“I Love Deadlines”

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.” — Douglas Adams I have to admit – I feel the same way. On the other hand, there is always that burst of adrenalin that kicks in as a deadline approaches and a blank screen with a blinking curser is mocking [...]

Baboon dismembers my copy!

Early in my career, I witnessed a Baboon dismember one of my copy children. It started like any other copy assignment… Over the course of a week, I had crafted a pretty great lead-gen letter, if I do say so myself. I visited the client’s business the next day to review it with him. To [...]

“Illumination”

Another pithy gem from Frank Irving Fletcher. “Illumination through elimination is the task of compression.” This was written by a man who penned over 50,000 ads that were less than 100 words, yet created breakthrough sales results for his retail clients. In two cases he kept the clients for 20 years. For one he placed [...]

“Set-Ups, Set-ups, Set-ups!”

When one first starts on the career path of copywriting, the instinct is to grasp at any opportunity to practice your craft – and put bread in the jar. In a minute I’ll share a secret that Jay Abraham shared with me that may help… We’ve all been there. We have to do what we [...]

A copywriting gem…

Here’s a copywriting gem from Frank Irving Fletcher… Copywriting is, “…the menial task of packing sticks of dynamite in ‘stickfuls” of prose.” Since I’m working my way through his autobiography, you can expect more from Fletcher here in the next few posts.

Copywriting provocation –

One of my favorite 1920′s and 30′s copywriters was Frank Irving Fletcher. He was pulling $10,000 for his copy as a freelancer during the depression. Not too bad. Here’s some of the mindset behind his copywriting mastery… “The aim of modern advertising is not to make people think, but to save them the trouble and [...]

Add Force to your copywriting…

Here are some ways to add persuasive force to your copy… 1. Simplicity. I read too many ads, sales letters and promotions that clog a readers mind with $10-dollar words. Elsewhere in this blog I gave the following example of this… “Next generation strategies to employ a single customer definition for improved multi-channel marketing” There [...]

B-Complex for Copywriters

The following is from Hal Stebbins, one of my favorite copywriters from the past. Though he’s unknown to this generation, his ideas are timeless. “If I have a ‘B-Complex for Copy Writers it is this: Be human. Be simple. Be sincere. Be specific. Be informative. Be authoritative. Be enthusiastic. Be sure you’re understood. And, above [...]

Copywriting Formula from Master…

I’ve ran across some comments by copy-master, John Caples, from 1961. Here’s his formula for writing good copy. “If you want a good ad, you should write a lot of copy and then boil it down. For example, if you want 500 words of copy you should begin by writing 1500 words. Then go over [...]

Copywriting bad enough to laugh at…

Laughing at your own mistakes is admirable… But laughing at the mistakes of others is fun! So, here’s a serious lack of copy-craft that caused both my wife and I to start laughing during the disclaimer at the end of a drug commercial… “If you are a woman, with or without a uterus…” Ummm… Is [...]

These two words create Copywriting Miracles…

Once upon a time I worked with a number of mortgage companies on lead generation. Here is the progression that their appeals to the market followed. Each change increased results… 1. We can save you lots of money every month. It’s money you can use for anything… 2. We can save you $300 – $500 [...]

A $10,000 Mistake…

This ad was writting by copy-master, Frank Irving Fletcher close to 80-years ago. Another example of excellence to compare your copywriting skills against. A $10,000 Mistake: A client for whom we had copied a necklace of Oriental Pearls, seeing both necklaces before her, said: Well, the resemblance is remarkable, but this is mine! Then she [...]

One of Best classified ads

Here is possibly one of the great classified ads of the last century. It was written in 1914 and 5000 men showed up in response. “Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey, Small Wages, Bitter Cold, Long Months of Complete Darkness, Constant Danger, Safe Return Doubtful, Honor andRecognition in Case of Success.” It was written by Shakelton [...]

Less Hype = More Force

Here’s a quick example of how you can add more force and credibility into your copy – by reducing the hype and exaggeration… 1. “America’s greatest hotel” 2. “One of America’s greatest hotels” 3. “One of America’s great hotels”

Copy Cocaine?

The other day I run across a headline that includes the phrase, “addictive as crack cocaine” in the headline. Ironically, they are selling Taguchi based copy-testing software. This got me started thinking… “I wonder if they ran every illegal substance they know of through the software and found that not just “Cocaine” pulled well, but [...]

Death by Buzzword!

To be powerful, your copy has to be understood. The “Clarity Command”. Here’s an example of how not to be understood: This is the headline description for a marketing seminar… “Next generation strategies to employ a single customer definition for improved multi-channel marketing” Are you excited yet? If there is anything like this in any [...]

Mark Twain on Copywriting…

Mark Twain once said, “When you catch an adjective, kill it.” Copy-writing legends throughout history have taken the limited adjective approach. To see the power of this in action read the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer or, Lincoln’s Gettysburg address or Ogilvy’s Rolls Royce ad. All powerful. All light on adjectives. On the other hand, [...]

The $30 Million Treasure…

Over the years, I’ve collected some personal treasures. Just one has created in excess of $30 Million. Here’s my list of personal copy-writing treasures… 1. I have a transcript of a sales presentation a master presenter used to use to close 20% of his audience a $495 seminar. It’s worked for 10 straight years. I [...]

This insanity cost you sales…

I stand amazed at a phenomenon I see quit often… As copy writers, ad men (persons), marketing geniuses and business owners we have 60-years and billions of dollars in scientific advertising principles at our finger tips. Masters of advertising have written these principles down in very easy to understand books. For the most part, it’s [...]

Copywriting diamonds…

Diamonds are clear, can cut glass and are beautiful. They can also cause women to say, “Yes!” to a life-long commitment. And just like a diamond is created from intense heat and pressure, so too are copy diamonds created from heat and pressure. The heat and pressure experienced by the copywriter are the limits of [...]

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →