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London Special user U.S.A. 769 Posts |
If you are doing direct mailings, what should be in the cover letter? What are good resource for learning to write good cover letters? Any help would be great.
THOUGHTfully,
LONDON |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
It really depends on a lot of factors.
- Are you doing lead generation? - What market are you trying to target? - Are you sending out to suspects, prospects or clients who have already used you in the past? - What do you want the final outcome to be? - What action do you want the person to take based upon what you are sending out to them? All of these really must be thought out in detail before any letter or any mailing can really be done. Without this knowledge and the answers, you really are shooting in the dark and your return rate will be very low indeed. You really want to concentrate your mailings on a specific market and be percise with it. Do not try to be that..."magician for all occassions". That not only says nothing, but does not do you a bit of good. As a general rule of thumb, you always want to list features of your show you are trying to sell. BUT, more importantly, you really must learn to place the benefits of those features. How can what you provide to the prospect directly benefit them? How can you help solve their direct needs? If you can solve a need that they have, you then have value to them. They will want to use you because you meet a need they have and not just hiring a product. You must also be willing to do your homework. By this, I mean that you really need to spend time to learn about your target market. Where do they book shows? Who do they usually get? What are the needs as you see them? Really study this market. The more you study and research, the better off you can be to be able to know their needs and be able to show ways you cn solve them in your letters. I hope this little bit of information is helpful to you. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
How smart is a convict who is sitting in jail bragging about what he saved in attorney fees?
If you wouldn't let an amateur dry clean your tux, why not hire a pro to contact your prospects? A pro job on marketing communications is always cheaper than sitting it out and starting over in hopes of getting it right. The world is full of really good ones. Many will charge you less than $200 for two really killer letters that are yours forever. If you can't make that back in a show, it's just not time to buy stamps yet. It's a business decision. Good Luck! Bob Magic By Sander |
Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
But the guilty man who went free has something to brag about, doesn't he?
Communications are no mystery; we've been communicating since we were babies. Learning to do it ourselves is a valuable asset. A few "misses" will be a far better education, and in the long run be far less expensive, than hiring someone for $200 a shot every time we want something written. Besides, who is better prepared to sell me than ME?! A letter needs at least three things: a "catch", a "hot button", and a "call to action". The catch should catch their attention and get them to read the thing. The hot button should be the "pitch", or the element that gets them to want your show. The call to action tells them what THEY need to do next (call you? Visit your web site?) It ain't rocket science, nor brain surgery, nor does it take a treeful of owls to figure out. As Nike would say, "JUST DO IT!" |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-01-31 20:17, Starrpower wrote: For beginners, please reread the statement. The subject is one who chose to be convicted to save attorney fees. There is absolutely no reference at all to guilt or innocence. (A communication problem on line one.) I disagree. We are not born as excellent commercial communicators. Prisons are full of those who are documented failures at it. The market recognizes and treats different skill levels differently. Commercial communications is an applied field with quantifiable results. We are certainly not all born with equal skills or the capacities to develop them. Communications is simply one of those. In the practice of law, a common statement is, "He who represents himself has a fool for a client." Professional, commercial communication can be just a tricky. Certainly do what you can do well. As an old marketing professor, I take real exception to "A few misses" will be a far better education, and in the long run be far less expensive, than hiring someone for $200 a shot every time we want something written." Apparently we don't get paid the same. Opportunity cost is a factor in what "misses" cost. Mistakes don't improve our skills. They make us miss opportunities. They waste our resources. They raise the price of not having competitive skills. Improving skills is not a random act. Improving skills is different from testing ignorance. I'm not getting into a plane piloted by a cab driver until he learns to fly a plane. Continued experience as a cab driver doesn't deal with the problem. Who wants an excuse for the result? I want the result as planned. Practice on someone else's career. The standard marketing answer is, "I have no complaint about those who charge less. They know what their product is worth." Remember too that this only referred to a cover letter for a mass mailing. By definition, that is advertising. Responding to the individual inquiries is not advertising. There is a really good financial reason why McDonald's spends millions on an ad for French fries and minimum wage on the servers. The objectives are very different. The skills required