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SELLINGMILLIONS

Short-cut secrets of how YOU can

attract, persuade, influence and SELL almost

anything through the written word

COPYWRITING TRICKS FOR

BRET THOMSON

THE ESSENTIAL

10-STEP GUIDE FOR SELLING

MILLIONS ONLINE

SELLING MILLIONS

www.BretThomson.com ©Bret Thomson 2012

About the Author 1

Introduction 4

Chapter 1: The Highest Paid Skill On The Planet 6

Chapter 2: Results Can Happen Fast 9

Chapter 3: Breakthrough #1 – Become Your Client 15

Chapter 4: Breakthrough #2 – The BIG IDEA 18

Chapter 5: Breakthrough #3 – Headlines And Bullet Points 24

Chapter 6 Breakthrough #4 – Conversational Copy 38

Chapter 7: Breakthrough #5 – Layout And Design 47

Chapter 8: Breakthrough #6 – Be A Story Teller 53

Chapter 9: Breakthrough #7 – Flood With Proof 57

Chapter 10: Breakthrough #8 – Drench With Emotion 60

Chapter 11: Breakthrough #9 – The Irresistible Offer 68

Chapter 12: Breakthrough #10 – Sharpen The Saw 75

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1

About The AuthorBret Thomson

Bret Thomson is one of Australia’s highest paid in-demand copywriter/marketing & conversion strategists, best selling author, speaker, coach and mentor to thousands.

Bret has been the secret weapon behind some of the largest (and most profitable) direct response marketing campaigns in Australia. His wickedly effective ability to nail the BIG IDEA is admired and respected by even the most seasoned marketing experts.

Starting out in his own direct mail business, Bret’s name and reputation skyrocketed to legendary status very quickly when he took a product that was barely making any sales at $498, and sold it for a whopping $1,498, just by enhancing the sales copy. Not only that – he outsold every other distributor (who were still struggling to sell it at the old price) by 600%... making over $125,000 in his first 5 months of his start up business... working from his kitchen table.

Mal Emery says, “Bret is one of the greatest copywriting talents to ever come out of this country. A rare talent who I personally pay big dollars to write for me.”

Before long, Bret was in hot demand by some of the country’s greatest marketers like Mal Emery, Andrew & Daryl Grant, Jamie McIntyre, Darren Stephens, Ari Galper, Darren Stephens, Spike Hummer, Jennie Armato, and the list goes on.

He consistently creates successful multi-million dollar marketing campaigns for his clients, and is responsible for the marketing behind bringing Sir Richard Branson out to Australia.

www.BretThomson.com ©Bret Thomson 2012

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www.BretThomson.com ©Bret Thomson 2012 2

Bret is a sought after Marketing expert, freelance copywriter, master sales and conversion strategist, explosive and entertaining stage presenter and creator of one of the most popular copywriting products in Australia, “The 7 Hour Sales Letter”.

Bret runs several seminars (that constantly sell-out in days) each year, and facilitates numerous coaching programs throughout Australia, combined with online mentoring to students from all over the world.

To find out more, duck over to Bret’s popular and entertaining blog at:

www.BretThomson.com

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Disclaimer and Copyright Information

Copyright 2012 ©Bret Thomson

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by:

Bret ThomsonPo Box 2839Burleigh BCQLD 4220Australia

While all attempts have been made to provide accurate and verifiable information in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any slights of people or organisations are unintentional. This publication is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice. Both the Author and Publisher want to stress that the information contained herein may be subject to federal, State and local laws and regulations. All users are advised to retain competent legal counsel to determine what federal, state and local laws and regulations may apply to the user’s particular business. The Publisher and Author make no representation that you will make a certain amount of money, or any money or not lose money as a result of using our products and services. The use of this publication should be based on your own due diligence and you agree that the Publisher and Author are not liable for your success or failure.

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Introduction

I still pinch myself some days.

I’m still amazed at just how quickly life (and your income) can change. I had been knocking on the door of success for over a decade, but had nothing to show. Except... of course... invaluable business lessons of what NOT to do... and incredible personal development insights that only a struggling business owner can appreciate.

But this all changed when I started to learn (and implement) emotional direct response copywriting. In one year, I went from earning $16,000 in one year, to making nearly $200,000 the following year.

And all I did differently was learn the amazing art of writing compelling words to motivate people to take action.

Within a few short years, I used my new copywriting/marketing talents to acquire multiple millions of dollars worth of sales for some of the world’s greatest marketers.

A lot of people ask me, “Bret, how did you get so good so fast?” And that’s why I’ve decided to write this book. You see, there are 1001 different hints, tips and ideas on how to write winning, compelling sales copy. But there were 10 things I did really well at the start... 10 components that I mastered... and these 10 copywriting tricks have since resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales.

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And I’m going to share all of these 10 insights with you right now. But first…I want you to make a promise to yourself right now. Promise yourself that you will read this book in its entirety. Don’t stop after the 5th or 6th chapter, no matter how busy life gets, you must read all 10 of these income-exploding tricks, okay?

Final point before we get started... I’m not sure how far down the road you are with learning direct response copywriting. If you’re relatively new to copywriting... then this book will be a perfect starting point for you. If you master these 10 points (just like I did at the start) then you could experience a massive income boost that’ll pay you for life.

If you are a seasoned copywriter... then this book will be a great refresher and give you some extra clarity on what areas to focus on to give you the best results, for yourself and your clients.

TITLE

CHAPTER 1THE HIGHEST PAID

SKILL ON THE PLANET

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Chapter 1

The Highest Paid Skill On The Planet

In truth, each of the 10 keys you’re about to discover deserves their own book. But to get you started in the best and fastest way possible, I’ve kept the content short, punchy and informative while maintaining the impact of these valuable lessons.

Oaky, let’s change gears. It’s been said that the highest paid skill on the planet is the ability to sell. Here’s some straight talk about how you can profit from this skill without being a natural born sales person. Let’s face it; some people are naturally gifted at selling face-to-face. But give them a pen or paper to sell through a letter or ask them to sit in front of a computer and type out a sales letter or email to sell a product and service and they’ll crash and burn. They’ll most likely bore the reader with their waffle or they’ll fail to connect and create rapport or a stack of other critical mistakes that will kill the sale.

Selling a product or service online (or through any written format) is one of the most profitable skills you can learn. Period. But the good news is that’s it’s a learned skill, a learnt skill that can pay you for life over and over and over again. Unlike a sales person who has to be face-to-face with a new prospect every time they need to make a sale, a well-scripted sales letter can do the work of 1000+ sales people. It’s the ultimate leveraged sale presentation. To truly understand the power of what you are about to learn, you need to hear this story.

Get comfy as I wind the clock back to 1904. Picture this: Possibly one of the greatest men of advertising of all time, Albert Laska, had been contemplating one question for a long time. The one question was, “What is advertising?”. Now

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to give you a background story on Laska, he was making over $3-million per year back in the early 1900’s so you do the math, it’s pretty damn good!

Anyway, Laska became obsessed with finding out the answer to this question. No one had come up with a satisfying answer yet. But the answer soon arrived on a piece of paper delivered to his office. A man downstairs claimed to know the answer. His name was John E Kennedy. When John was asked for his answer, he said, “First, tell me what you think advertising is” Albert replied, “Well the best way I can describe it is, I think advertising is “News.” John said; “No, news is a just a technique of presentation, advertising is a very simple thing and I can give it to you in 3 words”

“So what are these three words?”He asked. Leaning over, John said the three words that could have never been improved on today.

“SALESMENSHIP IN PRINT”

He says, “It is a means of multiplying the work of a salesmen by 1000 fold.” You see, it’s possible to reach 10,000 customers through one piece of advertising. Multiplied salesmanship at its best.

So how does copywriting fit into this picture? Well, that’s pretty much the same definition of copywriting; salesmanship in print. Or in today’s media it’s more than just in print. It’s text, audio & video.

CHAPTER 2

RESULTS CAN HAPPEN FAST

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Chapter 2

Results Can Happen FAST

I didn’t know what a copywriter was until I was 32 years old. Actually, I had never heard the term before then. And within 18 months I was earning over 6-figures a year and recognized as one of Australia’s highest paid and in demand copywriters. So it can happen fast and it’s never too late to master this skill.

And just so you know that’s my sole objective by writing this book. To help you get extraordinary results in the fastest possible time. I’m talking financial results and lifestyle results. It can happen. And it can happen fast.

Here’s my story of how I came to learn this lucrative skill. I was working for a boss for 15 years and I just knew I was meant to be doing something else with my life. So I started reading personal development books. They really shifted my mindset and totally changed my life. I read them with a glutinous appetite to better myself, to shape my life into something magnificent, to be proud of my life and for my family to be proud of me. I’m talking every night, I was reading books on success and mindset; you name it, anything to do with personal development.

As a proud father of three boys at the time, I really thought, ‘wow, I wish I’d learned this stuff at school’. No one taught us we could create our own destiny no one taught us to dream big or to believe in yourself and all those other essential life-coping skills. So I had one of my first entrepreneurial ideas.

I decided to start a business where I’d teach kids, between 7 to 13 years old, how to build their confidence, self-esteem, communication skills and life skills. I asked everyone I knew if they thought it was a great idea and every single person

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said, ‘Wow Bret that’s amazing, you’ll do so well, that’s a brilliant idea, every kid needs it’. I thought, ‘fantastic’. So I took the leap of faith and jumped out into my own business.

