Articles

Longer (+1,000 words)than my copywriting notes, these articles go deeper into a variety of copywriting topics.

Writing

Overcome the 8 Most Common Sales Objections With These Proven Copywriting Strategies

"Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust." - Zig Ziglar Sales objections are mental barriers to purchasing your product. Every unanswered question and unresolved concern becomes an objection to buying. Your job is to tackle each one of them in your

Editing

Polish Your First Draft Like a Pro Using Bond Halbert’s Expert Editing Techniques

Despite your hard work, your initial draft might turn out less than stellar. The true magic will happen after running it through several rounds of editing. 'Edit, edit, edit...' You've heard this advice so many times. Editing is a critical step in writing persuasive copy, yet surprisingly, this process

Foundations

The Origin of Copywriting Swipe Files and How To Use Them the Right Way

Swipe files. Some copywriters love them. Some hate them with passion. A swipe file is a collection of copywriting samples (headlines, sales letters, ads, ideas, offers, and other promotional material) you compile for further study or inspiration.  Gary Halbert was, according to his son Bon, the one popularizing the term

Writing

P.S. Is Not Dead - Learn How To Use This Powerful Tool to Make Your Reader Take Action

Writing

Copywriting Lessons From a Legend: Ed Dale’s 6-Month Copywriting Journey With Gary Halbert

Imagine spending six months with a copywriting legend. Working side by side. Absorbing the knowledge directly from the source. Imagine the legend is Gary Halbert. Years ago, Ed Dale did just that. He hired Gary Halbert for 6 months to learn copywriting. It cost him over $120,000, but the

Writing

4 Proven Copywriting Tips to Craft Emails Your Subscriber Loves To Open and Read

#1. Always follow the Rule of One The Rule of One makes your copy specific and clear. Keep your email focused on one thing - one goal, one reader, one offer, one value proposition, one call to action. Give every element of your copy just one work to do: -

Writing

The Man Behind Dale Carnegie's Success: Deconstructing His Lesser-Known Copywriting Formula

How you can use it to write more persuasive copy Advertising Age called him “the greatest mail-order copywriter of all time.” His work made How to Win Friends and Influence People a best-selling book in the 1930s. He is the man behind the copywriting formula AAPPA. Still, his name (Victor

Writing

How To Write a Landing Page Hero Section That Makes an Unforgettable First Impression

Your website hero section is the part your visitor sees before scrolling down the page. It catches your visitor's attention, keeps him on the page, and creates enough curiosity to prompt further exploration. First impressions are made and expectations are matched. Your reader lands on your page after clicking a

Writing

The Writing Process of One of the Greatest Copywriters of All Time - A Glimpse Inside the Mind of a Genius.

Date: May 11, 1994 Location: Rodale Press office Speaker: Eugene Schwartz Audience: Rodale Press staff Topic: Eugene's writing process The workshop I wish I could have attended. Why is the Rodale Press workshop important? Rodale Press, founded in 1930, sold millions of health and wellness books every year with direct

Writing

The Idea Man and a Silly Question - The Story of a Technique for Producing Ideas

It all started with a silly question. A stupid question not worth answering. Or that’s what James Webb thought at first. Upon further consideration, he realized it was quite a valid question. One that needed to be answered thoughtfully. He even wrote a book about it. A Technique for

Writing

Add Effective Urgency to Your Offer: 5 Musts and 8 Proven Strategies

We tend to procrastinate even when buying something we need or want. When you have your offer in front of your ideal prospect, the last thing you want is for them to leave without taking action. Introducing a sense of urgency in your copy could eliminate procrastination. Urgency is the

Writing

How to use future pacing to help your prospect imagine a better life

Imagine a future for your prospect with your product in it. Picture a specific time in the future when the outcome has been achieved, the pain solved, and the desire fulfilled. That's future pacing. Future pacing is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) term for the process of mentally rehearsing oneself through

Writing

4 Easy and Powerful Copywriting Techniques to Boost Your Copy

I come bearing gifts from my copywriters' bag of tricks. Four easy but powerful techniques to implement next time you write copy: * Even If * Battlefield * Open loop * CPTS Let's see how they work and how to use them. Even if "Even if” is perfect to overcome your prospect's objections. The

