…and direct response copywriters, of course.
This is a true story…
A young boy had moved with his parents to a new country in search of a better life. He was bright and sociable and fitted in well at school.
One thing he loved to do was visit the local zoo where he especially enjoyed watching the lions and tigers. He was fascinated by the way they stretched and by their sheer grace and power.
Now, as the young boy grew up and became a teenager, an ugly problem emerged.
You see, the young man was quite small and slight. In fact, he was so skinny that he was often called a “bag of bones”. And inevitably he was harrassed by some bullies in the neighbourhood…
…both on the street and, most humiliatingly, one day at the beach when he was with some friends (including some attractive young women).
That was the final straw for the young man and he decided to do something about his scawny physique.
Inspired by the lions and tigers at the zoo, he developed his own set of exercises that proved amazingly effective at body building. The young man developed a classically sculpted musculature…the “ideal” male physique…and literally became a new man.
He went on to win many body building contests, was named “The World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man” and eventually had a highly successful business.
You may recognize the story…the young man’s name was Angelo Siciliano…
…better known as Charles Atlas.
Now, you may think this story is a little corny, and perhaps something of a cliche (even though it’s absolutely true). And that’s probably for two reasons…
Firstly, the advertising for the Charles Atlas body building course used the story and was incredibly successful. So successful, that the story has become part of our culture. The “97 lb weakling who gets sand kicked in his face , gets the body building course and subsequently thrashes the bully” is a cliche…because of the success of the Charles Atlas course!
It was a landmark campaign and used a comic strip format in many cases.
And the business continues to this very day…although Angelo / Charles himself moved on to the “Great Gym In The Sky” in 1972.
Secondly, the story itself is a version of a classic story template, the “hero” overcoming adversity to triumph in the end.
There’s something about stories that attracts our attention. Everyone loves a good story and using stories in your copy and marketing is a very powerful and effective technique.
One man who is a master at writing compelling stories that sell is my good mate and master copywriter Pete Godfrey.
And Pete has just released a powerful little report called “Stories That Sell”.
It contains three profitable examples of stories that have produced big sales for his clients and Pete shows how you can apply these stories in your own business or copy.
Pete is releasing this FREE report as part of the run up to the launch of his “Last Ever Copywriting And Marketing Master Class Home Study Course”.
Yes, you’ll need to “opt in” to get the report but it’s well worth it and you also get 3 other special reports (including the “Ultimate Copywriting And Marketing Secret”).
Act now and get your free report right here…
“Free Report – Stories That Sell”
…and discover how you can explode the results of your next promotion.