A tale of two slogans...

One may have cost you money; the other could make you money.

Where do you think most time and money is wasted in advertising?

I wager it is in trying to concoct slogans.

Everyone thinks they need one (they don't).

And most are either boastful piffle, sad rip-offs or downright incomprehensible.

Maybe that's because It’s incredibly hard to think up one which is true, memorable and seizes the attention.

But one of the best ever was written the year I was born - 1936.

It is so potent that it inspired a film title.

It worked because it was absolutely true and it’s still running today.

It is “A diamond is forever".

The other is the slogan of what was once America’s oldest advertising agency - N.W. Ayer - whose office was next to Ogilvy’s when I worked with them.

It was "Keeping everlastingly at it."

It didn't help them very much because eventually they went broke.

But it is very instructive.

And I'm quoting it to tell you how often you should communicate with prospects, and how long you should keep at it before kicking the idea into touch.

Most people think if they email people too often, they will get bored and resent them.

They certainly will if you send dull messages.

As David Ogilvy said, "You cannot bore people into buying".

But I usually email you, and thousands of other people seven times a week.

And until you tell me to stop, I keep at it.

So I do keep everlastingly at it.

Why do I do it so often? Why do I keep doing it? Am I mad?

Well, let me tell you two facts a lot of people don't know.

The first was well put by a brilliant guy called Murray Raphael.

Murray had a retail business so he knew exactly, from experience, all about selling.

And he used to say, "Your customers want to buy when they want to buy, not when you want to sell".

You do not know when somebody's going to want to buy from you.

What's more, research I saw years ago said that when selling to businesses, you should bear in mind that it takes an average of two years from when somebody heaves up on your horizon, and the time they actually buy.

And consider this: if the average is two years, it could be four years before they buy, or five years. I have known it to take 24 years. Really.

So, you've got those two facts.to consider when deciding how often and for how long you keep communicating.

So now you know why I do what I do.

Now the problem is, of course, that it's not very easy to come up with ideas every day.

I seem to manage it, maybe because I'm a sad-person who spends far too much time thinking about marketing.

And my partners, who write a few of these emails, seem to have been infected with the same disease

And maybe my memory is shit, but I cannot recall anyone ever writing to complain we are boring them.

Actually I get pretty constant flow of people saying they love our emails.

But if you don't have enough ideas, and you can't think of ways of communicating with people all the time, just drop my partner a jolly little line and we'll sort you out in no time at all.

What's more, it will work. I know it will work because 97.5% of the time it does.

Best,

Drayton

P.S. Know anyone who'd appreciate my Bird Droppings? Tell them to sign up to my mailing list here (dg250.infusionsoft.com/app/form/signup).