Grunt Work Does a Copywriter Good
- How not to get your head handed to you when competing against other copywriters …
- Smart ways to improve your copywriting skill and master the deep art of writing bullets …
- How Screaming Eagle editor Tony Flores is saving my marriage …
- And much, much more!
Dear Business Builder,
Tony Flores, editor of The Screaming Eagle newsletter, annoys me.
Even more than IT geek David Dittman does.
Sure, Dittman corrects me on every tech-related comment I make … makes fun of me when I use phrases like ‘Web 2.0’ (Yes, David I know it’s a buzz word from 1999 and marketers are just now catching onto it, give it a rest. You’re better than me, I get it) …
…and likes to wax profound about building operating systems in his spare time ‘Just for fun!’ (Forrest and Graham, our other web guys, are trying to get him to build them robot girlfriends in their garage too, but that’s their business).
But all-in-all David’s a good beer-drinking buddy despite being a little annoying. At least you can talk to him like a normal person.
Not Tony.
Start talking to him about anything other than copywriting and his eyes glaze over. Just the other day I turned to him to point out, “Hey Tony, I think that girl is checking you out.”
Tony’s response?
“Really? That reminds me of a promotion for Men’s Health that Parris Lampropoulos wrote, he wrote these great bullets about …"
Aye. Tony. Tony. Tony.
The guy would ignore
Monica Bellucci’s come-hither gaze
just to get to a mailbox to see what’s in it!
Tony’s like the Rain Man of copywriting. He can …
- Rattle off the main theme of every big control in the health or financial markets for the last 10 years …
- Give you 76 ways to strengthen ANY promotion’s deck copy – 78 if you want to talk punctuation …
- Blurt out dozens of effective closing strategies on demand like an over-caffeinated Jeopardy contestant …
- And recite, word-for-word, the sales arguments from every major control from any top writer you can think of.
The guy’s obsessed.
It’s downright unsettling. But you know what?
He’s going to be one of the Greats for sure. Because he studies every little detail and nuance of successful controls. And practices and applies the insights he gains from them.
Truth be told; every copywriter I know who’s making things happen does the grunt work – the hard, un-sexy practice that goes into getting really good at anything.
You can have copywriting and direct marketing books and courses coming out the wazoo …
But if you’re not studying live promotions –
you’re going to get your head handed to you
by copywriters who are
Case in point: We received this great email the other day from Total Package reader, Chuck …
"I bought Steal These Secrets a few months ago and wanted to wait until I got the results of my first big promotion before I sent a little feedback. So here goes.
"Steal These Secrets is INVALUABLE. I made the investment in it a couple months ago and studied the package. I applied what I learned to my first big DM promotion and BEAT THE PREVIOUS CONTROL. I'm now looking at multiple projects from the client."
As you know, Steal these Secrets is a collection of Clayton’s winning ads. But what’s amazing about Chuck is – he studied and APPLIED what he learned.
He didn’t just ‘collect’ a new set of techniques, he increased his skill.
And in that spirit – let’s play with bullets
from actual promotions to see what we can learn
Let’s you and I make sure we keep up with guys like Tony and Chuck and increase our bullet writing SKILL.
You’re probably familiar with the term ‘fascination’ for a bullet designed to tease information.
When selling books or other information products, fascinations are often the backbone of the sales message. Simply because you’re trying to arouse such a strong curiosity about the contents of the book people just have to buy it.
Take a look at each of these bullets. They all have a different PURPOSE. And you’ll see how the information is presented slightly different in each one.
This is a fascination and is from a long string of bullets all designed to make you want to buy a particular book:
- The amazing 'Towel Hanging' trick that increases the strength of your erection … plus your lovemaking stamina … allowing you to supercharge your love life in a very short time! (You have to experience these kinds of ‘rocket-burst’ orgasms to believe they’re possible! See page 139.)
Here’s another fascination but the purpose of this one is to sell readership of the rest of the promotion.
- Why do seniors lose their balance and fall? Why do older people die of flu? Why do African Americans have higher cancer rates? What’s secretly hiking your blood pressure? The choking new answer to all of the above is …(continued on page 8 )
The next bullet isn’t teasing anything at all. It’s making a very strong point related to the main sales argument.
- Increases miscarriages by 16.4%! The California Department of Health Services conducted a study of 5,144 pregnant women. Women who drank water treated with chlorine during pregnancy experienced 16.4% more miscarriages.
You can also use bullets when establishing credibility. For example when showing a track record:
- When stocks crashed by over 80% in 1930-31, my dad, Irving Weiss, turned a $500 pittance into more than $100,000 …
- When stocks fell precipitously in 1987, history repeated itself – as Dad and I led our clients to profits of up to 4,500% in a matter of days; enough to turn a $25,000 investment into $1.1 million …
Or to drive home a point:
Sure, water is SUPPOSED to be good for you – but the liquid coming out of your tap is far from healthy – in fact, it can be downright lethal!
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) … Major Medical Journals … and other experts – good ole fashioned drinking water has now been proven to:
- Trigger a massive heart attack! According to the medical journal, Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, the arsenic commonly found in drinking water has been proven to increase your chances of a heart attack and artery disease!
