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Hi everyone,

I'm a long time lurker, and have learned much about Internet Marketing from Dien, Boyd, Gordon et al. However, it seems that much of what you guys discuss(heck, or even HOW you guys discuss) relates to writing COMPELLING AD copy.

Could you guys point me in the direction of a good book that teaches the basics of ad copy?

Also, I think that I'll need some sort of mailing list script to manage a list of possible buyers. At least I think that's one of the strategies you guys espouse.

Thanks for everything though.

Chris

Hi,

Thanks for mentioning my name, I greatly appreciate it!

Regarding ad copy, there's tons of very well written sales letters (designed to sell infoproducts on internet marketing and other topics) that you can print out and study. Draw circles around the various subsections of these letters (such as the "grabber" area, the Headline area, the credentializing area, the bullets area, the area that increases the perceived value, the risk-removal area, the "how to order" area, the bonuses area, etc.)

Sales material can, and probably should be, assembled modularly like Lego Blocks.

I'm not sure which book to recommend that you buy, but whichever one it is is probably available inexpensively on ebaY. Gary Halbert is sort my hero in the "salesmanship in print" area.

Hope this was helpful, and thanks again!

Best,

- Boyd

Hi Boyd,

Thanks so much for the reply. I agree that there is a lot of marketing material out there(both good and bad). As a green newbie to the field of copywriting though, I'm not sure if it'd be enough for me to just read and analyze quality sales letters to in turn learn how to write them. Is there some sort of framework, or set of tools that an adwriter uses?

Back in the day, how did a Jim Straw or a Melvin Powers learn their trade?

Let me apologize if I'm being dense here. Thanks for all the advice though.

Chris

Hi,

I'm not really qualified to answer this question: I've written like three sales letters in my life.

One thing I'm sure about though, is this:

The basic thing you have to do is to learn what the modular parts of a sales letter are, and what order they should be presented in, then the most important thing is you must trust yourself to be able to talk honestly to your prospect. You already know enough to do that, to talk honestly to your prospect I mean--you "talk" in written form, of course.

Learn the basics and then trust yourself, is my advice.... Write something, read what you've written and improve it.

Hope this helps!

Best,

- Boyd

Hi Chris,

> I'm a long time lurker, and have learned
> much about Internet Marketing from Dien,
> Boyd, Gordon et al. However, it seems that
> much of what you guys discuss(heck, or even
> HOW you guys discuss) relates to writing
> COMPELLING AD copy.

I'm a big fan of this topic!

> Could you guys point me in the direction of
> a good book that teaches the basics of ad
> copy?

I actually like quite a number of books about writing compelling ad copy. Here are my favorites....

First (I have a vested interest in this) - I like Gordon Alexander's Remote Influence.... Of course, I sell it - but I only sell stuff I personally like. Here's the link to where you can read more about it....

Secondly, Dan Kennedy has a great book, "The Ultimate Sales Letter". It's excellent, I recommend it. :)

Like Boyd, I also like Gary Halbert's stuff. The good news is, you can get a lot of it for free.... Just go over to The Gary Halbert Letter web page.... http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/

I'm also a fan of Joe Sugarman. I highly recommend two of his books on this topic, "Advertising Secrets of the Written Word" and also "Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order Maverick"....

John Caples is an ad man from the "old days" (he's passed away), but he wrote a couple of classics.... "Tested Advertising Methods" and "How To Make Your Advertising Make Money" are both great and highly recommended.

And lastly, the real "classic of classics" is "Scientific Advertising" by Claude Hopkins! It was written in the early 20th century, so it's not under copyright any more, and you can find it for free various places around the 'net.... For example, http://tannerbridger.com/claude.htm ... And there's even an audio version online too! http://www.geocities.com/MadisonAvenue/Boardroom/4124/ They also have a nice PDF version too. :)

The final word is, test, test, test! That's how to find out directly what works for you....

> Also, I think that I'll need some sort of
> mailing list script to manage a list of
> possible buyers. At least I think that's one
> of the strategies you guys espouse.

Chris, yes, it's very important to have a way of keeping "in touch" with your customers.... One way is through an ezine, or product announcement list, or something like that.... Make sure it is "opt in" though, and people can remove themselves from your list too if you want. (Spamming through email is NEVER good policy.... You must treat your customers with respect....)

I actually use E-Lists and ListMerge together, which are installed directly on this site. I think they're great pieces of software, though I've found they're not the best if you are using attachments.... However, if you're not using attachments, they work well. Here's where you can find them.... (They're free to download and use, but the "catch" with that is that there's minimal support):
http://www.dtp-aus.com/cgiscript/emlscrpt.shtml
http://www.dtp-aus.com/cgiscript/lmrgscpt.shtml

I hope that helps. :)

- Dien Rice

> Hi Chris,

> I'm a big fan of this topic!

> I actually like quite a number of books
> about writing compelling ad copy. Here are
> my favorites....

> First (I have a vested interest in this) - I
> like Gordon Alexander's Remote Influence....
> Of course, I sell it - but I only sell stuff
> I personally like. Here's the link to where
> you can read more about it ....

> Secondly, Dan Kennedy has a great book,
> "The Ultimate Sales Letter". It's
> excellent, I recommend it. :)

> Like Boyd, I also like Gary Halbert's stuff.
> The good news is, you can get a lot of it
> for free.... Just go over to The Gary
> Halbert Letter web page....
> http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/ I'm
> also a fan of Joe Sugarman. I highly
> recommend two of his books on this topic,
> "Advertising Secrets of the Written
> Word" and also "Marketing Secrets
> of a Mail Order Maverick"....

> John Caples is an ad man from the "old
> days" (he's passed away), but he wrote
> a couple of classics.... "Tested
> Advertising Methods" and "How To
> Make Your Advertising Make Money" are
> both great and highly recommended.

> And lastly, the real "classic of
> classics" is "Scientific
> Advertising" by Claude Hopkins! It was
> written in the early 20th century, so it's
> not under copyright any more, and you can
> find it for free various places around the
> 'net.... For example,
> http://tannerbridger.com/claude.htm ... And
> there's even an audio version online too!
> http://www.geocities.com/MadisonAvenue/Boardroom/4124/
> They also have a nice PDF version too. :)

> The final word is, test, test, test! That's
> how to find out directly what works for
> you....

> Chris, yes, it's very important to have a
> way of keeping "in touch" with
> your customers.... One way is through an
> ezine, or product announcement list, or
> something like that.... Make sure it is
> "opt in" though, and people can
> remove themselves from your list too if you
> want. (Spamming through email is NEVER good
> policy.... You must treat your customers
> with respect....)

> I actually use E-Lists and ListMerge
> together, which are installed directly on
> this site. I think they're great pieces of
> software, though I've found they're not the
> best if you are using attachments....
> However, if you're not using attachments,
> they work well. Here's where you can find
> them.... (They're free to download and use,
> but the "catch" with that is that
> there's minimal support):
>
> http://www.dtp-aus.com/cgiscript/emlscrpt.shtml
>
> http://www.dtp-aus.com/cgiscript/lmrgscpt.shtml
> I hope that helps. :)

> - Dien Rice