Cashvertising (or Ca$hvertising) is a book written by Drew Eric Whitman. With its roots in offline and print media advertising and with a strong emphasis on copywriting, is this book any good for purist online marketers?
Watch this short video review to see exactly what you can get out of Cashvertising, as an online marketer.
Discover its strengths and its weaknesses and see a new kindle in action!
Video Review
Summary
Early in the book, the author compares advertising to sales personnel: each ad you publish, each page on your website, each sales- or squeeze page is like a sales rep. The question is: are these sales reps doing a good job? Are they doing their best to get you more customers and spread your brand? Or are they lazy and ineffective?
One of the chief ways to make your "virtual sales reps" work harder for you is by using better copy and that's where Cashvertising's main emphasis lies. This book teaches you all the fundamentals necessary to create attention-grabbing headlines and titles, to keep visitors interested and engaged and quite simply to make more sales.
The book comes with many practical examples and tips you can implement right away. I enjoyed reading it and on more than one occasion, it sent my head spinning with new ideas.
The only downside is that some of the chapters are very specific to print advertising. You can probably skip those chapters, as they don't offer anything that translates to a purely online-based business.
Click here to get your copy of Cashvertising!
Did you enjoy this review? Would you like to see more book reviews on IM Impact? Do you have any recommendations for books about marketing and advertising? Let me know by leaving your comment below!
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I LOVE book reviews, specially written ones where I can skim and get the gist. Didn’t listen to your video here, and must admit that often on Sundays I wait to click on your link till enough other people have probably written comments that I can get the gist from them. That said, you ARE one of the few people whose videos I will watch sometimes!
Hi Rosana,
Interesting… is there a particular reason you don’t like videos? Is it just the non-skimmable nature of them, or is there something else as well?
I’m always curious to know about things like this.
I’m one of those folks who does not care much for videos, and like Rosana, yours are among the very few I actually watch. I also don’t much care for podcasts, except that I do use them while driving/commuting.
The reason is that I can read in excess of 1500 words/minute. The typical audio rate is less than 180 words/minute. Of course, I can’t read while driving, so audio is acceptable use of otherwise almost completely wasted time. But I can’t watch a video at all while driving.
I suspect that the main reasons for the popularity of podcasts and videos is that the typical adult (in the US, anyway) reads at a rate of 300 wpm or less, so the difference in time requirement is not very large. Plus audio & video are much more passive, which appeals to a generation that watches 20+ hours/week of television (I’ve watched maybe a total of 20 hours of TV in the last 10 years).
Since the current generation has been substantially dumbed-down by excessive TV consumption, I suppose that I will be forced into using video myself, whether or not I like it. For some of the things I do, video production may actually be easier than writing — and for the musical stuff I do (I’m a violinist who also sells violins and accessories) it may even be more appropriate than the written word.
Ironically, another of the things I do for a living is teaching of programming courses. I have gotten pretty good at it, and my courses are well-received. But I would rather read a book than attend a live, instructor-led course to learn new material, and it puzzles me sometimes that there are people who seem to prefer sitting in my class!
To summarize the above, for most things, I’d rather read at 1500 wpm than listen to a podcast or passively consume a video. Or for that matter, sit in somebody else’s class.
Excellent book review, Shane. Quick, well paced, and to the point. Thank you! I also appreciated the tips about the Kindle. I would love to see you do more book reviews.
In this case, I think I’ll check the book out as a result of your review. I wouldn’t have been interested otherwise. The cover is uninspiring, and the title doesn’t grab me either. But I do respect the author – I know he’s a great copywriter. The way you connected his info to online marketing really makes sense. Thanks!
“The cover is uninspiring, and the title doesn’t grab me either.”
That’s not a good sign, since the guy is supposed to know how to create a very appealing title.
Then again, he might have had publishers interfering.