are too! Most of us start out having to do most tasks without professional help. Either we can’t afford it or lack the sophistication to adequately identify the need and resources to deal with it. Most startup businesses fail for all the right reasons. Be glad! Professional commercial communication is better than rocket science and/or brain surgery. It funded it! It created it! And it achieved it! (Teaching advertising was a great joy.) It even sells some people a pair of $3.50 cloth and rubber shoes for over $100 and leaves them happy. After all, they saw advertising on TV and they are born communicators. (Thank goodness they aren’t professionals at it. They “Just Do It!”) Next month we’ll them they are out of style! Watch them do it again. Magicians should be well versed on misdirection. Clichés for distorting failures are bait. Don’t take the bait. The fisherman is not worried about getting caught. He’s not the fish. Get what professional help you can. Learning to do it yourself is an asset. But don’t trick yourself into believing that real pros got there by some accident or some random event. They worked at that as hard or harder than a magician works on his act. Look forward to the day when any professional help you need is available to you. Take the limits off of your success. Don't compound them. The problem with majoring in the minors is that we ultimately learn that we have also minored in the majors. To normal people there are a lot “mysteries of communication”. Some simply stay that way. Denial is poor preparation for success. Bob Magic By Sander |
London Special user U.S.A. 769 Posts |
Thank you guys for your input.
THOUGHTfully,
LONDON |
Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
Bob, your verbose reply fails to acknowledge that it's an art, not a science. And while some artist are, indeed trained, others are born.
And, whether you agree or not, sometimes luck plays a BIG part. For the most part, the people who want it to remain a "mystery" are those who make money from it...like copywriters and marketing professors. |
London Special user U.S.A. 769 Posts |
I want to remain a mystery
I always have been and would like to keep it that way.. Truth is I am good at what I do. I am an artist...not a business man. An artist in the true meaning of the word, and I need to get started letting people know I exist and do not know how. That's what I am looking for the answer on how to do that. Let people know I exist.
THOUGHTfully,
LONDON |
Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
Then I suggest paying someone else to write all your letters. Heck, you might as well pay them to copy them, stuff the envelopes, and mail them. Then pay someone to develop you tricks. And get a drama coach. And hire a choreographer. Then have all your costumes custom made by a skilled tailor. And hire a writer to develop your patter. Where does it end?
Yes, you could do all those things, and a lot of acts do, with success. But at some point I think we should develop some skills of our own. We are humans. We have the ability to be GOOD at more than one thing. I don't know why, in today's world, we've all been suckered into believing that you can only be an expert in ONE area. I'm not saying you can't hire a good copywriter. I'm just not sure it's the best way, and certainly not the only way, to go. I get tired of those who are constantly saying "You can't do this." And I'm shocked that Bob, as an educator, is encouraging us to run from the challenge. The other day I saw a TV show profiling an old lady to completely rebuilt a classic car. This old girl did everything -- ordered the engine, sanded the body, did the painting -- the works. It was refreshing to see someone who had enough self-confidence to do it herself. I think we should be more like that senior citizen and tackle a few chores. Not only may you be delightfully surprised at the successful results, but you'll be a better person for it (and it's a bit of a thrill to prove the naysayers wrong.) |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-02-02 18:04, Starrpower wrote: I don’t disagree that the art side is significant. I owned a printing/publishing business decades before I was a university professor. (I even donated it to a university before I started working on a Ph.D. elsewhere.) It was one reason I could afford to be a professor. My wife is an awarded artist and has her license to practice medicine and surgery. Without the science society sees it as fraud. The people who are making and have made the most money from advertising do not make it a mystery. We write and teach and lecture in our professional organizations just like magicians. We sponsor college faculty and legitimate behavioral research. The books are for sale to anyone. (I would suggest “Ogilvy on Advertising” for a starter.) I don’t even know of any of the organizations that would not allow you to join. (However, they may not allow you to stay.) Professional standards deal with ethics rather than art. Saying “I was born with the skill” doesn’t cut it in the real world among accomplished professionals unless you meet the other requirements. Having the art is a given. However, it is only step one. