The first step is to find a market. That means you don’t start with a product and then try to find people to sell to. It might work, but is often a recipe for disaster.

A better method is to find a hungry, cash-laden crowd who are passionate about what they do, and then find out what they want – and give it to them. In other words, produce a product that meets the current demands of a particular market.

Operating this way saves a lot of hand-wringing, guesswork and finger-crossing, hoping that you’ve stumbled upon the perfect product. You’ll know ahead of time you’ve got something people want. Then you can concentrate all your efforts on selling it.

Most products will solve a problem that people have. The solution you come up with needs to be believable, must actually do what it says it will do, and should do it with some level of ease. People rarely want more complications or time-consuming things in their life. They want simple, easy and fast solutions.

The best products for direct response are info products.

Why are info products such great products for direct marketing?

• They are easy to create
• They can be adapted to many different formats for low-end to high-end products
• They are extremely cheap to produce
• Concept to finished product times are very fast
• They have a high perceived value
• They require little or no manufacturing or inventory
• They have a high profit margin
• There is a huge market for them

If you are just starting out, choosing something you know a lot about will make it easier to create the product and to sell it, since you will have the same passion and mindset of your target customer.

As you expand in to other areas where you have less (or no) knowledge, always look for an existing, lucrative market first, then learn everything you can about the market and you should get plenty ideas for solutions to problems.

Products and sales copy will naturally flow out of these ideas, and you’ll quickly be on your way to creating an effective — and profitable — direct marketing campaign.

While copywriting in general is a respected profession, it is within the direct marketing world that copywriters enjoy tremendous respect. It is the copywriter who make direct marketers money.

One of the primary benefits of direct marketing is that it is 100% measurable. With a branding campaign, you never know what brings in the sales.

But since direct marketing is completely quantifiable, the best direct marketers are rabid testers. Once they have a sales letter that sells, that letter becomes a “control.” Then another letter is produced and split test to try to beat the control. The new salesletter may be entirely different, or may just be a tweak of the original letter. Testing different headlines, length of copy (number of pages) and color of buttons or headlines are common tweaks. If the control gets beat by a contender, the contender becomes the new control.

There is no time to fall in love with copy when profits are on the line. With large mailings, even a small increase in conversions – say from 2% to 3% can mean millions of dollars in additional profits.

People tend to love or hate direct marketing – but even people who SAY they hate it have often bought something as a result. Most of the hate comes from being inundated with “junk mail.” However, if you are getting junk mail, it usually means that you have purchased something by direct response in the past.

Direct response marketing often looks “hypey”  to someone who isn’t a prospect. If you don’t have back pain an infomercial about a device that cures lower back pain looks like a lot of hype and slick selling. But if you have back pain, you view it as potentially life-changing information. You get engaged and start an internal conversation as to whether or not this will help you. The direct marketing didn’t change you into a back pain sufferer – it simply identified one of your needs, and drew you in to a potential solution.

Remember, no matter what you think about direct marketing, it works. Companies wouldn’t continue to send the “junk mail” unless it made them a profit.

Traditionally speaking, copywriters write advertisements. The modern definition of copywriting has expanded to include many forms of communication and marketing. The “copy” produced by copywriters can be used in printed ads, but also includes all the words used in scripts for video and audio messages. Copywriters also produce slogans used to brand companies, as well as all the elements found in individual promotions such as headlines, body copy, jingles, photo captions, lead lines, tags lines, dialogue, bullets, calls to action, etc.

Examples of copywriting (things written and/or scripted by a copywriter):

• Sales letters (including video sales letters)
• Televison ads
• Radio ads
• Magazine ads
• Internet ads
• Display ads (online and printed media)
• Pay-per-click text ads
• Catalogs
• Brochures
• Fliers

While writing copy requires good writing skills, copywriting is a very specific form of writing. It requires clarity and creativity. Many people are good creative writers. Others are excellent technical writers who can write very clearly and precisely. Copywriters  use elements of both, but what really makes copywriting different is that copywriting is meant to sell something.

Copywriting influences everyone each day. Not just the ads that bombard you on TV, print, web and radio, but copywriting is also used  by politicians to solicit donations, charitable causes to rally support, churches to raise funds, non-profits to help disaster-stricken areas, or special interest groups to promote awareness of specific causes (like child abuse, drunk driving, animal cruelty, saving the planet, women’s rights, etc.)

What you need to be a good copywriter:

A good copywriter is an effective copywriter.

