If you’re like me and enjoy food, you naturally understand the value and importance of enhancing the taste of your food with various spices, accents and flavorings. Personally, I am a huge fan of hot and spicy food and I have a new-found passion for the Bhut Jolokia pepper or ghost chili as it’s sometimes known.

For my two daughters, it’s not ice cream if it’s not covered in chocolate syrup and rainbow jimmies.

My point is, when applied correctly, spices and flavorings make something that is good, taste even better. Add too much salt, hot pepper, or even chocolate syrup for that matter and you can ruin a perfectly good dish.

The reason the smart marketer and copywriter uses CopyDoodles (and other copy cosmetic techniques) is to take something that is good and make it better by knowing when and where to add these powerful copy enhancements.

Keeping with the food analogy (remember, I’m Italian) CopyDoodles add S.P.I.C.E. to your marketing or “Super Personal Instant Copy Enhancements.”

The KEY to unlocking the power of CopyDoodles is in knowing which “spice” to add, where to add it and how much to add.

Unfortunately, this is where a lot of marketers make fundamental, but preventable mistakes.

When I am working with private clients or mastermind members, I constantly start with three basic questions:

• Who’s your “who?”

• What’s the context of your relationship with your “who?”

• What’s the one thing you want your “who” to do?

The beauty of CopyDoodles is how fast and simple they are to use, but before I even consider adding a single CopyDoodle to any marketing piece, I give careful consideration to the three questions above.

The answers to these questions tell me what spice to add, where to add it and how much I can add.

Over the years, I’ve seen sales letters that looked like a wall of graffiti. I’ve seen advertisements where CopyDoodles were haphazardly thrown on. And I’ve seen newsletters, emails and other marketing materials where CopyDoodles were incorrectly used, resized, or looked terrible when printed because the person using them didn’t understand the fundamental concepts, techniques and psychology behind the proper use of CopyDoodles.

Truly, there is an art and science behind using CopyDoodles and copy cosmetics in general, which is why for the first time in 3.5 years, I am hosting a four-part, six hour CopyDoodles Best Practices Webinar Series for individuals interested in understanding the best ways to maximize the use of CopyDoodles.

Never before have I covered the A to Z theories, strategies, technical tips and short-cuts in such a concise, easy-to-attend and easy-to-understand way as with this series of webinars that you can attend from the comfort of your home or office.

This will be the most complete, advanced, with “insider secrets” training I have ever done on the power and use of CopyDoodles in both offline and online marketing. Even if you’re an experience CopyDoodles user, you will learn new ways to improve the look and response of your marketing.

The fee to attend the live webinars (and get access to the video replays) is downright cheap. I hate to use that word, but it’s a fact. For the level of training and insights I am going to deliver on these webinars, you’ll be kicking yourself for missing it. Just one, simple idea or strategy taken from the six hours of training could provide a phenomenal return on your investment.

Check out http://www.copydoodles.com/training for all the details, including my risk-free guarantee.

Today, unfortunately, many marketers thumb their noses at the timeless and proven strategies used by the legends of direct response marketing like John Caples, David Ogilvy and others in favor of the shiny-object-du-jour.

And while technology and improvements in marketing and advertising a business are always welcome, it should not come at the expense of studying, understanding and applying the strategies that have worked in the past.

One such marketing strategy, often used in the 20^th century, was the use of comics and cartoons to grab attention and increase marketing response.  Many of the most successful brands relied on the attention-grabbing power of cartoons when promoting their products, though it is one of the best ways to advertise.

In his classic book “How to Make Your Advertising Make Money,” the famous copywriter and marketer, John Caples said,

“For more than 50 years readership studies have shown that comic strips are among the best read features in publications.  Making an ad look like a comic strip can greatly increase readership.”

So why aren’t more marketers and those advertising a business using cartoons and comics today?

Is it because they no longer work?

Or, we’ve become too sophisticated?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I believe there are several reasons, but one of the biggest is that with all the technology advancements we have, we all tend to forget the more basic and fundamental strategies for boosting response (this is the reason all smart marketers and copywriters use CopyDoodles®).

Tapping into the emotional connection of cartoons is an example of this oversight and it leaves the smart marketer with a huge advantage.

Advertising Age magazine had a huge advantage with the success it created with their personalized cartoon campaign back in the early 1990’s.   By using a cartoon with a personalized caption on the envelope, letter and response form, Advertising Age created a super successful marketing campaign.

