FREE copywriting course, DAYS 1 & 2
 

Here tis:

You need a notebook. Pen/pencil.

My Discount Drug Mart sells them for .99 cents.

Amazon: 2.09
https://amzn.to/3w31aQq

Day one and two. OBSERVATION. What do people buy?

As you go about your day, even if you don't leave the house, ask yourself and write down your observations of what people buy. On page one have two columns, NEEDS & WANTS.

When out and about, be in AWARENESS MODE, and write down what you see people buy, no matter where or what.

Now a look at a "typical" paycheck, someone at 20 an hour working 40 hours a week.

800 dollars.
210 TAXES, etc.
590 X 4.25 = 2500 rounded off, a month.

Groceries. Rent/Mortage. Utilities. Clothing. Gas.

What is left over, the so-called disposal income is the gold for most marketers...although, the RICH guys do sell food, oil/gas, LOANS, etc., etc.

As you spend the first 48 hours observing what people buy, you will create a list, and these will go on one of the 2 columns, NEED or WANT.

We'll get into the differences later.

We all need food. But some of us shop at Aldi's or Save a Lot and Walmart while others go to Whole Foods and boutique food stores.

These first 2 days are intended to raise your awareness of what people buy, where and how, and even some WHY?

Why Walmart instead of Whole Foods?

See, if you believe that Copywriting is salesmanship in print, as it has been often described...

And the job of the copy WRITER is to get the reader/viewer/listener TO BUY, (or to believe) don't you first have to know;

What people buy?
And

WHY?
Let me know if this makes too much sense and you'd rather be dazzled with some amazing inside secrets of the billion dollar companies...

WHY DO PEOPLE BUY.

Feel free to respond in the thread, we can cover a lot of territory if you want.

Gordon

What do they...
 

Hi Gordon,

This is great stuff...

I would love more insights on how to get into the MIND of your prospect...

What do they really want?

Thanks... :)

- Dien

Re: FREE copywriting course, DAYS 1 & 2
 

Love it.

All what is "back to basics" with something physical away from screens I love it.

When we think what people BUY, what they WANT and NEEDS we need to add to the quation: WHERE?

1st World Countries are not the same as 2nd World Countries and 3rd World Countries.

On a 1st World Country where self-motivation exists, in 2nd World Countries probably not,at least on the professional arena. If it esists is a tiny % of the population. If it is for personal arena as how to lose fat, attract more women, have a more manly beard, mor muscle, etc maybe.

I don't know if the problem is PROFESSIONAL vs PERSONAL topic or a SELF-MOTIVATION issue.

2nd World Countries people are to "relied" on Government take care on them. So why bother self-development? Socialism take care ouf us.

Also, the general desbelief is important. If in 2nd/3rd Wrld Countries is habit and common to rip off... Hard to convice.

I am trying to sell e-books on DIY business stuff, here in my Country,and I amarroving at these conclusions I am sharing.

Maybe it can be done easily with better salesmanship or/and selling out her type of information on DIY business, as the first and basic steps for business, like How To Legally Register a Business.

My thoughts.

We'll get there, one day at a time.
 

Thanks Dien,

I want to lay a foundation. See, I think most would be copywriters don't have one to build on. I know all the gurus of copy and what THEY offer.

But the proof of their failure to teach is found in the tens of thousands of copywriters looking for work.

It doesn't matter what THEY teach.

Two days of writing down, WHAT DO PEOPLE BUY? Everywhere you go, every web site visited, have that pen and notebook handy and write down what you see people buying.

Today, so far, having run to the convenience store for a lottery ticket and a Lil Debbie's snack cake...I saw people buying coffee, snacks, cigarettes (a best seller) beer and wine (this at 10 AM and these people were NOT just getting off work)

As I drove the quarter of a mile, usually I walk, but today is trash day in one area and I'm on the lookout for wood, to build a new game...

