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Loaded Gun To Head Ad Writing Secret Revealed

by ewenmack
11 replies
If I had a loaded gun held to my head and
told to give just 1 thing to put in a ad to jump response, it would be this...

PROOF!

Why this?

Because once you have believable proof
of what you say is true, then there is no way can it be made up BS.

And this is the most overlooked, hardest to come up with.

One way to help your cause is to never say anything which will trigger dis-belief.

Saying phrases like "believe me", "it's true" do more harm than good so kill them.

If you will only spend 90% of your time working on emphasing, sharpening and demonstrating proof of the client's desired outcome, there's a magnetic pull to you.

Best,
Ewen
#gun #head #loaded #revealed #secret #writing
  • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
    If I had a gun to my head I'd be looking for
    some way to contact the police or someone
    who could help.

    It's usually best to solve a problem at its source.


    "One way to help your cause is to never say anything which will trigger dis-belief.

    Saying phrases like "believe me", "it's true" do more harm than good so kill them."

    This is very true.

    Statements like "I know it sounds a little crazy but..." or
    "when I first heard this I thought it was just some crazy
    stuff..."

    Acknowledging that something you're about to say may
    be a little out there for your prospects is often a good idea.

    Proof is becoming more difficult now with FCC rules.

    That's where having a deeper relationship with your prospects
    gives you more options.

    You may not be able to use income specific testimonials in a sales letter like
    we used to but you can send prospects to a separate page from a
    different email where happy purchasers tell their stories (that's not legal
    advice of course...you should seek professional legal advice for your
    own activities.)

    Kindest regards,
    Andrew Cavanagh
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  • Profile picture of the author flnz400
    Share the rest...

    YouTube

    The Gary Halbert Letter
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

    If I had a loaded gun held to my head and
    told to give just 1 thing to put in a ad to jump response, it would be this...
    I would say... "Got just the thing! Wait here. I'll be right back."
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    • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
      PROOF!

      Ewen always contributes some good *** in this forum. He did it again.

      Tom
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      • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
        Originally Posted by sandalwood View Post

        PROOF!

        Ewen always contributes some good *** in this forum. He did it again.

        Tom
        I was waiting for someone to point out the irony of my post when it didn't contain proof!

        Lol.

        In Gary Bencivenga's $5,000 copywriting training,
        he says that lack of proof is the biggest weakness in ads today.

        And how easy it is for a marketer/copywriter to
        beat out your competition and to get a higher response to existing ads
        just by fixing this one thing.

        And why should we listen to him?

        Because, until he retired, he had the best track record of beating existing direct mail response rates for some of the biggest direct mail companies in USA.

        Today's copywriting legends John Carlton and Gary Halbert
        said he was the best and paid $5,000 to learn his non-disclosure secrets.

        And proof was the granddaddy of them all.

        There ya go, a bit of back story to back up my original statement.

        Best,
        Ewen
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        • Profile picture of the author jimbo13
          Proof.

          Cordings of Piccadilly (London) used to have their canvas/leather Newmarket Boots sitting in a tank of water in their shop window for years and years to demonstrate water resistance.

          And that was yonks ago. Place is nearly 200 years old.

          Dan
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          • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
            Ewen; First, excellent thread. I always learn from your posts. And there are so few who really know copywriting. Yes, proof, proof, proof. And a demonstration is about the best kind of proof (Billy Mays, my hero).

            Once, when I was working for a vacuum cleaner store owner (teaching me retail), the 5 other sales guys there were complaining about the quality of the advertising (Not me. Even then I had eyes). We had one vacuum cleaner that we really promoted. My friend (the store owner) said "There are six of you, Today, I'll sell more than all of you combined. I'll sell the vacuum for twice the retail price (he took off the pricetag). You can all sell for $20. (the machine was several hundred dollars). The difference is, I demonstrate, and you are not allowed to touch the vacuum, only talk about it."

            There was a bet. Dinner, I think.

            During the day we all tried our best "But Sir, this machine is only $20!"
            It didn't matter. We even told them about our bet. Nope. Nobody bought from us. My friend sold two. Because he demonstrated, proved his claims, and got people involved. Combined, the six of us talked to about 40 people that day. My friend talked to two. We all just took people in rotation. He kept getting out of rotation...because he was with customers, demonstrating.

            Oh, and he kept the money from the two customers he charged double.

            The other guys complained that it wasn't fair. He was the owner (like that gives you magic powers). I was sold.

            My friend did me a huge favor. It would have taken me years for that information to sink in, but he did it in one day.
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            • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
              Claude I can point you to the full Billy May infomercial scripts in writing if you or others would like.

              His whole product selection was based on easy and fast demonstration of the gadget.

              If it couldn't have the wow factor,
              he would pass on it.

              When you have a physical product you can now have mass viewers to a demonstration with videos and sites like Youtube.

              I've heard about a big hit on Youtube demonstrating his blender being indestructable.

              People would tune in to see what crazy thing he would throw in it to demolish.
              I think one item was a cell phone.

              Suspense and drama without the movie price tag.

              Sure brings home the proof what is said is true.

              Best,
              Ewen


              Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

              Ewen; First, excellent thread. I always learn from your posts. And there are so few who really know copywriting. Yes, proof, proof, proof. And a demonstration is about he best kind of proof (Billy Mays, my hero).

              Once, when I was working for a vacuum cleaner store owner (teaching me retail), the 5 other sales guys there were complaining about the quality of the advertising (Not me. Even then I had eyes). We had one vacuum cleaner that we really promoted. My friend (the store owner) said "There are six of you, Taday, I'll sell more than all of you combined. I'll sell the vacuum for twice the retail price (he took off the pricetag). You can all sell for $20. (the machine was several hundred dollars). The difference is, I demonstrate, and you are not allowed to touch the vacuum, only talk about it."

              There was a bet. Dinner, I think.

              During the day we all tried our best "But Sir, this machine is only $20!"
              It didn't matter. We even told them about our bet. Nope. Nobody bough from us. My friend sold two. Because he demonstrated, proved his claims, and got people involved. Combined, the six of us talked to about 40 people that day. My friend talked to two. We all just took people in rotation. He kept getting out of rotation...because he was with customers, demonstrating.

              Oh, and he kept the money from the two customers he charged double.

              The other guys complained that it wasn't fair. He was the owner (like that gives you magic powers). I was sold.

              My friend did me a huge favor. It would have taken me years for that information to sink in, but he did it in one day.
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              • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
                Claude you gave 3 demonstrations of proof in your post...

                1 the householder getting a demo to make the value point...

                2 the shop owner demonstrating to you that indeed a demo will always outsell
                A non demo...

                3 your story backed up the power of proof.

                Well done!

                Best,
                Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    There was something once about Joe Sugarman demonstrating how strong Blublockers were, on QVC. But this time when they were stepped on live in front of the cameras, they broke. But Sugarman picked up the sunglasses and showed how they only broke at their weakest link, the hinge, and that the rest of it was intact. Proof and The Admitted Flaw that adds more credibility!
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Originally Posted by misterme View Post

      There was something once about Joe Sugarman demonstrating how strong Blublockers were, on QVC. But this time when they were stepped on live in front of the cameras, they broke. But Sugarman picked up the sunglasses and showed how they only broke at their weakest link, the hinge, and that the rest of it was intact. Proof and The Admitted Flaw that adds more credibility!
      And didn't Joe have a lifelong replacement guarantee?

      If you broke them by sitting on them or you stood on them
      you could get a replacement, no charge?

      Best,
      Ewen
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