Tweet

How To Write Better AdCopy

Written by: Jim Straw

Article Overview: Right now, you’re probably thinking, “Now he’s gonna tell us to read all the books we can find on copywriting.” Wrong, paperback-breathe! -- The first thing I’m gonna tell you is -- after you’ve read all those copywriting books for general knowledge; like learning english composition, grammar and syntax -- throw away those books and ...

How To Write Better AdCopy

Well over 20 years ago, I was a guest panelist at a seminar about “Writing for Profit.” -- All day long,the speakers had told the attendees all about how to submit their written works to editors and
publishers ... what to expect in a publisher’s contract ... how to prepare a writer’s proposal ...
primarily focusing on how to “sell” what the attendees had written.

At the end of the seminar, a panel of five “successful writers” ... including me ... was introduced, with a list of each writer’s works and their individual accomplishments given.

The first few questions from the audience were nothing more than a rehash of some of the information provided during the day. Then, a young man stood-up in the back and said ...

“All day long, you’ve been telling us how to sell our written works - but - how do you learn how to write to begin with?”

After the other panelists finished recommending english composition classes; espousing the merits of good grammar and syntax; and advising him to “just keep writing, you’ll get better,” it was my turn.

My answer was ... as usual ... short and to the point ...

“Read!”

Then, I had to explain what I meant.

If you want to be a Science Fiction writer, read every science fiction short story and novel you can find. Immerse yourself in the type of writing you want to do. Spend 80% of your time reading and 20% of your time writing “sequels” to the stories you have read.

Today, the young man who asked the question is a highly-paid writer ... with a host of articles and
books to his credit. -- Last time I spoke to him, he thanked me again for my simple advice.

With that said, I am now going to answer those of you who have persisted in asking me ...

How To Write Better Ad-Copy

Right now, you’re probably thinking, “Now he’s gonna tell us to read all the books we can find on
copywriting.”

Wrong, paperback-breathe! -- The first thing I’m gonna tell you is -- after you’ve read all those
copywriting books for general knowledge; like learning english composition, grammar and syntax -- throw away those books and ...

Read The Ads!

That’s right. -- If you are going to write an ad to sell your “fancy-dancy fishhooks,” gather together every ad you can find that offers fishhooks, fishing lures, fishing poles, or, even, fishing boats. -- Read them ... reread them ... and read them some more. -- Don’t even try to do any writing. Just read the ads!

Again, you’re probably thinking, “That’s old hat. Everybody tells us to keep a swipe-file of ads
offering products similar to our own, then use those ads to write our own ads.”

Wrong, again, copycat-litter-breathe! -- If you only use your swipe-file to makeup copycat ads, you will be committing ...

The Biggest Mistake Made By Beginning Ad-Copywriters!

Unfortunately, most beginning ad-copywriters take a successful ad ... offering a product similar to their own ... and simply change a few words in the headline, rewrite and rearrange the paragraphs, maybe put in an extra “bonus” of some kind, and try to use it to sell their product.

Think about it! -- That would be like copying “Moby Dick” by changing the whale to a great-white buffalo ... moving the action from the ocean to the great plains ... and making Captain Ahab a Buffalo Hunter with a missing arm. (Don’t laugh. It’s been done ... starring Charles Bronson, if memory serves.) -- No matter how well done, it would still only be an imperfect imitation.

In the business opportunity field, one of the most successful ads of all time was Joe Karbo’s “Lazy Man’s Way To Riches” ad. -- Can you imagine how many times that ad has been adapted, rearranged and enhanced to sell someone else’s opportunity information? -- Some of the adaptations may have had some success but, just a few weeks before he died, Joe Karbo himself lamented to me that none of his copycat-ads; copycatting his own ad, had ever been successful.

Do the same thing I told the young would-be writer to do to learn to write, spend 80% of your time “reading” ads offering products similar to your own. Then ...

Spend 20% of your time writing “sequels” to those ads.

The dictionary says a “sequel” is “A literary work complete in itself but continuing the narrative of an earlier work.”

Where most of the ads that just copycatted Joe Karbo’s “Lazy Man’s Way To Riches” ad were failures, or only had limited success, over the years I have written no less than five “sequel” ads that produced significant revenue for me. (One of them is the ad for my “How To STRIKE IT RICH” report.) -- I never tried to ‘copy’ Joe’s ad, just continue his narrative to a different conclusion ... my product.

Use your swipe-file the same way. -- Read and reread those ads until you have a complete story of the similar products being sold. Set those ads aside and don’t even think about looking at them while you write your own ad. -- Don’t try to ‘copy’ the ads you’ve read ...

Write a “sequel.”

Let your ad-copy continue from where the other ads ended.

If you aren’t happy with your first results, do it all over again ... read the ads again ... set them aside again ... write your “sequel” again. -- Keep looking for more and more ads offering similar products to add to your story line ... immerse yourself in those kinds of ads ... to the point of drowning in ad copy. Then, lay those ads aside and write your “sequel” ads.

As your “sequels” get better and better, your income will get bigger and bigger.

Now, I’m gonna tell you ...

The Greatest Unwritten Secret to Successful Ad-Copywriting!

Although I have read literally thousands of books, booklets, reports and articles about ad-copywriting, I don’t recall ever reading the "secret" I am about to tell you.

When you write your “sequel” ads ...

Use The Words In Your Ad To
Attract The Kind Of Customers You Want To Keep

The best way to explain what I mean is by illustration. -- Here are two different headlines for an
“opportunity” ad ...

