Dwight White, Copywriter and Marketing Strategist, St. Augustine, Fla.
What was your first job out of college and how did you get into this business?
My first job was in banking. I worked with a major financial group for 13 years, starting as a bank teller. For much of my time I held senior positions in loans, life insurance sales and as an investment advisor. But I always felt there was something else I wanted to do. And so, I later left the corporate world of finance to go into advertising sales.
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road.
When I started, I fished around for information and knowledge. But it really came together for me during the couple of years I sat at the feet of Clayton Makepeace (America’s highest-paid copywriter), as part of his EasyWriters™ Marketing Club – what he called his inner circle. I pretty much learned it in the trenches.
In brief, describe your business/company?
As a copywriter and marketing strategist, specializing in information marketing, I offer my clients business-growth solutions – both copy and marketing strategies – to help them bring more new customers in the door… and then maximize customer lifetime value on the backend – by getting customers on file to buy more often, spend more on each purchase, and stay on file longer. Sounds easy when you condense it like that, but there are a lots strategies and tactics that come into play to get it done. Best of all – I base my compensation on the results I produce.
What are two or three important concepts or rules that have helped you to succeed in business?
1) Passion: Now you see why I swapped balance sheet analysis for writing.
2) Creativity: To satisfy my more dominant right brain.
3) Stick-to-itiveness: Because otherwise, I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.
What is the single-most successful thing that your company is doing now?
Churning out copy that goes back to the basics of persuasion and salesmanship… and employing a more seductive approach, devoid of hype or pushy desperation.
Do you see a trend or path that you have to lock onto for 2012?
We’ve been seeing that it’s getting harder and harder to turn a positive ROI on marketing dollars – online and off. A behind-the-scenes look at successful marketers reveals these few gems. These are not new ideas – but they’re not used nearly enough by marketers.
1) A well-constructed product ladder – comprising low-priced acquisition products… and higher-priced backend products.
2) Using a multi-step lead generation/customer acquisition model on the web that delivers opt-ins and customers in one sitting.
3) Rather than burn out the customer file with one-size-fits-all promotions, try segmenting the file to select the customers most likely to respond.
4) Copy that acknowledges your prospect’s skepticism right up front.
What are the key benefits of SIPA membership for you and your team?
SIPA gives me a great way to stay in touch with my client base as a community. It’s great not just for networking, but to help me keep my finger on the pulse of issues that are important to us in the information publishing industry.
Is there a book you recently read or movie you saw that you would recommend?
I just finished re-reading the book, “Breakthrough Advertising by the legendary Eugene Schwartz. This book is a real classic and should be read by everyone who makes marketing decisions. And while I’m at it… there is another marketing book I’d recommend as well: Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
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Dwight put it well when he said
that SIPA reflects “the pulse of issues
that are important to us in the
information publishing industry.”
This will be on full display at the upcoming
Winter Publishers Conference
March 15, 2012
McGraw Hill Conference Center
New York City
Solve your most vexing problems in real time
with the movers and shakers of our industry!
Sign up today.
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