How to create your own copywriting tactics
Published: Sat, 10/05/19
Here’s the story:
A couple years ago, I was at a Wing Chun Kung fu lesson, and Sifu did something that did not look like Wing Chun at all. In fact, it almost looked like the exact opposite of the system. And, when I asked him about it he said it wasn’t at all Wing Chun, yet was still 100% Wing Chun because…
(And I quote)
“When you master the principles, you can create your own tactics.”
And you know what?
I have since noticed a small number of the best copywriters do the same thing.
Take, for example, the late, great Jim Rutz.
He not only was so great at the craft he could charge $100k per promotion (and back when $100k was a lot more in today’s money…), but he had such a mastery of the principles of selling via ad copy, he could create his own headline “tactics.”
For example:
One of his control headlines was:
“New Coup For Lou”
There is nothing “direct response” about that.
Certainly, not a format or template easily swiped.
And, I daresay, you’ll never see it listed in one of the “100 greatest headlines” lists circulating around the internet, yet it took an extremely high level mastery of being able to combine both the English language and what he knew of his market to pull that headline off — all because he mastered the principles first, and could then create that tactic.
Same with his famous “Read This Or Die” headline.
Or his “Managua we’re going down!” headline.
Or his “Limo Larry & Champagne Cherie” headline.
Or his “Shut your left eye” headline.
Or any number of the other doozies I’ve seen of his via the new “Read This Or Die” swipe file of 200+ of his ads and promos the great Brian Kurtz has the rights to sell. It’s packed full of headlines you won't see from the usual flock of Facebook copywriting goo-roos pounding theirs chests about how great they are at copywriting, but have never sold anything to anyone else except their own warm markets of fellow social media tweekers and sycophants.
More:
If you saddle up to my affiliate link below and buy the Jim Rutz swipe file, and follow my simple instructions for sending me your receipt before tomorrow’s midnight EDT deadline (i.e. you must send me your receipt, not just buy the swipe file, by the deadline), I’ll give you some goodies:
“The Swiperoscope Saga: Part 1”
Here’s what they’re about:
These videos contain almost 2.5 hours of Yours Rudely putting 5 of my favorite ads and sales letters in my private swipe file under the proverbial “microscope”, and analyzing them word-for-word.
Some of the secrets in these videos include:
* 4 phrases you can sprinkle throughout your copy that helps turn off a person’s inner BS detector when making big claims.
* How to “bake” urgency into your ads, sales letters, and emails without needing a deadline.
* The horrifyingly politically incorrect reality about using shaming in your marketing. (An amusing observation: Certain billion dollar companies use shaming to the hilt all the time, even as your broke mush-cookie copywriter friends on Flakebook insist it doesn’t work.)
* The Hollywood screenwriter secret to belting out fast-paced sales copy that doesn’t let people stop reading.
* Two words the late, great copywriter Gary Halbert would use to get people to “lean in” and read his copy.
* How to “recruit” envious & jealous friends to help write your ads without them even knowing it. (One of the greatest copywriters in history did this repeatedly, and it was one of his most powerful secrets for boosting response.)
* A simple “tweak” your copy that can make your marketing almost neurologically impossible to ignore.
* A secret kind of ad that was used all the time in the early and mid 1900’s that still can work like gangbusters today. (I’m testing this baby myself… and not only did Jim Rutz use this kind of ballsy advertising, but the late, great copywriter Gene Schwartz advocated it, too, when hardly anyone else was.)
* The Incredible hulk test for knowing when you can safely ignore the common advice about writing copy at “7th grade or lower” language.
* A simple sales letter opener (used by three of the greatest copywriters who ever lived) that automatically embeds proof & credibility into your promos.
* A secret biological advantage men have in life. (Nothing to do with copywriting per se — yet smart copywriters will be able to use it.)
* A secret biological advantage women have in life. (Again, nothing to do with “copywriting”, yet a wise copywriter can use this info to write stronger copy.)
* The real secret behind how the late, great Gary halbert built up intrigue sentence-by-sentence in his sales copy… and drew in people even if they weren’t interested in the subject matter.
* A “vitamin” that is almost guaranteed to help copywriters explode response and sales. (The great Gary Bencivenga — universally considered to be the greatest living copywriter — talked about this vitamin, and if it’s good enough for him…)
* A completely non-woo-woo way (used by some of history’s greatest orators, but that horrifies broke public speaking college teachers) to create a “hypnotic” effect in your sales copy.
* How to make even your craziest claims sound completely credible & believable. (I first learned this ditty while studying some Dan Kennedy ads, and if you read his sales copy, you can see him doing it all the time.)
* An old school MLM sales trick for writing “skeptic friendly” sales copy.
* A rarely-used ancient Greek philosopher persuasion trick that can potentially make all your copy — for any kind of marketing — far more responsive than it is now.
* A truly sneaky (and also truly ingenious) example of how to legally use someone else’s trademark in your advertising to help sell your offers. (This is admittedly tough to pull off… and legal counsel is 100% required before you do it… but if you do pull it off, you can potentially create a whole army of new business with just a couple words added to your sales copy.)
* And a whole lot more…
Anyway, a reminder:
The deadline to get these bonuses is tomorrow, Sunday, October 6, at midnight EDT. And you must forward me your receipt (not just buy the Jim Rutz swipe file) by that deadline to possess these videos.
Otherwise, no bonuses for you.
Here’s my affiliate link:
http://www.EmailPlayers.com/rutz
Ben Settle