Are ALL the Top Copywriters Using this Technique or is it Just Me?
Plus, in this issue:
- Jim’s client made a funny without knowing it …
- Joe made $26,480 in one month from one letter as a rookie copywriter …
- And Mr. X made $3.6 million in a weekend off of this deal …
- And much, MORE! (Like some cool additions for your swipe file)
Dear Business Builder,
Famed copywriter Jim Rutz made a proposal to a client once that changed the way copywriters made money ever since.
He asked:
‘How about instead of my regular fee, I give you another option, you can pay me a little less than my normal and a half-a-penny royalty for every package you mail … or even less and a full penny royalty …
‘Or, pay me nothing at all up front and give me .03 cents a package.’
It took all of three seconds for the client to say, “We’ll take the free one.”
Hah!
And that’s when he learned clients are much happier to pay out of cash-flow than out of pocket. And this royalty deal made it much easier to get work, and get paid MORE money than a straight fee deal.
And that’s just a taste of what’s possible.
One very well known copywriter (I’m not supposed to give out his name – who knows when the IRS is watching) once made a cool $3.6 million in a weekend off just one such deal – from writing one letter.
He came up with high-dollar backend product to promote to a client’s list.
He pitched the product idea to the client … wrote the copy … and sold somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 million right out of the gate.
Not a bad couple of days.
And it’s not just big name copywriters who are making a lot of money on royalties.
Joe was a total rookie copywriter
– but look at the royalty earnings
he made off of ONE LETTER …
Joe started his copywriting business and after months of effort only had 2 clients and about a $1,000 to show for it.
Stressed out and worried about his future and income Joe stumbled onto The Total Package issue #46, ‘Yes, you can build a super-profitable copywriting business.’
He decided to try and structure a royalty deal with a client just like Clayton described. The client agreed.
And the first month Joe made $26,480 from one letter – all because of what he read in a free issue of The Total Package.
And that wasn’t the end of it because within a few months he’d cleared close to $70,000 in commissions from that very same letter.
If you’re starting to think
about arranging royalty deals
– GREAT! But that’s not the point …
Does the idea of getting $26,480 for a letter appeal to you? Or making $3.6 million for a weekend’s work on one letter make your greed glands tingle a little?
Do you think the effect would have been the same if I just said …
- You could make $26,480 with one letter!
- You could make $3.6 million in a weekend with this secret!
Hmm … kind of strains credibility, don’t you think?
When you make a straight claim your prospect focuses on the claim and judges it.
But when you couch it in the true-story of an individual person – your prospect focuses on the person and the story.
Stories tend to have more visceral power, more intrigue and more believability than a straight benefit claim.
For instance, you might know I like to give my buddy Tony Flores, editor of The Screaming Eagle, a hard time about his obsession with copywriting.
So you be the judge, which approach conveys the message about his obsession more powerfully and believably, and before you ask, yes – it’s a true story …
MESSAGE ONE: Because Tony Flores is so obsessed with copywriting, his newsletter gives you the most detailed, actionable breakdown of copywriting and sales elements you’ve ever seen.
MESSAGE TWO: Tony and I are talking to a beautiful young woman about working at The Total Package.
We’re having a nice a chat. And in the course of conversation it comes up that we have company lunch day every Friday where Clayton and Wendy treat everybody to lunch.
Tony’s response?
‘Yup, you save 20% on your lunch costs by working here. That’s $50 a month! That means you get an extra tank of gas FREE every month!’
Smooth, Tony, real smooth. ‘You know I’m going to use that in one of my articles,’ I tell him. To which Tony replies, and THIS is proof- positive of his ‘Copy-Trekkiness’
‘NO! You can’t …’ (Ready for it?) … “because that’s not a fully dimensionalized benefit! It’s only a functional benefit!"
The guy lives and breathes copywriting; is it any wonder The Screaming Eagle delivers the most precise, detailed and actionable breakdown of copywriting and sales elements you’ve ever seen?
Confession time, I really just wanted to use that story.
It’s not really the best example, I know. It’s long and doesn’t get to the point right away. But, what’s the point of having a column read by thousands of people if you can’t embarrass a friend in it once in a while?
Alright, let’s get back to stories in copy.
Kent used a story
to open one of the most mailed letters
in the history of
the nutritional supplement market
Kent Komae is one of the dominant copywriters in the nutritional supplement industry. And he opened his famous ‘Beyond Glucosomine’ control for a joint health supplement with this story …
Dear Friend,
If you had seen Maureen Carron that day, you’d know why she needed a miracle.
Terrible joint problems, especially in her knees, hips and ankles, made a “normal life” nearly impossible. Things got so bad, doing everything – even the little things – became a difficult task. She even needed help just to stand up in church.
Maureen first turned to natural supplements like glucosomine and chondroitin, with limited success.
But when she switched to the amazing discovery
I’m about to describe, her joints came alive again!Now, after faithfully taking this discovery every day, she feels fine! So fine she’s back fixing up her 10-room house – painting, doing carpentry work, and even climbing ladders. Imagine that!
Notice how this story is basically a case study of a customer. Tre’ cool.
It paints a very concrete image of both the target market’s problem and the solution offered by the product. And it brings the reader right into the primary appeal.
Arthur Johnson uses stories
to drive reader’s interest …
… tap into emotions …
make the credibility sale …
… and sell premiums
– all in the same sidebar!
Talk about putting your sidebars to work for you!
Check out this one from Arthur Johnson’s control for Dr. Whitaker’s Health & Healing newsletter:
Parents stunned as blood tests confirm
“Dramatic drop in Zachary’s blood sugar”Type 1 diabetes was turning young Zachary into a scarecrow. Despite eating like a horse, this teenager dwindled down to 96 pounds. Happily for Zachary, though, his dad is a long-time subscriber to Health & Healing. And the same day he was diagnosed, he started on Dr. Whitaker’s nutritional program.
