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THE LEVISON LETTER
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Action Ideas For Better Direct Mail,
E-mail, Web Sites & Advertising
Published by
Ivan Levison, Direct Response Copywriting
October, 2000
Volume: 15 Number: 10
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The importance of persistence in direct response marketing
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There's an old joke about the guy who asks a New York
cab driver, "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" The driver
answers: "Practice. Practice. Practice."
Good advice. Perseverance and persistence can help you
accomplish a tremendous amount. Even get you to
Carnegie Hall.
Obvious? Perhaps. But not everybody gets the message.
Let me give you an example. Over the years I have
helped a number of friends get newsletters off the
ground. They are always enthusiastic at first, but drop
out after publishing a few issues.
Why don't they stick with it? There are probably many
reasons. They don't have the time. They don't like
writing. They don't get an immediate response from
prospects. Whatever.
The point is, had they been persistent and kept on
mailing their newsletters month after month, year after
year, I am convinced that these folks would have won
big.
I say this for two reasons:
1. Repetition is the key to getting results.
TV commercials and print ads don't run once. As you
know
all too well, they are repeated over and over again.
Big advertisers understand that we are bombarded by
messages all the time and that the only way to cut
through the clutter is to be there often.
That's why you need to be persistent and keep your
message in front of your target audience on a regular
basis. Therefore it follows that:
* If you're advertising in print, make sure your
frequency is high enough to get you noticed.
* If you're using postal direct mail, don't call it
quits after the first mailing. Keep on re-mailing non-
responders until the campaign stops paying for itself.
(You may be surprised to find you're still making money
on the third mailing!)
* Same thing if you're an opt-in e-mailer!
2. You never know when your prospect will need your
product or service.
Let's say you're in the business of translating
software, collateral, manuals, etc. into Spanish. You
advertise in the software trades hoping that publishers
will give you a call to find out what you have to offer.
If a software publisher is marketing only in his or
her
country, and has no interest in selling abroad,
your ads will be invisible. Prospects will flip right
past them.
But if a given publisher decides that it's time to
start selling software to the Spanish-speaking market
worldwide, suddenly your ads, mailings, seminars, etc.,
become tremendously relevant and you start getting a
close reading. Soon your phone starts ringing. Next,
your CASH REGISTER starts ringing!
What happened, of course, is that when the publisher
suddenly entered the market for localization services,
he or she instantly became a super-hot prospect.
The bottom line? When you're selling anything that
isn't a commodity, YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IS ENTERING THE
MARKET OR WHEN. Which is why you have to constantly get
your name out and engage in an ongoing, persistent
marketing effort.
My advice? Stick with your marketing plan and don't
give up. Success goes to those marketers who are out
there pitching, day in, day out.
The take-away message this month? I'll let John D.
Rockefeller say it. (This quote of his is on my wall
over my desk and helps keep me focused and motivated.)
"I do not think there is any quality so essential
to
success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It
overcomes almost everything. Even nature."
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How To Get In Touch
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Ivan Levison
Direct Response Copywriting
14 Los Cerros Drive
Greenbrae, CA 94904
Phone: (415) 461-0672
Fax: (415) 461-7738
E-mail: ivan@levison.com
Web Site: http://www.levison.com
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Copyright 2000, by Ivan Levison, All Rights Reserved.
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