copywriting Martin Lee on 20 Jul 2007 01:04 am
Copywriting Articles by Jay Abraham
One of AbrahamClub.com’s readers, Tim Thach, has kindly pointed to us a site which has a few articles written by Jay Abraham on copywriting. These are the titles of the articles:
The 100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written
How To Create A Unique Selling Proposition
How Good Headlines Can Build Your Business
A Model Sales Letter For Someone Who Has Never Written One Before!
37 Million-Dollar Headlines
The site in question belongs to Jeff Paul and also contains about forty articles on copywriting by other experts including Yanik Silver, Ted Nicholas, David Garfinkel and Drew Eric Whitman.
Here’s the link for the articles by Jay Abraham (Articles can be found near the bottom of the page). I haven’t gone to read the articles yet but a preliminary scan shows that some of them are pretty long. Plenty of content and not your typical 500 word article.
on 20 Jul 2007 at 6:09 am 1.Tim said …
Using Jay’s model, I just cranked this one out.
Dear Neighbor,
Are you getting all the compliments you want on your smile?
If the answer is no, I�d like to personally invite you to make an appointment at our clinic for at free dental evaluation and consultation.
Here�s a brief list of what you�ll get on your first free appointment:
– Complete physical dental examination. We�ll show you exactly where you�ve been doing things right!
– Brush then floss, or floss then brush? We�ll settle that once and for all and show you why. Get this wrong and it could be more dangerous than not brushing at all!
– If you need any further dental correction or care, we will provide a step-by-step plan to get you the super smile you want and deserve fast. We�ll help you make all of your first impressions good ones that last.
Our staff at The Whole Tooth Clinic provides caring service only to people who are serious about the health and appearance of their teeth. Grab your phone now and call us at xxx-xxx-xxx and schedule your free dental exam today because our schedule will fill up fast.
on 21 Jul 2007 at 10:47 pm 2.Martin Lee said …
Good job Tim!
Are you a dentist?
on 23 Jul 2007 at 8:58 am 3.John B said …
Martin,
A good blog topic might be to take a letter from Jay (selling a seminar, home study course, or club, or service) and pick it apart. Why it works. What’s the purpose of this part, this and this.
Maybe everyone could offer in their answers…you might get some interesting responses.
John
on 23 Jul 2007 at 1:46 pm 4.Martin Lee said …
Hi John,
That’s a great idea.
There’s a model letter (the one Tim re-crafted into his own version) provided by Jay in one of those articles that he wrote.
I will put it up and try to disect it from my humble perspective.
on 26 Jul 2007 at 1:01 pm 5.Andy said …
Hi Martin,
I’m a fellow Jay Abraham hardcore fan too.
Anyway, I have a question directed at Tim (the dentist letter). I’m interested to know whether he actually did mail out that letter and how did it perform?
I think the rest of us are interested to know too right? 😉
Thanks!
Best regards,
Andy
on 26 Jul 2007 at 1:19 pm 6.Martin Lee said …
Hi Andy, I will get Tim to tell us the answer. 🙂
on 30 Jul 2007 at 1:53 am 7.Drew said …
Hi Tim,
“Are you getting all the compliments you want on your smile?”
That’s not a bad opening at all.
But how about putting a little “zinger” of emotion into it, like…
=====
“When people see your teeth… WHAT ARE THEY SECRETLY THINKING?
Straight? Crooked? White? Yellow? Beautiful!”
=====
Injecting EMOTION is a powerful way to hook them at the outset of your letter. Sentence #1 should be a real zinger.
Success!
Drew
on 30 Jul 2007 at 12:56 pm 8.Tim said …
Thanks everyone for the positive comments and input.
My purpose in posting that fictional copy was to demonstrate how easy it is to incorporate that particular method.
When I wrote it, I held the image of a professional woman in my mind. I asked the question “what would she want from a dentist?” What information would pull her in? What type of free gift or service would she respect?
I kept the tone of the letter aimed at the client. Not the business. You, You, You.
The first bullet is focused on telling the client (no matter their dental condition) what they’ve been doing right. I really hate hearing what I’ve been doing wrong. How about a little POSITIVE feedback for a welcomed change!
