There is no Long Copy or Short Copy. There is just Copy. Its length is subjective and comparative.

A one page flyer has long copy when compared to a five line display-classified. A four page letter is long compared to a one pager. And a thirty page letter is long compared to a 20 page letter.

All that matters is, is you copy doing what it was designed to do, for the market it was designed for.

I think it was Gordon who wrote about the inexperienced plumber (inexperienced in marketing) who wrote a real simple ad which said "We do plumbing. Ph 5555-5555".

Quite frankly, the majority of longer copy bores me, for the most part. The reason is, the writer tries to write a piece that sells to everyone. Instead of writing a piece to sell to a more targetted audience.

If I have a headache I don't care about the manufacturing process used to make the headache pill, who invented it, or any "story". All that matters to me at that moment in time is

Do you sell headache pills???

Tell me quick and tell me true, or else my love, to hell with you.

The only long copy that doesn't bore me tells me something I didn't know (educates me) about the subject I'm interested in.

If you've got Ben's 7 Steps read the long Hikuta letter. It's effective, to me, for several reasons...

1: I am interested in martial arts. (if I wasn't I wouldn't read past the first paragraph)

2: It just tells me about the events that transpired with Doc's "show". And THAT allows me to SELL MYSELF.

Psychologically it's a third party telling me about it and not Doc. So I'll believe it more.

There's a Karate letter which starts off telling the reader the writer didn't take up Karate for spiritual awareness etc. He took it up because he was in to WANTON SLAUGHTER. He wanted to be able to obliterate any and all drongos who had problems with him at any time he might be out on the town.

Whatever. The point is, the length of the copy depends on how much you know about your target market and what they're looking for.

I won't even read two paragraphs telling me how to look after my dredlocks cause I don't have any and I have Zero Interest in that subject.

There's a whole lot more that can be said about copy - long and short - but in the end none of it matters. Just sit down, say what you've got to say and be done with it. See if it gets the results you want. Adjust and continue.

Michael Ross.