FREE copywriting course, DAYS 1 & 2

[GordonJ]

NO.

But if they ever made a NEW COKE, and then combined it with beer, choc milk and spaghetti sauce, I might be in.

This????

A hope for every bad idea out there, that someone, somewhere will buy your stuff.

To the point, people will BUY anything.
But do we want to sell them

anything,

just to make a buck? For me. NO.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Glenn

Thanks Gordon,

Some GENIUS put this together.

Add up the # of Beer Drinkers. Then Add up the # of Coffee Drinkers.

FORGET the fact that Beer is a Depressant
AND
Coffee is an Energizer.

AND if you drink much of this it might KILL You.

Reviewer #1 - Is Erudite. Educated.

HATES The Stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6gOu4_HxX8

AH.

But Here is Mr RedNeck who LOVES The Stuff.

HE Pretty much GUARANTEES this new BEER - COFFEE Drink will be a Best Seller.
AS LONG as The # of Heart Attacks is not Tracked too Carefully.

I've been
Trying
to
Buy a few cans
Of Pabst BEER COFFEE.

Unsuccessfully. (Seems Pabst did a LIMITED RELEASE. Clever.)

My Plan is to Take a few Cans to LOCAL RESTAURANTS.

And Give them away as Tips for The Wait Staff and Cooks.

(Get Some OPINIONS from the Folks who Count)

Should Be INTERESTING
to Count the # of LOVERS vs HATERS.

However.

This Guy LOVES The Stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Csa-faJEo

Thanks,
Glenn

[MikePT]

Thanks Gordon,

For sure the cultures are different. But as good Salesmanship knows, I assume, the basics are the same everywhere. As there is a universal reccomendation that doesn't change in Advertising: testing.

MikePT

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by MikePT

Thanks Gordon,

For sure the cultures are different. But as good Salesmanship knows, I assume, the basics are the same everywhere. As there is a universal reccomendation that doesn't change in Advertising: testing.

MikePT

I agree.

Test. And quit seeking opinions I believe go hand in hand, don't they?

All or 99.9% of advertising technique and methodolgy is known, and most of that available online for free.

I think advertising, including direct response are basic...Attention-Interest-Desire-Action-Satisfaction.

And the math of numbers, knowing break even, lifetime value, etc.

Gordon

[GordonJ]

Even if you haven't left the house in the last 3 days, you can see what people buy in your own home, walk around and just point at things you own, and put it under need or want.

You will find, the needs, like lighting, is also a want. I like pole lamps with 3 different lights on it to shine the light on different areas, whereas some may like decorative lamps, and some old hippies keep lava lamps.

So people buy stuff.

Stuff they need and want. Some things, like Alcohol and Tobacco may be a need due to addictive properties.

Much of what people buy is purchased automatically, due to habit, routines.

People have income, first thing, even for the self employed is to take out taxes, then pay for life expenses; food, clothing and shelter. And each of these are determined by the amount of left over income.

If at any time, you disagree with my premises, pipe up and we'll discuss it.

Here at SowPub we have been very fortunate to have Glenn Osborn share his testing, he is an NLP expert and goes into the field to test.

It is pretty easy, if you have the guts, to distract people in their routines by a big red nose, flashing ice cubes, a magic trick, handwriting analysis, a lotteryy ticket, a confetti cannon, etc., etc. Glenn uses this to get people's RAS to look the other direction, while he slips covert suggestions into their minds.

Good salesman, in face to face, know how to take charge and lead their targets toward the conclusion they want.

Copy writers have to be more skilled, more knowledgable about their target's preoccupations.

And all that you have done so far, if you've actually made a list of wants/needs, is to identify what people buy.

They buy wants and needs.

So, you know your target is preoccupied.

What are you selling? What is your offer? How can you break their preoccupations and get inside their heads and begin the process of helping them come to the conclusion that buying is their own good idea, and when they reach that point, you get to buy a new car.

