Secrets From Five Copywriting Jedi Masters On How To Write Magnetic Headlines!
"And now you too can have these hidden gems of wisdom without sifting through the garbage...
How To Write Magnetic Headlines!"
From: Will Compton
Just North of the Rio Grande
Saturday, 10:52 AM
Dear Friend,
I read the entire library for you...
On advertising, marketing and copywriting (it's the 600 - 700 section in the Dewey Decimal system)... and picked you out the cream of the crop.
I had to sift through a lot of garbage for a lot of years to find these gems. These aren't just books written by the most profitable ad men in history, these are apprenticeships under jedi masters.
I mean...
"Would you read Yoda's advice if
you were training to be a jedi?"
you were training to be a jedi?"
Probably.
I know I would.
It used to be, if you wanted to be a writer you would have to join the Scriber's Guild to learn the techniques, go through an elaborate initation where you were sworn to secrecy under penalty of death not to reveal what you learn. Then, you had to apprentice under a master for years to become a journeyman... and maybe a master yourself.
So here's what the copywriting jedi masters said about how to make your headline pull readers (and profits) like a magnet:
Jedi Master #1: David Ogilvy
Confessions of and Advertising Man
Confessions of and Advertising Man
“The headline is the most important element in most advertisements. It is the telegram which decides the reader whether to read the copy.” (page 133)
“On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eight cents out of your dollar.” (page 134)
“The wickedest of all sins is to run an advertisement without a headline. Such headless wonders are still to be found; I don't envy the copywriter who submits one to me.” (page 134)
“A change of headline can make a difference of ten to one in sales.” (page 133)
“The headline is the “ticket on the meat.” Use it to flag down the readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising. If you are selling a remedy for bladder weakness, display the words BLADDER WEAKNESS in your headline; they catch the eye of everyone who suffers from this inconvenience. If you want mothers to read your advertisement, display MOTHERS in your headline. And so on.” (page 133)
“Every headline should appeal to the reader's self-interest... It should promise her a benefit, as in my headline for Helena Rubinstein's Hormone Cream: HOW WOMEN OVER 35 CAN LOOK YOUNGER.” (page 134)
“Always try to inject news into your headlines.” (page 135)
“Include your selling promise in your headline. This requires long headlines. When the New York University School of Retailing ran headline tests with the cooperation of a big department store, they found that headlines of ten words or longer, containing news and information, consistently sold more merchandise than short headlines.” (page 135)
“Headlines containing six to twelve words pull more coupon returns than short headlines, and there is no significant difference between the readership of twelve-word headlines and the readership of three-word headlines. The best headline I ever wrote contained eighteen words: At Sixty Miles an Hour the Loudest Noise in the New Rolls Royce comes from the electric clock.” (page 135)
“People are more likely to read your body copy if your headline arouses their curiosity; so you should end your headline with a lure to read on.” (page 135)
“Some copywriters write tricky headlines – puns, literary allusions, and other obscurities. This is a sin.” (page 136)
“In the average newspaper your headline has to compete for attention with 350 others. Research has shown that readers travel so fast through this jungle that they don't stop to decipher the meaning of obscure headlines. Your headline must telegraph what you want to say, and it must telegraph it in plain language. Don't play games with the reader.” (page 136)
“Vic Scwab tells the story of Max Hart (of Hart, Schaffner & Marx) and his advertising manager, George L. Dyer, arguing about long copy. Dyer said, “I'll bet you ten dollars I can write a newspaper page of solid type and you'd read every word of it.
Hart scoffed at the idea, “I don't have to write a line of it to prove my point,” Dyer replied, “I'll only tell you the headline: THIS PAGE IS ALL ABOUT MAX HART.” (page 138)
“It is a mistake to use highfalutin language when you advertise to uneducated people. I once used the word OBSOLETE in a headline, only to discover that 43 per cent of housewives had no idea what it meant. In another headline, I used the word INEFFABLE, only to discover that I didn't know what it meant myself.” (page 141)
On Advertising
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 per cent of your money.”
“The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit – like a whiter wash, more miles per gallon, freedom from pimples, fewer cavities.”
“Headlines which contain news are sure-fire.“
“Write your copy in the form of a story, as in the advertisement which carried the headline, 'The amazing story of a Zippo that worked after being taken from the belly of a fish.' One of the most famous advertisements ever written was by John Caples for International Correspondence School, under the headline 'They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano – But When I Started to Play...'
“In print advertisements, your headline is the most important element. The other day I saw one headline produce five times as many orders as another. If your headline promises your strongest and most distinct benefit, you are on your way to success.”
“Readers often skip from the headline to the coupon, to find out what your offer is. So make your coupons mini-ads, complete with brand name, promise and a miniature photograph of your product.”
Jedi Master #2: Eugene Schwartz
Breakthrough Advertising
Breakthrough Advertising
“This headline is the bridge between your prospect and your product. It touches your prospect at the point of awareness that he has arrived at today. If he is aware of your product, and realizes that it can satisfy his desire, your headline starts with your product. If he is not aware of your product, but only of the desire itself, your headline starts with the desire. And, if he is not yet aware of what he really seeks, but is concerned only with a general problem.”
“Your headline is limited by physical space. You have only one glance of the reader's eye to stop him. He is preoccupied, he is not looking for your product or your message—the span of his attention will admit only one thought to penetrate his indifference during that glance.”
“Your headline has only one job—to stop your prospect and compel him to read the second sentence of your ad. In exactly the same way, your second sentence has only one job—to force him to read the third sentence of your ad... and every additional sentence in your ad—has exactly the same job.”
