Free Public Relations Book

Ashley Wirthlin of Public Relations Blogger is giving away a free 85-page Public Relations ebook. The book includes helpful tips on everything from press releases to social media.

Get yours at PublicRelationsBook Just fill in name and email for an instant download.

Steve O'Keefe Rides Again

After a brief hiatus, Steve O'Keefe returns to IAOCblog with a FREE Internet Public Relations Class!

You heard it right. This is the real thing--not some hype-filled webinar or overpriced resort cum lecture. It's a full 10-week class in Internet Public Relations conducted through IAOCblog.com and Skype Public Chat. And it's starting Feb. 1.

Sharpen your pencils and go to IAOCblog.com now for the details.

Is blogging a waste of time?

Hoo boy! Now I'm really going to get in trouble with the blogerati! But you have to read this one.

Is it a waste of time to try promoting yourself by blogging?

Seth Godin sees blogs as the Electronic Grail. But usability expert Jakob Nielsen is also an Internet force to be reckoned with. And here's his advice to those who want to be recognized as experts and thought leaders:

To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers.

Read Nielsen's whole article: Write Articles, Not Blog Postings Then let me know what you think. (I can just see Bob Bly nodding his head!)

I have my own ideas about the value of blogging. But I'm saving them for an article ;)

Best Internet PR Resources?

Steve O'Keefe--patron saint of online public relations--is calling for a brainstorming session at: Your Picks for The Best Internet PR Resources?

Join in the discussion. Send in your favorite article, tool, or website... or anything else you think is useful for Internet PR professionals. And no, you're not limited to one item. The more the merrier. It's all happening at the blog of the International Association of Online Communicators (IAOCblog.com)

P.S. to the P.S.

Here is a "guest appearance" from Veteran (and venerable) copywriter, Bob Gaines, who had this take on my earlier post:

Very interesting point. Here's my read on why the P.S. on email is not as effective. And I invite you to pretend you're Dr. Watson and I am Holmes.

Watson, take a look at the very next email you read. It's merely words on a screen. Not a piece of paper that you hold in your hand that provides a full view of its total content (a situation that precludes anyone from not realizing that a P.S. follows the signature). Not so in email. Very often, readers of an electronic communication simply conclude the message is over after the sign off name. Why, you ask? Because my dear doctor, there is such a large gap between the name of the sender and the elusive P.S. hidden just below the sight line. A fatal flaw when considering busy readers who, after determining who sent the message simply assume its complete. Sorry Watson, that's enough of an explanation for now. Unless you want to consider the possible involvement of Moriarty.

I call this case, "the eleven line solution."

P.S., I Love You

I sent an email to Steve O'Keefe and, out of direct mail copywriter habit, I saved a main point for the closing "P.S."

Then I added (in a P.P.S.!) that to DM copywriters, the P.S. is the second most important part of a letter. (I even added a P.P.P.S.! But my spell checker balked at that one.)

Steve wrote back, raising an interesting question:

The problem with P.S.'s is that they don't work as well in email as they do in snail mail. Due to "quoting" and "signatures" most folks stop reading when they see the sig. A fascinating study would be into subject lines. Email, voicemail, newsreaders, blogs... the science of headlines has never been so important.

I started to look for an answer and went right to the books: The Online Copywriter's Handbook : Everything You Need to Know to Write Electronic Copy That Sells, by Bob Bly
and Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy, by Nick Usborne

Bob Bly didn't seem to discuss the question, except to include "P.S." in a list of "mechanical techniques you can use to call attention to key words and phrases online." Nick Usborne mentioned the technique in connection with that trusty old tool, the "Johnson Box," adding that its inventor--copywriting pioneer Frank Johnson--"was also the first person to take the P.S. on a direct-mail letter seriously" because readers often read the P.S. first. "So he started writing the P.S. as if it were a headline. And so has everyone else ever since."

Ivan Levinson writes gives tips on using a Johnson Box in emails including a suggestion to:

Use a box at the top of a seminar or Webinar invitation. The top of the letter or e-mail is the perfect place for a box that tells the reader What/When/Where/Why they should attend.

The only reported test results I found came from online strategist Larry Chase who says,

Use a P.S.: After the salutation, the P.S. is typically the most read element of a sales letter. I notice the most amount of clicks from the Johnson box at the top of the sales letter, and the line in the P.S. at the bottom. The P.S. usually restates the entire offer and maybe throws in some added incentive to take action now.

Have you used a P.S. or Johnson Box in your email marketing? Would you like to share your results?

Thanks!
Morty

P.S.: You can email me or comment below.
P.P.S. Thanks to Lee Marc Stein for the title.

Jewish Marketplace 2005 - December 17-19, 2005

Menachem Lubinsky is running the eighth and largest Jewish Marketplace 2005 - December 17-19, 2005 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. If you sell or buy anything Jewish, you want to be there!

