News
 Three
Keys to Making Direct Mail a Success for You
By Joe Vitale
Hypnotic Marketing’s Joe Vitale gives his
mesmerizing tips on how to make your direct mail a
smashing success. What are his tricks of the trade?
So many of you seem willing to spend hundreds, even
thousands, of dollars on a direct mail gamble, that
I feel compelled to give everyone a brief lesson in
what it takes for direct mail to work.
Far too many people try it and then say “Direct mail
doesn’t work.” They often say the same thing about
advertising. Well, it may not be the fault of
advertising or direct mail. It may very well be that
the three keys to success were not covered.
There are three legs to a successful direct mail
campaign: the list, the offer, and the creative.
Blow it on any one of them and the whole campaign
will die. But get the three elements right and you
just might be able to laugh all the way to the bank.
1. The list. This is THE most important element.
Don’t think because you can get a list cheap, or
even for free, that it’s something you can use.
Don’t think because thousands or even millions of
people will read a publication that you should
advertise there. Those people may not be your
prospects. The best list for you may be the one you
pay an arm and a leg for. The more targeted the list
of prospects, the better. If you are selling a book
on, say, gambling, you want to find a list of people
who gamble AND who buy books on gambling. Try any
other list and you may end up saying, “Direct mail
doesn’t work.”
2. The offer. What you offer to the list better be
something they cannot get anywhere else, while also
being something priced to make a profit for you. If
you offer a book on gambling that anyone can buy
down the street for two dollars less, you’ll end up
saying, “Direct mail doesn’t work.”
3. The creative. How you present your offer to your
list has to be done professionally, so that all of
the emotional hot buttons are triggered while also
maintaining interest and going for the sale. Some of
the best copywriters are paid upwards to $15,000 to
write a single sales letter simply because the
creative aspect of your campaign is that important.
I’ve known many people who tried to write their own
letters and ended up saying, “Direct mail doesn’t
work.”
Direct mail DOES work. Just ask Robert Ringer, who
launched his series of best-selling, self-published
books with direct mail and advertising. Or ask John
Kremer, who has successfully used direct mail to
sell his own books. Or ask me, as I’ve used it to
sell some of my work. But, again, those three key
elements have to be there or the direct mail or
advertising won’t net you a dime. Hope this helps
you save – and make – money.
---- Joe Vitale is founder and president of Hypnotic
Marketing, Inc. His website is www.mrfire.com.
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