Since last week’s Subject Line Saturday post I see that I’ve received four emails from Prevention magazine. Because Prevention is a successful health magazine I’d like to take a look at those four subject lines in today’s post because undoubtedly we will learn a thing or two.

Prices Cut! Just 88 cents an issue! Although I’m not a big fan of exclamation points in subject lines, this subject line is straight-forward and mentions the offer right in the subject line. Often times the simple and direct approach is best.

Program Your Blood Sugar For Weight Loss! This email promotes a glycemic index cookbook. The email is a HTML email, of course, and reads like a mini sales letter.

The mini sales letter approach is something I avoid when writing emails for clients and my own list because it doesn’t help with relationship-building. But if your niche is health and weight loss and you run a huge magazine then apparently this is the way to go.

Eat To Beat Diabetes! Another mini sales letter/email for a cookbook, another exclamation point.

At this point I’m starting to wish that Chris Cunningham (the person whose name is at the bottom of these emails) would, oh, tell a story or something instead of trotting out the expected mini sales letter.

Dance your trouble spots away in minutes a day! Unlike the other subject lines, this one only has a capital letter at the beginning, which is my preferred method. Kelly Jennings is the author of this email (and the exercise program that’s for sale) so it looks like they mix it up and send out their emails in a variety of names.

All these emails are catchy and do a good job of grabbing attention, so if you’re in the health or weight loss niche you might want to subscribe to their list so that you can study their subject lines.

My opinion on their actual emails is that the mini sales letter approach won’t work as well for you if you are a solo entrepreneur or run a small business because relationship-building is key to growing your list.  But I encourage you to send out four emails per week like they do.

The Onion reports that the entire nation was rendered helpless when presented with a 500 word block of text:

Dumbfounded citizens from Maine to California gazed helplessly at the frightening chunk of print, unsure of what to do next. Without an illustration, chart, or embedded YouTube video to ease them in, millions were frozen in place, terrified by the sight of one long, unbroken string of English words.

Why won’t it just tell me what it’s about?” said Boston resident Charlyne Thomson, who was bombarded with the overwhelming mass of black text late Monday afternoon. “There are no bullet points, no highlighted parts. I’ve looked everywhere—there’s nothing here but words.”

Oh the horror:

“It demands so much of my time and concentration,” said Chicago resident Dale Huza, who was confronted by the confusing mound of words early Monday afternoon. “This large block of text, it expects me to figure everything out on my own, and I hate it.”

For added amusement while reading this piece, imagine that it applies to mile long sales pages too.

For readers who only skim your web copy, make sure you paragraph intros (the first five words of a paragraph) are compelling. Use action words, bold font, bullet points.

Charles Schulz once said: “Cartooning will destroy you:  it will break your heart.”

So will copywriting.

Step away from the computer, clients and copywriting books as often as possible.

A reader asked me:

I’m aspiring to be a copywriter (55-years-old) but I’ve reached a point of indecision. How did you get your first client? How did you set your prices? How did you know how long it would take? If you could offer this old goat some advice, it’d sure be nice!

I’ll share some things that worked for me and mention things I wish I had done sooner. Here goes:

1. Network with other copywriters. When I started out, Michel Fortin’s now defunct Copywriters Board was in full swing and I made invaluable connections there and also received a copywriting education from all the posts. I found my first clients this way.

Unfortunately this board no longer exists but you will find copywriters at The Copywriting Board as well as at the Warrior Forum.

Find other copywriters on Twitter and connect with them.

Read copywriting blogs and leave comments.

As you become friends with other copywriters they will send clients your way (always offer a 10% referral fee to them) and you’ll learn a lot about copywriting from them too. By studying their websites, and lurking in forums, you’ll also get a feel for how much to charge for your services.

Do be careful though as not everyone who toots their horn as a copywriter (especially those that brag about their income) is all they are cracked up to be.

2. Start a blog. Today. I don’t care if you only know three things about copywriting. That’s probably three more things than the local business down the street knows. So start a blog today.

I’ve been blogging now for a year and a half or so but wish I had started blogging from day one. I started blogging daily in February and wish I had started doing that from day one. Many of my clients have found my through my blog.

Set a weekly goal for posts that’s uncomfortable for you. Daily posts are good if you can manage that. The more you blog, the more you’ll be forced to learn about copywriting and the more ideas you’ll get for info products.

Which leads to….

3. Create info products. As you blog you’ll inevitably come up with ideas for info products to sell to clients and other copywriters.

The more info products you sell the less you’ll have to rely on client work. Working for clients is great but it’s draining sometimes. There’s nothing like writing for yourself.

4. Show up. Remember that the new frontier is local. As important as it is to be involved online, start making local connections as well.

