My Secrets To 100% Delivery And Open Rates Revealed!
Tuesday, 9:54 AM
Dear Friend,
There are a few changes in the works for DobermanDan.com over the next month or so.
Some people are going to be thrilled because they're going to get a lot more hard core advanced marketing techniques and secrets… and even some personal attention.
Others… not so thrilled.
Such is life, I suppose. You can never make EVERYBODY happy.
The reality is, my little website and subscriber list is growing exponentially… and there's only one Doberman Dan and only 24 hours in a day.
And that's all I have to say about that for now.
Now I'm going to share something that will be famously successful if you ever need to get the attention of a V.I.P., big shot or any person surrounded by a bunch of gatekeepers.
And if you're smart enough to adapt these secrets to your direct mail promotions, you'll enjoy HUGE response rates and make a small fortune fast… while all the exclusively online marketers are crying about declining sales from their e-mail lists.
This will also soon be the ONLY way you can communicate with me if you want to propose any kind of joint venture, project idea or mentoring.
But first, I'll tell you a surefire way of NOT getting a V.I.P.'s attention…
Send your message by e-mail!
E-mail is the very WORST way to initially contact and communicate with a V.I.P. and will probably never get past the gatekeeper.
And it shows you've put very little thought and planning into your initial contact and presentation.
You see, any idiot can fire off an e-mail… and many do. There's hardly any thought, planning or creativity required to do that.
So your worthless e-mail will be deleted unread, along with the 200 other worthless e-mails received that day.
The very BEST way to get a V.I.P.'s attention is to stop being such a cheap bastard and invest $12 to send your message by a cool little service called…
Fed Ex!
That's the BEST option…
(Well, actually, there's an even BETTER one than that… and it will be responded to IMMEDIATELY… but I don't think you're ready for the really high level stuff yet.)
The next "pretty good" option is USPS Priority Mail. It doesn't make as big an impact as a FedEx package or envelope… but it makes a helluva lot better impact than an e-mail. And it only costs $5 bucks or so.
The next best option is a good old fashioned snail mail letter sent 1st class.
And here's a little direct mail tip most people don't know…
A 9×12 or 6×9 envelope makes a bigger splash, gets more attention and is more likely to be opened FIRST than a #10 envelope.
Want another jealously guarded secret of a direct mail master? (That's lil' ole humble me, in case you didn't know.)
You've heard me say mail that looks personal almost always gets opened first, right? Ya know… the old "A pile/B pile" Gary Halbert schtick?
Well, a #10 envelope is not what's used to send personal mail. That's for business mail… and business mail is usually bills.
And who wants to open bills? I sure don't. (I let the Colombiana do that.)
Back in the day, personal letters were written on Monarch size stationary and mailed in a Monarch envelope.
A Monarch envelope is 7 1/2 x 3 7/8…. and Monarch paper is 7 1/4 x 10 1/2.
Yes, they still exist and you can get nice-looking Monarch paper and envelope sets at Staples or Office Depot.
How often do you get hand addressed Monarch envelopes nowadays? I'd be willing to bet never.
When you send a hand addressed Monarch envelope which contains your personalized Monarch stationery on a nice cream colored stock… with maybe a gold border… and a HAND WRITTEN letter… you have just set yourself head and shoulders above any and all other people vying for your V.I.P.'s attention.
Why?
Because almost NOBODY cares enough about their recipient and message nowadays to go through all that effort.
It is a MUCH more intimate form of communication and it elegantly says…
"You are important to me!"
Just ask the handful of people who recently received letters like this from me.
I even think this form of communication is possibly even better than standing belly to belly, looking in their eyes and speaking your message.
A spoken message can easily be misinterpreted, is much more easily forgotten… or worse, the meaning can get twisted and changed over time. (If you've ever played the "telephone game" at a party then you know what I mean.)
Unlike a spoken message, a hand written letter on nice Monarch stationery is much less likely to be misinterpreted and will probably be kept for a long time and re-read every now and then.