Long ago... longer than either of us would care to admit... Menachem was my boss at Agudath Israel of America. I was "Special Assistant for Communications," handling PR for local, national and international projects. I learned a lot from him. Not only about public relations, but also about private relations--how to get along with all kinds of people.

About time I said, "Thank you, Menachem!"

Is Advertising Dishonest?

Steve O'Keefe, dean of online PR, had an interesting reaction to my post on "Schwartz's Law of Advertising."

Steve wrote:

With marketing, I increasingly believe the key is to be genuine; that is, it is more important to tell the truth than to increase sales. If sales happen, that's great, because marketing needs funding. But if sales don't happen, that's okay too -- as long as you told the truth. It is better to be honestly rejected than accepted due to false pretense.

Is strategic advertising--relating your product to the needs of the customer--inherently dishonest? Is it dishonest to position a product or a person as the solution to someone's problem?

Should all advertising be like the old parody ads in Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion? Remember those?

"Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery.... If you can't get it at Ralph's you can probably get along without it!"

Am I just being defensive?

Bob Bly took out after Madison Ave. on his blog. Are direct marketers and online marketers more ethical? Or just more effective?

Schwartz's Law of Advertising

I don't know if they're related. But both Eugene Schwartz and Tony Schwartz taught me something every copywriter must know.

Two of the most important books I have read on advertising are Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz and The Responsive Chord by Tony Schwartz. Each--in different words--teaches this fundamental law of marketing communications:

Evoke, don't educate.

You have to connect with what people already know, feel and desire. Don't try to teach them something new. Don't try to talk them into changing. You have to work with the market where it is, and evoke feelings they already have.

Tony Schwartz created the most famous TV ad of all time: the "Daisy spot" that may very well have re-elected President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, even though the ad only ran once! Contrary to most of the later reports, the "Daisy" ad never even mentions Johnson's opponent, Senator Barry Goldwater. But it so effectively played on the public's existing perceptions and fears--that Goldwater, if elected, might use nuclear weapons--Republicans cried "foul"!

Eugene Schwartz's classic Breakthrough Advertising opens with this insight:

The power, the force, the overwhelming urge to own that makes advertising work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy. Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people and focus those already-existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copywriter's task: not to create this mass desire--but to channel and direct it.

In other words, evoke don't educate!

The First Law of Advertising

Back to basics

The First Law of Advertising is as fundamental as the law of gravity:

"Sell benefits, not features."

Or, as they put it in Marketing 101:

"Nobody wants drill bits. They want holes!"

All the books tell you that. And all the books are right. Nobody cares about what you're selling. They just want to know if you can solve their problem or satisfy their need.

This is true in print ads. It's true in direct mail. It's true on radio and TV. It's true online.

Less well known is the second law--what I call "Schwartz's Law of Advertising."
But we'll take up next class....

How to Read a Blog

It has come to my attention (from my daughter) that there are still people who don't know how to read blogs. (I hastened to remind her that she knows very well how to shop online. Maybe the problem is that blogs are free!)

In the public interest I unearthed this ancient manuscript. (OK, it was from last year. But by Web standards, that's ancient.) Study and be wise: Understanding and Reading a Blog -- John C. Dvorak

Blogging for "Peace"

I'm running a PR campaign for The Case for Peace the new book by Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, author of The Case for Israel.

Do I agree with Dershowitz? Enough so that I feel comfortable promoting him. I'm not going to review the book, though. I'll leave that to the pundits and mavens. This is a blog on copywriting, writing, marketing and PR. It's not a political or "Jewish" or "Israel" blog. (Except when it is!)

Seth's Blog: Make your own beanie

Seth Godin blogged about my comment to him on his post "Aluminum hats?"

Of course, I don't need a protective aluminum helmet. I wear a yarmulka. It filters out all the evil radio signals and only lets in the holy ones.

And it comes recommended by the highest authorities.

Copywriting Checklist

Preparing for a copywriting assignment?

Whether you write your own copy or hire a copywriter, the first step is gathering information. My "Copywriting Checklist" has guidelines to help you write selling copy. (It's not a formal questionnaire, though some of my clients have used it that way. Think of it as seeding the clouds for brainstorming.) For a free copy, just sign up for a subscription to my newsletter: How to Win Customers and Influence People.

Commandments for Copywriters and Clients

Here's wishing you a year of peace, health, prosperity and joy!

In this time of introspection and (hopefully) self-improvement. We’ve all got our lists of things we have to work on. I put together this list of my own after I heard an agency head say, "Sometimes the client is right!" You might say it was a revelation....

