Hammacher Schlemmer Copywriting Cheatsheet

A year or so ago, I bought my friend Alex a present from the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. The product was actually from a client that my wife was doing work for and it happened that I found it for the cheapest price on their website.

Since then, they have sent me a catalog every month with their latest offerings. Their motto is:

“Offering the Best, the Only and the Unexpected for 164 years”

If you are not familiar with them, then you can check out their website at hammacher.com

In short though, they offer unusual gifts and household items.

I have never ordered anything from them since. However, every single month when I receive their catalog, I always read it cover to cover.

For two reasons:

1. I am a bit of a gadget freak and enjoy seeing the gadgets that they have.

2. Their copywriting is first-class. Even with products which I never knew that I wanted, I feel that I do want!

Sidenote: The reason why I haven’t ordered anything from them since is because I always ask my wife what she thinks and she gently explains that we probably don’t need a Headache Wrap (or whatever my fancy is) as neither of us suffer from headaches!

Headache Relieving Wrap from Hammacher Schlemmer

Anyway…

What I want to do, is to take a look at some of the products which Hammacher Schlemmer has and how they write their descriptions. After you take a look at a few, you can clearly see that it is not coincidental how they are written. And hopefully, you will be able to use this takeaway for your own copywriting.

On purpose, I have tried to choose products which I clearly wouldn’t have a use for, so that we can see how persuasive they are.

Number 1: The Stainless Steel Wallet

What more could you want than a stainless steel wallet?! Haven’t you ever thought:

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if there were such a thing as a stainless steel wallet? I would definitely pay $60-$100 for it!”

Well, yeah. Nor have I. But yet, they have been selling it in this catalog ever since I have received it, so it must be selling very well or else they would take it out.

TITLE: THE STAINLESS STEEL WALLET

For every item, they use the word “THE” before. I am certain this is not coincidental. They are trying to convey that there may be other stainless steel wallets out there, but this is THE one that you want. A bit like Coca Cola is the REAL thing.

FIRST THREE WORDS: This is the

These three words aren’t used at the beginning of every item in the catalog but seems to be the majority.

FEATURE: This is the wallet woven from flexible stainless steel fabric

BENEFIT: with a hand as smooth as silk and a strength that surpasses leather.

Do I care that it is smooth? Well, silk sure feels nice and a wallet that feels like silk also sounds really great

And strong? Well, hell yeah! Leather is strong and this is stronger than leather so must be good 🙂

COOL FACT 1: 25,000 stainless steel threads

COOL FACT 2: Three times thinner than a piece of paper

BENEFIT FROM COOL FACTS 1&2: lacks the inherent bulk of other wallets and fits into a front pocket

BENEFIT: Impervious to stretching

BENEFIT: Resistant to corrosive salts and acids

COOL FACT 3: the stainless steel is the same metal fabric used in architecture and aerospace applications

BENEFIT FROM COOL FACT 3: for its unsurpassed durability

Then it goes on to list a few features that consumers want to know.

As I mentioned before, it has been in their catalog for a long time so is obviously selling well. And I think you can see why. Is perfect as a unique gift for any man. And someone may also buy it for themselves as it is sure to make a great conversation piece.

“Fancy looking at my 25,000 stainless steel threads which are three times thinner than paper?” 😉

Or you could buy it from Amazon instead for $12.95 instead of $69.95!

Number 2: THE SANDLESS BEACH MAT

Aah. Now here we have something. For those people who go to the beach and don’t like sand. 1 sec…if you don’t like sand, why not go to a swimming pool?!

Or shake off the sand?

TITLE: THE SANDLESS BEACH MAT.

Once again, notice use of the word ‘THE’. Seems to insinuate that there are no others which may be as good.

FIRST FEW WORDS: Developed for military use, this is the beach mat that is impossible to cover with sand

So here, they didn’t start with “This is the”, but did put it after the first ‘,’

They have managed to fit in the fact though that it was developed for military use. Seems to insinuate that therefore it must be good as the military spends major money to make sure that ‘lives are saved’.

Then they say that it is impossible to cover with sand. I find this something that is a bit strange. I would tend to bet that if you were to pour a whole truckload of sand on it at once then it would cover it. In addition, I later found out that it doesn’t work so well with wet sand either.

COOL FACT 1: Used in military operations to contain sand and dust when military helicopters land and take off

COOL FACT 2: mat is made from two layers of patented wove polyurethane

BENEFIT: instantly filter sand to the beach as soon as it falls on its surface

How great is that? It first gives me two facts that are definitely very impressive on the surface, but dig a bit deeper and, well, kinda irrelevant. The benefit however does matter to me and I believe it because of the facts. Reminds me of the study about the queue for the photocopy machine where someone is able to skip line more often if they give a ‘reason why’. ie. “Can I cut in line because I am in a hurry?” was way more successful than “Can I cut in line?”

