🔍 The Book in 3 Sentences

Writing better copy isn't just about selling things. It's about expressing ideas and conveying those ideas, through emotion, to a reader.
While there are tried and true methods for writing better copy, they aren't set in stone. Sometimes going against convention can work in your favor.
The basics are true, however. Short, concise copy is almost always best.

💭 Impressions

Why I choose this book

I love to write. But, I've never felt I was a good writer. I simply wrote for my own joy. While that's good, I've wanted to improve my writing. So, I was looking for books that would have tips for improving how I write. This fits the bill. I particularly love the overarching theme of word count per section.

👨‍🎓 What the book taught me

💡 How my life / behavior / thoughts / ideas have changed as a result of reading the book.

I started this book thinking I would learn some tricks about writing more compelling copy for my products and websites. That's true. But, more so, I learned how important it is to allow a part of myself to be in my writing, for better or for worse.

🎙️ My Top 3 Quotes

"Copywriters don't create demand. We channel existing demand."
"Use your life to animate your copy. If something moves you, it will move someone else."
"Write to get ideas, not to express them."

📒 Summary + Notes

When I came across an insight—a technique or principle that helped me write better or think more clearly—I challenged myself to explain it in writing. (Location 419)

Noticing the details is a skill. And you develop it by slowing down, embracing tedium, and accepting that “things take the time they take,” as Burkeman puts it. (Location 493)

“How can I connect this place or person or point of view to my product in a compelling way?” (Location 510)

Conversion copy should not call attention to itself. It should call attention to the prospect, to her problems. Or to the product, to the pleasure it produces or the pain it prevents. But not to itself. (Location 649)

copywriters don’t create demand. We channel existing demand.” (Location 696)

“What does work—and what produces phenomenal results—is getting to know the demand and the needs and wants and dreams and desires of people, then crafting products that satisfy those needs and crafting ads that speak to those needs.” (Location 700)

Making The Reader feel something is central to good copywriting, which is why it helps to be sentimental as a writer, sensitive to life’s nuances, moved by tenderness and sadness and nostalgia. (Location 734)

“Put yourself into your work,” said copywriter David Abbott. “Use your life to animate your copy. If something moves you,” he said, “it will touch someone else, too.” (Location 807)

if you need to write but words escape you, be personal. (Location 823)

“if the campaign is on time and doesn’t work, we’ll get fired.” He leaned forward. “But if it’s late and it works, all good. They’ll forget it was ever late in the first place.” (Location 957)

Marketers and copywriters don’t get paid to make art. We’re hired to solve business problems. (Location 1011)

can’t make an ad without someone else in mind. (Location 1025)

“Look,” said one of our winningest direct marketers, “if you want to write poetry, if you want to write prose, if you want to write novels, and if you want to write literature, go outside of advertising,” he said. (Location 1027)

Want to change someone’s life? Prop them up before they’re great, before they have anything except potential. Prop them up for the humanity of it—and they’ll remember you, maybe forever. (Location 1049)

Style will only get you so far. But if you have something to say—value to add, knowledge or wisdom to impart—you can make a difference and earn an audience. (Location 1103)

But you don’t need to be an expert to write in a helpful, inspiring way. Just be curious. And write as you learn. There’s nothing wrong with that. (Location 1138)

The more you make, the more likely you are to make something great. So expect most of your ideas to dead end and most of your drafts to be unusable. (Location 1178)

A small split tests only one variable (the headline, for example) at a time. A big split pits two unique angles (pain and pleasure, for example) against each other. (Location 1187)

Most of your breakthroughs will come from big splits, (Location 1190)

Originality is an illusion. As they say, everything is a remix. Proceed until apprehended. (Location 1215)

A new thing is born when you connect two or more old things in a surprising, seamless way. (Location 1221)

Producing derivative work will help you find your own style. (Location 1227)

emulating your heroes, you’ll not only learn the craft, but you will also gradually tweak their work to align with your tastes, your preferences. And the more adjustments you make, the less glaring your influences become. Until, eventually, the work is your own. (Location 1228)

This is creativity in a nutshell. Something familiar reimagined. Something familiar made new. (Location 1240)

“The preparation for becoming a great copywriter is a lifestyle,” said direct marketer Joe Sugarman. “It’s a hunger for knowledge, a curiosity and desire to participate in life that is broad-based and passionate.” (Location 1287)

As in the AIDA copywriting formula: Attention › Interest › Desire › Action (Location 1301)

Forty percent of your advertising depends on the strength of your list, the people seeing your message. (Location 1390)

