Joe Girard still holds the record for the “World’s Greatest Salesman,” even though more than three decades have passed since his achievement.

Why does he still hold this record?

It’s simple. Girard was the #1 car and truck salesman in the U.S. for 12 years straight. Between 1963 and 1978, he sold a total of 13,001 vehicles. All of them were sold one-to-one, which means every sale was a direct retail sale. Not one of his sales were fleet sales.

Even more amazing, his single-year record (1973) for number of cars and trucks sold is 1,425. That is an average of 4.57 cars and trucks sold per day, not counting Sundays (1,425 / 312 days).

How Did He Do It?

Girard’s selling approach was fairly simple. In the book Ten Greatest Salespersons by Robert L. Shook, Girard says: “‘I have no big secrets which nobody else has.’ Joe smiles. ‘I simply sell the world’s best product, that’s all. I sell Joe Girard!‘”

Girard knew that customers buy from people they know, like, and trust. So he focused most of his energy on establishing rapport with his customers and becoming likeable. It’s probably safe to say that nobody before or since has executed sincere salesmanship as well as Joe Girard did.

Of course, Girard used a variety of techniques to support his selling strategy, one of which was to send out greeting cards to his customers every single month.

Joe Says “I Like You” 13,000 Times Each Month!

Joe’s customers won’t forget him once they buy a car from him; he won’t let them! Every month throughout the year, they get a letter from him. It arrives in a plain envelope, always a different size or color. “It doesn’t look like that junk mail which is thrown out before it’s even opened,” Joe confides. “And they open it up, and the front of it reads, ‘I LIKE YOU.’ Inside it says, ‘Happy New Year, from Joe Girard’” He sends a card in February wishing customers a “Happy George Washington’s Day.” In March, it’s “Happy St. Patrick’s Day.”

[...]

“D’ya know that I send out over 13,000 cards every month? And everyone of them says, ‘I like you… Have a Happy Fourth of July,’ or ‘I like you… Happy Thanksgiving.’ There’s nothin’ else on the card. Nothin’ but my name. I’m just telling ‘em that I like ‘em.”

Sending out cards like Girard did is a simple way to stay in touch and earn repeat business from customers and clients.

Now, I can’t imagine the logistics of sending out 13,000 cards a month back in the 1970s. Thankfully, doing the same thing today is MUCH easier…

Send Out Hundreds of Cards in Minutes!

With Send Out Cards, once a contact is in your database, you don’t have to think about it anymore. Just assign all your customers or clients to a group called “Customers” or “Clients.”

Then, whenever you want to send a card, simply create a card (takes 5 minutes or less) and send it to the whole group.

You never have to drive to the grocery store for an overpriced greeting card or hand-address an envelope again.

Send Out Cards is super simple.

Super fast.

And super affordable. (Each card is about $1 each, and that includes postage!)

Create Autoresponders with Physical Greeting Cards

Another cool thing about Send Out Cards is that you can create “autoresponders.” Except these autoresponders are not emails, but rather real, physical cards.

So, if you wanted, you could have a 12-month new-customer autoresponder that sends out a predetermined card and message each month for 12 months.

You could set up autoresponders of any length for any type of event in your business: reminders for the next oil change… 30/60/90-day follow-ups from purchase… reminders to attend a webinar or live event… and so forth.

I’ll Pay for You to Send a Card

There’s no better way to get a feel for whether you will like something or not than a real-life demonstration. So if you’re game, I’ll pay for you to send a card to somebody in your life. Could be your spouse, a child, a customer — whomever you want.

Here’s what to do:

Click here to go to the Send Out Cards site. First, watch the 3-minute video. Then try it out by sending a card using my account. Remember, I’m paying for it.

Here’s what you’ll see when you click the link. Click the “Send a Free Card” button after you watch the video.

My Best,

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Every year I try dozens of new WordPress plugins, software programs, services, and business tools. Only a fraction of them live up to my expectations. Send Out Cards is one of the few that’s made the cut, which is why I’ve been using it regularly since 2008.Similar Posts:

• Business Cards in a Pinch
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• Nurture Your Network
• Is It Spam or Is It Something Else?
• How to Get My Print Newsletter for Free

When you are testing two direct mail pieces against each other, it is not always easy to determine a winner.

Unless, of course, you are basing it solely on initial responses.

One piece brings in 42 orders; the other brings in 55. You have a winner!

