copywriter's blog

1) “Why do Eskimos and husky dogs do not eat polar bear liver?”

Because it contains huge amounts of Vitamin A. One gram of polar bear liver contains 12 times the daily required amount of Vitamin A (1 mg).

And what happens if you overdose on Vitamin A? Here is a not-too-pleasant list: skin problems (itching, peeling off), drowsiness and sleepiness, splitting headaches, spleen and liver enlargement, painful swelling of tissues next to the bones, loss of appetite.

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The answer is Yes, and, No.

Obviously you can indeed "sell a price," that is, sell a product by focusing exclusive on its low cost. That’s after all how Wal-Mart came to be the global retail megalith that it is today.

For standardized goods that show no product variation you can sell the price -- until the service hits such a low spot that the pull of the price advantage disappears.

For example, if you are selling canned pet food over the Internet, low price is very important because a certain brand and size of pet food can is the same product whether it is sold by a merchant in Alaska or Florida.

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The last time I checked, just upgrading Microsoft Office Suite cost $329. If you want to buy a brand new copy of MS Office, then you’ll have to part with $533.

What if I told you that you can keep your precious money in your wallet and still do everything that you can do with MS Office for FREE, as in zilch, nada and nothing?

Welcome to OpenOffice, an office suite downloaded by over ten million grateful users around the world. You can download it too for FREE from http://www.openoffice.org

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1) Do you have a summary list describing the BASIC INFORMATION about your organization or company? (Address, web site, e-mail, way to contact? Where and when it was formed? Who owns and runs it? Who are on its Board of Directors and Board of Trustees? The other organizations of which it is a member? Annual gross revenues? Stock symbol (if a public corporation)? Charitable expenditures? Etc.)

2) Have you sent out any fundraiser packages in the past?

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Donations are the whole point to a fundraiser letter. But do you know how much to ask for?

If you ask too much you may lose the potential donor.

If, on the other hand, you ask for too little, you may either end up losing money or end up with an amount that would not justify all that effort.

What payment options should you present to your potential donor?

For example, should your “price points” on your ORDER FORM be

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Fundraising letters come in many varieties. Before asking your copywriter to draft a fundraiser letter for your organization, perhaps you might want to consider the possibilities (credits go to Mal Warwick, an acknowledged master of fundraiser letters):

1. The ACQUISITION letter is sent to new a new list of prospects who have never contributed any donations to your organization.

2. The WELCOME letter goes to those who have just joined your organization or sent in their first donations. A warm little welcome message goes a long way in terms of donor or membership loyalty and interest.

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To determine how much they can afford to spend to get a new customer, many marketers base that figure on the average size of the first order.

Therefore, if the front-end product or service is $500, they won’t spend anywhere near that to acquire the customer, for fear of operating at break-even or even a loss. If they want to double their money on the promotion, the most they’ll spend to make the sale is $250.

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The custom of giving customers more than their money’s worth to ensure satisfaction has its roots in the expression “baker’s dozen.”

Because of the way rolls, buns and cakes were cooked in the 15th century London – in three rows of four – they were sold in batches of a dozen.

The goods were fashioned by hand, of course, and bakers found that they could make them smaller without the customer being any the wiser. Who could tell the difference, after all, when 12 items were stuffed into a bag?

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Glib marketing speakers talk about how you should always stress benefits, and never talk about features … and how you should always focus on the customer, and never on the company.

But is that always true? Of course not. For instance, the number of years you’ve been in business is a feature – a fact about the company. Yet prospects care how long you’ve been in business -- and your longevity can help close the sale.

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Here are 10 tips for living less stressfully, from “Loving and Leaving the Good Life” by Helen Nearing:

1. Do the best you can, whatever arises.

2. Be at peace with yourself.

3. Find a job you enjoy.

4. Live in simple conditions; get rid of clutter.

5. Contact nature every day; find the earth under your feet.

6. Take physical exercise.

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In their book The Zone (Contemporary Books), Dr. J. Mitchell Perry and Steve Jamison state that the following four conditions are generally present when you are achieving your best performance results:

1. Enjoyment - you’re having a blast!

2. Focus - you have keen awareness and alertness

3. Relaxation - you’re free from extreme anxiety.

4. Self-trust - you have confidence in your judgment.

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“There is only the now,” says Edwin Riley, M.Ed., who runs a stress clinic.

“Keep your mind focused on the present. You can’t change the past. The future hasn’t happened yet, so why worry about it? If you stay in the moment, you’ll feel more relaxed and energized.”

In order to remain focused on what you need to do right here and now, try these exercises:

> Take several short, deep breaths.

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They...

Will not listen to supervisors.

Didn’t have business role models or mentors.

Don’t see the merits in being a mentor to others.

Make a lot of excuses.

Are not prepared.

Cannot wait.

Think they know better ways.

Seek to rise too fast.

Would rather be an executive “doing the work”.

Think they will get rich quick.

Don’t respect authority or the process.

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1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school, you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The failed experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately works.

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How many times have you heard yourself say, "I want to change something!"

Maybe you started to create a change, felt really great about it, and then found yourself lapsing right back to where you were in the first place.

You may have felt frustrated, defeated, or unable to move yourself beyond whatever was holding you back.

Lasting change is what you are after. To create lasting change, you must first believe three things:

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