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Statistics is a science. Businessmen invest; gamblers believe in luck. But businessmen own the casinos. The real difference here is that our approaches are different. To a professional in advertising and marketing, any marketing effort through advertising is a scientific business with very predictable outcomes. To a hobbyist, observation and opinion is all that he has to use. I am a businessman. Magic is among my businesses since the early 60s. I don’t have to rely on amateurs to get professional results. It is not a drill. It is the real thing. Over the last five decades I have helped a lot of hobbyists in many of the performing arts and plan to continue. But when I need professional help I go to a real professional. Part of good management is knowing when it is time to depend on professional help. Hobbyists enjoy a completely different ball game. The definition of “hobby” is “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in for relaxation.” My original suggestions were to someone trying to get into the business. I have no argument with hobbyists. Their needs are significantly different from those of business people. Incidentally: I am not for hire to write marketing letters for magicians. Professional advertising copywriters usually limit themselves to one client at a time for a given industry or product. It is a matter of professional ethics. Also, being a university professor was a hobby. I had one client at that time that paid me about 3.5 times my professor salary but allowed me to teach and own my own businesses. I don’t think it was luck! Bob Magic By Sander |
London Special user U.S.A. 769 Posts |
I honestly cannot afford and do not want to (if I could afford it ) to pay someone else to write letters for me. I want to learn to do these things for myself. I know what I do, and I know how to explain it to someone verbally. I do not know how to write a good letter for mailings. If there is a certain format or guideline that should be followed. That is why I am here typing this message. I want to learn and find out the answers.
I am unsure as to where to go to learn these things. I am Not looking to spend hundreds on these so-called courses that teach you nothing. I purchased these type of things before. They are mostly horse $***. I purchased a audio program that was supposed to teach you how to get bookings as a mentalist. It was 20 minutes or so of two guys talking about all the places you could get booked, fairs, coffee shops, etc. Not once did it mention HOW to go about trying to get booked. I know where I COULD perform. I want to learn HOW to get in to those places. To be totally honest, I am in fact clueless on the subject. That's why I am here to learn. Where do I go to learn these things without emptying my wallet for nothing?
THOUGHTfully,
LONDON |
Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
Advertising is NOT a scientific business with predictable outcomes, and certainly not VERY predictable. If it were, we wouldn't have all the atrocious ad campaigns out there, some of which cost millions and bring the downfall of businesses (remember Schlitz beer's "Say hello to your lunch" ads? Yeah, that was predictable. Ran the brewery right out of business. Or how about Burger King's "Herb" ads, highlighting the only guy who never tasted a Whopper sandwich. Scientific and predictable? Give me a break!)
Bob, save it for the college freshmen. This businessman knows better. London, how would you tell a friend about your show? What would you tell them is good about it, and why it's in THEIR best interest to book you? What's your market? Why would that market be interested in YOU? What can YOU do FOR them? Now take those answers and put them in a letter. |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Starrpower,
I don't teach freshmen, ever. It takes about three years to get the prerequisite course work before college students are even eligible to take the most basic of advertising courses. However, my students were usually MBAs with experience. Of the "the atrocious ad campaigns out there" I've seen over the years, most came from amateurs who thought "Advertising is NOT a scientific business with predictable outcomes, and certainly not VERY predictable." Most businesses fail for all the right reasons. Advertising is typically one of the indicators used by experts to know when to bail out of a company. To a pro it is very predictable. Learning to write good letters is light-years from learning to write great letters. If the league you are playing in is not at the top, the competition is frequently under funded and “satisficing” quality in one area for the economic needs of another. Marketing communications is one area that under funded organizations tend to let slide. The original questions posed in this thread deal with what is to be covered in the letters. That is not the hard part. Just as are magic tricks, how it is presented is the hard and valuable part. Magicians and businessmen function at different levels of accomplishment based upon the small meaningful differences. The original question in this post also asked, “What are good resource for learning to write good cover letters?” For someone not already knowledgeable in the field, hiring a pro is a better business investment. A hobbyist is filling time for his own amusement. He can stop at whatever level of sophistication he desires. It is not competitive and does not have to be an economically sound decision. Bookings missed or bookings at lower revenues are not anymore significant than the hobbyist allows. He has no investors outside himself to please. His financial needs are met through other resources. Accomplishing a “personal best” for a hobbyist does not have to be financially successful. We are in totally different markets and seek to accomplish totally different goals. Success is not imaginary to real people. Bob Magic By Sander |
Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
But, Bob, the two examples I gave were national campaigns, certainly not developed by amateurs. Want another one? New Coke. The "scientific" geniuses that thought that one up almost drove another giant out of business.
