Branding Archives - Page 15 of 19

03Aug 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Four

Advertising, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

4. Develop strong presentation skills. It’s one thing to be able to write well. It’s quite another to be able to present your work with the utmost confidence and conviction. But some of the most successful copywriters I've met over the years have had as much command of the spoken as the written word. Those with strong presentation skills are more effective in selling their work to both their colleagues and clients. They’re also given more opportunities to attend important meetings, speak at conferences and assume positions of leadership. If you’re uncomfortable speaking in front of an audience, consider joining Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization that helps people improve their public speaking, communication and leadership skills. As I wrote here on this blog more than six years ago (May…

27Jul 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Three

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

3. Walk in your readers’ shoes. In Stephen R. Covey’s best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit #5 is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Well, that’s also one of the habits of highly effective copywriters. They seek first to understand everything they possibly can about their audience before they even begin to attempt to be understood themselves. Yes, the more you know about your customers and constituents, the easier it is to make a potentially valuable connection with them. Unfortunately, that’s much easier said than done. Tight schedules and small budgets often supersede any opportunity to look closely at the demographics – and psychographics – of those whose attention you covet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find out what makes them tick. What…

20Jul 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Two

Advertising, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing

2. Care deeply about results. While being able to exhibit a high degree of creativity may be important to the success of a copywriter, achieving the highest possible ROI is usually imperative, certainly in direct marketing, the industry in which I earn my livelihood. My brethren and I work with the understanding that the purpose of most campaigns is to promote sales of a product or service, not the copywriter’s ability to turn a clever phrase. It’s nice to win awards. But what really counts is winning over your audience, those who are hopefully hanging on your every single word. Yes, what the most successful copywriters really care about is convincing those on the receiving end of their communications to take action in some way, shape or form such as picking up the phone, filling out a form, clicking on…

13Jul 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part One

Advertising, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing

My first job out of graduate school many years ago was as a copywriter for RCA Direct Marketing in New York City. And the rest, as they say, has been history. Since that first exciting stint writing about the most popular records (yes, vinyl) and tapes (yes, cassettes and eight-tracks) of the day, I’ve written about an incalculable number of different products and services. As I wrote in the preceding post here on A New Marketing Commentator… I’ve written copy to help promote everything from business cards to books, healthcare to software, insurance coverage to investment advice, magazines to music, travel to tuxedos and much, much more. I’ve also written direct response fundraising copy for dozens of charitable organizations (which, by the way, has been some of the most satisfying work…

15Dec 2009 by Bob Cargill

The 30 Best Blog Posts on Social Media I’ve Read in 2009

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

With only so many days left until a new year is upon us, it's only natural to want to take pause, look back and reflect on everything that's transpired in 2009. And what a year it's been for those of us involved in social media and marketing. Change has been the only constant in the nature of what we do on the job. Me? I'm a copywriter and direct marketer by trade, someone who's earned his livelihood for well over 20 years helping brands to sell their products and services. And that hasn't changed. But many of the strategies, tools and communications channels I'm using nowadays to help my clients achieve their goals are different. Today, I find myself working with blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and the like much…

07Dec 2009 by Bob Cargill

What You Should Include on Your Next Set of Business Cards

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

No matter how much I enjoy communicating with others online via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social media platforms (including this blog), I still think the most powerful connection you can make with someone is face to face. I've always liked attending conferences, trade shows and networking events, making new friends and meeting new people, shaking hands and schmoozing. I appreciate the camaraderie of being under the same roof with a group of like-minded professionals. I take comfort in knowing that I'm not alone as a businessman and entrepreneur, that we're all in this together, literally smack dab in the middle of the same basic search for new leads, new resources, new allies and new opportunities to succeed. And if you ask me, there's something very special about the exchange of business cards. It's an age-old ritual, a tradition remarkably still alive given today's relaxed…

19Oct 2009 by Bob Cargill

GM’s Satisfaction Guarantee Offer: Good Faith, Great Marketing

Advertising, Branding, Direct Marketing, Marketing

I can't tell you how happy I was to hear that General Motors was giving customers (specifically, "eligible buyers" of new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles) a 60-day satisfaction guarantee. Personally, I believe every company should be willing to go to such lengths in order to reassure prospective customers that they will meet, if not exceed, their expectations -- even if it means the possibility of doling out refunds to those who might be dissatisfied. A guarantee is a strong demonstration of good faith. Of course, the direct marketer in me also knows just how much a guarantee can lift response rates and, ultimately, sales. As I wrote here... ...a strong guarantee will go a long way toward mitigating any concerns your constituents may have about buying your products or services. In fact, when I had my own…

12Oct 2009 by Bob Cargill

Inbound Marketing Summit Boston (’09): The Best Conference I Never Attended

Blogging, Branding, Facebook, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

While I was fortunate enough to attend the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston a year ago, I wasn’t able to attend this social media extravaganza here this time around... ...but I can tell you for a fact that it was the best conference I never attended. Yes, thanks to the live, exhaustive coverage of this two-day event by a slew of those in attendance via Twitter and many timely reports filed on other social media platforms (blogs, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, etc.), I don’t feel like I missed much of anything. Okay, so I didn't get the opportunity to network with my colleagues face-to-face, shake their hands and exchange business cards, but I definitely got the gist of pretty much all the presentations in snippets and headlines, video clips and sound bites. Starting with…

22Sep 2009 by Bob Cargill

Social Media: That’s What I’m Talking About

Blogging, Branding, Facebook, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

In the next eight days, I'll be giving three different presentations on social media, each of which I hope will be as transformative to my audience as some of the first talks I attended on the subject were to me. I’m a lifelong direct marketer, a copywriter by trade, but as I've said time and again, I believe strongly that those of us who can leverage social media technologies and tools to build mutually-beneficial relationships with colleagues, clients, customers, connections, friends and fans will be much more successful amidst this new communications era. Of course, given the confidence I have in social media, you can only imagine how much I enjoy sharing what I know about it with others, helping people harness the awesome power of blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the like. It's hard work.…