Your list should not be your entire market. Ideally, it should be a segment of your market, people who: (Location 1391)

Forty percent of your advertising depends on the strength of your offer, which is a combination of several elements, including desire, price, and incentives. (Location 1404)

Twenty percent of your advertising depends on the strength of your creative, (Location 1448)

If you wanna create cool looks, go be an artist or work for a magazine or something. Because direct marketing is, first and foremost, about getting the copy read. (Location 1460)

If your copy is fascinating, the length is irrelevant. (Location 1473)

Be generous, in life and in marketing. Give. It will come back to you in spades. (Location 1507)

Recognition, audience, money—these things will come. In the meantime, be observant, make connections, and write consistently, write, write, write. (Location 1530)

you can’t write an ad until you’ve identified the market’s “Level of Awareness,” or what your prospects already know about the problem your product solves. (Location 1565)

If given the choice between avoiding pain and attaining pleasure, people, like animals, will almost always choose the former. (Location 1605)

When you say something first, you own it. “Preemptive claims” create an association with your brand, especially if you’re selling a commodity. This is a timeless tactic. (Location 1671)

And one way to be different is by aligning with a unique set of values. (Location 1703)

This speaks to the fact that the most resonant stories often come from a singular point of view. (Location 1807)

A persona isn’t real, but a person is. Lean into this when doing your research. Work to understand the perspective of an individual—one prospect—and very often, their personal hopes, needs, and desires will be your most honest and accurate source of information. (Location 1818)

To be great at this work, you must find joy in the process, in your development, the incremental progress. (Location 1841)

Copywriter’s law states, “Any idea that can be picked will be picked.” (Location 1879)

“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting,” she explains, “and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. (Location 1883)

It proved that the process really is whatever works. (Location 1896)

“It really comes down to making an effort and repeating the same thing every day.” (Location 1931)

Incubation is our brain’s ability to subconsciously process information and make connections. (Location 1993)

Rather than create a mood, advertising can reflect one. (Location 2174)

“Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life,” he pleaded, “for without them, life is meaningless.” (Location 2244)

Limit your time, format, word count, and audience. Restrict yourself! Restrict yourself, lest fear paralyzes you. Restrict yourself, lest freedom enslaves you. (Location 2289)

“Write to get ideas,” said Kelly, “not to express them.” (Location 2308)

A maximalist writer edits words in. (Location 2353)

A minimalist writer edits words out. (Location 2356)

Most writers find their style eventually and accidentally, not immediately and purposefully. (Location 2372)

Great creative work often happens when opposite things and concepts intersect: Loooong + shrt Clean + diRtY Dark + light BIG + small New + old (Location 2437)

When you’re stuck, stop making creative decisions. Instead, start taking creative direction. Construct a model or paint by numbers or build a LEGO set. Do anything you must follow instructions to complete. You’ll find it’s a rejuvenating form of creative rest. (Location 2511)

“Never write for anyone; always write for someone.” (Location 2566)

One, never let The Reader inside the mind of a character. (Location 2709)

Two, don’t give too much information. (Location 2711)

And one more, use the present tense. (Location 2713)

Shock copy illustrates the consequences of a problem in a severe way. (Location 2732)

Writing slow is thinking slow, which, according to Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, is how we should be thinking if we want clear, coherent thoughts. (Location 2769)

to write slow, create bottlenecks between your thoughts and the words you put on the page, (Location 2772)

The “rule of three” tells us triplets are easier to understand and remember. (Location 2845)

You don’t want 200 Ways to do something; you want 177 Ways to do something. If it’s 200, people will think, well, why isn’t it 201 or 199? Did you pad it? Did you leave something off? But if you have a specific number, it’s good.” (Location 2863)

writing great copy often boils down to illustration: how well can you show the prospect a moment in time? (Location 2926)

Good writing creates images. Because images—clear, vivid pictures—trigger memories, emotions. Images move people. (Location 2996)

“Trust your reader,” he said. “He or she has a lot of imagination. Don’t try to describe things. Give a hint, and they will fulfill this hint with their own imagination.” (Location 3118)

Minimalist authors generally favor brevity, avoid adverbs, and lean on cursory descriptions of people, places, and things. (Location 3121)

Want to be more in control when you write? I’ve some advice: Become excellent at recording your ideas as they come (Location 3160)

“Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it,” said copywriter David Ogilvy. “Read it aloud the next morning,” he said, “and then edit it.” (Location 3188)

Testimonials prove. The more, the better: having two reviews is good, but displaying two hundred reviews is impossible to ignore. (Location 3227)