It doesn’t matter how slick, clever, pithy or creative your words are; if they don’t sell, it’s not good copy. Copywriting and advertising giant David Ogilvy once said, “If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative.”

The best copywriters are often not people who were the best writers in school. Yes, you need to know the basic elements of style and grammar – but good copy often bypasses some of the formalities of language. Effective copy is copy that speaks the language and style of the customer. The vocabulary and worldview will therefore be different for each different product or sales message.

You will use different language and style when writing copy for a course on money management for finance experts than you will if you are selling a guide on how to become a better surfer to young adults.

Therefore, unless you work for a firm or write copy for your own specific niche exclusively, you will be most effective if you understand a little bit about human nature and are willing to learn about how different people react to certain things. The technical term for this is empathy. Empathy means you can relate to and develop a real sense of the prospect’s problems, needs and desires.

A good copywriter will also have a passion for information – someone who knows what they are selling inside and out, and are sold themselves on the benefits of the product or service being sold.

Salesmanship is also critical – but not in the stereotypical bad sense (hard-core hype of a telemarketer or used-car salesman). Salesmanship is all about understanding the prospect, indentifying their needs, offering a believable solution, and then, by building trust and authenticity, offer ample proof that you can deliver the goods. It takes time to build trust, and sometimes the best selling techniques are NOT to try to get a one-off  sale at any cost. It will be about building a relationship and fostering trust.

Copywriting also requires some time-management skills. You need to be able to work well under pressure, meet deadlines, and work well both individually and in a team setting.

Browse through our site for or specific examples of different types of copywriting, examples you can add to your swipe file, and solutions to many of the roadblocks copywriters face in their craft.

It’s a simple list of the basic principles that delivered copywriting success to my doorstep. Simple …  but super-powerful and highly effective … if you actually use them.

I’ll expand on each one in future articles.

1. Know your market – write directly to your reader about what she wants, not about what you want (or what you think she wants).
2. Remember that your primary job is to sell, not write. Be precise, not fancy.
3. Craft headlines and sub-headlines that will grab the interest of your reader.
4. Describe features, but focus on benefits
5. Persuade your reader with facts and reasons, not fantastic claims and empty hype.
6. Keep your reader’s interest with fascinating details and a compelling story that makes him want to keep reading rather than skip to the end.
7. Craft an offer no intelligent reader can pass up.
8. Create a super-charged guarantee that removes all risk
9. Make sure you tell your reader exactly what you want him to do (call to action)
10. Give your reader a credible reason for responding to your call to action immediately, not tomorrow.

The best place to use bullets is when listing features and benefits. Here is a list of 21 different bullet styles or templates to help mix things up in your copy and hopefully inject a little creativity into your think tank.

Enjoy.

1. The “how to” bullet

• How to make yourself safer
  than 89% of other car
  passengers —     page ##.

2. The “secret to” bullet

• The secrets of “Single Finger”
  takedowns … using moves that are
  indefensible even by a larger and
  more experienced opponent!

3. The “Why” bullet

• Why if this disaster strikes
  the US, you’ll pay up to 15 times
  more money for cheap imitations of
  your favorite supplements — and
  why that’s the good news!

4. The “What” bullet

• What you must do immediately
  before April 15th, 20## to
  preserve your wealth and …

5. The “What NEVER” bullet

• What never to eat on an airplane.
  The dirtiest, deadliest airplane in
  the whole wide world.

6. The “PLUS” bullet

• PLUS my complete list of
  1,837 companies that we suspect of
  fudging their earnings — make sure
  your stocks are NOT on this list!

7. The “Number” bullet

• Four ways to stimulate the
  body to release its own
  natural painkillers.

8. The “Right?  WRONG!” bullet

• Sneezing into a tissue
  prevents colds, right? Wrong!
  Page # explains why.

9. The “WARNING” bullet

• WARNING: Avoid These 2
  Popular Gold Investments Like The
  Plague! Ignoring this single warning
  could leave you broke and holding
  the bag!

10. The “Are you …?” bullet

• Are you and your doctor
  making these common mistakes with
  your health? One of the Country’s
  most respected M.D.’s exposes the 9
  deadliest flaws in disease treatment
  that could be robbing you of your
  health and hard-earned money.

11. The “Gimmick” bullet

• The amazing “Towel Hanging”
  trick that increases the strength
  of you erection … plus your lovemaking
  stamina … allowing you to
  supercharge your love-life in a very
  short time! (You have to experience
  these kinds of “rocket burst”
  orgasms to believe they’re possible!
  See page ###.)

