Here’s my somewhat belated review of Ben Settle’s “The Copywriting Grab Bag” (I’ve been busy over the last week, what can I say?).
More of a monster special report rather than a simple book, what you get for your money is…
“Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” – Part 11 “Information”
“Information” is the subject of Chapter 11 of the copywriting classic “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins.
In today’s language, what Hopkins is talking about is better understood as research.
Hopkins was firmly of the view that…
“An ad-writer, to have a chance at success, must gain full information on his subject…A painstaking advertising man will often read for weeks on some problem which comes up.”
And he very much practiced what he preached. Hopkins was renown for his work ethic.
Here are some of the areas Hopkins insisted needed to be covered…
Classic Tip For Power Copywriting
Latest post from copywriting genius John Carlton is titled “Your Tip For The Week” and contains some great pointers to make your copywriting more punchy and effective.
It’s timeless advice that anyone familiar with John’s teaching will recognise but it bears repeating.
In a nutshell…
What A Master of The “Voiceover” Can Teach Copywriters
There are many copywriting and marketing lessons available from a study of movies and movie trailers.
I’ve commented before about the the power of stories in copywriting and how movies can be good illustrations and examples of storylines and themes.
Movie trailers can also contain useful lessons, particularly now that video is becoming increasingly important in online marketing.
Fantastic Example Of Concise Copywriting
A few weeks back Frank Kern was causing a bit of a storm with his marketing for his “Mass Control” program. One of the tips he shared was what he referred to as John Carlton’s 3-step copywriting formula. To recap, it’s…
1. Here’s what I’ve got.
2. Here’s what it will do for you.
3. Here’s what I want you to do next.
(Let’s leave aside for the moment the fact that John Carlton himself talks about 4 steps.)
With this fresh in my mind, I came across a wonderful example of a concise, tighly written lead generation ad on Lawrence Bernstein’s “Info Marketing Blog” (a real treasure trove of direct response marketing information).
It’s from legendary copywriter Bruce Barton and it’s in the post titled “Bruce Barton: The Advertising Copywriter”. It’s a letter promoting The Alexander Hamilton Institute, which was a highly regarded executive development organization.
What struck me about the letter was it’s simplicity and elegance. The headline was “To Men Who Want To Work Less And Earn More” and from that opening thought the letter just flows so smoothly.
To illustrate what I mean, here are the subheads…”How To Work Less”…”How To Earn More”…”Here’s Proof The Institute’s Training Pays Financially”…”Send For The Facts”.
You could use this letter as a template for almost any lead generation project.
Well worth your time to read the whole post.
P.S. Just got Ben Settle’s “The Copywriting Grab Bag” today. Once I’ve had a chance to go through it, I’ll let you know what I think.