One of the people I learned a lot about marketing and writing copy from is Claude C. Hopkins. Hopkins was one of the pioneers of direct marketing in the early 20th century, earning $185,000 a year in 1915, which is more than $4,205,284 adjusted for inflation in today’s dollars.

Hopkins’ success was attributable to a few specific things:

1. His ability to relate to the common man. He came from very humble beginnings and never lost his ability to tap into these feelings and sensibilities.

And by the way, even if you are selling to wealthy geniuses, you may not believe it, but you are still dealing with the common man. We all put our pants on one leg at a time, and we all have the same hopes and dreams, regardless of social status.

2. He understood that you had to give before asking for something in return. In the case of Hopkins, he dealt with many consumer products and was a big proponent of sampling.

3. He measured his results and adjusted things like headlines, offers, and appeals, on a regular basis.

But one of the most important things I learned from Hopkins is the value of ONLY targeting your customer. See, most people write ads that try to appeal to everyone.

They have the mistaken impression that “everyone” wants to buy what they sell.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. You see, “everyone” is not your customer. Your clients are very specific people with unique desires, based on their particular circumstances.

The more you match your marketing messages with your customers as individuals, the more money you’ll make, simple as that. In the same way that your products and services target people with a particular set of circumstances, so should your marketing messages.

Instead of selling to “everyone,” create specific appeals that address the needs of individual segments of your market. For example, look at your top buyers and segment them. You will most likely find segments nested there. Segments such as busy executives, luxury home owners, women re-entering the workforce, single or married individuals, families who like to travel to the Caribbean, and seniors.

When your marketing speaks to the specific needs of your customer, you will sell much more and be able to charge the best price for your goods and services. This holds true no matter what you’re selling, from back rubs to healthcare to cupcakes.

As Hopkins said: “When you advertise, your product will only interest certain people. You only care about those people. Create your ads only for those people.”

The bottom line is that when you sort through your business AND your marketing messages, you suddenly discover where the money has been hiding all along.

Now go sell something,
craig garber