Notes from the long and winding road of copywriting; learn from my mistakes and my victories

I've found it pays to stop every once in a while and reflect on what you've learned up until this point.

If I were in a more grandiose mood, I'd call what I'm about to present to you "My Life In Copywriting."  But I'm really too young for that.  (52 is too young, right? :)

Here's how this came about.  Copywriter and copywriting historian Daniel Levis asked me a series of challenging questions for the new edition of his book "Masters of Copywriting 2006"

go to => http://tinyurl.com/8e9uq

I spent a month and half in focused half-hour or longer sessions answering him.  What went back was a 16-page Word doc with 8,094 words in it.

Here are some highlights I think you'll find useful, or interesting, or at least...

... curious. 

Maybe they will help you on your own road to greater success:

Daniel asked:

... So tell me the story of those early days, what were you doing before you began, what events lead up to your indoctrination into the world of copywriting and direct response marketing?

Excerpts from my response:

I have heard there's an old Scottish proverb: "Hard work never killed anyone."  That may have been true once, but in this era of untold numbers of different fatal immune system diseases (most notably cancer) and life-threatening circulatory disorders (especially strokes and heart attacks) I don't think the proverb is true any longer.

My work as a journalist was threatening to kill me.  I was an award-winning business journalist and in 1984 I had achieved the impossible: at age 31, I was awarded the plum job of San Francisco Bureau Chief for McGraw-Hill World News.  I do not exaggerate.   It was simply the best job in the company.  A New York salary in the Pacific Time Zone.  If you timed it right, you could get to work just when all the New York dandies (your bosses) were out to lunch, and then make yourself scarce with mid-morning interviews and important lunch meetings.  All the perks of corporate life with few of the constant hassles.

Dream job.  The previous owner of this job had held it for 40 straight years, and if weren't for bursitis and a distinct dislike for writing about computers, she would have held onto the job for another 40 years.

Enter reality, stage left.  It was a great position, but not a great job - at least not for me.  I was unhappy, physically uncomfortable bordering on sick, and unfortunately, I had nowhere to go except out.  So out I went...

Fast-forward six years from the time I quit (1985) to 1991.  I had learned how to sell; co-authored a book on sales management (which went on to sell 25,000 copies); become an expert on getting referrals from clients; started giving seminars on writing and speaking; and with all that, I hit another wall.  Basically, I was in a corner.  I had a way to make a good living but I had no efficient way of getting clients and customers.   Enter copywriting.

Like so many others, I learned about Gary Halbert.  My business partner at the time was "gifted" with a 6-month subscription to Gary's newsletter (it was only printed and mailed at the time; today you can get it free on the Internet).  I knew learning copywriting was the next step.

Gary gave a free seminar to help Hurricane Andrew victims, and a few other people (like himself and the other presenters at the seminar), and I scraped together my nickels and dimes and took a plane to Key West, Florida.  It was one of the smartest moves I ever made in my whole life.

At the seminar I met people who would be my teachers and my colleagues.  Two of the people I met there are good friends today: Carl Galletti and David Deutsch, who also happen to be two of the finest copywriters on the planet.  I also met Dan Kennedy and John Carlton, both of whom have been major influences in my life.  And of course the inimitable Gary.  (Well, many try to imitate him but no one comes even close… one man's opinion.)...

* * *

Daniel asked:

... Based on your experience and testing, when does it make sense to use a two-step or even multiple step process, versus a single step "go for the jugular approach" in your advertising? ...

Excerpts of my response:

If you have a very specific and unique product for a niche market that is familiar with all the current alternatives - and, even better, familiar with you and/or the company that is doing the advertising - then a one-step can work great.

If you have a general product for a general market that people will instantly recognize and understand, and you have great credibility-building devices to use in your copy (testimonials, media mentions, well-known awards won), a one-step can work for you very well there, too.

Otherwise, use a two-step.  And I've often found that multiple steps work better than going for broke and putting all your chances on a single piece of copy.

Some clarification:

In the golf market, for example.  If you have a new and different way to cut strokes off a golfer's game - something this very fanatical niche market is in perpetual search of, like knights seeking the Holy Grail - then a one-step will work.  I had a student at my Breakthrough Copywriting Seminar who had such a product and was doing well selling it with a one-step.

If you have a money-making product, or a weight-loss product, or a sexual-aid product - these are the general markets I was referring to - then a one-step can work.

But on many of the most successful Web sites selling information that I've written, we offered follow-up autoresponders for people who didn't want to buy right away.  People signed up and bought later.

The key determining factor is familiarity.  People need to feel a certain amount of it before they are comfortable buying.  If they don't feel it at first blush when they read your copy, then it's up to you to see that they have multiple exposures until their defenses are down and their buying readiness is up.

* * *

Daniel asked:

It's been said selling is transference of enthusiasm, and I believe that's true. Some would call this hype. Whatever you want to call it, it's a valuable tool but only so far as the promise responsible for generating that enthusiasm is credible and believable. What are some of the subtle techniques you employ to maximize the believability of the promises you are conveying in your copy?

Highlights of my response:

... I have two sides of my personality that are both a help and a hindrance, respectively, in copywriting:

1. A very over-the-top, wildly enthusiastic side, and

2. A calm, reasoned, reassuring, sensible side

I have to be careful, because neither of those personality facets by itself usually provides the best voice to use when writing copy.  People get excited by over-the-top, but they don't trust it;  people trust reasoned and reassuring, but they're not excited enough by it to do anything.

I guess what I do is try to hit the midpoint between them.

Another important technique is: "admit a damaging flaw."  I guess I learned this first from Joe Karbo in his book The Lazy Man's Way to Riches, which, by the way, has a ton of excellent copywriting advice.

The essence of this technique is never to strive to come across as perfect, because people never believe that you are or could be, especially in an ad.

So instead of pretending perfection, emphasize something that detracts from perfection.  The key to making this effective in copy is not to admit something that weakens your core case.  For example, if you're selling grass seed, the flaw you might want to admit is "we run out sometimes" or "people have told us the bag the grass seed comes in is the ugliest bag they've ever seen," not "don't be surprised if the grass you grow from our seed takes over the root system of your flower garden and strangles all the hydrangeas."

---

Like what you see?  There's a lot more -- from me, plus, from Dan Kennedy, John Carlton, David Deutsch, Clayton Makepeace, Dr. Harlan Kilstein and others.

go to => http://tinyurl.com/8e9uq

Comments

[Jon Pietz]

David—Your interview with Heather Vale (which I listened to from downloaded mp3s) really stood out from other interviews and calls I've recently heard. The majority of your time was spent giving advice on writing in order to sell, and you gave just enough interesting personal detail, but did very little of the chestbeating most internet marketers like to do. Thank you.

Regarding the last question/comment from the Lewis interview. There's a great quote (Hemmingway, I believe), on the subject: "Every writer should have a built-in bullshit detector". I just love that. And I wish more writers had one, not to mention voters.

Best,

Jon

[David Garfinkel]

Hi Jon,

Thanks! I'm humbled and don't know what else to say except, wow, what a nice comment!