A while back I blogged about the deceptive advertising practices by FreeCreditReport.com (sorry no link for bad boys). Today’s NY Times echoes my dismay. FCR, which is actually owned by the big credit reporting service Experian, claim to offer “free” credit reports, but they actually require enrollment in a $15/month paid service. “Consumer groups have […]
Category Archives: marketing
Are you suffering from "Premature Pop-up?"
Too many information marketers are making the same stupid mistake. Seconds after you arrive at their site, a pop-up (or slide-in) window appears, asking you to fork over your precious contact information. Hey man, I don’t even know you. Just like in comedy, the secret is… (one, two, three) timing. Why would I be willing […]
Free gas and the psychology of copywriting
It will be the hottest marketing promotion of the summer — until it runs out of gas. Companies of all kinds are giving away tankfuls of free gas as long as you buy something: a new car, hotel room, even Calloway golf clubs. With $4 a gallon fuel prices and $50-75 fill-ups becoming part of […]
Google says I'm the #1 copywriter
Well, for the search term “b2b sales letters” anyway. It’s true. Of all the millions of copywriters in all the gin joints in all the world, my modest copywriting site shows up first when you Google that term. That’s way cool, I gotta admit. Even cooler is how I found out. I got a call […]
Is this the ultimate product placement?
Look – up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane. No, it’s a corporate logo! An Alabama entrepreneur and former musician has taken product placement to new “heights.” Francisco Guerra has invented a cloud machine that creates clouds in the shape of corporate logos, then floats them off into the sky. His “Flogos” […]
Did you let a good one get away?
Seth reminds us of the first rule of b2b selling: “If it gets to the RFP (Request for Proposals) stage, you lost.” In other words, you should already have dazzled the prospect with your knowledge and ideas and closed the deal — long before it ever reached that point. As Godin put it: “The RFP […]
Free Credit Report: deceptive advertising?
“What the headline giveth, the small print taketh away,” grumbles the old advertising cynic. Sad to say it’s true, even in this era of supposed transparency. Take the TV ads for FreeCreditReport.com. A young guy dressed like a pirate, singing (OK, lip-syncing) a catchy little tune about he’s stuck in this nowhere job because his […]