What you must do now is not just read these classics. No, you need to copy them word-for-word in your own handwriting. If you are really serious about becoming a master copywriter, you will do this over and over. The idea here is not for you to steal these promotions but rather, to be influenced by them. You want good writing to become one of your automatic skills and rewriting superb ads and sales letters in your very own hand is the best way in the world to do this.

OK, remember how, in several of my past issues, I've kept at you to create a "swipe file" of good ads, sales letters and so on? Not to mention all those headline cards? You do remember? Good!

A very detailed CONFIDENTIAL FACT SHEET. A very detailed LIST OF BENEFITS. A DEAL SHEET which contains the strongest proposition you can offer which has       been reduced to writing.

Writing "copy" is less than 1/10 as important as learning to think about new offers and getting them down on paper as I just did. I can't say it often enough or strongly enough... It Is The Deal... The Offer... The Proposition You Are Making That Is The Heart And Soul Of Great Copywriting!

Strong copy will not overcome a weak offer but.. In Many Cases, A Strong Offer Will Succeed In Spite Of Weak Copy Written By Marketing Morons!

You should think more about how to "sweeten" your offer than any other aspect of writing copy. Think about what you are selling. How would you like to buy it? Would you want a free trial? A huge and legitimate discount? Easy payments? A money-back guarantee? Would you like a free gift with your purchase like a color TV or a toaster oven? A night on the town with Kim Bassinger or Paul Newman? A free Florida vacation?

What you need to do next is to start thinking about your offer. Your offer (think of it as a business proposition) is by far the most important element in the entire sales message we are constructing here.

What's that? You say your car is not heavy at all? In fact, it's quite light? OK, it seems to me that probably translates to a believable reason why your car gets great gas mileage.       It's a snazzy red convertible? Perhaps that translates to the "benefit" of the owner getting a lot of attention from young ladies or other folks he'd like to impress.       It's a sedate grey sedan? Perhaps that translates to the "benefit" of giving the buyer a dignified, no-nonsense impression. Very useful when trying to impress out-of-town clients with your trustworthiness and respectability.

A Benefit List       What we do here is we go over our Fact Sheet very carefully and we translate the facts therein to benefits whenever we can.

Let's get going on that Fact Sheet. Make it long. Make it detailed. Make it complete. What make is your car? What model? What color? How much does it weigh? How many miles on it? What kind of tires? What's their condition? What's the interior like? How many miles per gallon? How much horsepower? How much did you pay for it? Who's been driving it? What kind of treatment has it received? Did it sleep in a garage or on the street? Where has it been driven? In the salt-free South or the metal eating highways of Ohio?

If you do your research properly, if you do enough "prep," your ads and sales letters will almost write themselves. It's like painting a boat. The actual painting is easy; the hard part is the faring (preparation) or getting the boat ready to be painted.

Besides that, we're an arrogant, surly lot most often more interested in dwelling on our divine wonderfulness than we are slaving away on your lowly project.

ou see, the few of us who really can do it (write copy that sells) are so much in demand, you can't even think about hiring us unless you are willing to spend an arm and a leg. And, even then... you'll still have to wait in line.

I have zero competition. It's not that there aren't any other good copywriters. No, it's just there are so incredibly few of us that, mostly, we are friendly and exchange ideas and info freely.

The ability to write ads and/or letters that sell is by far the most wonderful money-making skill you could ever hope to acquire. If you master this skill you should never again have to worry about money.

Moving road trips to the electric age.

Whatever you want to ask, our chat has the answers

Sound copywriting should never be sacrificed to cater to Google’s current search methodologies because they can and will change.