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

Xmas Online Sales One Bright Spot in Otherwise Lackluster Season.

Buyers didn't buy as much this year as merchants had hoped they would. Brick-and-Mortar stores faired poorly and hope that after-Xmas sales will pull them out. But online shopping was great.

ComScore Networks expects non-travel retail spending to grow by between 23 per cent and 26 per cent to between US$15.1 billion and $15.5 billion in November and December of this year, compared with last year.

For the full story go here.
Susanna on 12.26.04 @ 04:18 AM CDT [link]

Wal-Mart is a Socialist Temple.

Several women are suing Wal-Mart for paying men who do the same job more money. One woman accidently saw the payslip of a man who had the same job. He earned $10,000 per year more! At first, the brass said it wasn't true. But when push came to shove, they admitted it was true. They were paying the man more because he had a wife and kids!

The Communist/Socialist Adage

From each according to his ability and To each according to his need.

Isn't this what we are seeing from Wal-Mart and perhaps other companies as well?

The suit could represent as many as 1.6 million current and former female employees of the retailing giant.

The suit alleges Wal-Mart created a system that frequently pays its female workers less than their male counterparts for comparable jobs and bypasses women for key promotions.

Shame on Wal-Mart. Shame on any company who still participates in this socialist thinking.

A Capitalist society pays all people according to their achievements --- NOT THEIR NEEDS! Additionally, who the hell is Wal-Mart to decide that the man's need were more than the woman's needs?

Wal-Mart is a Socialist Temple. They use Capitalist tools. But they also use socialist tools like imminent domain. They steal people's homes and businesses to build their buildings. They hide behind the American flag and provide products made everywhere but the United States of America.

The Imminent Domain law in this country is designed for the use of government for things used by the public such as roads and highways, railways and the like. It was not intended for private business.

Shame on Wal-Mart. It is a Socialist Temple --- not a Capitalist business of which we should be proud.

Susanna on 12.25.04 @ 01:01 PM CDT [link]

What it Takes to be a Great Copywriter.

Being able to sell through the use of the right words written in just the right way is basically what copywriting is. At least that's my interpretation of the definition. That in and of itself is hard enough. But couple that with one more ingredient and you have what it really takes --- imagination.

I never had much of an imagination. As a child, I thought like an adult. But I had one thing going for me. I had an imaginary friend. Actually I had two. But somewhere along the line I made them mad and they quit talking to me. Since then, coming up with wild ideas took lots of hard work. And those ideas are what make up advertising. Good advertising takes lots of wild ideas. Crazy ideas. Nutty ideas. It takes a wild imagination.

So what do you do when you're like me and don't even get jokes? Well, I've learned to couple my native and taught skills with the natural skills of people with wild imaginations. I read lots of cartoons from The New Yorker Cartoon collection. I read them and learn to laugh at their silliness and see how we need to put outselves in other people's places, put outselves into our pet's places, etc.

Before I begin to write for a client I read some great cartoons and then I put on some wild music and begin to write. I brainstorm. And the ideas come. I put them on a yellow legal pad or the computer and being to outline my work.

So not having an imagination is a handicap to being a copywriter or, for that matter, a writer. But with the help of those who do have an imagination I am able to do what it takes to produce some rather fantastic ads.

I think all good copywriters are good writers and good sales people. But some of us do lack a vivid imagination. That's the one thing we really have to work on. But it's well worth the effort.

Susanna on 12.24.04 @ 08:00 AM CDT [link]

When Advertising is Not a Good Thing.

Generally I believe in advertising. Why? Simply put, it works. Ah, fact is, in some cases it works too well.

Celebrex has been one of the most heavily promoted prescription drugs in advertising aimed at consumers. For the first nine months of this year, Pfizer spent almost $71.2 million on Celebrex, up about 55 percent from almost $46.1 million spent in the same period a year ago, according to data from the research firm TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. The effect of such advertising, many doctors say, was to drive the consumer demand for COX-2 drugs far beyond the bulk of those patients who really benefit from them.

Now Celebrex, like Vioxx before it, is being taken off the market for causing heart problems, possibly even heart attacks.

I think the drug companies make a mistake in advertising their drugs to the general public. We non-doctors do not understand drugs. No drug is totally safe. Even doctors very often give drugs when they should not. But to hoist them on the public through advertising campaigns which make them look safe and just great is not a good thing.

Drugs are not dog food, soap or sodas. Drugs have the ability to injure and kill. The ad industry can't take that lightly.

Susanna on 12.19.04 @ 04:54 AM CDT [link]

Switch to a Safer Browser --- Lots of People are Doing it.

I've used Mozilla for several years and have recently switched to Firefox, a Mozilla open source product. This is a strong, sturdy and safe browser and it must be that lots of folks agree with me because Internet Explorer is losing users daily. People are turning to Mozilla and Firefox. Read the full story about the move to Mozilla here.

