Debra Jason wrote the article: 4 Easy Ways to Get Great Results from Your Copywriter

As you may know, I started as a freelance copywriter before moving into the layout world.

Because of that writing background, I understand how important the copy is, and how important it is to work with a great copywriter. (As a matter of fact, I just finished an interview with copywriter Eileen Coale. It will appear on the Magalog Guy Podcast on iTunes soon. I’ll let you know when it’s available.)

One point Debra made in the article was sharing everything with your copywriter. This was a hot-button issue with me as a writer and now as a designer.

I can’t tell you the number of times a new client will say something like, “I’d prefer not to show you our past marketing material. It’s really bad and we don’t want you to be influenced by it.”

But that’s the wrong attitude! You want your freelance writer (and designer) to be influenced by your past work. That’s something Coale and I talk about in the interview.

We need to know what bombed… why you think it bombed… things you didn’t like… everything! That way, we don’t repeat those elements on our own and waste everyone’s time.

Don’t put restrictions on what you’ll show your freelancers. Let them see it all.

One of those newsletters is The Success Margin by Ted Nicholas.

Some time ago on another blog I run, I asked Ted’s permission to reprint an article dealing with order forms. It’s such great information for businesses to be aware of, I now want to bring Ted’s ideas to readers of this blog.

So let me hand things over to Ted…

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The primary goal of any offer online or offline is, of course, to get an order.

Therefore, the order form should be the very strongest element of any customer offer.

That’s why it’s always seemed so amazing to me that the worst examples of direct marketing are, in my opinion, order forms.

Order forms generally are dull, boring, ugly and unpersuasive.

Today I’m actually going to show you, dear reader, an alternative–how to make yours exciting, beautiful and compelling. And even better still–far more responsive!

** First Step **

Prepare order form first!

Sequence of when you prepare the different elements of your offer, especially the order form, is very important. Reasons?

1. Keeps offer fresh and exciting. You have not yet run out of emotional gas. If you prepare the sales letter first, as do most, you may have little passion and enthusiasm for the all-important order form afterwards. You can’t hide your feelings. They will show.

2. Clarity. You will be almost forced into a rare but oh so desirable result for marketers. Instead of confusing the customer, present a clear offer.

Tip: As you create, what I recommend and use myself is this frame of mind. Assume your prospect will read your order form first and not read the sales letter at all. Therefore, your order form must be capable of doing the complete sales job by itself.

3. Never use the words “order” or “form” as does nearly everyone else. These words are negative and reduce orders. “Order” suggests spending money, which absolutely no one wants to do.
“Form” is something no one wants to fill out.
Do you?

Tip: Always use a positive headline for the order form. A few successful ones I use are:

– Free Trial Request
– Free Examination Certificate
– Savings Certificate
– Membership Application
– Privilege Invitation
– Send No Money–Offer Expires in 7 Days
– Free Audition Certificate
– Free Preview Issue
– Official Entry and Enrollment Certificate
– Request for Free Information

Tip: Start off the copy with the word “Yes”!
It’s the most underused but powerful word in all languages.

4. Restate the main benefit of the product. Often it’s effective to include two to three benefits of the product. Always restate the benefits, not in your voice, but in the voice of the person responding.

Tip: Include a statement of acceptance of the offer, including the guarantee, in the voice of the buyer.

5. Restate the features of the product. A full description including the colors, dimensions, weight and material used in making the product are important in helping build credibility.

6. Include a professional photo of the product, ideally in full color.

7. Include a photo of a person–perhaps yourself, the inventor or celebrity–that, of course, fits the offer. This individual should have a warm smile, wear appropriate business attire and be making eye contact with the reader.

8. Dramatize any gifts or free bonuses you may include within the offer. Photos, strong titles and descriptions really improve response.

9. Restate a powerful money-back guarantee.
The longer and more prominent, the better. For example, 30 days will pull better than 10 days; 60 days pull better than 30; 90 better than 60; 180 days better than 90. One year pulls better than 180 days. A lifetime guarantee is the most powerful of any time period. Always include the signature and title of the most senior person at the company at the end of the guarantee.

10. Make it stand out, not blend in! Use a different paper and ink colors for the order form than the rest of the mailing or e-mail offer.

