). It came in a large red mailer that looked like a FedEx rush mail delivery and inside he had a little worry doll attached to the opening page. I haven’t read it all but he mentioned right off the bat that he had two reasons for attaching the little worry doll — one to grab my attention (it did) and two to let me know that he was “worried” about me and wondering why I hadn’t responded to his incredible offer. 

Did he grab my attention? I’d say that’s a big yes. I’m definitely going to read that one from cover to cover. I am tempted to contact Adam and see if he’d be willing to share his response stats with me on the effectiveness of this particular mailing. I have received something similar from him in the past (and I still have it so I’m going to compare the two mailings for content and formula) so obviously it must have worked fairly well last time for him to repeat this kind of mailing. It can’t be cheap.

I’m still in the first section of the program, the introduction really. I plan on reading a little more before I hit the sack tonight. I also spent some time this afternoon reading a special report by Donna Doyle (AWAI Copywriter of the Year and one of the 3Chix at www.3Chix.com) called “10 Success Tips for Freelance Writers.” I don’t claim to know an awful lot about copywriting or freelance writing for that matter, but it made me feel good that almost all of the information Donna put forth in her report was information I was already aware of and/or I would have done instinctively. That was encouraging to me. It made me feel as though I might have a greater affinity for this profession than I realized or perhaps it is one that just might come more easily to me than I had anticipated. Let’s hope.

So that’s my progress for today. Nothing earth shattering but still, it’s progress.

Until next time …