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32) Work hard to define a unique selling
proposition.
Remember the USP? What
is it for your product? Can you clearly
define it in a single sentence? If you
can’t, get out your #2 pencil and go
to work.
33) Give a reason
to believe.
“Give people a simple
explanation of why your product works,”
says Hollywood-based Peter Bieler, Thighmaster
marketer and author of This Business
Has Legs (New York: John Wiley & Son,
1996). “We all need a reason to believe.”
34) Don’t worry
about filling your half hour.
People say, “Gee, how
much can you say about a widget? How
can you fill a half hour?” Well,
once you get into it, it’s easy. There’s
a lot to say about good products.
35) Simplify, simplify.
“Got Milk?” Use
short, active sentences. No long words.
Stay away from the Thesaurus and those
25-cent words.
36) Repeat, repeat.
OK, so you don’t want
to sound stupid. But remember, a lot
of people are only half-watching.
37) Learn from other
mediums.
What hot buttons sell
your product in stores, at fairs, or
in direct sales? What can you learn?
38) Learn from other
shows.
You don’t want to copy
the other guys, but stay abreast of
what’s working with other spots and
shows. There’s a reason that so many
phone number tags, for example, look
the same. Can you spot it?
39) Counter objections
& give details.
If you’ve done your
homework, you’ll know the typical questions
or objections people are going to have
about your product. So answer them!
Those little details like “For Mac or
Windows” mean a lot when you’re thinking
about buying.
40) The first 3
minutes are key.
Pros like Las Vegas’
Joe Sugarman of BluBlocker sunglasses
fame will tell you to work hard on the
opening of the show. Why? Because that’s
where you grab a lot of viewers.
41) Have a lawyer
go over your script.
Observe the ERA guidelines.
Sure, nobody likes paying those rates.
But, as Jeffrey Knowles of the Washington
D.C.’s Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti
says, “You can pay us a little now,
or a lot later.”
42) You can’t sell
prevention.
You can generate leads,
but closing a sale is tough.
43) An air test
is better than a focus group.
Focus groups are great,
but expensive and easy to misinterpret.
If you want to know if your show will
work, it’s better to just put it on
the air. The results are far more reliable.
44) Avoid humor.
It rarely sells anything
but comedy albums.
45) Watch out when they say, “let’s
do something different.”
“Different” usually
turns out to mean, “unsuccessful.”
Sure, a lot of shows and spots look
the same. So do soap operas and rock
concerts. DRTV is a form, a delicate
format for TV advertising. If you want
a show that pulls sales, be sure you
understand it before you try to reinvent
it.
46) Plan for how you’ll protect your
success.
There are a number of
things you can do to protect your product.
They range from product selection, to
patents, to unique creative elements.
Use them to avoid getting ripped off.
47) Create 2 or 3 call-to-actions inside
your show.
The goal is to let the
person order when he or she wants to.
Interestingly, even when you have 2
or 3 commercials, most calls still come
in at the end.
48) The audience should make sense.
There should be a reason
when they applaud.
Celebrities
49) Stars stop channel
surfers & add instant credibility.
Suzanne Somers has great
legs, so she was a perfect choice for
Thighmaster. Your star ought to have
some relevance to the product.
50) The more a star
is personally involved with the product,
the better.
How does your celebrity
measure up against, say, Victoria Jackson
talking about her cosmetics?
51) A star can be
your best copywriter.
Believe it or not, actors
can be very smart people with some real
insight into what sells.
The Call-To-Action
52) Don’t try to
“lift” a :120 from an infomercial.
Sure, you can use pieces
and shots. But infomercial CTAs are
designed to fall in the context of the
show, while DRTV spots can run anywhere.
A lift may not make sense.
53) A CTA should
start by summarizing the benefits.
Refresh the viewer on
why she ought to buy.
54) Re-establish
credentials and credibility.
Next, remind her of
the authority and credibility behind
the product.
55) Establish value.
Before you reveal the
price, remind her of what the other
products cost. Yours ought to be a bargain.
56) Make the offer.
It must be very clear
what the buyer will get.
57) Add bonus items.
These add-ons can add
punch and urgency, giving somebody a
real reason to buy now. They ought to
be relevant to the main product and
simple to explain.
58) Make a terrific
guarantee.
“Make a terrific guarantee, then keep
making it,” says Greg Renker of Guthy-Renker
Corporation in Palm Desert, California.
59) Ask for the
order.
The name of this game is action!
Production
60) Only the director
should talk to the actors.
Otherwise, actors and
everybody else can get confused.
61) Remember, the
sales message is the key.
That’s why the script
and the writer/producer are so important.
62) Don’t script
testimonials.
They’ll be much better
if you let them use their own words.
63) With effects
& music, less is more.
“Effects and music can
add a lot to a show,” says Joan Renfro,
president of LA-based Onyx Productions,
“but only if they don’t distract from
the selling message.”
64) Allow ad-libs.
Who knows, somebody
besides you might say something great.
People like to hear real people.
65) Don’t fake demonstrations.
It’s illegal, and you’ll
create a real returns nightmare if you
promise what you can’t deliver.
66) Always make
extra prototypes.
You never have enough
for that one last beauty shot.
67) After 10 hours,
all shoots are going downhill.
The crew is tired, the
actors are tired, and you’re about to
be hit with overtime. But most importantly,
you’re tired and probably not making
your best decisions.
Post Production &
Later
68) Don’t show a
phone number until after the offer.
The experts say it makes
“info” calls skyrocket.
69) No matter how
your show does, you’ll reedit.
“Smart producers design
their shows so they’re easy to change,”
says editor Jim Settlemoir of L.A.’s
Burbank Editing Company. “They build
in shortcuts.”
70) Make big changes,
not little ones.
The hard part with fixes
is finding a change that will actually
make a difference.
71) Look at the
opening, the offer and the CTAs first.
That’s where you can
make the most difference the fastest.
72) You’ll never
mess with success.
Don’t kid yourself by
thinking you can put in an inferior
shot now, thinking that you’ll fix it
later. If the show’s a hit, you won’t
dare touch it!
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Jim McNamara
is president of McNamara & Associates,
an LA-based company that writes
and produces infomercials and
DRTV spots. Over the last 25
years, his ads have sold more
than $1 billion worth of products
and services for clients like
ThighMaster, Jenny Craig, Dean
Martin, MindPower, and more.
Reach him at (818) 907-6212
or Jim@mcdrtv.com.
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