tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146959732008-07-17T08:54:23.698-07:00Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-80192974688667249262008-07-17T08:50:00.002-07:002008-07-17T08:54:23.798-07:00

True story: Not too long ago I was approached by a marketer who had a product idea -- just the idea mind you. And he wanted to hire me to develop it... market it... sell it... and everything in-between.The reason being -- he didn't have the time to do it himself. My first thought was... now here's a man after my own heart -- lazy as the day is long, and dying to be rich and famous without

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-5064759884814153702008-05-21T17:18:00.003-07:002008-05-21T17:25:43.826-07:00

Great! You've invented a better mouse trap. You're the smartest consultant advisor, guru ever to pick up a microphone and wear shoes. You've figured out how to turn chicken feathers into gold, toilet water into oil, and the Sunday paper into a stack of $100 bills! And now you want to offer the results of your genius to the world—and, of course, you won't object if you become stinking rich in

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-87083527831311170572008-05-07T10:06:00.001-07:002008-05-07T10:12:18.258-07:00

There are only two types of products in this world: need to have products, and want to have products. Need to have products are the typical staples of life: food, clothing, a roof over one's head, a car, a lover on the side (no, just kidding). Want to have products are, by definition, products you don't need to have: caviar, an Armani wardrobe, a 24-room mansion, a Lamborghini in the garage,

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-70081824153037434082008-04-29T15:41:00.001-07:002008-04-29T15:44:37.819-07:00

An excellent contribution was added to my last post by a devoted commentator (she, who thinks I'm a moron. Actually, she says my logic is moronic – not me. But since my logic defines me, I must therefore be, ipso facto, a moron. How do you like that – she's actually got me calling me a moron! Sheesh!) Anyway, she made a good point – no, not about me being a moron, but rather about reading Dale

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-31713782822935604722008-04-24T13:41:00.001-07:002008-04-24T13:41:36.252-07:00

I'm a tennis fanatic—my whole family is. I'm a 4.0, my wife is a 3.5, (those are USTA rankings) and my daughter plays on her HS tennis team. If a tennis match is being broadcast on the Tennis Channel, ESPN or FSN, life comes to an immediate standstill in my house. The dishes are left in the sink, laundry doesn't get done, and the dog doesn't get walked (we just put him out in the backyard). We

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-14138196603894565092008-04-24T13:40:00.001-07:002008-04-24T13:40:47.426-07:00

I received some interesting comments about my last post. It seems there are a few readers out there who are not marketers, either of the online or offline kind. And they didn't agree with my contention that money brings happiness (and that more money brings more happiness). And, that if you are ever to become a successful direct marketer – specifically, one who markets to the rich – you must

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-69463080757301122202008-04-24T13:39:00.001-07:002008-04-24T13:39:57.038-07:00

If you haven't figured out by now that without money you cannot be happy—stop reading this right now, because I'll be wasting your time, and you'll be wasting mine if you leave me a numbing and spiritually-trite comment. But, if you have a truly original and revolutionary thought about how poverty or moderate poverty or even lower-middle class poverty can be more up-lifting and satisfying than

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-77949733513337636712008-04-24T13:37:00.000-07:002008-04-24T13:38:58.193-07:00

Is the recession killing your sales? Are your websites racking up less and less unique hits? Are buyers just not buying? Well, I've got news for you. If you think money is scarce and people are not willing to fork over the big bucks... ...you're not marketing to the one recession-proof, always ready, willing and able-to-spend demographic: the Rich! Listen, my wife works part-time at a Four

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-29338772555421219852008-04-24T13:36:00.000-07:002008-04-24T13:37:20.360-07:00

Have you heard about the 18 year old girl in Boca Raton, Florida, who died from complications from a boob job? Yes, tragic, unfortunate, and I'm shedding crocodile tears, no doubt. And yet, if it had happened to my teenage daughter—I'd be a mess—forever! But then, I wouldn't have allowed her get a boob job in the first place! Listen, I've got nothing against boob jobs—believe me, I don't. But

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-90074686592786063322008-04-24T13:16:00.000-07:002008-04-24T13:34:48.600-07:00

No, it’s not a product. You don’t need to invent, design or develop a product to be a marketing success. You can sell other people’s products—as an affiliate marketer. But that’s still isn’t enough. You don’t need a library full of marketing books or an MBA, though it wouldn’t hurt (well, the MBA might, but not the books). You may be an unread, uneducated dolt and a monumental bore at a

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-76264667223707136692008-03-12T10:51:00.002-08:002008-03-12T11:10:20.609-08:00

For those marketers who labor tirelessly, though fruitlessly, oblivious to marketing history, and unversed in copy that brings home the bacon—please take note: this article is for you. To begin... One of the most famous questions ever asked in an ad was penned almost a century ago by copywriting legend Maxwell Sackheim. It read: Do you make these mistakes in English? It was the headline for

