John Carlton - Notes From Presentation: The 3 Parts To Great
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John Carlton – Notes From Presentation
BIO You have to
• Been copywriting for 20 years decide why you
• Met jay Abraham, and decided to become more entrepreneurial are doing all this,
• Wrote for lots of the big mailing companies and then go after
• Has also ghost-written for many big players it with all your
• Met Gary halbert at jay Abraham’s divorce party might…..
• About 2 years ago decided to become more a public persona
THE 3 PARTS TO GREAT COPY
• THEATRE
o Most people lead lives of quite desperation.
o Add excitement to their lives
o You’re letter should attempt to be the one thing that makes there life
exciting that day
o Dramatic paragraph breaks
o Subheads that have 1, 2, or 3 words “it almost killed me”
o Jesus wept (wept is a power word)
o Mild swearing for a modest shock effect
o The biker story
• SALESMANSHIP
o You should be able to sell face to face
o If you can’t you should work on this skill, because your copywriting will
naturally just get better
• BONDING
o If you’re going to be a good salesperson you need to have empathy and
bond with people.
o You have to understand your market, what are the buzzwords?
o You need to know how your product compares…
o Once you understand your audience you can use effective slang
o Just you and me sitting down and talking
It’s like sitting down with one person, cracking a beer, and just
shooting the shit
Personalizing your letters can bump your response up to 30%
• YOU ARE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE IF
YOU ARE NOT PERSONALIZING AS
MUCH AS POSSIBLE
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CULTIVATE YOUR OWN EDGINESS
If you have an ethical product you can go ‘balls to the wall’ in promoting your product…
• (Dan Kennedy – harness racing, etc…)
• Always be learning, expose yourself to different experiences
• Expose yourself to different ideas, and opinions
• Wake up each day and seize life and live each day to the fullest (napoleon hill)
• The best writer I know are a little edgy and love life
• Embrace your inner edginess
• You need to be a little bit more alive and a little bit more conscious than the
everyday person
• Read salon.com, slate.com, drudgereport.com, mediwhoresonline.com
THE HOOK
• The crux of the ad
• It’s the thing that is going to reach out and grab the reader and not let go
• Most people lead boring lives, if you can be the one thing that the prospect reads
that makes his life more exciting.
• If you find a good hook it will actually force people to read your ad
• Two favorite headlines from national enquirer
o Boy eats his own head
o Preacher explodes on pulpit
• Interview your best salesperson
o What you are looking for are human interest tidbits
• You can be outrageous but you have to have a legitimate payoff
o One legged golfer
• Don’t stretch too far though or you will lose the reader quickly once they get
involved in the copy.
POWER WORDS
• Words that pack an emotional wallop
o You must have a thesaurus in your office and it should be one of the most
used books
• Use story telling verbs
• When you’re writing take out every adjective you’ve written
o If you look closely great writers use sizzling verbs, poor writers use
adjectives
o Use a thesaurus for your verbs
o The best writing uses the best verbs
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THE RHYTHM OF WRITING
• Short punchy words
• There is a rhythm to great copywriting
• You should always read everything you write out loud, the good kind of stuff kind
of sings
• Sing-song quality
• Reading is a passive behavior it’s not an active behavior
o No assumptions get made by the reader
o That’s why you have to spell out the benefits
MAGIC VS THE COLD HARD REALITY
The more magic the more sales, the more work, the less sales
Cold heart reality
• Eat a modest diet
• Workout daily
• Don’t eat any junk foods
Magic
• Have a pill, wake up skinny
Try to get your claims as close to magic as they legally can be
2 PHILOSOPHIES OF COPYWRITING
1. The gun to the head theory of writing
• If you have that kind of attitude your copy will be better
• Write like your ass is on the line, like Cortez with the burning of his ships
• If you don’t make this work the gun will go off
2. Imagine the people you are writing to, as huge blobs (jaba the hut) sitting on the
sofa not wanting to move, only for basic hygiene, and you have to motivate them
to take action and move, which is not easy to do.
Read the women’s magazine to understand the psychology
Read playboy for men’s marketing
Fast, good and cheap – you can pick any two
Sane, sexy, smart – pick any two (regarding women)
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BULLETS
• The heart and soul of your pitch is going to be the bullets
• Write the bullets first
• Write down a hundred features and benefits
• One bullet in a 12 page piece can turn the sale
• Do not misdiagnose why people will buy from your bullets
o Never underestimate the greed or the need of your reader
o Never put them on a pedestal
o Offer solutions not another problem
• 1 –2 punch of writing bullets
o Don’t just put one selling benefit, layer benefit on top of benefit
o Finish the thought for the reader, and put new thoughts that they wouldn’t
have even thought of
o Benefit => benefit => benefit.
o A lot of people have weak bullets, because they haven’t been fully
explored
REASONS WHY PEOPLE BUY
o There are 2 reasons
• The one they tell you, and the truth
o You have to give them a good logical reason to back up their emotional
response that you’ve created
SUBHEADS
• Use 3 dramatic word when possible
• Use:
o Slang
o Irregular breaks (end the section preceding with … and have the subhead
finish the thought
MISC IDEAS
Do not try and write when you are tired (it will take you 4 times as long and it will
only be ½ as good)
Take showers to get ideas
Take a nap before writing
Keep the room cool and then dress warm
Get into the zone
Celebrities do not make a sale they only capture attention, it’s still boils down to the
offer and the hook
