The Thought for the Day: Be Weird

"Success is taking all the things that made you weird as a kid and getting someone to pay you for them when you're older."--David Freeman, Screenwriter

A Little-Known Source for Great Ad Ideas

Swipe files have been on my mind lately, and Ben Settles mentioned a great source of ads recently: old comic books.

As a recovered comic book geek, I remember those ads very well. Here are a few of my favorites:



Ah, good old Charles Atlas. These ads were great. Notice the little comic-style story in the left margin. Comics were the perfect place for these ads, comic book readers being a pretty picked-on bunch, after all. Here's a another version in all its four color glory:



These ads combined all the color, power and zap! of the comics with proven direct response principles. They don't run them like this anymore. Comics these days have gone to running image ads. To find some of these old gems, check out flea markets, antique stores, and the back issue bins of your local comic shop. Most comic books lose their value over time, so you can walk out with a box full of them for a few bucks, though many will run the same ads (many comic store owners protect their stock in protective plastic sleeves, so make sure it's OK with them to take a look at the inside back cover to see if there's an ad you want to take home).

Happy hunting!

Make it Happen in 2008

Will 2008 be your best year ever? Or more of the same? Will you go after your dreams this year, or spend next December 31st regretting the way your life is going?

The choice is up to you. I want to challenge everyone reading this to do whatever it takes to get their dreams off the ground this year. No excuses. We are all responsible for our failures and our successes.

So stand up, take a deep breath, and go for it.

And feel free to share your dreams in the comments.

Another Great Free Resource

I love passing along great resources that have helped my business, especially if they're free!

This is one I've looked to from time to time for great informative audio content I load on my mp3 player and listen to in the car. I've gotten hours of great business-building advice from this one site alone.

Anyway, here's the skinny:

"Over 117 Hours of FREE Audio Interviews
With Sales, Marketing and Business Success Experts."

Michael Senoff's www.hardtofindseminars.com is the world's leading
FREE digital audio business library that uses the power of personal
interviews and storytelling to capture and relay the advice of
world-class business experts. Get free audio interviews of the
experience and guidance of business leaders on the subjects of
direct marketing, business buying, writing, effective
advertising, referral marketing, negotiating, product development,
marketing consulting, and the art of how to get free advertising.
Take the tour at now at - http://www.hardtofindseminars.com

Have fun, and let me know what you think

A Special Halloween Treat

Now why didn't I think of this?

In honor of Hallowe'en, here's something marketing guru Daniel Levis put together for Clayton Makepeace, a marketing "seance" with late great copywriting legend John Caples.


James Palmer
http://www.jamesmpalmer.com
http://thecopywritinblog.blogspot.com

The Secrets to Headlines That Sell

I just found this great YouTube video featuring Web copywriter Trevor Cook on writing headlines. Check it out.

I'll be featuring more videos in the future. You can view them here.

In the meantime, I also found this giant headline swipe file. A good swipe file is a winning copywriter's secret weapon. You owe it to yourself to take a look at this amazing resource.

To Be the Best, You Must Study the Best

One of the best ways to beef up your copywriting skills in a hurry is simply to study the promotions of some of the greatest copywriters in the world, both living and dead.

And the best source I've found for old ads by long ago copywriters is Lawrence Bernstein's InfoMarketingBlog. Each post features a classic, long lost ad and some details about the famous copywriter who created it. Go there, print them out, read and study them, and most important of all, copy them out by hand or type them into your word processor. You'll be surprised at how quickly you catch on.

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