World Copywriting Blog

Copywriting Teleseminar - It's Powerful, It's In-Depth, And... It's Free!

Last Thursday I sent my newsletter subscribers a last-minute invitation to a teleseminar Mark Joyner was hosting with Michel Fortin and me on copywriting.

I've gotten the best feedback -- and the biggest complaints -- from that event, that I've gotten in the long time.

Raging praise for the content.

Justified rants about the last-minute notice from many subscribers.

Fortunately, Mark's crew put the teleseminar up on his Simpleology site and you can download a recording of it, free of charge.

If you're a Simpleology member, just go to the site, log in, and we're in the "recordings" section. Just click on the blue link halfway down the left-hand nav bar on the home page and you're right there.

If you're NOT a Simpleology member, first of all, I am myself, and I think there's some pretty good stuff in there. Quite a bit of it free.

You do have to join to get access to the teleseminar, the handout, and the three free bonuses from me, Michel and Mike Stewart.

But it's free to join -- it takes seconds -- and Mark won't hound you with emails (except occasional announcement of other Live Learning Events, as he likes to call his teleseminars. And I have to admit, Mark is a GREAT interviewer.)

So, to join, just go to

http://www.davidgarfinkel.com/simple

and once you're in, go to the nav bar on the left side of the home page and click the blue link that says "recordings."

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Blogs Win, Apple Loses: California Court Rules Journalistic Protections Apply to Weblogs

Yesterday California's 6th District Court of Appeal decided that bloggers are, under the law, journalists, and can use confidential sources with the same protections the big boys enjoy.

The case in question revolved around a news leak of a new product code-named "Asteroid."  An Apple Computer employee had apparently revealed the insider-secret company information to several blogs, which published the information on the Web.

Apple did not seek to penalize the blogs or their owners, but went to court to force the bloggers to reveal who their sources were.

No dice, said the court.

Bloggers are covered under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and press-protection legislation like California's shield law, the court ruled.

I gotta say, I'm on the side of Apple on this one, although I am not a lawyer and certainly not a robed, sworn-in judge.  I'm writing as a former professional journalist; a blogger; and a company owner.

Apple's position was the company's trade secrets were unfairly divulged and the company deserved protection against this.  I happen to agree.  My bias, of course, is that I'm an inventor and product producer myself, and I think trade-secrets laws are more important than the public's right to know in many cases.

The main exception would be when the health, safety and/or well-being of the public is at risk because of some information contained in the trade secret.

Other than possible hearing loss from excessive wearing of ear buds from iPods, I doubt that was the case with the information regarding "Asteroid."

The fight isn't necessarily over yet, as Apple may appeal.  Stay tuned.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Forbes Book Club Selects "Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich"

Forbes Magazine is one of my favorites for serious investment articles and quirky pieces about preferences of the rich, so it was with great delight that I discovered the Forbes.com book club has selected my new book, Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich, as one of their recommended reads.

Naturally, I'd like to throw some business their way, so let me encourage you to go to their site and check it out.

If, of course, you prefer the corner bookstore, you can get a copy there as well.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Here Comes Google... again

This time, my favorite online behemoth is expanding into the Internet video ad business

Video is hot.

I've been telling you that for a while.  But to give you an up-to-the-minute example, last week in LA I was involved in serious discussions with people in the know about

1. a reality TV show that debuts June 12 (which includes one of the people I was talking to)

2. a proposed documentary about one of my friends, who has led a colorful life (to say the least)

3. and a proposed new reality show about business

Will the documentary and the new reality show ever come to fruition?

That's anybody's guess.  In LA, the ratio of new projects discussed to shows that get produced is roughly equivalent to the number of times a day two people on Planet Earth have sex, compared to the number of babies actually born nine months hence.

Anyway.

One form of video that is certain to proliferate is Internet video, and now Google has thrown a new element into the ring: syndicated online video ads.

Companies that want to use a network similar to Google's AdWords text ad network will soon be able to advertise this way, according to Gokul Rajaram, project manager for Google.

For anyone who markets or writes copy, this again means one thing: get comfortable with writing and producing video.

The train is leaving the station... don't get left behind.

