Bob Bly's Direct Response Letter:
Resources, ideas, and tips for improving response to business-to-business, high-tech, internet, and direct marketing.
January 1, 2026
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Instead of dropping your price, give the buyer more
Too often, salespeople rush to discount—when instead, they should consider trade-offs. Before dropping your price, explore other ways to add value or adjust the offer.
Create a "negotiation matrix" of possible concessions—delivery terms, extended contract, added services, payment schedules, etc. Exhaust your list of concessions before you discount the price.
Source: Sandler email, 7/3/25.
Use AI to get new ideas
You can use AI to generate ideas beyond your habitual ways of thinking, and come up with alternatives that are broader, surprising, provocative, or contrarian. For instance, ask ChatGPT:
"What are some reframes and metaphors I can incorporate here?"
"Use 'Star Wars' to inspire some out-of-the-box ideas for this."
"How would you make this big idea even bigger?"
"Give me 10 different hooks to grab the prospect's attention."
Source: David Deutsch, AI Confessions of an A-List Copywriter.
Why you should enter your books in awards competitions
In a crowded market, standing out is everything. Book awards don't just shine a spotlight on the winners; they also amplify an author's credibility.
Awards add a stamp of approval that can appeal to readers, bookstores, libraries, and media. You can add "award-winning author" to your bio. And share news of the awards on your website and social media outlets. Result: greater visibility, media interviews, and even more publishing opportunities.
Source: PR by the Book, 6/15/25.
Mark Schaefer's 3-step personal productivity system
- Everything goes on the to-do list
- The top three priorities get stars
- Nothing else happens until the stars are conquered
Source: Schaefer Marketing Solutions, 7/1/25.
Where's the creative brief?
A survey by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) reveals that 82% of agencies and 79% of brands consider a "tight [creative] brief with clearly defined objectives" crucial for achieving great advertising.
Bob Liodice, CEO of the ANA, notes: "An excellent brief remains the top contributor to effective creative work, and great creative, in turn, contributes to brand and business growth" and is "one of the most important documents a marketing team can create."
Source: BMA SmartBrief 6/27/25.
Web pages must load in seconds
A lightning-fast website is more important than ever. Reason: Consumers are busy, impatient, and spoiled. If they have to wait for a webpage to load, they'll just move on.
A recent study by NP Digital found that after 3 seconds, there is a sharp drop in organic rankings. And any site taking longer than 4 seconds becomes borderline invisible.
Source: Neil Patel, 6/25/25.
AI enhances performance for 4 out of 5 marketers
ChatGPT has boosted effectiveness or efficiency for 83% of marketers: AI provides content creation for 64.5% of marketers, and 44% use it for idea generation and content optimization. But 54.2% worry about quality concerns while 62.6% worry about misinformation.
Source: ANA SmartBrief, 6/25/25.
Older workers are back in demand
A recent post by Korn Ferry highlights a major shift: hiring of workers with 10+ years of experience is up 27%, while new grad hiring is down 25%. Tech companies, especially, are rethinking their priorities—choosing experience over training from scratch.
Source: ExecuNet, 6/26/25.
Death of the CMO
The chief marketing officer (CMO) title is declining in popularity, with just 40% of Fortune 500 marketers using it, Russell Reynolds Associates reports.
Preferred alternative titles, including chief revenue officer and chief growth officer, are becoming more common. Reason: the CMO role is evolving to encompass broader responsibilities, including revenue generation and customer engagement.
Source: AMA SmartBrief 6/30/25.
6 things to have on your home page
- Clearly say what you do + who you help.
- Reflect your personality and voice.
- Include key phrases so Google can find it.
- Share your story without sounding like a resume.
- Show photos of you or your team.
- Bridge your experience to "here's how I can help you."
Source: Heather Lloyd-Martin, 7/8/25.
Your prospect already knows other vendors
An overwhelming 92% of B2B buyers start the buying process with at least one vendor already in mind, and 41% have chosen a single preferred vendor before any formal evaluation begins, per Forrester Research.
Source: Business Marketing Smart Brief, 7/8/25.
Quotation of the month
"One of the best things about being a writer is that you simply don't know what readers will take from your book—it's very personal to them."
-Philippa Gregory
Our 60-second commercial
Bob Bly is available on a limited basis for copywriting of landing pages, direct mail packages, video sales letters, brochures, case studies, white papers, ads, email marketing campaigns, articles, and web pages. We recommend you call for a FREE copy of our updated Copywriting Information Kit. Just let us know your industry and the type of copy you're interested in seeing (ads, mailings, etc.), and if Bob is available to take on your assignment, we'll tailor a package of recent samples to fit your requirements. Call Bob Bly at 973-263-0562, e-mail rwbly@bly.com, or click here now.
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