In other words, the better you get at disrupting a flow of thought, and replacing that with a buy now attitude, the better you will do in writing copy.

Once again, I refer back to the 45 year old tested, and proven Billion dollar formula, the NPGS (as used by Ben Suarez)...

Product, Prospect, Promotion, Media.

All of these have to be rated a 10, any one of the four which are less than 10 will have an impact on sales.

WE today, in this course, are focusing in on the PROMOTION, that is what the Copywriters' do, it is the sales piece, the presentation, the offer to the Prospect.

Then you add in TIMING, which is the most overlooked element, most often ignored by copy gurus who have a tendency to assign success to their words first, and anything else later, if at all.

Writing DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH at a time when millions of immigrants came to USA, and wanting and NEEDING to fit in, wanting and needing to have their children become Americans, and the way to fit in any country is to learn and speak the language.

Yes, great copy for that ad. You can see it here complete with analysis, only I am suggesting Roy Furr overlooks TIMING,
https://www.breakthroughmarketingsec...english-video/

That ad resonated with generations of people, and the reason it ran so long, in spite of all copywriting genius claims, (although it is brilliant), is due to the fact MILLIONS of people were coming to America and needed to learn English.

And we see TIMING ignored in many of the "greatest ads ever written",

How does the Marlboro Man do today? It was one of the greatest ads, one of the best marketing campaigns in history, how does it hold up? Well, if Jake and Logan Paul and Gary V. start promoting Marlboros again, whilst wearing cowboy hats, it might do very well.

Anyhow, YOU have to know what the pain is, what the problem is, what the Need is, what the Want is, the desire...you have to know this first thing, before you put a single word on paper.

You do this by identifying if your product/service is a need or a want, or could it be both? If it is one or the other, then you look at WHO needs it, WHO wants it, and why? Many times it isn't about a problem, although that is the default taught in copywriting groups. SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM.

I wonder what problem the Pet Rock solved. I would understand if they were all the names of girls and the target market were the Paul Bros incels, then a Pet Rock named Gloria might solve their problem of being alone after all the singing and dancing is done and the night time comes.

But if you have a product which solves a problem, then GREAT, you are ahead of the game.

Otherwise, you have to create REASONS WHY a target prospect will want to buy from you, and you have to create the urgency to do it now.

Still with me?


Gordon

[GordonJ]

What do they call a surgeon who hasn't operated in a month?

Unemployed or dead.

See, surgeons cut. All day, some every day. It is what they do. Fishermen fish, they can't take a month off, they just can't.

Guys who sell HOW TO WRITE COPY, what do they do? They sell courses, books, newsletters, videos and instruction, that is what they do>

And it is all good. I have no beefs with anyone of them, although I will get at least a second opinion any surgeon gives me, probably a third.

Where the head goes the body follows.

I need to sell that one, maybe I will.

Copywriters who sell HOW TO courses, and especially ones who make their living from that, and not writing copy, or have quit writing copy and now teach...

their income comes from selling. And they are skilled salespeople at that.

So, I don't try nor do I intend to upset their apple cart, I just present information in a different way, and if you choose to follow it, can save you years of time in your journey.

I don't teach secrets, insider hacks, hidden techniques...I try to teach YOU how to write copy which sells the stuff you have for sale.

This way is based on KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING of behavior, what makes people buy, what they want, why they want it and how to THINK it through before you begin to write a single word.

And I also believe, THERE ARE NO RULES. What works...WORKS!!

Get someone to send you some money with a simple...send me some money, I'll send you THIS...

And that may be all the copy you need to write.

But I am not at odds or war with any copywriting person or even the whole industry of Copywriting as a biz-op.

I do offer signicant shotcuts in time to get the results you want, but those shorcuts and time savers are built on a foundation of understanding what people buy and why

FIRST.

If you think it takes years of study, reading, research and writing out old ads by hand, then you are right.

It is what you believe it is; and I don't believe it is a complicated as most make it out to be, fair enough?

Gordon

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Here tis:

You need a notebook. Pen/pencil.

