The Truth About Copywriting

[maximus242]

Most people are not going to like this. Some of them will probably get downright pissed off. But I wish someone had said this when I was starting out.

The truth is most people have no idea what their doing. The truth is, even the best copywriters in the world have a hard time coming up with any concrete rules.

As Clayton Makepeace said "There are no rules in copywriting"

And its true. Theres no rules. People say do this, do that, but the truth is everyone is following everyone else in a line.

Like a bunch of lambs following the Sheppard. Guy says "This is the way it is" and everyone else says it is too. But you know what? Bencivenga himself said some of his best controls came from going against the rules.

Listen, the real, no B.S. truth is that the only way you are going to get good in copywriting is by understanding human psychology. Thats all copywriting has ever been, one great big psychological push towards a sale.

Its not about this or that, or whatever other rules you hear, its about people. Your selling to living, breathing human beings -- and far too many people forget that.

HUMANIZE your selling efforts. Stop trying to sell to a nameless face and start selling to people. So much of the hype and the b*ll**** in copywriting comes because the copywriter loses touch with his prospect.

He would never say half the things he puts in print to his prospects face.

The truth is for every rule you have ever heard, there is someone who has broken that rule and still pulled in a strong conversion rate. Except perhaps having a call to action, because then you dont know.

Listen the rules are really just guidelines. Dont get so caught up with who said this or who said that. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is your prospect.

THATS who should be teaching you how to write copy. The people you are trying to sell to. There is no higher authority on the earth as to what constitutes good copy than your prospect. They can teach you more than any copywriter ever could.

Why? Because they are the ones your selling to! They can tell you what is BS and what is not, what they want from you and what they dont, your greatest learning tool is in fact, free!

The rules exist because they make it easier to write copy. But its not the only way to write copy. Nor does it always produce the highest response rate.

Mark Joyner is perhaps one of the most no BS people I have ever gotten info from. He cut straight to the chase saying that most people dont really even know their test results. There are so many factors which are often not controlled.

Furthermore, there is so many old rules which arent really all that true. You can double your response rate with better graphics and visuals. Yet people swear by copy. Now, I do have a very strong belief in copy but ive learned so many things OUT OF THE BOX from talking with prospects.

Think back to the time when you first got started in internet marketing. Before you had ever seen a direct mail piece or a salesletter in your life. Think back to when you would click on adwords ads, see a bright, hypey looking page and reach for the back button as fast as humanly possible.

That is how every single one of your prospects thinks. They JUDGE YOU based off of how your page looks. If it looks spammy, shady and like your going to hack into their computer, then they are AFRAID to even stay on your page! never mind give you their credit card number!!!

Remember when you ordered your first product online? Do you remember feeling AFRAID that you might not get it delivered? Or that they would STEAL your credit card?

Yet, so many people lose touch. If you can just get into the minds of your prospects and see things from their perspective, then you can always write great copy. Because YOU know what they want to hear, YOU know what they believe and dont believe, YOU know whether or not they will want to buy or not. YOU know whether they will even bother to stay on the page.

FACT - Most of your visitors stay on your site for less than 10 seconds, and a lot of it probably has to do with how your page looks

So what im saying is, while the rules are useful, dont fall into the trap of thinking it is always one way and never another. There is no universal laws to writing copy, just guidelines. Take them as such.

And try innovating, it can make you a lot of money when all the other copywriters are copying what Schwab did 50 years ago. You will be way ahead of the game. Copywriting EVOLVES and has ALWAYS evolved. It NEVER stays static, so trying to cling onto ancient rules is futile. Principles are great, but dont get deluded into thinking that copy that worked 50 years ago works just as well today. If it did those ads would still be running.

But it doesnt, because the hearts and minds of your prospects change. Which is always and should always be your greatest source of copywriting knowledge.

[colmodwyer]

So you're saying the #1 rule is - "Know thy prospect."

Colm

[maximus242]

Yeah sort of, its not really a rule, its a guide. If you know your prospect you dont need a bunch of rules. You KNOW what they want you to say, you know what product they want, you know how much money they want to pay and how.

You know what their fears are and how to ease them. You know what their pain is and how to offer relief for it.