I also drove past McDonalds and saw along that one block strip people buying ALL kinds of things; haircuts, tires, oil changes, tacos, beauty supply, drugs (a CVS on the corner)

So, tires. Need or want. More than likely a NEED. So my questions on the following pages are, why did they buy their TIRES there, from that guy, when right down the street there are least 3 other options.

As I DO this exercise along with the group, or if it is just me, I will have in 48 hours seen perhaps hundreds of people buying stuff, and I will list them as a NEED or a WANT.

Then, why there>>>to Mike's point of location, and I'll address his post separately.

Why McDonald's vs Taco Bell?

These would be WANTS. And this will tell me wants are fluid. Of course there are those who eat a Big Mac a day, and their addiction may become a need.

Anyhow, I saw trash men picking up perfectly good furniture, and knowing the BOUGHT this service, either billed by the city or an independent trash collection service. A NEED.

Once we have tons of examples (48 hours) of needs and wants.

We can then go into the Maslow Pyramid and begin to get an idea of what the PREOCCUPATION of the moment might be, so as we can then craft our INTERSECTION and have it say or do all the right things to evoke the response we want.

But before you can BREAK their preoccupation, you have to know those are and the first step on that path is to IDENTIFY what they buy, and if that behavior is a habit, a default, due to location, a preference, and is it a need or a want. All of this to get to know that Avatar before you put him in his igloo and throw flaming rocks to get his attention.

We'll make this fun too. Fair enough?

Gordon

You bring up very valid concerns.
 

Location is very important.

You have touched upon some differences between countries, although the term 3rd and 2nd world might need some definition these days, I get what you are saying.

And those differences, which are habitual in many countries, for example, some countries still have conscription, forced service in military...our draft ended at the end of the Vietnam war.

Knowing that latter day baby boomers, those born 1957 to 64 did not have to face military service, we can identify a clear break in the generation and this one simple fact, if you undestand it, will allow one to create a very specific generational promotion, and just changing a few words, could vastly increase your response rate...

because you are speaking to them (getting inside their heads as Dien says),

and likewise, if your country has free medical or free college, the state of mind of your target is going to be different than those, say in USA who are still paying off student loans a decade after leaving college.

Knowing the circumstances of your targets, and then creating the right kind of intersection goes a long way to getting results.

Too many copywriters, have learned methods, techniques all kinds of gimmicks and formulas for writing, but they totally lack the foundation of understanding why people buy what and when they do.

This NEW course will remedy that.

Day one and two, What do people buy, Want or Need.

Then we'll go from there.

Gordon

Re: FREE copywriting course, DAYS 1 & 2
 

"and likewise, if your country has free medical or free college, the state of mind of your target is going to be different than those, say in USA who are still paying off student loans a decade after leaving college. "

Exactly. With all FREE stuff from Government, why the want/need and why the urgency on selling some professional information or services?

With Socialism , ambition, urgency and self responsibility vanishes.

Greed of course doesn't vanish. Maybe greed is the correct appeal instead ambiton.

That's why I study David Ogilvy and he is one of the greats, he had a general vision of Advertising in different Countries and cultures. Drayton Bird is a good study too, both Ogilvy and Drayton are British.

So my experience on selling self indulgent physical products is the easiest to sell,here in my Country.

Question for you Gordon: what self indulgent information products you would consider to sell? I tested "100 Spicy Jokes" e-book and sold. Without profit (that's my current problem on the information products as you know).

The "urgency and pain" type of products... I don't know. Maybe if is only a thing Government cannot provide FREE.

Maybe the "irratonal passion" type of information can work also?

Look to the oligarchs. Especially the behind the powers.
 

I don't know if that is true, about socialism, it is a very broad stroke painting.

I do know there are VERY rich people in China and Russia where several generations grew up under communism...today, the rich Asian is such a cliche, they make movies and TV shows about them.