It then goes on to give further features which a purchaser would want to know in order to make a buying decision.

And this could be your’s for $70!

Now, personally I would have improved this description by agitating the problem.

For example: Do you get annoyed when you go to the beach and there is sand on your towel? How about when you kids complain about getting sand in their food? etc.

But who am I to talk 😉

So, you fancy buying this towel? Well, you could also pick one up from $24 at Amazon…

So, let’s get down to the Nitty Gritty.

I actually think that the way that they write their descriptions are incredible. And have no doubt that they are constantly testing and tracking the changes. It wouldn’t even surprise me if they split test different descriptions in the same catalog between different customers.

There really is a lot that we can learn about copywriting that we can apply to our own businesses.

As John Carlton speaks about, what they really zone into is the ‘hook’ and then the story of that hook.

We don’t really care whether the military uses it (unless we are buying a gun)

We don’t even care whether there are 25,000 threads being used or 10,000 threads.

The point is, that they find something unique about the product and then use that to create an incredible story.

Think about how you can do that in your own marketing…

Keeping it real in an unreal world,

Ben Shaffer

(Before you go, please can you like and/or leave a comment on this post)

New WP Plugin coming

You can safely ignore this post if you come across it.

Just want to check that a new plugin is working which I am soon to introduce.

If you want to see how it works properly, then take a look at:

http://movies.clarifywithben.com/movies/sdf-2

See you in a few days with the results 😉

Mike Filsaime VIP Mastermind Review + Bonus

[wptexttospeech]I saw that this was coming, but details were fairly scant and therefore had no intention of letting you know about it.

However, when I woke up this morning, I received an email from Mike Filsaime about his latest mastermind which I think looks pretty damn good.

So much so, that I actually purchased!

And generally if I purchase something, then I let you know about it also…

So, what does it involve and why did I join?
1. Subscription to an interactive email list.

What this means is that you will have access to every other single person who is a member of the mastermind. The nice thing about this, is that you know that every single person on this list has actually paid $1k which is a qualification which doesn’t happen on the majority of forums.

If you have a new product coming out or want to recruit JV partners from people that you KNOW are serious enough about their business to spend $1k then this would seem a great way to do it.

Also remember, that these are people who have shown that they are actively interested in internet marketing products.
2. A number of Mike Filsaime products

Includes:
– Evergreen Business System
– Profit Platform
– AffiliateDotCom
– Magic Cart Button (resale rights)
– Digital access to MDC Monthly

TBH, although this does have a value of over $2k, I probably would not have bought it just for this. I spent $500 just for the Evergreen Business System a few months ago, so if you don’t have that then definitely an added bonus. Affiliate Dot Com is also a really great product to have if you don’t have it already.
3. Personal One on One Time with Mike Filsaime

This really does have massive value if you want to spend time with Mike himself. Apart from the free lunch (!), there are extremely valuable ways which you could spend time with Mike.

I will probably use mine by persuading him to promote one of my products. With his massive list, he really could make you a lot of money just doing that. Last time he emailed for me, he made $13k of sales. If you are in the internet marketing space and have a decent product, just this thing alone really does make it a no-brainer.

4. The Rolodex

A list of the top 100+ names (currently 121) in the industry. Not really sure how or if I will use this, but always useful to know who and how to approach if you want JV Partners. Glad to see that I made the list (!).

IMHO, this would have been far more use had contact details been there also or a form that you could enter a message and it would be mailed to them. The way that it is at current, you have to contact the VIP Concierge who will then introduce you.
5. New Industry Product Specials

Basically a discount on certain products. Once again, not overly of use to me but if you do buy a lot of products or are about to buy something and it is on this list, then this could save you money.
6. Email to Mike’s 6000 Affiliates

You get a chance to promote 3 of your products to Mike’s affiliates to get them to promote for you. In my mind, this is pure GOLD. I would easily pay $5k for this and infact have offered other large marketers this kind of money in the past if they would do this for me.

If you are in the internet marketing space, then this could literally catapault your career up a notch.

7. VIP Dinners

See 3. above, but only really useful if you do go to conferences which Mike does also.

8. Members Forum

Yet to be seen how this develops, but could either be incredibly valuable or next to valueless.

9. Two mastermind retreats a year

Ridiculously valuable. Even though I live way outside of the US, definitely worth the airfare for me to get there. See you there!
SUMMARY

In summary, if you are selling in the internet marketing space and have $1k, then IMHO you would be pretty mad not to buy this. I did…and didn’t even get any affiliate commission as it was my own purchase (if you are interested).

Obviously, we are different and have different priorities and businesses.

However, the parts which I will be placing an emphasis on and am sure that they will bring back my purchase many times are:

1. Subscription to the interactive mailing list
2. (If you don’t have Evergreen Business System, then buy it just for that)
3. Personal One on One time – (Hey Mike…here I come!)
4. Email to Mike’s affiliates – this is a MASSIVE benefit. Advise you to use it asap
5. Mastermind Retreat – EVERY time I go in person to a mastermind or a small conference it makes a massive difference to my bottom line.

