A fairly famous Internet marketer sent me a message in order to promote Affiliate Conspiracy, and he was giving me an example of great copywriting. I don't quite agree with him, can you please tell me your opinion? Remember, this is an e-mail to promote Affiliate Conspiracy: subject: Eric Rockefeller DESTROYED My Life Hey ___, Eric absolutely destroyed me. I lost MY JOB, I lost my CAR and my relationship with my Wife & son will never ever be the same again…all thanks to this man called Eric Rockefeller and his “The Affiliate Conspiracyâ€â€¦ I lost my job because I dumped my job - I truly have the confidence to work from home and make a good living from applying the techniques of the ‘Clickbank Cash Cows’ I lost my car because I know I’ll have enough cash to upgrade to a brand new shiny one in about 3 months time (at the rate I’m going!) He absolutely destroyed my $0.00 Clickbank accounts and filled them with long thick blue bars that I’ll never get tired of seeing! My relationship with my wife and young ___ will never be the same because I’m spending much more time with him and my wife Thank you ___
Hey, actually I think it's quite good - as far as that sort of twaddle goes at least. Apart from that, it's the usual: Hey look at me, I'm so successful! I used xxxxxx. You can be successful too, if you use xxxxxxx, ra de ra de ra de babble babble .... yawn.
I'd agree that it's typical "how to make money" copywriting---personal story of failure followed by proof of success using X. I wouldn't say it's "great," but it could be somewhat effective. If you subscribe to many "how to make money" lists, you'll see this format 100 times a day. However, don't put too much stock in the copy. The writer's credibility weighs heavily in this field. Imagine I write the perfect piece on how to make money and Bill Gates writes: "Ima making money. U want to? I'll show ya. Send me 50 bucks and I'll tell ya how to be like me. P.S. Hurry the hell up." Who do you think will outperform? If you said Bill Gates, you're correct.
My problem with the e-mail is this: First, I don’t believe that you can use the word destroyed in a context like the one above. Destroy is all negative to me, and if you have only received benefits from something, you can’t really say that it destroyed anything, can you? Second, the person did not lose his car. When you lose something, it’s either taken away from you (like stolen) or actually lost (forgot it somewhere) or somebody took it from you (because you didn’t pay the bank loan). If you chose to buy another car, you can’t say that the older car was lost, or can you? Third, the guy did not lose his job either. He stated that he dumped his job. That’s not the same as losing a job?
Yes, Sly - fair criticisms, but it's all playing about with words, innit? The rules are there to be broken. Having said that, it wouldn't persuade me to buy anything, as it is just a variation on the formulaic sales letter that I quickly file under "D".
That's why I'm paid the big bucks. I'll PM you my address. Send me the $50 and I'll forward it to Mr. Gates.
Yes, damn you for thinking. If you sit around analyzing copy in this field, you'll go mad. Most of it is crap, but it works, because the majority of the audience isn't that bright. And if some are, they are so consumed by their need to make money now that all logic flies out the door. It's the same as an affluent person, who is a drug user, venturing into seedy ghetto areas for a fix.
If people always used things the way they were supposed to be used we wouldn't have electricity. After all, kites are for sunny spring days and keys are for opening locked doors. I actually think this copy was written by someone who knew what they were doing and those word choices were deliberate.
To hell with this person. I can show you 100s like this. BTW, Great sales copy anyway. The man known how to sell himself. LOL
If you guys read the letters of Gary Halbert and then compare the style of his copy with this one...well, do it and you will see what I mean!
*shrugs shoulders* Eh. My first thought was: Uh, ok. Had I got that, I would have then deleted it. If I am interested in affiliate marketing, I wouldn't have gone there because he pretty much said his own material is crap, I would lose everything if I tried it. Even though he didn't mean it as such. That's the way I read it, anyway. It's kind of hard to follow. I'm sorry, but it may seem clever on the surface, but in the real world it is one of the worst. I would put a spin on it, because this one ain't cuttin' it. Maybe it can give you an idea for something that is MUCH better. But I guess it seems to gain the interest of most people, if this thread is of any kind of a gauge. Hell, try it. See what happens.
Well, right off the bat, I'm not the target market. But for the starved legions of internet desperados, I guess it could be effective. It always surprises me what is. It strikes me as typical formula "I'm-successful-and-you're-not" copywriting.
Ruffneck's got it right and good to see webgal too. The reason I titled my response with "break the wallets not the hearts" is because that is what the true tale of the ticker tape is day in and out. What do I mean by that? There could be some scintillating salescopy on the surface that would make someone say, "Now, that's good copy!" Guess what? 1,000 visitors and 1 sale. OR there could be something that reads like a fifth grader wrote it and... 1,000 visitors and 207 sales! Which one was great? The one everyone called their hero and talked about in the forums? Nope. The one that brought in the sales. So again, what is meant by break the wallets, not the hearts? It means pay no attention to how the copy: *looks *reads *sounds *seems or even *smells but test how it sells and then tweak it and run it again. People lie to spare your feelings but numbers are like computers when they say what you've programmed them to.
That would be all well and good if those things didn't affect what sells and what doesn't. The way to someone's wallet is through their heart, i.e. their emotions. Good copy evokes some type of emotion, usually fear. When you write copy, you need to think "This is what I need to say and this is how I need to say it to get person X to buy my product." How else do you make that decision than by paying attention to what reads well, looks well, sounds well, etc.?
*hyjack on* You're not suppose to pay attention to how the copy looks and reads? Uh, well, ok then. "hyjack off*
Thank you DigitalPointer. Great points. I have seen GREAT sales letters that have typos and grammatical errors. But, most people, unless they have studied sales copy, will not understand. It's a completely different playing field and only the conversions count. Advertising Agencies HATE this....
Well that's copywriting and nothing else. I also used to think that it is crap and useless and people will just delete such emails but surprisingly it increases sales against all odds. in this sense it is good copywriting, rather stylish one.As long as it sales through 'UHs' really do not matter.There is no place for idealism here which vary from one mind to another. "Negative", the term used earlier is also relative and many of us may find it "Positive" instead. So when it comes to selling, no unique thumb rule applies.It's just an idea and it is successful if it clicks through people's mind and brings money out off their pockets.