I’m a copywriting idea junky…

And I beat myself up pretty badly if I can’t come up with breakthrough ideas for clients.

So, I’ve tried every tool from mind-mapping software to the old IdeaFisher program which is now the awesome ThoughtOffice to massive headline swipe files, and hundreds of proven sales letters sitting on my hard-drive.

So, I couldn’t believe what I ran across by accident the other day…

One of the best copywriting ideas, brainstorming, put-your-imagination-on-rocket-fuel tools I’ve seen in a long time.

And…

It was FREE.

I’ve tested this puppy out and it rivals some of the most expensive mindstorming tools on the market.

• It’s like having 6000 people help you brainstorm and generate copywriting ideas
• It takes less than 20 seconds
• Generate a thousand or more associations
• No opt-in, no fee, no nothing…

It’s just sitting out there waiting for you to take it for a spin and help you generate even greater copy ideas, naming ideas, product ideas.

Here’s the video showing you how to use just two of the tools…

Here’s the story on this copywriting ideas tool…

Back in 1973 the University of Southern Florida Psychology department starting conduction word association test. Over the next 30 years they actually conducted 750,000 test on 6000 people. All of those word and idea associations were stored in a data base.

Along comes Rob Seward, my new hero, and he creates software programs to run semantic programs on the info in the data-base which has been made available to the public on his blog.

You can run classic word association programs, programs to show negative associations, programs to create semantic maps showing the relationships of two or more words and a ton more.

He’s made it all available to the public for free on his blog and you can access the association, brainstorming and copywriting idea tools here…

Rob Seward’s Blog and Word Association Tools

Watch the video above, then get out there and take this idea-machine speedster for a test drive yourself.

The only negative is there are some words that are not stored in its data-base. But for those that are, you’re in for a mental feast.

And if you’ve never seen it this post – here is another proven way to come up with copywriting ideas and headlines that sell in less than two minutes.

2 minute copywriting cure

Get out there… Give Rob’s word association tools a spin and let me know what you think.

Years ago I ran across a little book called “Autosuggestion and Salesmanship” first printed in 1923.

This book surfed the wave that was created by Emile Coue’ and his use of autosuggestion (self-talk/visualization in today’s lingo).

Anyway, the first chapter of the book deals with the power of imagination on persuasion. I’m going to re-print two of the examples here that touch on copywriting.

While “old and dated” in language, they do illustrate the how a copywriter who causes his readers to create compelling pictures can get the prospect’s imaginations working for him or her.

The first example compares the approach of two tire salesman. One who sold by force of will. The other who sold by appealing to the imagination.

Will:

1) I want to sell you some tires.
2) You need our brand
3) The price is right
4) Our tires are better than any of the tires you are selling now.

Imagination:

1) “Really Mr. Brown, in a fine store like yours you could sell a lot of our tires.
2) Lots of people use our tires only. You don’t realize that you’re losing sales by not carrying them, because many customers look in the window or at your tire stock when they come into to buy a spark plug, and not seeing our tires, they simply go somewhere else when the need for a tire arises.
3) in a store like this I wouldn’t be surprised if you could make $75 a week net profit on our tires alone.
4) Some of the best customers in town buy our tires–The White Taxicab Company, The Brown Bus Corporations, and a very large number of chauffeurs. and they all pay full price, because they know that the tire is worth it.”

Now the sentences were numbered for purposes of comparison.

Sentences 1.

Will Power Salesman sets out to enforce his will on the prospective customer. Most dealers resent this. Dealer mentally says, “You’re not going to make me buy some tires!”

Imaginative Salesman deftly presents a very acceptable picture to the dealer–that of selling a lot of tires, instead of buying a lot of tires. Notice the difference. Buying tires suggests expense, selling them suggests profit.

Sentences 2

“Will Power Salesman makes a strong general claim with which the dealer may disagree. No picture or image is suggested by this sentence.

Imaginative Salesman talks of Profit, and presents another Picture–that of possible customers about whom the dealer had not thought before.

Sentences 3

Will Power Salesman is assertive about Price. Price alone means little. No Image is projected on the dealer’s mind.

Imaginative Salesman presents a definite Picture of the Profit possibility. You can form a mental image or Picture of $75 in Profits where you can’t picture the abstract word “price.”

Sentences 4

“Will Power Salesman makes a final effort to dominate the dealer by knocking his other goods–and probably only arouses antagonism and ill will.

Imaginative Salesman presents another agreeable and easily visualized Picture–that of possible customers who buy many tires at a time, and larger size tires on which there is naturally a better profit. The succession of agreeable Pictures has stirred imagination to a point where the sales is extremely probable.

