I’m reading Bossypants by Tina Fey. It’s hilarious, but also includes some useful lessons and anecdotes about life as a writer.

On page 123, Fey writes about “Things I Learned from Lorne Michaels.” (In case you don’t know, Lorne Michaels is the creator and producer of Saturday Night Live. He is the guy who hired Tina Fey for SNL and later helped her start 30 Rock.)

Anyway, here’s the second lesson Fey learned from Michaels:

“The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.”

This is something Lorne has said often about Saturday Night Live, but I think it’s a great lesson about not being too precious about your writing. You have to try your hardest to be at the top of your game and improve every joke you can until the last possible second, and then you have to let it go.

You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water-slide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute. (And I’m from a generation where a lot of people died on water-slides, so this was an important lesson for me to learn.) You have to let people see what you wrote. It will never be perfect, but perfect is overrated. Perfect is boring on live TV.

When it comes to writing for a living, there is no such thing as perfection: only deadlines and results.

If you are a comedy writer (like Tina Fey), the audience either laughs at your jokes or they don’t.

If you are a direct response copywriter (like me), the market either responds to your sales letter or they don’t.

So forget about perfection.

Just do the best work you can possibly do in the limited time you have.

Then sit back, relax, and see what happens when you let go of your writing and let it do its thing.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Kevin Rogers Steps Up to the Microphone
• Blog to Build an Audience
• Brandishing a Red Hot Poker: Getting Attention in Hyper-Distracted Markets
• Preemptive Apology: How Netflix Earns My Respect, and My Business
• Forgiveness in an Age of Revenge

The headlines and copy used in big brand ads are often so ridiculous they’re hardly worth commenting on.

But I found this post by Nancy Friedman both funny and interesting. She writes:

“X just got better” [is] a formula frequently employed by headline writers short on time and imagination.

She then lists 18 specific examples where this headline formula was used, each one as dull as the last.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. Among her examples there is one exception that stands out like Christmas lights in July:

My favorite variation, though, comes from the dead trademark database: “The Oldest Virgin Around Just Got Better.” It was registered to the California Olive Corporation between 1997 and 2005.

I don’t know how many bottles of virgin olive oil this headline sold, but at least it’s interesting. If I saw that headline while flipping through a magazine, I’m pretty sure I’d at least read the first sentence to discover the tie-in.

Nevertheless, you ought to avoid trite formulas like “X just got better” or “X just got easier.” It’s not specific and it requires the reader to think too much.

Instead of saying that your product just got better, why not tell your over-stimulated reader precisely how your product is better — right there in the headline!

I know, it’s a novel thought.

But that’s why you read this blog, right?

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• David Ogilvy’s Great Headline Heist!
• Turning Research into Sales Copy
• Should a Direct Marketing Magazine Have Boring Headlines?
• Glyphius Predicts Winners 70.1% of the Time?
• Do Questions Work as Headlines?

Recently, fellow copywriter Robert Stover introduced me to the concept of ethos in sales copy.

Ethos literally means “character.” In other words, we often judge the persuasiveness of a sales message based on the character of the person who is doing the selling.

While the idea that some sales people are more trustworthy than others is not new to me, the formal concept of ethos is. In fact, it is one of three core components of argument discussed in Aristotle’s Rhetoric, the other two being logos and pathos.

There are three components that make up ethos:

phronesis – practical skills & wisdom
arete – virtue, goodness
eunoia – goodwill towards the audience

The first two are straightforward. The final item on this list might also be called motive. Why does the speaker want to persuade me? What does he stand to gain or lose?

Taken together, these three components make up ethos. Some people naturally have low ethos while others naturally have high ethos.

But ethos can also change based on context.

A person who has high ethos in one area of expertise may have low ethos in another because he lacks knowledge and experience. Even though such a person may be good and have the best intentions, his lack of expertise will negatively affect his perceived strength of character.

Real Examples of Ethos

Let’s look at the ethos of some real people…

Bernie Madoff would now have very low ethos if he tried to counsel you regarding your investment decisions. After all, he is serving 150 years for financial fraud.

But Madoff might have high ethos in another situation… for instance, if he were giving you advice on how to get around the Federal Correctional Complex at Butner, North Carolina, where he is imprisoned.

How about a real example of a person with high ethos? Very well.

Here is a brief letter written by John Garver, the 19-year-old nephew of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. You might think Santorum’s nephew would write a letter encouraging voters to support his uncle, but you’d be wrong.

