If you want to improve your writing, you probably spend a fair amount of time reading a variety of “How To Write Good Sales Copy” kinds of information.
True?
You probably subscribe to a handful of newsletters like mine… you’ve read a few of the classic copywriting books by Claude Hopkins… John Caples… or Victor Schwab, and… you may have even read some “modern-day” books by guys like Dan Kennedy… Gary Halbert… and Joe Sugarman.
And this is good — you’re definitely going down the right track here.
Keep doing this, because knowledge applied in the right direction, really is powerful.
And in case you missed it…
The key word here, is… “applied”!
Anyway, what I want you to do right now, is to…
Completely Stop Reading These Books!
At least for a while anyway.
You see, you may not know it, but you could learn just as much — if not more — about writing effective sales copy, by reading fun stuff too, like fiction.
No, I’m not kidding, and let’s face it, you also get a lot more involved and emotionally attached to the characters in a good novel, then in a good “How To” book, any day.
Right?
See, I just finished up a few AWESOME novels, and I’d like to show you what to look for when you’re reading a good novel, and how to use this information to easily learn how to improve your sales copy.
Ready?
O.K. then.
The first book I want to tell you about is called “Motherless Brooklyn”, by an author named Jonathan Lethem, who’s actually from Brooklyn.
If you like a good old-fashioned murder / mystery / adventure and suspense book, only one that takes place in modern times, then grab yourself a copy of this book — you won’t be sorry.
It’s like a spy thriller, only there’s no spies in this one — just petty thugs and slick Brooklyn street hustlers.
Anyway, here’s why I loved this book: Check out how well this guy writes, from page 155:
“The four of them wore identical blue suits with black piping on the legs, and identical black sunglasses. They looked like a band that plays at weddings. Four white guys, assortedly chunky, pitched in the face, with pimples, and indistinct. Their car was a rental. Chunky sat in the backseat waiting and when the two who’d picked me up crushed me into the back beside him, he immediately put his arm around my neck in a sort of brotherly choke hold. The two who’d picked me off the street — Pimples and Indistinct — jammed in beside me, to make four of us on the backseat. It was a bit crowded.”
WOW!
I mean, how much cooler do you get than that?
Notice how Lethem’s writing:
Short, stacco sentences!
Lethem’s writing exactly the same way he’d be talking, if he was telling you this story in a conversation, instead of writing it.
Descriptive as all get out!
He tells you what the guys looked like… he gives you a visual and psychological anchor, by telling you they also resembled a band that plays at weddings… and… he also gives you an overview of their physical characteristics.
And the thing is, the physical attributes he’s describing, are vivid and stereotypical enough, that you can start picturing other visual, physical, and personality characteristics typically associated with people who share these same “trademarks”.
This guy’s simply brilliant!
He’s specific!
They’re not just “blue suits”, they’re “identical blue suits with black piping on the legs, and identical black sunglasses”.
Being specific makes the entire scenario much more believable and life-like. (Just the same way it does when you’re writing your sales copy.)
Do you see what my point is, about all this?
If you don’t, then you’re really missing out on a very valuable lesson here.
See, each of these techniques Lethem’s using in his fiction writing, are the same techniques you should be using in your sales copy.
They get your prospects more involved with the message you’re trying to deliver. And, if your prospects are actually taking time out of their lives to devote some mental “shelf-space” to you and your message… it brings them closer to you, and… closer to…
Buying From You!
Another book I just finished reading, is “Holes” by Louis Sachar.
My older son had been after me to read this book, and the truth is, I’m sorry I waited so long.
This was an easy book to digest… a fast read (maybe 2 hours of your time)… and boy-oh-boy, what a joy it was.
The sense of empathy (using very plain-and-simple English), Sachar was able to stir inside you, over the main characters plight, was heartfelt and simply wonderful.
If you can stir up emotions like that in your sales copy…
You’ve got a rock-solid
money-making machine on your hand!
And when you can show a “struggle to success” story the way he did, taking you by the hand and letting you walk alongside his characters as they overcome obstacle after unjust obstacle, your outcome’s going to be fantastic!
Can you do the same thing in your sales copy?
Of Course You Can!
For example, whatever you’re selling, has got to be the solution to some kind of problem… so tell your prospects stories about how you developed your product… or, how your product or service has changed someone’s life.
Either of those stories can be made into “rags to riches” or “struggle to success” stories, no?
I definitely shed a few tears after I finished reading the uplifting and pretty ironic conclusion of “Holes”, and… if you can move your prospects the same way, believe me you’ll make more than your fair share of ducats.
So read as much good fiction as you can get your hands on.
Start thinking about how your authors are painting their characters and bringing them to life for you.
And begin figuring out how the dynamics of the characters relationships are handled, and how YOU can use these same dynamics in your sales copy, to make your sales pitches compelling and “real”.
The bottom line here is, if you do the following three things, you’ll be able to use your fiction readings, to leverage your creative juices so they start flowing like the roaring rapids of the Snake River in Colorado, and not the Black Muddy River of folklore.
Here are these three simple things you must do:
Read!
Read voraciously and read like your life’s depending on it. Pretend each book you read is like a juicy thick sirloin steak, and then imagine…
You’re Freakin Starving!
And start devouring those books!
Think!
As you’re reading, s-l-o-w-l-y digest every single morsel you’re taking in. Discover what’s making your characters tick, and… even more important, figure out what it is about what’s making them tick…
That’s Going To Make Your Prospects TickToo!
Do Something!
You know, last week I saw this bit on one of those prime time television news exposés, about some poor gal who was just so desperate to lose weight.
The only problem was… she was eating enough food in a day…
To feed a small farming country in the mid-east!
Now what’s up with that?
Do you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that’s NOT the road to losing weight?
I’m not saying it’s easy for someone in her position — NOTHING good is easy.
Anything worth while, is usually worth fighting for, and… it’s also usually incredibly difficult to achieve.
Period.
Sorry, but there’s just no getting around that one.
So if you think simply “reading” and “understanding” everything you must know about “how to write”, is going to make you even one thin dime, then you’re sorely mistaken.
To do this, you’ve actually got to go out and…
Write something!
Be, as Teddy Roosevelt said, the “man in the arena”. Feel the sweat pouring down the sides of your head… bounce back from your mistakes… and then… emerge victorious, baby!
Before I go, check out what Rod Argent said, back in 1968. (Do you know who he is?)
“Really, music is a very personal thing. It’s the product of a person’s experiences. Since no two people have been exactly alike, each writer has something unique to say. That makes anything which is not just a copy of something else, worth listening to.”
So listen to music that moves your soul… read good books that quench your thirst for becoming whole, emotionally… and enjoy creating and basking in the “non-real” things life’s imagination is offering you.
And then, use these gifts to go out and create the very best damn sales letters you can, and… start…
Enjoying… Your Results!
About the Author
Craig Garber is one of America’s Top Direct-Response Copywriters and Direct-Marketing Consultants. For more copywriting tips, go to www.kingofcopy.com
Copyright 2005 www.kingofcopy.com