Now you too can tap into the power of personalized cartoons and I show you exactly how to do it in the 12 minute video on Mike Capuzzi TV.  The techniques I show on this video could be worth thousands of dollars to you when you’re advertising a business, and best of all, anybody can use them to create attention-grabbing marketing.

I have used these strategies successfully and so have many of my students and I believe so much in the power of cartoons and comics, I have created almost 500 (and the number is still growing) customizable CopyComics, which can be found on our CopyDoodles Access Club site.

CopyComics are copyright-free cartoons that you can quickly and easily personalize.  You can use them either for print marketing or Internet marketing and in both cases, when used correctly, they will boost the attention-grabbing power of your marketing when advertising a business!
Want a more in-depth lesson so you can discover how to effectively increase the attention-grabbing power of your copy with comics and cartoons? Check out my Home Study Course and Cd-Rom: How to Boost Response with Cartoons

These days few things stand out on many business web sites and it's as if many sites come from the same cookie-cutter mold.  Business owners and entrepreneurs are missing out on relationship-building and income-producing opportunities, simply because their web sites fail to grab the attention of viewers.

Smart marketers use a collection of proven response-boosting web strategies to grab the attention of these potentially valuable eyeballs and while there is no one, single "killer" strategy, adding the uniqueness of handwriting and hand drawn doodles to your web site is a proven response booster.

I suppose it's the jolt of seeing something so personal and hand-made on something that is computer-generated that shocks the eyes and brain to take a pause and try to register what in fact you're seeing.  Regardless it works and done right, can yield big bumps in response.

As a matter of fact, copywriter Mike Humphreys constantly split-tests elements on his various web sites and found that by adding a single CopyDoodle next to an optin box, he received a 297% bump in the number of people who opted in versus without the CopyDoodle.  Click here to read Mike's own article on his split test results.

Unfortunately, unless you were an HTML guru, adding CopyDoodles to web sites was limited to placing them around and next to things and being able to "write on top" of your web pages was next to impossible.

UNTIL NOW!

With the release of my CopyDoodles® Access Club, members will be able to quickly and easily "drag and drop" CopyDoodles, CopyFlash and CopyStamps ON TOP of their web pages to create a super realistic effect of literally handwriting on your site.

Check out videos where I show you how simple we've made this under "Demos" on the site:

http://www.copydoodles.com

Now just about anybody who can drag and drop and cut and paste code can add these proven response-boosting CopyDoodles and more to their web pages.  One beta tester called it a "game changer."

See for yourself and watch my CopyDoodles Access Club demo videos at:

http://www.copydoodles.com

My fax back was short and to the point… HELL YEAH!!!

I own the very first edition (1990) of The Ultimate Sales Letter and it was the book that introduced me to Dan Kennedy and his powerful marketing strategies.  To be asked personally by Dan to contribute to the 2011 edition of this book is an honor and shows how important Dan considers the topic of “copy cosmetics.”

As a matter of fact, back in May, I was the guest of Dan at his Business of Copywriting Academy where I discussed the topic of copy cosmetics and the critical relationship between HOW your copy looks and the response it gets.

Over the past few years, I’ve immersed myself in the study of copy cosmetic techniques and strategies.  One of these techniques includes the use of handwritten margin notes and doodles, which triggered the idea for CopyDoodles® first for my own client work and most recently for thousands of business owners around the world.

Copy cosmetics are an often overlooked, but critically important topic for any direct response marketer or copywriter.  Their proper use allows you to create attention-grabbing marketing that is easy (and fun) to read and makes an emotional connection with the reader.  Plus they set you apart from the 97% of marketers who don’t use them.

Plain Vanilla Letter

Letter Using Several Copy Cosmetic Strategies!

I’ve already started working on the chapter outline and I’ve identified 27 unique copy cosmetic strategies everybody should be using when crafting their copy (online or offline – it doesn’t matter).

Just today I was interviewed by restaurant marketing expert Rory Fatt, on how independent restaurant owners can use these techniques (if you would like a copy of this interview along with a cheat sheet of 27 techniques I will be writing about in the next edition of The Ultimate Sales Letter, simply share your copy cosmetic thoughts below and I will make sure we email it to you when it’s ready).