Take a look:

The trouble with my uncle, Rick Santorum

If you want another big-government politician who supports the status quo to run our country, you should vote for my uncle, Rick Santorum. America is based on a strong belief in individual liberty. My uncle’s interventionist policies, both domestic and foreign, stem from his irrational fear of freedom not working.

It is not the government’s job to dictate to individuals how they must live. The Constitution was designed to protect individual liberty. My Uncle Rick cannot fathom a society in which people cooperate and work with each other freely. When Republicans were spending so much money under President Bush, my uncle was right there along with them as a senator. The reason we have so much debt is not only because of Democrats, but also because of big-spending Republicans like my Uncle Rick.

It is because of this inability of status quo politicians to recognize the importance of our individual liberties that I have been drawn to Ron Paul. Unlike my uncle, he does not believe that the American people are incapable of forming decisions. He believes that an individual is more powerful than any group (a notion our founding fathers also believed in).

Another important reason I support Ron Paul is his position on foreign policy. He is the only candidate willing to bring our troops home, not only from the Middle East, but from around the world.

Ron Paul seems to be the only candidate trying to win the election for a reason other than simply winning the election.

This year, I’ll vote for an honest change in our government. I’ll vote for real hope. I’ll vote for a real leader. This year, I will vote for Ron Paul.

John Garver is a 19-year-old student at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. John is a strong supporter of Ron Paul despite his love for family member Rick Santorum.

Garver’s letter is what inspired this post to begin with. Since Robert Stover had just recently talked to me about ethos, this piece of writing immediately stood out to me as having high ethos.

The author is a university student (knowledgeable), seems to be a good person, and is pure in motive. (Clearly, Garver could face some unpleasant repercussions by sharing such an unexpected opinion.)

3 Questions to Ask to Strengthen Your Ethos

Although I also happen to support Ron Paul, my purpose here is not to persuade you one way or the other. Rather, I want you to think carefully about the ethos you project in your sales messages.

• Are you coming across as experienced and knowledgeable on the subject you’re writing about?

• Will your readers perceive you as a good person? Does your likeability shine through the words of your message?

• Are you writing with sound motive? Are you acting for the primary benefit of your prospects?

These are important questions to answer.

The next time you write a sales message, think about how you can convey a stronger ethos, a stronger character. It could significantly improve your results.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• How the Media Tries to Get You to Vote for Bad Candidates
• The Illusion of Democracy
• The Eight-Month Letter Revealed
• To Those I’m Thankful For
• Workers of Iniquity in the Internet Marketing Cesspool

I recently wrote my first direct mail package for a newsletter that covers economic and geopolitical issues.

As part of my research, I read through portions of the direct mail books I’ve got on my shelves.

That’s when I came across this little gem on page 327 of Million Dollar Mailings by Denny Hatch.

Newsletters don’t lend themselves to long-term promotional efforts. They are by definition news and letters, private pipelines into the expertise of an editor or a research organization. They generally go to a narrowly defined audience that would quickly get tired of seeing the same envelope over and over and throw succeeding copies of the same effort away. (One technique to revive flagging controls: change your envelope.)

Plus… as industries and opportunities change, newsletters change, and those changes must be reflected in the promotional copy to make the publication and its editor seem au courant. For example, an investment letter that made people rich on stocks in the mid-80s would have had dramatically to change its story to attract new subscribers (and keep old ones) after the 501-point crash of the Dow on October 17, 1987.

This is why long-standing controls for newsletters are rare. They tend to tire more quickly than DM packages that sell other types of products.

Therefore, if a newsletter is at the heart of your business, it would be worthwhile to have a consistent schedule for testing new letters and approaches.

Test new approaches at least once a quarter; more frequently if you are a high-volume mailer.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you’re looking for a new direct mail package to beat your current control, give me a call. I’d love to help you bring in more subscribers this year.Similar Posts:

• How to Declare a Winner in a Direct Mail Test
• What to Do When a Sales Letter Fatigues
• Reasons Why People Unsubscribe
• How to Get My Print Newsletter for Free
• Direct Mail Advertising – A Few Observations

Today, Netflix announced that DVDs and streaming videos will stay under one brand: Netflix.

There will be no Qwikster.

Customers spoke. Netflix listened.

Good for them.

Here’s the email they sent:

I think Netflix made the right decision.

Do you?