The brush then floss bullet was just a wise crack. I guess I’ve watched too much Jerry Seinfeild episodes. 🙂 The “get this wrong” is pure hyperbole. Not lying, just a little journalistic liberty.
In the third benefit bullet, I really wanted to put what I feel is so sadly lacking from our medical and dental professionals. A road map to better health. A step-by-step plan, a how-to guide, a checklist, something, anything! to help me do the things I need to do to get better!
Notice the “only to people who are serious…” sentence. Everyone is serious about their teeth, and believes everyone else isn’t.
I weighed in my mind the difference between “pick up your phone” and “grab your phone.” Most professionals have their cell phones close at hand and Grab seemed a more likely action than Pick-up.
I really wanted put put a strong “reason why” in the call to action.
I am not a professional dentist, nor copywriter. I’m new to all of this and I’m studying and learning. It took me 45 minutes to craft that little letter. (I do what Gary Halbert says and take good copy that sells, and write it out myself exactly as it’s written.) That helps me understand what good copy is.
Tim
on 03 Aug 2007 at 10:47 pm 9.Martin Lee said …
Hi Tim,
Yes, almost all the great copywriters teach that for us to become a good copywriter, we must take good salesletters and hand write them out.
Sad to say, I have not done a single bit of that!
on 24 Sep 2007 at 9:48 am 10.TA said …
Hi Martin & all,
I’m new here.
While we’re in this discussion, I thought maybe we can further our ideas on:
1. Is it great to have a tagline, or slogan, or begin marketing copy with a question..
2. Which pulls the emotions n pulls in the responses: a question that evokes pain (what U lose out etc), or one that highlights positive, desired results (what U benefit etc)..
Cheers guys!
TA. 🙂
on 24 Sep 2007 at 12:19 pm 11.Martin Lee said …
Hi TA,
A question could be used as a headline. As for tagline or slogan, nothing too fanciful and it must be able to capture the reader’s attention and make them want to read more.
In most cases, pain will be a greater motivator than pleasure.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 3:21 pm 12.Drew Eric Whitman said …
In response to TA’s questions:
>>1. Is it great to have a tagline, or slogan, or begin marketing copy with a question.
It’s best to start ALL advertising with a strong, positive, benefit-rich claim!
>>2. Which pulls the emotions n pulls in the responses: a question that evokes pain (what U lose out etc), or one that highlights positive, desired results (what U benefit etc).
Similar to my reply to question #1: you want to use a strong CLAIM that addresses the reader’s most powerful desire. You might test addressing claiming to END THE PAIN (“Does Your Stubborn ACNE Make You Feel UGLY?”) versus (“Beautiful, Clear, Acne-Free Skin Can Be Yours in 30 Days or Less!”), but testing has shown that the positive typically beats the negative.
Success to you!
Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon(tm)
on 26 Sep 2007 at 11:44 pm 13.Martin Lee said …
Direct Response Surgeon…
haha
Nice!
on 27 Sep 2007 at 1:39 am 14.Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S. said …
>
Thank you. Even advertising consultants have to position ourselves in a way that stands out from the crowd. We have competition too. 😉
Success to you!
Drew Eric Whitman, D.R.S.
Direct Response Surgeon(tm)
http://www.AdSurgeon.com
on 27 Sep 2007 at 9:51 am 15.TA said …
Thanks for yr responses, Martin & Drew.
I’m still testing it this way:
1. Put across pain in a question as headline.
2. Then respond to pain in main copy with strong claims of positive benefits..
Perhaps this be a good way to blend the pain/pleasure-question/claim controversy. 🙂
on 27 Sep 2007 at 9:56 am 16.Martin Lee said …
Hi TA,
Perhaps you could test out both the pain and benefit headline and see which one pulls better.
And if you do this test, do let us know how it turns out for you!
on 08 Jul 2010 at 5:08 pm 17.Jacob said …
Drew i like your emotion discussion here. But how do you bring emotion in something like firesafety and not being negative.
I know it is a strong technique to bring fear into the game but i do not want to do that.
I want a positive emotion. Your example is targeted on insucere emotions. Can you turn them into something positive? And can you sell something like firesafety on positive grounds?