| Dear Business Builder, | | | | copywriting coaches will lift your response |
| | | | and make you a bundle. |
| I'm up to my eyeballs in copy cubs, and I | | | | |
| love 'em to death. | | | | But not if by focusing on them, you lose |
| | | | sight of your prospect. Or forget to fully |
| Every blessed one of them is a brilliant, | | | | dimensionalize your product's benefits ... or |
| gifted, fresh-faced kid with a big dream in | | | | trivialize your price ... or relieve your |
| his or her heart and an obsession for | | | | prospect's risk ... or create a powerful |
| copywriting. And frankly, I'm convinced that | | | | logic-driven call to action. |
| each one of them will go farther and have far | | | | |
| greater successes than I have. | | | | And certainly not if by using the copywriting |
| | | | techniques we teach, you fail to consider how |
| For one thing, they're smarter than me ... | | | | your prospect is feeling as he moves through |
| better educated than I am ... and they | | | | your copy. |
| already know far more about copywriting than | | | | |
| I ever will. | | | | See, when you're writing sales copy, you only |
| | | | think you're alone and you only think it's a |
| They've devoured every copywriting course, | | | | one-way conversation. In truth, you're |
| book, seminar and e-zine they've been able to | | | | talking to a real, live, flesh-and-blood |
| lay their hands on. | | | | human being - your prospect - and he has an |
| | | | unspoken response to everything you say. |
| They've gobbled up copywriting rules, maxims, | | | | |
| proverbs, templates and formulas like an army | | | | Now, let's say you're shopping for something. |
| of starving Sumo wrestlers chowing down at a | | | | I dunno ... let's say a brand-new Porsche 911 |
| free buffet. | | | | Turbo. The salesman shakes your hand, then |
| | | | launches into an obviously canned sales |
| They've perused every new swipe and every new | | | | pitch. |
| insight as passionately as a furloughed | | | | |
| sailor chases skirts. | | | | You can tell he's practiced it endlessly in |
| | | | front of a mirror. He's got his spiel down |
| They can quote Hopkins, Caples, Reeves, | | | | pat. Every word, every phrase, every |
| Ogilvy and Schwartz chapter and verse. They | | | | inflection - even his body language is |
| can recite everything Bencivenga, Halbert, | | | | flawless. |
| Carlton, Masterson and Makepeace have ever | | | | |
| written. | | | | But it's almost like you're not even there |
| | | | ... |
| They remind me of race horses in the starting | | | | |
| gate ... champing at the bit ... pawing the | | | | You ask questions; he doesn't hear you. You |
| ground ... every creative muscle in their | | | | raise objections; he ignores them. You |
| bodies tensed, flexed and ready to explode | | | | question his facts; he fails to address your |
| into action at the slightest twitch of the | | | | skepticism. You become bored; he doesn't |
| starter's trigger finger. | | | | notice. You grow impatient; he couldn't care |
| | | | less. |
| ... And the same damned thing happens every | | | | |
| time I give one of them his or her first | | | | You feel trapped. You'd gladly chew your own |
| assignment: | | | | arm off just to get away from him. |
| | | | |
| KABLOOEY! Their heads explode. | | | | He doesn't let that bother him, not even for |
| | | | a moment. He's going to obey every rule, |
| I can see the train wreck that's sure to | | | | exercise every formula and flesh out every |
| follow even as we discuss their first | | | | template they taught him in Salesman School |
| assignment: | | | | come hell or high water. |
| | | | |
| The frenzied note-taking ... | | | | He's going to deliver his sales pitch - his |
| | | | whole sales pitch - even if it kills you. |
| The tortured expressions on their young faces | | | | |
| as they mentally juggle dozens of complex, | | | | That's what your copy reads like when you |
| seemingly contradictory rules they've learned | | | | focus on rules and formulas instead of your |
| by heart ... | | | | prospect! |
| | | | |
| The numbness in their eyes as they consider | | | | And since you're selling in print, through |
| the massive emotional and financial rewards | | | | the mail or over the Internet, your prospect |
| they imagine will follow if they get this | | | | doesn't have to chew his arm off to shut you |
| right - and the consequences (too horrific to | | | | up: All he has to do is turn the page, close |
| contemplate) if they screw this up. | | | | his browser or e-mail window or drop your |
| | | | mail piece in the nearest trash can. |
| And I know what to expect: I can bet the farm | | | | |
| the first draft will be ... | | | | FREE AT LAST! |
| | | | |
| Days late ... | | | | My advice: With the possible exception of the |
| | | | article you're reading right now ... |
| Four, five, even six times longer than it | | | | |
| should be ... | | | | ... If, when writing a first draft, you're |
| | | | thinking about something I said (or any other |
| Crawling with recognizable formulas lifted | | | | copy coach said), you're blowing it. |
