Ben Settle

A while back a friend of mine was having a problem selling a high quality juicer in the housewares store she works at.

Since my friend uses the juicer herself, she had no problem explaining its advantages, performances and benefits.

But one customer demanded to hear the juicer before buying it. And the second she turned it on the customer was immediately put off by its obnoxious, super loud noise.

He didn’t care that it squeezes out every last drop of juice. That the motor has a lifetime warranty. Or that it’s light weight, easy to clean and small enough to fit unnoticed in the corner of almost any kitchen.

As soon as he heard its ear-splitting sound he moved on.

“Any ideas on what I can do about that?” my friend asked. “It’s a great juicer, but it really is loud.”

I suggested two things.

1.) Admit the noise up front.

I mean, how long can she keep it a secret?

If nothing else, her customers will discover the juicer’s loud noise when they get home and end up returning it.

2.) Try to “spin” that noise into a reason to buy.

“Why is the juicer so loud?” I asked.

“Because the motor has to spin at super fast speeds to extract the maximum amount of juice and separate it from the pulp. So it makes a loud noise.” She replied.

“There you go,” I said. “Just say that for now on.”

Since then, she hasn’t had a problem with that objection.

Now, why am I telling you this story?

Because this concept of spinning flaws into benefits is just as relevant to copywriting as it is in face-to-face selling.

In fact, there’s a great story about this on page 154 of Eugene Schwartz’s classic copywriting book “Breakthrough Advertising”

Back in the 1930’s Lifebuoy sold a soap that was perfect in every way… except for its nasty medicine-like smell.

Their solution?

Their ads said body odor could not be eliminated with “ordinary” soap, and what made Lifebuoy’s soap so effective at eradicating “B.O.” was the strong medicinal-smelling ingredient built into every cake.

In other words, they spun that horrible smell into a compelling reason to buy.

And nabbed millions of sales as a result.

You can do the same thing.

If there really is an annoying flaw in your product — or even a small drawback — don’t hide it.

Instead, spend some serious time thinking about how you can spin it into a real and believable reason to buy.

Not only will you add a thick layer of credibility to your sales pitch (since you’re being honest), but if you do it right, you’ll make your product even more irresistible.

If you want to dramatically improve your copywriting skills… and if you want to do it as quickly as possible… then here’s all you have to do.

For now on, whether you’re writing an email to a friend, a letter to your grandmother, or a memo to a co-worker… start writing in “copy.”

In other words, forget about formal structure, forget about proper grammar, and forget about trying to sound “professional.”

Instead, treat everything you write like it’s sales copy.

You know what that means, right?

Short, choppy sentences. One or two word paragraphs helping break up the page. Easy-to-digest language that sounds like you’re talking and not writing. And words that induce emotion, image and belief — instead of just cold, hard logic.

Trust me.

Doing this will explode the speed at which you are able to write profitable copy faster than you ever dreamed possible.

How do I know?

Because I’ve done this myself.

And almost like magic — my response went up and more money went into my bank account.

And you know what?

I can almost guarantee you can do the same thing.

Anyone can.

You just have to learn the basics of writing copy and then apply it to everything in your life whenever possible.

But here’s the thing.

While writing everything in “copy” will almost certainly make you a better copywriter… it will murder your other writing skills.

I kid you not.

Back in high school and college I used to get straight A’s in English class. I even used to help people write their term papers and reports when they got stuck. I had a natural “flair” for writing that astounded my teachers and made breezing through my English classes a piece of cake.

Now?

Well, now I’m not so good at “writing” anymore.

I’d even go so far as to say I suck at “writing” in any kind of formal style. My old English teachers would cringe if they read my ads, articles and other writings.

In fact, I tried to submit an article to a real newspaper a few weeks ago and it totally flopped.

Even though the idea behind the article was something any paper would want to publish… and even though I had help from a friend with dozens of published books and articles (and truly understands what good writing is) I couldn’t get it right. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran out of ink in his red pen while marking it up!

So just know, if you choose to learn to write copy this way, you will not be impressing any of your colleagues or people who really are good “writers.”

Frankly, many of them will laugh and sneer at you, and try to “correct” you at every opportunity.

But that’s okay.

Because your copy will improve by 100% (at least) and the ads you write will be that much more powerful, and make you that much more money.

A couple weeks ago while lurking in an Internet marketing forum, I saw an ad selling a book on natural bodybuilding tactics used over 100 years ago, that was posted online for people to read and critique.

It was actually a pretty good ad (especially for someone just learning how to write copy). But since English is the author’s second language, he had trouble making his ad flow and sound unbroken.

Anyway, strange as it sounds, that’s where the real strength of his ad was.

