Comments on: How Not to Advertise

By: Tim Gary

Tim Gary — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:23:12 +0000

It feels a little more negative to me than just “so what, who cares?” to me. I mean, why on earth would anyone want to help him fill HIS swimming pool with wads of cash? No-on in their right mind. Now, if it were reversed and it was my (non-existent) swimming pool he was going to help fill, then we might be on to something.

As it is, it appeared as someone who is totally disconnected from his audience, and full of himself. Even if he does make a course correction in the email itself, it ranks as one of my all time worst subject lines I’ve ever seen– hell, even spammers know enough to hit the audience hot buttons, and not their own egos!

By: Tim Gary

Tim Gary — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:23:00 +0000

By: Ryan M. Healy

Ryan M. Healy — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:03:52 +0000

Tim – Wow, that’s a pretty bad subject line in my book. Perhaps John was able to turn things around in the body of the email, but the subject line immediately fails the “So what? Who cares?” test right off the bat.

By: Ryan M. Healy

Ryan M. Healy — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:03:00 +0000

By: Tim Gary

Tim Gary — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:59:03 +0000

Hi Ryan,

Great post as always. I’m a little late to the party, but am amazed by what you describe. The writers could ask themselves one question, and throw that crap away.

The worst email subject line I can remember is from John Reese.. I rarely read a lot of the stuff I get from lists anyway, but this guaranteed that I’d never pay attention to anything he might say–even if did turn out worthwhile (and yes, “traffic secrets” has value).

What do people think about this email subject beauty sent by Reese on 10/09/07?

“Help fill my swimming pool with 100 dollar bills…”

It’s one of the few headlines I’ve remembered (good), and hated with a passion (bad). I have yet to read the email or anything from him since.

Curious what everyone thinks!

-Tim

By: Tim Gary

Tim Gary — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:59:00 +0000

Hi Ryan,

Great post as always. I’m a little late to the party, but am amazed by what you describe. The writers could ask themselves one question, and throw that crap away.

What do people think about this email subject beauty sent by Reese on 10/09/07?

“Help fill my swimming pool with 100 dollar bills…”

It’s one of the few headlines I’ve remembered (good), and hated with a passion (bad). I have yet to read the email or anything from him since.

Curious what everyone thinks!

-Tim

By: Ryan M. Healy

Ryan M. Healy — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:05:39 +0000

Joseph – Glad I can provide some laughs while still being instructive. :-)

Steven – I agree. Reading copy like this is encouraging for anybody who wants to succeed as a copywriter.

By: Ryan M. Healy

Ryan M. Healy — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Joseph – Glad I can provide some laughs while still being instructive. :-)

Steven – I agree. Reading copy like this is encouraging for anybody who wants to succeed as a copywriter.

By: Steven Lohrenz

Steven Lohrenz — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:36:51 +0000

Yep, someone was being a little too clever. No urgency, no offer… In the middle of a housing crisis people are going to wait until the crisis is over before buying. Probably not the result they wanted.

If someone got paid for writing that, then I should be able to make it (if I wanted) as a copywriter too!

By: Steven Lohrenz

Steven Lohrenz — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:36:00 +0000

If someone got paid for writing that, then I should be able to make it (if I wanted) as a copywriter too!