Mike's notes.
“First time seeing this at restaurants…,” posted Mrs Monroe, “way to guilt customers to spend more”. Commenters added: “tipping is a sham”, “servers don’t really get that money”, “I hate seeing this at…”. Some suggested subterfuge, a special and spiteful $0.01. It’s too bad, and a chance for good copy. There are many restaurants because… Continue reading Here’s a tip, better copywriting
“This carton contains some of the finest ice cream available anywhere,” begins the original copywriting on Ben & Jerry’s pints. “We know because we’re the guys who make it. We start with lots of fresh Vermont cream and the finest flavorings available. We never use any fillers or artificial ingredients of any kind.” It was… Continue reading It Costs More and It’s Worth It
Our local bank sponsored a stand at a local fundraiser. Use our debit card the barkers offered, and we’ll donate ten cents to the local school’s scholarship fund. Our local school is great. Every graduate gets a scholarship based on the number of years at the school. The bank didn’t have many takers. How to… Continue reading All Barkers, No Biters
I don’t check my home equity every day, goes a joke among the Vanguard-Buffett-DCA crowd, why should I check my stock portfolio? It’s a riff on the availability heuristic: if I think it, it’s important. ‘Home’ is super available. Vacation rentals, of someone’s home. A chunk of net worth is home. Neighbors move. During Covid… Continue reading Copying the Inflation Buster
We were HelloFresh customers. The food is good enough. The recipes are simple enough. The logistics are easy enough. Is the copywriting convincing enough? (Received August, 2022) The good. This card has two goals: get our attention and convey ease. The ‘$155 OFF’ attracts attention and interest. The ‘3 surprise gifts’ is good too. Gifts… Continue reading Hello Fresh Copy
Successful copywriting uses the customer’s language. Find out what, how, when, and why the customer thinks – and the words they use. One accent of customer language is certainty. We dislike not knowing. Not knowing feels risky. It’s why this bag of sugar is so sweet: 30 calories per serving. Diets are trends. Eat this… Continue reading Sweet words
In his 2016 book, Never Split the Difference Chris Voss suggests Jim Camp’s, 2011 book, Start with No. To Voss, ‘no’ is progress. Too often ‘yes’ is said for appeasing purposes and ‘maybe’ means we haven’t clarified what’s important. But ‘no’ is firm, it’s progress. Camp explores this idea deeper. He, like Voss, dislikes win-win… Continue reading Start with No (book review)
This is from our HSA. It’s good copywriting. ‘5X’ is easy to understand. ‘You may be missing out’ is great too. The chart excels as well. It’s easy to understand and those Enhanced Rates do look bigger. They look bigger because of level one numeracy. We level one think all the time. It’s knee jerk… Continue reading Enhanced Savings Rates
A business succeeds by doing three things: creating something people want, getting it to them, and communicating the value. We call this: product, placement, promotion. Hey Siri, search ‘sandbag workout’. Workout sandbags are an interesting product because no one wants sandbags. The product is the sandbag but the JTBD is looking like this guy. Or… Continue reading Made up start up: Sandbags
Demand-Side Sales 101 opens with a foreword from Jason Fried, from his time selling shoes: “I noticed that when people browsed shoes on a wall, they’d pick a few up and bounce them around in their hand to get a sense of the heft and feel. Shoes go on your feet, but people picked the… Continue reading Demand-Side Sales 101 (book review)
The Waiter's Pad 