Okay, let’s move on to the second example. This one of how to advertise a used car in rough condition. The dealer tried to sell if for two months by cutting the price down. But finally sold it in a day when he ran this ad that appealed to the imagination of the buyer…

“We’ll hate to see this go… We have a 5-year-old P– car now in our Used Car Department. This car was given by one of New York’s famous millionaires to his son for a wedding present. Five years ago people on Fifth Avenue turned around to look at it a second time. It’s not so much to look at now, but it has been all over North America and in England, Holland, France, Belgium and Italy. The engine still runs sweet and strong and both the owner and ourselves would like to see that this car gets into good hands. No, we can’t print the former owners name here; we’re pledged to tell it only to the buyer. The price is very attractive.”

One fun final example…

Two shoe-shine boys stood on the corner soliciting business. One shouted, “Wanna Shine?” The other called out, “Get your Sunday Shine!”

Can your readers picture the promise of your products and services? Can you give the products you sell a “Sunday Shine”?

One of the toughest parts of copywriting is having confidence that you are putting the right “Big Idea” in your headline and copy theme.  And having the right appeal in your headline is the single biggest factor in its success or failure.

Here’s a video that shows you, step-by-step, how to solve that challenge in just two minutes.

Enjoy…

Here’s a million dollar lead-generation sample letter for you to download, study and “swipe” from if you so desire.

I wrote this a while back for a client. Their previous attempts to market to this segment produced Zero results. This little lead generation sample letter not only produced leads (a respectable 1% response and some big $250,000 – $500,000 a year accounts), but several of the prospects called in crying. Yep, crying!  That’s the first time I’ve ever had that kind of emotional response from a lead-gen letter.

Download the letter by clicking here…  Ambulance Letter.

Then I would love to hear your comments and insights below as to why this lead generation sample made such an emotional connection with prospects.

Please note the following techniques used in this letter…

• It leads with a big promise aimed at a core desire of the prospect.
• It leads with a very short first sentence that pulls the reader into the copy
• Critical: The sample amplifies the pains and challenges felt by the reader
• The letter establishes identification. “We’ve been where you are.”
• Next it offers a non-threatening call to action. Leaves the reader in control
• Finally, it ends with another story of rapid success

And… it contains two typos.

Here’s how to get started researching and writing your own lead generation letter…

First, know your market. What are their biggest desires? What are their greatest fears? What keeps them awake at night with worry and fear and regret? What is their greatest dream? For example, with many modestly successful entrepreneurs in the software business, they dream about cashing out big through buy out or public offering.

Second, what’s your call to action. For a lead generation letter, make it simple and non-threatening. Offer a free report, information online, or a casual, no-pressure conversation.

Next, what elements of proof can you work into your lead-gen letter? How long have you been in business, case studies, testimonials, mentioned in newspapers or trade rags?

Add a P.S.. Give them a final nudge, an extra reason to act now, another gift, promise to get rid of an additional pain…

Now write the letter to be only a page long.  You may have to re-write a few times to make it read quickly. Keep the paragraphs short. Add a bullet list. Indent paragraphs. Anything to make reading easier.

And if you want to know how to zero in on the best hot buttons, problems and desires in just 2 minutes click here to super-charge your lead generation letters.

And here is another lead generation sample letter that flooded my clients with qualified leads.

I look forward to your feedback or questions on writing your own million-dollar lead generation sample.

More and more online entrepreneurs and copywriters are beginning to test the offline direct mail waters. They are doing this for several reasons:

1. If you have a promotion or sales letter or business running online profitably, often you can dramatically expand your market by taking it offline.

2. Response rates and sales to from your existing online customers can be very profitable.

3. Email boxes are becoming more cluttered by the day – and spam filters are screening out even high-quality, requested emails.

If you are curious about testing direct mail – then you need to read this special report from Dan Buckley.

He’s not a copywriter, but for over 20 years he has handled the direct mail and offline data bases for gurus like Jay Abraham and John Carlton.

He’s packed 20 years of inexpensive, easy tips and tricks for multiplying your sales and response rates into a 39 page report called “The Response Multiplier Effect”.

And the only place you can get it is right here – for free – because you are one of my Copy Ideas readers.

Enjoy the report.

Click to download now >>>The Response Multiplier

What can you learn about copywriting from the Olympics?

A lot – especially copywriting strategy.  In this copy clinic you’ll learn how the Olympic Effect can harm or help your copy.

This article was inspired when I looked at one of the many campaigns on Google Adwords I’ve got running.

Here are the stats before the Olympics -

6634 impressions, 224 clicks, 3.37% click though, 31% conversion.

