A “Sleazy” Copywriting Trick from NewsWeek
Andre Bell
Where can you find good examples of effective copywriting to use in your own business?
In your mail box.
Direct mail generates over two trillion dollars in sales annually. That means you are likely to receive offers year round of products or services that move you to want to buy.
Whether you advertise online, in print, or use direct mail, those mailing pieces that move you should be KEPT. Do not destroy them or throw them out.
Instead keep them, study them. Figure out why the ads appeal to you. Is it the offer? The layout? The guarantee?
Ask yourself what stopped you and made you read the offer in the first place. Was it the pictures, the words, the headlines, or something else? Just what grabbed your attention and why?
Asking these questions was the very same process I used back in the days when Disco was new to start my first direct mail business at the tender age of 13 years old.
I didn’t have the luxury of using a computer back then. Each direct mail piece had to be typed out on my mom’s electric typewriter she used for completing her college assignments.
That’s how long ago it was.
I learned to create copy by copying the ads that appealed to me.
To get you started I want to give you an example of an excellent ad idea you can use right now to boost your sales that probably NONE of your competitors are using.
This is an advertising idea Newsweek was generous enough to send to me and I’m passing on to you.
At first glance this idea will seem “sleazy”, but if pulled off correctly it will be very profitable and will come across as extremely generous to those who receive your offer.
So I ask that you keep an open mind and read this through before making any judgments.
The copywriting trick is to send an offer formatted as an official looking invoice. The same type of invoice that would be used had an order been placed on a bill-me-later basis.
Newsweek’s “invoice” was so official looking I had to stop and think about when did I request a subscription to Newsweek.
Then I started wondering why would I order Newsweek when I don’t particularly care for that journal (other than the specific issues that I buy over the counter throughout the year).
Think about this…
How much time do you think I would have spent if the publisher’s of Newsweek sent a traditional offer? You know, an offer that has “special new subscriber discount” or some other meaningless info plastered all over the envelope?
None.
I would have tossed the envelope into the trash without ever looking to see what was inside.
A big mistake.
But because the publishers made this look like an invoice I had to stop and consider this item.
I had to consider whether or not I requested this subscription and whether or not I wanted to take advantage of this $20 special rate and save $193.30 off the normal annual rate.
$20? That’s all? I must be an idiot to pass this up! I’m gonna order right now before it expires!
Whoa Nelly!
Think for a minute.
Why would I spend $20 for something that I didn’t even want?
Greed (a killer bargain on something I occasionally buy)!
Heck, if the majority of Newsweek’s issues didn’t bore me I would have jumped on this offer.
I’m glad I didn’t. It gave me time to realize how effective this offer is and time to add the offer to my swipe file instead of mailing it back to Newsweek along with my credit card info 
What if this had been the Wall Street Journal, or one of the many computing magazines I enjoy, some home remodeling magazine or one of the luxury home magazines that I enjoy reading?
I would have subscribed in a heart beat!
I bet people who love Newsweek found this offer irresistible.
Here’s why
1) Responsible business folks have the habit of paying bills on time. So receiving a ‘bill’ from Newsweek would cause them to consider paying purely out of habit even if they didn’t remember subscribing. It’s that Pavlov dog thing.
2) Newsweek made the offer so enticing it is nearly impossible to pass up (even for a dude like me who seldom reads this journal). Despite not being a Newsweek reader I almost subscribed. The offer is that good.
If you enjoy reading Newsweek you’d have to be an idiot not to accept the offer.
3) This package does not look like the typical “junk” mail that people have learned to discard without a second glance.
There isn’t a single exclamation point. There are no words saying anything about how valuable Newsweek could be to your life. There are no testimonials.
Nothing in this package in any way resembles a direct mail piece a business owner would by nature immediately toss out.
So what’s the lesson here for you?
If you can adopt such a method in your advertising–without looking sleazy– then do so.
Here’s a warning:
There are laws against billing for products or services
people did not actually request.
The last thing you want is for the feds to come done on you.
You also want to avoid soiling your reputation by appearing to operate as one of the many fly-by-night office supply scammers of the last decade who send products and billing notices for supplies never ordered (and in many cases never received).
Your invoice must not falsely claim the invoice is for something that was previously ordered. It must be positioned as a special offer that just so happens to arrive as an invoice.
That’s how you get your hands on tons of copywriting examples.
Is scouring your mailbox for unique marketing and advertising examples worth it?
If the millions of dollars Newsweek earns is any indication, I’d say this `sleazy’ offer is worth trying.
Keep searching your mail box for similar copywriting treasures and you will receive more copywriting examples than you will ever know what to do with.
Andre Bell is the creator and author of the newly released marketing report, “32 Fatal Advertising Mistakes Everyone Is Making (and how to fix them)”. You can request a free copy at Economic Booster.
