Introduction: What’s “Copywriting for Smart People?”

First of all, thank you very much for joining Copywriting for Smart People.

It’s really good to see you here!

Till now you had just wished that your working life had changed for the better…that you had a greater control on what you wanted to work upon, where you wanted to work, and when you wanted to work.

By taking up this course – Copywriting for Smart People – you’ve proven to yourself that you are not anymore willing to accept the status quo.

You would like to be just like the people who are always happy with their work…who earn all the money they need…who work whenever they want to, and from wherever they like to.

I’m glad to see you here, and I know you can make a difference to your life…starting now!

Let me remind you again that Copywriting for Smart People is just the first (and not last) of your efforts to reinvent your working life.

You still need to put in some hard work to dig deeper into the wonderful world of ‘copywriting’. But I’m to know that you’ve made the start.

So welcome again!

Now before we get started, let me take you through what this course is (and isn’t).

The idea for Copywriting for Smart People was born from a bunch of conversations I had with a few of my friends and past colleagues. I was then looking for ways to share my vast experience in writing and intensive training in copywriting with people who are looking to launch themselves as writers or copywriters.

What you’ll get out of this course?I’ve tried to make this course as simple as possible. But even then, if you find yourself lost somewhere or if you find some things difficult to understand here, know that I’m always accessible on my email – vishal@copywriterinindia.com – to solve whatever doubts and problems you have with this particular course and anything else in copywriting.

(I’ll have my self-interest in helping you as, by doing that, I’ll also get a chance to revisit and go deeper into the copywriting lessons that I must have forgotten by now. )

Anyways, let’s get down to what thus course is about.

When I look closely at what has worked best in copywriting i.e., writing sales letters, I find that success rests on five pillars:

Identifying the core emotion of the prospect (the person who is the potential customer of your product);

Using that core emotion to create a compelling headline (that raises the prospect’s interest level and make him take notice of your sales pitch);

Making one big promise…just one big promise (the biggest benefit the prospect can get by using your product);

Sinking the hook into the prospect using a persuasive lead (this is where the emotional engagement with the prospect actually starts); and

Selling the benefits, not the features

You see, these strong pillars of effective copywriting are not isolated from each other. Instead, each of them enhances the others. Together, they’re much stronger than they would be if any of the pillars were missing.

(Before you think that way, let me clear that it’s not theory, by the way. These pillars have been tested and proven time and again by the massive success of several legendary copywriters who have sold billions of dollars of products and services for their clients basing their philosophies on these five pillars. And I’m talking about copywriters like David Ogilvy, Michael Masterson, Bill Bonner, Eugene Schwartz, and Clayton Makepeace).

The course – Copywriting for Smart People – kicks off tomorrow with 10 core lessons on the nuts and bolts of what goes into creating your own successful copywriting venture.

I will return to each pillar several times during the duration of the course, building on what’s gone before, so that as you go, you’re creating a solid structure that gives you the best earning potential from your writing and copywriting skills.

(Obviously, I can’t and wouldn’t promise any kind of specific financial return from the course. How much money you can make as a writer or copywriter over the long term depends on your focus, your drive, your discipline, your knowledge, and your own writing skills.)

Copywriting for Smart People will give you some of the best, most effective copywriting tools. What you build with them is up to you. I hope that’s fine with you?

What happens next?You’ll get a core lesson each week for 10 weeks.

The course is intended to give you a real grounding in the way copywriting really works and how successful copywriters have helped their clients earn huge money by helping them promote and sell their products and services…and thus get rich themselves.

This course will also show you how you can also do the same for yourself and attain your dream of working for yourself in the future (call that achieving complete personal and financial freedom).

Finally, before you move on to other things today, let me remind you two things:

Add vishal@copywriterinindia.com to your email program’s “white list” or list of “safe senders” so you’re sure to get all of the lessons. The kind of business we do is also a

favourite topic of spammers (I cannot tell you how much I hate spammers). So if you don’t do that, some messages might end up in your junk folder. And we don’t want that!