The more you are inside your prospects head the easier it is to write copy. If you truly know your prospect the copy writes itself. And editing is a breeze, you look for what your prospect finds boring, unbelievable, etc. Then remove or replace those parts of the copy.

There are only two things I find are reliable in copywriting. Testing and getting into your markets mind. Most people do neither of them.

Great copy has been written without getting into a prospects mind so its not mandatory, it just will probably boost response a lot and make it easier to write copy.

[Revolves]

Geniuses like Gene Schwartz too believed that you needed to have an open mind towards your prospects. "The creativity is not in you. It's out there.", he said. So you do need to listen to your market, walk in their shoes (as mentioned in The Gary Halbert Letter's "The Last Protege"). You will then know what to tell them, and how.

Regards,
Revolves

[mattlaclear]

Bottom line is there are many ways to convince people that you may have something they might want. Too many would be marketers get caught up in trying to follow 12 point blueprints. Great post man!

[SamKane]

You're absolutely right. To many people try to follow a formula.
When the bottom line is you're just a saleman.

You could do a lot better following the Seven Steps to a sale
than anyone's guide on writing KILLER-MONEY-GRABBING SALESLETTERS>

Sam Kane

[Revolves]

Originally Posted by MarkAndrews IMCopywriting

...
When I read some of the advice
here on this very forum, I inwardly
groan just thinking, why couldn't
they just put that so much more
simply?

People don't need to be impressed
with the latest jargon, just get down
to the bare boned facts.
...

Excellent. Why? Because this is true about every subject in this infinite universe. Everything can be understood if explained in simple terms, without unnecessary and so called standardized jargons. But we see useful information junked into words with 10 syllables each, just to boost someone's ego.

To all marketers: The point Mark mentioned does not just pertain to copywriting. Even if you don't write sales copy, ask yourself - do you over-complicate your daily tasks? Are your articles direct and to the point? Reflect on what you do everyday. You'll be surprised to find how much energy you waste daily.

Regards,
Revolves

[Kevin Rogers]

Killer thread. Sofa King true.

You can tell the second you land on a sales page whether the writer STARTED the process with the headline (#1 mistake), or he/she did their research.

A lazy, copycat writer's headline reads like what he THINKS the prospect WANTS to hear.

The patient, resourceful writer's headline TELLS the prospect what they NEED to know to keep reading.

Research + psychology is the key to understanding your prospect. Once you've done your sales detective work, then it does help to know some proven formulas. But like Max said, grab your cajones and stray off the path once in a while...

... you might find a pot of gold -- or a rotting corpse.

Either way you'll end up with a better story to tell.

[Kenster]

100% agreethat the most effective copywriters are those that know the prospect the best. Especially if the prospect is part of a sub-culture, it is absolutely vital to REALLY know how the prospect thinks, acts, rationalizes, speaks, etc You must communicate to them using THEIR language, not typical sales language.

You can hire a professional copywriter for a ton of money to write up a sales-letter to say Harley Davidson fanatics, but you will probably get better results if you interview some Harley fanatics and learn yourself how these people act, think, rationalize, communicate, etc. Then produce the copy based on these findings.

A lot of people seem to do this backwards and make a salesletter AND THEN change it to fit the prospect. I always start with the prospect diligence before I even start thinking about copy


hope that helps

[Kevin Rogers]

Originally Posted by Kenster

You can hire a professional copywriter for a ton of money to write up a sales-letter to say Harley Davidson fanatics, but you will probably get better results if you interview some Harley fanatics and learn yourself how these people act, think, rationalize, communicate, etc. Then produce the copy based on these findings.

For best results, hire a copywriter for a ton of money who doesn't lift a pen until he discovers... "how these people act, think, rationalize, communicate, etc. Then produces the copy based on these findings."

The boost to your sales will be infinite.

[Rod Cortez]

I've learned a long time ago that are very few copywriting rules that can be broken. I've also learned not to get too attached to anything I write because the market place is king. This is where testing your copy is the only true way to see how effective it is. Good thread.

[lakshaybehl]

Psychologists study human psychology like mad men and women...
And they are not close to uncovering the mystery anytime soon....

