aakj veritable orgy

It really worked out neat. Paulette and I rented Sheraton Miramar's "conference bungalow" for two days and it turned out to be the absolute perfect place to hold a brainstorming session. For starters, the Sheraton Miramar is a beautiful, stately old hotel by the sea in Santa Monica that has been featured in several movies. And secondly, the conference bungalow itself was utterly charming. We had the whole room wired for sound and, on both days, for lunch, we had a deli buffet on the patio on the ocean side of the hotel.

It sure was good of me to spring for all of this, wasn't it?

Actually, it was my pleasure and it was a genuine honor to interact with all those brilliant men and women. And besides, as you already know, I am truly a Prince Of A Guy.

So anyway, here are some thoughts that have stuck in my mind as a result of that two-day conference:

THE MOST COMMON FLAW of all the ads and DM pieces that were submitted is that many of them were difficult (some were borderline impossible!) to read. You wouldn't believe it: over and over we examined submissions that had the sales message typed or type-written on a slime green background or some other off-the-wall color that created a near terminal case of eyestrain.

Listen Dammit: Use Black

Type On White Or Yellow

Paper And Don't Mess With

Any Other Color

Combinations!

DON'T SEND A LETTER to do a man's job. Hark unto me: It has been said you can sell anything by direct mail. Well, that's sort of true. But really, when you're selling data processing services or some other high-ticket technical item or service, you can use a letter to pave the way but, at some point, you have to sub in a real live sales person.

Look: One organization sent in a direct mail package designed to sell utility companies on becoming part of an advertising network of syndicated statement stuffer ads. It's a good idea, a darned good idea, but how many utilities are there? Probably only a few hundred in all the U.S. And, since the universe is so small and each "sale" represents so much loot, the transaction must be consummated by a human.