Create a special folder in your email program for these lessons. Because this is a course, and not just a random newsletter, you’ll want to refer back to the lessons again later. So keep them someplace you can find them easily.I am genuinely excited to have you on this adventure with me. I’m really looking forward to getting started, so let’s jump in!

Lesson 1: Role of a Copywriter

“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door,” said the famous American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Perhaps this is a great idea in principle, but ignores the reality of marketing and copywriting.

And if, as a future copywriter, that is what you are looking for – building a better mousetrap to catch your customers – then I am sorry, that’s not copywriting at all!

But if you are looking to build larger mice, and then build terrifying fear of them in your customers so that they buy the mousetrap you are selling through your copy, then you are on the right path.

After all that is the true task of a copywriter, isn’t it?

Copywriting is all about helping to shape the largest and strongest market possible, and then intensifying that market’s reaction to its basic need or problem, and to the ‘exclusive’ solution you have to offer.

The force that makes Copywriting workThe power, the force, that overwhelming urge to own that makes copywriting work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy.

Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears, and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already-existing desires onto a particular product.

This is the copywriter’s task: not to create this mass desire – but to channel and direct it.

Actually, it would be impossible for any one copywriter to actually create this mas desire. He can only exploit it through the copy. And he dies when he tries to run against it.

Let me repeat. This mass desire must already be there. It must already exist. You cannot create it, and you cannot fight it. But you can – and must – direct it, channel it, focus it onto your particular product.

A copywriter’s toolkitEugene Schwartz, in his ‘Breakthrough Advertising’ suggests that a copywriter must use three tools to channel the mass desire of people onto the product he is selling through his copy.

His own knowledge of people’s hopes, dreams, desires, and emotions: This is where a copywriter’s skills are tested the most. In fact, someone without the knowledge of people’s hopes, dreams, desires and emotions can’t aim to become a copywriter at all. This is because if you don’t have such knowledge, how would you choose the most powerful desire or emotion to apply to the product you sell? A clear understanding of people’s emotions as applied to their buying behaviour is thus a must for writing a copy that sells.

His client’s product: The second and an equally important tool that a copywriter must possess is a clear knowledge of the product he is selling. And it’s less about the physical product – the steel, software, or book – that his client has manufactured, and more about the functional product – the product in action.

As we’ll discuss in another lesson, the physical product does not sell. The physical product is of value just because the product does things for its user. The more critical part of the product is what it does for its user.

Customers do not really pay for the steel or rubber in a car – the physical product. The steel or rubber is only your excuse for charging the customer your car’s price. Customers are actually paying for the comfort, safety, and luxury that the car provides. These facts are important for a copywriter to understand and appreciate.

The advertising/copywriting message: This is the final outlet for the copywriter. This is where his knowledge of the prospect’s core emotions and desires, and the product, come together. And this is where the copywriter’s writing (communication) skills are tested. If you master the first two tools, and not this one, you will miss the bow while having the arrows.

Good thinkers make good copywritersGood copywriting is good thinking put into a sales copy. In fact, only good thinkers make good copywriters.

Schwartz writes that a copywriter’s first qualifications are – imagination and enthusiasm.

He says that you as a copywriter are literally the script writer for your prospect’s dreams. You are the chronicler of his future. You job is to show him in minute detail all the benefits that your product brings to him.

The sharper you can draw your pictures, and the greater the number of them that you can legitimately present in your copy, the more your prospect will demand your product. And the less important will seem your price.

So, before you put your pen to paper, or hit a single key on your keyboard, ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I know the mass desire of the people that I want to channel on to my product?2. Do I know the product itself – the benefits of the product for the prospect?3. Do I have the big idea – the big promise I can make the prospect?

Answer these questions, and get set on the path to effective persuasive copywriting.

Lesson 2: How You Can Sell Anything?

