I remember when the video came out, the opt-in emailing was a huge deal, and he commented on the response he got to that in pretty much every interview I read from him on the subject.

I also opted-in to his mailings, partly because it was opt-in rather than opt-out, and partly because of his tone. He has some great copy for selling comedy videos, and now albums. In the email he sent out about the new audio specials, he had his usual laid back tone, but he also ended with this:

> Okay. that was exhausting. Sorry. I didn't even ask you how you are. How are you? Oh yea? Oh good. That's great. What? Oh man. That's tough. I'm sorry... Oh well that sounds like you handled it well, though. So. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know that's... yeah. Well... Just remember, time will go by and that'll just be on the list of shit that happened to you. You'll be okay. Yeah. Huh?... Oh. Really? HE DID? Oh my GOD! hahaha!! That's CRAZY! No. no. I won't tell him you told me. Of course not. Alright well... uhuh? Oh wow. yeah. Alright well.. I really gotta go. Thanks for listening. I'm glad you're basically okay. Stay in touch.

> your friend,

> Louis C.K.

It's almost like treating your customer like a person and not just a wallet with some flesh hanging off of it helps your cause. It's a novel idea to be sure.

I've always held the pet theory that a sufficiently human and casual tone can overcome a lot of fatigue/wariness that would otherwise stop people from listening to you. Sometimes, I feel like if you're just completely transparent and honest with the customer, maybe they'll be willing to listen.

I never managed to convince anyone to try A/B testing a banner ad that literally just said 'BUY OUR SHIT', though.

That might sound too overly forceful to come off as human and casual. I can definitely see it working for someone like ThinkGeek though.

That is the base of good copywriting. To connect with the reader in a perosnal level. It can only be achieved by (big surprise) being honest, human, and friendly.

“You should buy our shit online here.” – D.C., Jul. 2009

Well, his approach might also be influenced by the fact that he is a comedian

Lol - I bought the first video, and now one of the audios. However, at the end of the process I didn't remember my old password. So I clicked 'I forgot my password' and it said 'Oh my god, you're an idiot' and sent me an email with a new one - a random password beginning with the letters 'idiot' :-D Love the humour.

I forgot my password as well, it started with 'moron'. :(

Me too. 'numbnuts'. :-)

Oh, and I can download the audio version of the video I bought for free - nice :-)