I was reading Brian Clark’s latest blog post today at www.CopyBlogger.com about bullet points (one of the BEST bullet point tutorials ever, IMHO), started to draft a comment, and, before I realized it, my comment was a full fledged lesson in itself!
So instead of posting it as a comment on Brian’s blog, I decided to post it here.
But before reading my “add on” lesson, I HIGHLY encourage you to read (even print out) Brian’s post at www.CopyBlogger.com/bullet-points-for-bloggers.
Ready?
OK, here we go…
1. Give-Away Bullets.
These are sort of like the lady who hands out cheese cubes at the grocery store. She gives people a little “taste” of food that keeps them alert and shopping — and many times they end up with the thing they tasted in the shopping card.
You can do the same thing with your bullets.
Every now and then, just flat out give away one of your secrets.
For example:
- How to use simple cartoons to explode your sales…no matter what you sell or who you sell to. (For example, you’d be amazed at how easily a picture of a phone operator with her headset on can jack up your response!)
Another play on this is to give half (or even most) of the secret away… and then add a little “twist.”
Like this…
- Two proven “cures” for writers block. (The first one is simply doing a lot of research. The second one is much easier… and can be found at your corner grocery store.)
2. Expansion Bullets.
I LOVE using these in ads that have lots of bullets.
Not only do they break up the “sameness” of the page (when you have several pages of bullets) — but they also add more tease, demonstration and curiosity.
Plus, they give a nice little “loop” effect to your ad that keeps sucking the reader back in.
Here’s an example:
- How to stop a life-threatening disease in your dog… before it surfaces.
Speaking of stopping diseases… chapter 32 of “Why You Should Never Give Your Dog A Bone” will show you…
Vet Bills And Medications!
This is no joke.
In fact, if you want to kiss those sky-high vet bills and expensive pet medications goodbye forever… then turn immediately to page 92 and discover:
Why some colleges will perform veterinary services for your dog (as education for their veterinarian students) at a reduced cost (and sometimes free!)… A special website where you can buy dog medications for as much as 50% off… A secret way to get high-quality veterinary services 100% FREE for the rest of your dog’s life… How to save a HUGE amount of money on your vet bills by asking your vet one (almost laughably simple) question… And more.
There are actually 12 money-saving secrets in this chapter.
And each one can save you a pile of money the next time your dog gets sick, hurt or just needs a routine checkup.
Here are a few more of the little-known secrets revealed in this hot new book for dog owners:
And then it just goes back to hitting them with more bullets.
3. “Can’t Be Done” Bullets.
This is my all time favorite bullet point technique.
I first heard Eugene Schwartz talk about this in a video speech he gave, and have used them with reckless abandon ever since. (In fact, I like it so much I dedicated an entire chapter to this in my book “The Copywriting Grab Bag.”)
Basically, this is where you say something that is “almost” unbelievable.
Something 100% true, but that is so whacky and “out there” it makes you say,
“How in the heck can you do that???”
Here are some examples:
- How to write a brand new press release in 10 seconds or less! (This bizarre technique works even if you can barely string two sentences together now).
- How turning off your cell phone in the summer time can help prevent your dog from getting heat exhaustion.
- How to use an ordinary mirror to get millions of dollars of financing for almost any business you want to buy!
- How to ward off a mass attack of ferocious gang-bangers… with an ordinary fountain pen.
And so on, and so forth.
Anyway, those are three more techniques to add to Brian Clark’s excellent list (which, again, you can get at www.CopyBlogger.com/bullet-points-for-bloggers).
I hope you enjoy (and profit!) from them.