I answered my doorbell to find a pretty young woman outside. I noticed that she was carrying a clipboard. Before I could speak anything, she asked me to participate in a survey. I did not want to lose the chance to make a favourable impression. So I agreed. And that wasn’t all. I also stretched the truth in my interview answers so as to present myself in the most positive light.

Our conversation went as follows:

Pretty Woman (PW): Hello sir, I am doing a survey on the charitable habits of people in this area, and I wonder if you could answer a few questions for me.

Me: Yeah, why not! Come in.

PW: Thanks a lot, sir! I’ll just sit right here. My first question is – How many times to you spend money on charity every year?

Me: Oh, probably 4-5 times a year. I love helping the needy.

PW: That’s really nice. What kind of needy people do you help? Orphans or aged homeless people?

Me: Well, both kinds.

PW: What about donating to small schools to help the education of poor kids?

Me: Yeah, I give money to such schools as well…at least twice a year.

PW: Great! Just one more question. What about charity for the mentally challenged people? Do you see them as well?

Me: Poor guys, you know! There’s one school for such people in my neighbourhood, and I love going there as well.

PW: Wonderful, sir! Thanks a lot for your time and patience. From the information you’ve already given me, I’m pleased to say that you could save a lot of you time and charity money every year by becoming a member of our NGO, Helping Lives. You just need to pay a small membership fee to join, and then just a small amount as charity for the homeless, aged, orphans, and mentally challenged people.

I looked at her with bewilderment, and felt terrible inside, as she continued speaking!

PW: I think someone as kind and compassionate as you would surely want to help needy people. And our tremendous membership offer can help you do that, without visiting different charities every year.

Me: (trapped like a rat): Well, ahem….I…..I guess so.

(This was a modified version of a story that appeared in “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini)

Have you been in a similar situation like this before? Has it ever happened that you were sold something without your wish, and you couldn’t do anything?

I realise how much you hate that moment when you felt as if someone has robbed you, and with your due permission.

You see, we do not like to be sold.

We all like to spend money on buying things we like and need, but we never want to be sold.

While buying, we are in control of our behaviour. Being in control feels great. WE have the power.

While being sold, someone else controls us. It’s uncomfortable, and we feel vulnerable.

For copywriters, that’s the first and the most basic (yet an easily forgotten) rule of selling…

People don’t like the idea of being sold.

Take another example.

You get a call from a bank. The customer care representative offers you a free credit card. And before you can stop him, he starts talking about the special features that the card carries.

You hastily end the call. You already have a credit card and don’t want to apply for another one. At least not when someone interferes in your privacy by calling you without your permission.

You meet a friend the very next day, who has bought his first credit card, and from the same bank whose representative had called you the previous day. You whine how you get irritated when you receive unsolicited calls from banks.

But when the friend talks about all the wonderful benefits that that credit card provides you, and that your current card doesn’t, you are all ears. And you now want to apply for that new card.

This example again makes it clear people like to buy things. But they don’t like to be sold.

Remember this rule whenever you get down to write a sales letter or simply trying to convince someone.

Just don’t apply pressure on the other person to act. Don’t force him onto something. Instead, offer to give him something. Offer to solve his problem. Tempt him.

And how do you do that?

As Michael Masterson, one of the most famous international copywriters of the current times, writes, “Create a verbal picture that teases his desires…tempt him by appealing to his emotions…don’t bore him with reasons or bully him with force.”

Understand this first principle of selling, and you’ll find it easier to convince people or create compelling sales letters.

The second rule: People buy things for emotional reasonsWe are not rational being as it is claimed to be. We are emotional…highly emotional.

There is no rational attached to eating a fatty chocolate cake. It isn’t nutritious. It makes you fat. But you still love eating it, because you feel good eating it. Emotional, isn’t it?

A successful copywriter will never target the prospect’s logic. He will always try to hit where it hurts he most – the prospect’s emotions.

