Two Biggest Mistakes
New Copywriters Make
As I’ve mentioned many times, I’m a big collector of old advertising and copywriting books.
Why? Because many of the techniques these masters discovered years ago hold true today. I have used many of them in the past and still refer to these ideas today.
However, as John Caples, Claude M. Bristol, Robert Collier, and John E. Kennedy would tell you if they were still alive, simply copying their techniques will never give you the breakthroughs you’re looking for or set you apart as an A-list copywriter.
To be sure, I’m not going to say that those tested ideas won’t work for you. But they were designed for specific products at that time – and not necessarily for what you are trying to sell now.
Why is this important?
Because when you send your copywriting samples to publishers, marketers, and entrepreneurs, you will not be perceived as an original copywriter. They will see you as someone who may be a good mimic, but that is not what they are looking for.
They are looking for original copywriters with their own ideas, experts who may have mastered the techniques of the past – and didn’t just copy them.
One of my clients recently told me that he receives so many "Caples wannabe" packages from copywriters that he doesn’t even bother to read them. He throws them directly in the trash.
Can you blame him?
- He sees nothing original in the writer’s work, and
- His products are far too important to leave to a copywriter who merely copies somebody else’s approach.
Most new copywriters wouldn’t know this, but the publishers and marketers I work with know who has written a direct mail package they receive in the mail because they, for the most part, know the selling styles of all the top copywriters.
I would venture to say that if you sent three publishers a Gary Bencivenga package, a Doug D’Anna package, a Bob Bly package, and a Clayton Makepeace package, they would know exactly who wrote each one.
The reason is simple: Each one of us has our own unique selling style.
If you want to rise to the top of the A-list, you must develop your own personal selling style – and not simply mimic one of the greats from the past.
Believe it or not, one way to develop your own personal copywriting style is to take a sales course – and not just by reading sales books.
Truth is, if there’s a reason why I’ve had such great success in copywriting, it is because I’m not a writer – I’m a salesman who types for a living.
By attending a basic sales class you will learn so many things that you never could by just reading a sales book. You must learn what it feels like to be face-to-face with a customer. To identify what it takes to persuade them. To answer their objections in real time. You will not only learn to see and feel their emotions but also know how to react to them.
I promise you this: If you take a sales class, my friend, you will gain an overwhelming advantage over copywriters who only take writing classes.
How can I make such a claim? It’s easy. Most copywriters are introverts and fear selling!
They send samples of their work with cover letters and never follow up. They’re afraid of hearing "no" on the phone. So on one hand, the copywriter’s job is all about selling, but on the other hand, many are afraid to sell themselves.
In some ways, I was the same way.
But I got over that when I spent two years out of copywriting in the 1980s, selling real estate and making no money. My lack of sales didn’t mean I was a bad salesman. It’s just that through it all I learned something more important: I liked selling: I just didn’t like selling real estate.
I liked writing copy from the convenience of my home and not driving a bunch of strangers from house to house. I’m sure you know what I mean.
Yet, the techniques I learned from my two years of selling real estate moved me from charging $1,500 per package to $10,000 per package within nine months of getting back into the business.
My success wasn’t because I was any kind of a better writer. I enjoyed a higher degree of success because I was a better – and battle-hardened – put-the-money-in-the-envelope-please salesman.
For these reasons, I believe I enjoy more success than most copywriters when it comes to launching new products. Why? Because I’m not thinking of which Caples headline I’m going to steal.
I have discovered my own personal selling style and I’m going to use that.
So please, as a future A-list copywriter, promise me this:
- Don’t send publishers or marketers any kind of Caples rehash,
- Develop your own personal selling style that stands out, and
- Take a sales course!
Do this and I promise you’ll rise to the top of the A-list much faster than you could ever imagine – and get paid even more for your copywriting work.
All good wishes,
Doug D’Anna
Guest Contributor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
P.S. If you know of someone who could benefit from these copywriting ideas, please pass them along. Better yet, encourage them to sign up for my A-list so I can send them my ideas directly. Here’s the link to sign up.
http://www.dougdanna.com/joinmyalist.html
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25 Comments »
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or ask us anything. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
– Clayton
Comment by Carolyn Permentier — May 1, 2008 @ 9:47 am
Excellent advice, Doug!
I haven’t garnered as much ‘notoriety’ as
you A-List guys …
but, for my clients, I’m a heroine!
I sure don’t have a lot of respect for copycats!
Be original. Break the mold. Set a new standard.
And, as you say, learn to sell! If a copywriter
doesn’t understand the human psyche … how
can they convince anyone to part with their
money right now?
