CONTENTS

Introduction

1 It’s not about you (or is it?)

2 Remember, you’re selling

3 Headline idea—your reader is selfi sh

4 The call to action

5 Another headline idea—objection handling

6 Businesspeople love offers too

7 Write as you speak

8 Wish you were here

9 On the web, it’s (even more) personal

10 Grammar doesn’t matter . . . or does it?

11 What not to put on your order form

12 Subject lines

13 Avoid clichés (like the plague)

14 Keep it short

15 Shiny, bright, exciting adjectives

16 Imagine . . .

17 Parting is such sweet sorrow (actually, it’s just sorrow)

18 Long copy and why it works

19 Does your service live up to the copy promise?

20 Do you dissolve your worries in a solution?

21 Customers or cannon fodder?

22 Don’t just do something, sit there

23 Online copy that grows your business

24 (Type) size matters

25 I object

26 It came from outer space

27 How Web 2.0 changes your copy

28 The case of the missing case study

29 Write more and double your profi ts

30 There’s gold on them thar websites!

31 Why I hate teams

32 “I want” does get

33 What do you mean “If”?

34 Send your copy by courier

35 Tips for powerful emails

36 Long words don’t always make you sound moreintelligent

37 Reassuring your online customers

38 Have fun

39 That formula

40 Is your copy FAB?

41 SOUTHERN FRIED PLANNING

42 GIVE YOUR READER A KISS

43 SHORT OR TALL?

44 Forget impact, go for understanding

45 When you don’t have time to plan, plan!

46 “I just need to make one more change”

47 Another headline idea: true or false

48 BE DIFFERENT

49 UTILIZE LEXICAL ECONOMY, ER, I MEAN USE SHORT WORDS

50 ALMOST UNIQUE

51 FIND YOUR CUSTOMER’S PAIN POINT

52 ANOTHER HEADLINE IDEA: USE “HOW . . .”

53 WE’RE NOT SELLING TO YOU

54 GIVE YOUR READER SPACE TO THINK

55 LET’S PLAY 20 QUESTIONS

56 OPTIMIZE FOR YOUR CUSTOMER FIRST

57 Use storytelling techniques

58 LOOK AT ME! I’M SMILING AND POINTING AT A LAPTOP

59 THE RIGHT WAY TO USE NUMBERS

60 ASK YOUR READER A QUESTION

61 YOU FLATTER ME!

62 YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

63 HOW TO GO UPMARKET

64 USE PICTURES YOUR READER IDENTIFIES WITH

65 Powered by facts

66 Selling to international managers

67 Skip skip intro

68 Satisfy their cravings

69 Tailor the message to the audience

70 GET A CROSS-HEAD

71 CREATE CURIOSITY

72 MAKE YOUR ADS LOOK LIKE—AND READ LIKE—EDITORIAL

73 WATCH THAT HACKNEYED IMAGE

74 CORRECT YOUR PROSPECT’S ASSUMPTIONS

75 A great golf tournament with a pretty niceconference attached

76 Act like a magpie

77 Watch your readability

78 Say “Hi”

79 Grammar does matter

80 Will wordplay work?

81 Use language your customers can understand

82 Get them nodding

83 Dig down to the underlying proposition

84 Yet another headline idea—use “Now”

85 It doesn’t have to be A4, or A5, or . . .

86 Cheese for Christmas?

87 Get your customers to speak on your behalf

88 How to deal with high prices

89 What are they afraid of?

90 “Uneven numbers are the gods’ delight.” Virgil,The Eclogues

91 Horses beat camels

92 Befriend a designer

93 Use personal data intelligently

94 Start your sentences with And. Or don’t

95 Boring for whom?

96 Create a questionnaire

97 Give people a glimpse behind the scenes

98 Tap into people’s aspirations

99 Follow the law of gravity

100 Get to know people

Afterword