Some of the most important and oft-used emotions that copywriters target, are:

Greed Fear Vanity Envy Pride

For most God-fearing people, these are the deadly sins. But for copywriters, these are the most powerful emotions that they can target to persuade their prospect to act on their promotion copies or sales letters.

The third rule: Once sold, people need to satisfy their emotional decisions with logicWe are not rational beings, as we just discussed above. We are ‘rationalising’ beings.

We first make emotional decisions and then try to rationalise our decisions using logic.

Look how people satisfy their emotional decisions with logic.

“I ate the full cake to celebrate my perfect score in exams,” someone would say. The truth was that the cake was eaten because the person wanted to feel good eating it.

“I bought that car because of its powerful engine and attractive body,” someone else would say. No dear, your wife just told me that you were looking to buy an expensive car just to impress your friends and relatives!

The crux of the matter is…These were the three basic rules of selling. There’s no way a copywriter can create convincing sales letters while ignoring any one of these rules. But follow them, and you can sell anything!

Lesson 3: Know Thy Prospect

In the previous lesson of the Copywriting for Smart People course, we learned how people want to buy things but never want to be sold to. That’s the first and the most important rule that you’ll learn as a copywriter.

Tagged along with this rule is another important rule a copywriter must never ignore. Never!

It’s about – knowing the prospect…knowing the potential customer who will give you his hard-earned money in return for your product or service.

For if you don’t know your prospect…

How will you approach him in the first place? How will you talk to him, and in his language? How will you know what are his dreams, desires, hopes, and fears? How will you know what keeps him awake at night? How will you know your product can satisfy his needs? How will you know what it will take to convince him?

You see, in the whole world of copywriting, there is no more an important person than the prospect. Your job as a copywriter is to prove to him that your product will make him smarter, richer, or healthier. If you are able to do that, he’ll reward you by purchasing your product.

But if you are not able to do that i.e., make him feel special – and instead disappoint him – your copy will end up in the trash.

But isn’t the prospect a mystery man?Yes, he is!

Remember, as a copywriter, your chief task is to channel the mass desire of people on to the product you are trying to sell. And since you are trying to sell your stuff to many people at a time, it gets difficult to tailor your communication for one individual.

But that’s where the trick lies. That’s why you need to understand your prospects so much better that you can find the common thread that binds them together. You need to find the biggest emotion and desire that your prospects have and then see them as an individual.

Create that one person from your universe of prospects who you’ll be talking to, and whom you’ll direct your sales letter to. Create that image in your mind:

How that person looks like? What language does he understand? What are his dreams, hopes, desires, and fears? What keeps him awake at night? What ideas and phrases are likely to encourage and frighten him? Can your product satisfy his individual need? How can you motivate him, or make him feel healthier, smarter or richer?

What will make him want to be your customer forever?

Just create the image of that ‘one person’ in your mind, and write straight to him. Remember, you are still writing to a mass of people, but write as if you are talking to one person.

Know him before you write to him and before you try to convince him.

See your prospect as if he were standing right beside you. Does he look like you? If yes, you are lucky because then you’ll be writing to yourself. And you know your own fears and desires.

But, and this is more likely, if your visualised prospect isn’t like you, see if he is like your father or your mother…like your uncle or your friend…like your colleague or your neighbour. But pick up ‘just one person’ and stick with him.

After all, will you try to sell a comb to a bald person, or a financial derivative product to a retiree?

Without knowing your prospect well, you might in fact be trying to do that!

Lesson 4: The Golden Thread that Binds a Copy

Try making your own furniture after reading a ‘how to make furniture’ book, and you’ll most likely end up with a crude result. You will also most likely damage your body when you try to treat your illness using self-medication.

An expert – whether he is a carpenter or a doctor – knows the ways to do things in a flawless manner. So whether it is about making a superb furniture, or identifying the disease by just mapping a patient’s pulse rate, experts know some simple secrets that you and I won’t know by reading ‘how to’ books.

