What do you think is copywriting?
Do you know the main agenda of copywriting?
Have you written a copy that sells?
If these are the questions that keep bothering you, then you are not uncommon as they are the same for everyone.
But if you express and wish to learn about them, you become unique, as there is a desire to learn which is uncommon these days.
Everyone expresses the questions that they have in mind but none tries to resolve and find a solution because it takes effort.
So, let’s become old school and understand the obvious truth behind Copywriting via our Adams story.
STORY OF ADAMS
Before I begin with Adams story, let me ask a simple question.
Do you know Adams and what he does?
If you don’t know Adams, you can meet him here and see this guy’s beautiful observation to unveil the obvious and earn millions for his clients.
So, let’s start with Adams story.
Adams went to the office in the afternoon and was asked if he could prepare a blog for the Evening school students to which he was an alumnus.
So he went to the evening school and interacted with them and spent, as usual, three days to understand their aims and aspirations to better address them.
The first day went in interactions with the students, the second day in observing their actions and the third in a room trying to assimilate all that he learned in the previous two days.
Before we proceed further, there is a question for you guys.
What do you think is the first thing that keeps you glued to the screen while reading or watching or listening to something?
What is that one factor that arouses your curiosity to know more?
I know you would answer it by saying the “TITLE”.
Well, you see that was obvious and yes, it is the headline that makes you want more and more.
And so what do you think was the headline he kept for the students?
It is quite confusing to find one such theme-based headline which suits the interests of all.
So, how did he go about it?
Well, before discussing what he said as the headline, let’s see what he spoke at the seminar that he went to deliver.
His words were
“Whatever you wish to achieve is achievable if you possess the 3 things with you. These three things I won’t reveal till I get all the answers from you all.”
This way he ignited the fire to get the curiosity to the acme where everyone in the hall was boiling with the ideas.
Once everyone was done with all the possible ideas and assumptions of the 3 things, he told them that these 3 things are most common for any activity but mostly missed out on wide-open eyes.
He gave examples of Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci quoting that had Picasso been without a brush and paints, would he be known to all?
Similarly, if Leonardo was sent to school and asked to complete the homework and think within the bounds, would he portray such a blend of nature and analysis?
And you know that the answers were obvious, yes it wouldn’t have been possible for them to become great.
This moment was crucial for him to pitch in the most crucial question.
The question was “Do you want to become like Picasso and Leonardo?”
The answers of YES were loud enough to proclaim that they are ready to become the ones.
So, came the next question
“How would you?”
It wasn’t surprising to find a pin drop silence in contrast to the previous question.
Adams got in authority and declared that
For Picasso, his brush and paints were the tools
For Leonardo, his ability to relate and bring out a connection of the two was his skills
But more importantly, their vision to enjoy the process and do something that makes their heart dance with delight was their mindset
Which motivated them to carve the designs that we call eternal and classic.
So, did you observe that all he told them was obvious but you missed out on the obvious elements of success?
The obvious 3 things were:
TOOLSET
SKILLSET
MINDSET
As with these, anyone in the hall in their respective fields could achieve everything under the sun.
Before everyone would have got up and got ready to leave, Adams declared that he possessed the secret sauce to the most crucial element of the 3 mentioned above, the MINDSET.
And that without this, the other two would be useless.
To prove his point, he took the example of Alexander.
He said that without the right vision in the mind of the King, his tools i.e weapons in the hands of his skilled men would go for a toss and no victory would be accomplished.
Without the mindset, the picture would be incomplete and have no meaning or climax for viewers to takeaway.
How do you think everybody reacted?
No doubt, again it was a pin drop silence in the hall.
But Adams was well equipped with the tact to convert the dull to attractive one and so he put across a disclaimer.
The disclaimer was
“Quickest way to success. I know and I am ready to teach you. Are you ready??”
It was less than a minute that the crowd starting shouting YES again.
Do you think, he offered it for free?
Well, he has never offered anything for free and so there is a catch.
“How many would like to pay me $100 for the same?”
Again, he observed grave faces discussing among them as that was a huge price.
Here came the next words
“How many would pay me $25 for the same?”
Now few were ready to pay. But there was something more to it.