Mike Capuzzi presenting at Dan Kennedy’s Business of Copywriting Academy

This intense two-day workshop was designed to help professional copywriters improve their business by learning the fundamental marketing and business strategies Dan is so famous for.  Dan literally pealed back the curtains to his own copywriting business and showed attendees the nuts, bolts (and even warts) of how he built a seven figure copywriting business.

Mike Capuzzi & Dan Kennedy

Even though I was a guest, I still took pages of notes and was reminded of so many important success strategies we all need to be aware of in our businesses.  The most fundamental being one I first read from Napoleon Hill in his September 1921 edition of his magazine, “Hill’s Golden Rule.”

The September 1921 issue of Napoleon Hill’s “Hill’s Golden Rule”

In the issue of his magazine, Napoleon Hill wrote an article entitled “The End of the Rainbow,” where he described a number of turning points in his life and how they affected his path to success.

One idea in particular was fundamental to all others and in Hill’s own words, he writes,

“Here I got hold of the idea that it would pay me to perform more service and better service than what I was actually paid to perform.  This idea has become a fixed principle with me, and it now modifies all of my actions wherein I render service.”

Take a moment and re-read Hill’s words.  While I am sure the idea is not new to you, Hill’s simple idea is profound and truly a key to success for everybody reading this article.   Imagine if every business owner would deliver MORE service and BETTER service than what he or she was actually paid for.

I wonder what this would look like? And more importantly how can you and I make sure we are following this fundamental principle?

After being reminded by both Dan Kennedy and Napoleon Hill, I spent this past weekend remapping some of my own business strategies to ensure I was delivering more than what my own clients and customers were expecting and paying for.

The big result was a “new member” campaign together for members of my soon-to-be-released CopyDoodles Access Club.  My goal is to create an extraordinary experience for all new members and to do as much as I possibly can to help them improve their own businesses.   The campaign consists of emails, direct mail and a very valuable, surprise bonuses that all new members will receive automatically – and without them having to ask.

In 2010, no entrepreneur or business owner can afford to have gaps in their business and marketing.  Now is a great time to consider tightening up your own business practices.

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.

I believe I am working on one of the most comprehensive and in-depth looks into "copywriting cosmetics" and how they can improve response when used correctly.

How their copywriting and marketing projects look is often given little consideration by the marketer, yet it's critical for getting the attention of the target and ensuring the required call-to-action is taken.

I've identified 37 strategies every copywriter, marketer and business owner should be using in their offline and online marketing to improve response and I back them up with real-world illustrations and results.

With so much time invested in this, I am planning on turning this presentation into a full-blown book and two-day workshop.  Stay tuned for details.

My presentation will also include a look at my CopyDoodles.com and how people all around the world are using this one-of-a-kind copywriting and sales-letter resource.  Check it out at www.copydoodles.com!

If you are going to the SuperConference, I invite you to attend my session on Friday, May 1 at 8:00 AM in the main breakout room.  Sure, it's early, but I will make sure it's worth your time.

The GKIC SuperConference is THE place where smart entrepreneurs gather and speaking of entrepreneurs, yesterday I took a break to sit out on my deck and enjoy the warm spring sun.

I brought out a stack of old Dan Kennedy newsletters from the 1990's and was reading through them when I came across this humorous story of what makes entrepreneurs tick.  I remember reading this a while ago and enjoying it, so I thought I would share it with you...

A wife discovers her husband standing over their newborn's crib.  As he watches the sleeping infant, she sees on his face a mixture of emotions; disbelief, delight, amazement, enchantment.  Eyes glistening, she slips her arms around him.  "A penny for your thoughts," she whispers in his ear.

"It's incredible," he replies - "How can anybody make a crib like that for only $46.50 and make a profit?"

Not familiar with GKIC-Philly?  GKIC-Philly is a group of over 180 business owners, sales and marketing professionals, entrepreneurs, and professional practice owners interested in learning more about the direct marketing strategies and techniques taught by marketing gurus, Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer and Michael Capuzzi.

GKIC-Philly offers you a unique opportunity to learn about direct marketing that goes against traditional, big, dumb marketing you see around every day.  Our type of marketing is measurable, affordable, and effective and yet we are not right for everybody.

GKIC-Philly is a resource for entrepreneurs who believe in "outside-the-box" thinking and ideas.  We are completely different than business referral groups and nothing like your local Chamber of Commerce. 

We are 100% focused on learning about marketing that works.Learn more at http://gkic-philly.com