Or do you?

The truth is, direct mail pieces not only affect the number of initial orders; they also affect the lifetime value of the customer.

In the introduction to Million Dollar Mailings, Denny Hatch shares this interesting case study:

Circulation consultant Gordon Grossman illustrates the need for a precise understanding of the arithmetic in direct mail in his eye-opening analysis of the long-term value of the full-dress direct mail package (outer envelope, letter, circular, order card, etc.) vs. its cheaper cousin, the double postcard. At the end of year one of a mailing of 100,000 pieces, the double postcard brought in 955 paid subscribers and a profit of $2,418 vs. 900 subs for the control package and a loss of $4,436 for a swing of $6,854.

Based on this math, it appears that the postcard is the winner. But if you declared it the winner at this point in time, you’d have made a big mistake.

Hatch continues:

However, at the end of year five — after carefully tracking payments and renewals — the full-dress package was responsible for a net of 2,024 paid subs and a lifetime value of $53,803 vs. 1,517 postcard subs who paid $33,160.

In other words, in direct mail (and direct marketing in general) lifetime value is everything in terms of the health and growth of a business.

What are you basing your decisions on: initial orders or lifetime value?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Direct Mail for Newsletters
• Direct Mail Advertising – A Few Observations
• Why You Should Never Claim You’re the Best
• The Ultimate Risk Reversal
• Ripped Off… Again

I’m reading Bossypants by Tina Fey. It’s hilarious, but also includes some useful lessons and anecdotes about life as a writer.

On page 123, Fey writes about “Things I Learned from Lorne Michaels.” (In case you don’t know, Lorne Michaels is the creator and producer of Saturday Night Live. He is the guy who hired Tina Fey for SNL and later helped her start 30 Rock.)

Anyway, here’s the second lesson Fey learned from Michaels:

“The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.”

This is something Lorne has said often about Saturday Night Live, but I think it’s a great lesson about not being too precious about your writing. You have to try your hardest to be at the top of your game and improve every joke you can until the last possible second, and then you have to let it go.

You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water-slide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute. (And I’m from a generation where a lot of people died on water-slides, so this was an important lesson for me to learn.) You have to let people see what you wrote. It will never be perfect, but perfect is overrated. Perfect is boring on live TV.

When it comes to writing for a living, there is no such thing as perfection: only deadlines and results.

If you are a comedy writer (like Tina Fey), the audience either laughs at your jokes or they don’t.

If you are a direct response copywriter (like me), the market either responds to your sales letter or they don’t.

So forget about perfection.

Just do the best work you can possibly do in the limited time you have.

Then sit back, relax, and see what happens when you let go of your writing and let it do its thing.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Kevin Rogers Steps Up to the Microphone
• Blog to Build an Audience
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• Forgiveness in an Age of Revenge

The headlines and copy used in big brand ads are often so ridiculous they’re hardly worth commenting on.

But I found this post by Nancy Friedman both funny and interesting. She writes:

“X just got better” [is] a formula frequently employed by headline writers short on time and imagination.

She then lists 18 specific examples where this headline formula was used, each one as dull as the last.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Among her examples there is one exception that stands out like Christmas lights in July:

My favorite variation, though, comes from the dead trademark database: “The Oldest Virgin Around Just Got Better.” It was registered to the California Olive Corporation between 1997 and 2005.

I don’t know how many bottles of virgin olive oil this headline sold, but at least it’s interesting. If I saw that headline while flipping through a magazine, I’m pretty sure I’d at least read the first sentence to discover the tie-in.

Nevertheless, you ought to avoid trite formulas like “X just got better” or “X just got easier.” It’s not specific and it requires the reader to think too much.

Instead of saying that your product just got better, why not tell your over-stimulated reader precisely how your product is better — right there in the headline!

I know, it’s a novel thought.

But that’s why you read this blog, right?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• David Ogilvy’s Great Headline Heist!
• Turning Research into Sales Copy
• Should a Direct Marketing Magazine Have Boring Headlines?
• Glyphius Predicts Winners 70.1% of the Time?
• Do Questions Work as Headlines?

At the beginning of the year, I began publishing five days a week on my blog. I plan to continue publishing daily, Monday through Friday, for the remainder of this year.

I also plan to send out short email notifications to let you know when new blog posts are published.