Susanna on 12.12.04 @ 04:46 AM CDT [link]

The Affiliate Business Bites the Dust.

Perhaps it's a bit premature to proclaim the death of the affiliate business. But let me share a bit of my own experience with you and leave you to judge for yourself.

I have earned a lot of money in the affiliate business and it was pretty much on autopilot. Then Clickbank started giving refunds fast and furious and those of us who communicate to each other about these things, complained among ourselves. All of us were losing money.

Some programs such as Silver Vegas don't even pay affiliates the commissions they owe them nor will they answer e-mail. A real ripoff.

And Google has pretty much stopped indexing affiliate links.

So I for one have stopped actively participating in the affiliate business and will soon leave it altogether. It's been my experience that when something no longer works, it's time to get out. And the affiliate business is moribund.

Susanna on 12.10.04 @ 10:08 AM CDT [link]

How Special --- Sunday.

I love Sundays. Sunday is the one day I indulge myself and my loves. It starts with Starbucks coffee and a Krispy Kreme and a long morning of Elegant Opera played over the Internet on Live365. How can one listen to the graceful, passionate voice of Callas and not feel renewed? Her voice and the music written and directed by masters and presented in places like La Scala turn any room into a place of beauty and any life into something unique and effervescent --- a respite from the ordinary.

It is not what we have that matters. It is the beauty that we put into what we have that matters.



Susanna on 12.05.04 @ 10:50 AM CDT [link]

DNA Taken Against Man's Wishes in Wichita BTK Case.

A man was arrested last week on "unrelated" charges but obviously in connection to the BTK case. His door was kicked in and his civil rights bashed.

His lawyer is Dan Monnat.

Authorities obtained a DNA sample from the man using a mouth swab "against his will," Monnat said, declining to elaborate.

Monnat also said his law firm hasn't confirmed whether the swab was taken before or after the issuance of a search warrant.

The cops have gone too far in their zeal. We need to change the laws. We need to change the cops.

Oh, by the way, tests proved that the man was NOT BTK.


Susanna on 12.05.04 @ 06:58 AM CDT [link]

As Sound as the Dollar? Let's Hope Not.

The American dollar once was sound. It was strong. Now because of reckless spending and no savings it is losing it's worth. Not to mention the stupidity of going off the gold standard in 1971. It has been on a downward trend ever since that time.

In January 2002 one euro bought 86 cents: this week it was worth almost $1.32. The dollar has lost 35 percent against the euro.

Gold is up to $450 per troy ounce.

In an article in the current issue of The Economist we read this about the falling dollar.

America's growth would be depressed by tax increases or spending cuts, but there would be no need for recession. If, on the other hand, the government fails to cut its budget deficit, the dollar will fall more sharply and bond yields will rise. America's housing bubble might then burst and consumer spending would certainly slow sharply. That combination would reduce the external deficit, but only at the cost of a deep recession.

The Greatest Generation had a Sound Dollar and then along came the Boomers.

Ok. We can't totally blame the Boomers. They didn't take us off the gold standard. They are merely spending all our money and putting us deeply in debt.

Why didn't we stay on the gold standard? And why is the government allowing this to happen? We need to ask these questions and find some answers. Otherwise, we are going to have to pay all of the debt we've racked up. And frankly, we don't have the money for that.

Susanna on 12.05.04 @ 05:30 AM CDT [link]

How to Keep Your PC Critter Free and Running Smoothly.

I recently had a terrible time with my office desktop and my notebook. Not at the same time thankfully. But about a week apart. I had to reformat them and reinstall programs. If you've never done that, you can't imagine what a mess it is.

Fortunately, I have done it so much that by now my panic level was down to near-crisis level instead of needing a mental health care provider level. Now one tranquilizer is generally enough to get me through.

At any rate, I thought I had a Ghost clone of my desktop. Turns out the clone was bad. First time that happened. Always before my Ghost copies were perfect and saved my butt. Not so this time.

But I've used an online backup service for years. So my financial data, my client's documents and all the important files were safe and snug. I reinstalled and ran a ghost copy on each machine.

This time, however, I ordered a new external hard drive onto which I plan to put several clone copies of each machine. I also have a thumb drive that I keep special files on.

I bought an excellent new spyware program which actually keeps spyware off the machine before it gets on --- an excellent program. See, the problems I'm describing were caused by spyware. Spyware quickly entered my network and destroyed my system.

Spyware and Adware is not Smart Marketing. It's Bad Business.

To you marketers who think spyware and adware is harmless stuff that helps you to sell to people, I can tell you it is not. And I do not condone the use of it. Anything that might cause harm to a person's computer should not be used to market your product or service. Period. I have zero tolerance on this subject.

