Possibly the saddest, most incompetent catalog ever made...

[Dien Rice]

If you wanna make money, you gotta know the rules!

So says Denny Hatch, copywriter extraordinaire...

As some may know, I'm a big fan of Denny Hatch. He's a copywriting expert. I have all of his non-fiction books (if you don't have any of his books, I recommend you start with "Method Marketing")...

He writes regular articles for "Target Marketing Magazine" - he was the former editor-in-chief - now it's headed by his wife, Peggy Hatch.

Denny's latest article is a doozy...

If you want to make moolah by selling things through your writing - it's worth a read!

Of course, many here will already know these rules... But if you don't, ignore these at your own peril!

He talks about a catalog he received - which breaks the well-known rules about copy and design, which are proven to work...

Here's part of the article...

From the article by Denny Hatch...

Every morning I sit on a stool at the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee and three newspapers—Inquirer, New York Times and Wall Street Journal—next to the small TV tuned to CNN, MSNBC and/or Fox.

This little thing must have slipped out of the Times. I guess I missed it when I moved the papers to the recycling bin.

I saw it lying alone on the counter pathetically crying for attention like a starving kitten and I picked it up. The more I studied it, the sadder I became at its utter incompetence. I couldn't read it, because all the type was far too small and much of it printed in reverse type over busy, mottled backgrounds.

It's a British catalog, of course. Any designer (or creative director) that produced this mini-atrocity could never find work in America.

The copy cannot be critiqued, because the entire 64-page booklet is set in 6- to 9-point type and therefore unreadable.

What follows is a brief compendium of the basic rules for the design of direct mail and catalogs.

...

You can read the rest here...

Breaking Every Rule in the Book! In 50 years, the saddest catalog I ever saw!
http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/ar...og-i-ever-saw#

By the way, here's where you can find all of Denny Hatch's writings at Target Marketing Magazine...

http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/se...nny+H atch%22

Best wishes,

Dien