You can buy newspaper and magazines ads at 40%, 50%, 60% even 70% off the list rates at times, and the key is mentioning the word that all publishers hate: Remnant Space.  OK, the two words they hate.  Remnant space is the white space left over at the end of the selling cycle, just before the issue goes to press.  At this time, most publishers are ready to deal with some incredible offers.  Read this article and find out how and when to negotiate.

    For those drifting in the unfamilar waters of direct response advertising and direct-selling ads, this article additionally illustrates how to create a winning ad - one that will make your phone ring.  Because in direct response, if the phone doesn't ring, the ad didn't work - and nothing else matters.  This is a meaty article with lots of inside information.

It takes me about 8 hours to write a direct mail letter.  Then, it takes me another 2 hours to design it so it looks easy to read, even if it isn't.  So, for you guys who wrote that direct mail letter in 20 minutes and wondered why it didn't look like mine - go back and put the other 9 hours and 40 minutes in.  Here's a guide to designing your letters.  If you didn't know letters needed to be designed - better eyeflow, pacing, more white space, better readership and more effectiveness - even the more reason to read this article.  It the companion article to "How to Write a Direct Mail Letter."  You don't get this stuff in college... or anywhere else.  Do you?

Here's a one page article for my ADD friends, and the folks who only need only a short read in this bathroom visit. Well listen up.  It's the single most common reason your direct mail package failed.  And why your newsletter is losing readership.  And your ads aren't working. And even your grandparents aren't reading your letters.

Using incentives to drive response is a worthwhile marketing strategy.  Using an unusual promotion like this is an awesome marketing strategy.  With this unique promotion we drove over 90% of our top clients who attended the trade show to our booth on the first day.  And the best part is they all came in with a big smile on their face, and left with a bigger smile.  We had almost 100% brand retention.  And yes, it was just this easy.

Whoever thought it would be so easy to get people to write nice things about you, even if they don't mean it.  Just kidding, of course.  I'm sure they mean it…  Anyhow… it really is this easy. Dobkin, in a more sober moment, or is that somber moment, writes the entire plan in his own exquisite clarity of style in just under a thousand words.

Post Cards are easy to mail and have high readership.  They can be very effective marketing tools if written and designed well.  This is the third in a series on writing and designing post cards to achieve the single objective of receiving maximum response.  That is why you created the post card, isn't it?

Does Dobkin ever cross that fine line between what's really funny and what's really offensive?  You're damn right he does.  But does that make him bad person?  Yea.  Yes it does.  So if you're that kind of sniveling little girly-type of person who always is the first to complain about everything then hey - don't read his stuff.  You're probably the type that can't stand the typos and misspellings in his work, either.  But Jeff leaves them in for the picky people who need something to point at and have the compulsion to tell others where they're so wrong.  Jeff's philosophy is, you're not really a man if you have only one way to spell a word.  Last week he said to me, while writing his 6th book, "I have ADD. But at least I don't have ADD."  Carry on, Jeff, carry on.  There's still a few good people who read your babbling.  This article is really, really, pretty funny.

How's your marketing?  Probably very good.  If you do have any questions, this article shows what it takes to create the best marketing program.  Also noted: some of the marketing services that are available from Jeff Dobkin and the team at the Danielle Adams Publishing Company. 

It took me two years of research and writing to develop "The Intelligent Testing System."  This exhaustive study on how to market with classified ads and direct mail comes in 2 big binders and runs well over 400 pages, with 10 double-sided audio cassettes of completely new material; and ships at 11 pounds with a bonus disk on mailing lists.  There are over 30 letters and 5 pages of ad slicks to resell this program (good for any business opportunity program, really) if you want to, with $100 commission on each sale.  This article is a very, very short version and does not include the 100 pages of reference data.

Sales is a unique game that everyone plays, and the rich play well.  It doesn't really matter what you sell if you follow the simple formula in this article.  Fun and funny, this article was written for a magazine in the office products industry — but contains an important message and sales philosophy for any sales person.  A quick read, just right for a few minutes in the bathroom.

From deep in the darkest regions of Jeff Dobkin's mind comes this serious 75-point checklist of what you should have in your direct mail package.  It's a thorough list -  a highly technical piece you should keep handy for all your direct mail packages.

I hear these top 15 questions all the time, so now I can just tell you where to go when you ask them.  What?  No, I mean this article on the website...

Sure, you want to attract everyone to read your ad.  But you don't want everyone to respond and ask for your expensive literature.  You'd spend all your time on the phone with non-buyers, and go broke sending stuff to tire-kickers who have no intention of purchasing.  Here's how to draw that thin line by making your headline completely irresistable to your target market, and make everyone else's eyes glaze over just from reading the title.

A TIME-BUYING PROCEDURE TO DELAY BRAIN DAMAGE. 

 "…in a terrifying moment you see her on the bottom of the pool.  You immediately pull her out, but she is completely lifeless.  What do you do?"

    "Unknown to you, your 4 year-old child put a screwdriver into an electrical outlet, and has received a direct current shock.  After several minutes of silence, you come into the room to see what she’s up to.  You see her lying on the floor; she is not breathing.  No other information is available.  You don’t know CPR.  What do you do?"

    "You live 20 minutes out in the country.  On a warm summer night you are sitting on the porch when your spouse, who has been feeling pale and weak all day, has a heart attack.  You call for an ambulance, twenty minutes away.  You don’t know CPR.  You now have two choices.  You can helplessly watch your spouse, who has just stopped breathing, lay there on the floor.  Or you can initiate Dobkin's Technique to trigger the diving reflex.  Which would you rather do?  “Let me be more specific about using the Dobkin Technique. If something isn’t done right now, this person will suffer brain damage and die.”  

    This is when the technique is used.  This is the third article on this subject and is a press release.  Please feel free to use it or any part of it to bring this technique forward to save lives.

A Technique To Delay Brain Death in Heart Attack Victims.  Abstract:
    Dobkin’s Technique is a simple emergency procedure that delays brain damage in heart attack victims: apply cold water or cold wet towels (58 degrees or colder) to the face and eyes of victim (leave nose and mouth clear to breath.)  Delays brain damage for up to an hour by triggering the mammalian diving reflex - the same all-natural reflex that sustains life when a person falls into cold water and drowns (Cold water drowning). Dobkin's Technique delays the irreversible brain damage that starts to occur within the first four minutes of oxygen deprivation.  Works on conscious and unconscious victims, may be applied by child, self-administered, may be described on the phone.  Works in under 30 seconds.  Also works on suffocation victims, SIDS, (warm water) drownings, drug overdose, choking, electrocution, and other victims of respiratory failure. Reflex is especially prevalent in children. You can make a difference - please forward this on, save someone’s life.  Thank you.

The campaign, the follow up, letters, newsletters, testimonials - it's all here.  Brief and to the point how to get and keep customers.  It doesn't get any better than this... Oh wait — yea, yes it does.  Bring on the beer, uncork the champaign, put the top down and drive around in that new sports car, and have a chance meeting with that (now recently divorced) cute little red haired girl you liked so much in 9th grade, while you're away in Las Vegas attending an insurance sales seminar.  Now, it doesn't get any better than that.

The pros and cons about different marketing methods.  A more serious look at marketing. Ugh.  But, if you need this, it may save you a ton of money and a lot of aggravation rather trying to figure all this out and do it by yourself.

Third article in a series (Building Loyalty and Customer Retention for $1.23; and The Strategic Use of Letters) on building customer loyalty and increasing customer retention.  A good read, and you should read it

The second article in a series (Building Loyalty and Customer Retention for $1.23) of keeping customers. A good read about and easy to follow effective marketing strategy.