Earn $10,000 Per Month

Get $10,000 Per Month

It may appear, at first reading, that both headlines offer the same type of opportunity - but - read them closely.

The first headline begins with the word “Earn.” -- To the reader, that means some “job” or “work” must be performed in order to “earn” the $10,000 promised.

Compare that to the second headline which starts with the word “Get.” -- That leads the reader to
believe that little, if any, “work” is involved in “getting” the $10,000.

Believe it or don’t ... the readers don’t even realize that they are making that subtle distinction. Their reaction to the headline is ingrained in their “subconscious.”

Using the word “Earn” you will attract the kind of customers who don’t have a subconscious aversion to work. -- Using the word “Get” you will attract more people who are looking for something for nothing ... by “getting” their share of the “free lunch” that might just exist.

Which brings me to an observation about ...

Ad-Copywriting Books

Over the past 30 years, I have watched an ever-increasing proliferation of books about
ad-copywriting. Unfortunately, all too many of those books are just compiled from older,
well-written books on the subject - but - with one BIG difference.

The compilers of those books believe that, in order to “sell” something, you have to “trick” the buyer into buying. So, they take legitimate advertising techniques and read into them an implied deception. In effect, the assorted fools who compile books corrupting viable advertising principals lend credence to the journalistic attitude that advertising, by its very nature, is evil.

Although I am adamantly opposed to book burning ... any book about ad-writing that espouses any use of misleading words, deceptive phrasing, fictitious or nebulous testimonials, meaningless hype, or the egregious use of meritless guarantees belongs in your backyard incinerator, not in your business library.

If you have to “trick” your customers into buying from you, neither you nor your product deserve anything other than my contempt.

---

Related Articles
  Article #36 How To Establish A Web Presence
  Article #37 How To Do Simple Search Engine Optimization
  Top 10 Tips for Good PPC Management
  Dont Just Read Write
  Top Article Marketing Ideas That Produce Results! ~Part 2

Article Tags: attendees, editors, english composition classes, general knowledge, grammar, guest panelist, last time, merits, novel, panelists, proposal, publishers, science fiction short story, science fiction writer, sequels, speakers, syntax, time reading, writing for profit, young man



Related Forum Posts
Re: Quote of the Day - "Have the courage to follow your heart an - [quote="GT Bulmer":102twzd2]Hi, Evan: I haven't yet managed to capitalize on the longings of my heart as successfully as Jobs did[/quote:102twzd2] Hi GT - I woke up thinking about this post and I have a challenge for you for May if you're up to it. Here it is: Write the blog post / article you were born to write. Write something that you can pour your heart and all your passion into. Write something where you can change the life of the person reading it. Write something where if you look back in 10 years you'll be really proud of what you created. Can you do that? I'd love to read it (and I bet a lot of others will too!)
Re: Do Articles For Businesswomen need to be written differently - I don't think that as a general rule an article [i:11csddi3]needs[/i:11csddi3] to be written "for women." In my opinion, the two important writing rules are: 1) Write for your targeted audience. If it happens to be predominantly women or predominantly men, then write accordingly (if you have the ability to make that distinction in your writing). 2) Write in your own voice. Be natural. If you are a serious writer, your style will become apparent over time and you will develop a following. It may happen that your style is more attractive to one sex or the other. If so, you may be able to advance your writing career by further cultivating your sensitivity within that style. Bottom line: I do believe that certain styles appeal to women, certain styles appeal to men and if you know the distinction, have the ability to write in a particular style and choose to target one sex or the other, then go for it. But I don't think that it is a necessity in today's market. GT :-]
4 Ideas for Viral Marketing - 1. Purchase the branding rights to a viral E-book. Allow people to give away your free E-book to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the Internet. 2. If you have the ability to set up a forum or other bulletin board, you really have a great tool. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own website. Some people don't have one. Just include your banner ad at the top of the board. 3. Write an E-book. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free E-book if, in exchange, they give away the E-book to their web visitors or E-zine subscribers. 4. Write articles that pertain to your product or service. Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their E-zine, newsletter, magazine or E-books. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.
Re: 4 Ways to Go From Employee to Entrepreneur - The situation that Wezi describes is more the norm than the exception. I have spoken to many "entrepreneurs-to-be" that have a desire to work for themselves but can't overcome the fear of making that critical leap. The truth of the matter is, if fear is preventing you from moving forward with your own business you need to overcome that fear first. To do this, try this exercise: 1. Write down as many detailed reasons why you are DISSATISFIED with remaining in your job until you retire. E.g., it won't let you achieve the lifestyle you desire; you are sick of commuting an hour each day; etc. 2. Write down in as much detail as possible your VISION of what your life will be like once you have your own business and you are fully engaged in it. Enjoy this step. 3. Create a list of the action steps you need to actually complete to get things rolling. What do you need to do first? Second? Third? Create a step by step plan. These three steps all work together to overcome any resistance you may feel towards making a major change in your career. If after these exercises, you are still too afraid, look at what you have written down. Chances are one of the three forces for change (dissatisfaction, vision, or first steps) are not yet strong enough to overcome your fear. Perhaps, once you really thought about it, things aren't really that bad in your current career, etc.... Hope this helps.
Re: How can I promote my site? - Write articles and post them into different article directories like ezine,isnare,articlebase,articlecity,goa articles etc.... are helpful to get the quality back links to your site.. and Social bookmaking is the right place place to get the traffic ....Best of Luck....


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Sales Courage and Resilience

Top 5 Tips for Better Online Ads

Five Daily Marketing Habits to Increase Sales

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.