12. The “Sneaky” bullet

• Sneaky little arthritis secrets
  that doctors never, ever tell you
  about …

13. The “Statement of Interest + Benefit” bullet.

• Drowning is the third leading
  cause of accidental death. But did
  you know it’s possible to save a
  drowning person even if you can’t
  swim? Page ##.

14. The “Direct Benefit” Bullet

• BANISH MENSTRUAL
  CRAMPS FOR GOOD with a
  common vitamin! Now shown to wipe
  out over 80% of all cases of cramps.

15. The “Specific Question” bullet

• Do you know that one quarter
  of all household burglars
  gain entrance without breaking in?
  Here’s how they do it … and how to
  get them to stop doing it to you.
  Page ###.

16. The “If … Then” bullet

• If you have a tension headache,
  here’s why you should forget
  your scalp and concentrate on
  your toes.

17. The “When” bullet

• When the IRS has to pay you
  interest! If they miss this deadline
  by a single day, they’re legally obligated
  to do so. Page ##.

18. The “Quickest, Easiest” Bullet

• The quickest, easiest ways to
  find a broker who won’t cheat you.

19. The “Truth” bullet

• The truth about
  mutual funds. What your
  broker doesn’t tell you could cost
  you up to 5% this year.

20. The “Better” Bullet

• BETTER THAN THE
  BENCH PRESS. For a broader,
  more muscular chest, the uncanny
  exercise on page ## works wonders.

21. The “Single” Bullet

• The single most important
  sentence you will ever read about
  how to create powerful marketing.
  It contains just nine words, and they
  will forever change your approach
  to marketing.

Do you have your own favorite bullet style or template?

Share it with us. Just leave a comment below.

Thanks!

The Motivating Sequence is very similar to the AIDA marketing formula, but more practical in its use.

You can use the Motivating Sequence to outline your basic sales message or as a full-blown model for your entire sales letter. It’s all a matter of how much detail you want to package into each step.

The basic outline of the Motivating Sequences goes like this:

• Get  Attention
• Identify the Problem or Need
• Position your Product or Service as the Solution
• Prove your Product or Solution Is the Best Solution
• Ask the Reader to Take Action

Let’s take a look at each one of these steps in the sequences and see how to accomplish each task.

Get Attention

This is the job of your headline.

A headline has a singular purpose: Grab attention and force the reader to start reading the rest of your copy.

To accomplish this you need to speak directly to your prospect. Identify with their problem and offer the certain hope of a solution.

Your headline may utilize your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). If you don’t have a USP, be sure to read the section on Writing an Effective USP.

Your headline may also include a hook. A hook is a compelling and sometimes shocking incongruity  that forces the reader to say, “What the …!!!”

There are many proven formulas for effective headlines, but before you go searching your swipe file for a perfect headline to copy, make sure you work through the next 3 steps before you develop your headline.

Remember this step is first because this is the order that you present your sales message to the prospect. It isn’t the order you write the message in. A headline should not be written until at least halfway through the writing process. You can toy with some ideas along the way, but save most of your headline writing effort until most of your message is already finished.

One final thought on headlines. Should they be short, or long? Well, they should say exactly what you need to say to grab attention. If that means a long headline, so be it. Just make sure every word counts. Take the time to refine your headline. Cut out every word that doesn’t add value and continue cutting out words without castrating the headline of its potency.

Identify the Problem or Need

What exactly is the problem your prospect faces? You need to identify this, and speak openly about it. That is how you “bond” with your prospect. You are not just another product huckster. You can feel their pain. You understand their problems.

By establishing this kind of rapport with your prospect, you can glide right into the next section where you provide a solution.

The key to this step (identifying the problem) is to actually know the needs and fears of your reader. The problem isn’t just that they are losing their memory, their fear is that they will become a burden on their family, that they will make a fool of themselves and lose their dignity, that they will forget cherished memories and loved ones. See how that works? Identifying the problem means plumbing the depths of your prospects deepest fears and most horrible nightmares.

How do you do that?

The best way is to be a prospect yourself. No one knows what it is like to be going bald than someone who is going bald.

Unfortunately, as a copywriter, you don’t usually have that advantage. You have to write to persuade people you may not instinctively understand. So, the way to get into their head is with the interview.