I'm sure Portugal has some very rich people too. Other than line politician's pocket (is it what all oligarchs do, otherwise they're just philanthropists)...

And HOW did they make their money, and what are their workers or minions doing?

I don't believe human ambition disappears in any society, as restrictive as it may be, or as accomodating with services. There ARE people in Portugal starting businesses, some even from home. I have no idea in the world nor a desire to find out, what steps they take to start a business, or make more money. I do not accept the premise ambition and self responsibilty vanishes, there could be a lot of truth to it, in the general sense, but that is where a deeper dive to find the market is needed.

And Greed? How do you define it? I think it is a human instinct to want more, to avoid loss and to gain more, or as animals, to have more pleasure and less pain.

Olgivly and Bird were (are) masters of understanding people, and I don't care who is saying it, but people are BASIC. The fact they live in a society where they are "taken care of" does not negate their basic human wants and needs.

I think you have a huge misconception of urgency and pain. These aren't universal. Take hair loss. A small % of men don't care, but the majority do. And so it becomes a point of pain for them, even more so for a women.

Acne in teens or in adults even, is a very painful condition.

Sure, buying a gold chain or silver bracelet may be self indulgent and a WANT, unless the ego NEEDS it.

If you feel you have tapped out Portugal as far as information products go, why are still pursuing it, why not put that energy and time into selling more trinkets?

You've been beating your head against this wall for a couple of years now, maybe it is time to try something else?

As for self indulgent information, do the women read romance novels, do the guys play games, and if so, what information is being sold to gamers, what cheats? What secrets? Or as from your opinion about your countrymen, we simply must accept the fact that Portugal is a state of satisfied, unmotivated, lazy people who just accept things as they are.

If that is a true picture of your country, then I have nothing else to offer.

Gordon

Cigarettes and Beer/Wine. Need or want?
 

Something to ponder on day two.

Tobacco, alcohol, fast food. Needs or wants?

I have tobacco under need. Beer under both, wine under both.

This generation doesn't remember a time of magazines. Oh sure, there are a few of them left, but nothing like the bookshelves of a Newstand, or Barnes and Nobles or Border's Bookstores when there were hundreds of magazines...

And even fewer remember a time when Cigarette ads and Alcohol ads were seen in these magazines and on TV. The iconic Marlboro man, remember that guy?

Or the most interesting man in the world with his Dos Equis?

Millions of addicts the world over who NEED their fix. No longer a want, now a biological need to function.

So tomorrow we'll take a look at wants and needs and see how BIG corporations and even govt's slant their promotions.

If you remember the pathetic DON'T DO DRUGS campaign, the billion dollar precursor to a nation of opiod addicts...well, we'll look at propaganda too, because most modern advertising is built upon the principles of mass persuasion.

Sex toys, needs or wants? More tomorrow.

Gordon

Pabst Beer-Coffee Is In SUCH Demand 1st Reviewer Couldn't Get a Can
 

Thanks Gordon,

Some GENIUS put this together.

Add up the # of Beer Drinkers. Then Add up the # of Coffee Drinkers.

FORGET the fact that Beer is a Depressant
AND
Coffee is an Energizer.

AND if you drink much of this it might KILL You.

Reviewer #1 - Is Erudite. Educated.

HATES The Stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6gOu4_HxX8

AH.

But Here is Mr RedNeck who LOVES The Stuff.

HE Pretty much GUARANTEES this new BEER - COFFEE Drink will be a Best Seller.
AS LONG as The # of Heart Attacks is not Tracked too Carefully.

I've been
Trying
to
Buy a few cans
Of Pabst BEER COFFEE.

Unsuccessfully. (Seems Pabst did a LIMITED RELEASE. Clever.)

My Plan is to Take a few Cans to LOCAL RESTAURANTS.

And Give them away as Tips for The Wait Staff and Cooks.

(Get Some OPINIONS from the Folks who Count)

Should Be INTERESTING
to Count the # of LOVERS vs HATERS.

