The cop-turned-copywriter who knows what it takes to create breakthrough marketing promotions!
Do you know who Doberman Dan is?
He’s a superstar copywriter who used to work under the great Gary Halbert, The Prince of Print.
In fact, he’s one of the few freelancers who ever got the “Gary Halbert Seal of Approval.”
He also went off, after working with Halbert, and built and sold a substantial supplement business. And it turns out he’s been doing some freelancing here and there since then.
Anyway, I’ve recently connected with Dan…
Gotten to know him…
And went back and listened to EVERY past episode of his podcast for direct response marketers.
A story of a dumb client mistake really jumped out at me…
This client had paid Dan a pile of cash to write an ad for them…
Had spent another pile of cash to test the ad for them…
And…
Turns out he didn’t knock it out of the park on the first swing.
It was a base hit though.
Somewhere near break-even. Meaning they got back nearly every cent of every dollar they’d spent sending it out.
Most really smart marketers are thrilled at getting new customers with this math…
If you have a system in place to maximize the first 30 days, 90 days, and 1 year worth of value out of every customer…
You can often spend 90, 80, even 50 cents on the dollar to bring them in…
Knowing you’ll be ahead within XX number of days.
That’s how smart marketers think.
Not this client.
Turns out because the mailing wasn’t wildly profitable, they weren’t excited.
In fact, they folded.
They were done.
Dan wasn’t.
This is a guy who built a million-dollar-plus supplement business… Using direct response marketing.
He knows how it works.
Dan thought it was great that they got near break even on the first test… And with another test or two, it’s quite possible they could be acquiring customers at better than break even.
They were done testing.
(They were either not sharp enough to understand the need… Or too lazy to do the work… Either way they ended up leaving piles of moolah on the table that were theirs for the taking.)
And so Dan had to walk away with a fee that had made him happy enough…
But none of the royalties that are what make these big projects REALLY worth doing.
Here’s an alternate way to think about it.
Your first test of any new sales letter, promotion, or selling approach is just that… A first test.
It may work well. It may work okay. Or it may work not at all.
You learn from that.
You pick yourself up and dust yourself off, if needed.
And you test again.
Believe it or not, very few blockbuster promos look today like they did on their first test.
They were improved through trial and error.
Scientific Advertising.
Testing, tweaking, tallying results.
And starting all over again.
The best thing you can do with a moderate success is to test your way to making it a major success.
Doberman Dan knows that — as does just about every smart, sophisticated direct marketer I know.
One more thing to improve the performance of your marketing pieces…
If you’re looking for ideas on what to test…
Even understanding how to test (how to think about it)…
One of the first things to look seriously at is your selling message — your copy…
And if you want an experienced direct response copywriter at your side for the next 12 months…
Helping make EVERY package you write a bigger success…
Helping you find the best, most impactful items to test — AND helping you decide what to test…
And being at the ready when ANY copy-related question comes up…
You should be very interested in the coaching package I just launched.
It even comes with free admission to my November Advanced Direct Response Marketing workshop. But only if you respond before Monday, June 30th.
Click here for free admission to my November workshop.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
