As you may or may not already know, this is the final week before extended tax returns are due (Monday, October 16th is the due date this year), so we are working hard here in our Cleveland offices with those clients who placed an extension on their filing, to make sure that everything is set up and filed properly.
So, it’s a busy week for us this week, and I’d ask for your understanding about that for your communication with our office.
But even in the midst of this busyness, I make it a point to put this together for you because I want you to understand: our clients and friends are very important to us. The reason I take the time to write you these personal notes each week is that I firmly believe that every good relationship is built on value.
That goes for my clients (for whom I hope these notes can provide significant value, outside of the financial and recordkeeping work we do on your behalf), for those who are still “looking” (for whom I hope these notes give a flavor of the kind of people with whom you may interact), and for my local/national business owner associates (for whom I provide these as encouragement).
Bottom line: I like to help my business-owner friends do very well in the midst of all the national (and international) gyrations we’re facing.
Which is why it’s NEVER a bad idea to reach for the tried and true.
In this case, I’m referring to a gentleman by the name of Claude Hopkins, best known for his work, Scientific Advertising.
You know me — I parse language and numbers for my clients. Which is why I gravitate toward accurate, and tested approaches, like Mr. Hopkins’. He’s a bit of a classic among those who study marketing (and his famous work was published almost 100 years ago).
But if you like what you read, at the bottom of the Note, I’ve got a link to where you can get yourself an online version of his classic text. Enjoy…
Effective Advertising: How To Find It In Cleveland
“Confidence comes not from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong.” – Peter T. McIntyre
Do you remember this one?
You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.
That jingle is so old, it scares me that I know it. Pepsodent used to be the biggest player in the world of toothpaste. In 1927, Pepsodent was sold in 52 countries and advertised in 17 different languages. And yet, it was less than 100 years ago that toothpaste was considered a frivolous item … almost impossible to sell.
Claude Hopkins was one of those who “cracked the code” on toothpaste sales. And he “scientifically stumbled” across the marketing formula that made him a million dollars. (Before 1925!)
To his shock — as a seasoned 30-year veteran and master of direct response marketing — much of his winning marketing formula ran counter to everything he had previously learned about effective advertising. (For example, he was shocked to learn that the word “free” reduced response to toothpaste sales. This is a very unusual phenomenon with marketing, from what I’m told.)
The wisdom he passed on from his Pepsodent experience? “What is the lesson? It is that none of us can afford to rely on judgment or experience … After this experience, I can cite a hundred ways to advertise a tooth paste wrongly. Pepsodent offers the best argument I know for being guided by actual data.”
What kind of actual data? Every ad, measured. Every lead, measured. Every sale, measured.
Of course, you should always start out with what we “know” to be true. But the breakthroughs come from accurate and scientific testing, testing, testing of your actual advertising efforts here in Cleveland (and beyond).
And in our current environment, with so many different metrics available to us, the most important one you should be looking at, to determine the most effective advertising for your small business’ budget and efforts? ROI.
For more of Mr. Hopkins, and a book that you should very much check out, go here:
http://scientificadvertising.blogspot.com/
Feel very free to forward this article to a Cleveland business associate or client you know who could benefit from our assistance — or simply send them our way? While these particular articles usually relate to business strategy, as you know, we specialize in tax preparation and planning for Cleveland families and business owners. And we always make room for referrals from trusted sources like you.
Warmly,
Rich Rhodes
(330) 225-3928
First Tax Relief