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. In case you missed it, here’s the first post I wrote covering this issue: How Netflix Could Have Made Bad News BetterSimilar Posts:

• How Netflix Could Have Made Bad News Better
• Preemptive Apology: How Netflix Earns My Respect, and My Business
• Has Netflix Gotten Bored of Its Own Advertising?
• Should a Direct Marketing Magazine Have Boring Headlines?
• Quantum Improvements

In July 2011, Netflix stepped into a hornet’s nest when they sent out a short matter-of-fact email announcing the equivalent of a 60% price increase with almost zero explanation.

Netflix Price Increase Email

In case it is difficult to read the image, here is the text from the email I received on July 12, 2011:

Dear Ryan,

We are separating unlimited DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming into two separate plans to better reflect the costs of each. Now our members have a choice: a streaming only plan, a DVD only plan, or both.

Your current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

     Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
     Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming) for $7.99 a month

Your price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). You don’t need to do anything to continue your memberships for both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs.

These prices will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.

You can easily change or cancel your unlimited streaming plan, unlimited DVD plan, or both, by going to the Plan Change page in Your Account.

We realize you have many choices for home entertainment, and we thank you for your business. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to call us at 1-888-357-1516.

–The Netflix Team

“Okay, But WHY?”

Even the most inexperienced direct marketer knows that you must always give a reason why, especially when you’re raising prices and especially when you’re raising prices in a consumer market.

And yet Netflix overlooked this critical detail.

As you can imagine, the backlash has been vociferous.

Tens of thousands of angry Netflix subscribers published their reactions on their blogs and Facebook pages. More than 12,000 people left comments on the Netflix blog alone.

Obviously, the price increase was not well-received. In the two months following the price increase, Netflix lost a million subscribers.

After 69 days of hemorrhaging customers, Netflix finally issued a public apology on September 19, 2011. But it wasn’t much of an apology. Rather, it was another major announcement posing as an apology.

Major Announcement Disguised as an Apology

“I messed up. I owe you an explanation,” began CEO Reed Hastings’ email.

Yet the apology came across as a cover for more bad news.

Netflix would be separating its DVD and streaming services into two completely different business entities. The streaming business would retain the Netflix name; the “new” DVD business would be called Qwikster.

Worse still…

Hastings’s apology for not communicating with users about the price changes has made his customers even more upset, since he isn’t apologizing for changing prices but simply for not telling users about it more clearly. That set off a lot of backlash from consumers who felt it was a disingenuous apology.

Netflix customers are now complaining that splitting the streaming and DVD businesses into separate entities will make it more inconvenient for them because…

Now You Have to Manage Two Queues Instead of One

Instead of one centralized queue for all movies you want to watch, Netflix customers will now have two separate subscriptions, billed by two separate companies, with two separate movie queues on two separate web sites. Movie ratings and reviews posted to one site won’t be posted to the other.

In other words, the creation of Qwikster alongside of Netflix creates a lot of extra work for customers who would like to continue receiving DVDs by mail plus the ability to stream movies through the Internet.

Even though the announcement is only hours old as I write this, the Netflix blog has already received more than 13,000 comments — more comments than the previous price increase announcement received in two months.

It’s no surprise, really.

First, Netflix effectively increased their prices by 60%. Then they added insult to injury by creating more work for their customers by forcing them to manage two separate movie queues on two separate web sites.

More expensive and less convenient.

Not exactly a good recipe for winning over your customers.

How Netflix Could Have Done It Better

Now, I don’t run a publicly traded company, so I realize it’s a bit presumptuous for me to give Netflix business advice. Nonetheless, I feel they could have handled the present situation much better than they have.

Here are three specific ways Netflix could have done it better:

1. Provide customers specific reasons for the price increase.
2. Keep both DVDs-by-mail and streaming video under the Netflix brand.
3. Continue offering customers a discount for subscribing to both services.

Let’s look at each of these in greater depth.

1. Provide Specific Reasons for the Price Increase

A 60% price increase is not insignificant even for a service that originally cost only $9.99 a month.

If ever there was a time to hire a professional copywriter, it was in a situation such as the current one. If I had been in charge, I would’ve written something like this…

Dear Bob,

First, thank you for being a Netflix subscriber. We’re in business to serve you in the best way we possibly can, and we thank you for your business.

Secondly, we have a very important announcement. We’ve been doing everything in our power to avoid a price increase these last few years. And yet we now find ourselves pressured into increasing our subscription fees.