Now, all my friends and family were right. Everyone I spoke to and got the message out to thought it was a brilliant idea. They ALL agreed that every kid “Needs” this. The only problem was... no one was prepared to pay for it. So I had a very sudden and expensive lesson.

You need more than just a good idea... You need to know marketing

And in particular, direct response marketing I’ll get to that later. So when people tell you, “follow your passion and the money will come”, I don’t think that’s entirely true. Yes, life will be more enjoyable (in the short term), and you might not be as frustrated or have that inner friction in your life, but look, unless you know how to monetize your passion, you can fail and lose a lot of money. Following your passion may be the be-all-and-end-all; but if you want the money to come, you have to understand marketing first.

So part of marketing is to understand how to communicate your message to the audience in the most affordable and effective way. Now, when it comes to communicating your message, you need to have the skill of emotional direct response copywriting, the best definition of this that I know is;

“The art of writing compelling words that motivate people into taking action.”

So let me press on with my story... After I lost ALL my money on my kids personal development business... I realized that I needed to learn direct response marketing. So I went to my first ever marketing seminar by a gentleman with

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the name of Mal Emery, known as the millionaire maker in Australia. He had multiple speakers teaching on this subject and I was devouring the information ferociously. During the day as I was sitting in the audience, he came on the stage and he said, “What I’m about to reveal has put more money in my bank account than anything I’ve ever done in my whole life. This is the highest paid skill that you could ever have on the planet.”

I remember sitting on the edge of my seat like a nerdy A-grade student, pen in hand, and I said to myself, ‘whatever comes out of this guy’s mouth, I am going to do it’. And Mal said, “It’s the art of writing compelling words on paper that causes people to take action, better known as emotional, direct response copywriting.”

I dropped my head into my hands and moaned, ‘Nooooooo... I hate writing. I’ve only just started reading, that’s the last thing I want to do’. But I knew I had to do it. Like it or hate it, I had to learn this skill to effectively communicate to my audience.

Then he introduced a gentleman on the stage by the name of Pete Godfrey. Pete did an hour long presentation on copywriting and it totally opened my eyes up to this world and that it was possible that even someone like myself, who failed at English all through school, could do this and do this well.

So I put this skill into action and I started to get amazing results. All of a sudden my business started getting a lot of response just by learning how to attract, influence and persuade through the written word.

I was actually getting a lot more response than a lot of my competitors, who had a much bigger budget than me, because I was able to connect with the audience through my what I was writing.

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Then all of a sudden, I started getting some phone calls. People were saying, “Wow, Bret, I really like your emails and your sales letter. Who’s writing your copy?”

I said, “Well, it’s me,” and they said, “That’s amazing, look I’m looking for a very good copywriter, would you be open to us paying you to write for us?” And at that time I wasn’t making much money so I said, “Yes, why not?”

Within six months, I was writing for some of the best marketers in the country and getting some amazing results. And get this... Mal Emery rang me up out of the blue and asked me to join his stable of 10 copywriters who write for him and his clients. Some of these guys were the best in Australia. 4 or 5 months after that, after I finished a stunning package of copy for one of his clients; he called me up and offered to pay me a nice 6-fgure package to be his personal number one preferred copywriter. He chose me over 10 other copywriters some who had been writing for over 10 years. But the difference was; I was getting results and you can’t bluff your way to that position.

At that time, I started another business. A friend and I took a product that everyone around Australia was struggling to sell for $498.00. I looked at the sales copy for this product and knew I could improve it immediately. I poured my copywriting skills into enhancing the sales letters, emails, lead generation ads, follow up letters, and phone scripts, the works.

Within 4 weeks we were selling the same product for $1,498 and I outsold every other distributor by 600%. We turned over $125,000 in just 5 months. I didn’t touch the product at all. All I did was change the sales copy. That’s how much of an influence this skill will have and if you follow the principles I’m about to share with you in this book; that’s the kind of impact you can have on your business and on your marketing.

Looking back, I agree with everything Mal said. The most profitable skill I have ever learnt in my lifetime is direct response copywriting, that’s where the money is.

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Okay, so let me tell you, I’ve since gone on to help clients make hundreds of millions of dollars through writing their sales copy for them.

Look, there are a thousand and one things to be good at within this, but here are the top ten elements of copywriting that I became very good at very quickly, that made an avalanche of profit for me and my clients. And I’ll help you do the same. Let’s roll up the sleeves and get started, shall we?

CHAPTER 3BREAKTHROUGH COPYWRITING

–––––––––––– TRICK #1 ––––––––––––

“BECOME YOUR CLIENT”

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Chapter 3

Breakthrough Copywriting ––––––– Trick #1 –––––––

“Become Your Client”

I believe it was John Carlton (one of the worlds greatest copywriters, hands down) who coined the term, “Become a great sales detective” – that is to know your market, to know who your ideal client is and uncover the clues that will make them buy.

I took that one step further. I “became my client”. I put myself in their shoes, closed my eyes and tried to feel what they were feeling, think what they were thinking, feel their frustrations and things like that. It was absolutely a necessity for me to do that because if you have to write a sales message, you have to connect with them. Now to connect with them, you need to live, breathe, eat, sleep, and understand them intimately. To know what their wants, needs, desires, fears, frustrations, objections and doubts are and you have to know what dominant emotions they are feeling. There’re ways that you can do this which I’ll talk about. And later on, I’ll talk about how you can survey your clients, but another way is ask them questions like:

‘What keeps them awake at night?

What are they afraid of?

Who are they angry at? And what are they angry about?

What are their three top daily frustrations?

What trends are occurring and will occur in their businesses or lives? What do they secretly desire most?

Here’s a good one: why won’t they buy from you?’ (Very important)

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So yes, survey. Another way is to take your clients out for lunch or put a focus group or customer appreciation group together and ask them these questions directly. Take something to record the conversation. This will give you more of an insight of what angle to take with your marketing than anything else you could do.

The magic starts to happen well before you put pen to paper. Don’t assume you know what your clients want. You are not your client. That’s worth repeating so you truly get it:

“You are not your client”

Don’t assume you know what they want. Ask them. Let them tell you. Don’t assume anything. If you want to become a marketing expert in the next thirty seconds, ask your clients what they want. Simple as that.


–––––––––––– TRICK #2 ––––––––––––

“THE BIG IDEA”

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Chapter 4


“The BIG IDEA”

Okay, the next thing I got very good at was nailing the big idea. This really comes from doing your research. And the big idea can come in all different shapes and forms; you can come up with an irresistible offer, the headline, the media you’ll use or the strategy of how you’re going to roll your marketing out. Whatever. The point is it’s the BIG IDEA that separates you from your competitors and what will make all the difference.

So here are some tips on the big idea.

One of the greatest stories of the big idea that I know is by a gentleman by the name of Gary Halbert. Gary was one of the greatest direct response copywriters who ever lived. Period. He had a client who wanted to release a new perfume product. Anyway, he could’ve gone to the market with a boring old ad with something like ‘Essence of the Night’ or something lame like most advertising companies think up. But not Gary, he was the most “out-of-the-box” thinker in his time. Gary came up with an idea to run a full page newspaper ad in the Los Angeles Times, with a headline that read;

‘Wife of Hollywood Celebrity Swears Under Oath that Her New Perfume Does not Contain Illegal, Sexual Stimulants’.

Then underneath the ad it said, ‘And to prove it, she’s giving away 10,000 bottles at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles’. Now that caused 7,000 people to

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jump in their cars and drive down to this hotel and it was bedlam. It caused a manic rush.

The BIG IDEA was brilliant. Pure genius. That famous headline has it all. It presents curiosity, controversy and intrigue. Incredible.

Now understand that the big idea can be right under your nose and you don’t know it. I remember the following story of when a bunch of brainiacs from N.A.S.A spent one million dollars on developing a pen that could work in space, so their astronauts could write in zero gravity. That’s one million dollars? Whereas the Russians, they just took a pencil.

Laugh if you must, but it’s a common mistake I see a lot of marketers make. They bust a billion brain cells and fork out bucket loads of cash with overcomplicated ways and strategies. Again, the big idea could be sitting right under your nose. A simple Joint venture with another company or client could boost your bank account faster than you could drink from a fire hose. And all it may take is just one simple phone call to chat about your idea. Simple. Effective. And potentially very profitable.

Now, here’s how I tap into the big idea. A lot of people think I get paid to do sales copy for clients, but the truth is, I get paid to think. Writing comes second. Now the way I do that is I tap into my intuition. Now relax, I’m not highly tuned in to the cosmic or psychic world, or anything like that but I think everyone has the ability to use their intuition. And that’s where a lot of your BIG IDEAS will come from.

Everyone has this intuitive side and the good news is; the more research you do about the market, the sharper your skills get. So tap into that, that’s what I mean by becoming your client.

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Think about the way we receive information, in particular, the speed of how we receive information. One way of receiving information is the speed of sound. Is there anything faster than the speed of sound to receive information? Yes there is, it’s called the speed of light. Okay, is there any other faster way to receive information than the speed of light? Yes there is, it’s the speed of thought. For example, when you’re having a conversation with someone and in a split second, you get ten minutes of dialogue downloaded in your mind. It lands there pretty fast, right? So, is there anything faster than the speed of thought? Yes. It’s called the speed of knowing.

The speed of knowing is like when someone walks into a room and instantly, you just get a feeling that there’s something you don’t like about that person. Know what I mean? And then what follows is a thought. So the speed of knowing is something you must harness because it can pay you well. You’ve got to tap into that, believe it, and that’s where the creative mind works.

