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“Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” – Part 10 “Things Too Costly”

Chapter 10 of copywriting classic “Scientific Advertising” is titled “Things Too Costly”. By this, the great Claude Hopkins means…

“Many things are possible in advertising which are too costly to attempt. That is another reason why every project and method should be weighed and determined by a known scale of cost and result.”

Put another way, there are some projects that will never make money for you, no matter how good the copywriting and how worthy the project.

Here are some of the examples Hopkins mentions…
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When It’s OK To Brag…

…maybe!

Let’s face it, nobody likes a braggart.  Which is why one of the guidelines for effective copywriting is to focus on your prospective customer rather than indulge in chest-thumping about how great you or your company are.

However, there is a lot of poor copy out there and you often see ads loudly proclaiming “We’re #1 In XYZ” without anything to back up the claim.

I saw a couple of ads like this today, which prompted this post.

But, it did occur to me that there are occasions where it is OK to “brag”.  They are…

  1. When you’ve genuinely got something to brag about and you can back it up; and…
  2. What you’re bragging about is relevant to the customer

Basically, when you’ve got something that enhances credibility and helps advance the sales argument, then it’s fine to include it.

Just make sure, as always, that the focus is on the customer rather than being self-indulgent.

“Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” – Part 9 “Art In Advertising”

In this next part of this series “Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century”, legendary copywriter Claude Hopkins turns his attention to the use of art in advertising.

Not surprisingly, his key criterion is whether or not including a picture will help the sale and improve results.  Hopkins observed…

“Pictures in advertising are very expensive.  Not in the cost of good art work alone, but in the cost of space.”

And his general principle…

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Copywriting Notes – Olympic Lessons

Coming towards the end of the 2008 Olympics, couple of observations about success occur to me.

Now, I will confess that I’m not a great sports fan and I haven’t been watching the games much. I’m also somewhat dubious about the idea of using athletes and sportsmen and women as role models in other fields of endeavour like copywriting.

However, there’s no question that top athletes have succeeded in an extremely competitive environment and so it’s of value to understand what they do to be successful.

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Master Copywriter John Carlton On Closing The Sale

Fascinating discussion of the psychological dynamics involved in closing a sale in this video from master copywriter John Carlton.

Copywriting has been defined as “Salesmanship In Print” (or, alternatively, “Multiplied Salesmanship”).  To me, one of John Carlton’s great strengths is his very clear eyed focus on what the purpose of your copy is.  That is, to make the sale, whether that’s the final step of placing the order or an intermediate step along the way.

In this short video, John hammers home a number of points.

And what do you think is the first thing on someone’s mind when they come across your ad?  The answer may surprise you…