Show up at a local meetup meeting for entrepreneurs, marketers or bloggers. Or start your own meetup group.

Attend Chamber of Commerce meetings .

Offer to teach a mini course on internet marketing at a local community college.

When you show up somewhere and have to talk out loud, face to face, about marketing, you’ll learn more and get more clients as well.

So don’t overlook the local frontier. One of my goals for 2010 is to have more of a local focus to my business and I’m excited at the opportunities.

5. Get a mentor. I was fortunate enough to find a mentor early on who let me learn from him for free in exchange for doing some grunt work for him. This eventually led to referrals from him as well.

Most mentors will charge a fee so it’s not an option for a lot of copywriters starting out. But don’t hesitate to try to find an arrangement like I had. Approach a copywriter you like and ask. It can’t hurt, especially if you make them see what’s in it for them.

6. Don’t seek approval. If there’s one downside to seeking a mentor it’s that you could fall into the approval trap.

Approval is a form of judgment just like criticism is (even though it doesn’t feel like it) and is just as harmful.

No one cares about your business like you do, so don’t trust anyone’s instincts about your business more than you trust your own.

Approval will also make you complacent and lure you into not trying something new and different.

You shouldn’t hesitate to ask for advice. But make sure you’re really asking for advice instead of approval.

6. Lay off the copywriting and marketing books. As much as I like copywriting books (some of my favorites are in the sidebar), don’t read too many of them at once.

Read novels, blogs, Reader’s Digest, Bottom Line newsletters, popular magazines, any non-fiction that appeals to you, etc.

The more well read you are, the better your copywriting will be.

Oh, and be sure to read Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
book. This will help you develop the right mindset for being an entrepreneur and give you the incentive you need to fight indecision and resistance.

7. Start another blog. Yeah, I know… ANOTHER blog? It’s very therapeutic to have an online space where you write about what interests you without having to worry about promoting yourself or offending anyone. I do this at my Kitchen Table Wisdom blog.`

Or if that doesn’t appeal to you, start a garden or immerse yourself in some other hobby. I guarantee that many of your best copywriting ideas will pop into your head as you engaged in activities like this or blogging about something that has nothing to do with copywriting.

Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, once said: “Cartooning will destroy you:  it will break your heart.” Following #7 will help keep copywriting from destroying you and breaking your heart.

I hope these 7 suggestions are helpful. Let me know if you have anything to add or have any questions.

On days when you’re working on a project, only check email, Twitter, Google Reader, Facebook, etc. 3-4 times per day.

This will lessen distractions and boost your productivity

Roger Ebert says:

“Just write, get better, keep writing, keep getting better. It’s the only thing you can control.”

Or to phrase it another way, put in 10,000 hours.

Here are my favorite subject lines from the past week’s emails in my inbox:

1. Know a dog that should be in pictures? This was from the Artful Home catalog.  The graphics in this email are delightful and it made me smile even though I don’t own a dog. Click here to see the email. My 6-year-old daughter saw me looking at this email and immediately launched into “Can we buy a dog?”

As much as I like plain text emails I have to admit that the right HTML email is so effective and memorable.

2. The Road Less Yelped – From Yelp-Chicago. Yelp sends out weekly emails with restaurant reviews from your local city.

I live two hours away from Chicago so these reviews weren’t that relevant for me but they were fun to read. The email was nice and pithy.

3. Home Tips Weekend Project – Change Your Clocks & Smoke Detector Batteries.  This one is from Don Vandervort of HomeTips, a site with excellent information about DIY repairs.

This email is a good reminder that you should incorporate seasonal events in your subject lines and emails from time to time.

Here are some current/upcoming ones:

• Changing the clocks.
• Migrating birds, early spring flowers and other signs of spring.
• St. Patrick’s Day.
• Easter.
• Mother’s Day.
• Memorial Day.

It’s easy to take any event like this and think up a story associated with it and transition into a tip or sales pitch. It works for any niche.

A broadcast email like this also shows that your information is timely and relevant.

Thanks for reading! I’ll have more subject lines and subject line tips for you next Saturday.

I hope you’re a fan of the show Mad Men. It’s must see TV, especially if you’re a copywriter.

The NYT announced this week that there will be Mad Men Barbie dolls!

The doll designer, Robert Best, says: “It’s all about the details so of course we faithfully reproduced Joan’s pen on a chain and though you can’t see from the photo we gave Barbie a padded long-line foundation to more faithfully capture Joan’s curves. Don Draper Ken also comes with a raincoat lined in red, his briefcase and a fedora.”

Everyone will want the Joan doll. They will cost $75 and there will only be 10,000 dolls.

It’s hard to step up to the plate when business is slow.

Yet your biggest opportunities can be found in the silences. Learn to look hard at the silences.