Highlights

  • the level of advertising, Pareto’s Law also holds true. About 80% of the emotional impact of any piece of advertising copy will be determined by the first 20% of the copy. (Location 110)
  • With direct response advertising, you need to provoke action. And to do that, you must accomplish two important objectives: 1. You must move the prospect emotionally. 2. You must persuade him intellectually. (Location 147)
  • This seems to be the way the brain works: when it comes to making most decisions, we begin by generating an emotional preference and only then subject that preference to logical debate. (Location 163)
  • Another way of saying that is that first we find ourselves wanting to buy a product and then begin the rationalization process of deciding if we should. (Location 165)
  • The strategy you’re about to learn will easily put an extra million dollars in your pocket over the lifespan of your career. More likely, if you are an active, full-time copywriter, the value will be many times that. (Location 203)

1  The Rule of One — One Big Idea

  • Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins — A philosophy that advertising’s purpose is to sell, not entertain or win creative awards — and how to apply this philosophy to create winning ads. (Location 243)
  • The concept was that every great promotion has, at its core, a single, powerful idea. (Location 254)
  • Here are Ogilvy’s exact words on the crucial importance of the Big Idea: “Big Ideas. Unless your advertising is built on a Big Idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. It takes a Big Idea to jolt the consumer out of his indifference — to make him notice your advertising, remember it, and take action. (Location 254)
  • Here is an example of the Rule of One as applied to a short advertorial, taken from an ETR message: Subject Line: The Easiest Product to Sell Online Dear Early to Riser, Would you be interested in investing $175 to make $20,727? That’s exactly what Bob Bly just accomplished! See how he did it below … and how easily you could do the same. MaryEllen Tribby ETR Publisher Dear Friend, There’s no product easier to create or sell online … … than a simple, straightforward instructional or how-to e-book. Why are e-books the perfect information product to sell on the Internet? • 100% profit margin. • No printing costs. • No inventory to store. • Quick and easy to update. • No shipping costs or delays. • Higher perceived value than regular books. • Quick, simple, and inexpensive to produce. My very first e-book has generated $20,727 in sales (so far). My total investment in producing it: just $175. Now, I want to show you how to make huge profits creating and selling simple e-books — in my new e-book “Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit.” Normally my e-books sell for anywhere from $29 to $79, and later (Location 313)
  • this year, “Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit” will sell for $59. However, to make it affordable for you to get started in e-book publishing, I’m letting you have “Writing E-Books for Fun & Profit” for only $19 today — a savings of $40 off the cover price! For more information … or to order on a risk-free 90-day trial basis … just click here now. Sincerely, Bob Bly P.S. But, I urge you to hurry. This special $40 discount is for a limited time only. And once it expires, it may never be repeated again. (Location 335)
  • The Rule of One is not only one big, central idea. It’s a fully engaging piece of copy with five necessary elements. Using Bob’s example: • One good idea: “There’s no product easier to create or sell online than a simple, straightforward instructional or how-to e-book.” • One core emotion: “It is simple! I bet I can do it!” • One captivating story: Told brilliantly in 17 words: “Would you be interested in investing $175 to make $20,727? That’s exactly what Bob Bly just accomplished!” • One single, desirable benefit: “Now, I want to show you how to make huge profits creating and selling simple e-books … ” • One inevitable response: The only way to get this book for $19 is to “click here now.” (Location 349)
  • The challenge is to find one good idea that the reader can grasp immediately, Porter said. And then, stick to it. (Location 385)
  • So, the idea has to be strong. Yet, it also has to be easy to understand. And easy to believe. That last part — being easy to believe — is key. (Location 394)
  • reiterate the most important points: • Lead your advertisement with one, and only one, powerful idea • Make sure that the idea creates an emotion, a single emotion, which will compel the reader to respond • Support that idea with one engaging story or compelling fact • Direct the reader to one, and only one, action What is a great advertising idea? That could be the subject of another book. But, in short, a great idea is: • Big (enough to stir interest) • Easy to understand • Immediately convincing • Clearly useful (to the reader) (Location 405)