My Discount Drug Mart sells them for .99 cents.

Amazon: 2.09
https://amzn.to/3w31aQq

Day one and two. OBSERVATION. What do people buy?

As you go about your day, even if you don't leave the house, ask yourself and write down your observations of what people buy. On page one have two columns, NEEDS & WANTS.

When out and about, be in AWARENESS MODE, and write down what you see people buy, no matter where or what.

Now a look at a "typical" paycheck, someone at 20 an hour working 40 hours a week.

800 dollars.
210 TAXES, etc.
590 X 4.25 = 2500 rounded off, a month.

Groceries. Rent/Mortage. Utilities. Clothing. Gas.

What is left over, the so-called disposal income is the gold for most marketers...although, the RICH guys do sell food, oil/gas, LOANS, etc., etc.

As you spend the first 48 hours observing what people buy, you will create a list, and these will go on one of the 2 columns, NEED or WANT.

We'll get into the differences later.

We all need food. But some of us shop at Aldi's or Save a Lot and Walmart while others go to Whole Foods and boutique food stores.

These first 2 days are intended to raise your awareness of what people buy, where and how, and even some WHY?

Why Walmart instead of Whole Foods?

See, if you believe that Copywriting is salesmanship in print, as it has been often described...

And the job of the copy WRITER is to get the reader/viewer/listener TO BUY, (or to believe) don't you first have to know;

What people buy?
And

WHY?
Let me know if this makes too much sense and you'd rather be dazzled with some amazing inside secrets of the billion dollar companies...

WHY DO PEOPLE BUY.

Feel free to respond in the thread, we can cover a lot of territory if you want.

Gordon

[GordonJ]

What are you trying to sell? What is your offer?

As a marketer, I think markets first is better than product first, but there are many who disagree. The fastes and easiest way to write winning copy that pulls is to sell something to someone who has already bought something similar.

If not, then you add hurdles.

But they can be jumped over.

Begin with WHO. Call it a prospect, avatar, target but exactly WHO is that someone you want to buy from you?

Then, where are they? How will you get your offer in front of them at the right time?

What will you say to them?

It isn't as compicated as it is made out to be. But the problems occur at the set up, because everyone is trying to persuade someone to do something and copy writing teachers have to keep you believing that you are only one secret away from getting it right...hello million dollar promotion, lambo, beachs and cold drinks.

And the simplest of thoughts, What is in it for them, or as it is taught from the customer point of view, what is in it for me. WIIfm.

Tell them what they get.
What changes.
What happens.

Joe Karbo told a story in 3 sentences, I was living in the basement of my inlaws. I used this formula. Now I own a beach house and new cars all paid for.

Embarassament. Pride. Ego. Guilt. All felt in the "living in the basement of my inlaws". See.

You don't need page after page or long stories to evoke emotion, frame it in such a way it will resonate with what your target is thinking, and how do you know what that is?

You create the intersection with that in mind, taking their time in to account, and then the PO, the big red nose, or blinking ice cubes...in words, or a video, or audio...

Get their attention by breaking THEIR preoccupation.

More later today, questions anyone?

Now the MGRE.

Thanks to a brilliant professor, Gerald Zaltman, who has written many books, but the one must read for Copywriters is: MARKETING METPHORIA. A very successful marketer, John Assaraf is a big proponent of all things neuromarketing.

See, they have finally caught up to me.

The gap between what people say they WANT, and what they actually BUY, is very huge, and Zaltman explains it (my very simplification) by saying

don't believe people who SAY they want something, what are they really sinking.

I have been deep diving into neuro behavior for decades now, and today, I am very confident and these guys are reassuring my assumptions, as truth.

They first confirm, most people don't know what they want.

Second, what they say is really different from what they THINK.

We think, and BUY in pictures for the most part, but across the board have limited vocabularies to express those. The words used by consumers are for all intents and purposes, to be taken with a grain of salt until backed up by testing and research.

