Minimalism

My first copy writing mentor said, "the goal is to get them to buy from you automatically".

Now he had a catalog of kitchen and household products, which by then, had become pretty dated. But his house list was enormous. I don't know who wrote the first very long long, long piece of copy, but in the early 80's, Harvey Brody sent out a 64 page booklet (ad) for his course, HOW TO BECOME FINANCIALLY AND PERSONALLY INDEPENDENT, and then in the 90's Jay Abraham ran his 12 page booklet copy inside of magazines for his 15k Protege Program. OH, Jay began as a Protege of Brody.

Anyhow, my mentor tested his ads, and some had a forty year run...and his small display ads were as minimal as they get, but pulled in tens of thousands of dollars.

He said the goal of Remote Direct Response copy is to get BUYER. Do that at whatever length it takes, and then reduce it down until returns say not to. But once you have a buyer, then you build customer loyalty, via SATISFACTION, the S on the old AIDCAS formula, which most leave off.

If you do your job, a profitable % of your customers will respond with a simple, BUY THIS offer, although it might take a bit of time to get there.

For me it took about 7 years, then I would simply send the list, BUY THIS NOW, and get enough response to make it worth while. Is BUY THIS NOW minimalist enough for you?

Gordonj

PS When copy became a Biz-Op, a few guys, who would rather climb a tall tree and talk for hours, rather than stay on the ground and be succinct, taught the idea of "the more you tell the more you sell", and when and where needed it is true. Again, never have read the copy on a Little Debbies cake. Just sayin, product plays a role too.

I remember John Carlton saying (he may have been quoting Gary Halbert)...

When writing copy -

"Just sell the damn thing!"


Steve


P.S. I know at times - The more you tell, the more you sell... and the myriad of reasons why this can be the case.

But for 15 years I ran a small classified Ad in the papers - it did well.

So, thinking ..."I can sell more - so I can!" I tested bigger and bigger and technically better Ads.

To this day I don't know exactly why - but time and time again the little Ad kept winning.

Actually, I do know why - it did what it should - "it sold the damn thing!."

And here's another epic.

From the great Mr Gary Bencivenga - a copy course in itself - so it is.

https://marketingbullets.com/availab...and-only-time/


Steve

...coughs.

Now copy aside.

Does any copywriter (regardless of the scribing we do for materialists)...

Live a minimilist lifestyle?

Steve

Another way to look at this is ... elegance.

I jus' done my nails so I feel qualified to speak.

In any case 'minimalism' sounds too much like what happens to guys when they been in the pool too long.

I do naht want that thought danglin' from my consciousness -- speshly on a Sunday bcs it is way too unholy.

Thing is, you wanna take the smartest journey possible with all your copy.

I'm minded here to think of Bruce Lee when he talked 'bout water takin' the path of least resistance.

A hosepipe set to SQUIRT is prolly the simplest option -- but it ain't always appropriate.

Sumtimes, longer copy is needed bcs the Messagin' Boat gotta traverse all kindsa rocks an' pools to make its arrival in safe harbor relevant an' desirable.

Lookin' at the RMBC example, it may be necessary for the boat to divert frequently down pipes an' flumes -- to SHOW it's explored all the necessary waters.

But always, there gotta be purpose.

Ultimately the A to B journey gotta ring troo, balance out, an' feel right.

Tellya, even when I buyin' pest control products, I want the offah to charm me with the elegance of an ice-skatin' bunny glidin' across a frozen lake.

Hey Promo,

I could have written exactly what you said!


Steve


P.S. Also when I'm staring intently at a blank doc... waiting patiently for the words to come hither.

I don't want the distractions of bundles of stuff scattered all over the gaff - trying their best to grab my attention.

My faithful hound sitting under the table with the tennis ball - hoping I'll play "football" is bad enough.

My wife and I throw things out constantly to create more space in our home.

Our one mutual friend has thousands of movies, books, board games, clothes, you name it. They have items that still have the shrink wrap on it. When they moved into their house, it took them multiple weekends to move all of their stuff. And the reason they have a huge house is just to house all of their stuff.

We'll visit their house, but then come back home and feel this sense of complete relaxation. It definitely makes a difference.

Very good points Claude.

Another angle would be -

A frantic mom dashes into your store and howls -

"My demented Mother in Law - (she never stops telling us how important really good "stuff" is), anyway she's invited herself to say with us for a bleeping week - the house is a complete mess, my vac has blown up - I need the best most powerful vacuum you have!"

Would you need an hour long presentation and demo.

Of course not.

How long would it take you to sell it (about 9.7 secs).

The time it takes you to say -

"I do symphasise, worry not, with 20 years experience, I know this one has everything you need - you'll love it and your Mother in Law will be amazed!


Steve

Curiosity tempered with elegant urgency is how we minimize word count and grab

And the best Ads ever written had those 2 elements.


Steve

attention.