2  The Simple Question That Can Double Your Success

  • But, the real question too many marketers never stop to ask is this one: “What does your customer already know?” (Location 432)
  • What does he know, for instance, about who you are? What does he know about your product and the research behind it? What does he know about himself, his own problems, and the other possible solutions available? (Location 433)
    • Let’s just start by taking a look at how Gene himself put it: “If [your prospect] is aware of your product and realizes it can satisfy his desire, your headline starts with your product. If he is not aware of your product, but only of the desire itself, your headline starts with the desire. If he is not yet aware of what he really seeks, but is concerned only with the general problem, your headline starts with that problem and crystallizes it into a specific need.” (Location 445)
    1. The Most Aware Your prospect knows your product, and only needs to know “the deal.” (Location 474)
    1. Product-Aware Your prospect knows what you sell, but isn’t sure it’s right for him. (Location 513)
  • They want and need to know you sell not only what they need, but that they can trust your claims about what your product or service can do. (Location 522)
    1. Solution-Aware Your prospect knows the result he wants, but not that your product provides it. (Location 533)
    1. Problem-Aware Your prospect senses he has a problem, but doesn’t know there’s a solution. (Location 548)
  • The key with this customer is to show you “feel their pain.” Not just that you know they have a problem, but that you know the frustration, desperation, or even fear and anger it causes. We call this the “point of maximum anxiety.” Once you identify it, you’ll find an open avenue for making an emotional connection. (Location 554)
  • This kind of copy says loud and clear “I sympathize,” before it even tries to begin to name benefits or mention products. Many classic ads fall into this category. (Location 556)
    1. Completely Unaware No knowledge of anything except, perhaps, his own identity or opinion. (Location 562)

3  Direct or Indirect?

  • So, instead of focusing on the book or the secrets, he threw the spotlight on the reader. Not just his desire to get rich, which is common, but with the word “courage,” some deeper unspoken feelings the reader might harbor about making money. (Location 643)
  • By far the easiest way to figure out if you should come at a sales lead idea head on or sidle up to it indirectly, is to figure out where your prospect falls on this scale of awareness. The more aware he is, usually the more direct sales lead works best. The less aware, the more indirect you’re going to want to go. It’s not a perfect indicator, but it’s pretty close. (Location 680)
  • For instance, you’ll hear that directly stating the benefit or getting right to your offer in the lead works best when … • You’re selling a product that’s easy to understand. • You can make a promise that’s very large and easily accepted. • You’ve got an exceptionally good deal or guarantee to offer. • Your customer knows and trusts you and deals with you often. • You’ve made a product improvement your market was already waiting for. Each is a case when awareness and acceptance levels are already high. So, buyers are more receptive to the sale right away. (Location 688)
  • The less your customer knows about you, what you’re selling, or his own needs, the less effective a direct lead is likely to be. (Location 710)
  • Direct leads deliver an idea to a customer that he’s ready to accept. Indirect leads, on the other hand, give the customer extra emotional momentum and reaffirming proof to help him finish forming the conclusions he’s only just started to make. Conclusions that will, hopefully, energize his imagination enough that he’ll soon be ready to buy. (Location 739)
  • Again, as powerful as they can be, you do have risks to consider when testing indirect leads. For instance … • You might accidentally use an indirect lead when you don’t need to. (Location 750)
  • You might pick a lead that’s too indirect to connect back to your product. • You risk being too subtle by taking your time to get to the product. • You risk boring your customer by taking too long to get to the product. • You risk getting distracted by writing something “interesting” but not relevant. (Location 752)
  • When trying to decide whether you should try the “direct” or “indirect” approach, you should start by figuring out where your target reader falls on the Awareness Scale. More aware and already engaged customers tend to respond better to direct leads. Less aware or skeptical customers tend to respond better to indirect leads. (Location 758)

