| Quick Links |
Click here to visit my web site www.the-real-mccoy.com and read about some award winning direct marketing campaigns
|
|
Your own ezine Would you like a colourful, eye-catching online newletter like this one for your company or service? |
 |
|
We'll be happy to create, write, layout, upload, distribute ... do everything for you!
Click here to send me a quick email and I'll contact you to discuss your requirements with you
|
|
Click on the 'Keeping in touch with you' button above so that your colleagues and friends as well as you can receive future free editions of News & Views. Needless to say, you (and they) may unsubscribe at any time. |
"Well done, Robert! I purchased 'The bestman's speech lifesaver'... brilliant! It saved my life."
Wilfred Judd,
Theatre Director, London. |
|
|
|
"The best man's speech lifesaver"
A New Best man's speech manual - what you say and how you say it - includes 7 uplifting speeches
New Ebook
Ready to download immediately
|
|
Wisdom & Wit
Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh so mellow.
Tom Jones - "Try to Remember"
Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus (1913 - 1960) Poet & Dramatist.
***
Any stigma is good enough to beat a dogma with.
Philip Guedalla (1889 - 1944) Biographer.
Seek the Seeker
If you want to be found, stand where the seeker seeks.
Sidney Lanier (1842 - 1881) Poet & Musician
***
Good Advice
If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
Author unknown (Obviously)
Meet Clarence
A burglar broke into a house late one night. Sneaking through the living room, he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say, "Heaven sees you."
Nothing happened, so the burglar crept forward again. But then the voice repeated, "Heaven sees you".
The burglar stopped again and looked all around. Then he spotted a parrot in the corner of the room. "Was that you who said that Heaven can see me?" asked the burglar.
"Yes," said the parrot.
The burglar sighed with relief. "What's your name?"
"Clarence", said the bird.
"Clarence? That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"
"The same idiot who named the Rottweiler Heaven", answered the parrot.
Think about it
Beaten paths are for beaten men.
Eric Johnson (1896 - 1963) Film Executive
***
None are so poor that they have nothing to give... and none are so rich that they have nothing to receive.
John Paul 11 (1920 - 2005) Pope
Creativity is bad ideas filtered to good ideas.
Dana Beth Ardi - Corporate anthropologist.
***
Obvious solution to an exam question
|
|
Click on the line above to forward this ezine to a friend, together with a special covering note from you.
For example: "John you might be interested in visiting Robert's website www.the-real-mccoy.com it has some interesting direct marketing articles in it. |
|
Enjoy my book! |
 |
|
| |
|
|
,
... it's Autumn Apple time!
Traditionally, this one of the busiest times of the year for direct mail activity. Already you can feel - and hear - the additional volumes of mail arriving in your letterbox as all kinds of attractive offers from 'Autumn specials' to 'Christmas wonders' compete with each other to capture - and to hold - your attention in these tough times.
Hey! If you ever wondered: "what are the best times of the year to use direct mail?" have a quick look at the 'Follow the Kids to School' article featured below and you'll get a useful answer to this important question.
Now, let me tell you that I have revamped my web site www.the-real-mccoy.com. You are welcome to pay it a quick visit. And if you're wondering 'What's in it for me, if I visit Robert's new website?, the answer is 'FUN'.
Go on! Have a look! Watch out for my hand writing my big long signature at the top of my home page. It's awesome! (Well, Okay! Maybe the word 'awesome' is a bit over the top, but it's definitely cool!)
And bringing you from 'cool' to 'hot' I have an interesting article for you titled: A quick lesson in direct marketing creativity.
All in all, this Ezine is an enjoyable & informative read. But before you go off exploring what's in it, may I say that I hope you get as much fun reading it as I get from bringing it all together for you.
Enjoy your Ezine!
Talk to you soon.
Kind regards
Robert Hayes-McCoy
PS Hey , here's some good news from An Post. There's no stopping Postaim this Christmas. It will continue to operate throughout the Christmas period this year. If you want to find out more click on to www.anpost.ie/directmail |
|
'Follow The kids to School'
The first time I ever heard this expression: 'Follow the Kids to School' was when I was working in insurance many years ago. A colleague and good friend of mine, George Morrison, who had worked in insurance for decades informed me that it was a well-tested new business sales rule in the insurance industry.
What it means is that the best time to sell life assurance is during school term time.
That's the time when, generally speaking, the parents of families are more organised, on top of things and in decision-making mode.
It's the time when life settles down into different routines, people get up and go to bed at regular times. People tend not to go away on holidays and are usually in a position to read their mail on the same day as it arrives through the letterbox.
It's a great time to sell
|
|
A quick lesson in direct marketing creativity
Roger von Oech, author of that wonderfully creative book: 'A whack on the side of the head', constantly asks this question of creative people that he meets: When do you get your ideas? During what kinds of activities and situations do you get your ideas?
For example, doing routine work, as a response to questions, during physical exercise, late at night, driving, in the company of others, under stress, or whatever.Roger points out that he has asked this question to thousands of people.
"The answers I've received can be grouped into two categories,' he says. The first is necessity, and is represented by replies such as:
· "When I'm faced with a problem."
· "When things break down, and I have to fix them."
· "When there's a need to be filled."
· "When the deadline is near . . . that's the ultimate inspiration."
|
Orange and grey!
It was my son, Stephen who chose these colours and I have to say I'm very pleased with the way the web site has turned out.
It's got a nice sophisticated modern look which harmonises very smoothly with the more old-fashioned 'Georgia' type font, which is a very easy font to read online.
Have a quick look, , and see if you like it:
Click here to visit my new-look website |
|
Courier typefont... is it coming back?
It happened to me not so very long ago. A client - a new client, in fact - asked me to write a sales letter to a 50+ age group target and, wait for it, insisted that I write the letter in a courier type font.
A week or two later by coincidence - or was it carefully planned? - a financial investment letter arrived on my desk carefully crafted in - you've guessed it - a courier type font.
Time was, when courier was the preferred type font of all direct marketing agencies and copywriters. It was big, easy to read, old fashioned, reassuringly familiar and it worked!
In fact it worked so well that long after the business and service sector had discarded courier in favour of the more businesslike Times Roman, or the crisp thin lines of Arial, the charity fundraising specialists continued to use courier as their preferred type font. Why? Because it worked. It made them more money.
Here in Ireland courier has long gone out of fashion. Even the charity sectors have stopped using it almost entirely. It just didn't rest easy on sophisticated 'Celtic Tiger' eyes.
But it's still a great type font. And the fact that I've written one sales letter and read another appeal letter carefully formatted in courier type in recent times must mean that it hasn't lost its magic in some people's eyes... especially when you are communicating to the 50+ age group.
Keep an eye out for more examples of this trend.
|
|
If you have a brochure to write, a newsletter to create, a direct mail campaign to launch, a sales letter or the marketing message of a web site to compose, or a charity appeal to communicate, talk to me...
... I'll be delighted to help you make your written sales communication message more persuasive or your charity appeal more effective.
Robert Hayes-McCoy Copywriters Phone: +353 `1 2603949
| |
|
|
|
