Small Business Marketing Best Practices

The Anatomy of a Winning Postcard

You probably get a lot of postcards as I do. Being anastute marketer, I always take time to look through allof my mail and I pick out stuff that catches my eye.I put that stuff in my swipe file to refer to later. But I often shake my head in disbelief sometimes at themail that I receive. Some of it is downright rotten. At times, I can't believe someone is actually spendingmoney to send this stuff out.


Case in Point...

Yesterday, I got a postcard from a guy named MikeCzarowitz who is a local real estate agent. Apparently, he just joined Remax and recently moved hisreal estate practice to Friendswood. Well, he sent out an announcement to let people knowabout his new affiliation with Remax. I would imaginethat he paid a good amount of money to send this cardout to everyone in my neighborhood. Here's the postcard I received:

Front Side -> http://url123.com/kdu2n

Back Side -> http://url123.com/kmcd2(copy and paste the links into your browser)If you even have half a marketing brain you can see whythis is a losing postcard. But let's take a look atwhat it's lacking...

* Problem # 1
No compelling headline (he uses his name as theheadline...don't do this!)

* Problem # 2
The bulk of the postcard is taken up with the Remaxlogo (No one cares about Remax, they care about theirown problems, and how you're going to solve them!)

* Problem # 3
He gives absolutely no reason to respond.

* Problem # 4
His call to action is "Please stop in and say hello,the coffee pot is always on." Pleeeeaaase!

* Problem # 5
He completely wastes the address sideof this postcard. There is no information on itwhatsoever.


I Decided to Take This Postcard and Give It a CompleteDesign Makeover and Turn It Into a Lead GeneratingMachine - - Here It Is...

As a favor to Mike Czarowitz (the realtor who sent outthe loser postcard) I took some time to completelyredesign his postcard so that it would generate leadsrather than just "get the word out there."

Here it is...Front Side
* http://url123.com/km5mb


Here's a Few Things to Take Note of When Reviewing theRedesigned Version of Mike's Postcard.


* Change # 1 -
The HeadlineThe billboard side of the postcard starts out with abig bold headline. I'll admit, it's not the mostpowerful headline but it does evoke curiosity and makesyou want to read the subheadline (which is the primaryjob of the headline).

* Change # 2 - The Subheadline
The subheadline gives a very bold promise (although 30days would be better). One important element of thesubhead is that it includes the phrase "or Someone YouKnow," which forces the reader to think of theirfriends and not only themselves.

* Change # 3 - The Photo
People like to know who is communicating with them.Putting a photo of yourself brings a warmth andcloseness and lowers the distrust barrier that we allfeel with someone we don't know.

* Change # 4 - The Caption
Below every photo you should always include a captionbecause when the eye looks at the photo it will always,100% of the time, look at the caption as well.I not only introduced Mike's name but I used a boxedcaption that highlights his expert status and furtherlowers the distrust barrier.

* Change # 5 - The Copy
The copy on this postcard starts out by filtering outprospects simply by asking whether they're thinking ofselling their home.It also introduces the "60 Day Home Selling System" andattempts to create some curiosity so that the readerwill turn the postcard over and read the offer.You'll also notice that I used a "handwriting" font.This is a special font that looks like it's beenhandwritten. It's just one more element that serves topersonalize my postcard.

* Change # 6 - The Call-to-Action
The objective of the billboard side's call-to-action issimply to turn the postcard over. Although that soundsunnecessary, it leads the reader one step further downyour sales path.

_______________________________________________________

Now Let's Take a Look at the Address Side and See WhatMakes It So Powerful

_______________________________________________________

The address side of the newly redesigned postcard iswhat gets the phone to ring. Here's what the address side looks like:

Address Side
* http://url123.com/kmk3d(copy and paste the links into your browser) Here are a few changes I made on the address side thatmake it powerful.

* Change # 7 - The Headline
Notice that I started out the address side of thispostcard with a compelling headline. The headlinetells people exactly what I want them to do.NOTE: By the way, ALWAYS start out your marketingmaterial with compelling headlines.

* Change # 8 - The Arrow
You'll see that I've included an arrow on the righthand side of the headline. I did that to pull thereaders eye to the special report that I want them toorder.

* Change # 9 - The Copy
I start out my copy calling the reader "DearFriendswood Neighbor." The word "Friendswood" willcapture readers attention because they live inFriendswood. All I want to do in my first paragraph is to get thereader to read my second paragraph so I stir upcuriosity to keep the reader going. I then promise the reader that my system will selltheir home in 60 days and to find out how I do thatthey'll need to order my fr^e report.

* Change # 10 - The Graphic
As you can see, I've included a graphic of my special report to show readers what it looks like. This bringsa realism to my offer and it helps people to visualizewhat they'll be receiving.

* Change # 11 - The Call-to-Action
The caption to the graphic includes my call to action. This line WILL get read 100% of the time. It givesSPECIFIC instructions on what I want the caller to do.

* Change # 12 - The Phone Number
Notice that I put the hotline phone number in reversetype. This makes the number clearly stand out.I've also included the words, "24 Hr. Recorded Msg.,"which lets the reader know that they aren't going toget someone on the other side of the phone call tryingto give them a hard sell. I've personally found this one line of text to increasemy response rate by about 12% - 20%.

* Change # 13 - The Address
Look at what a small space I've allocated to theaddress. Now look at how much space I've used for mymessage. Don't make the mistake of using the wholeside of the postcard just for your address (or evenhalf the side for that matter).


Now Which Postcard Would You Rather Mail?

If you've hung in with me this long then you've got areal lesson in writing compelling copy and postcardmarketing. I hope you enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. Just imagine, for the exact same cost that Mikeincurred sending the original postcard, he could havesent the redesigned postcard. Same cost - - 10 times the response. Which postcard would you rather mail?


This Is Only a Fraction of What You'll Learn...

...in my new "Killer Postcards" marketing course thatwill be released shortly. In the next month I'll be releasing the mostcomprehensive and in depth postcard marketing courseever developed (I should know, I have all the postcardmarketing courses on the market).I've been working on this home-study course for over 6months so I haven't left anything out.

Keep an eye out for it.