Originally Posted by MarkAndrews IMCopywriting

Copywriting is actually pretty easy,
as you said, it's all about human
psychology - nothing complicated
about that at all.

Really? That's like the....

-Lakshay

P.S. Not trying to rain on the parade here.

[Raydal]

Originally Posted by maximus242

Most people are not going to like this. Some of them will probably get downright pissed off. But I wish someone had said this when I was starting out.

The truth is most people have no idea what their doing. The truth is, even the best copywriters in the world have a hard time coming up with any concrete rules.

As Clayton Makepeace said "There are no rules in copywriting"

...
Listen, the real, no B.S. truth is that the only way you are going to get good in copywriting is by understanding human psychology. Thats all copywriting has ever been, one great big psychological push towards a sale.

Its not about this or that, or whatever other rules you hear, its about people. Your selling to living, breathing human beings -- and far too many people forget that.

HUMANIZE your selling efforts. Stop trying to sell to a nameless face and start selling to people. So much of the hype and the b*ll**** in copywriting comes because the copywriter loses touch with his prospect.

...
Listen the rules are really just guidelines. Dont get so caught up with who said this or who said that. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is your prospect.

THATS who should be teaching you how to write copy. The people you are trying to sell to. There is no higher authority on the earth as to what constitutes good copy than your prospect. They can teach you more than any copywriter ever could.

...

The rules exist because they make it easier to write copy. But its not the only way to write copy. Nor does it always produce the highest response rate.

...
Furthermore, there is so many old rules which arent really all that true. You can double your response rate with better graphics and visuals. Yet people swear by copy. Now, I do have a very strong belief in copy but ive learned so many things OUT OF THE BOX from talking with prospects.


That is how every single one of your prospects thinks. They JUDGE YOU based off of how your page looks. If it looks spammy, shady and like your going to hack into their computer, then they are AFRAID to even stay on your page! never mind give you their credit card number!!!


Yet, so many people lose touch. If you can just get into the minds of your prospects and see things from their perspective, then you can always write great copy. ..

FACT - Most of your visitors stay on your site for less than 10 seconds, and a lot of it probably has to do with how your page looks

So what im saying is, while the rules are useful, dont fall into the trap of thinking it is always one way and never another. There is no universal laws to writing copy, just guidelines. Take them as such.

...

I took the time to highlight all the rules you suggest we should follow
as copywriters in a business where there are no rules.

Although I fully understand the point of your post you have only replaced
the "old" rules with new ones of your own. To say "copywriting rules"
is only a feeble attempt at encapsulating ideas that work most of the
time.

The human psychologist seek patterns (rules) of human behavior to make
sense of his observations. Love them or not we need rules. Even if the
rule is that we don't need rules.

-Ray Edwards

[tomw]

Getting inside propsects' heads is vital, but I've never before come across such a discussion where serious writers didn't agree that,

"It's all in the words."

For words to do their job, a writer must continually strive for mastery over them.

Those that do become the truly great writers.
Those that don't end up writing search engine bait for IMers.



Tom

[Kenster]

Originally Posted by Rod Cortez

I've learned a long time ago that are very few copywriting rules that can be broken. I've also learned not to get too attached to anything I write because the market place is king. This is where testing your copy is the only true way to see how effective it is. Good thread.

This is crucial for copywriting and most things in internet marketing. You can be passionate about your beliefs, but let the numbers guide your actions. If your least favoriate landing page does better than that one you love the most, go with the first. I see newbies all the time testing ppc and never let go of loser keywords because they think they will magically turn proftiable. Some of the keywords that you would think convert the best, stink...let them go


Same with copywriting...dont get attached and let the testing guide your next split test

[maximus242]

Originally Posted by Raydal

I took the time to highlight all the rules you suggest we should follow
as copywriters in a business where there are no rules.

Although I fully understand the point of your post you have only replaced
the "old" rules with new ones of your own. To say "copywriting rules"
is only a feeble attempt at encapsulating ideas that work most of the
time.

The human psychologist seek patterns (rules) of human behavior to make
sense of his observations. Love them or not we need rules. Even if the
rule is that we don't need rules.

-Ray Edwards

First of all almost everything in that post is NOT written as a rule, its just written as thoughts, ideas and advice you may want to try out.

