Post #3 Preliminary Core Values and Eternal axioms

Every ad-man and copywriter worth his salt draws from an immense wealth of study and experience.

But you can’t effectively operate if you have to consult a library of knowledge at any given moment. So you should boil down your knowledge into simple, memorable axioms that when revisited, trigger an avalanche of associated knowledge.

Here are some of the axioms that govern my writing and how I make my living in marketing and advertising.

1. In advertising, selling is primary, writing is secondary
2. Your copy should be invisible. If your copy is good, no one should notice it. It should be like a window looking into the future your prospect desires.
3. Everything you write must be relevant. Every word must earn it’s place.
4. Message is superior to design. 
5. Everything in the copy is analogous to in-person sales, selling from stage or direct mail
6. Logic is the foundation of sales, emotions are the catalyst and mover. People shop on emotion but buy on logic
7. Every piece of copy should convert in some way. Maybe not a purchase, but some kind of conversion.
8. Simplicity sells, complexity kills.
9. “Simplicity” doesn’t mean never writing on complex topics. It means never OVER-COMPLICATING. It kills conversion power.
10. Delay is the death of the sale.
11. Sell the destination not the trip.
12. Shatterpoint conversions synthesize these core principles.
13. Copy should be judged based solely on its ability to convert.
14. The customer buys a product as a vehicle to a better place in life.
15. Your ads themselves should be valuable.
16. When writing your ad, talk to the man in front of you. “Just you and me talking.”
17. Keep your campaign simple, “message, market, medium.”
18. The more you tell the more you sell… as long as what you’re telling is RELEVANT.
19. It is better to be redundant than remiss.
20. You’re not your own client. Get out of your own head. Walk in your prospect’s shoes.
21. Great copy is salesmanship in print.
22. There is nothing more powerful than a starving crowd.
23. You cannot create desire, you can only direct it.
24. Become an opportunity detective.
25. Your first sale should be the most unprofitable one you ever make.
26. Copy isn’t written, it’s assembled.
27. Your audience live lives of silent desperation. Be the most exciting thing they see that day.
28. Be a sales detective.
29. Salespeople ought to be, at their core, problem solvers.
30. Always honor the Pro Code: be where you said you’d be, having done what you said you’d do.
31. Trust what customers DO, not what they say.
32. Marketing is testing.
33. A “bridge too far” is the #1 reason most ads fail. They ask for too much too soon.
34. Your customer doesn’t want to UNDERSTAND, they merely want to be informed. (Think about a car mechanic explaining repairs to a customer. Customer doesn’t usually want to understand everything about the situation, but merely want to be informed of the general situation, action steps and the practical outcomes.)
35. Math is the gravity of marketing.
36. Speed obliterates nuance. Take your time to do good work.
37. Never leave success up to chance, use a proven system. Never reinvent the wheel unnecessarily.
38. Boring is the kiss of death.
39. You can only ask for a commitment that is equal to the prospect’s willingness commit to you.
40. Marketing is like playing pool. You’re not just striking for the immediate shot. You’re also setting yourself up for future shots.
41. Make your “premiums” so good that the prospect would buy your offer, just to get the premiums.
42. People will pay more for VALUE if you convince them of the superior value and justify the higher price.
43. Unless you’re Walmart, don’t compete on price. Only sell on price if it is a super bargain or WILDLY expensive. If you sell by price you’ll die by price. Don’t condition your audience to price shopping.
44. Don’t copyright, copyKNOW.
45. Prioritize what is effective BEFORE what is efficient.
46. Don’t worry about offending the dogs, just sell the foxes.
47. You don’t need hype if you’ve got compelling substance.
48. Fool-proof 3-prong offer: 1) starving crowd 2) great offer 3) brilliant communication (product, pitch, delivery system)
49. Theater and reason why is the Dynamic Duo that embellishes otherwise mundane details.
50. Surface benefits vs true benefits. Use the “so what” test until you arrive at the true benefit they’re looking for.
51. If you don’t have a story, you’re not digging hard enough.
52. People fear what they do not know. UNCERTAINTY creates risk, which creates fear. Remove risk by providing CERTAINTY. People only buy when they have certainty.
53. Ambiguity and confusion kills sales. But details convince.
54. Movement kills writer’s block. As does research.
55. Write your first draft as fast and ugly as possible. And write it like God gave you permission. Do NOT take the original enthusiasm out of the first draft.
56. A sale happens only when the emotion, logic and will is satisfied
57. Degraded advertising attracts degraded tribes.