Not too bad.

Now what what happens when the Olympic Effect

6117 impressions, 167 clicks, 2.73% click through 18% conversion.

The Olympics slashed results in half. They took a  pretty good campaign and crippled it. Not very sporting of them!

Here is the lesson: As much as possible you want to avoid running marketing and copywriting campaigns if you are going to be competing with big national and international events.

Case in point…

I had a client that had pre-tested an expensive direct mail promotion for a big ticket seminar. All the test pointed to a $3 million dollar pay day within two weeks of roll-out.  So, he dropped $400,000 on the campaign and launched it. The very next day everyone woke to the news that the first Gulf War had launched. His $400,000 when up in smoke. Poof. Gone.

Hurricanes, floods, pestilence and wars are brutal on direct response marketing results.  So, to the extent you see a major national news story coming your way, you should proceed cautiously. Of course, you can’t always see the storms coming. But if you do, be ready to pull your campaigns until they pass.

But major news events don’t have to be bad news for marketers and copywriters. Instead of trying to fight the forces of nature and news cycles, you can use them.

There is no better way to boost your results than tying your headlines and themes into major events. In the “old days” this was more difficult because there was no ability to get direct mail or a radio or TV commercial produced before the moment had passed. But in today’s digital age, quick acting marketers and copywriters can seize on these events and surf them rather than be slammed on the beach by them.

So, if there is a major event raining on your parade, or a storm cloud on the horizon, either pull back your campaign,  or pull out your surf board and harness the power of the coming tidal wave.

Copywriting is a key element in your sales and marketing processes. Yet, there are a few common “copy vampires” that suck the sales and profit generating force right out of your lead gen, websites, emails and direct mail. If you find any of these vampires in your copy, put a stake in their hearts, because they are costing you sales.

I’ll lead with the most common mistake I see come across my desk. This mistake inflicts the copy of everyone from a 1-day-old start up to $20 billion dollar monoliths. It seems no one is immune from its siren call. Here it is…

Screw-Up #1: Talking about your company and products, not the customers problems, goals dreams and frustrations

Key tip off – an opening sentence that starts with self and product references. Examples: , “At Acme InterGalatic, we…” Or… “Our new X57 software has over 14 new features. Coded from the ground up, in new 64 bit..”

It’s critical to both readership and response rates that you begin talking about the customer or prospects and concerns, challenges, objectives and goals.

Screw-Up #2. The hydra-headed communication

“Communicating with the market can be expensive, so why not try to achieve a couple of objectives with each message?”

Time and again I see these “multi-purposed” communications sneak out of companies. What seems like an efficient communications actually cripples results.

There are many ways this beast rears its head, but; It seems the one of the more common variations of this mistake I see these days is the “Let’s tack a survey onto our lead-gen or sales emails”.

Here’s the hard truth. Each additional purpose or objective that gloms on to a communications cuts its power in half or more. “Single purposed focused messages” is a mantra I try to drill into my clients thinking.

Screw-Up #3: A bridge too far

Begin to look at your mediums like a rubber band. They can be stretched – but if you stretch them too far, they snap. The same is true of all mediums and variations of mediums. There are things you can do in a letter that you can’t do in a single post card. There are things you can do in a 2 minute commercial that you can’t do in a 30 second spot. There are things you can do on a website that you can’t (or shouldn’t try) in an email.

The problem comes when we try to make a post card do the same job as a sales letter.

Instead of trying to stretch a single medium to failure, think of them as a chain. One link leads to the other. Each link strengthens the one before and after it.

I was once working with a major auto company that was experimenting with voice marketing (those 30- 60 sec. messages on your home answering machine). They started fine, using the 45 sec. message to drive people to the dealerships for a test drive and a $50 gift card. But then they took a wrong turn and started trying to actually sell the car on the home answering machine, “this off-road marvel has got front and back disc brakes and air conditioning, stereo and more storage capacity than…”

Use each of your mediums to its maximum – but not more. If you need to do more, add another step in your communications process.

Screw-Up #4. Grasshopper Copy

Grasshopper copy jumps from one unrelated idea to the next, often causing your reader to fall off the readership ride.

For example, you’re reading a sales page on a website, all of a sudden there is a testimonial box in the middle of the copy. Fine. What’s not fine is that the testimonial doesn’t support the copy it is surrounded by with proof – or isn’t set up to make a point. It’s just dropped in there with no relation to anything before or after it.

Or, you read a “Shocking – Amazing True Story Headline” and then start reading the copy – but the lead in the copy starts off on a different subject or idea not related to the headline.

