So, just to recap, the reason I take the time to write you these personal notes each week is that I firmly believe that every good relationship is built on value.
That goes for my clients (for whom, I hope these posts can provide significant value, outside of the financial and recordkeeping work we do on your behalf), those who are still “looking” (for whom I hope these posts give a flavor for the kind of people you may deal with), and for mybusiness owner associates in Newtown Square, PA and nationally (for whom I provide these as encouragement).
Bottom line: I like to help my business-owner friends do very well in the midst of all the national (and international) gyrations we’re facing.
Which is why it’s NEVER a bad idea to reach for the tried and true. In this case, I’m referring to a gentleman by the name of Claude Hopkins, best known for his work, Scientific Advertising.
You know me–I parse language and numbers for my clients. Which is why I gravitate toward accurate, and tested approaches, like Mr. Hopkins’. He’s a bit of a classic among those who study marketing (and his famous work was published almost 100 years ago).
But if you like what you read, at the bottom of this post, I’ve got a link to where you can get yourself an online version of his classic text. Enjoy…
Stephen Venuti’s BIG IDEA: Testing Our Marketing Hypotheses
“The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie.” – Ann Landers
You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.
Yikes. That jingle is so old, it scares me that I know it. Pepsodent used to be the 800-pound gorilla of toothpaste. In 1927, Pepsodent was sold in 52 countries and advertised in 17 different languages. And yet, it was less than 100 years ago that toothpaste was considered a frivolous item … almost impossible to sell.
Claude Hopkins was one of those who “cracked the code” on toothpaste sales. And he “scientifically stumbled” across the marketing formula that made him a million dollars. (Before 1925!)
To his shock – as a seasoned 30-year veteran and master of direct response marketing – much of his winning marketing formula ran counter to everything he had previously learned. (For example, he was shocked to learn that the word “free” reduced response to toothpaste sales. This remains the only case where I have ever seen that to be true.)
The wisdom he passed on from his Pepsodent experience? “What is the lesson? It is that none of us can afford to rely on judgment or experience … After this experience, I can cite a hundred ways to advertise a tooth paste wrongly. Pepsodent offers the best argument I know for being guided by actual data.”
What kind of actual data? Every ad, measured. Every lead, measured. Every sale, measured.
Of course, you should always start out with what we “know” to be true. But the breakthroughs come from accurate and scientific testing, testing, testing.
For more of Mr. Hopkins, and a book that you should very much check out, go here:
http://scientificadvertising.blogspot.com/
Feel very free forward this article to a Newtown Square, PA business associate or client you know who could benefit from our assistance — or simply send them our way? While these particular articles usually relate to business strategy, as you know, at Stephen J. Venuti, CPA, MST, LLC we specialize in tax preparation and planning for Newtown Square, PAfamilies and business owners. And we always make room for referrals from trusted sources like you.
Warmly (and until next week),
Stephen Venuti
610-353-0686
Stephen J. Venuti, CPA, MST, LLC
