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Direct Mail Deadlines: How To Use Them Effectively
Giving your prospect a deadline for ordering, particularly when that deadline is a date and not simply a period of days ("Order within the next 30 days"), will outpull mailings with no deadline almost every time.
But you need to be cautious about...
Direct Mail Response Rates Mislead if You are Careless
I could tell you that the average temperature in the world is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. But that fact wouldn’t keep you from getting sunstroke in Cairo. Or frostbite in Tuktoyaktuk. Averages tell you only so much. Direct mail results only tell you...
For Direct Mail Lead Generation Success, Clone Your Best Customers.
I don't relish being proven wrong. But a while back I sat down
to discover who my best clients were. I wanted to increase my
revenues. I figured that the best way to do that was to discover
who my best clients were and to then go after more firms...
Quick, Helpful Tips for Direct Mail
Make Your Offer Irresistible - All good copywriters will tell you, the secret to great copy is to make it impossible to say "No"! Find the Good in Everything - Rather than try to hide negative sides to your product, try making them known with a...
Rising Postal Rates? Don’t Cut Down the Direct Mail
The United States Post Office in the past had some trouble with its finances and their solution was to raise the postal rates. Whether or not you agree with this approach to trying to stay in business, like the weather and government in general,...
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Your Direct Mail Donors Should Be Arrested (By Your Letter Opening).
The first time I was shelled by enemy artillery, I learned a
vital lesson that applies to the success of your fundraising
letters.
I was lying in a slit trench on Mount Wall, about 35 kilometres
west of the town of Stanley, in the Falkland Islands. The year
was 1982, the Falklands War. The Argentines were lobbing 105mm
Pack Howitzer shells around my position, trying to dislodge my
Royal Marines Commando troop.
But their fire was ineffective.
You see, the soil in the Falkland Islands consists largely of
peat bogs. The soil is dense and wet and soft underfoot. That
means the enemy's artillery rounds penetrated the soil before
detonating, sending most of their force and shrapnel upwards
rather than horizontally, in my direction.
When you want to leave a lasting impression on your target
audience, you must use the right ammunition. If the Argentines
had used the kind of artillery shells that explode above the
ground rather than in it, you would not be reading this article
today.
So here is the principle applied in practice, in the battle for
the mind of your target audience. You must open your fundraising
letters in such a way that you compel your donors to read on
right to the end, and take action. Your opening sentence is the
most vital sentence in your letter. If you use the wrong
ammunition here, your letter will misfire.
So start your letters with your largest cannon. Grab your
prospect's attention so that he simply has to read on.
Here are some creative examples of ways to do
that.
Pose a provocative question
"What happens when a snow leopard catches a cold, a walrus has a
toothache or a 3,000-pound rhino comes down with an intestinal
disorder?"
Start with an arresting story
"She stood on the curb looking scared and lonely in a skimpy
halter top and bright red lipstick. It was two in the morning. A
chilly breeze whipped up in the street and seemed to make her
shiver. She was a child . . . just a child. We pulled our
Covenant House van up to the curb and rolled down the window . .
. ."
Open with a scintillating (and relevant) quote
"'I complained because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had
no feet.' Perhaps your parents taught you this when you were
young. Mine did. It keeps things in perspective, and I have
learned, in my better moments, not to complain."
Present an arresting fact
"America's neglect is killing our children. In the past year,
40,000 babies like Andrew died before their first birthday.
Virtually no other industrial nation lets so many of its babies
die."
About the author:
----
About the author
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer,
instructor, mentor, author and newsletter publisher who helps
non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and
retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn
more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters,
and sign up for free weekly tips like this at
www.RaiserSharpe.com.
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