It’s jarring to readers – and your profits.

Screw-Up #5: Starting too far from your subjects/objective

It’s a fact of life that some products and ideas inherently have more interest to people than others. So the copywriter begins the ad with a subject that is interesting to reader, then gradually transitions to the main idea or product. Done masterfully, this makes up some of the great “Edu-Sell” ads. Done poorly and it becomes a switch and bait trick that peeves off readers. Done somewhere in the middle of those two extremes – it just fails.

The worst example I’ve seen was a headline that screamed “SEX!”. Then the lead sentence started, “Now that I have your attention I want to tell you a way to save money on…”

And making the rounds in the internet marketing world is a subject line, “Bad news”. When the email is opened it says, “not really, everything is fine.”

And then there is this one from the Obama campaign. He built a lot of suspense surrounding his VP pick. And as CNN reported he sent out an email with the subject line, “Vice presidential …” Then the opening of the email read, “Just kidding” and went on to talk about his schedule.

Right now a “somewhere in the middle” example is running during the Olympics. The ad begins at an Olympic event in ancient Greece (tying into audience interest in Olympics). Then it has a discus thrower have his discus blown off course by bad gust of wind. The discuss hits the Parthenon causing it to crumble. Then comes the voice over saying, “Wind hasn’t always played a helpful role at the Olympic games. But today wind energy from G.E. is helping to power the Olympic games in Beijing, no matter which way the wind blows.”

Screw-Up #6: One-size-fits-all messages

More and more companies have large, unsegmented list (especially email list).

Instead of creating messages tightly targeted a one specific segment on the list, they feel they need to create messages that speak to everyone. As a result response, sales and profits are lost.

It’s okay to hone in on specific segments of your customer list and address their needs specifically in your copy. This becomes more important the more “general” your list is – for example, a company may have an email list that includes agents, brokers and managers and owners. Don’t try to create one message that appeals to all those groups. Go ahead, in your subject line and the copy that follows, talk to one group specifically and make an offer that will appeal to them alone – you’ll increase your response and your relevance. Put “Brokers Only: Recruiting Mistakes” in your subject line. Or “Referral Secrets of Millionaire Agents”.

The more specific you make your headlines and messages and offers to a specific segment (even if everyone on the list will see the message) the more results you create. Often this is counter-intuitive, but test after test has proven its impact.

Screw-Up #7. Substituting personal opinion with tested results

This is a big one…

It’s only natural, if we don’t like a style or mechanical device of writing we assume our readers won’t like it either.

Here’s the problem, often our likes and dislikes are not based on scientific studies, but on personal opinion and bias. Very often, the very things we like most, are proven to reduce response rates and the things we dislike most are the very things that would dramatically improve our results.

Here are a few (of dozens) of these biases I’ve seen damage copy..

1. “I don’t like bulleted points. Makes it look too salesy”
2. “Don’t mention problems or frustrations – it’s too negative”
3. “Those paragraphs are too short – it doesn’t look professional enough”
4. “I don’t like the word “secrets” – it doesn’t work anymore”.
5. “That’s too long – no one will read it”
6. “We shouldn’t ask for the business – it will hurt our reputation”.

In each of those cases, the personal opinion exactly wrong. Test after test have proven the opposite is actually true.

The truth is, we (me included) are all victims of biases that are hurting our results. There are two anecdotes. One, constantly test your assumptions in real world, scientifically valid, A/B split test or Multi-variate test. You will be surprised. Learn to enjoy being wrong. Second, get your hands on every scientifically validated marketing test you can. We need to steep our minds in reality and let it inform our creativity.

Don’t miss this important “FREE” tele-seminar next Tuesday

“The Missing Link in Copywriting”

If you want to write copy that consistently creates tens-of-thousands of dollars, then you don’t want miss this tele-seminar. You’ll discover…

• An ugly illustration that will let you win more often, write faster – and with more confidence
• The biggest missing link in copywriting training today
• 7 forces drive your prospects buying decision – and how to harness them
• And we’re going to throw this famous copywriting formula under-the-bus

The seminar is going to be fast paced and crammed with sales, response and profit making strategies.

CLICK HERE for more information>>>

Lately I’ve received a number of emails asking if there is “really the chance to make good money and a good career in copywriting.

“Well, If you’ve ever wondered that yourself …or believe it… but are struggling to achieve it then this short, 3:40 second video is for you.

Frankly, I was stunned to hear a well known copywriting guru recently say that the industry was saturated and the big opportunities were gone for all but a few “A-listers”. This short video should put a stake in the heart of that argument once and for all.

Enjoy.

And I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject…

Robert