With that in mind, the cost for unlimited DVDs by mail will now be $7.99 a month. And the cost for unlimited video streaming will also be $7.99 a month.

You can save $3 a month by bundling the services. The cost for both unlimited DVDs and streaming will be $12.99 a month.

We realize this is a significant price increase. Why so much? And why now? Here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes…

As you may know, the Post Office is not doing well these days. They’re losing billions every year and may soon go bankrupt. Because of this, they’ve been increasing the cost of postage. We now pay X% more to send a DVD through the mail than we did just X years ago.

After reviewing our books, we realized we have no choice but to increase the price of our plans to cover the costs of increased postage.

At the same time, we’re facing pressure from cable companies, movie studios, and other content providers. Many of our original licensing contracts have expired or will expire in the next 12 months. We are re-negotiating these contracts so that we can continue to provide you with the widest selection of streaming content possible.

Here’s the problem. Since we signed our original licensing agreements, we’ve grown a lot. Cable companies and movie studios are not willing to renew our contracts under the original terms. They want more money.

For example, we were recently negotiating with Starz. We offered them $300 million to continue licensing their content. This is ten times as much as we paid them X years ago. They still said no.

Liberty Media, a company that owns a major cable network, is trying to strong-arm us into raising prices much higher than the $7.99/mo. subscription fee we’ve settled on. It is a clear case of greed on the part of cable networks and movie studios, and we’re doing our best to keep costs as low as possible.

Clearly, streaming is the future of the movie and TV business. At the same time, the cost of licensing those movies and TV shows is going up. This is why we’ve found ourselves in the uncomfortable position of raising the price of our streaming plans at the same time we are raising the price of our DVD plans.

It is not ideal, and it’s not something we wanted to do. But circumstances have forced it upon us.

Please know this: The change in prices is going to allow us to bring you the best selection of streaming content we’ve offered to date. You won’t see our streaming movie library double overnight, but you should see hundreds of new titles starting in September and October of this year.

Again, we appreciate your business and your loyalty and will continue to fight to keep costs as low as possible while offering the biggest selection we can.

Sincerely,

Your friends at Netflix

I believe a detailed approach like the one I’ve written above could have minimized the backlash and possibly generated some good will at the same time.

2. Keep Both Services Under the Netflix Brand

Clearly, keeping both the streaming and DVD-by-mail services under the Netflix brand makes it much easier for subscribers to manage their movie queues.

It also makes Netflix a stronger brand.

While some people are predicting the end of the DVD by mail business, I predict it will stick around a lot longer than people think. That’s because I think it will take many years before any company will have the ability to stream a movie with the same resolution as a Blu-Ray disc.

I recently upgraded my Netflix plan for this very reason. I wanted to be able to get Blu-Ray discs.

Frankly, I’d rather see a good movie on Blu-Ray. Better picture, better sound. I only use Netflix streaming when I’m less concerned about sound and picture quality. So I use it primarily for TV shows (like The Office) and cartoons for my kids.

3. Continue Offering a Discount for Bundled Service

Now that Netflix is introducing Qwikster, it will be difficult for them to offer any kind of discount for subscribing to both services. But it seems like common sense to reward people who are spending more money with you.

Not only that, offering a discount for bundling both services together would have softened the impact of the price increase and given back some control to Netflix customers. I don’t think the backlash would have been quite as severe if they had continued to offer this “volume discount.”

So, What Do YOU Think?

How do you feel about Netflix right now?

Do you think they’ve handled the price increase and apology well? Or do you think they could’ve done it better?

What would you have done if you had been in their shoes?

Please leave a comment below.

-Ryan M. Healy

Selected Sources:

• The Qwikster and the Dead
• Netflix splits DVD and streaming service
• Why Netflix is splitting itself in two
• What Netflix did right, and what it did wrong
• Did Starz Turn Down $300 Million a Year From Netflix to Make the Cable Guys Happy?

Similar Posts:

• Netflix Kills Qwikster
• Preemptive Apology: How Netflix Earns My Respect, and My Business
• 31 Ways to Grow a Business
• Basics of Business Growth
• Form(at) Determines Value

If you were to build your own house, you could not do it without first acquiring the raw materials. You would need wood, nails, windows, doors, shingles, siding, and much more.

This is common sense.

Yet, when it comes to writing, many people often sit down at the keyboard without any of the raw materials they need to write.

They stare at a blank screen.

