13 Copywriting Rules That Should Never Be Broken (Part 2)

The original "13 Copywriting Rules That Should Never Be Broken " was so well received, I decided to follow it up with a sequel.

To summarize from the original article:

"Copywriting rules CAN and occasionally SHOULD be broken. I think far too many copywriters take advertising rules (for example, those of David Ogilvy, John Caples and Claude Hopkins) as commandments written in stone. They're not. They are merely guidelines designed to help writers produce more effective copy. I believe, if breaking the rules improves the copy, then the rules should definitely be broken.

Having said that, I believe there are some copywriting rules that over the years have proven to be so vital to the overall effectiveness of an ad or sales letter, they should NEVER be broken."

1. The overuse of bold, italics and highlighting in copywriting is rampant. I mean it's just ridiculous. I've seen ads and sales letters that were so overly-highlighted, they looked like a child's coloring book - very amateurish.

ALWAYS Use bold, italics and highlighting sparingly - and I do mean sparingly, to emphasize the most important benefits of your offer. In the words of Herschell Gordon Lewis..."When you emphasize everything, you emphasize nothing!"

2. NEVER USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IN YOUR HEADLINE. They are more difficult to read and even worse to scan.

3. ALWAYS direct your headline towards your target market. For example, in your headline mention newbies, or writers, or work at home moms- whomever you're targeting.

4. ALWAYS sell one item at a time. Instead of trying to sell multiple products with minimal detail about each one, if you offer just one product - you can really focus in on one key set of benefits and answer all of the possible questions and doubts your prospect might have about your product. I'm not suggesting you stop selling your other products. Instead, offer them from other web pages or by using follow-up offers.

5. Thou shalt not lie. Okay, technically speaking, this is more of a morality issue than a rule. However, believe it or not, it can actually help sales conversions, when you admit a products weakness and/or faults. Unfortunately, far too often copywriters misrepresent, exaggerate or flat-out lie about the capabilities of a particular product. Don't do this. Truthfully state exactly what the product can or cannot do. Nothing more, nothing less.

6. Give your copy a purpose. The number one thing your copy must do is have a purpose - an objective. If your copy doesn't get your prospect to take a predetermined course of action, it's a liability. And according to the dictionary a liability is "something that works to one's disadvantage."

Unfortunately, there are far, far too many ads or sales letters like that. To be successful, your copy must have a purpose. And your copy must be persuasive enough to achieve that purpose - whatever it may be.

7. Keep it simple. According to legendary copywriter Bob Bly, simple words are the easiest to understand. And, because copy is written to communicate, short words are best - usually. An exception to the rule is when you want to use a big word to make your subject seem more important or impressive.

For example, let's say you're selling expensive, top-quality reproductions of antique pistols. The simplest description of the product is "guns." But "firearms," though a bigger word, sounds more distinctive. And that's why it works better: the reader might pay $295 for a firearm but not for a mere "gun." Sometimes, giving a product a more impressive title can convey an image of added value.

8. Write with emotional appeal. Any competent copywriter knows that most people make buying decisions based on emotion and justify their decision with logic. Read books on human pyschology. Having this knowledge will help you understand why people behave in a certain way and the very nature of consumers preferences and buying patterns - which will in turn help you write better, more emotionally charged copy.

9. Activate your copy. Whenever you write passive words like "is," "was," "are," or "to be," train yourself to stop and change them to something more active. For example, "The teleseminar is tonight" sounds dead and boring; However, "The eagerly anticipated, star-studded, 5-star copywriting teleseminar starts tonight at 8 PM sharp" is much more clear and vibrant. "Bob Jones is the best copywriter in the country" doesn't convey nearly the excitement that "Bob Jones creates the most amazingly, stimulating copy on the planet" does.

10. Use magic selling words. Push your prospect's emotional "hot buttons", by using magic selling words like...Announcing, astonishing, exciting, exclusive, fantastic, fascinating, first, incredible, initial, improved, love, limited time offer, powerful, phenomenal, revealing, revolutionary, special, successful, super, time-sensitive, unique, urgent, wonderful, you, breakthrough, introducing, new, how-to, save, amazing, free, guaranteed, security, no-risk, look younger, feel better, etc!

11. Rewrite and test ruthlessly. Did you know changing a single word in a headline has been known increase response by as much as 1800%? It's true. Here's what Internet marketing superstar Terry Dean has to say:

"One headline has been known to outproduce another headline by as much as 1800%. That is with no change in the body of the letter at all! That means that a promotion which made $1,000 could have made as much as $18,000 just by changing the headline! Suddenly, a promotion which would have been unsuccessful is NOW a MEGA MONEY Maker!"

Most copy isn't written in one day. Patience is the key. You have to write, rewrite, edit, rewrite, test, and test again. Your best copywriters are fanatical testers. Test, test, test!

12. Long copy sells. There's an old saying, "The more you tell, the more you sell." Generally speaking, long copy usually outperforms short copy, as long as the copy is interesting. Think about it for a second: Every single day, people read newspaper articles, magazine articles and entire books. They will read your long copy IF it's interesting.

But don't write long copy, just for the sake of writing long copy. Only make your copy as long as it needs to be to effectively tell your story.

13. Give a guarantee. Many marketers are afraid to guarantee their product - for fear of being deluged with refund requests. Don't be. If you offer a quality product, statistics show that less than 2% of your customers will ever ask for a refund. So offering a guarantee is really risk-free on your part. More importantly, offering a guarantee will give your customers and potential prospects peace of mind - which will actually make closing the sale easier. How long should your guarantee be?...The longer, the better.

Dale King is the owner of the new Internet marketing website, GuruKnowledge.org. Website Not Making Any Sales? Get A Free Sales Copy Evaluation Today!