Page 11 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

reader. And I still use the old standby AIDCA (see Idea 39). What
has changed, for the better, is my skill in using the techniques.

I reckon I’ve written somewhere north of 3,000 individual pieces
of copy in the last 23 years. They include lots of sales letters and
brochures, plus press releases, press ads and presentations,
websites, emails, and banner ads. And the odd menu, speech, and
poster. My first efforts weren’t bad (well, OK, some of them were):
the stuff I’m writing now earns my clients enough profits for them
to keep coming back for more. I want to share with you some of the
tricks of the trade that I’ve used over that period to keep my clients
happy; I hope they’ll work their magic for you, whether you’re a
freelance, agency, or in-house copywriter. Most are my own, some
are borrowed, or adapted, from other copywriters.

A couple of paragraphs ago I used the word “selling.” In many
people’s houses, though not ours, selling is a dirty word. It conjures
up associations of foot-in-the-door brush salesmen, high-pressure
selling, boiler rooms, and other equally unsavory activities and
individuals. But the truth is, without selling, there’d be no markets.
Without markets, there’d be no capitalism. Without capitalism,
there’d be no democracy. And without democracy, there’d be no
freedom. So as you can see, without selling, we’d all be in chains!

And let’s scotch another myth about copywriting. We are not paid
liars. I was once cornered at a party by a guy who actually was a
salesman, for a confectionery manufacturer. When I told him
what I did for a living, he said, “Oh right. A paid bullshitter.”
That, regrettably, is how many people think about advertising. I
prefer David Ogilvy’s take on truth in advertising: “Never write an
advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You
wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine.”

Leaving aside this little bit of special pleading, even when I’m
training marketeers and copywriters, many still don’t see the

2 • 100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS