Today I received an email solicitation from “Generational Equity.” A quick comparison showed that if they are not an incarnation of GW Equity, then serendipity placed them at the same address with some of the same personnel.

A little over two years ago, I wrote a brief blog upon declining to hand over $29,975 to GW Equity. The money was to have been an advance of their commission should they broker a sale of my company.

Apparently a lot folks wanted to check them out, because that blog pulled record hits. No wonder. GW marketed aggressively, with personal phone calls inviting business owners to a free seminar, including lunch, in a nice hotel venue.

The seminar was intoxicating. But after I calmed down, checked them out and weighed their proposal with a cleared mind, I sent them packing.

Before you hand these folks a dime, may I suggest some homework. Google “GW Equity Scam” and “GW Equity Complaints.” I found this link particularly interesting.

Steve Cuno
 
 
Person-to-person socializing is an endangered art

Social media bring people together, but not in person. Instead, people meet via the intermediary of an electronic device.

At work, we send emails instead of calling. We send interoffice IMs instead of talking, even to the person the cubicle next door. At home, there is no time for neighbors to chat on front porches, or for kids to run amok in the yard, when a virtual world, ready to endow us with super powers and devastating weapons, needs us to save it from monsters. Even defensive driving goes out the window when a post, tweet, text, or email demands our attention.

Meanwhile, the wind whistles through abandoned yards and playgrounds. Our ultimate connector is also our ultimate disconnector...
 
 
If you are a dealer who promises “to meet or beat any competitor’s price,” you’re not promising anything at all. Here’s why:

1. You give no assurance that you offer the lowest price. You merely assure me that if I don’t comparison shop, you will charge as much as you please.

2. “Meet the price” fails to impress. If I scout out a better price elsewhere, why on earth would I return to you for the same deal? I’ll save myself time and gas if I buy where I am...
 
 
Today I stepped out my front door to find a dentist’s flyer wedged in the jamb, a pizza flyer taped to the railing by the front steps, a flower shop flyer hanging from the doorknob and, from a realtor, a letter poking out from under my welcome mat.

Enough. My house is not your advertising medium.

If bedecking my house with flyers generates profits for you, my inner direct marketer wants to say, “More power to you.” But every time it tries to say so, my inner homeowner slaps it into silence.

Double standard? Quite possibly. But the fact remains that if I wanted my house to look as it did this morning, I’d have specified flyers instead of stucco for the exterior finish. Is marriage mail that prohibitive? Is it any less effective?

While you’re at it, quit sticking things on my windshield when I’m at the mall.

Feel free to click COMMENT and speak up. I’m listening.

Steve Cuno

 
 
I have discovered two laws of nature, possibly heretofore unknown:

1. No matter how thoroughly you clean out a toaster, crumbs will fall out of it when you so much as touch it.

2. The less people know about a subject, the more readily they will take an extreme position and the more aggressively they will defend it. This is as true in marketing as it is in public policy.

Steve Cuno

 
 
American newspapers were the original news medium. They weren’t businesses then. They were the voice of self-appointed watchdogs who published as they felt moved. King George getting out of hand? Run the presses. Nothing going on? Leave ‘em off.

Today the news media are businesses. To survive, they must generate audiences large and suitable enough to attract advertising dollars. They do this by publishing or airing according to a schedule, rather than as needed, and by giving the market what it wants to consume. This last point is crucial. Any sense of mission—be it watchdog or other—is subject to market demands. A mission at odds with ratings will necessitate either compromising the mission in order to survive, or going out of business. (Unless, of course, a news medium happens to have unlimited funds of its own, profitability be damned. Last count, not too many were in this category.)...
 