The creative mind works in the subconscious region, along with visualization and memory. So it’s like if you’re having a conversation with someone and all of a sudden you forget someone’s name and the more you try to remember it, the more you start to panic and stress. You think, “C’mon, I should know this.” You try to force it and it doesn’t come up. Then a few hours later, you drive home, relaxed, listening to the radio and then boom, that person’s name comes into your mind. Why did that happen? Because you relaxed and the subconscious mind drifted from the frantic, active mind, busy-busy-busy, to the more calmed, relaxed, subconscious mind. And that’s where the magic happens.

A lot of the million dollar ideas I come up with for my clients happen when I’m in that sleepy state just before I fall asleep, or just as I’m about to wake up. So often if I am tired during the day, if I’m writing or working and I feel tired, I don’t sit at the desk and force myself to work, where I’m unproductive and trying to keep myself awake. I’ll go and have a lay down for a powernap. But here’s the important part of that; before I drift off to sleep, I’ll give my mind an embedded command. I’ll say, ‘Alright, Bret, I want you to give me the show-stopping headline for this project while I sleep,’ the subconscious mind does not sleep. So you might as

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well harness its power when it’s at its best state. Makes sense, right? So many times, I come up with a big, million dollar idea in that sleepy subconscious state. It happens all the time and I always tap into that.

Here’s another exercise to train the brain for the BIG IDEA... Ask yourself this question:

“What Are You Really Selling?”

Think about this: What are you really selling? Push your ideas to the extreme. Push it from a feature to a benefit to a feeling. My good mate and mentor, Pete Godfrey taught me this in the early days. Here’s an example to wrap your head around. Let’s say you’re selling a pushbike, like a mountain bike. And this mountain bike has 10 gears. Most people who advertise that mountain bike will list out the features, saying it has 10 gears, the latest brakes, a new comfy shaped seat, blah, blah. You get the idea. SO if we take the 10 gears as an example; what’s the benefit of having ten gears? The benefits of having ten gears is so you can go up a hill faster and easier. If you can ride up a hill faster and easier, that’s the benefit but what’s the benefit of riding up a hill faster and easier? Okay, well the benefit is you’ll do more exercise. So what’s the benefit of doing more exercise? You get fitter. What’s the benefit of getting fitter? You’d lose weight. What’s the benefit of losing weight? You feel better about yourself. Now we’re really stepping it up a notch. Now keep asking yourself, what’s the feeling you’d get if you lose more weight? You’d feel more confident, you feel sexy. And now you’ve tapped into what you’re really selling. You’re not selling a bike with ten gears. You’re selling sexiness and confidence. That’s what you’re selling. And that’s what will make them buy.

Side note: Don’t leave out the features in your marketing. They’re important too. Just try and present them in a story that illustrates the benefits and the feeling behind the benefits. Make sense? Good.

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In a nut shell... your ultimate goal is to hit the dominant emotion for your target market. I’ll talk about that soon.

What’s next? The next thing I got very good at that accelerated my success was to create winning headlines. Yep. There’s an art to it and it pays well. Let’s dive in, shall we?


–––––––––––– TRICK #3 ––––––––––––

“HEADLINE & BULLET POINT SECRETS”

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Chapter 5


“Headline & Bullet Point Secrets”

Alright let’s talk about headlines. Anyone who has been around the copywriting/marketing scene for more than 5 minutes would’ve heard, “Headlines are the most important part of copywriting.” And yes, from a readership perspective that’s 100% true. Well think about it for a sec. If the headline on your advertising or website, blog, letter etc doesn’t grab their attention and motivate them to read more, then NOTHING else gets read. Period.

Think about this: if someone is reading the newspaper, it’s estimated they look at each page for about three seconds. What do you think they’re doing in those three seconds? Let me tell you. They’re looking at headlines. Scanning headlines. Well, headlines and pictures but I’ll talk more about pictures later on, okay? So with your headline, what they’re thinking is they’re waiting for a headline to jump off the page and give them enough reason to read more. Simple as that. If the headline doesn’t achieve that task, then forget about it. You won’t get any kind of response. Same with your website. With your website you’ve probably got less than three seconds. They’ll look around and if nothing grabs them, if the solution to their problem isn’t visible to them straight away, it’s too easy for them to click back and look somewhere else. I’m amazed at how many people don’t even use headlines. They’re too focused on pretty designs. Designs that only make the website owner feel proud but don’t make any sales.

You absolutely must have a headline that screams the biggest benefit and taps into the most dominant emotion for your ideal client. That’s the key thing. If you tap into the biggest benefit and the most dominant emotion, then you stack

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the odds in your favor for them to read more. And when they read more, they buy more. Got it?

One of the world’s greatest copywriters, Ted Nicholas, ran more full page magazine ads than most people could imagine. In one split test example, he ran the same ad, one week apart. The exact same ad. The only thing he changed was the headline. He had the same font, same body copy, same offer. Same everything except that he changed the headline. That’s it. And what happened? One ad outperformed the other ad by 17 times. Not 17 extra orders. Not double or triple the orders but 17 times more orders. That’s a 1,700% higher response just by changing the headline only. Like I said earlier, it does matter what the rest of the copy says, nothing will get read unless your headline does its job.

Okay enough rambling. Let’s bring you closer to mastering the craft of punching out winning headlines. Sound cool? Thought so. Let’s begin.

Recycle Winning Headlines

First up... One way (maybe not the best, but it’s still a way) is you can recycle other winning headlines. So keep an eye out for great headlines that really grab your attention and you can use that as a framework or a template for your own headline. This can save you a lot of time and is a great starting point.

For example... If your business was running seminars teaching people how to meditate, you could take this classic headline:

Give Me Just 2 Days And I’ll Show You How To Be Debt Free For Life!

And you could turn it into

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Give Me Just 2 Days And I’ll Show You How To Improve Your Life Through Meditation

Okay... lame example, but you get the idea. Moving on...

I’ve added a bunch of famous winning headlines further in this book so you can play around with them. I do have to say this though; recycling headlines is not the most recommended way, but it’s an easy way to get started. The reason why most pro copywriters don’t take short cuts and recycle headlines is because a headline that worked for one industry at one time may not necessarily be the sweet spot for where you are right now for your market. Trends change, people’s awareness and skepticism levels change... and so does the dominant emotion of the market. So a headline that connected at one time may be ignored at a different period. But like I said it is a good starting point.

Here’s another technique for you to try. I call this…

The Brain Dump Technique

In truth, this is what I do every time I work on a project. This is how I nail jaw-dropping headlines that bring in multiple millions of dollars. I teach this from stage, but I reckon only about 2% of people actually does it. Most say they will, but rarely follow through.

Okay, here’s how it works. Next time you attempt to write a headline, I want you to have a brain dump and write 100 headlines. I’m not kidding. 100 headlines. Why? Because, what you’re going to do is tap into “The Flow.” The writing “flow” when you can’t type fast enough or you can’t write as fast as your mind goes. That’s where the magic is. That’s where the money is. Try and get to that magic hundred goal. Now here’s why this is so important. The winning headline might come up as number 34, lucky for you but I want you to keep writing. I encourage

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you to keep on going because I’ll show you how you can use all the other 99 headlines so they don’t go to waste. Let me explain;

Think about this; think about the ‘subject line’ for an email. What is that exactly? That’s right… all the subject line really is, is a headline. It’s a headline aimed to compel the reader to open the email and read more. So when you have your list of 100 headlines, keep them for a resource of email subject lines.

Also, you can reuse them as bullet points and sub-headlines that can be spread down the sales page. You could turn each headline into its own sentence or paragraph and turn it into a tweet for a Facebook post. You can use the theme of the headline as a blog post topic. You name it; headlines can be reused many times over. Keep in mind that with your emails, the same thing applies, if your subject line doesn’t do its job, your emails are not going to get read no matter what. So if you start the day like myself and a lot of people, where before you even open your emails, you start deleting a stack that have come in, then here’s what I want you to do instead. Before you delete them, I challenge you to look at the subject line and if it grabs your curiosity or sparks an interest, then cut and paste it and put it into a Word doc named “Cool Subject Lines” and create a swipe file. So when it’s your turn to write a subject line, then you’ve got something to go on, to stimulate some ideas for you. You’ll thank me for this.

How to pick the winning headline?

Moving on, now you’ve got your list of 100 headlines how do you know what will be the winning headline? You don’t. I just base that on my intuition after researching the markets most dominant desire and emotion. If you can, ask other people (in the industry) to pick their favourite headline. But ultimately you have to let the market decide. But before you start split testing, you can do a simple test by yourself. Here’s how;

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Here’s how to do a quick check to get a feel of if your headline will be a winner or not. It’s called the “Who Cares” test. Here’s how it works.

When you look at a headline, read it out loud and if you respond, “Who Cares?” then scrap it. That’s the last thing you want your prospect to think. If they think, “Who Cares?” after reading your headline, then I promise you they will not read one more word of your copy. Your headline/s MUST pass the Who Cares?” test…

The purpose of your headline is for them to read the next line underneath. And the purpose of the next line underneath is to get them to read the line under that. And so on. Critically important you get this. Don’t get sloppy. And don’t get lazy, because a lot of money will just slip through your fingers, okay?

Here are some winning headline examples to help you tap into your creative mojo...

Winning Headlines Examples:

How To Raise Your Child’s IQ Before It’s Even Born

He Became Twice The Man At Half The Weight

The Secret Of Being Wealthy

Do You Make These Mistakes In Job Interviews?