I began doing this January 1st, which triggered a higher-than-normal unsubscribe rate. This is because historically I’ve only sent out a couple emails each week. So five emails a week — even if they’re brief — is a big increase.

How to Decrease the Number of Emails You Get from Me

After about a week of the new schedule, a friend and subscriber sent me this brief note:

I love your stuff but I’m getting too much too fast, friend.

Is there a sub-list that slows it down? I hate to just unsubscribe.

Up until now I’ve not had a sub-list. I thought it was a good idea, so I’ve now created one.

When you subscribe using the form below, two things will happen:

1. You will be automatically unsubscribed from my primary email list.
2. You will be added to my “once per week” email list. This means you will get no more than one email per week.

So… want to decrease how often you hear from me? Just subscribe to my “slow it down” list below.

“Slow It Down, Ryan! I’d Prefer 1 Email a Week or Less…”

Sign up here to get on the “once a week” email list:

As always, thank you for being a subscriber. I value my relationship with you.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Important Blog Updates
• Bye-Bye Email Subscribe Button
• Updated: Copywriting Check List
• Reasons Why People Unsubscribe
• Is It Spam or Is It Something Else?

So I got this little gem of an email in my inbox this week.

GREETINGS MY NAME IS ANGEL AND I AM THE DIRECTOR OF MEDIA REPRESENTING VISUAL MEDIA IMPACT IN TARRYTOWN, N.Y. I AM EMAILING YOU BECAUSE I SEE POTENTIAL IN YOUR TRAFFICKING DUE TO MY EXPERTISE OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZING. I HAVE OVER 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH INTERFACE AND COMPUTER DEVELOPMENT AND WOULD LIKE TO RAISE YOUR CAPILIZATION RATES EXPONENTIALLY VIA- SPIDERS AND CRAWLERS AND OTHER COHERENT MECHANISMS AND STRATEGIC MANNERS WITH PAY-PER-CLICKS AND FULL SERVICE MARKETING MOBILE AND I-PAD XHTML APPLETS VIA-PORTABLE DEVICES. CALL ME ASAP! I NEED TO GIVE YOU A FREE CONSULTATION AND SEE YOUR FISCAL TOLERENCE LEVELS. IF AM AM NOT IN MY OFFICE TALK TO JERRY. I WANT TO FLY OR YOU FLY SO WE CAN GATHER PHOTOGRAPHS AND DEVELOP A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR VIDEOGRAPHY.

P.S- I’M PUTTING YOU ON MY FACEBOOK FOR “FREE!”

Wow. I’ve never had anybody tell me they wanted to “raise [my] capitalization rates exponentially via coherent mechanisms.”

It gets worse.

The email above was also accompanied by a voice message:

After introducing himself, “Angel” says he is “reaching abroad in a manner transcontinentally cuz I wanna network with you and I REALLY like you a lot.” After cumbersomely explaining what he does, he reveals he wants to “see my fiscal tolerance level.”

What begins as an over-the-top compliment is really just a poorly disguised sales pitch.

By the way, wasn’t it just this week that I warned you that flattery often precedes an effort to defraud?

Let’s look at all the red flags in this sales pitch:

• It begins with flattery — flattery from a stranger, no less!

• He wants to see my “fiscal tolerance level.” This phrase is designed to get the recipient to feel prideful (“Why, by Jove, I’m a man of means!”).

• He wants to fly out to see me. Again, another element to make the mark feel important.

• He mentions that he’s “put me on his Facebook for free.” Naturally, this is an effort to make me feel indebted so I will reciprocate by calling him back.

Three parts flattery plus one part reciprocity.

Overall, the pitch is perfectly horrid, even laughable.

But it’s a good example of how con men lead with flattery so you will lower your defenses.

Know the triggers and be on your guard. Not all efforts to defraud are as easy to spot as this one…

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Make Your Prospect Feel Special
• Three Business Models Explained
• Video #4: Copywriting Fees
• Answers to Your Most Important Questions About How to Build a Copywriting Business
• How to Spot a Con Man

Recently, fellow copywriter Robert Stover introduced me to the concept of ethos in sales copy.

Ethos literally means “character.” In other words, we often judge the persuasiveness of a sales message based on the character of the person who is doing the selling.

While the idea that some sales people are more trustworthy than others is not new to me, the formal concept of ethos is. In fact, it is one of three core components of argument discussed in Aristotle’s Rhetoric, the other two being logos and pathos.