The words don’t come.

They call this “writer’s block” and wonder why it happens so frequently.

And yet they never stop to answer this important question:

How can I “build” an article… or blog post… or sales letter… without the raw materials that go into that “structure?”

The raw materials for a written piece include (in part):

• Ideas
• Experiences
• Opinions & Feelings
• Facts & Figures
• Quotes & Excerpts
• Headline News
• Odd & Unusual News
• A Good Swipe File
• And other information gathered from your Research

All of these things lay the groundwork for good writing. They are the raw materials with which you write.

Next time you sit down to write an article, blog post, or sales letter… and you feel stuck… make sure you first have your raw materials with you. Research and gather information that you can use in your writing.

Do this — and writing will suddenly feel easy and effortless compared to your old way of doing things.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Most Popular Content on Copywriting Code
• Turning Research into Sales Copy
• 3 Easy Ways to Start Writing an Ad
• Do Questions Work as Headlines?
• 7 Effective Research Methods

Ben Settle is one of the most talented copywriters I know.

And so I was thrilled when he agreed to do an in-depth copywriting Q&A interview here on my blog.

If you already read all 4 parts, then you know Ben delivered a ton of valuable copywriting tips, many of which you won’t find anywhere else. For instance:

• How to get good at copywriting fast.

• The creative process Ben uses to create new ads.

• An easy way to start a sales letter. (Use this opening if you’re struggling to write the first sentence.)

• How to pinpoint the right emotional hot buttons for any market you write for.

• How to come up with an endless supply of fascinating ideas for your emails and sales letters.

• Is long copy dead? Discover the truth to this often-asked question.

• How long your emails should be. (Yes, there is a length that’s usually best.)

• How often you should email your list. (And how to minimize spam complaints and unsubscribes in the process.)

• How to test new ideas that your market may not be familiar with.

• How to write copy for high ticket products when you haven’t seen the product yet.

• How Ben broke into the golf and martial arts markets. (The answer will surprise you.)

• Why copywriters who write lots of emails are better at writing sales letters.

• A simple way to write sales copy faster — without sacrificing the quality of your writing.

• Why “mega headlines” and yellow highlighting can actually hurt sales.

• And much more.

Of course, given the amount of information Ben shared (and the length of each post), I realize you may have inadvertently missed one of the four installments. And so I’ve linked to all 4 parts below. What’s more, I’ve put the entire Q&A into a single PDF that you can download to your computer.

• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 1
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 2
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 3
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 4

Download the 19-Page Ben Settle Copywriting Interview as a PDF

If you prefer to download the 19-page PDF to your computer, you can do that here:

• Click here to download the PDF of the Ben Settle copywriting interview.

Feel free to print this PDF for your files or share it with anybody else you know who would benefit from it.

Naturally, I’d love it if you bookmarked this post, tweeted it to your followers, or linked back to it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 4
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 2
• Ben Settle’s Dirty Little Email Secret
• Get Your Copywriting Questions Answered… for Free
• Ed’s Got My Back

Today I’ve got the fourth and final installment of my 4-part copywriting Q&A with Ben Settle.

In today’s installment you’ll discover:

• How Ben broke into the golf and martial arts markets. (The answer will surprise you.)

• Why copywriters who write lots of emails are better at writing sales letters.

• A simple way to write sales copy faster — without sacrificing the quality of your writing.

• Why “mega headlines” and yellow highlighting can actually hurt sales.

Jump into the interview below… and don’t forget to check out the limited time offer I’ve put together for you at the end.

12. How intentional were you in getting into the markets you’re in today (martial arts, golf, etc.)?

It was completely accidental.

But, there is a valuable lesson in this for anyone who wants to write for clients.

Here’s what I mean:

The martial arts market came as a result of that eBook I wrote after writing all those ezine articles back when I was devoid of any client work. Matter of fact, I got more than one big client just from that free eBook which people used to get when they opted in to my website.

I don’t even know how the martial arts client found me.

It was out of the blue.

One day I get this call from someone who I’d recognized as having advertised on some of my favorite news websites (drudge, worldnetdaily, etc).

He’s like, “Ben, I need help.”

I didn’t even have to do any selling to get the gig.

He realized he was too close to his market, needed a fresh perspective and anointed me as the guy to do it. But I think something I wrote in that eBook helped my cause — a chapter about how to use the movie “Batman Begins” to write better copy, which was completely in line with the attitude and tone he knew his market liked.