However.

This Guy LOVES The Stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Csa-faJEo

Thanks,
Glenn

May 5, Day two. Early morning drive.
 

OK, early morning drive when there wasn't traffic, covered about
80% of all businesses in my city. I passed a MARC'S. A store like a smaller Walmart, without the softgoods or big departments, mostly food and drug store items, sort of like a big Walgreens.

Anyhow, I never shop there. Once cashed a lottery ticket there, but even then the store is so claustophobic, I took my dough and ran.

I thought about it. And noted other stores and places of business I don't use or like. Most, of course, are places I have no business at.

I am NOT in their TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC.

In making my list, I see that convenience beats price. I'm just not going to go the Xtra mile to save a few pennies or dollars even, especially with gas prices being so high. Example, with my Amazon Prime I can get my TIDE delivered to my door in a day, and not spend too much more than I would if I ventured into Walmart, that thought almost makes me ill.

Even though it is only a couple of miles, for me, not wanting to drive, not wanting to go into the store, not wanting to DEAL with whatever is inside...ok, the people...

it is easier on me to just have Amazon deliver it. And more and more of those common items are showing up on my doorstep everyday.

I list shampoo, dish soap, laundry soap, floor cleaners, etc., etc as NEEDS, although more than likely some Baking Soda, Vinegar and Bleach or ammonia could replace a lot of the more expensive items.

Laundry soap is a need. TIDE or SA8 (Amway) is a WANT. WHY do I pick out the items I do, in other words,

WHY do I have brand loyalty? What is the motivation behind it?

For today, if you have DONE a list, observing what people buy and whether it is a need or a want...then,

You want to ask WHY?

And a lot of what is on the list will be bought out of ROUTINES and HABITS, I suggest maybe 90% of our spending goes to the same consumables, month after month after month.

Which makes OFFERING a consumable very attractive, right? Even a monthly newsletter (winks at Dien)...

OK. I'm driving around town in the wee morning hours, have the main streets almost all to myself. I was talking into my voice recorder, I find that if I don't do this, I get distracted.

And the next thing I know I'm NOT thinking on task. So talking keeps me focused on the reason I'm doing what I'm doing, make sense?

As I saw other drivers and some early morning EMPLOYEES OR even owners coming in to open their businesses, I asked:

WHAT are these people thinking?

And that brings us to today's point. PREOCCUPATION.

Good copywriting is TARGETED, it breaks a preoccpation, addresses a problem, fear, need or want for a SPECIFIC person or avatar.

It MUST get attention.

The methods, like curiosity, questions, bold statements come only after you know which preoccupation to address, or

HOW TO GET INSIDE OF YOUR AVATAR's MIND, and join the conversation they are already having in their brains.

This takes place at an INTERSECTION you create.

I keep wants and needs inside of a Maslow Pyramid, do a google image search, and also the five basic life needs.

I keep the main preoccupations under the Roy Garn FATAL FOUR, however, I know others who prefer more than these:

MONEY
SEX
EGO
SURVIVAL

And these get divided into any number of subsets, but you will find that most motivations and the methods used will target one of these four preoccupations (PO)

Let us continue the discussion.

Gordon

P.S. Maslow. Here is an etsy dealer: he sells the pdf, you print it and frame it. Maybe I'll do the SQ1 and actually print and frame them myself, add a lot of wall hanging value. See? Take a common thing and sell it.

https://etsy.me/3kHwM8P

And by the way, this etsy seller has 18,483 sales, mostly digital downloads around four bux. Just showin...

And there you have America today, rednecks vs the educated.
 

NO.

But if they ever made a NEW COKE, and then combined it with beer, choc milk and spaghetti sauce, I might be in.

This????

A hope for every bad idea out there, that someone, somewhere will buy your stuff.

To the point, people will BUY anything.
But do we want to sell them

anything,

just to make a buck? For me. NO.

