If you’re looking for an attention-grabbing direct mail piece.  One that is tried and proven to work, look no further than the famous Wallet-Mailer created by my friend and Elite Experience Mastermind Member, Nina Hershberger.

The wallet mailer is a unique envelope that stands out from all the other mail in your mailbox and practically begs to be opened.  I’ve used it both in my own business and for my private clients with success and can personally vouch for it!

My CopyTemplate of the Month allows you to personalize and customize your Wallet-Mailers right on your very own printer.  Included in this CopyTemplate is:

1. Example cover letter you can “borrow”
2. Templates for printing on the Wallet-Mailer
3. Template for printing on Nina’s money bills (range from $20 – $500)
4. A huge swipe file containing a ton of examples to generate your own ideas on how to use this novel direct mail format

You’ll notice on many of these examples that Nina uses CopyDoodles® extensively to add even more personality to the Wallet-Mailers.  Nina even created a special CopyDoodles “money edition” that can be easily used with the Wallet-Mailer. The Money Edition can be found within the CopyBoosters.com member site.

CopyBoosters Members can download this CopyTemplate immediately.  Not yet a CopyBoosters.com member?  Join here! http://www.copyboosters.com/public/become-a-member/

For more information about Nina’s Wallet-Mailer check out her web site at www.wallet-mailer.com.

LEGOLAND, in case your not familiar with it is an amusement park based on, you guessed it, LEGO bricks.  I have to tell you that if you ever played with LEGO bricks as a kid (or even as an adult) LEGOLAND is very neat place to visit.
My favorite part was the whole section dedicated to LEGO-versions of world landmarks, including New York City, Las Vegas, and Washington D.C.  Built with tens of thousands of LEGO pieces, each miniature replica was amazingly accurate.

The U.S. Capitol Building

Never quite able to turn off my marketing mind, what I found even more interesting was how LEGOLANDborrowed an idea from Disney and applied it to their business.

If you’ve been to a Disney theme park, you know the hyper-mania associated with their collectible pins.  Kids and professional collectors roam the parks trading and seeking out the most collectible Disney pins.

While Disney will not disclose just how big this business is, it’s safe to assume it runs in the tens of millions of dollars.  From something as simple as a pin.

So what did LEGOLAND do ( like any good marketer does)?  They saw an idea that works in another business and they figured out a way to make it work in their business.  In marketing terms, we call this “S&D’ing” or “swiping and deploying”, which is the ethical borrowing of ideas and transferring it to one’s own business.

LEGOLAND did not outright copy the Disney idea (which is not what we are talking about here and would be in violation of copyright and trademark laws).  Instead their employees walk around the parks with special, limited-edition collectible Lego figures attached to their name badges and allow guest to trade with them.

Lego’s Version of the Collectible Pin

Like Disney, guests had to purchase the collectibles, but LEGO tweaked the process and limited guests to only five figures per purchase per day (building in scarcity) and they packaged the figures in a way that you didn’t know what figure you were buying (think grab-bag).

I asked one of the store employees (as I stood in line to buy my five figures) about the success of the collectible figures and they told me they were almost sold out of the first edition and that the second edition would be released in August.  Long lines of people buying them was further evidence of their success.

The LEGOLAND lesson is a valuable reminder to all of us that we don’t always need to innovate and come up with new ideas for building the success of our businesses.

In fact, many times it’s much easier and more profitable to look around you and see what other sharp entrepreneurs and business owners are doing and figuring out how you can take their proven success, tweak it for your business and create a profitable new product or service for your business.

Back in April of 1998, marketing guru and master copywriter, Dan S. Kennedy wrote in his newsletter… “Cosmetics Matter!”

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 copy 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.

Copy cosmetics enhance the foundation of good copywriting by making your copy visually more interesting and easier to read.

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 and when used correctly create in increase in response.

So here’s some of my best copy cosmetic tips:

Use interesting photos and images whenever possible.  Typically, these are the first thing the eye is attracted to when glancing at a marketing piece.

-Always have a caption with your photo or image.  It’s logical if the image is the first thing looked at that a caption would be the second, therefore make sure you have a good caption with a strong benefit.

-Use sans-serif fonts for body copy online and serif fonts for body copy for printed materials.

-Vary font size throughout your copy (e.g. a headline at 48 points versus body copy at 12 points).

-Use underlining, boldfacing, simulated hi-lighting and fonts to recreate voice inflection in print.

-Use subheads to break up body copy and offer skimmers a quick readership path.

-Use CopyDoodles™ to simulate handwritten margin notes and doodles.

Remember these tips go along with well-written copy.  They do not replace it, but like a fine wine with a gourmet dinner, it will enhance and improve the overall copywriting design effort.

Apparently there is some nasty, algae-type stuff floating around the North Pole. As the camera panned the ocean, this goo was floating on the water’s surface, leaving a disfiguring wound on an otherwise pristine natural setting.

Being a copy cosmetics geek, I couldn’t help but make the mental connection of how many people add a similar type of nasty goo to their copywriting and marketing design, in an effort to grab attention or even worse, make a half-hearted attempt to copy somebody else’s work.

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 graffiti, 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!

To watch a FREE video where Mike shows you how you the right way to use CopyDoodles, visit http://www.copyboosters.info.