But it was mostly accidental.

As for golf, I don’t know why I got that gig.

I’d never even golfed before except on my old 1986 Nintendo system.

Heck, I had barely ever even played miniature golf!

But I’d done some work in the MLM niche and one of the guys there knew this guy selling a golf product and recommended me. Eventually it turned into a sort of partnership type model — where I got paid on the sales of one of the products.

Ultimately, it didn’t work out.

And that’s just how it goes sometimes.

But there is one valuable take away from that, too:

Both of the markets I was selling to are similar. And doing those ads simultaneously was very easy. The point being, if you can find clients who share the same market (but are not competitors) writing ads will always be a LOT easier and faster, with you doing a much better job.

Because again, it’s all about the market.

And you will know them better than anyone else.

13. How long does it take you to write a full sales letter, start to finish? How many sales letters do you write per year, on average?

Even as little as a couple years ago it’d take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to write a decent ad (from research to final edit).

Today?

I can usually do it in half the time.

A lot of it is just from writing lots and lots of emails. I have not only written hundreds of emails for my own business, but I have written hundreds of emails for clients, too.

(Sometimes I think I’m gonna turn into an email at this rate…)

That’s another reason to email daily, by the way.

You’ll get so much faster and better at writing. You’ll also get really good at structuring a persuasive argument in as few words as possible. Most ads are way too wordy and bloated. People who write lots of emails don’t seem to have this problem.

I don’t know how many sales letters I write on average.

Never really thought about it.

Last couple years I wrote a lot — both for my own products and my clients.

This year, I seem to be writing more emails than sales letters, which suits me just fine. But it all depends. And I will probably end up writing a lot of sales letters later this year for a series of products the client who currently has me on retainer has in the bullpen.

So that’s my long bloated “copywriter” answer.

The short answer is… I don’t know.

14. Why don’t your sales letters contain any mega-headlines or yellow highlighting??

Sounds like someone has been reading Mr. Subtle’s cartoons.

By “mega headlines” I’ll assume you mean the long 30+ word headlines that are all the rage in the Internet marketing goo-roo world.

Sometimes I do use long (even “mega”) headlines.

But it’s pretty rare.

Most often I try to keep them around 16 words. Any more than that can often be cut into a short (with big font) headline and a smaller sub-headline which is easier for the eye to read and the brain to digest. (Something, ironically, I learned from observing Mr. Subtle’s cartoons…)

Even better is this:

Take the big appeal of the headline and then bullet point the other benefits underneath it. I do that more and more these days, and it seems to work pretty well most of the time.

Here’s the important thing to remember:

The whole point of the headline is to get the ad read.

You don’t usually need 50 words to do that.

I’m not saying mega headlines don’t work or can’t work. But each ad is different and there is no set length that always works best. You just say what you have to say to get them to keep reading.

If that takes 25 words, so be it.

If only one word gets the job done, that’s fine, too.

As for the second part of the question…

I do use yellow highlighting.

I just don’t use it excessively.

It’s especially important for the skimmers. I write the subheads throughout the ad for the skimmers (that tell the general story on their own) and use highlighting to draw attention to certain dramatic or intriguing points I think will keep the reader’s interest (based on what I’ve studied about the market, of course).

It’s all about increasing readership.

But my opinion is overdoing highlighting is a mistake.

I once heard Matt Furey quote an old Chinese saying that goes, “any strength overextended is no longer a strength” and I think that’s very true with writing ads.

A lot of it is just common sense.

It’s not really about fireworks and goo-roo persuasion “choke holds.”

This is the end of Part 4 of 4 of my copywriting Q&A with Ben Settle.

By the way, if you like the copywriting tips you’ve gotten in this interview series, then you’re going to LOVE Ben’s Copywriting Grab Bag.

The Copywriting Grab Bag has been endorsed by quite a few well-known marketers, including Ken McCarthy, Terry Dean, and Leon Altman, a copywriter who’s written copy for Apple and been featured in AWAI’s Monthly Copywriting Genius.

Not to mention, I’ve endorsed it, too.

Right now, Ben is offering my readers $50 off the normal price by ordering through this link.

Even better, I’ll throw in an extra bonus gift: an 18-page PDF report I wrote called “6 Forms of Proof that Boost Web Copy Conversions.” In this report you’ll learn…

• How to convert even the most skeptical of prospects into paying customers.
• 25 different forms of proof and how to use them in your sales copy.
• Not just WHAT forms of proof to use… but HOW to use them, too.
• And more.