 
Cuno’s Rules for Stronger Writing
  1. Write to communicate, not to impress with your writing. Good writers disappear behind the subject they bring to life.
  2. Short sentences are usually stronger than long ones. Weak: She was so confused, she didn’t know what to do. Stronger: She was stumped.
  3. Small words are better than big ones. Weak: Masticate. Stronger: Chew. Weak: Expectorate. Stronger: Spit. Weak: Inebriated. Stronger:Drunk.
  4. Active is stronger than passive voice. Weak: He was being watched by everyone in the neighborhood. Stronger: Everyone in the neighborhood watched him.
  5. Beware “is,” “are,” “was” and “were.” They usually suggest passive voice, and therefore an opportunity for better writing. Weak: She was well-liked. Stronger: People liked her.
  6. Forget what your English teacher said about avoiding “you” and its derivatives. In real writing, use “you” freely, but intelligently. Addressing the reader as “the reader,” or a customer as “the customer,” is punishable by death. Weak: The reader [customer] will appreciate… Stronger: You’ll love…
  7. Edit like mad. Throw out anything you can without changing meaning.Weak: He told everyone present that his motive for killing the late canary was the inescapable result of a considerable number of mishaps during his childhood. Better: He blamed killing the canary on his childhood.
  8. Don’t use adverbs. They usually signal the need for a stronger verb. Weak: He walked slowly. Stronger: He lumbered. Or: He crept. Or: He shuffled. Or: He moped.
  9. Show, don’t tell. Weak: He was mad. Better: His face reddened, his fists tightened, and his jaw trembled. Smoke curled out of his left ear.
  10. Avoid “got,” “get,” etc. They signal a need for a better verb or better sentence structure. Weak: He was getting hungry. Stronger: His stomach growled.
  11. Avoid cliches. Weak: He settled into bed, snug as a bug in a rug, and lived happily ever after. Stronger: He slipped into bed and turned off the light.
Steve Cuno
 
About the Copy 09/03/2009
 
Funny how easy it is to sell copy short.

It begins with the way the advertising industry presents concepts. Before computers, we represented copy with a bunch of ignominious horizontal lines. Today, we plop gobbledegook where the copy will eventually go. (Said gobbledegook, which we usually refer to as “Greek,” is in reality an excerpt — inLatin — from a treatise on ethics. But I digress.)

It makes sense to agree on a concept or strategy before incurring the expense of writing copy. Yet in doing so, we risk creating the impression that as long as the layout, headline and driving concept are strong, it doesn’t much matter what the copy says.

Judging by the copy-light work many shops produce, that fear is not unfounded. A number of highly-praised ads sport but one or two lines of copy against a backdrop of a large visual. Sometimes there’s a headline, sometimes not. I would be the first to agree that at least some of these ads are arresting. But it’s important not to mistake being arresting for being persuasive. Yes, yes, I know: If it doesn’t get noticed, it won’t sell. But drawing notice is no assurance that you will sell anything. Your high school class nerd drew all kinds of notice, but never got dates. (Apologies if you were said nerd. So was I. That’s how I know.)

Copy matters. The best evidence that copy matters is the fact that long copy sells more goods and services than short copy. This runs counter to the folkloric belief that “no one likes to read long copy,” but in every carefully conducted test, well-written long copy has always outsold well-written short copy.

Copy does things that layouts and headlines can’t do on their own. It goes into detail. It presents benefits, explains features, makes promises, reasons, offers guarantees, persuades, pleads, warns, asks for the order, and makes taking action mindlessly easy.

Good copywriters build an irresistible, persuasive message that moves readers to action. They avoid the trap of believing that being glib or entertaining will charm people into buying. Copy sparkles when it calls no attention to itself, and instead rivets attention on what’s for sale and on why readers must, simply must, buy or inquire now.

Smart clients know great copy when they see it, willingly pay top dollar for it, and have the sense to leave it alone. They understand that, preliminary layout aside, copy does more than fill the space once occupied by lorem ipsum dolor.

Don’t sell great copy short. Without it, your ad might make a statement. Might. But if you want to create action, you’re going to need some dang brilliant copy.

Steve Cuno

 
 
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