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT

Doctors Prove 2 Out Of 3 Women Can Have More Beautiful Skin In 14 Days

THE CRIMES WE COMMIT AGAINST OUR STOMACHS

A Breakthrough Idea For Those Who Want To Act In The Movies

Which Of These 5 Skin Problems Do You Have?

Test Your Ability To Ever Grow Up

Here Is A Way To Become Tight, Lean, Attractive And Remarkably Healthy In Just

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45 Minutes Three Times A Week.

How Do You Grow $1,000 Worth of Food In A Garden This Small?

STOP DREAMING AND START MAKING MONEY

How To Get Out Of The Rat Race And Into The Chips

The Chinese Secrets Of Weight Control

Who Else Wants To Make Big Money In Electronics

Three Powerful Reasons You Should Come To My Seminar

What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know May Be Killing You

You Can Laugh At Money Worries If You Follow This Simple Plan

Watch Your Weight And Inches Disappear

They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano – But When I Started To Play!

$80,000 In Prizes! Help Us Find The Name For These New Kitchens

Who Else Wants A Screen Star Figure?

Give Me Just 2 Days And I’ll Show You How To Be Debt Free For Life!

Confessions Of an Underground Property Millionaire

If Only I’d Bought Property Back Then...

How We Made $250,000 In Our First Year Online... Now it’s Your Turn!

Fresh Piping Hot Pizza Delivered To Your Door In 30 minutes Or It’s FREE

I Had Been Overweight For 10 Years, So... My Friends Could Hardly Believe Their Eyes When They Saw Me Lose 56 Pounds In Only 6 Weeks!”

47 REASONS WHY IT WOULD HAVE PAID YOU TO ANSWER THIS AD A FEW MONTHS AGO

The Amazing “Face-Lift-In-A-Jar” Used By Hollywood Stars Who Don’t Want Plastic Surgery

Released At Last – 143 Perfectly Legal Ways To Get A Big Fat Tax Return!

HOW TO MAKE MONEY WRITING SHORT PARAGRAPHS

TOO BUSY EARNING A LIVING TO MAKE ANY MONEY?

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How To Write Compelling Bullet Points

Let’s move on to bullet points. I’ve added bullet points in this Headline section because when you think about it... that’s what bullet points are really, just mini headlines designed to jump off the page, grab your prospect by the throat and pull them back into your sales copy.

In case you don’t know what bullet points or ‘fascinations’ are, they are like mini headlines that summarize a specific point or emotion. They get noticed because they have some kind of symbol at the start (like a dash, dot, arrow, tick, asterisk, etc) and they are generally indented in the copy, making it more noticeable to read. See examples below.

For you to spot a good bullet point over a bad one is great skill to have. To know how to write them is even better. They’re considered as an essential skill to have because they often do the following:

!" "Seize attention, stimulate curiosity, build intrigue and most of all create DESIRE

!" "Jump of the page and pull skim-readers back into your letter making them READ more...

!" SMASH writers block or “headline block”

!" "Seal off all the escape routes and excuses that your prospect might have by hitting multiple angles in one short section

!" Seduce your prospect into your message so they “stay on track”

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!" "Pulls down hard on your prospects emotional chords and highlights and amplifies all the benefits of your promotion

!" "Sharpens your selling/copywriting skills and fine-tunes your ability to write POWERFUL headlines

!" And much, much more...

Look at any winning sales copy and you’ll always see a bank of 10-20 bullet points. Essential. And you’re about to find out why.

Speak to any pro copywriter about the importance of bullets and they’ll give you this intense look like you’ve just asked them, “How important is oxygen to you these days?”

Seriously. Bullet points are absolutely essential. Why? Because, my friend, this is how you capture the attention of your skim readers. I promise you that close to 80% (or more) of the people reading your website are skim readers.

Here’s what skim readers will typically do; they’ll read the headline... if that get’s their attention, then they’ll read the sub-headline straight underneath maybe move onto reading the first sentence then they’ll typically scroll down and read your bullet points and look at pictures along the way. So you don’t want to be lazy with bullet points because they are VALUABLE real estate on your page. Bullet points are your opportunity to pull your readers back into your sales copy and keep them reading. And like I’ve said, the more they read the more they buy.

But be warned. Bullet points can be a double-edged sword. If your bullet points are boring and fail the “Who Cares’ test... then your prospect will either immediately start skim reading again or simply click off your page.

You’ve got to put your best stuff in your bullet points. You’ve got to invest a lot of creative energy into your bullet points because if your bullet points do the job,

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they’ll actually suspend disbelief and buy you more time. What do I mean by, “suspend disbelief?” Good question.

Harsh reality is people don’t trust you online. The Internet is the most un-trusted medium on the planet. It’s safe to assume that when your prospect first comes to your site, they are looking for reasons NOT to buy from you. They want everything free. So you have to do a pretty darn good job at building enough trust to make them part with their money. If they don’t trust you or believe in you, then they won’t buy from you. So a good headline or bullet point can suspend disbelief and keep them interested long enough to keep reading – buying you more time to build trust. I’ll explain this in more detail in “Breakthrough #8: Provide Proof”.

The purpose of a good bullet point is to stimulate curiosity and intrigue, to create urgency and a desire to want to know more. So keep them curious, you want to seize the prospect’s attention, and if you do a good enough bullet point, a lot of people will buy your product just because of one bullet point. True story. If your prospect MUST know the answer to one of your bullet points, then they will scroll down and hit the order button just to get the answer. I’ve done this myself.

Understand this you don’t want all your bullet points to start out with the same words, like “How To...” You can pick a lazy amateur copywriter from a mile away. The dead give away is to look at their bullets. If they start all (or most) of their bullets with “How to...” then they’re not serious. Nothing wrong with the “How to...” lead-in but not 10 of them in a row. Your prospect will be lucky to get to the third bullet before jumping off. You’ve got to mix it up.

Okay now it’s time to give you some examples so you can punch out some power compelling bullet points. Sound cool? Excellent.

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Here’s a list of lead-in’s that I printed up and had on my office wall for nearly 2 years:

1. How to...

2. The Secret...

3. Why you must...

4. What to do...

5. What Never...

6. Plus! ...

7. 7 Reasons...

8. The Right and Wrong...

9. Warning...

10. Don’t Read This Unless...

11. Finally...

12. The Truth About...

13. Breakthrough...

14. Did you know...

15. Who Else Would Like...

16. Sneaky Tricks...

17. Shocking facts about...

18. When to...

19. If you hate ___ then...

20. The Quick and Easy

And just so you don’t feel cheated... here are some winning bullet point examples below. Enjoy...

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!" "HOW TO GET STAFF THAT TREAT YOUR BUSINESS LIKE IT’S THEIR OWN (Without headaches, dramas and worrying if they can be trusted or not)

!" What Really Happens Behind Closed Doors in Restaurant Kitchens

!" "What Never to Eat on Airplanes – The Dangerous health risks that leading airlines desperately sweep under the carpet

!" "INSIDER SECRETS of “WHOLESALE PROPERTIES” What are they? And how to buy them before the rest of the market knows about them.

!" "WHO ELSE WANTS TO KNOW how to easily find HOT leads and turn them into long-term clients who pay above average prices?

!" "Finally!! A Highly Successful Natural Alternative For Couples Trying To Fall Pregnant That Is Safe For YOU and Your Future Baby!

!" "The DEADLY Skin Allergies and Diseases that the “Untrained Eye” will often miss and not see until it’s too late...

!" "5 Key Questions To Ask When Searching For The Best Grooming Service

!" "7 SECRET STRATEGIES REVEALED for doubling your paint contracting income while working half the hours!

!" "How An Easy-To-Follow Program Saved My Marriage (and sex life), Put an End to My Depression, And Helped Me Fall Pregnant Naturally After Years of Infertility...” (Real life case study)

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!" "UNDERGROUND PROPERTY MILLIONAIRE-MAKER emerges at the right time to show you proven property wealth strategies that could fast track your journey towards financial freedom.

!" "The SNEAKY TRICKS that real estate owners use on unsuspecting first home owners that could cost you THOUSANDS

!" "THE LAZY MAN’S WAY TO GET RICH - The Ultimate “DONE-FOR-YOU” SYSTEM – Perfect for the busy person! Carry on with your normal daily routine while we use our proven strategies to find YOUR ideal Property. No STRESS, No WORRY, No HASSLE, Just results!

!" "How to STOP STRESSING AND START LIVING with 3 simple and easy techniques that you do in just 4minutes per day

!" "A Breakthrough Solution For Those Wanting To Fall Pregnant and Have A Safe And Natural Birth...

!" "NO HYPE, NO FLUFF, NO B.S, NO SMOKE & MIRRORS or No recycled and rehashed rubbish! And definitely NO HARD SELL – We just deliver the facts so you can ride the coat tails of experts who walk the walk!

!" "FREE AIRCONDITIONING? Try and Catch us out on our controversial rock solid “Your Temperature Guaranteed or it’s FREE” offer...

!" "The 7 Costly Mistakes Home Owners Make When Buying Air Conditioners & How To Avoid Them!

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!" "SLASH OVERHEADS & SAVE $$$ without haggling for prices with suppliers (This one could instantly save you $200 a week in paint! I’m not kidding)

Okay that’s a wrap for now. Like I said earlier, the art of crafting winning headlines is a subject that deserves a book on its own. This is by no means a complete coverage of this topic, but what you’ve learned so far will give you a rapid head start ahead of your competition take my word.

Okay this next breakthrough is one of my all time favorites.