I suggest that you do all you can to protect yourself from spyware and adware. I happened upon an interesting article about how one man keeps his computer in good shape. You might want to read it.

Safe computing.

Susanna on 12.05.04 @ 04:17 AM CDT [link]

People and their Problem with Words.

Throughout the years, numerous people have come to my site and stayed awhile (I can tell as I have real-time monitoring) and a small percentage of them e-mail me saying they have written something and need a Now I know that one can't look at my site for even a minute or less and not know that I write sales copy --- I'm not a lawyer or have anything to do with copyright law.

See, this is the problem. People don't really understand words. If two words sound alike, they reason they must be the same. Not so!

For information on getting a copyright go to The U.S. government copyright office.

The Meaning of the Words

Copyright means "The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work." That's according to one of the online dictionaries.

A copywriter is "One who writes copy, especially for advertising" according to the same dictionary.

I even had an editor of a national magazine e-mail me one time and talked a lot about her important job. Then she showed her ignorance by saying something to the effect that she always thought working with copyright would be interesting. Duh! This from an editor.

You gotta' wonder.

Susanna on 12.04.04 @ 06:39 PM CDT [link]

Online Radio Ads Expected to Grow

Borrell Associates predicts, via ClickZ, that online radio ads will grow by about 56 percent per year for the next five years, growing from its current miniscule share of less than one half of a percent of current online advertising to an amount that will actually take a toll on traditional radio markets. Currently about $35 million is spent on streaming ads and banner ads on radio sites. If Borrell proves correct, that sum would amount to $323 million in 2009.
Susanna on 12.03.04 @ 09:30 AM CDT [link]

Amnesty Offered Spammers to Help Fix Google Hijacking Vulnerability

3 Dec 2004

Discussion monitoring site Threadwatch points to an insiders' forum where a Google representative is calling for help among the search engine optimization vendor crowd to help the search engine prevent "Google results hijacking," a vulnerability Google has that allows cheating sites to steal the high rankings that other sites would otherwise have gotten. The vulnerability appears to stem from Google's manner of indexing the web, which allows a cocktail of 302 redirects and meta refreshes to steal another site's ranking. A longtime forum participant who works for Google even made an offer of amnesty to search engine spammers in a plea to help gain evidence of the practice to help design a fix.
Susanna on 12.03.04 @ 09:25 AM CDT [link]

Wichita Police Department and Local Media Screw Up --- Big Time.

This space is ordinarily devoted to marketing and advertising issues. But since I own this space, I'm going to write about something I feel very strongly about --- civil liberties --- and how one man's civil liberties were violently trampled on yesterday in this city.

Yesterday, our local cops and local media made a mess of one man's life. I won't go into the details but suffice it to say, he was arrested with the whole town, indeed the nation, thinking he was BTK (Bind Torture and Kill), the notorious serial killer.

His door was kicked in. His house staked out. His picture put in the paper and on television stations.

The following is a portion of what was in The Wichita Eagle this morning in an article by STAN FINGER AND TIM POTTER.

News of the arrest, published in Thursday's Eagle -- and the speculation that followed -- attracted a steady stream of gawkers to the street next to the man's house.

"It is a travesty when you look at the impact, and you look at what has happened to a neighborhood because of the fact that people assume that the Wichita Police Department was making an arrest in regards to BTK," Williams said at a crowded news conference.

"We have not, and I repeat, we have not made an arrest in connection with BTK."

The killer, who dubbed himself BTK -- short for "bind, torture and kill" -- resurfaced in March after nearly 25 years of silence when he sent a letter to The Eagle. Police say he has killed at least eight Wichitans since 1974.

A tip to the BTK hotline led authorities to the man who lived in south Wichita, Williams told The Eagle on Thursday morning, and in the course of investigating his background they discovered outstanding warrants. When that happens, he said, authorities have no choice but to arrest the person.

For the complete story, go here.

For those of you who have not heard of BTK, here is his background as we in Wichita know it.

BTK HISTORY

Jan. 15, 1974: Joseph and Julie Otero, 38 and 34, were strangled in their home at 803 N. Edgemoor in Wichita, Kan. along with two of their children, Josephine, 11, and Joseph II, 9. The family car was later found in a store parking lot at Central and Oliver. Within a few days, police released a sketch of a suspicious man seen near the Otero home the morning of the murders.

April 4, 1974: Kathryn Bright, 21, was stabbed to death in her home at 3217 E. 13th in Wichita. Kathryn's brother, Kevin, survived the attack despite being shot twice.

October 1974: The Wichita Eagle-Beacon newspaper received a letter from a person claiming to have killed the Oteros and included details of the crime scene that only the killer could have known. The author signed with these "code words": bind them, torture them, kill them: BTK. (Many details of BTK's letters have been withheld by police and reproductions are rarely seen.)

