Effective Inserts

Marketing inserts are a great way to leverage the money you spend on receipts and product fulfillments. A recent Direct Marketing Association seminar outlined several attributes of a good direct mail insert.

? Strong headlines that instantly position the product and identify the target audience;

? An offer that is presented as early as possible and repeated throughout the piece;

? Concise copy;

? Design and graphics that lead the reader's eye to the order and/or call to action;

? Order devices that are easy to fill out, easy to cut out and easy to return;

? Creative that dramatizes the offer; and

? Involvement devices such as stickers and scratch-offs that draw attention to the call to action.

A Hearty Welcome

Our team is pleased to welcome a new business to the growing family of fine Holland|Simpson clients?Labrador Apparel.

We want to thank owner/founder Mike Love for his confidence in entrusting his excellent brand to us. We'll treat it like it was our own and look forward to being a part of the ongoing success story of Labrador Apparel.

Quality Over Quantity

It's not necessarily how many people visit your website, it's "which" people. So says this recent article from I-Media on the subject of "Targeting."

Here's the money quote:
"...it's all about "understanding where a person's interests lie based on their previous online behavior."

Feeling MPower-ed

Appreciated the opportunity to speak at one of the breakout sessions at MPower Systems' annual users conference this week. My topic was, "The Art (and Science) of the Ministry Letter.

MPower puts on a great conference and it was clear they have a lot of ministries excited about their new donor development database application.

Big Fun

Jonah Goldberg is really enjoying watching the Dan Rather/CBS debacle. As am I.

An excerpt:

"This story is truly God's Own Pi?ata, you can bash it from any angle and nothing but sweet, sweet goodness flows out."

And another:

"Meanwhile, Dan Rather has dug in for dear life, ridiculing his critics and dismissing pretty much anyone who has eyes to see the truth as a "partisan," while the CBS front office continues to break off bits of it credibility like a man who feeds an alligator one body part at a time."

Impracticality Reaches New Levels

The new oversized SUV from International (called the CXT) is perfect for men with no common sense, lots of cash and extremely red necks...

Read about this monstrosity

The More Things Change...

Dan Rather just said that if "the memos" turn out to be forgeries, he "wants to be the first to break the story."

With that in mind, check out this amazing Bloom County comic strip from 1984.

Join the Revolution...

If you are apart of the shrinking percentage of Internet Explorer users you need to snap out of your Microsoft coma and join the Firefox community...

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/community/

Bill Gates beware...

We highly recommend...

...the best-selling book by our friend, Stephen Mansfield?The Faith of George W. Bush. (Click here to buy it.)

Stephen is currently working on a biography of the late Derek Prince for Holland|Simpson client, Derek Prince Ministries.

Also check out Stephen's web site and blog here.

New Bush-National Guard Memo Discovered

This could be a problem for the President...

Web-Based Politicking

Good article about how the political parties are using the Web to target specific groups.

"Smooth-Jazz the Vote!"

There's One Born Every Minute!

P. T. Barnum once postulated that there is "a sucker born every minute." Witness the fate of one long-time infomercialer's attempt to lure in a few...

Seller of Coral Calcium Banned From TV
United Press International, Sep 07, 09:05 PM

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it has banned Kevin Trudeau from TV infomercials for making false claims his product Coral Calcium cured cancer.

Trudeau has been ordered to pay the FTC $2 million to settle charges he falsely claimed Coral Calcium can cure cancer and other diseases and another one of his products, an analgesic, called Biotape, could cure or relieve severe pain.

Trudeau, who has appeared in or produced hundreds of infomercials, is banned from appearing in, producing, or disseminating future infomercials for any type of product, service, or program to the public.

In his infomercials, Trudeau said Coral Calcium Supreme, a dietary supplement that he said was made from Japanese marine coral, could cure cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, lupus and other illnesses.

Biotape was said to provide permanent relief from severe pain, including back pain, and pain from arthritis, sciatica, and migraines.

This ban is meant to shut down an infomercial empire that has misled American consumers for years, said Lydia Parnes, acting director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Bleat-y Fresh Goodness

James Lileks is one of the finest writer-columnist-bloggers in America. He was in fine form yesterday. Be sure to read all the way down to his rant about terrorism.

A New "Daypart"

According to an article in the current issue of American Demographics, in a few years the new "prime time" daypart for reaching adults with a marketing message will be their "at-work" hours--as more and more people are comfortable with spending more and more time on the Internet while at work.

Quoting from the article...

"All scenarios aside, a serious case can be made today for the workplace and work time as one of the biggest emerging 'dayparts' for marketers and their media planners to wrestle with, especially as demographics play out and the mass of the new generation passes across to young adulthood.

"This has major ramifications, not only for the currency of the 30-second prime-time TV spots, but on business-to-business channels, place-based media and events occuring on-site, where people work.

"For instance, 18-34-year-old Internet users see personal use at work as a right, not a privilege. Almost half of them use workplace Internet access for personal activities "all the time or often."

Free Philly WiFi?

In an effort to make a name for themselves for something other than the cheesesteak sandwhich, Philadelphia contemplates offering free wireless internet for everyone within a 135 square mile radius. Read it for yourselves.

If You Think I've Been Good This Year...

Feel free to get me one of these for Christmas...