11. Use a fancy border resembling a stock certificate, which adds the feeling of perceived value of the offer.

12. Print on one side only for an offline offer. Leave the back blank. All my tests show the response is higher.

13. For offline offers, add the words “Please Print”.

14. Add a second order form offline. I’ve never seen an instance wherein sales didn’t increase by at least 10% to 20% due to pass-along readership.

Tip: No matter how high a response you get online, your offline response percentage is usually about 400% more. Clearly, many people respond at a higher rate because they retain offers received in the mail for a longer period.

15. Multiple order options. Since buyers of course vary in their favorite order methods, include toll free phone, fax, e-mail and mail.

Tip: Don’t forget to include all your company’s contact information. You’d be surprised how often even the largest marketers make this basic error.

16. Test a variety of font color options for headlines and subheadlines (red, blue, purple, etc.), but keep the main body of the copy in black. Black on white is easier to read than any other combination except black on yellow.

17. Include a deadline. Build a sense of urgency to build response. Print a specific date when the offer and price expire. Or print the words “Please respond within 10 days.”

Be diligent in preparing your order form using these little-known secrets.

Instead of “ugly duckling” order forms, the result will be a beautiful response mechanism with a far higher response level.

As always, here is to your increased success margin.

Your correspondent,

Ted Nicholas

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There’s really not much more to be said. As a designer, I know it’s vital that the order form is designed properly. And my copywriting colleagues know how important it is to get things right as well.

Ted’s newsletter is free and worth subscribing to. You can sign-up at The Success Margin.

If you need a professional to lay out your order form, contact me today so we can get you something that won’t be a hindrance to making sales.

If you already have one, but want a second opinion, I also offer design consulting. This can be an inexpensive life-saver to avoid problem areas you might have missed.

I’m not one to get too hung up on terminology. Part of my job is to listen to what you need, then we can put a label on it if we need to. (Steering someone away from a magalog, and it’s relatively large financial investment, is something I’ve done a few times. I’ll discuss that in a future article.)

As you’ve probably guessed, the word magalog is traditionally considered to be a cross between magazine and catalog. I say traditionally because the way words and names evolve over time, I have no doubt that someone has another origin for the word. But for now, magalog + catalog is good enough for us in the realm of direct marketing.

When I was interviewed for Print Professional Magazine, I gave my own definition that I thought direct marketers could relate to:

I tend to describe [a magalog] as a sales letter on steroids. Like many sales letters, a magalog will start with a ‘big idea’ or ‘promise’ headline, include graphics and charts, some sidebars and an order form to go along with the main body copy. But with the magalog, we’re usually creating something with a stronger visual appeal, much like you’d notice in a magazine or even a high-end newsletter.

Magalogs also remind me of theater actors who have to project and make bigger movements so people all the way in the back can see and hear. In this case, the magalog has to stand out from the other mail that people get and that’s why you often see bold headlines and large cover photos.

Of course, there’s no law that says we have to do things a fixed way. In fact, the magalog has a few variations including slim jims, issuelogs and bookalogs. (Again, something else I’ll be tackling in the future.)

But the “sales letter on steroids” phrase seems to click with most direct marketers I talk to who are learning about magalogs for the first time.

At that point, the sky’s the limit… or more accurately, the budget is the limit.

We want the magalog to be something appealing to read. Obviously there will be sales copy, but a great copywriter is going to find nuggets of information to sprinkle throughout the magalog… info that people might actually want to share with other people.

In my prior career in a radio newsroom, it’s what we’d call the “Hey, Martha” story. You’ve probably heard that phrase before. You can read a bit more about that in my free book, Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections: How To Get Prospects To Pay Attention To The Story They Want And Need To Hear Before They Buy, on the MagalogGuy.com homepage.

Designers take all that and put it into something that’s going to stand out when the recipient gets his or her mail.

Magalogs can sell a single product or service, or many. Most I’ve dealt with have been a single product, with the copy focused on creating the desire and supporting the claims that are being made.

Magalogs have no set size or page count, although 8.5 x 11 is a common size and 12-16 pages is a common page count. Once you start significantly changing those variables, the discussion moves into things like slim jims and bookalogs. Yet another topic for another day.

For today, I just want to keep things as simple as possible and give you a fairly common definition of a magalog.