This is one of my favorite books in business. It’s a must to read and reread and implement. I would also recommend as a companion: ‘Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive’
Thanks for the recommendation! I read “YES!” some time ago and enjoyed that as well. In fact, I think I’ll have to re-read it, because I can barely remember anything from it anymore.
I find video to not always be the ideal. So many videos I receive have no controls in the players – such as the ability to go full screen; auto play always on (which I find to be an intrusion) Full screen or not; videos are hard to follow for demos or webinars if they are not HD (screens are blurry); etc.
Ok, I see.
When I upload a live video such as the one here, I upload it in a low resolution, to minimize the file size (faster loading etc.). That’s why there’s no full-screen option on my live videos, usually.
On any screencast type video, I do add that option.
Hello Shane!
Always enjoy finding your mail in the ol box. You speak truth about knowing more stuff besides pure web stuff.
Several years ago, before I fell into Internet marketing I spent most of a summer learning print advertising, the technical part. It’s a whole ‘nother animal. Also print guys are very clannish and have their own lingo and stuff. They also live and die by how to make colors for their goods. Electronic marketing is MUCH MUCH easier to comprehend.
But here’s me. We’re riding down the interstate and whoever is with me looks up and sees an advertising sign. “Oh what a pretty sign.”
I look up and see the sign, but I don’t see the sign. I see the font, colors, presentation and a half dozen other things. I might even read the message. Ha! I’m thinking…How can I apply this nifty idea to one of my pages? I mean, the designer must be making a killing at his work…so what can I learn from it. It’s a sorry way to live. Sigh.
I’m progressing on my one and only WSO. It’s gonna smack me hard if nobody buys it. It’s a scary thought. And yes, it does include the kitchen sink. I couldn’t help myself. I should have it all gussied up for a launch in a couple of weeks. Getting it from my desktop to yours is still a bit of a mystery. I’m signed with the middleman, but the the delivery part is still a blank spot since I haven’t done this before. Blindly, I proceed.
That’s the Norm report in trade for the Shane report! Onwards!
Norm
Shane-
Good review, but it makes me wonder: if the most valuable lesson in this book is copywriting, is it a top-level copywriting book? I mean are there other copywriting books that make ca$hvertising look inferior or redundant that you know of?
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a copywriting book that is way better then Cashvertising.
One I definitely recommend is Cialdini’s Influence. Although that one is more generally about persuasion and not tightly focused on copywriting.
I have not yet read Ca$hvertising, but I have read some other really good ones. Perhaps the best I’ve read so far has been Joe Sugarman’s Advertising Secrets of the Written Word, which I reviewed on my Celtic-Fiddler blog at http://celtic-fiddler.com/fiddler/2011/05/advertising-secrets-of-joseph-sugarman/ (that post has a long list of other books on advertising and copywriting).
Hi Shane,
Got the Kindle version and have enjoyed what I’ve been learning.
Thanks for the review,
Bob
I read this book a while ago and loved it. Most of it was relevant for my online business. All of Dan Kennedy’s books ultimate sales letter and ultimate marketing plan also where great reads.
Thanks for the tips, Andrew!
Shane,
Excellent review. I popped over to Amazon and read the teaser copy. I liked the writing and plan to include the title in my library along with many of the recommended books. I have most of them as well. The challenge is to remember to use the material when we are writing copy for our online business. Thanks for the review, which is a good reminder to do so.
Interesting Shane I will have to check it out. I can always use more learning when it comes to copy write and advertising.Do you recommend any other books on this subject.
Thanks for your comment, Timothy!
I’m currently doing more reading on this and related topics. I’ll add recommendations and/or book reviews as I discover more good stuff. :)
Hi Shane,
good review, I liked the video. I’ve read the book a while ago, and found it an inspiring pageturner. To craft a headline really is the most important thing to catch a readers attention, and Drew gives good advice and examples.
Regarding other marketing books, I came across a few simple “headline swipe files” (e.g. from Paulie Ciara, Mark Dulisse, Eugene Schwartz, …) which always provide some inspiration on how to start out.
Furthermore, I would recommend the classic book “Breakthrough advertising” from Eugene Schwartz and the website http://www.ilovemarketing.com from Joe Polish and Dean Jackson for everyone who wants to dig deeper into this exciting territory.
Cheers, Reto
Thanks for the tip, Reto!
I’ve seen Breakthrough Advertising mentioned favorably before, so I’ll definitely have to give this one a go.
Hi Shane
Like others I am not too keen on videos, mainly because I cant go to the part that I want if I go back. So I dont like it for training especially. In your updates I read the comments of others while listening to your video and look at the video when you are showing something so it is almost a podcast for me.
Another book that is good is “Letting go of the Words” by Janice Redish. It is specifically about as it says ‘Writing Web Content that Works’.
Thanks for the tip, Paul!
Hi Shane
This is more a comment about videos.
I can read a lot faster than a video normally plays. Also I can go back and reread something I didn’t understand the first time. As I have limited bandwidth, I tend to avoid videos when humanly possible – not easy these days.
I still love my PDFs!
Wendy
hi Shane,
Great review and yes I would love more reviews of books. Are books cheaper when you download them as opposed to buying a regular book?
I am the opposite of Wendy and Rosanna, I love learning from video where possible! I also actually prefer audio books for fiction. It is actually a whole other medium. As far as video I find I can comprehend much faster from a video tutorial than a PDF. If I am given that choice I will always watch video and I actually search youtube before Google for any information I am looking for!
It looks like the kindle versions of books are usually about the same price as the print versions. In fact, sometimes they cost slightly more, which I can’t quite understand.
Thanks for your input on the video question, as well!
Hi Shane
an unusual review from you, particularly as it relates to offline advertising also, although I do agree that sometimes we forget that there is as much info in the ‘real world’ that can help us grow our businesses as there is online.
I came across a recommendation recently for a book by Sam Carpenter called ‘Work The System’ which has very good reviews – specifically aimed at systemizing your business. Just wondered if you’ve read it and did it live up to it’s promise?
Kepp it coming…
Best wishes.
Hello Shane – I enjoyed your book & kindle review, too, thank you. Novel idea to use video for this, works nicely. Will add the book to my loooong wish list ;-)
As you mentioned copyrighting – I can recommend Andy Maslen The Copyrighting Sourcebook – an absolute masterpiece; gives good and bad examples of all key marketing areas from web copy to print and is written in a fun vonversatonal way…
I’d be interested in buying psychology, just an idea for future book reviews ;-)
PS: Nifty little quizz app – very shareable!
Hello Shane –
On the subject of video, I like it, but if I am learning from a video training (just finished your Keyword Research Guide), I always take screenshots and notes for each training module. So, for example, I have a complete set of notes for all of your Keyword Research Modules in text format with your slides.
This takes a little while, and you might ask why do I do it?
Well,there is no way I will be able to use the Videos to find something I need to remember. But because I have such comprehensive notes, I can flick through these to remind myself in a fraction of the time it would take to re-watch the video. So until I have entirely absorbed a training process, I rely on the notes as a short-cut to full absorption of the material.
So I end up with four processes for learning the material:
(i) Watching the Video
(ii) Watching the video and taking the notes and screenshots
(iii) Editing the notes for accuracy
(iv) Using the notes as a fast crib
On the subject of Copywriting – I have build up a Copywriting swipe file over the years, and add to it all the time. It contains tips from Alex Mandossian; Andy Maslen; Dan Kennedy and others. It contains lists of power verbs that people respond to. There are lists of Email Subject-lines that work (taken from subject lines of Marketers I subscribe to for that very purpose) and perhaps the best resource is Carl Galletti’s 2,001 Greatest Headlines Ever Written. So whenever I need to think of writing ‘copy’, I grab my swipe file and spend twenty minutes using it to get me into the copywriting zone…. and the creative juices begin to flow!
Reviews are good – thanks Shane