Thanks, again!
Carolyn
http://blog.kickasscopywriter.com
Comment by Mike Shields — May 1, 2008 @ 9:52 am
"They all laughed when I said I wanted to be a comedian. They’re not laughing now…." Some stand-up comedian’s opening line, whose name I can’t recall….
I guess there’s no originality left in Hollywood.
You’re urging us to be unique, just like everybody else, right?
Comment by Paul D'Aquino — May 1, 2008 @ 9:58 am
Doug,
You hit a hot button for me on this one. I get so many emails in my account that all have the same 3-4 headlines that look like a computer wrote it without any thought. Writing copy takes blood, sweat and tears and not just some cheap program that spits out headlines and pre filled in copy.
Paul D’AquinoJoint Venture Marketinghttp://www.pauldaquino.com
Comment by Larry Owen — May 1, 2008 @ 10:40 am
As I read with great interest Doug D’Anna’s post, a familiarity started creeping over me and I realized he was not only describing the need for fresh-style copywriting for writers but he was also describing the path to excellence for artists and graphic designers who bring these packages to life.
I’ve spent 14 years as an A-list graphic designer because I developed my own styles early on while working with my mentor Clayton Makepeace for more than 12 years as his chief designer for a multitude of clients.
This fast-paced relationship introduced me to terrific clients – and writers who had their own A-list styles, like Carline Anglade-Cole, Kent Komae, Bob Hutchinson, and many others. They all contributed to my growth and helped me develop spot-on design styles.
I say styles, because product placement and subject matter dictates many design styles, depending on the marketing goals and the demographic and psychographic makeup of the audience. I can’t count the many times I’ve seen package designs that didn’t do justice to the copy, because the designer was not a salesman, or as I say, "marketing oriented."
If writers find they did NOT beat the control package, take a strong look at the design before blaming the copy. It could very well be that the same copy will knock the socks off the control with a better, more sales-oriented design.Clayton gave me my first big design job for a Boardroom tabloid way back in 1996 or so, and, just short of panicking, I pulled out the Rob Davis design and started copying it.
I even confessed this to Rob in a later phone conversation, complimenting him as my role model at that time. Well, I did beat the control, but I realized that I was a keen salesman first, now making a living as a graphic designer.
After years of selling boats, yachts, luxury cars, and motorcycles – and after 25 career years spent on both the account service and creative sides of major advertising agencies – I had developed a sense about people and what makes them tick.
What motivates them. How to find them, and then know what to say to them once found.The point being I developed my own different styles that fit the package at hand, and why I have created and produced so many control packages over the years – some being mailed over and over for years.I recently took a 2-year sabbatical to travel south, live with friends in a tree house off the coast of Costa Rica, and to build a diesel-powered fishing boat that had been a life-long dream.
The nightmare is over now, and I’m back! I produced three packages this year so far, and my schedule is open after May (just in case you need a sales-oriented designer – I’m available!).
Geeez, what a whore!
Larry Owen
Comment by Larry Owen — May 1, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Please forgive me … would someone tell me how to separate paragraphs using this forum? I’m all Mac. Thanks! Larry
Comment by Phil Spinelli — May 1, 2008 @ 10:52 am
Get sales training… I couldn’t agree more.
Read the old classic copy-writing books, but also, read and listen to audio from the great sales masters like Zig Zigler, Hopkins, Brian Tracy, and go sell stuff face-to-face.
I love sales and the study of human behavior, I can "almost" predict what people are going to do.
However, I’ve learned "the most" by being in front of people, not from books and course, but the books and course were a great source of information.
thanks,
Phil
Comment by Loren Woirhaye — May 1, 2008 @ 11:46 am
I’ve had success selling my own business stuff with my own copy. It’s rough-edged but it gets the message across to the right people guess. I’ve sold on the phone - often badly. Selling on the phone forced me to get in the prospect’s shoes - to realize how desperately fearful of being screwed he is and also how much reassurance many people need that they are making a wise decision.
I’m a great admirer of Robert Collier but I wouldn’t try to emulate his old-fashioned language or selling propositions. I doubt people would even understand Collier’s flattery methods today, though they clearly can still be flattered it’s on different terms.
I admire some copywriters for the vibrancy, movement, and color in their writing. I’ve been re-reading pulp fiction I read when I was a kid - stuff written long-ago in the days when excitement ruled the pulps and lurid visual imagery drew the reader in. It’s a real inspiration because this stuff shows how straightforward language can slash-out vivid mental pictures - it was written to entertain kids with stories of action. The use of cliches is particularly exciting because in the headlong rush towards the climax of the story the phrases don’t read like cliches at all.