Your suggestion that this is a science is absurd! If it were, every single ad campaign would be effective, and that obviously isn't the case. Watch TV tomorrow during the Superbowl. We'll see million-dollar ads, and there will not be a "scientific certainty" among them. I don't mean to be insulting, Bob, but what you're preaching is a load of hooey. All we are doing is communicating to people in a convinceing manner. Effective copywriting is a skill and a talent that can certainly be learned, but it's NOT a science. I, too, worked in advertising-related fields for years, so I'm not talking through my hat. But, more importantly, I'm a HUMAN BEING, something that the "hiding away in college" types forget. IMO, you are either purposely perpetrating the fraud, or you bought into it yourself. It's a simple matter of people talking to people (or, in this case, writing to people.) To take it any further than that may sell books and college tuition, but won't help people who want to reach OTHER REAL PEOPLE. London, have some confidence in your own abilities. Go tell your story. You'll do fine. |
London Special user U.S.A. 769 Posts |
Thank you .....both..
THOUGHTfully, London
THOUGHTfully,
LONDON |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Starrpower,
New Coke failed as a product, not an ad campaign. Read up! Other ad campaigns go head to head between pros. That is not minor league stuff. It results in winners and losers. Advertising is an applied field, not a theory or an unqualified and/or uneducated opinion. Results are quantified. I don't know what your "hiding away in college" stuff has to do with anything except maybe to excuse your lack of exposure to it. Who cares? College was a small fraction of what I made doing the real thing. It was also a small fraction of my time compared to that in industry. It was more extensive and intensive than most pros have accomplished. Perhaps that's why they buy my time. We are not on the same plane. Ego is of no value here. My responses are in the interest of helping London. There is no reason you and I need to address each other at all. Good night! Bob |
Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
Heh-heh! Then why did you do it?
I, too, want to help London. I think he'll fare MUCH better for the balance of his career if he learns how to write his own sales materials. I don't think discouraging him by stating that it's something that only some mysterious copywriter or ad professional can do effectively is helping. Writing an effective sales letter is neither difficult nor beyond the abilities of the average person. It can be challenging, and can take some study. But again, I encourage you, London, to go to it. You'll be glad you did. P.S. Bob, I do not have a lack of exposure to college. I have a masters degree and have taught at the collegiate level. Not a professor, mind you, but I've been there. And please udnerstand, I'm not questioning your qualifications or knowledge, just your apparent stance that hiring a pro is the only way to go. I don't think it's healthy, nor helpful, to discourage someone from expanding personally and professionally. |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-02-06 01:42, Bob Sanders wrote: Quote:
On 2005-02-06 10:48, Starrpower wrote: Anyone looking at the posts can see that I posted well before you did. Obviously, you address me before I ever addressed you. It is a matter of sequence. Mean while, London has privately been offered help. He has politely thanked the posters and moved on. The man has a lot of class. He appears to have a plan. It is his thread. Now it is fresh out of a purpose to continue. London has exhibited his ability to open another thread if he feels the need. London, We owe you an apology for interrupting your thread. Please accept mine. Bob Magic By Sander |
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