Gordon

Re: FREE copywriting course, DAYS 1 & 2
 

Thanks Gordon,

For sure the cultures are different. But as good Salesmanship knows, I assume, the basics are the same everywhere. As there is a universal reccomendation that doesn't change in Advertising: testing.

MikePT

Very true.
 

I agree.

Test. And quit seeking opinions I believe go hand in hand, don't they?

All or 99.9% of advertising technique and methodolgy is known, and most of that available online for free.

I think advertising, including direct response are basic...Attention-Interest-Desire-Action-Satisfaction.

And the math of numbers, knowing break even, lifetime value, etc.

Gordon

May 6, Day three.
 

Even if you haven't left the house in the last 3 days, you can see what people buy in your own home, walk around and just point at things you own, and put it under need or want.

You will find, the needs, like lighting, is also a want. I like pole lamps with 3 different lights on it to shine the light on different areas, whereas some may like decorative lamps, and some old hippies keep lava lamps.

So people buy stuff.

Stuff they need and want. Some things, like Alcohol and Tobacco may be a need due to addictive properties.

Much of what people buy is purchased automatically, due to habit, routines.

People have income, first thing, even for the self employed is to take out taxes, then pay for life expenses; food, clothing and shelter. And each of these are determined by the amount of left over income.

If at any time, you disagree with my premises, pipe up and we'll discuss it.

Here at SowPub we have been very fortunate to have Glenn Osborn share his testing, he is an NLP expert and goes into the field to test.

It is pretty easy, if you have the guts, to distract people in their routines by a big red nose, flashing ice cubes, a magic trick, handwriting analysis, a lotteryy ticket, a confetti cannon, etc., etc. Glenn uses this to get people's RAS to look the other direction, while he slips covert suggestions into their minds.

Good salesman, in face to face, know how to take charge and lead their targets toward the conclusion they want.

Copy writers have to be more skilled, more knowledgable about their target's preoccupations.

And all that you have done so far, if you've actually made a list of wants/needs, is to identify what people buy.

They buy wants and needs.

So, you know your target is preoccupied.

What are you selling? What is your offer? How can you break their preoccupations and get inside their heads and begin the process of helping them come to the conclusion that buying is their own good idea, and when they reach that point, you get to buy a new car.

In other words, the better you get at disrupting a flow of thought, and replacing that with a buy now attitude, the better you will do in writing copy.

Once again, I refer back to the 45 year old tested, and proven Billion dollar formula, the NPGS (as used by Ben Suarez)...

Product, Prospect, Promotion, Media.

All of these have to be rated a 10, any one of the four which are less than 10 will have an impact on sales.

WE today, in this course, are focusing in on the PROMOTION, that is what the Copywriters' do, it is the sales piece, the presentation, the offer to the Prospect.

Then you add in TIMING, which is the most overlooked element, most often ignored by copy gurus who have a tendency to assign success to their words first, and anything else later, if at all.

Writing DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH at a time when millions of immigrants came to USA, and wanting and NEEDING to fit in, wanting and needing to have their children become Americans, and the way to fit in any country is to learn and speak the language.

Yes, great copy for that ad. You can see it here complete with analysis, only I am suggesting Roy Furr overlooks TIMING,
https://www.breakthroughmarketingsec...english-video/

That ad resonated with generations of people, and the reason it ran so long, in spite of all copywriting genius claims, (although it is brilliant), is due to the fact MILLIONS of people were coming to America and needed to learn English.

And we see TIMING ignored in many of the "greatest ads ever written",

How does the Marlboro Man do today? It was one of the greatest ads, one of the best marketing campaigns in history, how does it hold up? Well, if Jake and Logan Paul and Gary V. start promoting Marlboros again, whilst wearing cowboy hats, it might do very well.

Anyhow, YOU have to know what the pain is, what the problem is, what the Need is, what the Want is, the desire...you have to know this first thing, before you put a single word on paper.