| from copywriting gurus and swipe files ... | | | | |
| | | | Big time. |
| Replete with presumptuous lectures on how my | | | | |
| prospect feels now - and how he should feel | | | | First drafts are for climbing inside your |
| after enjoying the benefits the product | | | | prospect's skin - not mine or anyone else's. |
| provides ... | | | | |
| | | | That takes a laser-like focus on your |
| Teeming with non sequiturs, mixed metaphors | | | | prospect and what he's thinking and feeling |
| and tortured similes ... | | | | as he reads your sales message. |
| | | | |
| Packed with overused "power words" and | | | | And that takes a heckuva lot more than just |
| over-the-top claims and of course, | | | | regurgitating slightly altered copy from a |
| exclamation points ... | | | | swipe file ... or making sure you've checked |
| | | | every item on someone else's checklist ... or |
| Devoid of a compelling lead (since it has | | | | cramming round-peg sales arguments into |
| been neatly buried somewhere around page | | | | square-peg formulas. |
| eight or nine) ... | | | | |
| | | | It takes intense, exhausting, rational, |
| Flabby - prattling on for paragraphs on minor | | | | logical, sequential, ORIGINAL thought. |
| points when a single sentence or a string of | | | | |
| fascinations would get the message across | | | | In other words ... |
| much more quickly and effectively ... | | | | |
| | | | The act of creating a persuasive sales |
| Unfocused - the product will feel vague, | | | | message is an exercise in the creative |
| ethereal, poorly defined ... the offer copy | | | | application of logic to engage and move a |
| will seem like little more than an | | | | human being to action. |
| afterthought ... and the call to action will | | | | |
| be virtually non-existent. | | | | It should be informed - but NEVER completely |
| | | | driven - by copywriting techniques others |
| That's OK, though - it's not their fault: | | | | have used. |
| It's just that ... | | | | |
| | | | So, when writing sales copy, forget the |
| COPYWRITING IS SO MUCH HARDR THESE DAYS | | | | rules. Focus on your prospect. |
| | | | |
| Back when I was getting started, writing | | | | Simply ask yourself, "What do I need to say |
| sales copy was easy. We had the masters to | | | | to get his attention?" |
| guide us ... | | | | |
| | | | "What do I need to say - and prove - to keep |
| Kennedy reminding us that, since sales copy | | | | him reading?" |
| is nothing more than salesmanship in print, | | | | |
| ad copy should simply say the things a live | | | | "What do I need to say to neutralize the |
| salesman would say to his prospect ... | | | | objections he's most likely to have to buying |
| | | | now?" |
| Hopkins saying "Amen, brother!" then adding, | | | | |
| "Your copy should also lift your product | | | | "What do I need to say to make "not ordering" |
| heads and shoulders above the competition's," | | | | seem like the dumbest decision he could |
| and ... | | | | possibly make?" |
| | | | |
| Caples saying "I hear ya! And of course, you | | | | Then, when writing the sales copy, use The |
| also need to capture your prospect's | | | | Force - FEEL your way through your copy, |
| attention, hold it throughout and compel him | | | | asking yourself every paragraph or two, "If I |
| to act." | | | | was the prospect how would I be feeling right |
| | | | now? Would I feel bored? Skeptical? Like |
| Pretty simple, common-sense stuff really: | | | | you're taking too long to get to the point? |
| When writing sales copy, my job was simply to | | | | Or would I feel energized ... persuaded ... |
| grab and hold my prospect's attention ... | | | | and anxious to buy?" |
| present the reasons why he should buy - just | | | | |
| like any good salesman would ... show how my | | | | When you shift your focus away from the |
| product is better than the alternatives ... | | | | copywriting techniques you've learned, you |
| and forcibly ask for the sale. | | | | free yourself to focus exclusively on your |
| | | | prospect. |
| In short, to create A-I-D-A: Attention, | | | | |
| Interest, Desire, Action. | | | | More than that: You free yourself to innovate |
| | | | - to discover new ways to engage your |
| THE CURSE OF A GREAT EDUCATION | | | | prospect and move him to action. You free |
| | | | yourself to become a legend that a future |
| Today, most young writers I meet tend to | | | | generation of copy cubs will emulate. |
| think more about all the copywriting | | | | |
| techniques they've learned than about what | | | | And you know what else? You'll be surprised |
| their prospects are thinking and feeling or | | | | at how many of the lessons you've learned as |
| how to motivate them to make a purchase. | | | | a student of copywriting come to mind just |
| | | | when you need them to solve a problem you've |
| Now, don't get me wrong - it's great that | | | | spotted in your text. |
| they have these tools: Used properly, the | | | | |
| tips, tricks and techniques you're learning | | | | But let those things be your servant; never |
| here in The Total Package and from other | | | | your master. |