Ever watch that movie “Bonnie & Clyde”?
Pretty gruesome movie.
Especially the end — when ol’ B&C get sprayed with bullets.
And while it may be gruesome…
… it’s a perfect “metaphor” for copywriting.
Because, you see, many of the best ads are almost ALL bullets.
They “spray” their customers with lots and lots and lots of bullets — bam! bam! bam! — one irresistible benefit and unique “twist” after another…
… until — sweet Moses! — they GOTTA have the “thing” sold.
This is why I consider bullets to be numero uno.
More important than your body copy.
More important than your leads and hooks.
And even more important than the all-sacred headline.
Blasphemy, you say?
Well, think about it:
What is your headline and subheads and leads and guarantee copy and PS’s other than your best bullets?
Maybe not in “bullet” form…
… but the super-dramatic tension and drama and power is there.
And you can easily “shape” them into whatever you want.
So bullets are big time important.
And some extremely expensive products have sold on the power of just one, itty-bitty bullet point.
But here’s the thing:
Most people simply don’t know how to write a decent bullet.
In fact, most bullets you see (especially online) are limp and lifeless.
There’s no “energy” in them.
No drama.
No twisting or turning or tension.
As Ken McCarthy (the best bullet point teacher I’ve ever seen) told me when I interviewed him for my Copywriting Grab Bag book — most bullets are not really bullets.
They’re more life wuffle balls — easily avoided & ignored.
And it’s the few people who know how to write bullets — and really understand how they work — that seem to have the least amount of problem writing ads.
It comes so easily and naturally once you get bullets down.
Bottom line?
Nobody spends enough time on their bullets.
Which means, if YOU spend a lot of time on YOUR bullets, and really work on getting them right, you will give yourself a gigantic advantage over your competition.
Simple?
Oh yeah.
And that’s the beauty of it.
Ben Settle
P.S. One of the unique bonuses I give away when you buy John Angel’s swipe file course from my affiliate link at www.SwipefileSecrets.com
is a cool bullet point “cheat sheet.”
Just take these bullet point “templates”, insert your own claims and ideas, and — BAM! instant bullets ready to fire away.
But you can ONLY get this cheat sheet when you buy John’s swipe file course from my affiliate link at:
And then email me your receipt at: ben [at] bensettle.com.
(Also, when you go to the order page, make sure you see my affiliate name “vantagenet” at the bottom. Otherwise you won’t get credit for buying it and I can’t send you the bullet point cheat sheet.)
P.P.S. And speaking of bullet points…
I’ve been kicking around doing a tele-seminar about bullets.
Is that something you’d be interested in?
If there’s enough interest, I’ll do one in early ‘09.
Let me know, k?
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Great post on Bullets. I am very interested in your teleseminar about bullets. I have listened to many of your interviews and know that in the teleseminar on bullets you will go out of your way to let everyone know how to write powerful, emotionally charged bullets.
Thank you Bob, I really appreciate the feedback, my friend
Ben
It would be “fascinating” to experience your lessons on bullet points. Please know that ALL of your advice and tips are golden to your readers.
Hey Tom, thank you, and glad ya like the tips!
Ben
Wuttup Ben,
I know it’s old hat the idea of swiping bullets from the covers of cosmo but I don’t think people take it seriously. They should.
Eben Pagan and Dean Jackson talked about this during the Get Altitude seminar. They say they go to the bookstore during a month they’ll grab the top 10 magazines off the shelf and adapt every bullet on the cover for their business.
Even if you didn’t use what you wrote you’d be as Ben would say “Spraying” your brain with the structure of super slick bullets. Then when you go to write you wouldn’t be trying to access a blank slate.
My take on this is that you can go deeper than the cover. The table of contents of these magazines are equivalent to the opening paragraph of your salesletter. They’re meant to compel you quickly that this mag is for you.
Here’s some table of content gems I pulled from this month’s Cosmo:
38 What His Shower Style Reveals
Insight accompanied by steamy pictures of half-naked guys
118 When Stress Keeps You Up at Night
How to shut off your brain
56 Cashmere for Under $100
We kid you not. And it’s supercute stuff.
65 How to Do a Facial at Home
As good as a pro job but a helluva lot cheaper
90 Are You Crazy Enough In Bed?
The verdict on whips, handcuffs, and other kinky-lite stuff
Did any of these intrigue you?
I’m a guy and a super sales detective so in the interest of getting inside of my prospects mind I’ve gotta do some research.
Talk later Ben,
Note Taking Nerd #2
http://www.mynotetakingnerd.wordpress.com
Thanks Note, very cool advice.
Since I live out in the middle of the boonies, and even the local bookstore doesn’t have a magazine rack… I “cheat” and do exactly what you suggested, but at amazon.com (for book titles, chapters, etc) and magazines.com
Ben
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