There are three components that make up ethos:

phronesis – practical skills & wisdom
arete – virtue, goodness
eunoia – goodwill towards the audience

The first two are straightforward. The final item on this list might also be called motive. Why does the speaker want to persuade me? What does he stand to gain or lose?

Taken together, these three components make up ethos. Some people naturally have low ethos while others naturally have high ethos.

But ethos can also change based on context.

A person who has high ethos in one area of expertise may have low ethos in another because he lacks knowledge and experience. Even though such a person may be good and have the best intentions, his lack of expertise will negatively affect his perceived strength of character.

Real Examples of Ethos

Let’s look at the ethos of some real people…

Bernie Madoff would now have very low ethos if he tried to counsel you regarding your investment decisions. After all, he is serving 150 years for financial fraud.

But Madoff might have high ethos in another situation… for instance, if he were giving you advice on how to get around the Federal Correctional Complex at Butner, North Carolina, where he is imprisoned.

How about a real example of a person with high ethos? Very well.

Here is a brief letter written by John Garver, the 19-year-old nephew of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. You might think Santorum’s nephew would write a letter encouraging voters to support his uncle, but you’d be wrong.

Take a look:

The trouble with my uncle, Rick Santorum

If you want another big-government politician who supports the status quo to run our country, you should vote for my uncle, Rick Santorum. America is based on a strong belief in individual liberty. My uncle’s interventionist policies, both domestic and foreign, stem from his irrational fear of freedom not working.

It is not the government’s job to dictate to individuals how they must live. The Constitution was designed to protect individual liberty. My Uncle Rick cannot fathom a society in which people cooperate and work with each other freely. When Republicans were spending so much money under President Bush, my uncle was right there along with them as a senator. The reason we have so much debt is not only because of Democrats, but also because of big-spending Republicans like my Uncle Rick.

It is because of this inability of status quo politicians to recognize the importance of our individual liberties that I have been drawn to Ron Paul. Unlike my uncle, he does not believe that the American people are incapable of forming decisions. He believes that an individual is more powerful than any group (a notion our founding fathers also believed in).

Another important reason I support Ron Paul is his position on foreign policy. He is the only candidate willing to bring our troops home, not only from the Middle East, but from around the world.

Ron Paul seems to be the only candidate trying to win the election for a reason other than simply winning the election.

This year, I’ll vote for an honest change in our government. I’ll vote for real hope. I’ll vote for a real leader. This year, I will vote for Ron Paul.

John Garver is a 19-year-old student at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. John is a strong supporter of Ron Paul despite his love for family member Rick Santorum.

Garver’s letter is what inspired this post to begin with. Since Robert Stover had just recently talked to me about ethos, this piece of writing immediately stood out to me as having high ethos.

The author is a university student (knowledgeable), seems to be a good person, and is pure in motive. (Clearly, Garver could face some unpleasant repercussions by sharing such an unexpected opinion.)

3 Questions to Ask to Strengthen Your Ethos

Although I also happen to support Ron Paul, my purpose here is not to persuade you one way or the other. Rather, I want you to think carefully about the ethos you project in your sales messages.

• Are you coming across as experienced and knowledgeable on the subject you’re writing about?

• Will your readers perceive you as a good person? Does your likeability shine through the words of your message?

• Are you writing with sound motive? Are you acting for the primary benefit of your prospects?

These are important questions to answer.

The next time you write a sales message, think about how you can convey a stronger ethos, a stronger character. It could significantly improve your results.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• How the Media Tries to Get You to Vote for Bad Candidates
• The Illusion of Democracy
• The Eight-Month Letter Revealed
• To Those I’m Thankful For
• Workers of Iniquity in the Internet Marketing Cesspool

I recently wrote my first direct mail package for a newsletter that covers economic and geopolitical issues.

As part of my research, I read through portions of the direct mail books I’ve got on my shelves.

That’s when I came across this little gem on page 327 of Million Dollar Mailings by Denny Hatch.

Newsletters don’t lend themselves to long-term promotional efforts. They are by definition news and letters, private pipelines into the expertise of an editor or a research organization. They generally go to a narrowly defined audience that would quickly get tired of seeing the same envelope over and over and throw succeeding copies of the same effort away. (One technique to revive flagging controls: change your envelope.)

Plus… as industries and opportunities change, newsletters change, and those changes must be reflected in the promotional copy to make the publication and its editor seem au courant. For example, an investment letter that made people rich on stocks in the mid-80s would have had dramatically to change its story to attract new subscribers (and keep old ones) after the 501-point crash of the Dow on October 17, 1987.

This is why long-standing controls for newsletters are rare. They tend to tire more quickly than DM packages that sell other types of products.

Therefore, if a newsletter is at the heart of your business, it would be worthwhile to have a consistent schedule for testing new letters and approaches.

Test new approaches at least once a quarter; more frequently if you are a high-volume mailer.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you’re looking for a new direct mail package to beat your current control, give me a call. I’d love to help you bring in more subscribers this year.Similar Posts:

• How to Declare a Winner in a Direct Mail Test
• What to Do When a Sales Letter Fatigues
• Reasons Why People Unsubscribe
• How to Get My Print Newsletter for Free
• Direct Mail Advertising – A Few Observations

After creating a new product and writing a sales letter to sell it, it’s easy to let doubts creep in.

Is this sales letter good enough? you wonder.

You’ve been so close to the project, it’s hard to see your work objectively.

Adding to the tension is your fear of what will happen when you announce your product is for sale. The last thing you want is to be greeted by silence when you launch your product.

Will all that time and effort be wasted?

Obviously, it makes sense to do what you can to ensure your project’s success prior to launch.

One of the most cost-effective ways to do this is to hire another person to critique your sales letter.

A set of fresh eyes will see things you can’t. Feedback from an objective third party will strengthen your offer and save you from the disappointing results you fear.

I just completed a critique earlier this month. After I sent it to my client, he responded, “Ryan – this is great! I really appreciate all your insight. The critique is awesome!”

These types of client responses are common, and they’re a major reason I continue to do critiques.

So, not sure if your sales letter is good enough? Then I strongly encourage you to hire me for a copy critique. You can do so here (first come, first served):

• http://www.ryanhealy.com/copy-critique/

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Do you realize how quickly January 1st will arrive? It’s my experience that January is a great sales month. In other words, it’s the perfect time to polish up your sales letter and get it ready to sell.

I look forward to helping you.Similar Posts:

• Copywriting Critiques: New Special Offer
• Hot Date with an Ugly Sales Letter
• Even Heroes Need Extra Eyeballs
• What to Do When a Sales Letter Fatigues
• Eight Months to Write a Letter?

Have you noticed how many singers are using auto-tune these days?

I think it all started with Cher and her hit single “Believe.” (“Do you believe in life after love?”)

Now, everybody’s using auto-tune.

And while some music purists hate it, the singers love it!

After all, auto-tune makes them sound good even if they miss a note now and then.

In fact, auto-tune is so effective, it can turn ordinary citizens into Internet sensations!

For example, YouTube user “schmoyoho” auto-tunes the news. They look for funny news clips — and then turn those news clips into songs.

It sounds silly (and it is), but when they auto-tuned Antoine Dodson in the summer of 2010, it instantly went viral.

To date, that video (and variations of it) have combined views totaling more than 100 million.

Here’s proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

Anyway, you might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with your sales copy?

Here’s the deal:

I want to “auto-tune” your copy so it’s ready to make sales.

You may have missed a few “notes” in your copy. I can spot those and “auto-tune” your copy so it’s as strong as possible.

So if you have a sales letter you’ve written that needs a tune-up, then I’d love to critique your copy and help you take it to the next level.

My normal rate for a copy critique is $599, and I have sold critiques at this price point.

But for the next 48 hours, you can order a copy critique for just $395 — that’s $205 off my regular rate — a 34% savings.

Why the discount — and why now?

I spent almost all of September and part of October in Florida vacationing with my family.

I just got back to Denver this week, and I’m loading up my work schedule again.

So for me it’s simply a matter of “making up for lost time,” so to speak.

Click here now to get your discounted copy critique.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. The last time I ran a special offer on my copy critique service was October 2010, a full year ago.

If you’re interested, this will be the best time to take advantage of this offer:

http://www.ryanhealy.com/copy-critiqueSimilar Posts:

• Hot Date with an Ugly Sales Letter
• Why You Need Another Pair of Eyeballs
• Copywriting Critiques: New Special Offer
• Not Sure If Your Sales Letter Is Good Enough?
• Even Heroes Need Extra Eyeballs