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-36531240420733406892008-02-17T13:51:00.002-08:002008-02-17T13:56:00.071-08:00

Most businesses talk a big game... with very small fonts. They claim they offer the best, the first, the most, the biggest, the newest, the cheapest, the easiest, fastest, simplest this and that—and yet do it so quietly and inconspicuously, it’s almost apologetic. In our oversaturated, jaded, disbelieving, cynical, recessionary economy and marketplace—most business behave like the annoying

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-49494747744436790262007-12-18T13:37:00.000-08:002007-12-18T13:39:29.932-08:00

It doesn’t matter which business you’re in; what service or product you’re selling—if you want to net six or seven figures every year, drive your competition into bankruptcy and tears, be voted best marketer of the year and be awarded the Noble Peace Prize and an Oscar—you’ve got to be absolutely great in bed! (And, yes, there’s amble evidence that Al Gore can heat up a mattress far faster than

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-60972345239360628082007-10-31T11:40:00.000-08:002007-10-31T11:44:52.349-08:00

Just because you build it, and they come... doesn’t mean they’ll stay. So you’ve got Google adwords, banner ads, co-registration and joint venture deals, postcards, print ads, radio commercials, your mother-in-law and everyone else you can bribe, cajole and threaten, driving traffic to your website. Yes! You’re an absolute genius at driving traffic to your website. You’re getting a gazillion

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-57482445502664077992007-10-09T09:41:00.000-07:002007-10-09T09:51:08.502-07:00

Don’t agree? Please ask your wife, husband or significant other—in other words, the nearest typical consumer—to answer the following 7 questions: Does viewing pop-up ads on your computer curl your toes in orgasmic delight? Yes or No?Does a mailbox filled with junk mail cause your palms to itch and sweat with nervous anticipation? Yes or No?Do you suffer from outbursts of violent anger when a

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-5518631164142016592007-08-09T16:58:00.000-07:002007-08-09T17:00:04.946-07:00

Not too long ago a mortgage broker in Texas asked if I’d write a lead generation package for his company—actually he just wanted me to write a letter. I guess he didn’t need an envelope. More about that in a moment. So my first question was: who is your target market? Tell me a little about the clients you’re looking to attract. “Anyone that needs to refinance an adjustable mortgage,” he

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-13934119442126019862007-06-14T16:24:00.000-07:002007-06-14T16:27:47.409-07:00

My 15-year old daughter, she of the high school English Honors and International Baccalaureate Program, wants to teach me how to be a better copywriter. She doesn’t think I’m quite up to snuff yet. “You can’t write that. That’s not even a sentence!” she complains, looking over my shoulder as I craft a salesletter for a client. “And sales letter is two words,” she snorts, as she reads further

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-5184532100602818102007-05-01T16:38:00.000-07:002007-05-23T15:37:30.285-07:00

You decide... A large purchase contract for a new computer system linking its far-flung international operations will be awarded today in Peoria, Illinois by Caterpillar, Inc., the construction machinery manufacturer. Bidding competition among integrated computer software and hardware firms is fierce, and ongoing... and for good reason. A record-breaking $850 million are up for grabs. Another

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-3643908808012427382007-04-04T08:48:00.000-07:002007-05-23T15:39:15.142-07:00

First, let me make something very clear. Whether you’re a dentist, painter, software developer, medical equipment manufacturer, dry cleaner or the Mayflower Madam – you’ve got something to market and sell. Therefore, “Marketing” and “Selling” are not dirty words. They are your friends, your best friends. Embrace them. And never think you are above them. They will pay for your kid’s college

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-82332576460263375242007-03-15T07:36:00.000-08:002007-05-23T15:39:51.121-07:00

Don’t you love going to a friend’s house just so they can whip out the latest family photos of fat ol’ uncle Ernie sitting in a beach chair, holding a warm beer and smiling like he just let out a fart. What joy! And don’t you just salivate over the thought of going to a dinner party where you’ll be seated next to a sweet old lady who’s dying to tell you about how she’s been constipated since

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-81435530366556423282007-02-05T10:48:00.000-08:002007-05-23T15:40:25.081-07:00

Time to kick more marketing butt: Web 2.0 Bowing to a False Messiah Are you absolutely beside yourself – giddy with delight because Web 2.0 has finally arrived to help you sell more, sell faster, make you richer, smarter, sexier, and lower your triglyceride levels? Whoops, I’m sorry... do you even know what Web 2.0 is? Web 2.0, in a nut shell, is the latest evolution in the online experience

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-1168910751754098952007-01-15T17:20:00.000-08:002007-05-23T15:41:21.987-07:00

Time to Kick Some Marketing Butt: Headlines that Suck Or, why Borat isn’t your target market... Why is it that some direct marketers – particularly those who rely on their marketing efforts to pay their bills, pay their employees, put their kids through college, fund their retirement, fund their stock market losses, pay for Caribbean cruises, second homes, adulterous affairs, gambling

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127noreply@blogger.com