Becoming a good interviewer is key to identifying the problems, fears and needs of your prospect. Find several people who qualify as one of your prospects.  Ask them questions. Find out what makes them tick. What makes them smile. What turns them off. What grosses them out. What turns their crank.

Distill what you find into what I call the “perfect prospect” profile. You then create a “perfect prospect” from this data. Give your perfect prospect a name, an age, and whatever other details seem relevant. When you write, keep this perfect prospect in mind. You are talking to her.

Position your Product or Service as the Solution

Once you have bonded with your prospect by identifying their problem and feeling their pain, its time to introduce a solution. This solution will be your product or service.

The most successful means of doing this that I have found is to go through the features and benefits that your product or service offers, and how those directly address the problem or need of your prospect.

It is important to understand the difference between features and benefits. You need to talk about both, but most rookie copywriters tend to focus on features. That’s becuase product creators focus almost entirely on features, and they are the ones who give copywriters the product information they need to to write about.

Your job as a copywriter is to take the features the product creator gives to you and establish the benefits they provide. I talk about the the difference between features and benefits in more depth in another training session, so be sure and read that if you aren’t quite solid on the difference yet.

Once you nail down your list of features and benefits, give specific details of how your product will alleviate the pain you identified earlier.

Offer multiple benefits that your product will provide and how they will solve the big problem your prospect has.

Make your product or service shine as a perfect solution to their very need.

Prove your Product or Solution Is the Best Solution

Once you’ve established that your product can solve your reader’s problem, you need to quickly move to dispel any doubt that your product is in fact the best solution.

Consumers are very suspicious of products or services from someone they don’t know. You lack credibility in their eyes.

So how can you prove to them that what you say is true and that your product is the best solution?

Easy.

Testimonials.

If your product has helped someone else, their glowing report is going to resonate much better with your prospect than your own self-promotion. The great thing is, a testimonial can be full of enthusiasm and never come across as bragging or hype.

Make sure any testimonials you use are real, honest and verifiable. The FTC has recently cracked down on marketers using faked or over-hyped testimonials. You will want to read the entire FTC ruling and speak to a competent business attorney if you are unsure about the testimonials you want to use and whether you need to have a disclaimer with them.

But don’t let the regulations scare you away from using testimonials. They are still one of the most powerful sales tools you have at your disposal. Use ‘em correctly and you can dispel all doubts from your prospect’s mind and establish all the credibility you need top make the sale.

Ask the Reader to Take Action

This one sounds so simple, you may wonder why it’s even included. Well, it’s included, because if it wasn’t, many well intentioned copywriters would otherwise omit it. In a sense, it proves the point of this step in the sequence. If you don’t tell people what you want them to do, most of them probably won’t do what ou want them to do.

Be precise. Tell them you want them to take out their credit card. Tell them you want them to fill out the form and click the button that says “Order Now” (or whatever). Tell them you want them to order now. Not tomorrow, not next week. Now!

And here’s my call to action to you:

Follow all these steps. Tell your prospect you want them to order from you now. Go do it now.

Then sit back with a cold one and a smile as you watch your sales increase.

Is there some kind of  magical copywriting  formula that will guarantee success?

Nope.

But AIDA sure comes close.

AIDA is the most widely used – and arguably the most successful – of all copywriting formulas used by top marketers, advertisers and copy writers.

AIDA is an acronym that stands for:

Attention

Interest

Desire

Action

Once you put it into action, you will understand why I call it a “magic formula.” It nearly always works, almost like magic. I have seen campaigns that were limp-dead revived to life just by applying a little AIDA magic to the existing flat sales copy.

Think about it: if you grab someones attention, interest them with a credible solution to their problem, build up desire for the benefits they will obtain, and then ask them to act at the height of their desire — you WILL get results.

It sounds easy enough, right? Actually the formula is very simple to understand – but the devil is in the details. You see, AIDA is a more of a top-level, theoretical approach. It doesn’t tell you HOW to grab attention, HOW to garner interest or HOW to build desire. The call to action is perhaps the only intuitive part to this formula.

That’s why I like to use AIDA primarily as a litmus test for my own internal purposes when reviewing and critiquing my own sales copy.

But you can still use AIDA as your primary formual – you just need to understand how to accomplish each step. Here’s a brief outline of how I employ AIDA in my own copywriting:

Attention

The most obvious way to gain attention is through a great headline.

I never write a headline first. I may jot down some ideas initially, but the headline should be something that develops out of your research into the market segment.

