I am writing this post for two reasons. First to show you a very good example of a squeeze page that uses video and CopyDoodles effectively and second to tell you about a book, you absolutely must buy! The squeeze page is for my mentor and friend, Bill Glazer’s brand new book, “Outrageous Advertising That’s Outrageously Successful.” (That’s Bill and I at a recent meeting.)

Click here to view it.

This book is the ultimate collection of “outside-the-box” marketing ideas. It even includes several pages about my CopyDoodles and how they can help you stand out. I highly recommend this book for your marketing library!

If you are not familiar with Bill Glazer, he’s Dan Kennedy’s business partner, one of the top Marketing Strategists in the world and one of the highest paid and OUTRAGEOUSLY successful copywriters alive today. In fact, he’s written 23 sales letters that have EACH generated once one million dollars in sales.

If you’d like to get a copy of Bill Glazer’s most OUTRAGEOUSLY SUCCESSFUL sales letter he’s ever written and now used by business owners and entrepreneurs in 67 different business categories (online and offline) in association with the launch of Bill’s JUST RELEASED new book “OUTRAGEOUS Advertising That’s OUTRAGEOUSLY Successful” then click here.

If you are ever dissatisfied with the results you get from your advertising or marketing dollars than this is for YOU. Plus you should grab a copy of his new book while you’re at it. IT HAS MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!!!

The copywriting “goo” I am talking about is a misuse of the copy cosmetic techniques I teach and like the Artic goo, it takes away rather than adds to the effort. Whenever I speak or coach a master mind member, I always go back to what I call “functional design.” This means that every copy cosmetic technique used has a specific and functional purpose in mind. Everything is done with intention and careful thought. Nothing is done haphazardly.

Here’s a perfect example of what I am talking about. Ever since I created CopyDoodles™, people all over the world have grasped the power of how adding handwritten notes and doodles to your marketing materials can boost response. However way too often I see what I consider a misuse of CopyDoodles, which I believe can result in decreased response rather than a boost! Here’s the three biggest blunders I see:

1) Using too many CopyDoodles! The big benefit of CopyDoodles is to create “eye stops”, grab attention and cause the reader to pause at particular locations within your copy. However when too many CopyDoodles are used, it only confuses the reader. I always say “overuse = abuse” and when everything is emphasized, nothing stands out.

2) Using too many styles of CopyDoodles at one time! Currently there are five different styles of CopyDoodles found on the CopyBoosters membership site. This means, if one so desired, five different looking handwriting styles could be used on one piece or web site. BIG MISTAKE! Again I go back to one of the reasons I created CopyDoodles, which is to help people create their own “handwritten notes and doodles” quickly and easily and most importantly realistically! This is a key point – realism. If you were actually adding your own handwritten notes the old way, you wouldn’t be writing in different styles and handwriting – would you? This would make it appear like multiple people are adding notes, which doesn’t make sense to me, so why do it with CopyDoodles? I highly suggest you use one style of CopyDoodles within a single marketing piece.

3) Using too many colors! Much like mistake #2, using too many colors is often distracting and unnecessary. It creates the false illusion that you picked up different colored pens to make your notes. I don’t know about you, but the thought of picking up different pens to add notes to a letter to a friend doesn’t make sense. And if it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t seem real.

Which brings me to my final point. Effective copywriters understand that one of their main missions is to connect with the reader in a personal, 1:1 way. I often teach it’s like writing to a friend. Might you add a doodle here and there to draw her attention to areas within your copy? Absolutely!

Would you make your letter look like a wall of graffitti, with different handwriting and different colors and way too much goo? I think not.

Keep these principles in mind when you craft your next marketing piece and watch your response rates soar!

1) Grab attention

2) Make the piece easier to read

3) Make the piece look more personal

4) Offer a “dual readership” path for skimmers.

If you are not familiar with these cosmetic techniques, let me list the ones I use most often. In future posts, I will show how each of these cosmetic techniques are individually used to improve your copywriting:

1. Boldfacing
2. Borders
3. Bullet lists
4. Business graphics
5. CAPITALIZATION
6. Captions
7. Cartoons
8. Check lists
9. Color
10. Columns
11. Drop caps
12. Fonts
13. Highlighting
14. Illustrations
15. Indenting
16. Italics
17. Line justification
18. Line spacing
19. Margin notes
20. Number lists
21. Personalization
22. Photographs
23. Pull quotes
24. Screen tints
25. Sidebars
26. Simulated handwriting & doodles
27. Simulated stamps
28. Subheads
29. Text boxes
30. Underscoring
31. White space

While each of these techniques can be used to increase readership, they must be used correctly and with proper intention. I always like to say “overuse = abuse” and its quite appropriate when considering the design of your copywriting project. The other important thing to stress is that no amount of cosmetic technique is going to replace good, fundamental copywriting principles.

I did a double-take to see if this was one of my CopyDoodles (it wasn’t, but it sure looked close). But it was gratifying to see a major magazine use this ultra-effective copywriting design technique to grab attention. For the last 18 months, I have been teaching people how to use this technique to create instant “eye magnets” that literally force your reader to engage with your piece.

Lately, I have been seeing the use of simulated handwriting more and more. It’s in the Sunday paper, it’s on television and in magazine ads. As a matter of fact I have seen a number of book covers that use this technique to stand out, including this one.

In my marketing consulting company, I have done a number of split tests and across the boards the materials that contain handwritten notes and doodles always perform better than those without them. Of course you have to know how and when to use them appropriately (just slapping a bunch of CopyDoodles on your materials without proper thought can be counter-productive).

The use of simulated handwriting goes back a long way in advertising and I have a theory as to why I think simulated handwriting is being used so effectively today. The use of computers, word processing and laser printers has created “homogenized marketing.” 95% of everything looks the same.

And when you introduce a handwritten or hand-drawn element to the mix, it becomes very different in a simple, human kind of way. The effectiveness of a simple red handwritten note and doodle can be huge. Look at the book cover above. Its power is in its simplicity and human appeal.

Check out this real-estate agent ad that ran in my local paper recently. It doesn’t look like anything else on the page and while I have no idea how it did for the agent, I applaud her on doing what she can do stand out.

I believe the use of simulated handwriting is one of the easiest and fastest ways you can grab attention in your marketing.

What Dan was referring to is one of the most often over-looked and misunderstood copywriting and direct marketing strategies, which concerns “the look” of your copywriting and marketing materials. Regardless if you are working on online or offline marketing, “how it looks is CRITICAL for maximum response.”

While you may not consider yourself a “copywriter” if you are putting words to paper or pixels with the intent of ultimately making money… YOU ARE A COPYWRITER and you should understand the importance of cosmetic techniques.  One important note.  Copy cosmetics do not replace the importance of traditional copywriting techniques, such as headline development, creating a compelling offer, etc.  Cosmetics enhance the foundation of good copywriting by making your copy visually more interesting.

Copy cosmetics include techniques and strategies which:

• Grab attention!
• Promise an easy read
• Convert readership into action
• “Airs out”  your copy
• Creates the look and feel of a personal, 1:1 message
• Creates a “dual readership path” for skimmers

These strategies also allow you to differentiate yourself and standout from the majority of plain vanilla marketers.

Over the course of time, I am going to focus on the different copy cosmetic strategies I use, so check back often!