His results weren’t just astonishing, they were off the charts. Zachary’s blood sugar stabilized, he gained 28 pounds of muscle, and he looks and feels terrific. But most amazing of all, he did it before taking any insulin!
This is unheard of in mainstream medicine. But, as you’ll learn in your FREE REPORTS, it couldn’t be more logical. Among other things, Zachary’s taking a special kind of vitamin B3 that’s proven to nurture the beta cells in your pancreas. No matter what type of diabetes loved ones may have, this sensible treatment could transform their future. RSVP for your FREE REPORTS today!
A regular copywriter might just say tell the prospect the benefit, like:
“As a subscriber to Health & Healing you’ll discover powerful new ways to beat diabetes!’
If you look at some of his promotions you’ll see almost every spread opens with a story about a customer.
Gee, I wonder why Arthur’s got so many controls?
Bill Jayme was a master of putting
the reader smack dab in the middle of a story…
… like in this racy control for Elle Magazine
Bill Jayme was like the Tiger Woods of copywriting. (I totally stole that line, not tellin’ from where though). Check out this brilliant lead copy:
You’re waiting at the corner for the light to turn green.
On you’re right is a woman who’d love to look like you. To possess your vitality. To have your skin, your hair, your eyes.
On your left is a schoolgirl who yearns to own everything you have on. The gold. The cashmere. The leather. The fragrance…
… And looking at you from across the street is a really good-looking guy who’d give almost anything to … or something equally R-rated.
Or the opening copy in his control for Andy Warhol magazine:
When you find yourself seated at dinner next to someone unusual like Bette Midler, you’ve got two choices.
You can ask what her brother Danny is up to, why she worships Bobby Darin, whether they really paid her in gold for her recent round-the-clock world tour, why she thinks that Paloma Picasso should design clothes, where her favorite hot dog stand is in L.A., and how she feels about Barbra Streisand.
Or … you could say, “Excuse me. Can you please pass the salt?"
Just sit back and admire those two for a minute. Beautiful, huh? If I still smoked I’d light up right now. Anyway, let’s keep moving.
Top copywriter David Deutsch
Turns many of his headlines into mini-stories
to drive readership of his promotion …
Check out this headline from one of his controls for Boardroom Books…
‘Honey, why are my shoes in the freezer?’
My husband thought I’d gone off the deep end when he woke up and found his new Italian loafers in the freezer! But he soon sang a different tune. Because the shoes that had been giving him blisters now fit perfectly. Find out why on page 6 inside …
Or this headline for another control for a different Boardroom product …
How Gin-Soaked Raisins
Cured Carmen’s “Hopeless” Arthritis
Or, uses stories to drive readers into the body copy…
Cleopatra’s “Love Snack”
Ensured She Was Always In The MoodCleopatra’s passionate affairs with Caesar and Mark Antony kept ancient Egypt from being trampled by the great Roman juggernaut.
How did she always keep herself ready for passion? (You can’t tell Caesar “Not tonight, dear: I have a headache.”)
Her secret was …
I mean, how can you NOT read that?
Where do you go to find great stories
for your sales copy?
At first I was going to tell you should go study the art of storytelling. Particularly by reading books like …
- Story by Robert Mckee
- The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell
And yeah, those are great books. But you don’t need all of that.
Because the reality is you don’t need to understand the intricacies of story telling … or character archetypes … or plot lines or any of that stuff.
You’re better off:
- Reading testimonials: You’ll find great stories you can turn into case studies … sidebars … or even headlines. And you’ll do an end-run around sales resistance while you’re at it.
Take a few minutes to run through your sales argument, credibility elements, and closing copy. And see if you have any testimonials you can turn into little stories to advance the sale. - Listening to stories from your spokesperson: There are people behind every product or service, most of whom have some stories about the business they’re in. Interview them to find the stories that jump out at you and stick with you.
- Dream a little: Bill Jayme didn’t use testimonial stories but his are some of the most powerful. Use your imagination. Despite what some folks have said, ‘Creativity’ is not a bad word in sales copy.
- Reading Real World Promotions: You are subscribing and buying products from major mailers, right? These folks are hiring the top copywriters in the business, watch what they’re doing and see what you can adapt to your promotions.
- Reading popular magazines: You should make a habit to read what people in your markets read plus general publications like People Magazine … The National Enquirer … Entrepreneur Magazine … Reader’s Digest … but read them looking for stories.
And see how they focus on personalities … unexpected events … human interest stories … and others. You’ll see long stories, short blurb-type stories and more. It’s a great tool. - Read The Total Package: Daniel Levis wrote a great Total Package article about writing effective sales stories: Click here to read it now.
And that’s all for today. We’re barely scratching the tip of the iceberg on using stories in sales copy.
I mean, Clayton has this one strategy that takes story-building way past sales copy.
But that’s at least an entire issue so it’ll have to wait until another time.
And there’s another issue we’ll have to do on the fundamental difference between using stories in magalogs vs. in online copy.
But this is a good start.
To your faster success,
John Newtson
Editor, Life in the Fast Lane
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
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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 Sheryl Wardle — June 27, 2007 @ 8:58 am
I\’ve just been introduced to you and your organization. I do appreciate the bits of advice you give, since I\’m completely new to the internet and it\’s secrets…I\’ll keep reading and growing with your help. THANKS, sherylNkansas
Comment by Harun — June 28, 2007 @ 7:41 am
John, thanks!
This was a fantastic article. You definitely need to write more about this subject - LOTS MORE.
In fact you and Tony should collaborate and do a Screaming Eagle Issue just on storytelling!