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You Can LOSE Money with Direct Mail

We know you can make a lot of money with direct mail. We know you can build a lot of good will with direct mail. We know, in fact, that many businesses have been built and have prospered through the use of well-prepared, well-timed direct mail. What you may not know is that you can also be ruined by the use of direct mail.

I got a letter yesterday from Tax Wise, Inc. Now Romauldo Turner and Jean Turner and company have done my taxes for a few years now. They're enrolled agents, which is the cream of the crop of tax people. But they or someone they hire just may be losing a ton of money this year by sending out what must be the sales letter from hell!

I'll put the entire letter on my site so you can see it for yourself as a lesson in what NOT to do. But let me point out a few things you'll notice about this awful effort to keep clients.

The entire letter uses commas in places they're uncalled for and make the letter look more stupid than it already is. It is cluttered with spaces between words that make one wonder if they're intentional or accidental.

The second paragraph starts, "For 41st years we have . . .". Do they LOOK STUPID or what!! The second sentence contains a misspelled word. The word "unpaid" is "unpapid". Even a casual spell check would have picked this up unless the english language has a new word of which I'm ignorant. My text editor and Microsoft Word would not accept it.

Bold type is overused and used in the wrong places. The wording of the entire letter STINKS! I can't say I've ever read such a horrible sales letter in my life other than those sent out by MLM youngsters who write their own stuff and it shows.

Does Tax Wise assume that people who have used their services before will do so again so the letter they send to them isn't important? If so, they're wrong. The consumer is not loyal. And I can tell you for sure I won't be back and for the price of the money they lost from me alone in one year they could have had a professionally written letter!

I suspect I'm not the only person who will defect when they read this letter. Accountants should stick to accounting and let a professional write their marketing material. Just as I would not attempt to do my own taxes, they should not attempt to write their own letters or pass it on to a secretary or other such person to save a few bucks. And that goes for people in all professions as well.

Don't make the mistake of sending out mail like this. There is really no excuse for it. And it's very costly. All you do is lose clients and customers. That means you lose business. And business is too hard to come by to lose it just to save a few bucks!

NOTICE

Both of these documents are in MS Word Format. So your Word application will come up.

Now you can check your entire Web site for misspelled words and duplicates. Do it quickly and effectively. In addition, you can check for broken links and get a comprehensive report in HTML and/or CVS. The report gives you lots of valuable information. Download this valuable software now.

Download the actual letter

Susanna K. Hutcheson is a professional advertising and direct mail copywriter. She was the first copywriter to utilize the Internet as a place to market this type of service. Susanna has clients all over the world. She writes everything from Web site content to direct mail and radio spots. Visit her Web site at http://www.powerwriting.com. Her email address is powerwriter@powerwriting.com. Telephone: 316-665-7626.

© Copyright 2006 by Susanna K. Hutcheson and Power Communications LLC. Any republication in any manner is prohibited without the consent of Power Communications LLC or the author. We do give you limited permission to use this article on your Web site or in your newsletter if you print it or reproduce it exactly as it appears here including this entire notice. This article cannot be sold by you or published in a for-profit publication, a pay-per-view site or a site which sells memberships. It cannot be used by schools or in textbooks without our consent in writing. Rights to use this article for a purpose other than the type of distribution for which it is intended may be purchased from us. Call us at 316-665-7626. You may, however, link directly (not by redirect) to this article.