Here\u2019s how to continue to drive readers further into the copy of your postcard to fulfill your post card\u2019s objective.\u00a0 You do know what your post card\u2019s objective is, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Or\u2026 do you?<\/p>\n
So at a glance your reader reads your headline.\u00a0 Bam.\u00a0 Kapow.\u00a0 Zzzip.\u00a0 Your reader was instantly dazed, dazzled and driven to continue reading.\u00a0 Yes, just like that.\u00a0 In under 2 seconds.<\/p>\n
OK, don\u2019t lose him now \u2014 to sustain readership, use bold sub-headlines<\/strong>.\u00a0 You know, the couple of sentences scattered throughout the body copy to break it up\u2014with bold, large type that\u2019s not quite as large as your headline. Yea, use two or three of them.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s skimming readers will pass over smaller type to read the bold subheads before going back to read the regular text.\u00a0 Man, those subheads need to be G-R-E-A-T.\u00a0 And, just like the headline, this is NOT the place to sell your product, either.\u00a0 It\u2019s the place to further increase readership.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only objective of the subhead copy.\u00a0 Keep the reader interested, keep him reading.<\/p>\n Your post card\u2019s sub-headlines create a fascinating but short storyline of brief bits, bullets and bites of boundless bulleted bullshit\u2026 er, information.\u00a0 Sorry, I got caught up in my own alliteration.<\/p>\n The subheads, as we call them in the business, continue to fascinate your audience and make that final push to get readers to read the rest of the copy, the dreaded \u201ctiny type\u201d us older folks can\u2019t really see without bifocals; the meat of your post card.<\/p>\n The tiny type is the last holdout, the final frontier for selling on your post card.\u00a0 And do you actually sell anything here?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 This is still NOT the place to sell your product.<\/p>\n What?<\/p>\n \u201cEXCUSE ME!\u201d said the client, \u201cI paid good money for the creative, the printing and the mailing.\u00a0 What\u2019s this guy talking about?\u00a0 When do I sell my product?\u201d\u00a0 Sorry. The entire post card \u2014 that isn\u2019t the place to sell your product either.<\/p>\n My client was mistakenly correct. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly right!\u201d I reply. \u201cYOU sell your product.\u00a0 The post card does not sell your product.\u201d\u00a0 The post card is not the place to sell your product.<\/p>\n Your post card is simply the place to ask for someone to call you.\u00a0 That is the objective of the card: generate a phone call.\u00a0 If I send you a post card and you call me, damn – that post card worked really really well.\u00a0 It did its job, 1000% successful. Any questions?\u00a0 And now, it\u2019s time for you to do your job, to sell your product.<\/p>\n How to get someone to call<\/p>\n While you can get high response rates by making a great offer to your own hand-carved specific list, I\u2019ll make a generality here: To get readers to call, you can be most effective by offering something for FREE.<\/p>\n Face it – when you wrote your post card, you kept bitching \u201cOh, there isn\u2019t any room to sell anything to anyone!\u201d\u00a0 Good thing I was listening – because you were right, first time this year, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 The limited space of your post card really isn\u2019t enough space to sell anything.\u00a0 And frankly, it isn\u2019t the place to sell anything.<\/p>\n The Objective.<\/p>\n Remember the objective?\u00a0 All writing is drafted to fulfill a specific objective.<\/p>\n There is only one objective of your post card: make the reader pick up the phone and call you.\u00a0 That\u2019s all. If the reader makes the call, the card succeeds.\u00a0 If he doesn\u2019t, the card fails.\u00a0 If the reader calls, YOU sell your product.<\/p>\n – Jeffrey<\/em><\/p>\n
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