–––––––––––– TRICK #4 ––––––––––––

“CONVERSATIONAL COPY”

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Chapter 6


“Conversational Copy”

One of the biggest objectives when writing copy if not THE biggest... is to KEEP YOUR PROSPECT READING!

I mean lets face it... how do you expect them to take action on your offer if they get bored and stop reading before they get to it, right? So I want to share with you an essential strategy for keeping your prospect “glued to your words” and glide through your sales message like a hot knife through melted butter.

So what am I talking about? You guessed it. Writing with a CONVERSATIONAL style. Thinking back if I had to choose just one component of my early sales letters that got me the most comments and recognition then it would be my “conversational writing style”

Before I roll ahead, I’ve got to tell you this funny story. Before I had even proclaimed myself as a copywriter back when I was just writing for my own business, I remember receiving a phone call out of the blue from a switched on marketing wiz, David McMahon. Here’s what he said to me...

“Hi Bret, It’s David here. Mate, you need to stop sending me emails. They get me hooked every time - and once I start reading them I just can’t stop!

We both laughed, then Dave went on to praise me on the conversational style I

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used. Let me tell you, this skill, above all others, will make your copy sing! But how did I pick it up so quickly?

You know, I’ve tossed and turned thinking about the correct answer and it boils down to a combination of things. First, let me simplify what “conversational copy” really is. In layman’s terms it is “WRITING AS YOU SPEAK” - Nothing more complicated than that. If you CAN “write as you speak” and break away from what you’ve been taught in English class, then you’ve 80% made it!

For me it was pretty damn easy. Why? Because, I failed English miserably all through my schooling. And that’s no exaggeration.

So when I realized the trick to conversational copy was to “write as I speak” I had little to no earlier reference to stop me from doing otherwise. So that’s exactly what I did. I wrote the words, phrases and conversational connectors exactly as if I were speaking them.

Think about this: We don’t speak with correct grammar, right? So it’s no wonder why people “trip up” and get bored when reading “plain vanilla” text. I’m sure you’re as guilty as I am for starting a sentence with the word “AND”, true? Or heaven forbid using the forbidden words “Get” or “Got” - I’d be put on school detention for making those mistakes. In fact...

My English teacher would turn over in her grave if she knew how I made my money today.

You see most people who are “institutionalized” with a higher education feel compelled to use big words when writing. I’m guessing it make them feel important or intelligent or something? Anyway all it really does is bore their prospect or more times than not it’ll stop them from reading all together. It doesn’t engage them in the slightest in fact it will repel. Understand this;

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Most people have the reading comprehension rate of a 13 year-old. True story. So if your 13 year-old can’t understand it or trips up when reading it, then that’s what most of your clients are going to be doing as well. And what happens if they read something and fumble on your words? They’ll stop reading or skim read and you lose your flow.

The purpose of conversational copy is to engage your reader by pulling them in and making it easy for them to read. Because, Also, the more they read, the more they buy.

Conversational copy and writing as you speak is like the glue that keeps them reading.

Here’s a cool story about my son when he was 13 years old, and how he BLEW his English teacher away with his writing ability.

He was asked to write an autobiography about his school holidays. A week after he handed it in, the teacher called him to the front desk. He admitted to me, “Gosh Dad, I thought I was in trouble.” Anyway here’s what followed;

The teacher asked him, “Who wrote this story for you?”

“Oh, I did, ma’am.” he replied.

“Well,’ she said “I’ve been teaching at this school for nine years. I teach English to grade 12 students and you’re only in grade 8 and this story is one of the best written stories I’ve ever read.”

(And here’s the kicker)

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She said, “I couldn’t stop reading and I felt like I was there with you the whole time.”

Cool story, right? (Made me very proud). Well here’s the funny part of the story... my son told me he wrote that story just 15 minutes before it had to be handed in.

So what made his holiday story such a stand out? The answer is simple; his conversational style. Here’s how I taught my kids (and my copywriting students) this skill so quickly;

Let the first lesson be this…

You may need to flush most of what you’ve learnt in English class - and write as you speak!

Most of the grammar rules don’t apply to conversational copy. Got it? Okay, here are a few quick techniques that’ll help you master this skill.

Record your conversation

Take the time to grab a voice recorder - Either a hand-held MP3 device, or download some recording software from your computer or heck even on your iPhone, whatever. Here’s what to do next;

Sit in front of a friend, family, colleague or someone you feel comfortable with, hit the “record button” on your recorder and start talking about how great your business is and why they should do business with you. In other words; sell your idea or business to the person in front of you and record every pat of the conversation. Encourage them to come up with objections and questions along the way and you answer them on the spot and get everything recorded.

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When that’s done, shoot it off to a transcriber and get every word transcribed. You’ll get it back to you on a Word document and you simply delete all the umms and the ahhhs, but you leave everything else in. ESPECIALLY the conversational snippets like, “let me explain” or “Wait, before I forget” or “You’ll like this part” or “By the way”, or “I’ll answer that shortly” and so on and so forth get the idea? Just to be sure fully understand, let me pack it out more for you.

You see, those little throw away lines are the parts that keep people engaged. Most academic people will leave out. But not us no way, we know better. We know that they keep people reading. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have a solid foundation for some of the most believable piece of sales copy you could ever hope for.

The first time I did this was for one of my first copywriting clients. I set up a phone call on Skype. I told him I was going to ask him some questions and record the conversation. The best question I asked him was, “Pretend I’m sitting in front of you, now try and SELL ME why I should do business with you”

I pretty much just shut-up and let him go for it. I would occasionally prompt him to expand on some points and would try and dig up some emotional responses every now and then. But let me tell you;

What came out of his mouth was pure GOLD!

I got the whole conversation transcribed and slotted most of it straight into the sales letter! I had to do a bit of trimming and cutting here and there so it flowed well and made sure every part was slotted in the right sections. Once it was done, the letter read so smoothly; you just couldn’t stop reading it to the end. And the best part was... He ABSOLUTELY loved it! As if he wouldn’t, right? I mean they were pretty much his own words.

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I went from ZERO to HERO on my first ever project. He thought I was an absolute wordsmith genius! The sales letter went gangbusters and totally blew his sales prediction out of the water.

Anyway, getting back to my sons story, he didn’t have time to record and transcribe. Remember, he wrote it 15 minutes before it was due in. So what did he do? Let me explain...

Visualize your conversation

Another trick which I do every day is to visualize a real (or made up) conversation.

Picture you and your ideal client having a two-way conversation about your product and service. But here’s the twist. When picturing this mock conversation, make sure it’s a casual conversation – like at the beach, down the park, across the kitchen table etc

It’s like playing a video in your mind of a conversation you would be having with someone about your product or service.

When visualizing (or playing this mental video) you need to write down every single word that comes up in the conversation. The more you practice this, the better you get. This is where you can really tap into the “flow” of writing. I can type and visualize at the same time – and you can too! This is how my son was able to whip out his holiday assignment masterpiece so quickly.

Here’s another tip that propelled my conversational style.

Write Out Winning Copy By Hand

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This is one of the greatest secrets of the master copywriters of all time. To write out by hand – word for word – some of the great sales letters of all time. Yes, it takes discipline. But if your desire to be great is high enough, then you’ll do it. I did. And I still reap the financial rewards many years later.

I used to do this for about an hour in the morning before I started on my own stuff. Try this, it works. Your conversational writing ability will soar to all new heights. One of the best examples of conversational copy (and my personal favourite) is anything from Gary Halbert. Check out his newsletter at www.thegaryhalbertnewsletter.com and you’ll see what I mean.

I promise you this, within the first 3 paragraphs of reading one of Gary’s newsletters, his conversational style will have you hooked. It’ll feel like you are sitting opposite him having a yarn – and that’s exactly what you need to portray in your copy.

Another trick, when you start noticing great conversational copy, make sure you cut and paste some “conversational chunks” and start your own swipe file. I have my own “Gary Halbert Swipe file” that I still refer to nearly every day.

Here’s a quick tip for you. If you look carefully, you will notice at either the start and/or the finish of each paragraph or sentence is where the conversational “chunks” are found. You can make a semi-boring sentence much more engaging just by adding a conversational snippet at the start and/or end of the sentence.

These conversational snippets are called “Connectors”. Meaning, they keep the “flow” of the copy going and connect each sentence together. Here are some examples for you. Enjoy...

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A few examples of what you’ll discover…

After all…

Although, …

Am I right about you so far?

And guess what?

And like I said:

Look at it this way...

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Back to the purpose of this letter.

Believe me, …

Best of all, …

But before we go into that, …

But don’t get me wrong…

But don’t take my word for it…

I’m jumping ahead...

Let me tell you how this all came about:

By the way, …

Could that be true?

Despite what you may have heard…

Fact is, …

I could go on and on…

I’ll bet you can guess what happened next.

Let me explain.

Let’s face it, …

More on that in a moment...

But first, let me show you…

Now get this:

On the other hand, …

So what do you think?

Then he dropped the bombshell.

Then it hit me…

This example is going to surprise you.

This is not just my opinion.

To cut short my long story, …

To make matters worse, …

Want Proof?

What this all boils down to is..

What’s all this worth to you?

What’s the catch?

Which is why I’m writing to you…

Who wouldn’t jump at this?

You’ll be glad to know that...

Imagine what it would be like if...

Now I would like to help you experience...

Just picture this for a moment...

You’re probably wondering...

In 3 short minutes...

You’ve got to wonder...

Now, I can almost hear your mind saying...

And soon you’ll...

And before long...

And do you begin to notice...

And shortly...

Now, let me ask you a personal question...