In fact, I suggested he trumpet the fact English is his second language right up front, before saying anything else.

Why?

Because not only would it make his ad stick out from all the slick ads written by copywriters and marketers who have more experience than him — but it would actually help his response because he would sound like a regular person, and not a “copywriter.”

And so, in my response to him, I copied and pasted the opening paragraph of an ad similar to his (selling a body building product) that said:

“My name is Leo Costa. I’m a professional weight lifting trainer, strength developer and nationally known educator. I’m not a professional ad writer. But what I have to share with you is so extraordinary and so powerful, I decided to write you myself. So bear with me a little.”

And I suggested he simply modify the details and “essence” of his opening paragraph to match that one.

Not only would it make him (and his ad) sound more believable and personable…but it would also create an air of mystery (and credibility) to the product.

And you know what?

If you’re just starting out… or if you’re simply writing to a hyper-skeptical market (who are always on the lookout for hype and “BS”)… you should consider doing the same thing.

Why?

Because many times when you go out of your way to say you’re not an “advertising guy” or “copywriter” — even going so far as to include a few grammatical blunders and well-placed typos — you actually make yourself (and your claims) more believable and “real.”

Which makes it much easier for your readers to bond with you, trust you, and ultimately, buy from you.

If you’d like to persuade thousands of people in your community to vote a certain way, then doing so is easier than you might think.

Here’s why:

One of the fastest and easiest ways to influence mass numbers of people in your community is with a simple “letter to the editor” in your local newspapers.

People read these letters every single day of the week, in big cities and small towns alike.

And a well crafted letter to the editor often influences the way people in your city, county and state vote on an issue.

And guess what?

If you have at least the “basics” of copywriting down, you can write a short letter to the editor of your local newspaper, and potentially persuade thousands of people to your side of a political issue.

In fact, all you really have to do is tell a simple story.

A brief, one or two paragraph story can pry open even the most tightly-closed mind — and literally change the entire way a person thinks about an issue.

A perfect example of this is a story from radio talk show host Michael Savage’s book “The Enemy Within” about his first job fresh out of college as a social worker.

He was dead broke, living in a tiny apartment, and was sleeping on a mattress on the floor with two orange crates as lamp stands and no other furniture.

And yet, the welfare clients he was helping got free beds, free coffee tables, free sofas, etc — all the things most people have to work their fingers to the bone for — without working, and on the taxpayer’s dime.

This short, simple story perfectly illustrated his point about why the system is so flawed.

No complicated statistics or expensive government studies were needed to make his point.

That’s the power of stories.

They open closed minds.

Let you “say” more with fewer words.

And give people the chance to convince themselves your point is valid — without lecturing, arguing or confrontation.

And if you use this “power” correctly… you’ll give “your side” in a political debate an enormous advantage when election time rolls around.

For example…

Do you see rampant corruption, perversion and bureaucratic unaccountability rotting your community’s schools?

Want to stop your local officials from trying to seize your property by abusing eminent domain laws?

Are you angry with the way your state politicians are voting and spending your tax money?

Then simply grab a pen and paper, hammer out a simple story that illustrates your point, and submit it to the letters to the editor section of your newspaper.

But don’t stop there.

Send it to everyone and anyone who will listen.

Mail it to your mayor, city council, state congressman and senator.

Email it to your neighbors, friends and family.

Post it on community bulletin boards, blogs and Internet forums.

Look, it may not work all the time.

It may not even work some of the time.

But when it does work, you can influence the hearts and minds of thousands of people.

If you want an almost foolproof way to generate profitable headline ideas for your copywriting promotions quickly and easily, without struggle or pain… then here’s a way you may not be aware of.

Not long ago I was working on a very important copywriting promotion under an almost impossible deadline.

And at the “11th hour” before the deadline, the entire ad was finished — except the headline.

For whatever reason, coming up with a good headline was not happening for me.

It was a nightmare.

I had two hours to go and the hundreds of headlines I had written were all but useless.

What to do?

Well, all I could think of was to “remove” myself from the situation and find something unrelated to the task at hand. Doing so had worked wonders for me before when I couldn’t figure out the answer to a problem, just never under a deadline like this one.

Not sure what to do, I logged online and started surfing around.

One of the first sites I went to was a discussion forum for people who own dogs (my mom’s dog was sick at the time and I was looking for answers).

And I noticed there were certain posts in that forum with an incredible amount of views and replies compared to the majority of posts.

And then it hit me.

All these people reading and responding to these particular forum posts were obviously caught up by the words and ideas of the post titles.

If you’ve ever read an online discussion forum you know what I’m talking about.

You can see a list of all the posted topics (or titles) and their respective number of replies and views. And some of these titles are so irresistible they’re literally impossible not to read or reply to.