Now if you've never had the experience of holding an 8-track tape in your hands… or God forbid, you don't even know what an LP is… I realize this might sound like old fogey talk from the Great Depression era. (The FIRST one… not the one we're in now.)
But this stuff WORKS!
Like gangbusters.
And you'd do very well… and make a LOT more money… if you paid more attention to your elders (especially all the dead mail order guys) than worshiping at the feet of the young Internet Marketing gurus.
They did OK in a booming economy but now many of them are dropping like flies… because they never studied the tried and true principles of the dead mail order guys.
Look, I know a LOT more successful techniques for getting your message to numero uno and getting somebody's attention… including the one I used to get Gary Halbert's attention and led to mentoring with him for a year and a half.
But this post has already run a lot longer than I planned… and I've given away a LOT more valuable secrets than you deserve.
So let me close by saying this…
My address is:
Doberman Dan Gallapoo
c/o Arango Direct, LLC
3101 SW 34th Ave Suite 905-262
Ocala, FL 34474
The only gatekeeper at the present is the Colombiana… and all she does is pick up the mail and give it to me. So a FedEx or snail mail letter is going to get directly to me within a few days.
If you feel you have something important to share with me or want to pitch me on an idea, JV or whatever… you now know what you have to do. And don't get mad if I don't respond to your e-mail.
(If you're in my Inner Circle you know this doesn't apply to you. YOUR e-mails get priority over ALL others.)
I sure hope this doesn't make me sound like a dick. It's being done out of necessity because time constraints have FORCED me to prioritize my attention on the most important and highest ROI items.
The bottom line?
If what you have to tell me is truly important and you want to get my full attention… it deserves some time, thought and a little creativity on your part.
That's how I've always done it with the people most important to me… and continue to do it today.
And so should you.
All the best,
P.S. By saying this, I'll be letting the cat out of the bag about one of the changes coming for DobermanDan.com… but here goes:
If you have a desire to post a comment in response to any of my posts… or have been putting it off for some reason… you better do it pretty darn soon.
When I would send out product brochures (B2B hitech sales), Iincluded a hand addressed note. And did make a difference.
John
Great content Dan. Just used this idea (but with UPS, sorry
to connect with the ultimate affiliate in my niche.
I've just used this technique for a client. Told the client to send his sales letter special delivery (UK-:)) with a £1 coin attached as a grabber (Thank you Gary). And then follow up with a phone call. be interesting to see the results.
Hi Dan,
You are giving away your secrets.
Even at my age, if I lived in the US, me and my Colombian would visit you.
At my age I would imagine that I learn more every day than many that are much younger.
Since I was a teenager I had one thought in mind, "A day that I didn't learn something new, was a day wasted."
Medreth
Hi Dan,
I'm honored to be one of the last people to be able to post a comment on your blog.
There are a couple of things that make you different than any other marketer, and I want to point those out so hopefully you don't lose them…
1) I eagerly open every email of yours (vs. probably 20% or less of the other marketers') because I know you provide excellent content that I enjoy reading. Please don't follow in the paths of so many "gurus", who now have such big lists they can send out emails like "dude this is awesome check it out [affiliate link]" and still make sales. Don't be That Guy.
2) I've emailed you a couple times and you've actually responded. You! Not some assistant or Indian support team. But you, personally. I really, really appreciate that. And as someone straddling the blogger/marketer line as well, I understand that it is not scalable. (I currently get 50-100 personal emails a day.) But keep that when you can.
I really want to emphasize: Please don't stop the good content, and please don't bury it in sales pitches. Now I know some marketers (probably not you, but others) would read this comment and say "Ah, she's just a freeloader who wouldn't buy anything anyway." Not true. I've bought 5 figures of Internet marketing products in each of the past 2 years, and am really interested in getting into direct mail with my latest company, especially after talking to others and realizing how well it's working for companies in my niche. But if you lose the content, or every blog post/email becomes a pitch, suddenly you stop standing out from the crowd, and I'm more likely to buy from someone I've met in person or otherwise have a deeper relationship with. So please don't lose that.
