Outrageous Advertising That's Outrageously Successful. Bill Glazer

facts were these: I had a sprinkler malfunction; I made a quick settlement; and now I needed to sell merchandise … fast! I put the name of the insurance company and the policy number and other settlement information in the ad so that readers would understand this was real. (See the sprinkler malfunction advertorial in the preface of this book.)

      I also presented the ad as an advertorial, meaning it was designed to look like an actual newspaper story. Thus, surrounded by real news, the ad looked like real news. So not only was I presenting the facts; I was presenting them as news. News you, the reader, needed to know.

      I had a great sale, but here is the truly OUTRAGEOUS part. The insurance adjustor who handled my case saw my ad and wanted to know why I didn’t put his name in there. So I ran another ad telling the story of my insurance guy, and the best part is, he paid for the ad!

      Yes, that’s OUTRAGEOUS.

OUTRAGEOUS exercise How many occurrences can you think of that you can use in your marketing? List at least five occurrences that have happened in your business or life, like the sprinkler malfunction, that could give you a reason to contact your customers, patients, clients, or prospects. Examples: • Your marriage • Your firstborn child • Your child graduating from college • A hurricane Your Life Occurrences: • _____________________________________________ • _____________________________________________ • _____________________________________________ • _____________________________________________ • _____________________________________________

      who cares why it works; it works!

      Here’s an interesting fact about the previous story and why I used an advertorial. I used an advertorial because they are read three times more often than other types of ads.

      But why is that?

      That’s the beauty of this program. You don’t need to know why. You only need to know that it works. These are not guesses I am presenting to you. These are proven OUTRAGEOUS techniques that work.

      Why do they work? Who cares!!!

      They work because people notice OUTRAGEOUS things. And what I am saying to you, and will repeat in detail in chapter 10, is that these ideas are the exact kind that you can use. I encourage you, as you will see, to swipe and deploy everything in here for use in your business.

      Why do it? Because everything else is boring, and there is a lot of it out there. Each day, you may think you see twenty, thirty, maybe forty advertising and marketing messages, but the truth is that each person each day is exposed to about 3,700 marketing and sales messages. Thus, your job, as an advertiser, is to stand out among that clutter. Yes, each person sees 3,700 or so marketing and sales messages every single day. Most, we don’t even notice because they are boring.

      Cutting through that clutter and boredom is not easy—unless, of course, you are OUTRAGEOUS.

       Daryn Ross as OUTRAGEOUS Superhero … Megaman. You can see this exhibit in full color when you request the FREE OUTRAGEOUS CD-ROM by using the request form on page 312.

      OUTRAGEOUS works everywhere

      Can a superhero be OUTRAGEOUS?

      Well, if you compare the superhero to everyone else in blue blazers and gray slacks, he sure can be.

      Let me tell you about Daryn Ross, the owner of Megafast, a company that supplies promotional products. One of the themes of Megafast is that the company is fast. So when Daryn Ross was looking for a way to promote his business, he invented a superhero—Megaman.

      When Daryn is invited, as he often is, to speak at a conference, he almost always steals the show. While others put the audience to sleep with mundane, ridiculous, and unimportant trivia, Megaman in a full superhero outfit (tights and all) takes the stage and suddenly commands attention.

      His is not just a speech. It is a show as he quickly presents a one-minute video running at three times its normal speed (to show the company is, you know, mega-fast). Then the superhero, Megaman, pulls out a treasure chest, offering training videos and saying that the first 450 people to the booth by 2:25 today get a free DVD worth $297.

      As you can imagine, his booth is packed with prospects because as I’ve proven to you … OUTRAGEOUS works. The DVDs show his product line, testimonials, and how to enroll in a monthly telecoaching program. After they view all of that, they can print out bonuses, which are coupons for discounts off of products.