Are you beginning to notice...

Earlier on, I asked you the question...

Do you remember a time when...

If you’re like everyone else...

Earlier on, I asked you the question...

Ask yourself this question...

Conversational Connector Examples The Flow Factor For Your Sales Letter


–––––––––––– TRICK #5 ––––––––––––

“LAYOUT AND DESIGN”

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Chapter 7


“Layout And Design”

The next thing you’ve got to get good at is to have a good eye for layout and design. Relax, you don’t have to be a graphic artist but just have a good sense and understanding for what design elements will enhance readership or what will detract the flow of readership. The key is to make your website (or letter) look clean and easy to read at a glance.

A messy looking website can cause instant “Sales Friction”. Meaning your prospect will be turned off by your site even before they read the first letter or your first word. I’m not saying you’ll instantly lose the sale every time. But your conversion will drop dramatically if your website looks unprofessional. A site that looks slapped together and cheap will cause distrust. And no trust – no sale.

If you don’t naturally have a good eye for design, then do yourself a favour and get someone you trust to tell you straight. You don’t want a sugar-coated opinion. If your website looks confusing, congested and messy or something just doesn’t seem right, then you need someone to tell you the brutal truth. Then fix it. How? Let’s delve into it...

For starters often, less is best. Don’t flood your page with too many pictures, headlines, banners and blocks of text. They won’t know where to look first. Instant sales friction. Each page must have a central feature that they can instantly and easily grasp, be it a video, a headline, a slide show, whatever, but decide what the one focused purpose of that page should be. Then design the page so there is zero confusion on what you want your prospect to do.

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Golden rule. The most valuable piece of real estate on your website (or letter) is what we call, the “Top Fold”. The top fold is a reference used in the offline direct mail industry that describes the top 1/3rd of a letter that people see when they take it out of the envelope. If the top fold (or top 1/3rd) doesn’t grab their attention, then it’ll go straight in the rubbish. Same goes with your website. If the front page doesn’t grab them, then they are NOT going to scroll down any further.

Again... keep it clean looking. Remember, the objective is to increase readership. As a rule, it’s safe to believe that most people hate reading. You might be different but as a majority, it’s true. So here are some layout and design tips to help your prospects stay on your page longer and read more.

First up; make your sentences short. People can digest short sentences very quickly and easily. I have a rule where I try and use seven words or less in a sentence. That’s not including the short words like a, an, in, at and things like that. A lot of my sentences are just one or two words. Remember when I said the comprehension level of most adults is equivalent to a 13-year-old? Well, short sentences make it less likely they’ll trip up and stumble. Keep them short and punchy.

Also, make your paragraphs very short. When I write a sales letter, email or blog post, I make most of my paragraphs just one sentence. Sometimes I use two or three sentences, occasionally four, but usually no more.

Think about it, if you start your paragraphs with a big chunky paragraph that’s about ten lines deep, then I promise you this: They probably won’t even read the first letter of the first word. Why? Because they hate reading and your big lengthy paragraph turned them off straight away. They’re just too busy. Keep everything in small bite size chunks. This goes with using big words too. Again, keep them small and simple. This will increase readership – and ultimately increase sales for you.

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Another tip for layout and design is to make sure you use pictures that have an emotional impact. If you’re selling something that promotes financial freedom by working from home, then chose a picture of a young mom or dad sitting on the couch with the laptop while watching their young toddler playing on the carpet. You get the idea, I’m sure. But here’s the most important part;

When you use pictures in your sales copy or your brochures, always have a caption underneath the image because that’s the next place a persons eyes will automatically go. That’s very valuable real estate for some emotive sales copy. Now don’t waste the space of a caption by saying ‘Fig. 1’ or ‘Fig. 2’, you know what I mean? Put a headline in the caption. Go to your headline swipe file and put in an emotionally driven headline underneath the picture that will pull them into your sales copy more.

Another tip; make sure you have nice wide margins either side. Never run your text all the way to the margins. That looks unprofessional and you’ll instantly break any trust and belief you had.

Also, avoid a black background with white text, or any other arrangement of colours for that matter. Stick to the basic black text on white background. You can use other colours on either side of the margins, but keep the text columns black on white.

Try to never have just a page of full text. Break the page up with sub-headlines, or bullet points, or images. Again, you will repel your readers if they scroll down and get intimidated by full pages of text.

Junk it up

People’s eyes get tired. If you use the same font, same size and same colour through the whole document, then you’ll run the risk of putting your prospect

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into a sleepy state. Mix the text up. We call this “Junk it up”. Here are some ways to junk up your text;

Bold

Indent space

Underline

Italics

CAPITAL

Change font

Increase size

Change colour

Hand writing

Add highlight.

Now before you dive into ‘Junking up’ your sales copy. Promise me this:

You will do this SPARINGLY. DO NOT GO OVERBOARD.

People who take this to far will often repel readers as well. The golden rule is to keep it clean looking but break up the norm at the same time. People notice things that are out of contrast. Even in the slightest way. Just don’t go overboard, okay?

Final thought, keep an eye out for attractive looking sites. Bookmark them. Take note of what you like and why. You don’t have to love the whole site maybe just a few design elements that catch your eye. Start your design swipe file.

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One more thing, don’t be too frugal and tight to pay for a good designer. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. In fact, I cringe when I hear about people spending multiple thousands of dollars on fancy looking websites. It just needs to be simple and clean looking. Forget all the bells and whistles. Simple, clean, and have one single purpose for each page.


–––––––––––– TRICK #6 ––––––––––––

“BE A STORY TELLER”

SELLING MILLIONS


Chapter 8


“Be a Story Teller”

Next thing you’ve got to get good at in copywriting is being a great storyteller. Let me tell you, this is one of the most profitable skills you can have. A great storyteller can captivate, motivate and educate their reader. It’s one of the best ways to connect with your reader and a good story can also isolate them from distraction, ultimately make them read more and buy from you. Let me give you some examples.

What do I mean to ‘Captivate’ them? A good story will pull them into your sales copy and hold their attention to the point where they can’t STOP reading until the end. That’s what you want.

We’ve grown up with stories all our lives, ever since we were kids. Everyone loves going to a movie and watching a DVD because it’s like a “Visual Valium” where you can escape temporarily into the story. The same goes when you tell stories in your marketing. You’ll be amazed at what can happen.

A Compelling Story Will Totally Isolate Our Thinking and Block Out the “Clutter” of Uninvited Thoughts

A great example (if not the greatest) is from one of the world’s most famous copywriters who ever lived, Claude Hopkins. Claude was contracted to do the marketing for one of the famous beer companies in America called Schlitz Beer.

SELLING MILLIONS


Back in the 1920s, Schlitz Beer was the number five brand in the American beer market. The company hired legendary copywriter Claude Hopkins to help with their marketing to boost their position. The first thing Claude did was go on a tour around the facility where the beer was brewed. He was amazed at what he saw.

They drilled 4000 ft down to find fresh water wells (even though they were situated on Lake Michigan)

They chilled their beer in 6-inch glass paneled air filtered sterilized rooms to avoid any contaminators

They cleaned their bottles 4 times by machines before they poured in the beer

They cleaned the pumps and pipes TWICE per day

The beer went through a massive drum filled with wood pulp for filtering

They left the beer in vats to age for 6 months before it went out to the users

When Hopkins asked why Schlitz didn’t tell their customers about all of this rigorous attention to purity and quality, the response was, “Why would we? Every beer company does this.”

“But others have never told this story,” Hopkins replied.

Hopkins was smart enough to tell the story through their advertising and within months, Schlitz went from 5th place to first position in the market – and maintained first position for 10 years!

All he did was tell the story that his industry took for granted. HUGE lesson there, so what are you taking for granted in your industry? What’s your story? The “Million Dollar Hook” that you’ve been searching for, could be right under your nose!

SELLING MILLIONS


Dig deep for a story you can tell in your marketing. Here are some examples of where a story can be told.

• Story of the product’s author, maker, inventor

• Story on how the product is made

• Story about the rare ingredients contained in the product

• Story about the costly ingredients contained in the product

• Story of the product’s discovery

• Story of someone using your product

Also, another powerful benefit of a story is that people remember stories. So if you’re in a business where your clients need to check with their partner before they buy, then there is a risk that if you get one person excited, then you’re leaving it up to them to convince their partner about your product or service. This rarely works in your favour. If one partner saw your advertising or website and then they have to go and try to convince their partner about it, let me tell you, most people will get bombarded with objection that they can’t overcome and will eventually get talked out of it. “Pillow talk” can kill your business. You know what I mean, right? “What about the school fees? We should spend the money on something more important. Let’s buy it in 3 months time when things are better, etc...”

Take note: You’re safe to say that if they don’t buy on the spot, then they’re never going to buy. But this is where a good story can save the day for you. People remember stories. They’re not going to remember all the reasons, benefits and features of your product but they will remember a good story. And they can re-tell the story. They’ll be excited about re-telling the story and this will buy you time and give you a second chance.

Always try and tell a story. People connect with it. People can relate to it. Stories are very powerful. They are one of the most powerful, motivating and influencing tools you can use.


–––––––––––– TRICK #7 ––––––––––––

“FLOOD WITH PROOF”

SELLING MILLIONS


Chapter 9


“Flood With Proof”

Next breakthrough insight is to flood your advertising with proof. One of the greatest copywriters of all time is a guy by the name of Gary Bencivenga. Whenever Gary gives advice on how to persuade through the written word, every industry leader in the world sits on the edge of their seat, pen in hand, and listens with laser focus. He is the true grand master of emotional direct response copywriting in the direct mail industry.