This 18-page PDF report is yours free for instant download when you buy through the link below.

But the discount and the bonus gift are only available until this Thursday night, April 21.

Please note: To get the $50 discount, you must enter the coupon code HEALY at checkout. Do this before you enter any information — and make sure you click the “Apply” button. You will see the price reduce by $50 when you do this. Here’s what that looks like:

Got it? Good. :-)

Now click the link below to learn more about The Copywriting Grab Bag — and claim your $50 discount and free 18-page PDF report.

• Click here to save $50 on The Copywriting Grab Bag.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Free PDF Download
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 2
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 1
• Ben Settle’s Dirty Little Email Secret
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of my 4-part Q&A series with Ben Settle.

In today’s installment, you’ll discover:

• How often you should email your list. (And how to minimize spam complaints and unsubscribes in the process.)

• How to test new ideas that your market may not be familiar with.

• How to write copy for high ticket products when you haven’t seen the product yet.

• And mucho, mucho mas.

Go ahead and read the Q&A rap session now… and don’t forget to check out the limited time offer I’ve put together for you at the end.

8. Is it really better to send emails every day to your subscribers, rather than less often?

There was a time when I thought mailing every day was insane.

After all, wouldn’t I get a bunch of unsubscribes? Wouldn’t people start accusing me of spam? Wouldn’t I be making my list mad and less likely to buy?

Then, I decided to try it anyway.

And guess what happened?

Yes, I got more unsubscribes… but my spam complaints went down to almost zero, and even more importantly I got a TON more sales. When I first went daily back in January 2009, I looked at the sales figures and pretty much wanted to throw up when I realized all the money I’d left on the table listening to goo-roos and other email “experts” saying to only email once per month or when you have something worth saying, yada yada yada.

There are a LOT of reasons to mail daily.

The sales are an obvious reason.

But here are a couple more that come to mind:

1. Positioning

If you’re REALLY an expert or (even better) a leader in your niche (and you should be striving to be seen as a leader, right?)… and you don’t have something (anything!) to say each day about whatever it is you’re trying to convince everyone you’re an expert at… well, what kind of expert or leader are you?

Real experts can’t shut up about their business.

They OOZE their expertise all over the place.

And people love to listen to them because none of us can hear enough about our passions and/or pains.

So if you mix the two together… boom!

You almost can’t lose.

Plus, if you’re only mailing once per month or whatever, and your competition is mailing 3 times per week or 5 times per week, well, good luck. Because unless you have some kind of “rock star” positioning going for you, chances are you’ll always be second, third or fourth fiddle behind those who are keeping in touch with your prospects.

On the other hand…

When you’re in someone’s inbox each day with something interesting, fun and relevant to their pains and desires, your positioning goes WAY up.

Certainly higher than the once-per-month emailers.

2. Procrastination

Here’s something else to think about:

Nobody can make a decision anymore. There are probably people on your list right now who are on the fence about buying from you or hiring you.

But guess what?

Unless you go after them, they’ll never pull the trigger.

They’ll forget all about you.

And they’ll go on with their busy lives, thinking, “yeah, I’ll get to that…” and never follow through on it. Instead, they’ll probably buy from your competitor who IS emailing them more often. This is especially true since, due to spam filters and the hectic nature of peoples’ lives, they aren’t even reading all your emails.

So who do you think is going to “win”?

The marketer who mails once per month or once per week…

Or the person who’s there each day with a fun, intriguing email?

Who has more of a chance of being seen at all?

If you’re life was on the line, and you HAD to get the highest sales for your product, and you had 30 days to do it, would you mail once, twice, 4 times… or every single day (or as often as you could)?

The key is to write emails correctly.

Don’t do what everyone else is doing — most people only mail their list when they have something to sell or whatever. Learn how to write subject lines that make peoples’ pupils dilate (from excitement, curiosity, anger, whatever) the second they read it. Learn how to write email body copy that people enjoy reading, and it’s not a chore or an imposition.

Do that and you can’t mail your list enough.

9. When approaching writing copy with a niche that already knows and trusts you but which is not familiar with the ‘new concept/vision’ you’ll be taking, what are some of the things I should keep in mind?

I am not 100% clear on the question, but I’ll take a stab at it anyway.

First, realize your new approach may fail.

And it may fail BIG time.

But it may succeed, too.