A headline needs to knock the reader out of their comfortable little world of ho-hum, everyday existence. If you write a headline that doesn’t shake a person out of their mental fog, you give them permission to pass over your ad or sales piece, and believe me, they will ignore you. There’s just too much crap out there competing for their attention.

Your ad needs to promise them something that will shake up their world, something that will give them a little moment of delight in their otherwise boring day.

If your headline does this, you pass on the A part of AIDA. Otherwise you need more work on it. The headline’s sole purpose is to get a foot in the door – to get them to read the first paragraph of your ad or salesletter.

Interest

Once you’ve gotten the prospect’s attention, you need to grab their interest. You have very little time to do this, so you need to cut to the chase.

In a typical salesletter, you need to get your reader interested in the first paragraph, otherwise you risk losing them altogether. Remember, copywriting is sequential – your job with each paragraph is to motivate the prospect to read the next paragraph. You do that by writing what interests them, not what interests you.

Maintaining your reader’s interest requires that you understand your prospect – her frustrations and her desires – so you can speak to her personally. You need to sound like a trusted friend who really cares. That means you don’t so much promote your product as you do the benefits she will receive from your product.

I remember the Oil of Olay commercials when I was growing up. They didn’t appeal to me – but they really grabbed the interest of my middle-aged mother. They talked about restoring the beautiful, supple skin of her youth. They weren’t selling facial lotion, they were selling a chance to look young again (and maybe reignite the spark in a marriage that had grown mundane).

That’s what the “I” in AIDA is all about – building interest by selling benefits.

Desire

Creating desire is primarily a function of quantity.

While focusing on benefits builds interest, continuing to pile up the benefits creates desire.

How do you accomplish this? You flesh out each benefit by getting more specific. Using the example of Oil of Olay, you gain interest by focusing on the benefit:  you get younger looking skin. You build desire by digging deeper into that benefit, giving specific examples:  your husband will start noticing the difference within 7 days;  you’ll look 10 years younger within 60 days; you’ll start getting carded at the liquor store again.

Those are made up examples. You need to use real data (never make stuff up!). But the point is clear, pile on the benefits.

You continue to flesh out specific outcomes with each of your benefits. The more you pile on, the greater desire you create. You are trying to give your prospect that “I’ve gotta have that” feeling.

You finish off building desire by removing every objection the prospect has for buying. Some call this “knocking them off the fence.”

You see, most people have built up a defense system. Even though you’ve built up a desire in them, they’ve conditioned themselves to deflect advertising persuasion by putting up an inner defense system. “It costs too much.”  “I might get scammed.”  “How do I explain this purchase to my spouse.”  etc.

The two easiest and most effective ways to knock fence sitters off the fence and convince them to go with their desire is by offering a guarantee that reverses all the risk and by adding value to the offer with some kind of compelling bonus.

A guarantee should assure them that they won’t get scammed. Most people don’t order expecting to make a return. They really want the solution you offer. But they also are afraid of being conned, so a great guarantee erases that worry.

And bonuses? You’ve no-doubt seen the obvious “piling on” of bonuses in infomercials and online salesletters. Guess what? They work!

Don’t worry, though. You don’t have to have a hype-filled bonus pile-on if that doesn’t fit your product model. Sometimes just offering free installation, free support, a coupon on a future purchase or a discount on a related, complementary product is all you need to swell desire past the tipping point. Knowing your market inside and out is vital to finding a bonus that resonates with your prospect.

Action

Writing a salesletter or an ad is nothing more than salesmanship in print. That means you need to close the deal.

The way you do that in written copy is to have a strong call to action. You need to tell your prospect exactly what you want them to do. You should also tell them exactly what will happen next. Tell them what they will get, when they will get it and how they will get it. Minimizing  confusion minimizes returns. That’s a good thing.

Some copywriters are afraid to be too bold – but people will actually respond much better if you tell them exactly what to do.

After I have written any salesletter or ad copy, I always check it out against AIDA. I test it with people I know and trust, people who are part of the target market. If I’ve done my job right, their eyebrows will go up upon reading my headline, and then, as they continue to read, they’ll be so engrossed with interest that they won’t even look up until they are done reading. And if I’ve done my job right, they’ll say “I want this!”

That’s the power of AIDA. Give it a shot on your next copywriting task. If you do it right, I know you’ll see great results.

