So you’re writing an ad or a sales letter. You want it to be something original, something creative. Right?
BUZZZZ. WRONG Answer!
Rosser Reeves, brother in law of legendary ad-man David Ogilvy often said “Originality is the most dangerous word in the advertiser’s lexicon”.
And he was right.
But why is this?
I think its because a lot of people think it takes something different and daring to get people’s attention. And on the surface that seems reasonable.
But let me put it another way.
There are advertisements and sales letters out there that have literally made millions of dollars. These are proven controls which other people have tried to beat…and failed. They’re some of the best advertisements you’ll ever see. And in a lot of cases, these sales pieces have been modelled and changed to create OTHER advertisements which have, in turn, gone on to make millions more.
In fact, many top copywriters will tell you they haven’t had an original idea in years, and they’re simply not interested in coming up with one.
And why would they. They’ve got an arsenal of winning ideas and hooks that have worked spectacularly for decades in all sorts of different markets. They know what works, how to structure it, what’s going to get inside their reader’s minds and get them to buy. What’s more important is to take WINNING ideas and put them together to create an ad with a far higher probability of success.
It would take you years and years of learning and practice to be able to develop something completely different that got you spectacular results. Odds are you’d keep coming up with something similar to the great ads that are already there.
Unfortunately those who want to be different will most likely fail. They do so at the expense of proven, sound and profitable ideas.
Lets take the Wall Street Journal ad written by Martin Conroy. It’s sold over a BILLION dollars of Wall Street Journal subscriptions over 28 years. And smart marketers have recycled the key themes from it for years. They’re using something they know works already, so are miles ahead of a sitting there with a blank piece of paper determined to be different.
So if you want to be original, well, good luck to you.
But if you want to make money then listen up. Here’s what you’ve got to do.
Go and find the top people in your industry and go and grab their ads. Then, when you write your own ads, use these ads as templates. Copy the emotional hooks. Modify their headlines. Create your own closing statements the same way they did.
Or, if you want a BIG shortcut, go and buy some swipe files from some of the masters. I know Pete Godfrey has great swipes in his copywriting manual. Alan Forrest Smith has a whole heap in his too. Dan Kennedy has some products with a collection of hugely successful ads as well. Go and grab them.
Other names to check out too include Gary Bencivenga, John Carlton and Michael Fortin.
And if you want a great FREE source… go to http://www.hardtofindads.com
And here’s the best source of all for writing ads…http://thegaryhalbertletter.com
Next week I’m going to move away from specific copywriting information and tackle a marketing issue…free information, such as free reports, audio CDS etc. If you want to get new clients, this is a MUST read article.
All the best,
PS If you’re in a very specific industry and you’d like to know where to find successful ads you can use as models, shoot me an email at hugh@salescomefirst.com and I’ll point you in the right direction.
