If you plan to make outrageous but true claims in your direct response copy, make sure you have a calculator nearby as you write. Because sceptical prospective customers and existing customers will check your numbers, even if you don’t.
As Exhibit A I present to you the outrageous and impossible-to-believe claims of Vincent James, the self-proclaimed 12-Month Millionaire who sells a get-rich-quick course on direct response copywriting by the same name.
Here is how Vincent starts his online sales letter:
Finally! Successful Entrepreneur and High School Drop-Out Vincent James Breaks 12 Years of Silence To Teach YOU His Money-Making Strategies and Powerful Secrets That Anyone Can Use To (legally) Make As Much As $77 Million By This Time Next Year!
“The Amazing Money-Making Secret of a 28-year-old Convicted Felon Who Earns More Money Per Year Than The CEOs of FedEx… eBay… Amazon.com…Time Warner… Apple Computer… McDonalds… Microsoft… Nike… Yahoo… Ford Motor Company… General Motors… and Goodyear COMBINED!”
Do you believe that Vincent James makes more than all those CEOs combined? I didn’t. So I did the math. You can, too. Simply visit the Forbes CEO Compensation Survey for 2005 and look up the annual compensation for these CEOs. Here’s what you’ll find:
Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, $81,840 Apple Computer, Steve Jobs, $17,513,600 eBay, Margaret Whitman, $2,908,000 FedEx, Frederick Smith, $36,410,000 Ford Motor Company, William Clay Ford Jr, $5,603,000 General Motors, G Richard Wagoner Jr, $8,509,000 Goodyear, Robert Keegan, $5,226,000 McDonalds, James A Skinner, $3,910,000 Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, $1,000,000 Nike, William Perez, $18,200,000 Time Warner, Richard Parsons, $10,730,000 Yahoo, Terry Semel, $230,554,000
TOTAL $340,645,440
So what’s the combined annual compensation for all CEOs? $340,645,440.
Thus, Vincent James earns $28.3 million a month, or $6.5 million a week, or $933,275 a day. He makes more in a day than veteran copywriter Bob Bly does in a year. Hard to believe, eh?
My recommendation for Vincent James is that he check his numbers. And my advice for the people who endorse Vincent James, such as Jeff Gardner, is that they check his numbers. And my advice for you, if I may be so bold, is that you check your numbers before you drop your direct mail sales letters in the mail. Your customers and prospects will check your math before they write their check. At least the only ones worth having as long-term customers will.
12-Month Millionaire: [http://www.12-month-millionaire.com/]
Forbes CEO Compensation Survey 2005: [http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/20/05ceoland.html]
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