You just never know until you test it.

I don’t know if this is what you are asking or not, but what I’d do is survey my list and see what they think of this new vision/concept.

If it’s a product, here’s what to do:

Put up a capture page.

Tell your list what you are creating and tell them if they want to be alerted when it comes out and get it at a discount to go to that capture page and opt in.

If you get zero opt ins, it’s probably DOA.

If you get a lot of people opting in, you may be on to something.

It’s still not a guarantee of anything.

But it could save you lots of time and energy.

10. Do you put yourself in a particular type of environment when you sit down to write copy? For example… do you listen to music, go to the beach, search for D.B. Cooper clues etc…?

Not really.

Usually I listen to some jazz or movie soundtracks, set my timer, and then let the “hounds” out.

11. Can you write a solid sales letter for high ticket products without actually owning the product yourself?

A couple years ago I was hired to write an ad for a product that was still in production, for a brand new market I’d never sold to before. And the ad ended up not only kicking gluteus assimus, but it also beat the control that was written by a well known copywriter.

I wrote the entire ad (sans the product details) without seeing the product.

Later, I wrote the bullets after seeing the product.

But most of it was written without seeing the product details.

How is that possible?

Because 90% of the ad was written just based on market research.

The story was crafted around their pains, desires, and problems. You don’t really need to talk about your weed killer all that much — what is far more important is talking about their “crab grass.”

You cannot bore someone if you talk about their problems.

So to answer the question, yes you “can” do it, if needed.

But in order to write the strongest ad possible, you’ll need the product details. Especially if it’s an info product or something where there are lots of moving parts.

Also, here is something else to consider:

Not long ago, I was hired to write an ad in a very competitive market where there’s a lot of CPA advertising going on.

Very cut throat market.

And it was also a cesspool of marketing incest, too.

Everyone was just copying each other — like each ad was just a bad carbon copy of a copy of a fax of another copy.

So what did I do?

I asked them to scrap their product!

And then the client and I did an intense case study of the market. After that, I took that market data (no product data — we didn’t have one now) and I “created” the product as I wrote the ad, in my head, via the benefits and promises.

I remembered hearing that big mailers do this.

They sometimes write the ad BEFORE creating the product.

And what you do is, you pretend you have unlimited super powers and can create the best product possible with all the hottest benefits and then write it. Then you use your ad as an outline for the product and try to fulfill all the benefits and claims. Whichever ones can’t be fulfilled upon, you remove from the ad.

In that case you are creating sales letters without seeing the product, too.

So, just something to think about.

Again, it’s ALL about the market first.

The product is secondary.

This is the end of Part 3 of 4. More tomorrow (including how Ben got into the markets he’s currently in, how long it takes Ben to write a sales letter, and more).

By the way, if you like the copywriting tips you’re getting here, then you’re going to LOVE Ben’s Copywriting Grab Bag.

It’s a thick print book filled with scores of copywriting tips, tricks, and lessons — some of Ben’s very best stuff. I have a copy of it on my desk and use it as a reference.

This book has been endorsed by quite a few well-known marketers, including Ken McCarthy, Terry Dean, and Leon Altman, a copywriter who’s written copy for Apple and been featured in AWAI’s Monthly Copywriting Genius.

Right now, Ben is offering my readers $50 off the normal price by ordering through this link.

Even better, I’ll throw in an extra bonus gift: an 18-page PDF report I wrote called “6 Forms of Proof that Boost Web Copy Conversions.” In this report you’ll learn…

• How to convert even the most skeptical of prospects into paying customers.
• 25 different forms of proof and how to use them in your sales copy.
• Not just WHAT forms of proof to use… but HOW to use them, too.
• And more.

This 18-page PDF report is yours free for instant download when you buy through the link below.

But the discount and the bonus gift are only available until this Thursday night, April 21.

Please note: To get the $50 discount, you must enter the coupon code HEALY at checkout. Do this before you enter any information — and make sure you click the “Apply” button. You will see the price reduce by $50 when you do this. Here’s what that looks like:

Got it? Good. :-)

Now click the link below to learn more about The Copywriting Grab Bag — and claim your $50 discount and free 18-page PDF report.

• Click here to save $50 on The Copywriting Grab Bag.

-Ryan M. HealySimilar Posts:

• Is It Spam or Is It Something Else?
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 4
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 2
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Free PDF Download
• Ben Settle’s Weird Copywriting Tips – Part 1