Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
August 9, 2010
Issue #984
The Five Most Common Blunders
My Copy Cubs Make
And How to Avoid Each One
Dear Business-Builder,
On a recent gorgeous Saturday, I made the excuse to take my new Porsche 911 Turbo out to slay The Dragon.
Never heard of The Dragon? Most people haven’t.
It’s a humble, shoulderless, two-lane blacktop – officially designated US 129 – that snakes up through the North Carolina Smokies from Robbinsville … around the West end of The Great Smoky Mountain National Park … past picturesque lakes and cliffs with 100-mile views … to a mountain pass they call Deal’s Gap.
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
February 19, 2010
Issue #57
Three Powerful Persuasion Strategies And How to Use Each One To Rocket Your Response
In this issue:
- How to structure a logical argument that will have your prospects ready, willing and even eager to buy …
- The astonishing response-rocketing power of the “scientific demonstration” – and how I used it to sell more than $7 million-worth of products in a single DM package…
- Eight Ways to turn ordinary testimonials into profit-pulling powerhouses…
- And MUCH MORE!
Dear Business-Builder,
Over the years, I’ve tried to teach lots of folks to write sales copy – and (have I mentioned this before?) not all of them have gone on to be stellar successes.
One of my most spectacular failures had a Ph.D. in English Lit. Another was a crackerjack newspaper reporter. Still another had penned a best-seller and now wanted to try her hand at writing sales copy.
All three of these guys and gals were great word-jugglers. But as direct response copywriters, every one of them was hopeless. Not one of them could have written a winning sales letter if you’d held a .44 magnum to his or her highly educated head.
Looking back, though, it wasn’t their fault that they couldn’t “get” it. It was mine.
I should have been flogged for hiring these “great writers” in the first place.
See, I didn’t need great writers. I needed great salespeople – experts in the art and science of persuasion – who could also write.
They didn’t have to be Shakespeares, Longfellows or Hemmingways. They just needed to have a knack for helping others see things their way … and for persuading others to take a particular action – i.e. to look at their headlines, read their sales messages and for god’s sake, to order the doggoned product!
Put simply, I needed PERSUADERS.
So much is written today about the technical, nuts-and bolts aspects of writing great sales copy: How to structure a headline. How to use power words. How to find the right tone. How to write a fascination. How to close with conviction.
Too little, in my opinion, is written about how to be persuasive. And I mean to remedy that.
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
January 1, 2010
Issue #501
Part Two
In this special interview issue …
- How a little "romance" can grab your prospects’ attention and sell them your product …
- The ultimate key to advertising success in today’s crowded market …
- The truth about traditional benefit-oriented selling — and how it just might be killing sales …
- The one part of every promotion that’s even more important than the headline …
- What you must know about your prospects before you write a word of copy …
- A simple way you can get better, more profitable copy out of every copywriter your hire …
- The most common blunder in advertising today …
- And much, MUCH MORE!
Dear Business-Builder,
I shared part of my conversation with Arthur Johnson, an "A" level copywriter who has experienced astounding success.
If you missed it, click this link to read it. But make sure you come back here. What Arthur says is of tremendous value to anyone who writes copy or works with writers.
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
December 28, 2009
Issue #16
Part One
In this special interview issue …
- How a little "romance" can grab your prospects' attention and sell them your product …
- The ultimate key to advertising success in today's crowded market …
- The truth about traditional benefit-oriented selling — and how it just might be killing sales …
- The one part of every promotion that's even more important than the headline …
- What you must know about your prospects before you write a word of copy …
- A simple way you can get better, more profitable copy out of every copywriter your hire …
- The most common blunder in advertising today …
- And much, MUCH MORE!
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Posted by:
Clayton Makepeace
July 17, 2009
Issue #508
Dear Business-Builder,
Not long ago, The Redhead and I hopped into the 911 and went tear-assing down the mountain to Atlanta for Carline Anglade-Cole’s Copywriting Boot Camp.
The object of the exercise was twofold: 1) To spend an all-too-rare evening with Carline Anglade-Cole and her amazing family and 2) To rub elbows with a gaggle of Total Package readers who happened to be in attendance.
We had a ball.
Not only did I get lots of nice, warm hugs from my friend and her daughters Milan and Tiara … a manly hug and a slap on the back from Mick … and a hearty handshake from their son Chatham … I also got to meet a bunch of other family members (all drop-dead gorgeous, of course).
Plus, I also got to spend time with some of our readers. And as you might expect, to answer some of the most pressing questions they have on their minds now. Since we also get these questions in our feedback box almost daily, I figure it might be a good thing to tell you what I told them.
For instance, one attendee who was still training to become a copywriter was already thinking ahead …
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