Such simple secrets also make up a copywriter’s work. And one of those secrets is related to structuring a sales copy – what are the key features a copy is made up of so that the end result is a persuasive, compelling copy.

More than half the battle of creating compelling content and copy is solid structure. Confused writing hinders understanding, and without understanding, you’re not going to get a warm reception from the prospect when you ask for his action.

Secret structure of a sales copySuccessful copywriters have simplified a sales copy’s structure into four elements, also called the ‘4 Ps of copywriting’. And these are:

1. Promise2. Picture3. Proof4. Push

Let’s get down to understanding these elements in a greater detail. And by the way, keep in mind that although I refer to ‘copywriting’ in this article, the 4 Ps structure works just as well for all kind of content as well – written, audio or video.

PromiseYou don’t hook a prospect by appealing to the prospect’s sense of reason. You hook him by making him a big, realistic, beneficial promise. In fact, a copywriter who begins his copy with ‘reasons’ risks failure. But if he begins with a big promise, he’ll surely catch the prospect’s attention.

The promise is made with the headline, perhaps elaborated in an initial subhead, and carried over into your opening. This is the most important part of the piece, because if the reader stops here or loses interest, it’s game over for you.

This promise is “what’s in it for the prospect?” Yes you want their attention, but the promise is the only reason the reader is willing to give it to you.

The closer you can match the needs of the prospects, the more likely your sales letter is to succeed.

PictureOnce you make your promise, you need to show the prospect the picture of how he is going to

benefit from listening to you and your promise. You need to ‘paint a vivid picture’ for the reader here.

Show the picture of him getting smarter, richer, or healthier and the ultimate benefits that will accrue to him.

Get the reader to imagine himself enjoying the benefit or desired outcome of your promise. Then you get very specific about how your proposed solution or idea makes that benefit happen.

The picture phase of a copy suggests that you use storytelling and vivid descriptive imagery as a way to hold the prospect’s emotional interest while you nudge him down the path to acceptance.

It also keeps you focused on spelling out the benefits associated with the features or facts that you need to get across.This is the stage when your prospect says to himself, “Wow, that’s cool! I need to read further to find out how I can benefit from this product!”

ProofHow do you prove to your prospect that the benefits of the luxury car that you are trying to sell through your copy’s promise are real and achievable?

You do that by showing him the ‘proof’ – proof of how other people like him have benefited from the owing that car. The proof is like a support for your claims that you make through the preceding promise and picture.

You can show your prospect the proof of your claim through any or a combination of these tools:

Real life stories Statistics Research studies Graphs, charts, and tables Third-party facts Testimonials

The critical role proofs perform in your copy is to justify that the benefits you’ve promised are true. Remember, pages and pages of ‘reasons’ to buy your product won’t take your copy anywhere. But just a single page of ‘proof’ can lead to a sale.

It’s all about building credibility and then showing that it already exists.

You need good credentials not just to keep your prospect reading your sales letter. You also need credibility to convince the prospect that you aren’t lying or making an unreasonable promise to him.

This is the stage when your prospect says to himself, “If this product has benefited so many people in the past, I’m sure it’s going to benefit me a well.”

PushUsing promise, picture, and proof, you paint the picture for your prospect. You make him see the

benefit of buying your product. But you still need to ask him to act. This is where the fourth element of ‘push’ comes into play. The word ‘push’ carries a negative connotation, but here we’re using it as a more extensively convincing element that makes action more likely. It’s the state of ‘sealing the deal’.

‘Push’ is more than just a call to action. It’s delivering an outstanding offer in a promotion, and then asking for the purchase. It’s the grand finale where your big idea makes as much sense to the reader as it does to you.

Persuasive writing begins with the ending in mind, so during the push you’re tying the beneficial promise and the vivid picture to solid acceptance and concrete action. Don’t be shy about “telling them what you’ve told them” as a way to connect the dots, because an assumption of understanding is an enemy to acceptance.