Anyway, with no time to lose, I immediately went to some forums related to the product I was selling, hoping maybe I could get some ideas for my headline by reading the most-viewed posts.

It was a miracle.

The first forum I went to had four or five posts with over a thousand views. The other ones I visited had even more.

And I copied each and every one of the “most-viewed” forum posts, and played around with the different combination of words, ideas, themes and phrases they contained.

Half an hour later I had the headline for my ad, and made the deadline.

Anyway, online discussion forums are gold mines of information when you want to know what your market is talking and thinking about.

They reveal the worries, interests and desires of people in a (mostly) relaxed, informal atmosphere. It’s the next best thing to going to a convention of your prospects and eavesdropping on their conversations.

And if you simply pay attention to the things people are talking about in forums related to what you’re selling, you won’t be able to help but get great ideas for your headlines and ads.

If you would like to know a very simple and easy way to make all of your ads pull more response, then this article will show you how.

One of the single best pieces of copywriting secrets I ever heard was how you can dramatically increase the momentum and urgency of your offers by making your paragraphs and sentences especially choppy and short at the close.

Let me give you a quick example.

Below are two closes to the same ad.

The first close is the way the majority of ads close — long-winded and hard to read. The second close is the same ad, but with this “choppy” tactic applied.

Here goes:

Close Number One:

However, if you send for your system today you won’t pay the $599 I originally intended to sell this system for. Nor will you pay $499, $399 or even $299. If I hear from you right now you can have it for just $199. And you won’t pay a dime of that if you don’t think it’s everything I say in this letter and more.

But you must hurry. There’s nothing else like this on the market today. And when the small number of these systems I have in stock are gone, the price is going up by at least an extra two or three hundred dollars. Maybe more. So don’t put this off or file it away to think over. There’s nothing to think about anyway, since I’ll buy it back from you if you decide you don’t want it. Here’s how to order:

Close Number Two:

However, if you send for your system today you won’t pay the $599 I originally intended to sell this system for. Nor will you pay $499, $399 or even $299.

If I hear from you right now you can have it for just $199.

And you won’t pay a dime of that if you don’t think it’s everything I say in this letter and more.

But you must hurry.

There’s nothing else like this on the market today. And when the small number of these systems I have in stock are gone, the price is going up by at least an extra two or three hundred dollars.

Maybe more.

So don’t put this off or file it away to think over. There’s nothing to think about anyway, since I’ll buy it back from you if you decide you don’t want it.

Here’s how to order:

See the difference?

The second close by far has the best chance of not only being read (since it’s less intimidating to read), but also acted on — since it’s quicker, choppier and faster to read.

Just don’t let the simplicity of this copywriting tactic fool you.

It’s extremely powerful and is even being successfully used by restaurants — as they play faster music to get customers to eat and leave faster to make room for more paying customers.

And you can easily do the same thing with your own ads.

Simply break any large blocks of text in your closing copy into smaller, “bite-sized” chunks.

It only takes about two minutes and you could see a dramatic difference in response.

If you are a freelance copywriter who gets paid on commission — instead of or in addition to taking an up-front fee — then please read the following very carefully.

Doing so can save you a ton of time… and maybe even make you a bundle of money.

Back when I was just starting out as a copywriter, to get some “real world” experience, I did copywriting jobs on just pure commission.

The idea was to get some good experience and make some decent money… all while removing the risk from the client.

And it worked great… on paper.

Unfortunately, in reality, it didn’t work well at all (as far as making a lot of money).

Why?

Because while the ads I wrote were pretty good, and did well when they ran, many of my clients were not motivated to do what was necessary to monetize the copy to the fullest extent.

Why weren’t they motivated?

I don’t know.

But the fact they didn’t pay me any money up front probably had something to do with it. After all, people rarely give value to things they get free.

Now, “flash forward” a couple years when I ran into a marketer who explained how to make absolutely sure you never waste time on a “do nothing” client:

“Don’t work with anyone who is not as excited about the project making money as you are.”

Boom.

That one sentence hit me like a ton of bricks — and all that flakey client behavior actually made sense.

You see, while it’s true a lot of people want good copy, few of them are willing to exploit that copy and nab every dollar they can from it. Even if it will make them a lot of money, and even if they think your copy is the next best thing since sliced bread.

I know that sounds strange but it’s true.

Some people are just like that.

Now, if you’re writing on a straight fee — and no commission — then this is no big deal. I mean, if you already got paid, who cares?

But if you are ever in a position where you’re offered a chance to write an ad where you get paid based on sales — then I highly suggest not working with that client unless they can prove they’re as motivated to make money as you are.

Otherwise, just walk away from it.

Seriously.

