There is a movement in marketing today that proposes the abandonment of the collective knowledge accumulated through the years in the direct marketing discipline.

After a quick Google search this morning looking for writings related to "marketing in bad times," the topic went on for pages with dozens if not hundreds of recent articles.

No advertising copywriting field demands so much from writers than direct response copywriting. They win or loose based on one thing -- performance.So how do successful direct marketing copywriters approach their craft? What separates them from the rest of the field?I've always expressed the difference in a single line."Successful direct response copywriters are really great salesmen in disguise."But let's listen to one of the greats in direct response copywriting field answer the questions we all would like to know. This post represents an extensive interview with Dean Rieck that is well worth the read.

In a recent article published in Response Magazine, Don Potter wrote the headline "Branding is Dead." He starts out by saying:

“Tweak testing” pervades the risk adverse environments in many industries. This dramatically reduces their chances of competing with those firms that understand the need to compete aggressively with their testing programs.

Over the years, direct marketing professionals have worked with all kinds of clients in every industry. Some clients The start up struggleget the help they need and many more never do. Why is that?

Always begin with the Cost Per Sale allowables that meet your financial requirements. Setting the cost per sale too high means the program will fail before it starts.

One of my readers asked four thought provoking questions that I answered and are worth repeating in this post.

Some readers will take issue with my list arguing that it contains

elements of truth. But in my view, these comments generally reflect a

misdirected strategic sense or preconceived ideas about the role of

advertising and direct marketing