Understanding is the secret structureIt is said that a good copy involves and educates the reader in a way that the brain finds pleasing. And this you need to use the correct structure in your copywriting so that people see things your way.

Miss any of these four critical elements or use them in a jumbled way, and your copy will miss the zing. But involve all of them and in the correct sequence (as discussed above), and you’ll be creating a copy that sells.

Lesson 5: Sell to the Emotional Mind

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” – Carl Buechner

That’s the power of emotions!

Emotions are what drive us and what drive us astray. You cannot persuade without understanding them well.

Our emotions are a valuable source of information. Our emotions help us make decisions. Studies show that when a person’s emotional connections are severed in the brain, he cannot make even simple decisions. Why? Because he doesn’t know how he will feel about his choices.

One of the first things you must nail as a copywriter when you get down to write a promotion is the lead. And the lead must capture the core emotion of the prospect – what is he feeling now…what does he want…what makes him fearful?

Core EmotionsSome of the world’s best copywriters like Clayton Makepeace and Michael Masterson suggest that the most important thing to nail first in a copy is a lead that resonates with what they call the prospect’s ‘core emotion’. Core emotion is the strongest feeling the prospect has relating to the product or the problem it solves.

Like, if you are selling a ‘hair cream’, the core emotion you must target is that of the prospect ‘feeling embarrassed of his baldness’ and how he can overcome this physical deficiency by using your product.

Or for that matter, if you are targeting investors who have lost out in a recent market crash, you can start with a headline like – “LIES, LIES, LIES … we investors are fed up with everyone lying to us and wasting our money!”

Like these, there are several core emotions that prospects have. And these are what you need to to capture through your copywriting?

But remember, in following the rule of ‘power of one’, you must not use more than one emotion in one copy.

Here are some core emotions that drive people to act. This isn’t an all-inclusive list, but it definitely includes most of all the important emotions that we humans have.

Curiosity: New, fascinating information fascinates us. Vanity: Who doesn’t want to be and look better than everyone else, physically,

socially, mentally, and spiritually? Fear: The most sought after emotion. Fear makes us feel that danger is imminent,

and we will do almost anything (or buy almost anything) to avoid it. Greed: This is one of the deadly sins, but that’s what we humans are – greedy. Show

us the money and we want it all!

Insecurity: Are you good enough? You know you aren’t, and copywriters also know this!

Power: Who doesn’t want to feel powerful…like rich people, politicians, CEOs, or dictators? If people know that they can control things and conquer their enemies, they’ll eat out of your hands.

Belonging: We all want to belong somewhere. We all want to be part of a group, a community or tribe. Family is foundational to our survival. If you can show someone how they can be part of something important or exclusive, you’ll be giving them a good incentive to do what you ask of them.

You’ve probably recognized that a lot of these emotions overlap. Some are stronger than others. The point is to understand your prospect so well, that you know which emotion—or combination of emotions—will appeal to him or her.

And by understanding these and other core buying emotions, you command the power to help other people understand your message at a ‘gut’ level.

They won’t just read or listen to it—they’ll feel it.

How to trigger emotions?But now, the moot question on top of your mind must be – “How do I trigger the emotion through my copy?”

Good that you asked this question, as most copywriters don’t do!

There are several ways you can trigger emotions through your copy. Remember, the emotion resides with reader of your copy (the prospect). But you need to trigger it from the state of dormancy to the state of action.

Here are four ways you can trigger emotion through your lead.

1. Make a big promiseNothing will lead a busy man to take notice but a big promise that sounds beneficial for him. And since your prospect is a busy man (most are), you must make a big yet realistic promise to engage him emotionally with your copy. This big promise must be made through your headline. And those five seconds, for which the prospect reads your headline, could make or mar your sales. Show him what you’re going to do for him. Tell him how his life will be better, how he’ll feel stronger, richer, or healthier after consuming your product. But just make sure that you do not go overboard and create a hype. Make an honest and realistic promise, but it must be big enough to make your prospect take notice.