Because all you’re going to do is bust your chops on an ad that will never be exploited properly…or may not even run at all.

And unless you take an upfront fee, that means you’re out all that time, energy and effort.

If you’d like to know a secret way of making your copywriting more enjoyable, your business more profitable and your promotions more sustainable, then get a load of this:

Recently, I heard an interview of a guy who writes and self publishes “special effects” cookbooks and other information products.

And during this interview he spilled his guts about the way he markets, how he writes ads, and what his influences are.

But what really stuck out was how he uses his imagination when creating sales promotions.

You see, the more outrageous his headlines and ideas… the more sales he makes from his newspaper ads and press releases.

For example, one of his headlines (for a report on how to get cheap dental care) is: “Dentists Scream Bloody Murder!”

Another headline he uses in his press releases (for his cookbooks) is: “Kids Eat Their Own Faces, Mothers Laugh Their Heads Off!”

Anyway, after reading several of his headlines and ideas it was obvious why his ads and press releases are so successful:

1.) He pushes things as far as he can in terms of being outrageous and getting attention.

2.) He has a tremendous amount of fun doing it.

Actually, that second one is a guess on my part, I don’t really know the guy.

But come on.

How can you not have fun writing headlines like that?

I bet when he writes his headlines he holds nothing back. Just lets his mind create whatever it wants without restraint or hesitation.

Do you do that when you write your ads?

Do you let your mind go wild and free?

Do you write down all the goofy, silly, controversial and downright ridiculous ideas that come to you?

If you don’t do this and if you instead snuff out your more “over the top” thoughts and ideas before getting them down, then not only are you hurting your bottom line, but you’re missing one of the biggest joys of marketing and copywriting.

Why?

Because letting your mind go crazy and come up with ideas, themes, offers and snatches of copy is outright fun.

And not only is it fun, but writer’s block vanishes, the time flies by and, before you know it, you’ve logged in three or four hours of work without even so much as looking at the clock.

The key is to be totally uninhibited.

Stephen King (in his book, “On Writing”) calls this mindset “writing with the door closed.”

Because it’s just you and your copy alone in the locked room of your imagination. Nobody can overhear your internal conversations. Nobody can see your work. You can be outrageous, offensive, silly or “politically incorrect” and nobody will give you a hard time.

And if you just go with whatever your subconscious gives you — expand upon it, add to it, and enlarge it — you’ll be amazed at what pops out on the other end.

Try it yourself and see.

Next time you sit down to write an ad (or any kind of writing) don’t hold back on the first draft.

Let anything and everything pour onto the page.

Don’t worry about what anyone else will say, feel or think about you.

Nobody is going to see it.

In the end, not only will you make your copy better, but the actual writing part will be a whole lot more fun.

A couple weeks ago I got together with some local business owners to discuss the many “ins and outs” of marketing.

Eventually, they started asking me about copywriting, and wanted to know what the biggest “secret” of copywriting was.

“It all comes down to your keyboard,” I said. “There’s a special key on your keyboard that, if you learn to use it, will let you create great copy almost on demand. Can you guess what it is?” I asked.

One of them said it was the exclamation mark.

Another said it was the period.

A couple people said the letter “f” (presumably for the word “free”).

A few others said it was the space bar or “return” key.

“You’re all wrong.” I said. “The most important key on your keyboard for copywriting is the ‘delete’ key.”

It’s true.

I bet more million dollar ads are “written” with the plain old delete key than any combination of letters or words combined.

In fact, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got when I was starting out was, “uh, Ben, this is great copy — but it’s way too ‘wordy.'”

And he was right.

It was too wordy. And we cut that 30-page monstrosity down to less than 20 pages…simply by deleting all the “fat” that really didn’t belong.

Since then, I’ve been relentless with the delete key.

You should, too.

Even if it means cutting out your favorite parts and even if it kind of hurts a little to do so.

This has always been one of the great “secrets” of copywriting.

And yet, it’s really no secret at all.

It’s just common sense.

If you cut all the “fat” from your ads they’ll read a thousand times faster, smoother and easier — and skyrocket your response every single time.

So suck out those excess words and adjectives.

Cut those long-winded sentences in half.

Condense those 15 sentence paragraphs into one or two sentences that make the point.

In other words…

Delete, delete, delete — until you’re left with only the words and ideas you need to make the sale. With no meaningless tangents, irrelevant stories or bloated sentences in sight.

And then… when you’re absolutely certain you got it “right”… put it away for a week or two (or longer, if you can).

Then come back and cut it down even more.

After getting away from it, I guarantee you’ll see even more fat to cut out.

Anyway, to make sure you never forget this important lesson, always remember this:

When in doubt… delete it out.