You do this by identifying if your product/service is a need or a want, or could it be both? If it is one or the other, then you look at WHO needs it, WHO wants it, and why? Many times it isn't about a problem, although that is the default taught in copywriting groups. SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM.

I wonder what problem the Pet Rock solved. I would understand if they were all the names of girls and the target market were the Paul Bros incels, then a Pet Rock named Gloria might solve their problem of being alone after all the singing and dancing is done and the night time comes.

But if you have a product which solves a problem, then GREAT, you are ahead of the game.

Otherwise, you have to create REASONS WHY a target prospect will want to buy from you, and you have to create the urgency to do it now.

Still with me?


Gordon

I have nothing against surgeons, fishermen or Copywriting Gurus.
 

What do they call a surgeon who hasn't operated in a month?

Unemployed or dead.

See, surgeons cut. All day, some every day. It is what they do. Fishermen fish, they can't take a month off, they just can't.

Guys who sell HOW TO WRITE COPY, what do they do? They sell courses, books, newsletters, videos and instruction, that is what they do>

And it is all good. I have no beefs with anyone of them, although I will get at least a second opinion any surgeon gives me, probably a third.

Where the head goes the body follows.

I need to sell that one, maybe I will.

Copywriters who sell HOW TO courses, and especially ones who make their living from that, and not writing copy, or have quit writing copy and now teach...

their income comes from selling. And they are skilled salespeople at that.

So, I don't try nor do I intend to upset their apple cart, I just present information in a different way, and if you choose to follow it, can save you years of time in your journey.

I don't teach secrets, insider hacks, hidden techniques...I try to teach YOU how to write copy which sells the stuff you have for sale.

This way is based on KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING of behavior, what makes people buy, what they want, why they want it and how to THINK it through before you begin to write a single word.

And I also believe, THERE ARE NO RULES. What works...WORKS!!

Get someone to send you some money with a simple...send me some money, I'll send you THIS...

And that may be all the copy you need to write.

But I am not at odds or war with any copywriting person or even the whole industry of Copywriting as a biz-op.

I do offer signicant shotcuts in time to get the results you want, but those shorcuts and time savers are built on a foundation of understanding what people buy and why

FIRST.

If you think it takes years of study, reading, research and writing out old ads by hand, then you are right.

It is what you believe it is; and I don't believe it is a complicated as most make it out to be, fair enough?

Gordon

Day 4.
 

What are you trying to sell? What is your offer?

As a marketer, I think markets first is better than product first, but there are many who disagree. The fastes and easiest way to write winning copy that pulls is to sell something to someone who has already bought something similar.

If not, then you add hurdles.

But they can be jumped over.

Begin with WHO. Call it a prospect, avatar, target but exactly WHO is that someone you want to buy from you?

Then, where are they? How will you get your offer in front of them at the right time?

What will you say to them?

It isn't as compicated as it is made out to be. But the problems occur at the set up, because everyone is trying to persuade someone to do something and copy writing teachers have to keep you believing that you are only one secret away from getting it right...hello million dollar promotion, lambo, beachs and cold drinks.

And the simplest of thoughts, What is in it for them, or as it is taught from the customer point of view, what is in it for me. WIIfm.

Tell them what they get.
What changes.
What happens.

Joe Karbo told a story in 3 sentences, I was living in the basement of my inlaws. I used this formula. Now I own a beach house and new cars all paid for.

Embarassament. Pride. Ego. Guilt. All felt in the "living in the basement of my inlaws". See.

You don't need page after page or long stories to evoke emotion, frame it in such a way it will resonate with what your target is thinking, and how do you know what that is?

You create the intersection with that in mind, taking their time in to account, and then the PO, the big red nose, or blinking ice cubes...in words, or a video, or audio...

Get their attention by breaking THEIR preoccupation.

More later today, questions anyone?

Now the MGRE.

