Award-winning journalist and freelance copywriter, Susanna K. Hutcheson, presents news, thoughts and ideas on the world of business, marketing, copywriting and much more.

Wichita Police Department Hands out Awards . . . and the Oscar goes to . . .

Dennis Radar, alleged B.T.K. serial killer

he Wichita Police Department held a press conference, as they laughingly call them, yesterday. They had the spotlight of the entire nation, indeed the world. Fame and glory being the fleeting thing that it is, they took the opportunity to congratulate themselves (for the better part of an hour!) for doing their job. In this case their job was to capture the serial killer who called himself BTK for Bind them, Torture them and Kill them.

The police chief blew the entire case . . . he jeopardized it in my opinion . . . when he announced, "BTK has been arrested." What happened to the word "allegedly"? What happened to the trial? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? From a legal standpoint, couldn't a good attorney get the alleged BTK off scott free because of this verbiage?

Not being an attorney, I can't say. But to me, that and the entire affair was in poor taste. Everyone who wanted to be on national television from the mayor to Rep. Todd Tihart, was on the stage taking and giving congratulations for their part in the capture.

Now having said all that, I will say that the DNA is a match and the man they have probably is, without a doubt, BTK. But when did we convict before a trial. When did we start doing that? When did our language lose the words allege until the jury says "guilty"?

In fact, it was not police work that brought the alleged killer down in the end. It was his own daughter who turned him in and offered her on DNA.*

As I've always said, WPD can't catch anything but a cold on their own. So the award goes to Kerri Radar, the daughter of Dennis Radar, the alleged serial killer known as BTK. And to her, the city of Wichita owes everything. She did the hard part. The cops only did what we pay them to do. Thank you Kerri.

*Fox News reports that his daughter turned her father in. Police, however, deny this.
Susanna on 02.27.05 @ 06:44 AM CDT [link]

Get rid of spam . . . forever!

Are you sick of spam? I sure was.

I checked my email one morning and discovered over 700 emails . . . all but two were spam! Was I pissed? Oh yeah.

What's more, it took a lot of time out of my day to tend to the junk. This is time I could be spending doing things that make me money. This is known as losing productivity and it's a very bad thing.

I tried a number of programs and one or two are quite good. But you still have to deal with looking at the spam and working with it.

So I finally stumbled across a Web-based service that really works. Skeptical though I was, I gave it a try. Now I get only the mail I want. I get absolutely no spam in my mail box. I have my time back and am more productive.

This service lets you see all your mail and allows you to authorize any of it. So for the first couple of weeks or month, you may want to check the site from time to time and go over your incoming mail that doesn't get through.

After that, you never need to go back. You just get the mail you want in you in-box.

The thing is . . . it's impossible for spam to get through this service!

Watch the little animation on this page and read the review. You'll get a short view of how it works. Then visit the service's Web site and read everything about it.

I tried it for a few days and was sold. I think you will be too.

If you're tired of spam, if it's costing you time . . . which for most people is money too . . . you need this service.

Get it today and stop the spam in it's tracks.

Susanna on 02.19.05 @ 07:55 AM CDT [link]

Don't Always Do What Your Clients Says . . . You BOTH May Regret it.

It's very often best to refuse to do what your client says and, instead, really give them their money's worth by helping them focus and then develop their advertising's Unique Selling Proposition.

Remember, your client isn't the marketing expert . . . not matter what he thinks. You are.

Only by giving the client his money's worthwill you both win. And very often that means not doing what your clients wants you to do.

Don't worry. He'll love you when your way works. If you do it his way, however, he'll say nasty things about you when he losses his ass.


Susanna on 02.14.05 @ 07:49 PM CDT [link]

Radio Spots are Getting Hot Again.

According to recent studies, Direct Response Radio is getting very hot. And well it should. Radio is often overlooked by marketers. Radio shouldn't be all you do to market yourself, of course. But it should be part of your marketing strategy.

