Victor Schwab

Last chance to send $1

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Legend says that, once upon a time, in various Midwestern states, an enterprising carny pitchman took out ads in local newspapers that read:

LAST CHANCE TO SEND $1
to PO Box 210, 60611 Chicago, IL

There was no reason given why the reader should send in $1 or whether he would get anything for it.

And yet, the ad supposedly drew in many dollar bills before the postal service guys caught on and put a stop to it.

The great 20th-century copywriter Vic Schwab called this ad an example of how effrontery can be successful in advertising. Other people claim it simply shows how gullible and sheep-like the masses are.

I personally like this little ad because it’s got so much going on in it. In just a few words, it conveys:

1. Urgency
2. Specificity
3. A clear call to action

And these three ingredients were enough to draw money in. A success that many other ads don’t achieve.

Which makes me think that, often, all the stuff copywriters agonize over is only giving people reasons not to buy.

And it reminds me of an important truth I read today, from another great 20th-century copywriter, Robert Collier:

“It is not the copy that counts so much as the scheme back of it.”

Speaking of the scheme back of this post:

I am officially done with my 3-week trip around the US and I’m back to work.

Only, what with continuing projects, with work that built up while I was traveling, and with a few new clients coming in, I’m almost booked up for the month of June.

Which means that, if you want me to write sales copy for you in June, now is your last chance to get in touch and see if I would indeed be good to write for you (I most likely won’t be).

To find out, simply send me a postcard to PO Box 210, 60611 Chicago, IL. Or alternately, write me an email at john@bejakovic.com.

Fake, unrealistic, and profitable

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I was just re-reading chapter 3 of Vic Schwab’s How to Write a Good Advertisement. That’s the chapter that talks about different kinds of proof.

At the end of the chapter, Vic throws in some grab-bag comments about how to make your ads more credible and effective.

Among these: use real photos in your ads, and not illustrations.

It’s been tested, says Vic, and photographs outpull drawings.

I’ve heard this advice from other sources as well, and I’ve taken it for granted. Until, that is, a few days ago.

That’s when I got a note from one of my clients who sells ecommerce products through Facebook ads. He wrote to say that they’d tested using custom-made illustrations in their FB ads.

These images aren’t trying to be hyper-realistic.

They are also clearly fake, in the sense they illustrate an idealized product-use scenario.

And yet, they are profitable — with higher clickthrough and conversion rates than regular product shots.

So what’s going on?

My guess is that it’s a matter of contrast.

Now that everybody is using photos, and even high quality photos are cheap to make, a drawing catches more attention and engages the consuming mass mind better.

Which might be a useful tidbit for you to know. But I think it’s also an illustration of the basic formula for effective marketing. And that’s to find a way to make the same promise — more money, less pain, a bit of respect — in a new and attention-grabbing way.

Which coincidentally, is what daily sales emails or blog posts are also about. Like what you’re reading right now.

New day, new angle — but same fundamental offer. Speaking of which:

​​If you’re looking to write daily emails for your business, which tirelessly promote your product or service in always new and fresh ways, then you might get some good ideas in the following:

https://bejakovic.com/profitable-health-emails/

“Grasping” the first image of a black hole

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Earlier today, a bunch of scientists got together around the world, in seven concurrent press conferences. Their task was to announce a monumental and counter-intuitive achievement:

The first photograph ever taken of a black hole.

There’s been a lot of buildup to this event and a lot of public interest.

And now we finally know what a black hole looks like.

It turns out it’s much as expected. Black.

But while the black hole itself doesn’t look too surprising, the freshly released image shows some other stuff too. In fact, the total image looks rather like an out-of-focus, melted piece of Werther’s candy. It’s an orangish doughnut, slightly shinier on one side than on the other.

A pretty picture.

And interesting.

But after wondering at it for a second, you might reasonably find it’s time to get back to your everyday life.

And therein lies today’s humble marketing lesson.

You see, there’s an incredible amount of scientific insight contained in this blurry picture.

That orangish blob is an infinitely complex object (literally), completely outside of the realm of anything we are used to seeing in normal conditions.

Plus there’s a mysterious and fascinating reason why one side of the blob is brighter than the other.

I found out all about this in a video put together by some well-meaning physicist on YouTube.

He used cardboard cutouts to illustrate what’s actually going on in the picture. He talked about general relativity, about something called the Schwarzschild radius, and about photons shooting off into infinity.

And after watching his video, I felt I really “understood” what the image of the black hole is.

It had much more meaning than simply seeing a blurry, half-melted Werther’s candy on a black background. The image will stay in my mind for much longer, and make a much bigger impact.

This applies to copywriting as well.

In fact, it’s a crucial but almost-forgotten lesson from Victor Schwab, one of the most famous direct marketing copywriters of all time.

Says Victor, every good advertisement first has to capture attention…

Then show an advantage…

And then, crucially, help the reader GRASP that advantage.

In other words, it’s not enough to simply say your $80 t-shirt is made from the finest, most breathable, most durable merino wool.

You also have to make the reader grasp that if he buys this t-shirt…

He will get a soft friend he can comfortably and stylishly wear — for the rest of his life.

That’s the difference between simply seeing the first picture of the black hole, and grasping what it shows.

Anyways, no self-promotion for today. If you’d like to take a look at the enlightening video I mentioned, so you can grasp the first image of a black hole ever released, then head on over here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUyH3XhpLTo​​