WELCOME TO THE DRAYTON BIRD BLOG - Commonsense about marketing, business and life

Leave now if easily shocked or politically correct. Otherwise, please leave your comments. Statements such as "brilliant", "hugely perceptive", "what a splendid man" and "can I buy you dinner at the restaurant of your choice" are all greeted with glee.

If you like, I'll e-mail you each new dollop of drivel when I publish it. Just click here to subscribe. If you want to succeed faster, get my 101 helpful marketing ideas, one every 3 days. People love them - maybe because they're free. Go to www.draytonbirdcommonsense.com and register. You also a get a free copy of the best marketing book ever written

Thursday 9 September 2010

Good stuff from Harvey Mackay if you want to succeed - and a reader scolds me

I often quote Harvey Mackay's remark that something you know about your customer may be more important than anything you know about your product.

He just sent out something excellent headed "The most valuable card in your wallet" which opened as follows:

When Ben Franklin founded the first public lending library in America in 1731, he probably had no idea what he would inspire. There is no better bargain than a library card, and what better time to sign up for one than September -- library card sign-up month.

Studies show that children who use the library tend to perform better in school. They are also more likely to continue learning and exploring throughout their lives.


Frequently people ask me the secret of success in
copywriting, and I usually say, among other things, that good ideas do not some from thin air. They come from the resources you have within you.


The more you know, the more connections are waiting to be made in your mind. And the more connections, the more ideas.

You will NOT find all the ideas you need in books about marketing, most of which are very narrow in scope and often very badly written. You must broaden your horizons.

Having said that, a reader who publishes
SUBvert magazine - an excellent source of stimulation if you want to be creative - told me off, rightly, yesterday as follows:

He said, "Despite the very high level of confidence I have in all your advice I have never purchased any of your books.

You have published several haven't you?

I will happily open every email you send and study every point you make. But I'm too lazy to go researching to find out what your books are / were and if they are still in print.

I buy about 2 books a month, often from people I've only recently become familiar with.

It might be an idea to make it easier for us to remember and buy your books if they are still available.

The desire to reciprocate is already there, the credibility is there. Just need to spoon feed the laziness that is also there.

What a fool I am! If you go to www.draytonbird.com you can read about my books. And if you want to buy any, I'll match Amazon's price.

Would you like your copy signed? Just write to me, Drayton@draytonbird.com and copy Chloe@Draytonbird.com.

The most comprehensive book I have written is Commonsense Direct and Interactive Marketing, which David Ogilvy said was "Pure Gold" - though that was before I covered subjects like the internet.

The best if you want to know about copy is How to Write a Salesletter that Sells.




blog comments powered by Disqus