So, what now?

If you buy through my link, then I make a commission. You won’t buy one if you buy through your own link, so I’ll offer you something that will make it really worthwhile for you.

Once you have purchased, be in touch at my helpdesk and you will be given my personal email address as well as my Skype username. I’m not going to say that we will talk for a certain number of hours or anything like that. But I want you to have the added benefit of being able to ask my opinion and brainstorm with me when you do want to.

To go and find out more, go to:

http://www.shmoozewithben.com/recommends/vip

Keeping it real in an unreal world,

Ben Shaffer
Helpdesk: http://www.replytoben.com

PS. I know that this is not my normal kind of product recommendation. That is because I am pretty sure that you will know whether it is for you or not. If you are in the internet marketing niche and want a step up and a boost in income then this is definitely a way. I did as have over a hundred others so far.

http://www.shmoozewithben.com/recommends/vip

Unusual, but kinda interesting

[wptexttospeech]This actually cheered up my day!

After a vacation, it can always
be a bit difficult coming back
to the office.

But I have just seen a video
salesletter which totally cheered
me up in some way.

Now, before you read further, I am
NOT saying that you should go and
buy the product.

I’m not even going to give you a link
to go and take a look at it.

Do a search for One minute commissions
and you will see it.

There is no way in a million years
that I would buy the product, but
I did find the video incredibly
interesting from a marketing perspective.

Firstly, it is NOT being sold on
Clickbank. Am not totally sure why,
but expect that even Clickbank would
not sell it due to the multiple misleading
statements in the video.

Things like false income claims, testimonials
and the such. Not judging here…just
saying.

So, the video does the normal kind
of thing that you would expect from
a GRQ (get r quick) kind of product.

It’s easy to use and do.

Other people have done it.

You don’t need any experience or
technical knowledge.

etc.

The testimonials though particularly
interest me.

I assume that the majority of buyers
will be men. The assumption is made
on my own experience of customers in
the MMO market.

Notice how the girls are pretty, and
the guys are everyday kind of normal
looks.

The first guy actually reminds me of
one of the characters from American Pie!

I think that the subtle message here is
that even if you are an average kind of
person you can still obtain the same
results as the pretty girls.

The overlying message of the testimonials
though is that not only can the product
creator do it, but that very ordinary kind
of people can do it like you or me.

And that many others have done it.

See how many times during the video she
says You and Me.

There is a great part where she says
something like:

“And I have the statistics to back it up”

She then gives very details and specific
statistics that in reality show absolutely
nothing about the product but sound very
convincing.

The kind of thing that you may want to
tell your wife if you are trying to
justify your purchase.

There is the standard:

Us Vs them.

The gurus suck
The gurus will con you
Don’t listen to what the gurus say

There is also the rags to riches story:

“This is where I used to live. This is
the kind of money that I am earning now.”

And then we come to the NEW:

This is what is working NOW!
This is a SECRET!

A couple of other things also stuck out
to me:

1. Look at the Facebook likes below the
video. I would be incredibly surprised if
they were genuine, but they definitely do
give a lot of social proof that other people
like it and therefore you are a bit silly
if you don’t.

2. At one point, she waters the flowers.
Not sure why I like that bit but probably
my favorite part of the video 🙂

3. Rather than the usual $47, they are
selling it for $46. Perhaps saying that
it is CHEAPER than you would expect

The video finishes off by the rather
attractive young lady walking out the
front door and shutting it behind her
after giving a fairly strong call to
action.

I am pretty sure this is done to say:

“Click on the button below and come
and join me on the other side!”

Just to be clear:

I am NOT saying that you should buy
this product. I have not and will not.

However, as a marketing tool, there
are definitely some clever parts which
you can take away and use in a much more
HONEST way in your own marketing.

Let me know what you think below.

Keeping it real in an unreal world,

Ben Shaffer
Helpdesk: http://www.replytoben.com

Email Suicide

I think I first heard about email suicide from Mike Filsaime.

The idea is that you simply delete all of the emails from your inbox that have been sitting there for longer than a week and that you haven’t got around to acting upon yet.

I think that in a way it is slightly disrespectful to the person that sent you the email.

On the other hand, it is a way to refresh yourself.

Out of my control, my Outlook Express deleted my whole inbox last week which meant that I lost all of those emails which I had not got around to answering yet.

Have to tell you, it has increased my productivity as I am not procrastinating before dealing with something which by the fact that it has been sitting there for over a week means that I didn’t really want to anyway.

Not sure if I recommend that you do it on purpose, but does kind of feel good 🙂

On another note, if you are waiting for a reply from me then please email me again as you now know why I haven’t replied!

Keeping it real in an unreal world,

Ben Shaffer