The Adweek Copywriting Handbook
Joseph Sugarman

Summary

Interesting book written about how to copywrite effectively in order to sell products. Valuable tips on how to become a better writer and hook your readers

Rating: 4/5

Notes

Babe Ruth is remembered for his home run record but not for the fact he also held the record for most strikeouts

The best copywriters are those who are curious about life

The more you experience and the more knowledge you have, the easier it is to come up with that big idea

It’s not whether you win or lose in life that’s important but whether you play the game, lose enough and eventually you will win

A mistake is a future benefit, the full value of which is yet to be realized - Edwin Lourd

You need to become an expert on anything you write in order to be effective

Know your customer and what they like/dislike

Scare tactics don’t work

Write at every opportunity you can

Don’t worry about the first draft, just pour out what you need to write

All the elements in an advertisement are primarily designed to do one thing; get you to read the first sentence of the copy

Make the first sentence short and it’s purpose is to get you to read the second sentence

Your ad must create the buying environment most conducive to the sale of the product/service

Get your prospective reader/buyer to start saying yes and you have to make statements that are honest and believable

Your readers should be compelled to read your copy that they can’t stop reading until they read all of it as if slipping down a slide

Remember and save those offbeat articles

Often to solve a problem, you have to go out of the problem area itself to find an answer

You never really know what will work and what won’t. If you believe in your idea, do it. Step out of those assumed constraints

When trying to solve a problem, don’t assume constraints that aren’t really there

Include seeds of curiousity; short sentences that offer the reader to read on

Keep the copy interesting and the reader interesting through curiousity

Every word has an emotion associated with it and tells a story

Every good ad is an emotional outpouring of words, feelings and impressions

You sell an emotion but justify a purchase with logic

Never sell a product or service, always sell a concept‍

After you’ve come up with an idea and jotted it down, stop and do something else. Let that idea incubate

The incubation process is the power of your subconscious mind to use all your knowledge and experience to solve a specific problem

Copy should be long enough to cause the reader to take the action you want

Every advertisement should be a personal message from the advertiser to the prospect

Your copy should be very personal, from me to you personal

Every communication should be a personal one, from the writer to reader, regardless of the medium used

The ideas in your copy should flow in logical fashion, anticipating your prospect’s questions and answering them as if they were asked face-face

In the editing process, refine your copy to express exactly what you want in the fewest words

Look for ‘that’ words, eliminate unnecessary words, edit for rhythm and rearrange thoughts so they work better

Consider combining sentences

If you sense an objection to the product, raise it yourself and resolve it

Keep the copy simple and don’t use cliches. Always ask if there a simpler way of saying this

Make the person feel involved and have ownership of the product

Make sure you’re advertisement is credible

Justify the purchase

Know the nature of the prospect

Fads generate publicity but capture the moment early enough and get out right as the fad peaks

Link your product to something the consumer already knows

Make the first sale simple and once the customer agrees, offer something else

The desire to belong is a strong motivating factor

Provide a sense of urgency to the buyer

Fear is a good motivating factor, as well as exclusivity

Use simple and easy to understand words

Tell a story at the beginning, everyone loves them

Causing the mind to work hard to reach a conclusion creates a positive/enjoyable stimulating effect on the brain

Statements with specific numbers generate strong believability

Don’t sell a preventative, sell a cure

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