For more details on Google's announcement yesterday, see this excellent story by the San Francisco Chronicle's Verne Kopytoff.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Lessons from 'The Da Vinci Code' for Copywriters

Love it or hate it (I haven't read or seen it yet, so I have yet to have an opinion myself), Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is making waves.  The story line is what everyone is focusing on... everyone, that is, except direct marketing virtuoso Denny Hatch.

He posted a very thoughtful and incisive article today about why the writing in the book is so catchy that it sold 60 million copies in 44 languages.

Surely its controversial premise has a lot to do with that; but there are lessons from and for direct marketing copywriters that actually apply to any kind of writing that Hatch brings to the fore.

Some gems from his article:

• Whether you are writing a letter, memo, white paper, special report, article or full-length book, get a book on direct response copy and do what the top copywriters do.

• The first thing a writer must do is grab immediate attention. Book club colleague Bob Scott once suggested that you upset a bucket of gore in the reader's lap at the start and not let up. For example, here is Dan Brown's opening for "The Da Vinci Code":
  
  PROLOGUE
  
  LOUVRE MUSEUM, PARIS
  10:46 P.M.
  
  Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery. He lunged for the nearest painting he could see, a Carravagio. Grabbing the gilded frame, the seventy-three-year-old man heaved the masterpiece toward himself until it tore from the wall and Saunière collapsed backward in a heap beneath the canvas.
  
• Use specifics to add power and credibility. Use precise documented figures and facts. Cite data or opinions from outside, impartial sources. A lot of copy is anemic and ineffective because it's superficial, vague and unspecific. Concrete statements and detail add a ring of truth. But to find this kind of material, you've often got to dig for it.
  — Don Hauptman
• I use the oldest words in the English language. People think I'm an ignorant bastard who doesn't know the ten-dollar words. I know the ten-dollar words. There are older and better words which, if you arrange them in the proper combination, you make it stick.
  — Ernest Hemingway
• Remember that your readers are as smart as you are.
  — Jim Rutz 
• Use short words, short sentences, short paragraphs.
  — Andrew J. Byrne
• I got into my bones the essential structure of the ordinary British sentence—which is a noble thing.
  —Winston Churchill

If you are serious about learning to write better copy -- or, write better anything -- take a look at the full article by Denny Hatch, and consider subscribing to his free online Business Common Sense:

http://tinyurl.com/zkfcl

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Copywriting Analysis: Anatomy of a Winning Sales Letter

People always bug me about showing them a winning sales letter and telling them why it's so good.

Well... if you're one of those people (or even if you're not)... today's your lucky day.

I have a real-time case study you should look at right away.

How it happened:

Last Tuesday, I'm in the Lenscrafters store in Culver City, California.  My &*#^!@&! reading glasses have jettisoned the bolt that keeps the frame nice 'n' tight around my right-eye lens.

I can't read without these glasses.  And I'm on the road; far, far away from home.

As I'm standing in the store wondering which is worse -- the $30 in cab fares to and from the hotel, or the $5 fee for a bolt the size of a grain of sand -- my cell phone rings.

It's Sterling Valentine, and he sounds anxious.  Really anxious.  Sterling is the talented filmmaker I met in Orlando in February.

Sterling has just launched a new product and his copy is sucking wind -- his estimation.  His conversion rate is way too low.

He needs help... and fast.

I can't even see at this point, mind you... but I know exactly who to send him to. Mike Morgan of Outsource Copy.

Long story short, my glasses got fixed, I got back to the hotel in one piece... and Sterling's rewrite improved conversion by an astounding 655%.

~  ~  ~

That's very nice, you say.

But why should I care? (you ask)

I agree.  So, as Publisher of the World Copywriting Newsletter, I simply couldn't leave well enough alone.

I figured Mike Morgan owed me one for the referral (he is a mentoring client of mine, and far be it from me to cut him any slack whatsoever)... so... I interviewed him and asked him to tell me (and you) exactly what he did to increase conversion by more than six-fold.

Since I mentor by intimidation, he instantly agreed to reveal some key points:

1.  Headline

His final new 3-part headline was:

(pre-headline) What's most amazing is there's NO learning curve at all... and yet your new-found WEALTH will make you one of the biggest hitters in town... guaranteed!