Six Types of Direct and Indirect Leads

  • The Offer Lead: This is a direct appeal that goes straight to deal. (Location 768)
  • The Promise Lead: This might be the most common type of lead that you’ll see. It’s only slightly less direct than the Offer Lead, in that the product usually isn’t mentioned as early. But, it still opens with your product’s best and biggest claim. (Location 771)
  • The Problem-Solution Lead: This is the classic “hot button” approach, where you delay any talk of the product at first and instead lead off by identifying your prospect’s biggest, most emotionally-charged, and relevant issue. (Location 775)
  • The Big Secret Lead: The “tease” of hard-to-come-by knowledge, formula, or ‘system’ leads the promo. (Location 777)
  • The Proclamation Lead: Decidedly indirect, a Proclamation Lead seeks to jar the “unaware” reader out of his seat. Maybe with a factoid that’s just incredible, maybe with a shocking future forecast or prediction, (Location 780)
  • The Story Lead: This may be not only the most indirect way to open a sales letter, but also one of the most consistently powerful. (Location 784)
  • Everyone loves a story. What’s more, stories can engage readers who don’t know you or the product well or who might flinch at a more direct, unbelievable claim. (Location 785)
  • True to what you read in Chapter 1 about the Rule of One, all of these lead types still work best when focused on one unifying Big Idea. (Location 787)

4  The Easiest Type of Sales Lead You’ll Ever Write — Or Your Money Back

  • Guaranteed To Improve Your Child’s School Marks — or you pay nothing! (Location 828)
  • “Don’t Pay One Penny Till This Course Turns You Into A Human Computer!” (Location 842)
  • “Don’t Pay One Penny Till This Course Turns Your Mind Into A Mental Magnet” (Location 844)
  • In each case, the offer detail isn’t price but guarantee. (Location 846)
  • “Free for a month … a full head of hair in only 32 seconds a day” “Pick the brains of a millionaire for $10” “Free to brides — two dollars to others” “I guarantee (with my own money) that you will shoot your lowest score ever on your next round of golf” (Location 851)
  • But in each example, simply by hinting at the guarantee, these copywriters elevated the impact beyond a simple price-driven “good deal.” They’ve opened the door to make a claim, and in most of these cases, an irresistible one. (Location 856)
  • most successful Offer Leads still share a similar formula. It goes something like this … 1. Immediately focus on the most emotionally-compelling detail of your offer 2. Underscore the most valuable benefit of that deal 3. Elaborate on that same deal-benefit in the lead that follows 4. At some point, include a compelling “reason why” you’re offering that deal (Location 861)
  • in each case, you must offer your prospect something to answer the question that’s inevitable, in response to an offer that sounds too good to be true: “Okay, (Location 872)
  • A good “reason why” can help diffuse that last bit of resistance. (Location 874)
  • Many luxury brands charge more simply because some prospects being able to afford the higher price is part of the appeal. (Location 888)

When Should You Use an Offer Lead?

  • Since the Offer Lead is the most direct lead type you’ll come across, you will mostly want to use it for products that are easy to explain and for prospects who already know something about you, (Location 916)

What to Test in Offer Leads

  • Dear Sir, This letter is going to be short and to the point. We don’t want to make a big thing of it. Not yet anyway. We’d like to invite you to take advantage of what we call our “no-strings” membership. This offer extends our typically generous introduction to you: choose any 4 books for $1 each. But it omits the usual obligation to buy four more books. You don’t even have to buy one more book. In other words, you can join Book-of-the-Month Club, take your welcoming package of 4 books (saving up to $100 or more), and never buy another thing from us. It’s an experiment for us. Will this attract the kind of reader (Location 964)
  • who will appreciate our other Club benefits as well as the introductory offer? It’s an experiment for you. A way to try us without tying yourself down to a commitment. So enjoy all the Club benefits you wish. Just as if you were a committed member. We’ve put it all in writing. Take any books for $1 each, plus shipping and handling, with no obligation to buy anything else. The rest is up to you. I can’t imagine a bigger bargain for the reader. Can you? Sincerely, (Location 973)
  • Know your goal. Offer Leads that give away irresistible “FREE” gifts will get subscribers who sign up just for the gift. That might be fine for a low-priced product, where they still might stick around for more. But, it might not be so fine for a high-priced product, where the incentive to cancel and keep the premium is greater. If you need cash now, an easy-payment offer might not be something you’ll want to test. But, if you want lots of new orders, this might be just the ticket. What you want out of your target audience can change what deal detail you feature up front in your Offer Lead. (Location 995)
  • try doing the math for your reader. If your Offer Lead compares your product cost to someone else’s, show the savings in terms of a dollar amount. Often, that math is aimed at showing you’re about to give more to the reader than you’ll expect to get in exchange. (Location 1008)

5  Double Your Sales With This Next Kind of Lead