The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of a science. It is based on fixed principles and is reasonably exact. The causes and effects have been analyzed until they are well understood. The correct method of procedure have been proved and established. We know what is most effective, and we act on basic law. Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able direction, one of the safest business ventures. Certainly no other enterprise with comparable possibilities need involve so little risk.

Therefore, this book deals, not with theories and opinions, but with well-proved principles and facts. It is written as a text book for students and a safe guide for advertisers. Every statement has been weighed. The book is confined to establish fundamentals. If we  enter any realms of uncertainty we shall carefully denote them.

The present status of advertising is due to many reasons. Much national advertising has long been handled by large organizations known as advertising agencies. Some of these agencies, in their hundreds of campaigns, have tested and compared the thousands of plans and ideas. The results have been watched and recorded, so no lessons have been lost.

Such agencies employ a high grade of talent. None but able and experienced men can meet the requirements in national advertising. Working in co-operation, learning from each other and from each new undertaking, some of these men develop into masters. Individuals may come and go, but they leave their records and ideas behind them. These become a part of the organization’s equipment, and a guide to all who follow. Thus, in the course of decades, such agencies become storehouses of advertising experiences, proved principles, and methods.

The larger agencies also come into intimate contact with experts in every department of business. Their clients are usually dominating concerns. So they see the results of countless methods and polices. They become a clearing house for every thing pertaining to merchandising. Nearly every selling question which arises in business is accurately answered by many experiences.

Under these conditions, where they long exist, advertising and merchandising become exact sciences. Every course is charted. The compass of accurate knowledge directs the shortest, safest, cheapest course to any destination.

We learn the principles and prove them by repeated tests. This is done through keyed advertising, by traced returns, largely by the use of coupons. We compare one way with many others, backward and forward, and record the results. When one method invariably proves best, that method becomes a fixed principle.

Mail order advertising is traced down to the fraction of a penny. The cost per reply and cost per dollar of sale show up with utter exactness.

One ad is compared with another, one method with another. Headlines, settings, sizes, arguments and pictures are compared. To reduce the cost of results even one per cent means much in some mail order advertising. So no guesswork is permitted. One must know what is best. Thus mail order advertising first established many of our basic laws.

In lines where direct returns are impossible we compare one town with another. Scores of methods may be compared in this way, measured by cost of sales.

But the most common way is by use of the coupon. We offer a sample, a book, a free package, or something to induce direct replies. Thus we learn the amount of action which each ad engenders.

But those figures are not final. One ad may bring too many worthless replies, another replies that are valuable. So our final conclusions are always based on cost per customer or cost per dollar of sale.

These coupon plans are dealt with further in the chapter on “Test Campaigns.” Here we explain only how we employ them to discover advertising principles.

In a large ad agency coupon returns are watched and recorded on hundreds of different lines. In a single line they are sometimes recorded on thousands of separate ads. Thus we test everything pertaining to advertising. We answer nearly every possible question by multitudinous traced returns.

Some things we learn in this way apply only to particular lines. But even those supply basic principles for analogous undertakings.

Others apply to all lines. They become fundamentals for advertising in general. They are universally applied. No wise advertiser will ever depart from those unvarying laws.

We propose in this book to deal with those fundamentals, those universal principles. To teach only established techniques. There is that technique in advertising, as in all art, science and mechanics. And it is, as in all lines, a basic essential.

The lack of those fundamentals has been the main trouble with advertising of the past. Each worker was a law unto himself. All previous knowledge, all progress in the line, was a closed book to him. It was like a man trying to build a modern locomotive without first ascertaining what others had done. It was like a Columbus starting out to find an undiscovered land.

Men were guided by whims and fancies – vagrant, changing breezes. They rarely arrived at their port. When they did, quite by accident, it was by a long roundabout course.

Each early mariner in this sea mapped his own separate course. There were no charts to guide him. Not a lighthouse marked a harbor, not a buoy showed a reef. The wrecks were unrecorded, so countless ventures came to grief on the same rocks and shoals.

Advertising was a gamble, a speculation of the rashest sort. One man’s guess on the proper course was as likely to be as good as another’s. There were no safe pilots, because few sailed the same course twice.

The condition has been corrected. Now the only uncertainties pertain to people and to products, not to methods. It is hard to measure human idiosyncrasies, the preferences and prejudices, the likes and dislikes that exist. We cannot say that an article will be popular, but we know how to sell it in the most effective way.

Ventures may fail, but the failures are not disasters. Losses, when they occur, are but trifling. And the causes are factors which has nothing to do with the advertising.