Bencivenga says there’s a lot of different components that can make a great sales piece succeed, but if he had to pick one, just one that would make it succeed and boost response above anything else, he’d always add more proof.

Here’s why; people don’t believe what you say. People believe what others say. And if people don’t believe, they don’t buy. Simple as that.

The bare minimum way to add proof is to use testimonials or case studies. But that’s only the starting point. If you’re not using testimonials in your marketing, then you’re leaving a lot of money on the table. Do whatever you have to in order to get testimonials. Bribe them if you have to, whatever. They are powerful motivators that can swing more sales your way.

If you’ve worked with big size companies, or with clients who have a good reputation and are well known, then you need to put their company logos in your marketing. Don’t waste your time telling them how long you’ve been in business or things like that, proof of results is way more valuable.

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The reason why proof is so valuables is it’s the rarest component to manufacture. Because it’s so rare, that’s what makes it so valuable. That’s why gold is more valuable than lead, right? Adding more proof into your marketing will build belief and trust. Belief and trust are the top two objectives to achieve in all forms of advertising.

Bencivenga said, ‘If proof and belief are the two narrow toll gates that your customers have to pass through before you get to the sale, then doesn’t it make sense you’d use it nice and early”. Makes sense, right? Why expect them to scroll down to show them proof.

The absolute best way to demonstrate proof is to show a demonstration. Visual proof. A dramatic demonstration of your product/service achieving its end result. You can use “before and after” photos or show a video presentation of someone using your product or getting amazing results.

People can’t deny visual proof. Remember, they’ll believe what they see more so than what you tell them. Another way to add proof is to offer a strong guarantee. An outrageously courageous guarantee will scream confidence to your audience. Take the plain vanilla guarantees to a whole new level. Take a simple “money-back-guarantee to a “Double-your-money-back-guarantee” or a not only a double-your-money-back-guarantee BUT ALSO offer to pay a competitor to look after them. That screams confidence. That takes the risk away and implies undeniable proof that your product or service is great quality.


–––––––––––– TRICK #8 ––––––––––––

“IRRESISTIBLE OFFER”

SELLING MILLIONS


Chapter 10


“Irresistible Offer”

Next thing MASSIVE breakthrough is your irresistible offer. This is huge. So huge, that you can get away with average copywriting if your offer is compelling enough. If what you offer is absolutely irresistible then it becomes a no-brainer for them to buy from you but they must believe you first. Here are some key ways to create a believable compelling offer;

The best way is to research. Sorry, but it’s true. Don’t try to assume to know what your clients want; we talked a lot about this in the earlier breakthroughs of marketing. If you’re going to come up with an irresistible offer, then you MUST ask what your clients wants. Plain and simple. Don’t guess.

You can do this through an online survey or picking up the phone and asking them, putting on a customer appreciation day or taking a few key clients out to lunch. Whatever way suits but just do it. Next, take their suggestions to a whole new level. Take it to the extreme.

Henry ford said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” That oft quoted line has caused some confusion about whether to talk to your customers or not. Don’t second guess talking to your customers. They will provide you with valuable information to grow from. But it’s up to you to take it to the next level and craft it into an offer that they can’t refuse.

Here’s a taste of one of the most irresistible offers I’ve ever seen. The story goes something like this;

SELLING MILLIONS


In the midst of the violently competitive Las Vegas Casino industry, one man stuck his neck out with an “irresistible offer” that, according to his friends, caused some serious concerns about his mental health!

His name was Bob Stupak. He was the owner of a “Vegas World Hotel” and one of the savviest entrepreneurial marketers to ever take on Las Vegas.

Here’s the offer Bob rolled out to the market - Check it out:

For only $198 (or $396 per couple), you can stay in a luxurious mini-suite in an exciting Las Vegas Hotel, right in the heart of the action, tickets to one of the shows with a BIG name entertainer, a chilled bottle of champagne in your room, an open and unlimited bar tab at the tables, slot tables, or even one of the lounges, PLUS $1,000 of chips to gamble with, where you can keep all the winnings and a SOLID guarantee you will win either a T.V, VCR player or a faux-diamond ring!!!

AMAZING RIGHT?!?!?

Hold on a sec... He went massively negative straight of the bat. So how DIDN’T he go broke? Obvious question, right? I’ll give you a clue… actually, blow that, I’ll tell you straight;

He knew his math. Meaning, the numbers “eventually” worked in his favour. He understood the “lifetime value” of his customer. I’ll touch on this later on but for now, here are the results of Bob’s outrageous offer...

Bob used the cash-flow from selling these packages to grow his hotel from a tiny, slots-only joint, to a gigantic two-towered classy establishment. He kept his hotel filled to capacity with a waiting list and got paid, get this, months, even years in advance by his guests. All thanks to his brass-balls gutsy offer.

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Take note: Do you know the lifetime value of your client?

Bob knew that once he got his guests into the hotel, they would eventually spend WAY more than the upfront cost of his offer. Let me explain;

Let’s say the hard cost out of Bob’s pocket was, $2000, give or take and let’s say, on average, each person who took up his offer would spend, say $4,500 through his casino. So the worse case scenario is he would profit $2,500 each guest – PLUS cause a frenzied following of referrals!!

Something else worth noting; as soon as the guests checked out of the hotel to go home, Bob would send, in the mail, the same offer again and pick up immediate repeat business.

Okay... I need your full attention please. Here’s an exercise that’ll help you create a wish list for your clients. It’s called the...

Magic Wand Technique

Imagine you had a magic wand and could create anything possible for your clients. I mean ANYTHING. Let your mind drift into a child-like state and write down everything, doesn’t matter how absurd, that you think they WANT.

“WANT” being the operative word, not NEED. Hecks, better still, ask some existing clients to create their own MAGIC WAND wish. By the end of this exercise, you should have a large list of possible bonuses you can use for your AWE-INSPIRING OFFER.

Step 2 – Work out what the lifetime value of your client is

The reason this is number 2, is so you don’t put a “financial ceiling” on the creative process when building the “magic wand” list.

SELLING MILLIONS


If you knew you could acquire a client that would pay you $1000 every month, like clockwork, for 24 months, how much would you BUY that client for? Think about it 24 x $1,000 = $24,000 over 2 years. Would you spend $500 to get that client? Well, would you, yes or no?

Would you spend $1,000 to lock that client in? What about $2000? Short sightedness won’t serve you well in this exercise. You need 20/20 vision. Need convincing? Go back and read Bob Stupak’s example. This next example should be a slap-in-the-face-wake-up-call for you.

Anyone who has studied emotional direct response marketing (EDRM) for longer than 10-minutes should have heard of the NO-BULL straight shooting doctor of harsh reality marketing genius, Dan Kennedy. Undoubtedly the KING-PIN of street-smart marketing on the planet. Okay, enough boot polishing, listen to his answer to the following question:

“Dan, if you had to go back to the beginning and start all over again, what would you do differently?”

Dan replied, “I would go NEGATIVE more to acquire a client.”

You see, Dan knows that the hardest (and most expensive) aspect of marketing is to FIND A NEW CLIENT. Once you have them, you can sell to them forever.

Okay. So once you’ve figured out your budget for your offer, work out what you can offer them that’ll make them feel like an idiot for saying no.

Let your mind run wild, push your greed and scarcity to the side, lay it on the table and cause some commotion amongst your customers. Just maybe, you’ll be blown away with your results and never look back!

Okay, next point. When you’re crafting your offer, think about this:

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Can you make your BONUS your OFFER?

What does that mean? Well, can you offer them a free bonus that is so compelling, that they actually hit the order button for your product (or service) just to get your bonus?

Do that, and you have pretty much made your BONUS your PRODUCT. Clever. People LOVE free stuff. Yes, even the fancy-pants CEO’s of large corporations. They still occasionally drool over the discount catalogues just like everyone else.

My point is this: Throw in FREE Bonuses where you can – but with the proviso that it’s a bonus they actually WANT.

The best example of “Making Your BONUS Your Product” is from my ole mate, mentor, and rebellious rogue marketing genius, Australia’s “Millionaire Maker”, Mal Emery. You’ll love this;

In the incestuous over-crowded seminar game, Mal Emery still holds the title of “breaking new ground” with this smart, calculated, yet sneaky crowd-pulling maneuver.

In typical Bob-Stupak-Style” Mal offered two free tickets to Hawaii, as a bonus, for anyone who attended his FREE seminar. That, my friend, was a game-changer at the time!

You see, Mal knew his numbers on the “backend”. Meaning, he knew he would make WAY more money at his seminar - than the cost of the tickets! I also know that Mal didn’t have to pay for the tickets till AFTER the event! So who really paid for the Hawaiian tickets? That’s right, his clients! So how can you add a “ticket-to-Hawaii-style” bonus in your offer?

Next important part of crafting your irresistible offer is...

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Scarcity and Urgency

Don’t leave this out. Liking it or hating it is irrelevant. Us humanoids respond to scarcity and urgency. It works. If people know there’s a limited time to take advantage of your offer, if they believe there is a real chance that they’ll miss out, then they will be more likely to buy on the spot. But it’s critically important that you…

Make them believe

PLEASE make this legitimate. Don’t create false scarcity. People’s B.S detectors will start ringing; you’ll lose their trust, and probably lose the sale.

If you can’t add scarcity to your product, let’s say, it’s an electronic eBook, then try and add scarcity on one of your bonuses? Maybe one of your bonuses is a personal coaching call for 20minutes, for instance. You could easily put a limit on that, true? Like, only for the first 47 people who order within the next 14 days?

