tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146959732009-12-23T17:30:28.301-08:00No rules here... not for me anyway. This is where I stretch, laugh, rant and rave... when I choose, as I choose. You're welcome to stay of course. But, be on guard... sometimes you'll smile and agree with me, other times you might not... but more often than not, you'll be entertained. And remember, no one forced you to be here... you're here because you choose to be. Stay as long as you like... take whatever you like... as long as you make no changes and acknowledge it all came from me.Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-13306545099259827582009-12-23T17:25:00.001-08:002009-12-23T17:30:28.312-08:00

If you've read the FTC's new 81-page Guides Concerning the Use ofEndorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, you might think the FTC is a really nice bunch of guys trying to do the right thing by consumers—which, for the most part, is true.And yet, I just don’t think they give most consumers enough credit.Maybe fifty-odd years ago, when most people were born in Iowa, and all good ol' folk

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-13906795827768205082009-10-17T19:54:00.002-07:002009-10-17T20:01:13.776-07:00

Which converts better, which drives more sales, long-form copy or short-form copy?It's been debated since the first recorded newspaper advertisement was published in 1704 in the Boston News-Letter:"At Oyster-bay on Long-Island in the Province of N.York, There is a very good Fulling-Mill, to be Let or Sold, as also a Plantation, having on it a large new Brick house, and another good house by it

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-41088928312407408802009-08-07T17:11:00.001-07:002009-08-07T17:13:46.059-07:00

Billy Mays, who sadly passed away at age fifty, was a pot-bellied, black-bearded Atlantic City carnival barker in a blue long-sleeve shirt and a white undershirt.He had a loud, shrill and annoyingly exuberant voice. And he seemed to lean forward, through the TV screen, and put his nose in your face, the way only pitchmen do.Madison Avenue style brand marketers who believe asking for an order even

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-4000593325616524652009-05-06T13:27:00.002-07:002009-05-06T13:31:43.914-07:00

I have a friend in Florida who owns six Subway franchises.He's rolling in dough, whole wheat and greenbacks.He loves the recession. He's remodeling his house (stimulating one South Florida contractor to keep swinging a hammer).Dollar stores are also doing a gang-buster business.The healthcare industry is thriving, too, but they're in a world of their own (as long as there's no cure for sickness

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-13555099423461541382009-02-15T11:52:00.000-08:002009-02-15T11:53:47.978-08:00

I love hypey copy. Hypey copy is like a fine wine. It has great legs, a fine body and a rich nose.Hype excites the emotions, stimulates the buying glands and ultimately converts better than dull, drab, "only the facts ma'am" marcom-style copy.Marketers and consumers who bemoan the ugliness, the crassness, and the used-car-salesman look and feel of hypey copy are all uneducated and uninformed

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14695973.post-40437074802718612682008-09-11T09:42:00.002-07:002008-09-11T09:52:16.791-07:00

Put yourself in your client's shoes. No, strike that.Put yourself in your prospect's shoes (a prospect being someone you've never marketed, sold to or married before).So she doesn't know you; she doesn't trust you, and she couldn't care less if you drop dead tomorrow.But, through deft marketing—you've captured her attention! Her eyeballs belong to you.And now she's beginning to believe, as she

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com2tag: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 lifting a

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 the

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com2tag: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, two

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 play

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 first,

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 Season

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 what

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 party, and yet

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 an ad

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 little

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 hits

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com2tag: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 TV

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 $600

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0tag: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 education

Barry A. Densahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09723762074170043127barryadensa@gmail.com0