“How many would like to have it for free?”
100% everyone said YES.
He came closer to everyone and said “ There are no free lunches on the earth”
This surprised everyone and everyone was confused.
So, one stood up and asked “ what will be the price then?”
This was the best answer that everyone hears every second time and it was simply ”You work for me and I teach you along the way”
This way the atmosphere of the hall turned serious and few stood up ready to work and learn.
But since everyone was not able to make up their minds as to whether accept the offer or reject it,
Adams said his final words before departing
“The day you get ready to take action, learning would be a matter of iterations you can accept”
And he left.
This is copywriting simply.
You might be surprised as I never mentioned anything about copywriting but concluded that this is it. How come it is copywriting?
Well, you missed the obvious part of it and you never asked.
But I would reveal the Headline while you have forgotten about it.
HEADLINE
The headline was “ QUICKEST AND EASIEST WAY TO SUCCESS, NOW REVEALED”
Wasn’t it obvious?
Definitely
So coming back to copywriting, what do you think is copywriting?
DEMYSTIFIED
Let’s together demystify it…
Writing is done for 3 aspects: Educate, Entertain and Inspire
But when it comes to copywriting, it has one aim and that is to write to persuade to earn money.
Now you may ask, is there a formula for the same?
Such that I implement it while writing and earn money without worrying.
Well, to answer it, I must say that Newton’s third law is important.
It says “ For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”
The same thing applies to copywriting also, the more effort you put into practice, the sweeter will be the fruits of it.
But there is a common rule which was obviously applied by Adams and he was able to get the results, did you observe it?
If you have, it’s great.
But if you haven’t, let me reiterate for you.
The Headline Adams used, glued everyone and caught their attention
The suspense around the 3 secrets, arose the interest
The benefits of having the vital element made them desirous of it
The consequences of the absence of the Vital Element made them want it at every cost
So, here is the formula:
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
When woven correctly in a story can make you achieve your goals easily and obviously.
Wasn’t it obvious…
Now, if you have a question
Is there a formula for Headlines and all 4 elements?
Well there are rules but no formulae
Headlines
They could start like
- Who else wants
- The secret of ……………..
- Get rid of …………… for once and all
- Here’s a quick way to …………..
- Now you can have/ do ………… without ………………. In ……………….
NOTE: They should always focus on what customer wants and how to solve it.
To get the customer today, there are several ways like Sales Landing Page, Ads, Emails, Newspaper headlines.
But all must fulfil the important aspect of persuading to action as without it no conversion is possible.
So every element of the rule AIDA has certain factors to keep in mind.
ATTENTION
“The first impression is the best impression”
This is possible by using a Catchy HEADLINE while writing any copy.
If it’s a mail, the SUBJECT line is a crucial one to focus on
If it is an article, the IMAGE must be influential to convert
And if it is an address to the people, CALLOUT to get their attention.
INTEREST
A constant effort is required to stir up the interest of the customers
This can be done by either of the following:
A catchy SUBHEADLINE
Asking QUESTIONS to check their attention span
Quoting FACTS and QUOTES to ensure they believe
Giving them a STORY and making them feel like the HERO of it
Talking about the PAINS and PROBLEMS that they face
But this is not enough as until they are not aware of the proof and consequences of not owning it, they would never act
So, we ignite DESIRE and persuade them to take ACTION
DESIRE
Give them the BENEFITS of it
Assert your point with a SOCIAL PROOF
Narrate the PRE and POST SCENARIO of the owner
Tell them what would happen once they OWN it
ACTION
Until there is a SCARCITY, everyone postpones
If there is BONUS, they would be eager to have it
If a FEAR of LOSS is indicated, everyone gets active
If a BUNDLE is provided at a no brain cost, the urge increases
Convey what must be done to have it and people would act
This way Adams implemented the obvious rule to accomplish his work and the obvious rule was AIDA.
But, if you wish to make an impact on everyone you meet and everyone who reads your copy, you must have the secret sauce of it.
The secret sauce is OBVIOUS – Write, rewrite and repeat the process till the customer is convinced…
If you found it interesting and resonate with it, let me know your views in the comments section.
Alternatively, you can reach out to me at [email protected]
Very well explained.