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Comapnies, Advertising, Business, Money
Make It Short, Snappy, With Punch
By Jim Whelan, The Joan Randall Agency
Thursday, August 9, 2007
I'm sittin in my hotel room in Helsinkireading some email letters from companiesthat would like to do business with me, andthey are so boring itz like watching paintpeel.
These companies need to spend some money!
They need to spend some money on peoplewho know how to write a letter that getzsomeone's attention. Most of the stuff I getlooks like it was copied out of the Bad WritersManual. Thatz a required course (BWM 101) atmost colleges and universities, which is wherebad writers invariably go.
They migrate there just like lousy businessteachers, and penny ante philosophers. I havealways thought that the main function of the EnglishDepartment on most campuses was to ruin anylove we have of reading books.
I think we can trace the decline of readingdirectly to English professors, most of whomhave a problem with this, or a problem with that.Most of them have never met a book they liked,and now with all this political correctness crapthey don't teach the very men who can help youget it right.
Which all leads back to where I started with thesnoozaroo letters of introduction.
Then just about as I was ready to fall asleep onmy laptop I got this:
"Good Morning Mr. Whelan,
I'm going to speak plainly to you, like one cowboyto another.
Put very simply, finding the right place to advertisecan be a real pain in the ass."
NOW thatz an opening!
I was already looking for the email address andphone number. I gotz to talk to anybody thatwrites like that. They know what the game isall about. They got my attention fast.
The entire letter is just three short paragraphs.
But itz got what I want.
Itz short, snappy, with punch.
Itz definitely not the typical garbage that getzsent to me on a daily basis, and that I recycleas soon as I open it.
Stuffy just doesn't cut it with me, and I don'tcare if you're an accountant or a graphic designer.
If you want to get my attention, you had bettertoss your university training out the window, anduse the old noggin.
SHOW ME THE WRITING!
Take a chance, and actually say what you mean.A little humor would be good too.
Remember the title of that book?
"First, Break All The Rules."
Thatz what I did. Thatz why I'm successful.
You might like to give it a try yourself.
From the big saddle,Jim Whelan
