Students Of Success

by Karon Thackston © 2002 http://www.copywritingcourse.com

It’s about 7:00am and time to start my day. While my exact
routine varies, one of the first things I always do is check
email. As the flood rolls in, I have my finger poised on the
delete button… aimed and ready to fire. But then something
catches my eye.

On this morning, I decided to take a closer look at one email in
particular. That led me to also lend a critical eye to some
other ads as well. So below, I’ll give you my evaluation of a
few of the many email ads I’ve received… which ones got my
attention, which ones I just rolled my eyes at… and why.

Attention Getter

Here’s one that is well targeted, indeed! The headline read:
“Inquiry About Becoming An Affiliate.” That got my attention
because my copywriting course does have an affiliate program.
I’m always interested in adding new affiliates to the group. So
I read on.

Part of the message is below:

———————–

Good morning. I would like to inquire about possibly working
with you and your company on an affiliate basis.

My company maintains a fresh, 100%, opt-in email database
exceeding 15,000,000 qualified consumers. These consumers have
specifically requested to receive purchase information regarding
your product(s) or service(s).

If you’re interested, I would be glad to speak with you about a
cost-per-action (CPA) email campaign that WILL make additional
sales and generate alternative revenue.

———————-

While the generic line about my product(s) or service(s) let me
know immediately that this was a “canned” ad, it still gave me
something to think about. Did I respond? Yes! Why? If I could
get the copywriting course in front of over 15,000,000, and pay
the same affiliate commission I was paying anyway, what would I
have to lose?

Rolling My Eyes

However, among the pile of emails were some real duds. I must
get 10 of these ridiculous emails a week. You’ve no doubt seen
them, too. They say something like “I joined this program a few
months ago and promptly forgot about it.” Oh please!

Why did I roll my eyes at this one? While it started off good,
it wasn’t punchy enough to get me to respond right away. That’s
no major crime. It often takes repeated exposure of the same
message to get a good response. But… when you get the exact same
message from several different people 3 or 4 times a day – you
find out quickly that this is an overused ad, not a personal
recommendation.

Then there are the ads that are just extremely targeted
. A few headline examples are:

Karon, FREE 30-Day Sample of HGH – One problem with this is that
I don’t need Human Growth Hormone. The other problem is that
clicking the email launches one of those automatic scripts that
take you directly to the site. Something I personally can’t
stand! I also get at least 3 of these annoying things a day.
With me, chances are that if the ad pops up a screen when I
click it, I delete the thing before the screen even finishing
loading.

Health Discovery! No Diet! No Exercise! – All the exclamation
points immediately let me know that this is a hard sell scam.
Not to mention, I have trouble keeping weight ON… not off.
This one was deleted
without reading any further due to simple irrelevance.

Approved and Ready! – The copy of this ad simply stated: “Your
home refinance loan is approved! To get your approved amount, go
here.” Hmmm… if memory serves me correctly, I never applied for
a home loan. Click!

As you can see, all of my first impressions were based on the
subject line. Other factors in the ad copy contributed to my
final decision about whether to look into the offer. The subject
line, however, was the single playing card as to whether I would
read ANY of the copy.

Final notes: put the majority of your time into developing your
subject line. Then test, test, test to get the best results.
Also, make very, VERY sure your mailing list is targeted. With
all the options today for segmenting lists, you have the luxury
to email your ads to a group much more specific than “women over
30.” The more targeted you can get, the better your response
will be.

Which words make *your* customers buy? Let Karon show you. Boost
your profits by learning to write strategically created copy
that hits a nerve and makes the sale. Boost your search engine
rankings, too! 3 FREE bonuses with your purchase. Learn more now
at http://www.copywritingcourse.com