Things good copywriters do differently (according to the best to ever do it)
Easy Read
Tiny behaviours, mammoth differences. A playbook of advice from the world’s best copywriters.
Enjoy!
“Problems are front loaded into the business game. Get some freaking help when you need it!”
— John Carlton
“We must let go of something to pick up something. May our hands be a constant reminder that there’s a limit to what we can carry.”
— Cole Schafer
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“When you make your credibility an essential, highly visible part of your marketing, persuasion can flow like silk because your most commonly encountered enemy—skepticism—is largely swept aside.”
– Gary Bencivenga
“I have always considered this the ultimate secret of how to sell anything: “Find out what others want and help them get it.” Most sales are lost because the salesman presented his product before he knew what motivated his prospect.”
– Harry Browne
“More answers will be found through movement than will ever be found through meditation.”
— Gary Halbert
“Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.”
— David Ogilvy
“You need to start focusing on skills, rather than shortcuts. The rare copywriters who succeed … are those who have recognised the value of investing in themselves to become better at skills like: identifying great sales hooks, telling good stories, writing a solid sales letter, having an eye for the sensational and how to leverage it to sell, rather than buying shortcuts to ‘paper over’ their skill gaps.”
— Daniel Throssell
“Leave your ego at the door. A valid argument presented in blunt language will sway the reader more than a less valid argument beautifully presented.”
— John Caples
“That is one of the greatest advertising faults. Ad writers abandon their parts. They forget they are salesmen and try to be performers. Instead of sales, they seek applause. Don't try to be amusing. Money spending is a serious matter. Don't boast, for all people resent it. Don't try to show off. Do just what you think a good salesman should do with a half-sold person before him. ”
— Claude Hopkins
“We are not in the business of being original. We are in the business of reusing things that work.”
— Bob Bly
“Time illuminates the details. And details give way to connections. And connections are the basis of creativity, a cornerstone of copywriting. So to be a good copywriter — and a creative person, in general — you must take your time. You must allow yourself to decelerate to the speed your work demands.”
— Eddie Shleyner
“When you get a job to do a storyboard or an ad, try to hit the ball out of the park every time. Don’t bunt. Compete with the immortals. If you’re going to do an automobile campaign, try to make it the greatest automobile campaign that any agency’s ever done. You won’t always succeed but reach for the stars anyway. Be more ambitious. That’s the first thing.”
— David Ogilvy
There is no statute of limitations on what you can become. I’m hoping these words from the greats will have you sipping wine and laughing at the table with them some day.
By Ryan Heaney.