The average person listens to radio about three hours each day. They usually don't respond the first time they hear a spot. They usually respond after about the third to sixth time. (That's not written in stone. Just a rule of thumb.)

Radio is ideal to getting leads. No, it can't sell. But if you're smart, you'll direct listeners to your Web site and use your Web site to sell. And remember this, if your URL is long and hard to remember, don't expect much response! Make your URL very short and easy to recall. These people don't usually listen to the radio with pen and paper in hand!

A Web site like abc.com or comegetit.com (I have no idea if those are taken or who owns them.) are the ones that people remember. People remember ebay.com or amazon.com because they're well-known but also because they're short and easy to remember.

So use radio. And use it wisely. You'll be nicely rewarded if you do.

Susanna on 02.12.05 @ 08:11 AM CDT [link]

A Web site "No-No".

Nothing pisses me off quite as much as clicking on a link on a Web site and having something unexpected happen. For example, I don't like to click on a pdf file unless I know that it is a pdf file and I want it. Why? It sometimes crashes my PC. And I don't like my e-mail client coming up unexpectedly. Or my MP3 player.

If a person is going to get anything besides another Web page when he clicks a link on your site, TELL HIM SO!

Put a brief note under the link or by it or somewhere close --- but put it there. Tell him this is a pdf file and give him the size of the file. If it's an audio file, tell him so. If his e-mail program is going to pop up, tell him so. Suprises are not fun. They're not nice. People hate them. Don't do it to your visitors or you'll lose them.

Susanna on 02.10.05 @ 05:54 AM CDT [link]

Relationship Marketing is a Must for Successful Online Selling.

Do you capture e-mail addresses and names from people who visit your site? You should! Those names are priceless.

Where so many online businesses miss their mark is by not using their valuable house list. You need to mail out a sales message to it every week. This is called relationship marketing and that's what you should be doing --- building a relationship with the people who have shown an interest in your product.

Most people don't buy the first time at your site. They buy after three or four visits or after three or four e-mails from you. And the former doesn't happen without the latter in most cases.

Susanna on 02.10.05 @ 05:42 AM CDT [link]

Web Copy That Sells - A Review.

I just finished reading Maria Veloso's book, 'Web Copy That Sells.' This book provides the unique skills and techniques that enable a copywriter or anyone who writes online copy to flat out sell like never before. These techniques are so powerful and dynamic it's hard to believe.

Having said that, I have to add that in my opinion, Maria's method of writing Web copy would not work for every site or product. There is not a set pattern or template that fills the bill for all sites.

For example, she proclaims that the "editorial" style of Web site copy produces the most business. This is indeed a clever tool on "some" sites. But not all. It won't work on all sites and is too awkward for some.

She also likes to use "involvement devices" on her sites. I agree that these are useful on some sites. But I noticed on one of her sites that you "involve" yourself by ticking off your desired answer only to have your e-mail client pop up. This is not good usability --- people want to know and should know when they're about to submit an e-mail. They may opt not to do that and they should know before they click the box what's going to happen.

There are a few other things of this nature that I don't buy into. But, for the most part, this is a valuable book because it offers ideas that are fresh and not readily available and that most people will find exceedingly useful.

I suggest you buy the book and take from it what will work in your own personal situation but don't take everything as "gospel".

Maria Veloso has put together a wealth of knowledge that has not been made available before as far as I know. I've read all the books on online copywriting and a few offered some valuable help and ideas. In fact, most have some good points that you can take away from your read.

But 'Web Copy That Sells' is, by far, the very best to date. I recommend this book to anyone who really wants to make their site sell or needs to understand how to write e-mail and get it through the spam filters as well as get it read. This book covers it all. Maria Veloso has done a great job and provided a valuable service.

I highly recommend this powerful book to all copywriters and anyone who needs to write copy for the Web. But, as I said, take from it what will work for you and be sure you adhere to good usability in your quest to sell.

One word of warning, at least one of the freeware products the author recommends you download is "loaded" with adware that will take your computer over. So beware.

Susanna on 02.06.05 @ 04:05 AM CDT [link]