You hear it often.

Everyone seems to agree on it.

It’s the only way that you’ll get attention. If you don’t follow this rule, your sales letters won’t be read.

It’s funny how everyone says the same thing, and repeats it knowingly.

They said the same thing in Claude Hopkins’ day, back in 1920.

It’s too long

People won’t read it. It’s too long. You have to write shorter sales letters or posts. Nobody will read long ones. Some bloggers go so far as to include word counts and estimated reading times on their posts (don’t worry, I’ll only take up 3:31 of your time!). There’s even an internet abbreviation: TL, DR (too long, didn’t read).

It’s a trap

Readers avidly devour each Game of Thrones installment, despite the fact that the books are  about 1,000 pages long. A friend told me she read Shantaram in a few days (even though it’s 944 pages), because she was so entranced by it.

It’s not the length

The length of your email or sales letter, or post, isn’t what stops people from reading all of it. People don’t turn away because something is long. They leave because it’s dull. If you keep your readers’ interest, they’ll read every word. Bore them, and they’re gone.

Format for the screen

If you’re used to print, you will need to make a few changes for the web.  Break up the paragraphs into smaller pieces.  Use more line breaks, and more subheads.  It’s easier to read on a screen that way.

Good enough to share

Memorable, interesting posts (even ads) get shared, read, or watched over and over.  The length isn’t relevant. Don’t worry if it’s long; just make it interesting.

Meanwhile, if you could get George R.R. Martin to write faster, I’d appreciate it!

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Which of these ads “speaks” to you? Which you do like better? What’s different about the way these two companies approach their advertising? Share your opinion in the comments.

My opinion (and I do have one) on Wednesday.

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Image via Wikipedia

I was listening to a webinar the other day with Peter Shankman of HARO (Help a Reporter Out).  Peter’s got 188,000 people on his email list, and mails three times a day.  He said he had an open rate of over 70% (pretty phenomenal for such a frequent mailer). His fans love his emails.

All creative types (and bloggers) want fans.  We want people to like us, to leave comments, and eagerly await what we write.  We want editors who never, ever kill our darling, favorite phrases. Clients who love our web designs, and never, ever spend an hour arguing over whether a design should be predominantly red or blue.

But, we know that may not happen.  Certainly not all the time.

What we can do

We can’t all be Peter (darn), but is there anything we can do? What makes readers (and potential clients) respond?

• Random rewards?
• Giveaways?
• Personal stories about successes (or even failures)?
• Shoutouts?
• Something else?

What other techniques can you think of?  What have you tried? And which of them worked?

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Image via Wikipedia

You’re probably wondering what scallions have to do with marketing.  I was at the  market the other day, and wanted to buy some scallions.  I looked and looked, but couldn’t find them anywhere.  It was a new store, so I didn’t know where everything was.  Finally, I asked an employee.  The scallions were right in front of me.

Why couldn’t I find them?

I didn’t see them because I was looking for the whitish bulbs and the roots.   They were stacked the other way around.  The green eaves were facing out, not in.

Lesson learned

Something can be right in front of your client or your customer, but they may not recognize it.  A big label saying, “scallions.” would have helped.  Or, putting them the “right” way around.

In a store, someone can ask.  Online, they’ll leave.

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