2. Tell a storyDo you remember how the words ‘Once upon a time…’ used to capture your attention the moment these were uttered by your teacher or parent? That’s the power of a story. It captures attention instantly, and draws the reader in. His emotions are stirred right away, and he becomes eager to know the outcome. A sales message, told as a story, will be remembered much longer by the prospect. And a good story will engage him enough to act on your request.

3. Paint a pictureThis seems like an offshoot of the first point. But painting the picture involves moving one step ahead of telling a story. By painting a picture, you become vivid in your descriptions. You let the prospect see himself enjoying life after your product or service has solved his problem. This is a very powerful trigger for stirring emotions.

4. Use a friendly tone of voiceThe first three emotional triggers are about ‘what you must say to your prospect’. This one is about ‘how you must say it’. Copywriting greats will tell you that you must speak directly to your prospect, and sound like you’re talking to a friend. Some use what is known as the ‘barstool test’. If it sounds like you’re talking to the person on the barstool beside you, it’s good. If any line or sentence makes you stumble, rewrite it. A conversational tone is more engaging emotionally than a serious tone.

Use these tips to honestly trigger emotion in your prospects. If you combine them with an offer that truly brings value to her life, you and your prospect will both be winners.

Lesson 6: The Power of One

Did you ever read moral stories in your childhood? If yes, did you ever come across a story with two morals?

I mean, did your teacher or mom ever ask you, “So dear, what are the morals of the story…?”

Never, right?

It’s always been, “What is the moral of the story…?”

Successful story writers have long realised the importance of talking about just ‘one idea’ per story. And the ones, who haven’t understood this basic rule of communication, have found their work ignored.

That’s ‘the power of one’. Not just in story-telling, it also works wonders in copywriting and advertising. After all, aren’t marketers, copywriters and advertisers also story-tellers?

One big idea…Writing about one, and just one big idea is one of the biggest lessons I have ever learned about writing. But this came almost six years after I started serious writing (not literally ‘serious’ but one that was being read by people).

It happened after I came in contact of two of the best copywriters in the world (and the most humble businessmen I’ve ever met) – Bill Bonner and Michael Masterson. In fact, I credit my interest towards copywriting and easy writing to these two gentlemen whom I no consider my mentors.

Bill and Michael have always laid stress on the need to talk/write about just ‘one’ big idea at a time. They’ve always said that readers don’t (like to) hear everything a writer has to say on a particular topic. They are just looking for that one, single useful suggestion or piece of advice that could benefit them.

Lincoln’s one big idea was ‘liberty’. Gandhi’s one big idea was ‘non-violence’. Martin Luther King’s one big idea was ‘equality’. History is replete with examples of how a person has focused on his one big idea to revolutionize an entire race or country.

And here’s what the father of advertising David Ogilvy has to say about the power of one big idea – “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.”

At Copywriter In India, I have this concept of ‘power of one’ as a rule for writing. I make it a point to write about just one thing at a time – one good idea, clearly and convincingly presented.

Even the course that you are receiving is made up 10 big ideas in becoming a good copywriter – but just ‘one’ idea per lesson.

Elements of ‘power of one’The ‘power of one’ is not just about one big idea only. In fact, in order to make your copy or content engaging and appealing for the reader, you need to use the following five elements of the power of one:

Your story must have one good idea; It must target one core emotion of the prospect; You must use one captivating story to convey your idea; The copy must direct the prospect to one single benefit; and It must invite one specific response.

Remember, these rules can take your copy a long way in grasping the prospect’s attention and making him act – either by sharing your content with others, or buying your product. But the biggest challenge for you is to find that one good idea the prospect can grasp immediately. When you find that idea, just stick to it. Then convey it in a strong, easy to understand, and easy to believe manner so that your prospect is hooked.