Making That First Impression Count . . . and Sell
Still need convincing that the old saying "You don't get a second chance to make a first impression" is still true? The evidence is as near as your mailbox. Every year, more than half a billion pieces of perfectly good direct mail pieces are tossed into the wastebasket without ever getting opened.

Why? Because whoever designed their envelopes didn't know how to get them to say "Open Me Now!"
And there's no reason for that waste of good marketing to continue. Herschell Gordon Lewis, the greatest copywriter of our time, spells out all the rules and discloses all the secrets you will ever need to make sure that envelope catches the recipient’s eye, including:

• Speed formats
• Rubber stamp effects
• The power of the provocative return address
• When less is more . . . and when it's just less

If you use direct mail to sell your products or services, you can't afford 
to not read this book to make that first impression really count.

Acknowledgments


Foreword 


Section One The Battle for Attention: If They Don’t Open It, We’ve Lost the War

The Cardinal Rule and the Clarity Commandment Stand Supreme
Makean Informed Decision
A Provocative Question Always Is Reader-Involving
Don’t Say Too Much
The Database Quandary
Minefield Mind-Reader
“Important”? To Whom?
Obfuscation Is Out of Fashion
In Advance of Chapter Four

Section Two Muddy Subject, Muddy Conclusion, Muddy Applications

Generally, What?
Muddy Testing in the Internet Era
First, Some New Creative Trends
What to Do and What to Don’t
They Don’t Want You to Know (Whatever)
Seals on the Front, Seals on the Back
Some Obvious Ploys
Gimmickry in Action

Section Three Will Promising the Moon Make You a Star?

How Free Is “Free”?
Misuses of “Free” and How to Avoid Them
Mild Promises, Mildly Fulfilled
How Easy It Is!

Section Four Is Your Envelope a Salesperson or Just a Clerk?

Benefits Galore
The “I Like It, They’ll Like It” Risk
Be Careful with the Old Standbys
“Effective” Means Convincing, not Clever: Three Principles
     The First Principle
     The Second Principle
     The Third Principle

Section Five Fund-Raising and Non-Profit Envelopes 

The Three Kinds of Fund Raising Envelopes
The Ubiquitous Address Label
What Could Be Simpler?
“Oh, if It’s from Them, I’ll Open It”
The Oh-So-Easy Determining Factor

Section Six Envelope Eye-Catchers, Experiments, and Trends

“Official” Is a Magical Envelope-Opener
Mixed Messages
Speed Formats
Polybags and Foil Packaging
The Circle Is Complete
Closing Thought

Section Seven A Couple of Imperatives

Appendix


About the Author


Index