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... not in terms of length, but in terms of how well the copy answers the potential questions of the reader.

For some products or services, the reader may not have many questions and so a short, to-the-point ad will work fine (such as "we do plumbing").

But for products where the reader will have many questions, the copy will have to be longer to answer them adequately. The Hikuta letter is a good example -- if someone is interested enough to read it, he or she will likely want to know "what's this all about?", "who invented it?", "does it really work?", "can you prove it?", "why haven't I heard of this before?", "what makes this different from ____ (karate, kung fu, etc.)?", "where can I get it?", "why should I buy it from you?", "why should I buy it now?", and on and on.

If you judge copy by the questions it answers (or creates, if you want to arouse curiosity), I venture that you'll be less likely to run the risk of having a lot of copy that misses the mark. (There's truth in the adage: "it can't be too long, but it can be too boring.")

Just my $.02

-Phil

> 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.