(main headline) "How A Completely Self-Taught Newbie Marketer Ignored "The Herd"... And Stumbled On The ONE BIG DARN SECRET To Instantly Transform You From Clueless Rookie To Online Hotshot... Especially If You've Got No List, No Partners, or No Product!"

(second headline) Incredible discovery reveals exactly why some marketers are winners and others never make the big time. Here's how you can tap into that goldmine with no effort at all.

His original new headline didn't pass muster.  (Yes, you see, you're not the only copywriter who "negotiates" with you clients.)

The original Mike Morgan new headline talked about what the "so-called experts" teach and how the "Self-Taught Newbie Marketer" ignored their advice.

Too confusing, Sterling and his mentor Ken McArthur pointed out.

Changing "so-called experts" to "the herd" not only made the point clearer, but also added intrigue that practically FORCES the reader to continue on.

(If you want to see the whole sales letter now, go to

http://www.davidgarfinkel.com/rewrite )

2. Short copy?  Forget-about-it

Testimonial from a Mentoring Client

If you mentor people, this is the kind of testimonial you want to get:

" If you're like me, you'd love to be able to write sales copy that has people reaching for their wallets within a few seconds of reading what you wrote.

"Well, I have college training and years of writing experience, but the sales writing I did for clients just didn't seem good enough.

"It didn't push the buy button in customer's minds. It didn't educate, answer objections, and convert interest into purchases. I felt like giving up and hiring somebody to write my pitches for me- until I enrolled in a copywriting mentoring program given by a guy named David Garfinkel.

"During convenient teleconferences, he read my work back to me and gave me simple but powerful tips on how to immediately improve my word power. He rewrote my stuff in seconds, off the top of his head, and had me nodding in agreement when his versions sounded more conversational, authoritative, and salesworthy.

"Sure, David can't turn you into a novelist or screenwriter, but if you want to write copy that leaps off the page and grabs customers' attention so they eagerly buy what your selling, David's the trainer for you. Contact him today if you want to write ad copy that sizzles and sells."

In case you're wondering, it's unsolicited.  The reason I bring that up is you can't ask for testimonials like that.  You can't even pay for them.

You just have to give every moment your best shot.

And someday, when you least expect it, you will discover you have earned a testimonial like that.

Bragging?

I don't think so.

"If you done done it... it ain't bragging."
-- Dizzy Dean

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Now Don't Go Postal On Me: Here's A Great Example of Cause Marketing (or is it product placement?)

Here's a very interesting "joint venture" between the U.S. Postal Service, its Letter Carriers, and Campbell Soup.

CLICK PIC TO SEE FULL SIZE 

It's a postcard I got.  The funny thing about it is, it got me.

I'll be putting out a bag of canned goods about two weeks from now.

Now, the million-dollar question:

Will there be Campbell-brand products in my bag?

Sorry.  That one's gotta stay between me, my grocer, and my Letter Carrier.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Bad Vibes, Tense Times - Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

"Woh - oh, what I want to know, is are you kind?"
- 'Uncle John's Band,' words by Robert Hunter,
music by Jerry Garcia

Welcome to May, 2006.

Gas prices are as high as an elephant's eye here in San Francisco.  Conservative talk-show host Judge Andrew Napolitano predicts immediate impeachment of President Bush come January if Democrats win Congressional elections this fall.

Pollen is flying through the air, and the hormones of Spring are streaming through veins all across the Northern Hemisphere.

In the midst of all this, I am seeing a meanness in business (and automobile traffic, and personal communications between people in relationships of all sorts) like I've never seen or heard of before.

Was I just not tuned in before?  Has it always been like this?  Or are we in a particularly vicious cycle?

I don't know but I don't like it.  Just this morning, a good friend of mine who has helped a client make untold sums of money by writing copy for them was figuratively slapped in the face for his efforts (in a business move that was simply incomprehensible to both of us).

And just this morning I received a contract from someone to whom I had donated a goodly amount of time and material for an info product. The contract was supposed to be a release form but it went where no release form I have ever seen, go. 

It was not only insulting, but unconscionable.

And yet...