Thanks to a brilliant professor, Gerald Zaltman, who has written many books, but the one must read for Copywriters is: MARKETING METPHORIA. A very successful marketer, John Assaraf is a big proponent of all things neuromarketing.

See, they have finally caught up to me.

The gap between what people say they WANT, and what they actually BUY, is very huge, and Zaltman explains it (my very simplification) by saying

don't believe people who SAY they want something, what are they really sinking.

I have been deep diving into neuro behavior for decades now, and today, I am very confident and these guys are reassuring my assumptions, as truth.

They first confirm, most people don't know what they want.

Second, what they say is really different from what they THINK.

We think, and BUY in pictures for the most part, but across the board have limited vocabularies to express those. The words used by consumers are for all intents and purposes, to be taken with a grain of salt until backed up by testing and research.

See, it all comes back to the subconscious.

I've written about getting the RAS (reticular activating system) to look the other way, for decades now.

I read Milton Erickson in the 70's, and worked with Fran Renner a decade before that, and Milton was a guy who showed the world the fallacy of a deep trance as a necessity to hypnosis, and of course there is argument still...

but, Erickson used technique, mainly distraction, a touch in many cases to trick the RAS into receptivity.

This is done in Copy much the same way Glenn shocks the waitress, he DISRUPTS her mundane, with shock and awe, in a positive way...and you can do the same thing with the written word.

Here's how:

Can't wait for more! :)
 

Wow, Gordon, this is truly a masterclass!

I pulled out my copy of Roy Garn's "The Magic Power of Emotional Appeal" for a quick refresher...

When it comes to Joe Karbo, I don't remember him saying much regarding copywriting in "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches"... for that, his ads are good...

I noticed that in one of Bud Weckesser's ads, he wrote...

"...I had no savings, a desk full of bills and a beat up old station wagon that still wasn't paid for..."

I'm sure many could relate to that feeling (even if their circumstances aren't exactly identical)...

I LOVE Glenn Osborn's positive "shock and awe"... I have no doubt it gets many, many positive results (as he reports)... I read everything he puts out that I can get my hands on... (His books are great.)

I hadn't heard of "Marketing Metaphoria"... Definitely something to get a hold of! Thanks!

Also... I love the cliffhanger!

Can't wait for more! :)

Best wishes,

Dien

ZMET. A patent. A toll position.
 

ZMET.

Do a quick search for Zaltman. I think he is a secret weapon of many big corps today. The DEEP METAHPHOR.

All gurus have a THEN and now STORY. Some take pages to give theirs.

I use the BRIDGE metaphor, I normally put it in almost everything I write (reports) that pic and a wad of cash. Metaphors.

You are on this side of the river,
the other side is the land of milk, honey and freedom
Cross the bridge to get there.

here is a step by step way to get across the bridge.

Pert near half of all copy follows the above.

Here you are before you BUY my product, there you are after.

And what do we know of NOW? Can you say INSECURITY/UNcertainty?

So what exactly are the step by step processes to get inside the prospects mind:

I give them later today, in a new step by step post. Hint, there is an igloo involved.

Gordon

The most likely intersection.
 

This about online. To get inside their minds, you have to intersect with them.


1 Searches. Search Engines: Google, YouTube, Bing, Yahoo do you use anything else, I don't. Once searched reddit, but...hey, its reddit.

I think MOST people use Google, YouTube and Bing. (and some eBay)

Which is what SEO, google ads, placement, 3 packs and all that jargon is about, and I will say top two pages, if you are on page 3 of the searches, your dead.

2) YouTube. Yes, it is in 1, but it deserves a special mention on its own, it has become or is rapidly becoming the go to search engine for HOW TO.

3) Groups (Platforms): forums, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok and eBay. Or AMAZON, the 800 lb gorilla for shopping online.

So you want to test your promotion online? There are many options for targeting, the more targeted the more expensive it can get.

