Sunday Newsletter Launch - 7 Timeless Advertising Tips - Nov 5th 2024

Hello and Happy Sunday!

I hope you are well and are enjoying your weekend.

The world appears to be getting even crazier this week. I wish you many moments of balance, ease and grace throughout your days.

The Season of Celebrations

October concluded with Halloween and November, here in the UK, began with Bonfire Night.
I live in a village and it was nice to see community coming together for these events.

Thanksgiving will soon be here for our friends in the USA. Another opportunity to celebrate community, family and appreciation.
It can be challenging to want to continue with traditions while so much else is happening, yet it is our roots that bind us and community spirit is so important to the maintaining of common ground and meaning on many different levels.

Online Communities

I have spent this last couple of weeks researching and digging deep into community, in order to really understand what is involved in creating a successful community or membership online.

Here are some key questions to ask before you create your group:

• Why - what's the purpose?
• Who - who would benefit from this community?
• What are the outcomes, the promise of the community?
• What is required from a community that makes people want to stay?
• How can we create a sense of belonging in any community?
• How can you identify the core pillar of the community that becomes the foundation from which everything else eminates?

I'm covering this because I am sensing a greater pull to create connection, support groups and places where like-minded people can gather.

I am working with two clients to help them create meaningful, transformational membership communities. I am also shaping and planning new things for the Online Success Academy for 2024.

What do you most want from a community? What are your thoughts on memberships and community especially at this time? Could communities and a coming together on neutral ground be the very thing to begin to heal this shattered world?
I would love to hear your thoughts. Your feedback is most appreciated. Hit reply and let me know.

Marketing Wisdom From Claude Hopkins
Every generation thinks it knows better than the previous generations. Perhaps we confuse technological advances with wisdom. So we tend to dismiss the advice of those who have gone before us.

But one thing has not changed and will never change and that is human nature.

In this regard, the basic principles of marketing and advertising have not changed because people are the same today as they were in any other generation before us. That’s why I commend Claude Hopkins’ book, Scientific Advertising to you.

Mr. Hopkins wrote this classic primer on marketing in 1923 (nearly 100 years ago). Yet the principles he presents are timeless. The book’s popularity is testimony to its value, for it has sold over eight million copies and continues to do well.

Marketing gurus Ray Edwards, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert, and Jay Abraham, to name a few, all highly recommend Hopkins’ book.

The book is simply written and under 100 pages, so it’s a quick and easy read.

To whet your appetite for this book, I’ve summarized some of Hopkins’ key thoughts in what follows.

7 Timeless Advertising Tips

1. Write primarily to sell, not to entertain.

Hopkins warns about the tendency to want to write entertaining ads. Essentially, the copywriter forgets the primary purpose of the ad and elevates form over function. Hopkins is not suggesting that an ad’s appearance or the entertainment value is unimportant, but it’s not the purpose of the ad. The ad should move the reader, listener or viewer to buy, not applaud.

2. Coax rather than drive people.

In your marketing, seek to serve your clientele. Talk about their interests not yours. Generously offer valuable information or products for free to win their trust and to demonstrate the value of what you have to offer. People buy to please themselves not you the marketer.

3. The headline is more important than the copy.

The purpose of the headline is to grab the attention of the reader so they will continue to read (watch or listen). If the headline doesn’t do that, then the copy is worthless. And because we are bombarded with so much information today, the headline must stop us in our tracks and lure us in. Think of a time when you were stuck in miles of stop-and-go freeway traffic. And when you finally reached the cause of the slowdown, you discovered that someone just had a flat tire. But the flashing lights of the patrol car caught everyone’s attention and that’s what was holding up traffic. That’s what the headline needs to do.

4. You can count on human nature.

I already stated this in the introduction, but it bears repeating. There are some key human drives that motivate people. They always have and always will.
Curiosity is a very powerful human incentive. Also, Americans like a bargain, but not cheapness. We like to think we can afford to splurge on something extravagant.
Scarcity is yet another strong motivator. Exclusivity also appeals to people. Tell them that a product or service is only available to a certain class of people and they will feel honored for the privilege of buying it.

5. Be specific.

To use superlatives in an ad is what the reader expects and what will turn them off.

As such, superlatives are meaningless generalities. And generalities offer no weight whatsoever as evidence. But when we are very specific, the reader knows our claim must be either true or false. And the more specific we make our ad, the more weight it carries.

For example, Dyson advertises its V11 cord-free vacuum as having twice the suction power of any other cord-free vacuum cleaner. That specificity captures attention and sells vacuum cleaners.

6. The myth of brevity.

Even in 1923, the common thought was that people won’t read anything lengthy. That myth is still alive today.

Of course, it’s true if your copy is boring. But people will read what they find interesting. Long copy is especially important with high-ticket items. People will do the research when purchasing something costly.

Often, the product or service that wins is the one that delivers the most thorough and compelling information.

7. Great copy requires thorough research.

The purpose of research is not merely to understand the product and the market well. It is often in the research that a breakthrough comes in promoting the product uniquely and effectively.

Hopkins tells of a time when he wrote an ad for toothpaste. He spent weeks reading “volumes of scientific matter dry as dust. But in the middle of one volume he found the idea which has helped make millions for that toothpaste maker.”

I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the goodies you’ll find packed into Claude Hopkins’ short book.

In fact, his chapter on “Test Campaigns” is worth the price of the book by itself.

If you want to learn from one of the greatest advertisers of all time, read Hopkins’ book, Scientific Advertising and be sure to have a highlighter in hand when you read it

This Week:

On Wednesday 8th November 2023 - I will be hosting a Masterclass on Productivity for Happiness - How to be more productive and effective in your business so that you grow your results, while working less, enjoying your life and work more and having time for what counts.

And it's FREE.

You can find the registration page here: The Taking Your Business Online Masterclass

When you click on the above link, you’ll be asked to enter your name and email and then you’ll immediately receive email confirmation that you’re registered for the Masterclass.

Let me ask you this question:

What keeps you awake at night right now?

Reply and let me know. Let me know what content you would benefit from and what's top of mind right now.

The Choosing Happy Podcast

Last week I interviewed Bob Little and we covered many different topics, fro Business, writing to AI.
I am on day 45 of 100 Days of Happy - still going!

And tomorrows episode is all about the link between Productivity and Happiness - how they co-exist.

You can find all of the episodes on your favourite podcast platform or at www.choosinghappypodcast.com

Would you like to be a guest?

If you would like to be interviewed for the podcast do get in touch and we can explore the opportunity.

Have a Blessed and Beautiful Week!

Thank you for reading this far. Wishing you a wonderful week. See you next week with more sharing and more news.

Sincerely,

Heather

Taking Your Business Online Ltd.

P.S. Wanna grab coffee? Click here and let’s set a time to get together: Let's Catch Up!