March 17, 1977: Shirley Vian, 24, was found bound and strangled in her home at 1311 S. Hydraulic in Wichita.

Dec. 8, 1977: Nancy Fox, 25, was found bound and strangled in her home at 843 S. Pershing in Wichita. BTK's voice was captured on tape when he called a police dispatcher to report the homicide.

Jan. 31, 1978: A letter containing a poem written with a child's printing set on an index card arrived at the Wichita Eagle-Beacon. The poem, which was patterned after a "Curly Locks" nursery rhyme, referred to the Vian homicide. The writer also referred to a mysterious "factor x."

Feb. 10, 1978: A letter from BTK arrived at Wichita's KAKE-TV station claiming responsibility for the deaths of Vian and Fox, as well as another unnamed victim. The letter included a poem titled "Oh! Death to Nancy." The poem adapted lines from a folk song called "Oh, Death." Police Chief Richard LaMunyon soon announced that a serial killer was at large and threatening to kill again.

April 28, 1979: The killer waited inside a home in the 600 block of South Pinecrest in Wichita, but left before the 63-year-old female occupant returned. He later sent the woman a letter letting her know he had planned to kill her but had gotten tired of waiting for her to return home. Police believed the killer was targeting the woman's daughter.

Aug. 15, 1979: Wichita residents listened to repeated radio and television broadcasts of the voice of the BTK strangler from the 1977 phone recording. Police received 110 tips during the first day the broadcasts aired.

Mid-1980s: A new BTK investigation was opened by a group known as "The Ghostbusters," which spent three years employing new techniques including DNA testing, computer database searches and psychological profiles.

Sept. 16, 1986: Vicki Wegerle, 28, was strangled in her home at 2404 W. 13th in Wichita. The family car was found two blocks away in the 1300 block of North Edwards.

January 1988: The wife of Wichita murder victim Phillip Fager received a letter from a man claiming to be BTK. The letter mentioned the killing of Fager and his two daughters but denied responsibility for the crimes. While the Fager murders were very similar to BTK's, experts disagree whether BTK was responsible. A local man named Bill Butterworth was tried in the Fager murders but was acquitted.

March 19, 2004: A letter arrived at the Wichita Eagle containing a photocopy of Vicki Wegerle's driver's license and three pictures of the crime scene that apparently were taken by her killer. (Relatives said the license was the only thing missing from Wegerle's home.) The BTK case was once again a full-scale investigation.

April 7, 2004: An anonymous letter containing a photo of an unidentified baby was received by Wichita's KSN-TV station. Apparently believing it could be a clue from BTK, the station immediately publicized the photo in an attempt to identify the baby. Apparently it was unsuccessful.

May 5, 2004: Wichita's KAKE-TV station received a multi-page letter from BTK, with the heading "The BTK Story" and a chapter titled "P.J.'s." The letter also included word puzzles and hints at his method of gaining access to the homes of his victims.

June 17, 2004: The Wichita Police Dept. received a letter from BTK that apparently included more details of the Otero murders.

July 17, 2004: A suspicious letter was discovered at the main branch of the Wichita Public Library and turned over to the FBI as a possible communication from BTK.

Aug. 21, 2004: The Wichita Police Dept. announced that the folklore song 'Oh, Death' was used in an English literature class at Wichita State University during the 1970s, taught by Dr. P.J. Wyatt. Since BTK used an adaptation of that song in a 1978 letter, police theorized BTK had a relationship of some kind with Wyatt, who died of cancer in 1991.

Nov. 30, 2004: The Wichita Police Dept. revealed new information about BTK's alleged background.

Here is what I sent in an e-mail to The Wichita Eagle

As a former journalist (editor, reporter and newspaper owner) I know what sort of decision the paper faced. The fact is, the police made a mistake and they had to blame someone. That "someone" is almost always the media.

While I always wanted to get my story and outdo the other media, I preferred to err on the side of the individual's rights. While I know nothing about the man arrested, I feel a bit sorry for him and for his family. I think his civil liberties were stripped bare by police and media and that includes the newspaper who put his photo in its pages.

His life will probably never be the same and, although he was not charged with a major crime, his reputation was sullied and he'll always be remembered for what happened yesterday. This was both a police screw-up and a media screw-up of major proportions.

I always had a practice of never publishing something until it was fact. I always put the individual and his rights first because in this country, that's where it belongs. WPD stomped all over this man's rights. Then when they were caught with their collective pants down, they looked for someone to blame --- this is what bureaucrats do --- and the media made perfect fall guys.

The citizens were left disappointed that BTK is still among us and free. The police look stupid and incompetent (not an unfair assessment) and the media helped perpetuate the whole thing. This was not a good thing.














Susanna on 12.03.04 @ 06:32 AM CDT [link]