Guarantees prove. The more courageous, the better: a “30-day return policy” is good, but a “lifetime guarantee” communicates the utmost confidence. (Location 3231)

Length-Implies-Strength Heuristic, or LISH for short, which is based on the assumption that longer copy is more impressive and believable. Therefore, it’s more likely to persuade The Reader. (Location 3249)

heuristic processing—or “heuristics” for short—which means making decisions based on cues and shortcuts. (Location 3270)

Our brains developed heuristics to avoid thinking. (Location 3277)

whenever possible and appropriate, use video testimonials in your marketing—and your response will almost certainly increase. (Location 3323)

Often, it’s as simple as creating order and peace the night before, so in the morning, you can walk into your “ideal room”—and not one plagued by friction. (Location 3353)

our imagination is baked into us—an essential part of us—so using it is a natural and incredibly satisfying thing to do. And the more we use it, the more vivid it gets, which can only help us create richer, more compelling marketing stories. (Location 3379)

long copy sells more than short copy.” This is because direct-response copy must do so much to be effective. After it gets The Reader’s attention, it must overcome her objections, earn her trust, and ask for the sale. (Location 3403)

So long copy sells, in part, because it’s informative. It answers our questions and assuages our concerns. (Location 3406)

Sometimes, it’s enough to simply tell the prospect you’re selling something she wants or needs, especially if it’s a commodity. (Location 3430)

If you can tell a story without them, you probably should. (Location 3434)

Reading copy must never feel like work. It should always feel easy, even effortless, because people won’t endure a confusing ad. (Location 3454)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is, in fact, the goal of dimensionalization. An ad should appeal to our foundational desires, to the things that make us human. (Location 3499)

“A great ad,” said creative director Jeff Goodby, “is a mirror you put in front of your audience.” (Location 3578)

Want The Reader to feel something? Sadness? Anger? Joy? Anything? Then write something The Reader perceives to be absolutely accurate. (Location 3602)

idioms and other colloquialisms are an easy way to make your writing sound more conversational, not to mention more clear, concise, and comprehensible. (Location 3635)

If you want to learn how to write great ads, then copyworking—transcribing proven headlines, subheads, and even entire sales letters—should be part of your daily routine. But you should know…handcopying long chunks of text will feel like a waste of time. You’ll want to stop every few minutes. This urge will likely be intense and distracting. Don’t quit. Be gritty. (It may not seem like you’re making progress, but you are.) (Location 3710)

An inspirational headline can challenge any limiting beliefs the prospect may have, forcing her to think critically about what she deeply, genuinely wants. (Location 3841)

Life, after all, is a constant struggle between doing what we want and doing what’s expected of us. (Location 3843)

An ultra-short headline moves The Reader into the next line almost automatically, which is the goal: “The sole purpose of the first sentence in an ad,” said Sugarman, “is to get you to read the second sentence. Nothing more, nothing less.” (Location 3896)

You should work to come up with points the competition cannot say about their products. (Location 4031)

This is called “harmonizing.” Asking questions that tee up affirmative answers creates positive inertia, goodness. Agreement begets agreement, putting people in a willing mood. (Location 4051)

Primal stakes hijack our attention. (Location 4080)

So, when you’re writing copy, show The Reader a spouse, a child, a father or mother—and she will see her people, her life. And now, you have her attention. (Location 4083)

Parkinson’s law states, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” (Location 4160)

Then I learned a copywriting formula, which forever changed how I work: Problem-Agitation-Solution, or PAS. (Location 4210)

Believe it or not, image captions are the second-most read copy after headlines. So, whenever you fail to caption an image on a landing page, in an article, or almost anywhere else, you’re wasting valuable real estate. (Location 4275)

very often, great stories start with conflict. (Location 4287)

When you make a claim, put a “condition” on it. (Location 4317)

In copywriting, a “control” is the best-performing ad, the version pulling the highest response rate. (Location 4339)

This formula is now called “Bob Stone’s Gem.” It’s simple: Benefit: begin with your strongest benefit. Expansion: expand on your strongest benefit. Positive: explain what the prospect will get. Proof: prove the value with past experience. Negative: explain the consequences of inaction. Summary: sum up the benefits. Action: ask for action. (Location 4347)

Stories that start this way—in the middle of things—are inherently compelling. (Location 4430)

Writing is pushing. Editing is pulling. You can’t do both at once. (Location 4506)

One, don’t stop writing until it’s done. Two, don’t start editing until it’s done. (Location 4510)

The 3-Act Structure: Setup › Confrontation › Resolution The 5-Act Structure: Exposition › Rising Action › Climax › Falling Action › Dénouement (Location 4652)

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