I LOVE TV Commercials! Here's why...

I LOVE television commercials. I've always been passionate about them. I remember being a small boy back when there were only three channels to watch.

You know how everyone talks about the Superbowl commercials? Well that was me every day about every commercial.

I either loved them or hated them.

Over the years, I quite often would yell and scream at the television--well, at the people behind the commercials. I couldn't believe whoever was paying the money to produce and broadcast some commercials would be stupid enough to buy into some of the crap I saw.

And when I saw a good commercial, I was in awe. I smiled and gave the television (thinking about the people who made the commercial in my mind) a big "Thumbs UP!"

Then came Infomercials. I was in heaven!

I remember one time my wife came out to the living room and I was watching a Don Lapre infomercial. My wife asked me, "Why are you watching THAT?"

My reply, "He's my new hero."

She rolled her eyes and said, "You've got to be kidding!" and went back to the bedroom.

(I actually ordered the "tiny classified ads" deal and my wife and I ended up publishing a book using concepts I learned there." You can see the result here.)

Anyway, these days, there is a LOT of money being spent and made with direct response commercials and infomercials.

My current favorite commercials are with "Vince" from Shamwow and Slap Chop. Those spots are fantastic!

They are already developing a cult following! Now THAT's impressive!

If you are new to marketing, in addition to reading stuff here, I recommend you study TV commercials and infomercials. Don't worry about the soft drink ads, the beer commercials, car commercials, basically any "Branding" commercials. Those are of limited use to you at this stage of your education.

What you want to study are the ones that say "Here's how to order...call now!" at the end.

With those commercials, NOTHING is left to chance. EVERY SINGLE WORD is scripted. Even Vince. I have inside knowledge that he couldn't sell his way out of a wet paper bag without a script. He's an actor, not a salesman. All that stuff that looks off-hand is planned down to the last detail.

Study the words and phrases and tone of voice they're using. Study the intent of the messages. Study the sequence of ideas: Problem/Solution/Testimonial/Call to Action.

Study the actual TIMING of those different sequences. What happens in the all-important first 3 seconds? The first 10 seconds? In the case of a long-form commercial (more than 1 minute) or an infomercial, when do they first give you the 800 number? How many seconds or minutes in?

You might even call the number and study how they try to upsell you and down sell you over the phone. Remember, most of the actual products you see being advertised are loss leaders. They make their real money on the back end or on the continuity program, just like we do in Internet Marketing.

Direct response TV commercials are a hotbed of deliciously valuable marketing training for anyone wanting to get involved with Internet Marketing.

After all, isn't the Internet rapidly moving towards video and has been for some time?

Gear up people. Study TV commercials!

Best wishes to you!

Peter