Writing

From Dull to Catchy: 6 Easy Techniques to Craft Sticky Copy

Sticky copy is copy that gets read, recalled and shared. It’s a combination of words, tone, sentence length, rhetorical devices, and formatting that grabs your reader’s attention and holds it. It works for any product or service, even for “boring” ones. Everything can be turned on to be

Writing

The One Thing You're Doing Wrong with Your Headlines (And How to Fix It)

If you are crafting the same type of headline for everything you write, you are doing it wrong. When writing headlines you need to be intentional and strategic. Sure, the main purpose of a headline is to grab your readers’ attention and pull them in. But the headline that works

Research

The Step-by-Step Process to Transform Your Customers' Words Into Persuasive Copy. The Best Part? NO Customers Needed.

Your visitors, prospects, and customers are a valuable source of data you can use to write high-converting copy. You listen to what they say and how they say it and transform their words into persuasive messages. But what happens when you are just starting out? You have zero customers, your

Writing

18 Ways to Transform a List of Dull Bullet Points into Supercharged Bullets Using an Old-School Technique

Boring and repetitive bullet points kill your copy. Your readers quickly lose their interest and direct their attention somewhere else. Bullet points should keep the readers’ attention and interest, build desire and stimulate curiosity and intrigue. Fascinations are an old-school technique that can do that and more. What is a

Foundations

Stop Panicking Every Time You Have to Write Copy! Learn The Proven Process Top Copywriters Use To Craft High-Converting Copy

Do you have to write your own copy and don’t know where to start? Don’t waste time staring at the blank page. Follow the proven process pro copywriters use to write their copy every single time. Why should you follow a process? Efficiency is the more obvious reason.

Articles

Long-Lasting Lessons from Claude Hopkins Most Successful Advertising Campaigns (PART V)

Pepsodent Toothpaste Campaign At a time when almost no Americans brushed their teeth, how do you sell toothpaste? You contact Claude Hopkins, the man who made Schlitz the number one selling beer in America and Palmolive the world’s best-selling soap. Pepsodent, an unknown toothpaste, was the greatest success of

Articles

Long-Lasting Lessons from Claude Hopkins Most Successful Advertising Campaigns (PART IV)

The Puffed Cereals Campaign Picture this, eight 20-inch-long bronze cylinders blasting puffed rice inside a giant cage. A scene from a comedy? A circus act? No. It was the way Alexander P. Anderson chose to show his invention at the 1904 World’s Fair. It was a small-scale demonstration of

Articles

Long-Lasting Lessons from Claude Hopkins Most Successful Advertising Campaigns (PART III)

Palmolive Soap and Shaving Cream Campaigns From one Milwaukee product to another. Last week was “The beer that made Milwaukee famous,” today we’ll see the strategy behind one of Milwaukee’s most famous native products, Palmolive soap. B.J. Johnson Soap Co. introduced Palmolive Soap in 1898. In the

Articles

Long-Lasting Lessons from Claude Hopkins Most Successful Advertising Campaigns (Part II)

The Schlitz Beer Campaign I started this series with the Cotosuet advertising campaign. The approach to that campaign was to use samples and dramatic demonstrations to gain thousands of users in different cities. When the competition cut prices, Claude, instead of lowering the price, offered a service to bakers, his

Articles

Long-Lasting Lessons from Claude Hopkins Most Successful Advertising Campaigns (Part I)

The Cotosuet Campaign I can’t think of a better way to introduce Claude Hopkins than this quote from David Ogilvy’s foreword to Scientific Advertising, “Every time I see a bad advertisement, I say to myself, ‘The man who wrote this copy has never read Claude Hopkins.’ ” Claude Hopkins

Writing

Your Copy Doesn’t Convert? Try Adding Specificity to The Mix

Clarity. Credibility. Trustworthiness. Authenticity. These are some of the qualities that specificity can bring to your copy. It's that powerful. When your copy is specific, your readers don't have to figure out what you are trying to explain. They don’t have to connect the dots. It eliminates friction in

Editing

The Straightforward Guide You Want to Keep at Hand when Editing Your Copy

In this article, you are going to learn how to edit your copy for: * Grammar and spelling * Scanners * Messaging * Clarity * Specificity * Heightened emotions * Zero risk * Believability * Voice and tone Let’s do it! Edit Your Copy for Grammar and Spelling 1) Typos. Running a spell check is not enough. Read