- Riddle your body with cancer! Each and every year 160 cancer-causing chemicals are flushed into America’s drinking water supply!
- Make your bones CRUMBLE! The Journal of the American Medical Association printed THREE separate studies stating fluoride in tap water can weaken your bones and increase the likelihood of hip fractures!
- Infect your body with deadly bacteria! According to the Center for Disease Control, 403,000 people got sick from water contaminated with the bacteria Cryptosporidium. Another 69 died from the infection! That’s just one bacteria – drinking water can contain thousands of other deadly bacteria!
And we’re just barely scratching the surface (right now Tony is tisk, tisk, tisking me about how I left out the 47 OTHER ways to use bullets in your promotions. You’re such a copy geek, Tony).
The whole point of all this is: If you want to improve your copywriting technique there’s no better way than to actually WRITE.
And to tear apart and study how individual elements (in this case, bullets) are structured and how they are used to achieve different objectives.
A Simple, Powerful Bullet Writing Exercise
While we’re at it I might as well share this great bullet writing exercise my buddy Caleb O’Dowd told me about. He learned to write copy directly from Gary Halbert and this was one of the things he’d have to do:
Gary would toss him a magazine and tell him to write 100 headlines and 100 bullets from the magazine.
And Caleb would have a day or so to get them back to him for critique.
What a great exercise.
If you want to grab a magazine, book or the research materials for one of your projects …
- If you’re really just a wannabe copywriter who has no intention of getting good: Just write one or two bullets. Then be satisfied that you ‘understand’ how to do it and leave it at that. Then go Google “copywriting secrets” …
- If you’re seriously trying to become a better copywriter: Block out some time. Identify a few different types of bullet styles you want to get better at writing … and write 50-100 of each from a magazine or a promotion you’re working on right now.
You can write fascination bullets … credibility bullets … punch up the power of a boring section by bulletizing the important points … or make a rapid fire set of claims.
How Tony Flores is saving my marriage
And don’t tell Tony, but just like the rest of you EasyWriters, I get antsy waiting for my next issue of The Screaming Eagle. And tear into the envelope like a kid on Christmas morning when it arrives.
Because as much as I spend time tearing apart controls and studying them – I can’t hold a candle to Tony’s precise, detailed analysis. But don’t tell him that, now that Tony and I are in the same office I have to make sure his head doesn’t get too big.
So I pretend like I’m NOT obsessively reading and studying his insights into what works … I even put a file folder over the stack of Screaming Eagles I keep next to me when I’m writing for inspiration and guidance, just so he doesn’t see.
But I think he’s onto me, because lately when he’s checking out my copy he drops things like,
“Oh, nice guarantee copy. You’re really going to like next month’s issue because then you’ll see why leaving out step 8 in the guarantee-writing process like that really weakens the whole thing.”
But what am I going to do? If I tried to spend 9 hours a day ripping apart copy ON TOP of my full time writing gig – I wouldn’t have a marriage to speak of.
So I have to give Tony props for his obsessive dedication to tearing promotions apart, because it makes my study and practice more efficient. And I’m a heck-uva lot better copywriter because the work he does.
To your faster success,
John Newtson
Editor, Life in the Fast Lane
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
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2 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 Cynthia Wyant — May 26, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
Thanks for this article. I tend to fall into the trap of studying copywriting material too much, and not actually applying it.
This has shown me that I really do need to practice the techniques too.
So off to that bullet-writing exercise you just mentioned . . .
Thanks again.
Cynthia Wyant
Comment by Senen Pousa — May 26, 2007 @ 10:59 pm
SERIOUSLY John,
How much would I have to pay to get Tony to write the copy for a financial investment research product that:
1. Has no direct competition
2. Has outperformed every Agora
Newsletter Investment Advisor by 43%,
3. And so much more…
I would be happy to pay him a huge fee plus a percentage as an ongoing royalties.
I have a huge budget and I want someone with Financial copy experience.
How do I get to have a five minute conversation with Tony about this because I\’m certain that he would be blown away by the possibilities.
I\’ve got the guys at StomperNet helping me with my PPC campaign which will have thousands of prospects constantly coming through the front door of my website.
I need a financial copy genuis to match the lead generation geniuses with conversion genius on the copy side.
Thanks,
Senen Pousa
Investment Intelligence Corporation
senen@investmentintelligence.com.au
P.S. I\’m happy to fly in if I need to!
Comment by Robert Riess — November 15, 2007 @ 8:36 am
I would love to hire someone who can accomplish this for me. We have 15 websites and are the largest mailer of nutritional supplements in the USA
Comment by Carlie Anglade-Cole — November 15, 2007 @ 8:39 am
As someone just getting started in information publishing, I found your article very informative. I\’m going to put some of these ideas to use to drive more traffic to my new e-store on my website. Again, thanks!
Comment by chuks — November 15, 2007 @ 10:06 am
brilliant article. i manage a luxury pen site and would use the information provided.
chuks@winstondale.co.uk
Comment by John Anderson — November 15, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
Another \’hit the spot article\’. I love the way its practical and so instantly \’usable\’ as opposed to theory. Thank you
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