Keeping It Real

Direct response copywriting legend Herschell Gordon Lewis recently gave a standing-room-only talk to a group of direct mail letter writers. One piece of advice he gave...

"Write like people talk. The Internet has made us all more casual in our language, so your direct response copy should follow suit. Avoid the trickiness, overly formal language and pomposity that will turn prospects off. "We are not being graded on an academic basis," asserts Lewis. "We deal in response.""

I agree wholeheartedly. Too much ministry mail is written as if it will be graded by our 9th grade English teacher. The goal of ministry mail is to communicate powerfully and get a response. End of story.

That's certainly what we keep in mind as we help our clients.