Commandments for Copywriters:

1. CARE ABOUT YOUR CLIENT. You have to want the client to succeed...not just your own work.
2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Become an expert on your client’s business. Understand why people buy, or don’t buy, the product.
3. KEEP AN OPEN MIND (OR A CLOSED MOUTH). Listen, really listen, to everything the client tells you. If you’re too busy thinking of what to say next, you may miss a key phrase or central strategy statement. Plus, you’ll argue less.
4. ASK QUESTIONS. Don’t be too proud or embarrassed to say you don’t know or don’t understand something. Bashful people don’t learn.
5. GIVE IT YOUR BEST. Tom Collins said, “Advertising is hard!” Work at it. You’ll feel better. Besides, this is direct marketing. We live by repeat business. That means repeat business from clients too. Plus, you’ll sleep better.

Commandments for Clients:

1. FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULE: Remember that one? “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Treat your copywriters with respect. You just might get some in return.
2. SUGGEST, DON’T SLAUGHTER. Sometimes you will not like something. Make sure it’s not just whining. Be specific. It’s not enough to say, “I don’t like it.”
3. TRY TO BE RIGHT, NOT PRESIDENT. President Ronald Reagan had a sign on his desk that said “IT CAN BE DONE!” But he was mistaken. Not everything can be done. Certainly not exactly when you want it. Be realistic, if not reasonable. Don’t ask for your job “yesterday.” And don’t demoralize people with “Hurry up and wait!” When a job is submitted for approval, don’t sit on it. If you don’t treat it as a rush job, nobody else will.
4. WE’RE ALL IN IT FOR THE MONEY. Copywriters’ time is their money. Don’t waste it with unnecessary, rambling meetings. Most important, pay your people. Fairly. On time. They work hard and fast to make you money. Return the favor.
5. THOSE MAGIC WORDS STILL WORK. When’s the last time you said “Thank you!” for a job well done? A warm, sincere thank-you letter (with prompt payment) is the surest ticket to VIP treatment

Global PR Blog Week

Debbie Weil reports on Global PR Blog Week.

If you're involved in blogging or PR at your company, check this out.

If you're not involved, find out why you should be!

Truth, Lies and PR

Bob Bly tossed this Molotov cocktail into his blog and asked PR practitioners to comment:

In her new book Bait and Switch, Barbara Ehrenreich writes: "PR is really journalism's evil twin.... Whereas a journalist seeks the truth, a PR person may be called upon to disguise it or even to advance an untruth," says Ehrenreich. "If your employer, a pharmaceutical company, claims its new drug cures both cancer and erectile dysfunction, your job is to promote it, not to investigate the ground for these claims."

I suppose Ms. Ehrenreich never heard of Yellow journalism or its PC descendant, "media bias." I already commented about truth in journalism, so I'll leave it at that.

As for PR, direct marketing and lies, read Malcolm Gladwell's article on Spin.

Then read Seth Godin's book All Marketers Are Liars : The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World. But start with the back cover:

"Marketers aren't really liars. I was lying when I named this book.... They are just storytellers. It's the consumers who are liars. As consumers, we lie to ourselves every day.... Successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe."

Here's the but... and it's a big one: If the storyteller doesn't deliver... if the product doesn't satisfy... then the spell is broken. And then the story really is just a lie.

It Pays to Give it Away...

...Or does it?

Seth Godin has done it again -- spread an idea epidemic with his free ebooks on web design and blogging.

Unleashing the Ideavirus, Godin's manifesto on word-of-mouse marketing is the most downloaded book of all time. And, to borrow his phrase, "sneezers" spread the epidemic world-wide. But Godin himself raises an interesting question. He says

The first lesson is that free ebooks spread FORTY times faster than ebooks that cost money. That should give you pause if your goal is to spread your ideas.

But what if your goal is to sell books?! Not just ebooks, but good old paper ones.

I think the key question is "What is your primary goal?" Do you mainly write (or publish) books to spread the ideas? Are you using books to promote yourself? Or are you an author making your living from book sales?

Which leads to another question: Does giving away ebooks for free help sell the print edition of the book? What's your experience with giving away free book downloads? Does it help or hurt book sales?

Does viral marketing sell books?

For The Children Of Gush Katif

While Hurricane Katrina demands our attention, let's not forget another involuntary evacuation.

Whether you agree or disagree with the need for disengagement from Gush Katif, the practical result brought a tragic displacement that evokes thousands of years of Jewish pain.

The news is old. But the pain lingers. Please help.

Katrina Update--Needed NOW: Neosporin, Batteries, Pre-Paid Cell Phones

Just a follow-up on my last post--Hurricane Katrina What Is Your Company Doing To Help--Steve O'Keefe reports:

I am now campaigning to get Neosporin, batteries, and pre-paid cell phones into the area. Besides water and law & order, these items were most requested by people tending to the remaining refugees. Let's see what we can do!

Seattle Times is now reporting that they have more than enough water (thank God) and diapers. They need batteries and cell phones now.

For updates from the front, check in regularly on Steve's blog.

And keep praying!