Copyblogger Weekly Wrap: Week of November 8, 2010

Earlier this week, I went to Target and noticed that they’d already put up the Christmas decorations. Have a look.

This was just a few days into November. I’m not ready to think about Christmas! I’m offended at the implication that I should be thinking about Christmas. I’m offended that they seem to think I’m dumb enough to think they’re just trying to decorate. Be honest, Target. Make the signs read simply, “Consume!”

This marketing thing has gone too far! We must stop buying things and telling people to buy things! Revolution! Let’s spearhead a return to bows and arrows and caves and river water!

(On an unrelated topic, my coaching rates go up this weekend. GO NOW. BUY! BUY! BUY!)

Once you’ve done that, you can check out what happened this week on Copyblogger:

Monday:

3 Steps to Foolish Online Advertising

I really need to start reading these posts before implementing them based on the headlines, because I’ve noticed that Copyblogger sometimes slyly uses a provocative headline JUST TO DRAW YOU IN. Regardless, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that this post is about what you can learn about advertising that works by paying attention to the finance guys at The Motley Fool. The bad news is that “foolish advertising” means different things in different contexts, and so when you get that “advertising box” in the mail from me this week, just… burn it. Trust me on this one.

Read the full post here.

Tuesday:

Wake Up! 7 Simple Ways to Energize Your Writing Powers

The message here is that if you’re in a rut with your writing, there’s a bunch of stuff you can do to snap out of it, including painting the same picture every day for two years. Or you could do something related to writing. Whatever. This post contains seven tips for energizing your writing powers, which, to me, sound suspiciously like tips for superheroes looking to hone their own powers. Have we finally discovered the secret identity of COPYWRITINGMAN in Dean Rieck? Someone call the Daily Planet!

Read the full post here.

Wednesday:

Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio No. 2

It’s down to roots on this episode of the IMFSP podcast. Robert and Brian discuss the fundamental changes that have occurred in the internet marketing world over the past decade and several heretical truths like how traditional “pitching” is bad, why one traditional belief might keep you broke, and how witches are not made of wood and therefore can’t be judged fairly by most traditional trials. It’s Copybloggerific!

Read the full post here.

Thursday:

The Simple Way to Get Everything You Want From Online Marketing

I seem to remember Tony Robbins going through a little production once where the punchline was the same as the moral of this article. How do you get what you want in your promotion, sales, and marketing? Um, at root, it’s not hard. The answer may surprise you while totally NOT surprising you, if you catch my drift. And if you don’t catch my drift, then go ahead and make up your own punchline, like doing something totally foolish. (Let me repeat: BURN that package. It’s the only way to be totally sure.)

Read the full post here.

Friday:

How to Build Your Business by Walking Away from the Sale

This is a post near and dear to my heart, addressing the idea that not making a sale might be the best way to win a customer for life, and in the doing make a good deal more money. But the biggest epiphany? It sounds to me like Yael Grauer might have bought high heels. (Don’t deadlift in those things. And no asking why I’m saying that, either.)

Read the full post here.

This week’s cool links:

• To sell happiness, UNHAPPINESS has to be the default option: Read this post if only for the “Slap Chop” example, which made me LOL. Infomercial actors are sublimely skilled at being perplexed by things that monkeys do in their everyday lives.
• Calculating and Improving Your Twitter Click-through-Rate: I’m really tempted to make nerd jokes about the depth of the analytics in this post, but I won’t lie and say I didn’t want to know all of the details of what seems to work.
• Ten Words That Build Trust: Wow, this short little post is definitely worth a scan. It even trumps my own finding that the word “&%$@*!” alone will decrease conversion from nuns dramatically.
• Is Your Business Ruining Your Relationships?: Is it? Think about it. If you started a small business, you did it out of passion for something. If that thing consumes all of your passion (and time), you have to consider how much can really be left.

About the Author: Johnny B. Truant has a “Ninja Coaching” rate special ending THIS WEEKEND that he wants you to know about. Want to work with Johnny? Now’s the time!