This stuff was written to sell pulp magazines and sell pulp editors. The readers would decide which pulp would rise or fall in the marketplace and the writers were always judged by the public.
It’s good stuff to read. And a helluva lot more engaging to me than old soap ads.
Comment by forrest — May 1, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
Hey Larry, let me help you with the spacing issue.
The best way to avoid spacing issues is to write the comment in the box at the bottom instead of pasting it in from your word processor.
When you write it in the comment box, every time you hit enter it puts in a carriage return. When the comment is pasted in, the spacing information is discarded.
Comment by Larry Owen — May 1, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
Thank you Forrest!This is a paragraph test.I’m starting to sound like a Total Package promotion: NEVER GIVE UP — AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT BEING ANNOYING!!— Larry
Comment by Larry Owen — May 1, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
Ahhrg! Typing in the comment box and hitting ‘enter’ doesn’t work for me. Could it be iMac, OS X, InDesign CS3, Safari? Halp!Here it is when I hit ‘return’ and not ‘enter’.Sorry, everybody.
Comment by Phil Spinelli — May 1, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
maybe press the "enter" keyboard key twice?
Comment by forrest — May 1, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
Hey Larry, after some research it looks like it’s an issue with Safari stripping out the line breaks.
I’ve got instructions here to fix it, but it’s not pretty. I’d hate to recommend using Firefox because Safari is a better browser, but it seems a lot of people are having this issue with Safari.
Comment by Larry Owen — May 1, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Forrest, thank you so much, again. I will get Firefox running on this mammoth system for times such as these. Larry
Comment by Kevin — May 1, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
OK, we kinda got sidetracked here with technical issues, but the subject of Doug’s post really has me thinking…
On one hand, there has been an explosion of neophyte "copywriters" in the last few years, which explains all the Caples and Ogilvy knockoffs. And I can see how it could at some point diminish response. But… (there’s always a ‘but’)…
Dan Kennedy teaches (and always has) that you SHOULD knock off what’s already been proven, precisely for that reason: it’s proven. It works. He says "when I go to the bank to deposit my fees, they don’t ask me if the copy I wrote was original or not."
Another thing he points out is that a lot of business owners change their ads when they’re still working, simply because they see the ad every day and get sick of it. These Caples knock-offs may be old hat to us copywriters, but to the customer, its brand new, and that’s what really counts.
Who is right?
This debate has been raging in my head all day…especially since I’ve submitted a few leads (using classic, proven headline templates) to AWAI and gotten zippo feedback on what I’ve written.
Can someone else shed some light on this very important topic? Thanks!
-Kevin
Comment by Phil Spinelli — May 2, 2008 @ 10:36 am
IMO. To be successful, emulate successful people.
I think it’s a good idea to look at successful ads (more then just one) for "similar" products before you write copy.
Dissect the ad, break it down, find the its benefits, emotions, how it presents the products and draws you through the ad copy and asks for the sale.
Then take your product, and try to present it the same way, list all your benefits, the emotional hot buttons, in your own voice.
thanks,
Phil
Comment by Doug D'Anna — May 2, 2008 @ 2:19 pm
Kevin,
In the world that I work in there are A-list writers and everybody else. The gap isn’t simply a few yards–it’s a few miles.
The reason is simple: You simply can’t expect to mimic the greats and (1) be perceived as an original thinker and (2) see the big breakthroughs.
If that were true, every body and their brother who copied these ads would be the next Gary Bencivenga.
To be sure, there are timeless themes you can always borrow. I have borrowed themes countless times.
But–and this is an important point–it is the theme, the thoughts, and the cadence that I borrow and NOT just the words.
Example:
My 2000 breakthrough for Personal Financed picked up on an old Kiplinger theme of "Boom or More Inflation Ahead?"
My version was "Boom or Bust for Technology Stocks?"
So what was it exactly that I borrowed? Well the word Boom for starters. More important was the question technique.
Yet, my version was uniquely my own since I was targeting what was happening NOW in the market place to the people that I was writing.
My "Great Retirement Betrayal" was also outside of the box because I tapped into how people were feeling at THAT TIME. "Do you make these retirement mistakes?" simply would not have had the same power.
Another example:
In 2005 I hit a home run with another winner, "Can India Stop China?" While you can’t see this on the surface, the idea came directly from the Kiplinger piece of long ago.
Simply put: My concept told the reader that something important to them was going to happen and they must read on to find out.
I could go and on about where ideas come from and how you can leverage the lessons from the past.
