1. Welcome Message
2. What’s New?
3. A Recent Success Story
4. Featured Blog Article
5. My Tropical Dive Trip To Kosrae
6. Recycled Creativity
7. Humor Is A Funny Thing
8. Why I Love Referrals
9. Ad Trivia

Welcome Message
Hi there,
As a freelance copywriter, I received a terrific response to my first newsletter a few months ago, including three new projects from long-time colleagues and a request for a few estimates. This again proves that email marketing like this newsletter is one of the top ways to keep your company’s name on the desktop of your clients and prospects.
Cheers and best regards,
Gil Zeimer

What’s New?
What I’mve been doing:
— Since March, I completed a White Paper and a 40-page Website for a mail server appliance company, scripted a pro bono email and video project for Raphael House (see below), penned a marketing campaign for a business broker, produced the voiceover for a 40-minute e-learning PPT, edited a description of a best selling iPod app, wrote newsletter stories for a leading healthcare firm, and guided the copy for a franchise consultant Website.
— Read past issues of Zeimer’s NewZletter.

A Recent Success Story
In each newsletter, I share a copywriting success story. Here’s a recent one.

The Problem: In March, Raphael House San Francisco needed to spread the word about an upcoming annual fundraiser in mid-May. Since 1971, this non-profit has been a leader in local family services by helping over 17,000 individuals. Raphael House wanted to continue its legacy of providing food, shelter and the necessary tools that families need to set a cycle of renewal and growth into motion.

The Solution: My colleague, Gabriel Gasca of Fuego Creative, a creative collaborative specializing in video production, asked if I’md contribute my time pro-bono to write an email and video script. He also enlisted the talents of Lauren Deane, a talented local art director and graphic designer, to create the email template. The email shown above was sent to 600 past donors, friends and family. It included an imbedded 90-second video that I scripted and Gabriel produced. It featured the singing and voices of Raphael House clients.

The Result: 27% of the people who received the email opened it; 22% clicked through to the video; 67% of them watched the video, 20% reserved a seat at the fundraiser in late May, and 10% donated money. So this simple, one-touch email campaign was overwhelmingly successful in alerting the public about the annual fundraiser and surpassed the goals of this worthy non-profit group. WATCH THE VIDEO.

Featured Blog Article
What’s the Tweet on Twitter?
10 Ways Twitter Will Change American Business from Time.com.
Microblogging platform Twitter has 32 million users, an increase from about 2 million a year ago, according to research mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. Some Internet measurement services show that figure increasing 50% to 100% month over month.

While it is not clear that Twitter will become as large as social networks MySpace and Facebook or video-sharing site YouTube, the company could certainly have 50 million visitors by the end of the year. Read more.

My Tropical Dive Trip To Kosrae
In May, I took a much-needed vacation to the middle of nowhere to unplug, unwind and decompress. Kosrae is an island in Micronesia, 2500 miles southwest of Hawaii, 1500 miles north of Australia, and a day ahead of the US mainland. It also feels like it’s 40 years in the past. In fact, many Hawaiians vacation there because it reminds them of Kauai in the 1960s.

About half of the annual visitors jet there to scuba dive on its pristine reefs. The other half come to totally unplug from their PCs, cell phones and Blackberries. I did both and dove in 85-degree water with 120-foot visibility.
See a sampling of above and underwater photos.

A few stories I’mve written for scuba diving magazines will be published in the coming months. They’ll be linked to the page above.

Recycled Creativity
As a Certified Green Bay Area Business, I took a pledge to reduce my carbon footprint by using recycled products and services wherever possible. To that end, I’m recycling some of my past successes as a freelance copywriter in each of these newsletters.

Here’s an example: About 10 years ago, I created a postcard campaign for Brainstorm Networks, an Internet Service Provider in the South Bay that was later bought by RCN. The initial four 6″ x 9″ postcards with deep discounts on DSL service were mailed every two weeks over a two-month span. Three of them received a 4% response rate, but one garnered a 6% response rate because it offered a list of competitive benefits vs. AOL and Yahoo.

Humor Is A Funny Thing
Where do creative juices come from? Before the computer age, I worked in ad agencies with staff art directors who couldn’t pick up a sketch pad and Magic Markers until they had drank a couple of strong cups of coffee or downed a few brewskis at a local bar. More recently, some of my younger creative partners have had to chug a few Red Bulls to stimulate their senses.

Here’s a four-minute tongue-in-cheek video I found on Adweek Blog’s AdFreak.com.

Why I Love Referrals
Last year, I introduced a colleague in my local Business Network International chapter to a large financial products company.

She and I are bid on a project with a different client from this company. The result? We won the project and she announced it to our group to the tune of $20K for her. I will also have a role as a freelance copywriter in writing emails, direct mail postcards, the event agenda, and a landing page over the course of several months.

This is a perfect example of Giver’s Gain. I had worked with the client and knew she was looking for help. I introduced her to my colleague. They shared a common background and vocation. They teamed up on a few projects last year. And now, it’s resulted in a win/win/win for all of us.

Advertising Trivia
Every issue, I’mll ask a few questions about Advertising Trivia. The first correct responses from a new entrant will win a Starbucks Gift Card.

The winner of the March Trivia Contest was Jeff Davidson in Chicago, correctly answered Clara Peller (“Where’s The Beef?”), Nipper (RCA’s dog), Hershel Bernardi (Jolly Green Giant) and Daws Butler (Cap’n Crunch).

This month’s trivia questions:
1) What’s the slogan for a Texas-based convenience store chain?
2) What soda company hosted an ongoing TV taste contest vs. the long-time king — and won?
3) What famous female advertising personality founded an agency, then married the client at Braniff Airlines?
4) What award-winning creative director wrote the screenplay for “The Natural” while employed at a leading New York agency?

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND:
1) Go to: https://zeimer.com/contact
2) In “Other,” type JUNE TRIVIA CONTEST
3) In the Message Box, type your answers in the box.
4) Click “Send Email.”

© 2009. Zeimer’s Advertising Shoppe. All Rights Reserved.

NOTICE: If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, reply and type “REMOVE” in the subject line.