Comments on: Direct mail copywriting: an interview with Dean Rieck

By: Cavalletti Communications

Cavalletti Communications — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:38:22 +0000

Say Something!…

I found your post interesting so I added a trackback to it on my weblog…

By: Copywriting | Copywriter Dean Rieck | Copywriting Tips | "Maximum Results Copywriting"

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 04:11:40 +0000

[...] Direct mail copywriting: an interview with Dean Rieck – Part 1 [...]

By: Dean Rieck

Dean Rieck — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:05:45 +0000

Andrew,
Uh oh, my cover is blown! Actually, I look pretty much the same. Different pair of glasses, but I’m the same weight, have the same amount of hair, and the nose is just as big. That’s one reason I haven’t changed the photo. Just good genetics I guess.

By: Andrew B.

Andrew B. — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:57:13 +0000

Hey Dean,

Interesting bio. But seriously, man, I’ve been looking at that same photo of you since the mid ’90s when I first started reading DM News. I’ve read tons of your articles, but I bet if you walked into my office right now, I wouldn’t recognize you at all. How about a more recent photo?

By: D Bnonn Tennant

D Bnonn Tennant — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:02:45 +0000

You make some great comments, Dean. I really like your analogy between writers and boxers. There seem to be a lot of pansy-ass "copywriters" on the web these days who are deeply offended at the idea of selling anything. I wonder what exactly they think their jobs are, or what they are actually supposed to do for their clients. I'd like to add that the web is a direct response medium. If you're a copywriter on the web and you aren't trained in direct response writing, you are going to fail. There aren't two ways about it. In fact, I think writing for the web is much harder than writing direct mailers, because with the latter you essentially have a captive audience, while with the former your reader is probably browsing a dozen other sites at the same time, looking at competitors, researching your offerings, etc. So making the sale is that much harder.

By: Storytelling Social Media Marketing PR Business & Technology Curated Stories June 14, 2010

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:30:48 +0000

[...] Direct mail copywriting: an interview with Dean Rieck Published: June 14, 2010 Source: Pro Copy Tips I’ve been interviewing fellow copywriters about their writing specialty. Their responses have been so fun, I wanted to get in on the action. So James at Men With Pens conducted an interview with me about my… [...]

By: The Secrets of a Top Copywriting Pro | Men With Pens

The Secrets of a Top Copywriting Pro | Men With Pens — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:12:23 +0000

[...] read part 1 of this interview, go to Pro Copy Tips where I ask Dean about how he got started, the best job he ever had, and the single biggest mistake [...]

By: Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire

Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:25:18 +0000

Dean!

Thank you for bringing back copywriting to it’s proper place. There are way too many bloggers and on-line copywriters that are scared to ask for the sale, becuase it’s not cool, think highlighter is old school, doesn’t even know what a Johnson box is, and don’t understand that a paragraph for a headline will lose readers like a heard of bears running into a crowd of people (or something).

It’s refreshing to hear it from someone who is doing it. I’m just getting started at this myself, but have been studying the copywriting masters for years.

Human emotions for buying will never change, so it’s a nice wake-up call to bring down some of the naysayers from their soap boxes.

-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire

By: Dean Rieck

Dean Rieck — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:21:54 +0000

Mary,
If I were to get pedantic about it I would say my specialty is “direct response,” which means a kind of communication intended to get response from people immediately. So that can be selling something or getting a donation or driving people to a store or whatever. The principles of direct response apply in many areas, not just in marketing.

By: Mary E. Ulrich

Mary E. Ulrich — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:11:16 +0000

Interesting interviews, both. Now I don’t feel so bad about having my Yoda figurine next to my computer.

I think this is the bottom line: “They don’t understand the point of their copy, which in most cases is to sell something or make something happen. They approach copy as a writing project when really it’s a selling project.”

Every time I am ready to give up, I get a nugget of insight that adds direction. Changing beliefs and attitudes isn’t a product to sell. I’m glad Dean added the “make something happen” that is helpful to what I am trying to do.