February 2002

Copywriting Technique
Parallel Tracks
by Tom Antion

AND
Article 2

Killer Copy: Words That Are Like Magnets to Money
by David Garfinkel

This is a fairly simple and extremely powerful concept that is not well known to new Internet marketers. It has to do with the fact that some potential buyers like to skim an ad and make quick decisions. Other potential buyers are more analytical. They read every word.

THE SKIMMERS
To take care of the skimmers you brainstorm a bunch of good headlines like you normally would for any ad. You pick what you think is the best one and make it the headline of the sales page. You take the best of the leftover headlines and make sub headings out of them. Make sure that jumping from headline to subhead to subhead tells your story. Make the subheads intriguing and provocative.

Along the way put "Buy Me Now" buttons or "Yes, Tom I'm ready to invest in myself" links so the skimmer can make a decision to buy and do so (many times before they get to the bottom of the page).

ANALYTICALS
Just fill in the blanks between subheads with your normal good copywriting techniques.

Having two tracks means your train is heading for a sale.

Killer Copy: Words That Are Like Magnets to Money 

By David Garfinkel

I'll never forget what my accountant said five years ago when he saw the ad I wrote for my services: "How many scotches did you drink before you wrote this?"

He was kidding about the scotch. But he just couldn't believe anyone in their right mind would write such a bold and outrageous ad for their own writing, consulting and speaking services, as I had.

Well, I spent $300 on that ad -- $200 to run it in a local trade association directory, and $100 to have it reprinted as a flyer.

The following year, that $300 ad turned into $12,341 in new business for me. And $12,341 was just a tiny fraction of my total business that year.

Why did I make so much money myself while there were so many thousands of "starving writers" in the world? The answer may surprise you. You see, it's not because I'm a better writer. It's not my schooling. Not my resume. Not any talent I was born with.

It's all because I learned how to write "killer copy." 

How do you write killer copy? 

You start your killer copy with an emotion-packed opening statement that will get the attention of your reader. This opening statement may be:

* a headline
* an opening sentence
* a subject line on an email
* the header on a Web page

… or for that matter, the opening words in a telemarketing script, radio commercial, or TV spot. What's important is that you understand - your first words count for everything… because you must captivate peoples' imagination with those words in order to keep their attention.

Here are examples of opening statements from actual successful marketing pieces:

a) "Take the luxury vacation of your dreams at a reduced cost because of this special offer" (from a travel agency's letter to business owners.)

b) "How to stop overwhelm before it stops you" (from a personal coach's ad aimed at stressed-out overachievers)

c) "Why almost every financial statement in family court may not disclose the full net worth of the opposing spouse" (from an investigator's sales letter to divorce lawyers.)

Then, after your emotion-packed opening statement, you just
a) Make a promise
b) Back it up with convincing proof and
c) Ask for action.

1. Make a promise. The letter about luxury vacations starts with these words:

"Imagine taking your winter vacation knowing you aren't 
spending a penny more than you have to-secure that you 
have a team of travel experts making sure every little detail 
of your vacation goes smoothly.
"Here's how you can have that vacation right now: Take 
advantage of an unusual promotion our company is doing. Let me explain."

Pretty exciting, right? Even if you don't think so, the people who got the letter did - because the letter produced an amazing $5 million in sales for the travel agency.

2. Back it up with convincing proof. The personal coach's ad for stressed-out overachievers, the one that begins "How to stop overwhelm before it stops you," contains this proof:

* 3 case studies, 
* 3 testimonials, 
* detailed credentials of the coach 
* and a money-back guarantee. 

Despite its stunningly bold claims, the ad comes across as very believable and has generated a record-breaking parade of new clients.

3. Ask for action. The investigator's sales letter to divorce lawyers, beginning "Why almost every financial statement in family court may not disclose the full net worth of the opposing spouse," ends this way:

"I would like to meet with you at no charge to show you how I can be of service to you and your clients in future family law cases.

"Please call me at your convenience so we can set up a meeting to discuss further how I can assist your clients recover their fair share of assets. Call me directly at xxx - xxx-xxxx."

Killer copy always asks for action in the most powerful way possible. Notice how the above words spell out exactly what to do, and even make a big promise - that the lawyer reading the letter will recover more money in court for their clients (and, therefore, get more money themselves).

As you can see, a few words of killer copy can lead to massive amounts of money. In fact, many people say writing killer copy is the single most valuable money-making skill in the world. 

And recently, writing copy was named as one of the top 10 emerging professions for the new century. 

It doesn't surprise me. In the age of the Internet, the old style of advertising copy -- saying something clever, and hoping people remember - just doesn't cut it anymore.

Besides, these days, with business-to-business advertising growing so fast, the traditional advertising industry is feeling a lot of pressure for ads that really produce results. Why? Because, old-style advertising that entertains, but does not sell, is not cost-effective enough for many companies in today's hyper-competitive market.

Recently I heard from my former accountant. (A few years ago, he left accounting to start a new business.)

He asked me if I wouldn't mind sharing some ideas on how he could write killer copy for his own business. 

I said sure. And now he's on his way to doing the same thing that I do, for himself.

Funny thing about the conversation we had the other day. Unlike the conversation we had back in 1995, he didn't kid me about drinking scotch, or anything else. Maybe he finally realized that when it comes to increasing your income, killer copy is serious business.


© 2000 David Garfinkel. All rights reserved. David Garfinkel
is widely recognized by many "marketing gurus" as their secret
weapon. That is, he is known as "The World's Greatest Copywriting
Coach"; because, he can, like no other, teach you how to turn
words into cash. David is also the author and narrator of Killer
Copy Tactics, the Web's first and only totally interactive audio/visual learning system for writing killer sales copy.
You can learn more about this course at:
http://www.killercopytactics.com