The problem is people get so incredibly narrow minded that sometimes on this forum I see people doing something out of the ordinary and get chastised for it -- not because there are test results to prove against it, but because it goes against "the rules"

I am not completely against the use of rules, what im saying is that becoming TOO ATTACHED to copywriting rules can lead to a great many problems. And sometimes breaking them can make you a lot of money.

I am saying its potentially dangerous (and expensive) to start thinking that copywriting only works in one way. It doesn't, it just selling. Theres no universal laws written by a divine force saying "This is the only way you can produce results"

And the problem is you cant really trust most test results, there are so many variables. While it works to a *degree*, what tests well in one market can test poorly in another.

Some markets are typically hot to soft offers and others are used to the hard offer. There's so many variables its very, very difficult to say "This always works this way". Its just not really the way PEOPLE seem to work. The market changes its beliefs, predispositions, etc. as time goes on.

Think about when you first got into internet marketing -- how skeptical you were, then think about now and how much less skepticism there is. Different markets.

What im advocating is to get away from just following rules and start questioning, testing and trying things out yourself. A lot of rules are unsubstantiated. Look at that sneaky John Reese, doesn't use one testimonial and makes more than all of us.

I think if people started to think more for themselves and worry less about what the rules are, they would do some innovative things and probably find ways to boost response that no one has ever thought of before.

[Brian T Burkard]

The key to powerful copy is just like what a lot of you have said...You need to know your audience. You need to know their thoughts, their concerns, their dreams, their fears, etc.

By Knowing your audience, then you can write to them in their language and they can then hopefully connect with your message in a way that they say "hey this person is talking to me and knows my situation and has a solution for me".

I remember reading somewhere that when Dan Kennedy would speak to doctors at conventions, they thought he was a doctor because he so thoroughly knew the field and spoke their language. With that much knowledge of your audience, you should be able to write effective copy.

[Dainis]

I'm starting to think that we are actually all robots, that there a particular, specific, and catalogued psychological switches that need to be triggered for people to buy.

[marciayudkin]

I'm starting to think that we are actually all robots, that there a particular, specific, and catalogued psychological switches that need to be triggered for people to buy.

Drop that thought.

Thinking of customers as robots is a great way to have your business go dead in the eyes of people who want to have long-term relationships with a person or a company they trust.

Marcia Yudkin

[Rezbi]

Originally Posted by SamKane

You're absolutely right. To many people try to follow a formula.
When the bottom line is you're just a saleman.

You could do a lot better following the Seven Steps to a sale
than anyone's guide on writing KILLER-MONEY-GRABBING SALESLETTERS>

Sam Kane

Is that a salesman's formula?

[Collette]

Originally Posted by Kenster

...You can hire a professional copywriter for a ton of money to write up a sales-letter to say Harley Davidson fanatics, but you will probably get better results if you interview some Harley fanatics and learn yourself how these people act, think, rationalize, communicate, etc. Then produce the copy based on these findings.

...

If you hire a competent professional copywriter, they wouldn't think of writing a sales letter to anyone or for anything - until they had done their research.

This is what 'bargain shoppers' stubbornly refuse to understand: It takes time to write good copy.

Sure, if you're already familar with the market, you can crank out a letter in record time. But at SOME point, the copywriter has to spend TIME getting to know the market.

HOMEWORK & RESEARCH = TIME = $$

The writing part - pfft! That's the easy part.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Good insights in this thread.

Personally I put sincerity and empathy high on the list of
qualities I try to put into my copy. That may come-off as
cliched, but I learned it from Jay Abraham, Robert Collier,
and others.

I classify copy as B.S., rhetorical copy - which is easy to
write but it's really just hot air - and truly creative, original
copy that is in step and empathetic with the people who
need or want the product. It's useful to study and learn
from what has worked in the past, but to work in today's
market the copy needs to speak to current values and
perceptions.


"Most of the advertising in the world today is based on ideas and concepts which are more than half a century out of date. They were formulated when consumers were naive about advertising to an extent that is difficult to imagine today. Back then there was much less competition in the marketplace, and much less competition for the consumer's attention in the media."

- Geoff Ayling, "Rapid Response Advertising"