Advertising has flourished under these new conditions. It has multiplied in volume, in prestige and respect. The perils have increased many fold. Just because the gamble has become a science, the speculation a very conservative business.

These facts should be recognized by all. This is no proper field for sophistry or theory, or for any other will-o’-the-wisp. The blind leading the blind is ridiculous. It is pitiful in a field with such vast possibilities. Success is a rarity, a maximum success an impossibility, unless one is guided by laws as immutable as the law of gravitation.

So our main purpose here is to set down those laws, and to tell you how to prove them for yourself. After them come a myriad of variations. No two advertising campaigns are ever conducted on lines that are identical. Individuality is an essential. Imitation is a reproach. But those variable things which depend on ingenuity have no place in a text book on advertising. This is for groundwork only.

Our hope is to foster advertising through a better understanding. To place it on a business basis. To have it recognized as among the safest, surest ventures which lead to large returns. Thousand of conspicuous successes show its possibilities. Their variety points out its almost unlimited scope. Yet thousands who need it, who can never attain their deserts without it, still look upon its accomplishments as somewhat accidental.

That was so, but it is not so now. We hope that this book will throw some new lights on the subject.

To properly understand advertising or to learn even its rudiments one must start with the right conception. Advertising is salesmanship. Its principles are the principles of salesmanship. Successes and failures in both lines are due to like causes. Thus every advertising question should be answered by the salesman’s standards.

Let us emphasize that point. The only purpose of advertising is to make sales.It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales.

It is not for general effect. It is not to keep your name before the people. It is not primarily to aid your other salesmen. Treat it as a salesman. Force it to justify itself. Compare it with other salesmen. Figure its cost and result. Accept no excuses which good salesmen do
not make. Then you will not go far wrong.

The difference is only in degree. Advertising is multiplied salesmanship. It may appeal to thousands while the salesman talks to one. It involves a corresponding cost. Some people spend $10 per word on an average advertisement. Therefore every ad should be a
super-salesman.

A salesman’s mistake may cost little. An advertisers mistake may cost a thousand times that much. Be more cautious, more exacting, therefore. A mediocre salesman may affect a small part of your trade.

Mediocre advertising affects all of your trade. Many think of advertising as ad-writing.  Literary qualifications have no more to do with it than oratory has with salesmanship. One
must be able to express himself briefly, clearly and convincingly, just as a salesman must.  But fine writing is a distinct disadvantage. So is unique literary style. They take attention from the subject. They reveal the hook. Any studies done that attempt to sell, if apparent, creates corresponding resistance.

That is so in personal salesmanship as in salesmanship-in-print. Fine talkers are rarely good salesmen. They inspire buyers with the fear of over-influence. They create the suspicion that an effort is made to sell them on other lines than merit.

Successful salesmen are rarely good speech makers. They have few oratorical graces. They are plain and sincere men who know their customers and know their lines. So it is in ad writing. Many of the ablest men in advertising are graduate salesmen. The best we know
have been house-to-house canvassers. They may know little of grammar, nothing of rhetoric, but they know how to use words that convince.

There is one simple way to answer many advertising questions. Ask yourself,” Would it help a salesman sell the goods?” “Would it help me sell them if I met a buyer in person?” A fair answer to those questions avoids countless mistakes. But when one tries to show off, or does things merely to please himself, he is little likely to strike a chord which leads people to spend money. Some argue for slogans, some like clever conceits. Would you use them in personal salesmanship? Can you imagine a customer whom such things would impress? If not, don’t rely on them for selling in print.

Some say “Be very brief. People will read for little.” Would you say that to a salesman? With a prospect standing before him, would you confine him to any certain number of words? That would be an unthinkable handicap. So in advertising. The only readers we get are people whom our subject interests. No one reads ads for amusements, long or short. Consider them as prospects standing before you, seeking for information. Give them  enough to get action.

Some advocate large type and big headlines. Yet they do not admire salesmen who talk in loud voices. People read all they care to read in 8-point type. Our magazines and newspapers are printed in that type. Folks are accustomed to it. Anything louder is like loud conversation. It gains no attention worthwhile. It may not be offensive, but it is useless and wasteful. It multiplies the cost of your story. And to many it seems loud and blatant.

