DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

First, the terrible radio commercial…complete with terrible opening line.

The opening line of your radio commercial is the commercial for the commercial.

When your first words are, “Announcing, at last…” the audience expects to hear an announcement they long have been waiting to hear.

But no listeners have eagerly been awaiting “a brand new medical breakthrough for victims of stroke.”

Yes, many stroke victims and their loved ones would love to hear about something that can improve the lives of stroke victims — something that can mitigate some of the many possible effects of a stroke.

But that’s what those people want to hear about: the results that “at last” are available, not a meaningless, unsupported declaration about a “breakthrough.”

“Just published from medical doctors”

Huh? Is your Weasel Words alarm going off? In those five words, they manage to alert us twice that they’re deliberately not telling us anything.

“Just published” —  Y’know what? If this “breakthrough” was published in, say, the New England Journal of Medicine, they would’ve said, “just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.”

If it was published as an advertisement in, let’s say, the Pennysaver, then maybe they’d forget to mention who “published” it.

And whatever it was that was published, wherever, was “by medical doctors.” Once again, the alarm bells ring.

Does being told that unnamed “medical doctors” published something somewhere (which, apparently, says something although we’re not told what it does say) really cause you to trust this advertiser?

This new treatment “is exclusively available only at…” — Thank you, from our Department of Redundancy Department.

They tell is it’s “exclusively available (only at)” before they tell us what the heck they’re talking about. Hint: Tell us what you’re selling before you tell us where we can get it.

But to be fair, they never do tell us what the heck they’re talking about.

They tell us the advertiser’s name, address, and Web address. And then they invite us to schedule a free visit…by calling them on the phone. Or by going to their website. (Here’s that URL again).

Why should we schedule a free visit? Sorry, they just didn’t have time in this 60-second radio advertisement to give us a reason. After all, they had to tell us the advertiser’s name, physical address, URL, and phone number a total of 11 times.

“Results can vary”

Umm…I’m sure they can. But WHAT RESULTS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Schedule your visit “at absolutely no cost to you.”

“Hey, Hon! I have no idea WHY we should visit them, but if we do it’ll be at absolutely no cost to us!”

“Sounds great! What’s that number/name/address/website again…?”

If you happen to have an iPhone with you right now, the fastest way is to point your QR reader at this: 

As my buddy Trey stressed in our “iPhone App Secrets” webinar, the missing ingredient for most apps is…

…good marketing.

Strike that. The missing ingredient for most apps is…any marketing.

I don’t know if my video campaign for PhotoVoice will succeed. (The goal of the videos isn’t to make direct sales. It’s to help the app’s search engine rankings.)

But at least I’m trying something other than sitting around, hoping folks somehow will stumble upon my app.

Here’s the second in the series of videos that stars the sublimely talented Mandy Kaplan.

I don’t blame you; you’ve been a little…

…skeptical?

But how could you doubt Mandy Kaplan?

If you are unable to video the video above, use this alternate video player.