When you add scarcity and urgency, please, please, please make sure you tell them WHY. One of the true grandfathers of direct response copywriting, John E Kennedy, calls this “Reason why” copy.

If your prospect is left wondering why you’ve done something and you don’t tell them, then what little trust you had has now gone out the window. Always tell them why. Don’t leave any questions in their mind unanswered.

Another point; scarcity doesn’t have to be numbers of products or spots available. Nope, scarcity can also be a time limit as well. You’ve heard it before right? “Only available till the end of this month!” You get the picture. Next, is a principle you need to tattoo on your subconscious mind. And that is...

If you confuse them, you’ll lose them.

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Make sure when you communicate your offer; it is clear and concise. Because, if you confuse them, you’ll lose them. They have to understand it so easily that they could tell others about it. If you make it hard for them to understand or comprehend, then you’ll surely lose the sale. People need clarity when they buy.

Final thought on this subject - Always give them multiple ways to respond. Some people respond in email, phone call, recorded message, website and even a coupon. The more ways you give people to respond, then more orders you will get. What more motivation do you need?


–––––––––––– TRICK #9 ––––––––––––

“DRENCH WITH EMOTION”

SELLING MILLIONS


Chapter 11


“Drench With Emotion”

If you understand this, and I mean really grasp this with both hands, you’ll cause a riot of excitement and sales every time you write. And the best part is - I can wrap it up in one sentence for you:

Use Emotion to Sell

And Logic To Justify

That’s worth repeating so it seeps deeply into the corner depths of your mind; “Use emotion to sell and logic to justify”. I’ll tell give you an example of a story that will paint this picture perfectly for you…

The husband comes home and he sees his wife wearing a brand new jacket. He knew their money was tight so he said, ‘that’s a lovely jacket honey, when did you get that?’

She replied, ‘I just got it today’.

‘Cool, so how much did it cost?’ he asked.

“Well, it was on a special sale, I was very lucky’, said the wife as she tried to walk away down the hallway.

SELLING MILLIONS


The husband followed and asked, “so how much did it cost?’

“Well, there were only two left on the rack, I thought if I didn’t get it today, then I would’ve missed out on this great bargain. So I’m very lucky” was her reply as she kept walking away.

He followed again and said, ‘That’s great, but how much did it cost?’

She said; ‘The sale finishes in 2 days and this is a top brand so I couldn’t leave it, usually I couldn’t get this brand for even half the price”

Finally he said, “That’s it, stop. Please tell me now, how much did it cost?’

She quickly said, ‘Why, don’t you like it?’

“Yes, yes, I like it but tell me how much it cost.”

And she finally said, ‘It was $480, but I got it for only $240 today.’

‘What?? $240 that’s crazy!’ said the husband.

Now she was ready for this, for the next 5 minutes she just unloaded a barrage of logical reasons. She was well prepared for this confrontation. She unloaded the following;

This will last me for years...

None of my old clothes look good anymore...

I won’t have to buy that suit jacket now...

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It will go with all of my pants

I can take this to the snow next winter...

I never buy anything for myself anymore...

Besides, you’re always buying stuff for your computer...

You wasted $250 on dinner and drinks at that stupid seminar

(And here comes the kicker)

This can be an early birthday present for me

Here’s the thing, now let’s go back to the change room when she was looking at the jacket. Did she buy it because of those reasons? No. She bought it for emotions. She bought it because she thought she looked sexy, she felt confident because she looked slimmer, maybe even looked younger, she thought; ‘All my friends are going to be jealous to see this, I love it, it makes me feel great.’

And that’s when they make the buying decision. When their emotions are at their highest. But consider this;

She also had to justify those emotional reasons. So understand that when people buy your product or service, they’ll buy with emotion to solve a problem but you need to arm them with reasons to justify it as well.

Not everyone has the skills of creating logical reasons in their mind like the above example. You need to pull the emotional strings to get the order and also arm them with logical reasons to justify the purchase.

Oh, and by the way... Don’t think for one second that men are any different. WRONG! We are all skin bags full of emotion. When writing copy, if you hit the

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emotional switch in their mind, then they’ll come up with a stack of logic to justify it!

But for some reason, people don’t portray this in their marketing. Sadly;

So many people try and make the sale using logic!

Have you ever seen two grown men arguing about why ‘their’ football team is better than the other guys? It doesn’t matter how much logic you throw on the table. You’ve got more of a chance getting him to jump off a bridge than to “logically convince” him that your football team is better than his.

Here’s an example of using emotion to sell.

I had a client who was a plumber. We were selling a VIP priority club for $30 per month. I stated in the letter that there were only 27 spots left.

An average copywriter would have said, “I only have 27 spots available so you had better act now before you miss out”

Here’s how I added emotion to this example.

“Why 27? Because, I have a family and a “normal” life outside of work that I still need to nurture and maintain. Any more than 27 clients on top of the clients I already have will start to cut into my family time, and that’s not what I’m about.

I have spoken to my wife and kids about out our special arrangement – and they know that when daddy gets a call from one of his special VIP members – then he has to drop everything and rush off to help them. And they are happy for me to do this.”

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See the difference? What did I do? I basically jumped off the page and screamed, “I’m a human being just like you!” I flicked the emotional switch and caused an instant emotional connection.

Here’s a classic example from the great Ted Nicholas. You’ll love this. You’d think if you had to write about a “battery charger” then you’d find it hard to find an emotional trigger, right? Not Ted. Check out how he changed the original headline to a more emotional driven headline. This is a classic...

Original headline

“Bring Your Batteries BACK from the DEAD”

Ted’s new Headline

“When the Battery Failed, It Broke My Heart...

I Could Not Recapture That Special Moment”

Ted then went on to tell this emotional story of how his son (Steve) was chosen to sing the class song at his high school graduation. He wanted to record this special moment by using his latest camcorder. The plan was to capture this moment and replay it for the whole family including Steve’s grandparents who couldn’t come. And for his son to keep as a lifelong memory. And then came the heart-breaking moment;

Just when the announcer introduced Steve, the camcorder shut down – the battery failed!

Powerful example. Then the ad went on to explain the logical reasons why to buy etc. Brilliant huh?

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The five key elements for emotions are:

Fear

Pride

Love

Greed

Guilt.

Don’t miss any of these out, if you can. Of course, it may not be possible to tap into every emotion. For instance, it’s hard to tap into the “Greed” emotion if you are selling for a charity or some sort. But you can pull on the fear, pride, love and guilt emotions, no problem.

Another emotion that I’d like to throw in there is empathy. Empathy is how your heart responds to another person’s feelings or situation. If you communicate empathy with your prospect, and show them you can relate and understand their most dominant emotions, then they’ll feel like you’re talking directly to them, they’ll trust you and they’ll be more likely to buy from you.


–––––––––––– TRICK #10 ––––––––––––

“SHARPEN THE SAW & START SWINGING”

SELLING MILLIONS


Chapter 12


“Sharpen The Saw & Start Swinging”

The final point that I account for my rapid success was my dedication to always learning my craft. I’m sure you were hoping for a new tactic or strategy, but I’d be lying. I couldn’t leave this out. Your dedication to studying your craft will pay of a hundred fold. But the key is to apply what you learnt. I love the story told in Steven Covey’s classic book, “7 Habits of Highly Successful People.’ I’ll paraphrase here, but it goes something like this;

A farmer was watching his neighbor trying to chop down a tree. The neighbor had been sawing for hours and making little progress. So the friendly farmer offered some advice and said, “You should sharpen your saw. Then you’ll cut the tree down faster”. The neighbor replied, “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw”. And he kept on sawing feverishly with his blunt saw at the tree.

A simple but powerful illustration of how to be more effective. The best way to “sharpen your saw” in your marketing is to be a ferocious student of emotional direct response copywriting and marketing. But more than just that, you need to apply what you learn. That’s what I did from day one.

I’ve met copywriters who have been in the game twice as long as I have, they have read every book under the sun, attended more seminars than I could comprehend but they are still struggling to make the big bucks they deserve. Sad, but true.

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I quickly overtook a lot of other copywriters simply because I had the confidence and courage to put myself out there and approach some of the big players to give me a go. But it’s more than just that. It takes courage and confidence to come up with BIG IDEAS that most would be fearful to try.

It’s said, that to be a world-class expert, you need to study 10,000 hours. I’ve also heard another version that says, “To be an expert you need to study your craft one hour per day for 5 years” Not sure which is true, but I do know that I studied my craft more than one hour a day. I became fanatical about learning emotional direct response copywriting and marketing. And I followed it up with massive action. And I still do.

That’s my greatest and final piece of advice to you. Understand this my friend... This skill will PAY YOU FOR LIFE!

To get you on the right track, here are my top 10 favorite books and resources for you to further your education, to sharpen the saw and start sawing!

1. How To Write A Good Advertisement – Victor O Schwab

2. Tested Advertising Methods – John Caples

3. Breakthrough Advertising – Eugene Schwartz

4. Robert Collier Letter Book – Robert Collier

5. Influence. The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert B Cialdini

6. Ogilvy On Advertising – David Ogilvy

7. Scientific advertising – Claude Hopkins

8. The Ultimate Sales Letter – Dan Kennedy

9. Million Dollar Mailings – Denis Hatch

10. Anything (and everything) from Gary Halbert

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And of course... anything from yours truly.

For more marketing and copywriting insights, hints, tips and examples, make sure you duck over to www.bretthomson.com

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