-Erica
Once again! You have hit it out of the ballpark. I remember one of your older posts had a video explaining the FedEx technique and also another even more costly one. BUT the things you shared were an EXCELLENT way of grabbing someones attention. Especially the one about the coin that you mentioned in the older post. There's no way someone could ignore that. This post is a great extension of that one. Thanks a lot DD.
Question:
Is it possible to send sales letters in Greeting Card envelopes? You know, the envelopes which have birthday cards from your aunt in them?
I have no idea the standard size of these…5 X 7?
Dan, good thoughts here. I'd not heard of the Monarch envelope. One trick I have heard of is those USPS red packages. They stand out and are cheaper than UPS overnight. Worth a look.
I''m pretty much green when it comes to the technical details behind direct mail.
Learning though.
A person I know got an apprenticeship with an A-list copywriter by inflating a blow up doll, putting it in a 4 foot box, poking air holes in the box and labeling the box with a message that said "HOT CHICK INSIDE"
with her apprenticeship application inside.
She got he job =)
Dan,
I wasn't familiar with the Monarch envelope and stationary, but that's a brilliant idea for me to test.
Now you have me curious to know, though, what the method with better than response than FedEx is…
- John
Hi Dan
Thanks for the tip on the envelope sizes and the handwriting thing.
Now that is very valuable advice.
One problem: most of the people where I live have never even heard of Fedex.
I have even considered using a messenger service, but then I would be tempted to pack the letter with a jack-in-the-box and quite likely give some old geyser a heart attack when the thing jumps out.
Better I stick with the envelope size advice and first class post.
And come to think of it, I am rewriting a direct mail piece that came to my mailbox from a well known company to just send them to show how badly their piece sucks. And it seems like the control.
It is so terrible that maybe when I am done I should send their owner the jack-in-the-box as punishment for hiring such a pitiful copywriter…..
Great post, Dan!
Quick comment: I've often thought of using FedEx for products and services (and I will as soon as I get a biz up and running) as well as reaching VIPs for joint ventures. The first thought might be, it's way too expensive! Yes, if you're talking 39.95 products.
Instead of thinking inside the box, go and create a high end product or service that CAN justify the FedEx deliveries. As you note, it WILL get opened and the importance conveyed by sending via FedEx works hand in hand with premium, high-ticket items.
Thanks for all the great content, Dan!
Thanks Dan. Nice tips for getting attention.
Reminds me of the story of Gary, how he said he not only got attention, but intimidated the recipient, by not having a summons sent by certified mail, but paying extra to have an armed deputy deliver it in person. I guess that gets attention. Now how can one use that for selling something ?
Think deeply about what You feel . . . and feel deeply about what you think…
And Only then write.
All doors must close, but new ones open.
Good Luck . . . Dan
Dan I don't know why you're giving away all this incredibly useful info… altho… remembering one or two things you said that raised red flags for me… and reading between the lines of a few of your comments… I'm saddened to say a thought has occurred to my tiny paranoid brain that I want to be wrong. I really hope I am.
Anyway… I've always wondered why a guy as cool and knowledgeable and genuinely caring as you still makes the time to monitor and personally respond to blog comments. I've been waiting for you to pull the plug on your personal input for a while. So when you asked today on Markus' call I wasn't surprised.
You've given me tons more info than I deserve. I'm not upset at all that you're pulling back for yourself, your Columbiana, and of course Donner and Chiki Riki.
In fact I'm glad you're taking time for something else… especially if it's for yourself.
Hey Ryan,
In my experience, greeting card size always gets opened.
Ryan
Dan,
You're always giving away the good stuff. Thanks, man.
Gotta retweet this post for sure.
Ryan
Dan,
Thanks for that insight.
James
i appreciate being called a moron.THANK YOU
I appreciate you sharing this web site article.Truly thank you! Would like more.
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