But for today’s discussion I want to drive home that point that if you want to rise the ranks of the A-list and work with the top companies, you simply can’t mimic the old classics because you’ll only pigeon hole yourself as a copy cat for years to come.
And that’s really my point.
You need to take the lessons of the past and then work these ideas into something that’s uniquely yours.
Trust me when I tell you this–the moment you do, publishers, product managers, and business owners will see your work as the mark of a new A-list writer and not that of another wannabe.
I hope my reply not only answers your question…
…but also helps you to create your own big breakthrough.
Capture your own voice, my friend, and you’ll capture more business than you can imagine.
All good wishes,
Doug D’Anna
Comment by Kevin — May 2, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
Thanks Doug for going a little more in-depth on this topic… I really appreciate it!
Comment by Markus Trauernicht — May 3, 2008 @ 6:44 am
I would like to put it this way:
Think of an icecream and your mouth starts watering.
Just thinking about the icecream lets you feel in the same way as if you were already enjoying it. It’s our brains fault. When thinking about a reward it reacts in the same way as if you have already received the award.
When copywriting it is also your job to let the reader feel as if he already enjoys the benefits of your product. I guess that is why the „They laughed…“ resonates so much with copywriters. It is the perfect example experiencing the „before and after“, „with and without“ and „being part of or not“. The hope of winning more and the fear of loss combined. And therefore it is the easy way out, not thinking your way to a better answer.
Yes, I plead guilty – a client wanted exactly this ad copied in real estate and would not take other ideas. Client was very happy, but it was frustrating all the way writing it. Never again!
Regards Markus Trauernicht from Germany
Comment by shayne Tenace — May 3, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
The questions for me is - how do I find a really great sales course? The internet is full of sales "experts" - many trying to convince me to relinquish large sums of cash to learn.
Thus far, the best sales course I have been through was the Southwestern Book Company sales school. Unfortunately, that was 20 years ago…
Comment by Phil Spinelli — May 3, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
"how do I find a really great sales course"
I like Brian Tracy the best.
His audio "high performance selling" is, IMO the best.
Zig Zigler and Tom Hopkins are great too.
A great classic book everyone should read: How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger
The classic "people skills" book, from Dale Carnigie is a must read too: How to Win Friends & Influence People
Get books/audios from the authors listed above, these are the only sales books/courses you’ll ever need.
I prefer to get unabridged versions of books on audio so I can listen to them over and over again. You can listen while driving, working out, working around the house, etc.
Having a sales job helps a lot too. After a while, you can just feel what people are thinking.
thanks
Comment by Doug D'Anna — May 3, 2008 @ 7:45 pm
If you heard my interview with Clayton last year, then you know that I spent about two years out of copywriting selling real estate and failing miserably.
During that time I took the Dale Carnegie sales course. It cost around $1, 200 (1989 dollars) and lasted around 13 weeks.
Frankly, it was at that course that I learned many of the techniques I used to rebuild my copywriting business when I gave up real estate.
Of course, the Dale Carnegie course really only laid the foundation for my sales education. Most of what I learned was by trial and error–face to face with real clients in my local community.
Truth is, you can only learn so much from a course or from a book. The real learning takes place when you apply what you have learned in real time with a real client.
I hope this helps.
Comment by Phil Spinelli — May 3, 2008 @ 7:58 pm
I think you can goto
dalecarnegie.com to find a course in your area.
They also offer courses on public speaking, and a few other courses.
thanks
Comment by Phil Spinelli — May 5, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
"If you heard my interview with Clayton last year"
Is there a link to this interview, I would really like to hear it.
thanks
Comment by Scott — May 6, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
Clayton / Doug,
I agree with your article about NOT being copycats, but since your article was published by Clayton - you might want to tell the Big Guy to have his editors follow the same rules you all recommend to readers.
Case in point: Troy White’s promotion for his "Wild West Wealth Summit" - the headline is a total rip-off of the promotion Early To Rise ran for years (not sure who wrote the promo)… you know the one, "WANTED: Crew to Rob Banks Legally With an Inside Job."
Anyone else see the hypocrisy in someone telling readers not to be copycats, when his own editors obviously know a thing or two about the art of the rip-off???
Comment by Andrew Cavanagh — May 15, 2008 @ 10:42 pm
Dale Carnegie’s work is exceptional (you can get a copy of How To Win Friends And Influence People for less than $10 and devour that to begin with.
But Doug is spot on.
You’re not going to learn sales reading a book or going to a course.
You have to go into the real world and do some selling.
This is a fantastic post Doug.
Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh