Author: P.J.S. Dougherty

Angry Baldwin

When I took over editorial of Energy Times, the magazine’s founder gave me a mission: get celebrity covers. My first issue, I got Ed Begley, Jr. By my third, I landed Alec Baldwin for our annual Cancer Issue.

My most exciting and gratifying celebrity interview... all to fight cancer.

This was the biggest celebrity “get” in Energy Times’ history. Sure, Alec got ticked off at me during the interview. Yep, I got hate mail from Conservative readers for putting him on our cover. The universe then gave me the finger when Alec’s notorious voicemail rant hit headlines right after my article came out. Despite these hurdles, we successfully raised awareness and money for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research fund. When the dust settled, Alec Baldwin’s star continued to rise.

The Lesson: Landing an A-List celebrity for Energy Times involved a great deal of creativity — but this is the Natural Health Writer’s specialty. I take a lot of pride in this article, both for the writing quality and the publicity it generated for a great cause. Plus, whether you’re a fan or a hater, you will see that Alec Baldwin is intelligent, articulate and knowledgeable about health and environmental issues.

VOX Mag: Style Had A Voice

VOX was a luxury magazine distributed in the Hamptons in Long Island, New York.

Anti-Aging content is one of the Natural Health Writer's favorite specialties.

As VOX‘s Well-Being Columnist, the Natural Health Writer had to convey complex nutritional concepts in a way that was creative, clear and entertaining. At right is one VOX column I did about antioxidants and the Free Radical Theory of Aging. What the PDF doesn’t show is VOX ‘s sheer beauty — it was a high-end, large-format publication with really superb paper quality. All funded by advertisers selling multi-million dollar real estate and diamond-studded timepieces! Sure, VOX went the way of the Dodo, but I am still proud of my articles for the mag.

The Lesson: Strong writing transforms boring scientific copy into dazzling, easy-to-understand content that consumers want to read. When consumers understand why nutrients might work, they are compelled to buy nutritional supplements.

Ingredient Sales 2.0

Educational supplement materials that are delivered over the web are the next great marketing leap for our industry. I have started creating websites that educate consumers with nutrient research summaries, testimonials and history. At right is one such site, which is all about Pycnogenol Benefits. I am eager to launch more sites like this one. Outsourcing your web-based educational marketing to the Natural Health Writer is a smart strategy. Frequent reporting on nutritional ingredients can be time consuming, and using a third party enables greater flexibility.

The Lesson: Information drives supplement sales. We are in the Information Age. Strong writing is the spark that ignites these combustible elements into blazing-hot sales for your nutritional supplement.

Writing for Health Freedom

Oh byoooooteeeeful, for spaaaacious skies, for amber waves of graaaaaain...

The Natural Health Writer is the voice of the Nutritional Health Alliance. The NHA was founded by industry giant Gerald Kessler, who helped create the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).

As the NHA’s writer, I adopted Kessler’s bombastic style to advance Health Freedom. The concept: We are one bad bill away from losing access to supplements. I believe in this cause; Europe has already set the precedent. Click the Capitol to read my latest NHA column.

The Lesson: Hiring a nutrition writer? Make this your first interview question: “Can you explain DSHEA?” If the candidate looks flabbergasted, move on. I have written about DSHEA since 2003. I understand DSHEA, and I know how the FDA and FTC regard supplements. This knowledge is supplement marketing gold.

Marketing of Personality

The marketing of personalities is essential for natural health industry growth.

Nutritional supplements are just one aspect of natural health. NavelEXPO hired me to market their conference’s natural health speakers in a custom-published magazine. The goal: Educate consumers on exciting natural health advancements, promote the experts speaking on these topics, and fill their lecture rooms to maximum capacity.

The sample at right (click the mag cover) was written for a speaker on tap water hazards. As I wrote about 2,100 toxins in municipal water being absorbed through the skin’s pores during a hot shower, I sold myself on the idea… I want a full-home water purification system! Click the image at right, read it yourself and see. At worst, you will want to attend the lecture; at best, you’ll want to buy the purification system immediately.

The Lesson: Natural health can include the marketing of concepts, or even the marketing of people. When the communication behind this marketing is clear and compelling, success is sure to follow.

Selling Active Ingredients

I wonder where that fish did go?

Vitamin World had a problem. Fish oil was a red-hot supplement, but customers were defecting to cheaper brands that appeared to offer more bang for the buck. Appearances can be deceiving, however — and Vitamin World Associates needed training that would help them educate customers on this fact.

The Natural Health Writer sat down with a President at NBTY to create the training piece you see at the right. It teaches Associates about how active ingredient levels trump all. With this insight, Vitamin World Associates steered customers back to VW fish oil products — all by educating them on active ingredient value.

The Lesson: It’s amazing how one piece of insight about a supplement, clearly communicated in one training piece, can supercharge sales of that supplement across an entire chain. The Natural Health Writer knows training.