Johnny’s Copyblogger Wrap-Up: Week of March 22, 2010

I know what you’re thinking. Here you thought it was Saturday, and yet there’s a new post on Copyblogger.

So either you’re drunk, or it’s actually a weekday and you stayed home by mistake and now you’re going to get fired and lose the family farm.

Or maybe this is a new feature. Maybe each Saturday, I’m going to run down the week’s posts for you in my own inimitable style so you can see what you may have missed in concise little blurbs.

Think of it as the Readers’ Digest or Cliff’s Notes version of copywriting and content marketing . . . on crack.

Here’s what happened this week on Copyblogger:

Monday:

The Ancient Persuasion Tactic Behind “But Wait, There’s More!”

I was really happy on Monday to be greeted with a photo of the ShamWow guy as Brian Clark told us how to use the power of dirimens copulatio – the ancient art of “turning up the volume” on an offer – to improve salability. Brian tells you why this old-school persuasion technique was adopted by the informercial industry, and how to use it in non-ShamWow ways for yourself.

By the end, the person reading your copy should be saying, “He’s tripled the number of Ronco juicers I’ll get, he’s cut the cost in half, and he’s providing the inside-the-shell egg scrambler for no extra cost! I can’t afford not to buy it!”

And then if you’re my mother, you buy whatever it is and put it in the basement and drape laundry over it.

But wait, there’s more! Read the full post here.

(This post also made me miss Billy Mays. Can you imagine how loudly he could have sold ShamWows? You’d be like, “Man that guy’s loud. I really need to get some of these.”)

Tuesday:

Why The New FTC Guidelines May Become Your Best Friend

It does my heart good to see posts like this one by Barry Densa, about FTC guidelines that are going to make life obnoxious for flashy, deceptive marketers.

Copyblogger readers, on the other hand — who typically are of the more ethical, more transparent Third Tribe mindset — are probably going to benefit from restrictions such as:

• No more one-in-a-million case studies used as if they were typical results
• No more seemingly impartial reviews that are actually paid affiliate endorsements

The net effect? Marketers are going to have to become more honest.

Read the full post here.

Wednesday:

The Sales Boosting Logic of the P.S.

Finally, Sean D’Souza has given me a legitimate reason to throw a “hey, by the way” at the end of my marketing emails in the form of a P.S. Because I like to do that, but needed someone to tell me it was cool.

Basically, the idea is that in any longish sequence of points or ideas, your reader’s brain only has enough energy to remember the first thing, the most unusual thing, and the last thing. Lazy, inefficient brain.

Sean tells you how to use the indubitable post script to inject valuable, memorable information into your reader’s mind as the last thing. And this part will really bake your noodle . . . sometimes the P.S. is the first thing people read after the headline.

Read the full post here.

P.S: Mitch Hedberg said, “I like to end my letters by writing, ‘P.S.: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated.'”

Thursday:

The Bobby McFerrin Plan for Creating A More Remarkable Business

I’ll have to admit that when I saw the title, I immediately figured Pamela Wilson was going to tell us that where business is concerned, the message is: Don’t Worry. Instead, maybe, as an alternative, we could Be Happy.

But you know what they say about figuring . . . it makes a fig out of me and . . . erm, nevermind.

See, it turns out that Bobby M. holds a unique kind of concert. He doesn’t plan what he wants to sing or do in advance. He doesn’t have a band, or traditional backup singers, or hired dancers, or anything else. He doesn’t define his audience’s experience, and then perform for them.

Instead, he performs with them, and Pamela reveals how you can do the same with your customers or clients.

I guess you could also toss in there some Not Worrying and a dash of Being Happy too. But that’s just my own suggestion.

Read the full post here.

Friday:

The Difference Between Salad and Garbage

Thank God Sonia had this post online before lunch, because it saved me from embarrassment and an encounter with E.coli poisoning.

Frank Kern or Dan Kennedy or one of those guys said, “The difference between salad and garbage is timing.” In this case, we’re talking about the timing of any offer you’re making to a prospect.

Insurance advice when you’re not interested in getting new insurance? Garbage.

Insurance advice when you’re looking for help navigating the labyrinthine maze of insurance offers and trying to choose a plan? Salad.

Sonia reveals how to provide more salad and less garbage through content and specialization. She also shows how, unlike real-world garbage, offers for products and services can go from stinky trash to fresh and tasty salad by staying in front of prospects on a regular basis.

You know, you’ve really got to feel for real-world garbage — always refusing to move on, always pining for its younger salad days.

Read the full post here.

About the Author: Johnny B. Truant has a dumb blog at JohnnyBTruant.com. You should also really check out his Jam Sessions with Charlie Gilkey, because they’re filled with tasty informational nuggets that will make your business better.