Others look for something queer and unusual. They want ads distinctive in style or illustration. Would you want that in a salesman? Do not men who act and dress in normal ways make a far better impression? Some insist on dressy ads. That is all right to a certain
degree, but is quite important. Some poorly-dressed men, prove to be excellent salesmen. Over dress in either is a fault.

So with countless questions. Measure them by salesmen’s standards, not by amusement standards. Ads are not written to entertain. When they do, those entertainment seekers are little likely to be the people whom you want. 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.

When you plan or prepare an advertisement, keep before you a typical buyer. Your subject, your headline has gained his or her attention. Then in everything be guided by what you would do if you met the buyer face-to-face.If you are a normal man and a good
salesman you will then do your level best.

Don’t think of people in the mass. That gives you a blurred view. Think of a typical individual, man or woman, who is likely to want what you sell. 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.

Some advertising men go out in person and sell to people before they plan to write an ad. One of the ablest of them has spent weeks on one article, selling from house to house. In this way they learn the reactions from different forms of argument and approach. They learn what possible buyers want and the factors which don’t appeal. It is quite customary to interview hundreds of possible customers. Others send out questionnaires to learn the attitude of the buyers. In some way all must learn how to strike responsive chords. Guesswork is very expensive.

The maker of an advertised article knows the manufacturing side and probably the dealers side. But this very knowledge often leads him astray in respect to customers. His interests are not in their interests. The advertising man studies the consumer. He tries to place himself in the position of the buyer. His success largely depends on doing that to the exclusion of everything else.

This book will contain no more important chapter than this one on salesmanship. The reason for most of the non-successes in advertising is trying to sell people what they do not want. But next to that comes lack of true salesmanship.

Ads are planned and written with some utterly wrong conception. They are written to please the seller. The interest of the buyer are forgotten. One can never sell goods profitably, in person or in print, when that attitude exists.

Remember the people you address are selfish, as we all are. They care nothing about your interests or profit. They seek service for themselves. Ignoring this fact is a common mistake and a costly mistake in advertising. Ads say in effect, “Buy my brand. Give me the trade you give to others. Let me have the money.” That is not a popular appeal.

The best ads ask no one to buy. That is useless. Often they do not quote a price. They do not say that dealers handle the product. The ads are based entirely on service. They offer wanted information. They site advantages to users. Perhaps they offer a sample, or to buy the first package, or to send something on approval, so the customer may prove the claims without any cost or risks. Some of these ads seem altruistic. But they are based on the knowledge of human nature. The writers know how people are led to buy. Here again is salesmanship. The good salesman does not merely cry a name. He doesn’t say, “Buy my article.” He pictures the customers side of his service until the natural result is to buy.

A brush maker has some 2,000 canvassers who sells brushes from house to house. He is enormously successful in a line which would seem very difficult.  And it would be for his men if they asked the housewives to buy. But they don’t. They go to the door and say, “I was sent here to give you a brush. I have samples here and I want you to take your choice.” The housewife is all smiles and attention. In picking out one brush she sees several she wants. She is also anxious to reciprocate the gift. So the salesman gets an order.

Another concern sells coffee, etc., by wagons in some 500 cities. The man drops in with a half-pound of coffee and says, “Accept this package and try it. I’ll come back in a few days to ask how you liked it.” Even when he comes back he doesn’t ask for an order. He explains that he wants the women to have a fine kitchen utensil. It isn’t free, but if she likes the coffee he will credit five cents on each
pound she buys until she has paid for the article. Always some service.

The maker of the electric sewing machine motor found advertising difficult. So, on good advice, he ceased soliciting a purchase. He offered to send to any home, through any dealer, a motor for one weeks’ use. With it would come a man to show how to operate it. “Let us help you for a week without cost or obligation,”
said the ad. Such an offer was resistless, and about nine in ten of the trials led to sales.

So in many, many lines. Cigar makers send out boxes to anyone and say, “Smoke ten, then keep them or return them, as you wish.” Makers of books, typewriters, washing machines, kitchen cabinets, vacuum sweepers, etc., send out their products without any prepayment. They say, “Use them a week, then do as you wish.” Practically all merchandise sold by mail is sent subject to return.

These are all common principles of salesmanship. The most ignorant peddler applies them. Yet the salesman-in-print very often forgets them. He talks about his interest. He blazons a name, as though that was of importance. His phrase is, “Drive people to the stores,” and that is his attitude in everything he says. People can be coaxed but not driven. Whatever they do they do to please themselves. Many fewer mistakes would be made in advertising if these facts were never forgotten.