SOME COPY TIPS FROM AN OLD HAND by Patrick Quinn

SOME COPY TIPS FROM AN OLD HAND by Patrick Quinn

I have been in the ad game for a long, long time. I have trained
hundreds of writers, and I've been responsible for shifting
millions of dollars in product worldwide. Here are just a few
tips that I hope will help you do a better job, and make a
bigger name for yourself.

One.
Whatever copy job you are working on - brochure, mailer, sales
letter, press ad - always include a headline. A pertinent
headline. A selling headline. This headline will be, or should
be, powerful enough or intriguing enough to draw your target
into the compass of the body copy. If it can do that, you are on
a winner. To put it simply, your headline should be a snapshot
of your sales message - a prcis of your offer or promise. In
other words, a headline that says: Buy this product and get this
benefit.

Two.
Always remember, people don't buy products, they buy the
benefits of owning those products. A man doesn't buy a sports
car because it is precision engineered or aesthetically
designed. He buys it because of the ego-boost it gives him. It
shows the world that he has made it. Likewise, a woman doesn't
by a cocktail dress by Camille of Paris simply because of the
cut or the exquisite stitching. She buys it for the cachet that
is attached to the label. She would probably look as good in a
dress from a High Street department store, but she wouldn't feel
as good. And that's the benefit.

Three.
Around 30% of all copy headlines are both useless and irrelevant
The worst of them often take the form of puns or are re-workings
of current film titles or song titles. Puns are fine if they are
appropriate, which they seldom are. And the writer who tries to
demonstrate how cool he is by working his product message into a
film or song title is usually doing a lot for the sales of movie
tickets and CDs, but very little for his client. The moral is
this. State your sales proposition cleverly, wittily, stridently
or emotively, but never ever employ a device simply because it's
the easy thing to do. If you can't be original, at least be
positive.

Four.
If it doesn't quack, its not a duck. And if your copy doesn't
make some kind of selling proposition, its not advertising, -
it's an announcement. So many writers these days fail to
understand that copy is nothing more than salesmanship in print.
They play with words for the sake of playing with words. They
lose sight of the fact that they should be trying to sell
something. Thus, copy must use the psychology of the salesman;
and it must say, right up front: Here's what's in it for you.

Five.
Always be a little circumspect about experts who try to tell you
how to write better copy. And that includes me. Meantime,
however, you'll do no better than visit www.wordpower3.com.
There, you'll find an e-book that could make your working life a
whole lot easier. It contains close to 200 ready-made headlines,
taglines, copy openers and clinchers, plus a comprehensive theme
-finder that will give you just about every promotional word and
phrase you'll ever need. No more writers block - ever. It's
called Word Power III. Get hold of a copy and make a name for
yourself.


About the Author
Patrick Quinn is a copywriter, with 40 years' experience of the
advertising business in London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Miami.

Over the years, he has helped win for his clients just about
every advertising award worth winning

His published books, include:

The Secrets of Successful Copywriting.
The Secrets of Successful Low Budget Advertising.
The Secrets of Successful Exhibitions.
Word Power.