58. Desire is the root of all market activity. They have a “problem” and “desire” a “solution” that will give them the “result” they want. That solution is your product. It’s a vehicle to the “result” they want.
59. Headlines should get attention in a way that bridges the ad to your prospect’s current beliefs.
60. Objections are either valid or invalid. If invalid, they are merely complaints and can be ironed out. If valid, they are obstacles and mean the prospect isn’t qualified.
61. Very often, the spoken objection is NOT the true objection. It’s just a cover for the real objection.
62. A good ad is life with the dull parts taken out.
63. What am I trying to say? Say it as easily as possible.
64. Write your customer’s victory speech.
65. Assume nothing of your prospect. TELL THEM everything they need to know.
66. Simple, relevant, and clear messages result in sales.
67. Define what the customer wants, then answer the questions “Can I get what I need from you?”
68. Your product or service is a secret weapon in your customers’ hands to kick some villain’s ass.
69. At the end of the day, you’re not selling products to services, you’re selling transformations.
70. Sales is inherently adversarial. It’s hard to commit to something, because as soon as you do, you lose something.
71. Choose or amplify your personality, because your biz needs one.
72. It’s okay to be a coward in advertising
73. Polarize buys. Quit being a little bitch and go ahead and stand for something. He who stands for something never stands alone.
74. Great copy can sell rocks. Bad copy can’t sell free gold.
75. Customers aren’t mind readers, if you don’t tell them, they won’t figure it out.
76. Relationships begin with trust and thrive on generosity. The more you give the more you get.
77. Don’t confuse hype with big claims. People substitute hype for lack of substance.
78. Internet marketing is direct mail on glass.
79. Bait the hook heavy. Give away 90% but hold back the choicest 10%
80. Sell the result not the process…the result not the tool.
81. As a salesperson you’re in the dream actualizing business.
82. Without belief, there is no action.
83. The heart and soul of great ads is “breaking news”
84. Don’t obsess about response stats. God of all stats is # of cash in the bank.
85. Your ad is a salesman.
86. When selling, “who” is more important than “what” or “how.”
87. Advertise the outcome, not the vehicle. Advertise the destination, not the flight.
88. Always offer a choice between something and something else. Not just something or nothing. Nothing can never be an option.
89. Relationships increase value.
90. People CRAVE wizards.
91. Every pic should have a caption and tell a story. It should only be included if it serves a purpose better than any text could serve. An image should be a stand-alone headline.
92. The more specific an offer, the more nuanced your sales pitch can be.
93. Everybody LOVES certainty. They’re looking for the 10 commandments. People want simple answers to complex questions.
94. Learn from the Disney strategy. Omnipresence. Deeply rooted. “Out of the vault” effect.
95. Never try to fix in the copy what ought to be fixed in the offer.
96. Put your ads through The Gauntlet. “Not true. True but not exactly as you claim. True but not how I need to. True but it won’t work for me.”
97. Irregularity and disharmony gets attention. Design is NOT to win admiration but to get and HOLD attention. Be nothing like other advertisers.
98. Your prospect is the PRODUCT OF HIS PAST. You must know him, understand him, empathize with him. Beware of country club thinking. Never lose touch.
99. Speak to your audience in their native language. Don’t feed a fish strawberry shortcake. Feed them worms, no matter how distasteful you find them.
100. Study your product and prospect so hard that it becomes something completely new.
101. Never underestimate the difficulty of the sale.
102. All the best ideas come from out of the box: Relevant, irresistible and compelling.
103. Long copy doesn’t scare away readers as much as it does advertisers. But beware: Long-winded copy is lazy copy.
104. Make ads simple, not because people are stupid, but because they won’t give your ad your full studious attention.
105. Never allow devices to interfere w/ the form and matter of your ad.
106. The size of the promise determines the power of the pull. But the promise only has power if it is matched by equally convincing PROOF.
107. Don’t pollute testimonials by changing their raw, real, gritty originality.
108. See the “control” as your enemy. Your goal is to kill the control.
109. Leave no question unanswered in your prospect’s mind. Always give REASON WHY.
110. People shop on emotion, but buy on logic.
111. Paint pleasing pictures in your prospects’ mind. The pleasure from the picture must outshine the price. You do this by piling on value.
112. Copywriting is salesmanship in print.
113. The longer you hold attention the more you sell. The more interesting your copy, the more you hold attention.
114. People don’t care about your sh*t, they care about their sh*t.
115. Unreadable copy goes unread.