See, it all comes back to the subconscious.

I've written about getting the RAS (reticular activating system) to look the other way, for decades now.

I read Milton Erickson in the 70's, and worked with Fran Renner a decade before that, and Milton was a guy who showed the world the fallacy of a deep trance as a necessity to hypnosis, and of course there is argument still...

but, Erickson used technique, mainly distraction, a touch in many cases to trick the RAS into receptivity.

This is done in Copy much the same way Glenn shocks the waitress, he DISRUPTS her mundane, with shock and awe, in a positive way...and you can do the same thing with the written word.

Here's how:

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

Joe Karbo told a story in 3 sentences, I was living in the basement of my inlaws. I used this formula. Now I own a beach house and new cars all paid for.

Embarassament. Pride. Ego. Guilt. All felt in the "living in the basement of my inlaws". See.

You don't need page after page or long stories to evoke emotion, frame it in such a way it will resonate with what your target is thinking, and how do you know what that is?

[...]

Thanks to a brilliant professor, Gerald Zaltman, who has written many books, but the one must read for Copywriters is: MARKETING METPHORIA. A very successful marketer, John Assaraf is a big proponent of all things neuromarketing.

See, they have finally caught up to me.

[...]

This is done in Copy much the same way Glenn shocks the waitress, he DISRUPTS her mundane, with shock and awe, in a positive way...and you can do the same thing with the written word.

Here's how:

Wow, Gordon, this is truly a masterclass!

I pulled out my copy of Roy Garn's "The Magic Power of Emotional Appeal" for a quick refresher...

When it comes to Joe Karbo, I don't remember him saying much regarding copywriting in "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches"... for that, his ads are good...

I noticed that in one of Bud Weckesser's ads, he wrote...

"...I had no savings, a desk full of bills and a beat up old station wagon that still wasn't paid for..."

I'm sure many could relate to that feeling (even if their circumstances aren't exactly identical)...

I LOVE Glenn Osborn's positive "shock and awe"... I have no doubt it gets many, many positive results (as he reports)... I read everything he puts out that I can get my hands on... (His books are great.)

I hadn't heard of "Marketing Metaphoria"... Definitely something to get a hold of! Thanks!

Also... I love the cliffhanger!

Can't wait for more!

Best wishes,

Dien

[GordonJ]

ZMET.

Do a quick search for Zaltman. I think he is a secret weapon of many big corps today. The DEEP METAHPHOR.

All gurus have a THEN and now STORY. Some take pages to give theirs.

I use the BRIDGE metaphor, I normally put it in almost everything I write (reports) that pic and a wad of cash. Metaphors.

You are on this side of the river,
the other side is the land of milk, honey and freedom
Cross the bridge to get there.

here is a step by step way to get across the bridge.

Pert near half of all copy follows the above.

Here you are before you BUY my product, there you are after.

And what do we know of NOW? Can you say INSECURITY/UNcertainty?

So what exactly are the step by step processes to get inside the prospects mind:

I give them later today, in a new step by step post. Hint, there is an igloo involved.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Wow, Gordon, this is truly a masterclass!

I pulled out my copy of Roy Garn's "The Magic Power of Emotional Appeal" for a quick refresher...

When it comes to Joe Karbo, I don't remember him saying much regarding copywriting in "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches"... for that, his ads are good...

I noticed that in one of Bud Weckesser's ads, he wrote...

"...I had no savings, a desk full of bills and a beat up old station wagon that still wasn't paid for..."

I'm sure many could relate to that feeling (even if their circumstances aren't exactly identical)...

I LOVE Glenn Osborn's positive "shock and awe"... I have no doubt it gets many, many positive results (as he reports)... I read everything he puts out that I can get my hands on... (His books are great.)

I hadn't heard of "Marketing Metaphoria"... Definitely something to get a hold of! Thanks!

Also... I love the cliffhanger!

Can't wait for more!

Best wishes,

Dien

[GordonJ]

This about online. To get inside their minds, you have to intersect with them.


1 Searches. Search Engines: Google, YouTube, Bing, Yahoo do you use anything else, I don't. Once searched reddit, but...hey, its reddit.

I think MOST people use Google, YouTube and Bing. (and some eBay)

Which is what SEO, google ads, placement, 3 packs and all that jargon is about, and I will say top two pages, if you are on page 3 of the searches, your dead.

2) YouTube. Yes, it is in 1, but it deserves a special mention on its own, it has become or is rapidly becoming the go to search engine for HOW TO.

3) Groups (Platforms): forums, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok and eBay. Or AMAZON, the 800 lb gorilla for shopping online.

So you want to test your promotion online? There are many options for targeting, the more targeted the more expensive it can get.

But whichever platform, or group or place you run your ads, you must KNOW with certainty, your avatar, or Ideal Prospect is THERE.

Don't offer golf putters to pro bass fisherman, eh?

Any of this making sense?

Cause the interest other than Dien, who knows this already, doesn't seem to be here, which is OK.

But the good stuff is still to come. And if it is only Dien, I'll just send him everything and not waste any time here, OK?

Gordon

[GordonJ]

Gary Halbert ran a radio ad, known as the FATBOY ad, it was hilarious, had Akron in stitches for weeks, played over and over again, and talked about.

Yet, it didn't sell a single product. Gary learned his lesson about making fun of people, at least that way.

Getting people to part with money, is no laughing matter, unless like Dien, you sell tickets to comedy clubs...HA!

We've established folk have things on their mind, and if you address what those things are, and resonate with their PREOCCUPATIONS, you have a far better chance of making a sale.

Sales? Is that what you want?

Influence? Is that what you are after?

LIFETIME VALUE, the magical wonderful results of having satisfied customers who buy from you time and again.

What you say to them, or rather what they see in the first 10 seconds, be it text, video or hear in audio, is going to determine whether they continue with your promotion or not.

In text, the emphasis is on the headline. Grab them by the throat. Gain their undivided attention.
Hit them with a brick upside the head (metaphorically of course).

And that is where EMOTIONAL words happen.

DON'T BE HALF A MAN. Screamed the Charles Atlas ads in the comic books and magazines of yesteryear, along with a STORY, a before and after...

of being HUMILIATED and then beating down the bully.

It may be one of the greatest copywriting templates you can find. Do a google image search to see the variations.

INSECURITY. Not all ads can appeal to people's insecurity, but most can, somehow.

And a story, which is a metaphor for...the journey across the bridge, from the NOW to the THEN.

And get that emotion up front, and you are about to become golden.

Gordon

P.S. The most run version was THE INSULT THAT MADE A MAN OUT OF MAC.

See, the word INSULT, is an emotionally charged word, you don't need any explanations or long winded meanings...we've all been insulted in some way, and know its sting.

Bully. Chump to champ. Winning the girl. INSECURITY.

Keep the Blair Warren one sentence in mind:

People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.

Originally Posted by GordonJ

This about online. To get inside their minds, you have to intersect with them.


1 Searches. Search Engines: Google, YouTube, Bing, Yahoo do you use anything else, I don't. Once searched reddit, but...hey, its reddit.
I think MOST people use Google, YouTube and Bing. (and some eBay)

Which is what SEO, google ads, placement, 3 packs and all that jargon is about, and I will say top two pages, if you are on page 3 of the searches, your dead.

2) YouTube. Yes, it is in 1, but it deserves a special mention on its own, it has become or is rapidly becoming the go to search engine for HOW TO.

3) Groups (Platforms): forums, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok and eBay. Or AMAZON, the 800 lb gorilla for shopping online.

So you want to test your promotion online? There are many options for targeting, the more targeted the more expensive it can get.

But whichever platform, or group or place you run your ads, you must KNOW with certainty, your avatar, or Ideal Prospect is THERE.

Don't offer golf putters to pro bass fisherman, eh?

Any of this making sense?



Gordon