“It is the copy writer's job to force the prospect to read his client's full story—not just a skimmed version of it. Only to prospects actively seeking the client's specific brand-name product, and in a case where you can offer them a special price reduction, can your headline do the full selling job. To attempt a complete selling job with any other kind of headline is simply to admit defeat.”
Jedi Master #3: Claude Hopkins
Scientific Advertising
Scientific Advertising
"The purpose of a headline is to pick out people you can interest. You care only for those people.”
“People will not be bored in print. In print they choose their own companions, their own subjects. There may be products which interest them more than anything else in a magazine. But they will never know it unless the headline or the picture tells them.
“The vast difference in headlines is shown by keyed returns. The identical ad run with various headlines differs tremendously in its returns. It is not uncommon for a change in headlines to multiply returns from five to ten times over.”
“Don't think that those millions will read your ads to find out if your product interests them. They will decide by a glance – by your headline or your pictures. Address the people you seek, and them only.”
Jedi Master #4: Vic Schwab
How To Write A Good Advertisement
How To Write A Good Advertisement
“The primary purpose of a headline is to induce people to start reading the copy of the ad. The copy must get read if the ad is going to win.
“The headline must get immediate attention... it must offer a reward for reading... and select the readers interested in that subject.
“There are two types of headlines that promise desirable rewards for reading. One does it through a positive approach, the other through a negative one. Here is how they do it:
- By managing to convey, in a few words, how the reader can save, gain, or accomplish something through the use of your product – how it will increase this: his mental, physical, financial, satisfaction, well-being, or security.
- Or, negatively, by pointing out how the reader can avoid (reduce or eliminate) risks, worries, losses, mistakes, embarrassment, drudgery, or some other undesirable condition through the use of your product – how it will decrease this: his fear of poverty, illness, or accident, discomfort, boredom, and the loss of business or social prestige or advancement.
“Good headlines contain specific words or phrases that make the ad promise to tell you: How, Here's, These, Which, Which of These, Who, Who Else, Where, When, What, Why.
“Colloquialisms get attention because they sound human and natural.
“Using the 'which of these' selling technique is very effective because it says, 'Which do you want?' not 'do you want?'.
“Another good headline technique is to play up a powerful guarantee, if you indeed have one.
“Your primary viewpoint should be a 'Point of You'. In other words, talk about the prospect by using words such as 'you', 'your', and 'yourself'.
“Try to get your reader involved in your ad. Use phrases such as 'Take This Test'. Its purpose is to induce the reader to participate in a demonstration of the product's merits.
“Announcement headlines are very effective. People are always interested in new things.”
Jedi Master #5: John Caples
50 Things I've Learned in 50 Years
50 Things I've Learned in 50 Years
“The Headline is the most important element in most advertisements.”
“The best headlines appeal to the reader’s self-interest or give news. Examples:
The Secret of Making People Like You
Do You Have These Symptoms of Nerve Exhaustion?
Announcing A New Fiction Writing Course
How A New Discovery Made A Plain Girl Beautiful
Do You Have These Symptoms of Nerve Exhaustion?
Announcing A New Fiction Writing Course
How A New Discovery Made A Plain Girl Beautiful
“Sometimes a minor change in a headline can make a difference in pulling power. A mail order ad for a book on auto - mobile repair had this headline:
How To Repair Cars
“The pulling power of this ad was increased 20% by changing the headline to read:
How To Fix Cars
“Re-casting a headline can make a big difference in response. Here is the headline of a couponed ad selling retirement annuities:
A Vacation That Lasts The Rest of Your Life
“Here is the headline of an ad that pulled three times as many coupons:
A Guaranteed Income For Life
“The losing headline attempts to be clever by calling retirement a vacation. The winning headline is a straightforward promise of a benefit.”
“Long headlines that say something are more effective than short headlines that say nothing. A book publisher had difficulty selling a book with the title “Five Acres.” This book was transformed into a best seller by changing the title to: “Five Acres and Independence.”
“Another publisher had a book entitled “Fleece of Gold.” The sales of the book were more than quadrupled when the title was changed to “Quest for a Blonde Mistress.”
“In writing headlines, the copywriter should try to break the boredom barrier. “How I became a star salesman” was the headline of a successful ad for a course in salesmanship.
“The pulling power of the ad was increased by changing the headline to “H ow a fool stunt made me a star salesman.”
How To Make Your Advertising Make Money
“Headlines make ads work. The best headlines appeal to people's self-interest, or give news.
“Long headlines that say something outpull short headlines that say nothing. Every headline has one job. It must stop your prospects with a believable promise.” (page 15)
“Simple words are powerful words. Even the best-educated people don't resent simple words. But they are the only words many people understand.” (page 15)
“Remember, too, that every word is important. Sometimes you can change a word and increase the pulling power of an ad.
"For example, the headline of an ad for an automobile repair kit was “How To Repair Cars.” The headline was changed to “How To Fix Cars.” The ad pulled twenty percent more.” (page 16)
“The headline is the most important element in most advertisements.” (page 369)
“The best headlines appeal to the reader's self interest or give news.” (page 369)
“Long headlines that say something are more effective than short headlines that say nothing.” (page 369)
Now go write some killer headlines so you can become a rich copywriting jedi.
Sincerely,
Will Compton
Professional, Proven Copywriter
P.S. I have a swipe file on all these guys, if anyone's interested send me a PM and I'll give it to you, for free!
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