But whichever platform, or group or place you run your ads, you must KNOW with certainty, your avatar, or Ideal Prospect is THERE.

Don't offer golf putters to pro bass fisherman, eh?

Any of this making sense?

Cause the interest other than Dien, who knows this already, doesn't seem to be here, which is OK.

But the good stuff is still to come. And if it is only Dien, I'll just send him everything and not waste any time here, OK?

Gordon

Hey fatso, yea, I'm talking to you lard azz.
 

Gary Halbert ran a radio ad, known as the FATBOY ad, it was hilarious, had Akron in stitches for weeks, played over and over again, and talked about.

Yet, it didn't sell a single product. Gary learned his lesson about making fun of people, at least that way.

Getting people to part with money, is no laughing matter, unless like Dien, you sell tickets to comedy clubs...HA!

We've established folk have things on their mind, and if you address what those things are, and resonate with their PREOCCUPATIONS, you have a far better chance of making a sale.

Sales? Is that what you want?

Influence? Is that what you are after?

LIFETIME VALUE, the magical wonderful results of having satisfied customers who buy from you time and again.

What you say to them, or rather what they see in the first 10 seconds, be it text, video or hear in audio, is going to determine whether they continue with your promotion or not.

In text, the emphasis is on the headline. Grab them by the throat. Gain their undivided attention.
Hit them with a brick upside the head (metaphorically of course).

And that is where EMOTIONAL words happen.

DON'T BE HALF A MAN. Screamed the Charles Atlas ads in the comic books and magazines of yesteryear, along with a STORY, a before and after...

of being HUMILIATED and then beating down the bully.

It may be one of the greatest copywriting templates you can find. Do a google image search to see the variations.

INSECURITY. Not all ads can appeal to people's insecurity, but most can, somehow.

And a story, which is a metaphor for...the journey across the bridge, from the NOW to the THEN.

And get that emotion up front, and you are about to become golden.

Gordon

P.S. The most run version was THE INSULT THAT MADE A MAN OUT OF MAC.

See, the word INSULT, is an emotionally charged word, you don't need any explanations or long winded meanings...we've all been insulted in some way, and know its sting.

Bully. Chump to champ. Winning the girl. INSECURITY.

Keep the Blair Warren one sentence in mind:

People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.

Copywriters. Somewhere between Richard Gere and Charles Durning.
 

I should say copywriting gurus.

Richard Gere in CHICAGO did the Razzle Dazzle.

Charles Durning in BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS did "a little two step"
Whereas

many gurus use the Michael Jackson moonwalk...

it looks like magic, it gets a gasp the first time you see it, but it is a dance move, a twist on the backslide.

And they would have you believe it takes years of practice, and it is hard, takes time and you have to pay your dues.

OR, you can sell things that people want to buy, without much influence or persuasion.

The Gordon shuffle, looks a lot like Tim Conway's old man walk:

https://youtu.be/13oklol49ZY
.
He gets there without undue haste or waste.

Use it, slow down and follow through, and get fast results.

Gordon

Master of the M_______
 

Hi Gordon,

One thing I love about your stuff is... you are the MASTER of the METAPHOR...

Not many people talk about that (that I've seen), in marketing / copywriting contexts...

Yet I believe it's an (often) untapped power!

I need to work on this myself... :)

As a dancer, I'm perhaps less like Christopher Walken or Gene Kelly, and perhaps a bit more like Jerry Lewis... ;)



https://youtu.be/tluIZp3fuzM?t=56

Best wishes,

Dien

There was Jerry Lewis the personna (clown) and
 

the very TALENTED Jerry Lewis; singer, dancer, musician.

His personna, dare I say his avatar, made him rich...but the man was full of talent.

When one doesn't have any gifts, or natural talents, then he must resort to hard work, persistence and have a driving ambition.

Unfortunately for me, I have neither talent or ambition, but then, I'm pretty happy with what I do got...

A very HUUUUGE .....



ego.

Gordon