If you want a simple method for writing better, stronger sales copy – fast…
Then you need learn to master the art of using swipe files…
Great copywriters of the past have all used swipe files. Here are some quick tips for mastering them yourself.
Level One: The direct swipe… Take the famous headline “Do you make these mistakes in English?” and then tweak it to what you are selling. For example, one of the world’s best copywriters, Gary Bencivenga, swiped that one from ole’ Max Sackheim and wrote “Do you make these mistakes in job interviews?” and created a winning ad. The great Gary Halbert swiped the idea of attaching a dollar bill to the top of a letter from Robert Collier. And, blush, I swiped it from Halbert.
Level Two: The Formula Swipe… Eugene Schwartz emphasized that each copy situation was unique. So just stealing headlines wasn’t the way to breakthrough success. But, that there were common formulas that could be applied in unique situations. That’s a higher level of swiping -
Level Three: Thinking Processes… I was turned on to this by an old advertising book from the late 30′s. It looked at each copy situation/ad as a unique problem, never before solved. Every ad problem demanded a unique solution. Then it went about decoding how great advertising minds solved unique advertising challenges.
So, you can look at each ad, sales letter etc. as a unique solution to a unique situation. Now, what thinking processes did the writer go through to arrive at that perfect solution to the advertising problem?
I’ve got a monster swipe file. Occasionally there’s a direct swipe that’s obvious, but I use it more for personal study at levels two and three rather than something to be pulled out every-time I have a new copy assignment.
For example, I tracked a direct response insurance agency’s ads from 1915 through WW2 – 1940. What a lesson in marketing! It was like compressing 25 year advertising career into a few hours. You could watch the test ads, the breakthrough, the fatigue, the new round of tests, the new breakthrough added to the previous learnings as the ads became more sophisticated, the appeals refined, the positioning changing to circumstance, the competitors pouncing on the winners.
I think I’m going to amend this and add a fourth level…
Creative Stimulus… Studies in creativity show that if you have “triggers” to stimulate your thinking you will be 500% more creative. If your told to sit down and write all the uses you can think of for a brick you’ll produce X ideas. If you have at hand rich sources of stimulus: other objects, trigger words, force fit formulas, etc, you will produce 500X ideas.
So, if you’ve done the hard work, the research, the thinking, then use your list of 2000 headlines to stimulate your thinking and fire off more associations and directions etc – that’s not copying – that using stimulus as a spring board.
Well, I guess that’s all I have to say about that…
Except that in most fields of endeavor, the arts, especially, the greats first studied the masters. Michelangelo studied da Vinci. Before Picasso created his breakthroughs, he was steeped in the classics. Then he went beyond.
So, if you tell me that you’ve never once studied the great masters of copywriting and their work, I’d probably ask you not to work on my copy.
There are a lot of swipe-file resources out on the internet that give you proven ads and sales letters to study and learn from. But I’ve run across one resource that actually show you HOW to use these collections of winning ads.
It’s the hands-down best resource I’ve seen on creating better, harder selling copy – fast.
It was written by top copywriter John “Angel” Anghelache – and just reading the letter he writes about it – you’ll discover how the biggest winning sales letter of all time was created using a swipe-file.
If you want to learn from the old masters of copy and their ads — if you want a simple way to jump-start your own copywriting skills – and a proven method for creating cash-pulling copy, then I strongly recommend you check out John’s resource…
