Copywriting Genius: The Master Collection

The 82-Year-Old
Sales Secret Used
by Master Copywriters

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 The 82-Year-Old Sales Secret
Used by Master Copywriters
By Sandy Franks
Editor, Copywriting Genius

Every now and then a sales letter will pop up that just begs to be read.

It will have a fantastic headline and/or teaser copy that pushes all the right buttons,
compelling you to read the body copy.

At first, you may expect to be disappointed. But as you read forward you find yourself
riveted to the copy from beginning to end – like being drawn into a novel that you can’t
put down. Pure magic!

What’s the secret ingredient?

In most cases, when you find yourself completely captivated by a direct mail piece or
space ad, it’s because the copywriter is a master storyteller.

In Tested Advertising Methods, John Caples says there are 19 types of copy. Of those,
he only recommends 13. And story copy is one of those 13. Here’s how he describes story
copy:

“This copy starts off with a human-interest situation. Then comes a story, the moral of
which is ‘Buy the product advertised.’”

If you look at some of the most successful sales letters ever produced, you’ll find that a
well-written story is one of the most persuasive copywriting techniques used. In fact, one
legendary sales letter John Caples wrote way back in 1925 is still talked about today:

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 Who doesn’t fear being laughed at? And who doesn’t want to impress their friends…
and then feel a little smug when they prove there was no reason for the laughter? It’s
human nature.

Caples used a very powerful story to draw the reader in. Within the story, he created a
hero that almost anyone can sympathize with. The engaging manner and energy within
the piece literally pulls the reader forward to the call for action.

A good story is interesting and entertaining… presented in a way the reader can relate
to. The goal in storytelling is to write in a way that is captivating, while pointing the
reader toward an intended response.

Ultimately, isn’t that exactly what you want your sales letters to do?

Imagine the power you could put behind your marketing copy if you were able to
incorporate the secrets of storytelling into what you write!

The Key to a Good Story

Think about the stories you’ve encountered in your life. When we were children,
adults told us stories, some true, some not-so-true. As we grew up, we discovered books
and movies. Stories are almost second nature to us – because we’re exposed to them from
the earliest days of childhood.

Now, consider the last great novel you read… or even the last really good movie you
watched.

Initially, there is a main character whose life is turned upside down by some sort of
trouble. The character, usually the hero or heroine, spends a great deal of action-packed
time trying to solve the dilemma… facing one adventure after another in the quest. The
entire goal of the book or movie is to overcome the problem.

When you use storytelling to market a product, your goal is the same. Your prospect
has a problem, whether they know it or not. Your job is to identify that problem in a way
that the reader will recognize… and then help them solve it. In most cases your reader will
be the hero or heroine in your story.

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 To engage the reader, your story must be entertaining. After all, there’s no reason to
tell a tale if it’s just going to bore your audience. And to make it interesting, the topic
has to be something the reader can identify with – whether or not they’ve had a similar
experience.

Caples did a stunning job of this. Not many people are sitting around their homes
thinking “Gee, I wish I could play the piano.”

But he quickly engaged the reader by introducing the topic with a situation almost
anyone could relate to, then followed through with an upbeat and entertaining tale. By
the time the reader is halfway through the piece, they actually are thinking “Wow! I wish
I could do that!”

Before You Begin Your Story

To become a master storyteller, you first have to identify the main characters of your
story. Since your reader will almost always be placed in the role of the hero, it is essential
to know your audience. This not only includes age and sex, but also what their likes and
dislikes are. What trends are they responding to?

If you can’t peg down who the potential buyer is and what makes them react, you
probably won’t be able to reach them. Because no matter how good the story, if you can’t
connect with the prospect, they won’t buy.

Look at it this way: A science fiction enthusiast isn’t likely to become absorbed in a
harlequin romance novel.

It is also very important to understand all aspects of the product. In some cases, the
product might actually be the story! Take a look at this copy of a space ad for Thompson
Cigar Company (AWAI Hall of Fame Letter #29.) Notice how well it turns the search for
tobacco into an exciting story.

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 But you won’t want to stop with just understanding the audience and the product.
You’ll need to dig deeper to identify how the product will benefit the reader. Unless
you understand the benefits, it will be hard to bring the product to life in a way that will
resonate with the reader. And relating to the reader is the single most important thing
your story must do.

How to Find Your Story

Okay, you’ve done your homework. You know who your audience is, you know your
product, and you’ve married the two in your mind. But you don’t have a single idea for a
storyline.

The best place to find your story is to talk with people who are “in the know.” Great
stories will come to you – but you have to be willing to dig a little.

1) Talk to the creator or guru of the product. Many times there is an interesting
story behind the individual. For example, a direct mail piece for Breakaway Investor
begins:

Dear Friend,

Before we go any further, I must disclose that for the final 18 months of my U.S.
Air Force career, I was stationed at an underground compound in Kirtland, New
Mexico… home of a classified weapons facility.

Makes you want to find out more doesn’t it? (Read the first page of the letter on the
next page.)

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 2) Find out how the product you are writing was developed… or discovered in the
first place. You will often find there is more to the picture than meets the eye, creating
a compelling story for your audience. A Harry and David’s ad placed in Fortune at one
time read:

Out here on the ranch, we don’t pretend to know much about advertising, and
maybe we’re foolish spending the price of a tractor for this space; but my brother
and I got an idea the other night, and we believe you folks who read Fortune are
the kind of folks who’ d like to know about it. Here’s our story: …

The sales letter then launched into a history of Harry and David’s start, and how they
came up with the idea to offer their pears for sale in the U.S. as Christmas gifts. (See the
sales letter on the next page.)

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 3) Discover what goes into producing the product. Sometimes a great story will
stem from the production process, the gathering of raw materials or exotic ingredients, or
even in the details of new machinery or technology used to produce it.

The Thompson Cigar Company did a great job of using the search for raw materials
as a storyline in the copy you read earlier. Ultimately, the copywriter describes the quest
for tobacco as a dangerous mission through territory where “everybody and his brother
carries a six-shooter for bandit insurance.”

4) Talk to your client’s staff. The folks in product development may surprise you
with some unknown fact about the product that you weren’t previously aware of. These
little tidbits can sometimes be turned into amazing stories. Additionally, you can
sometimes discover a juicy nugget from the customer service team. After all, they are a
company’s closest contact with the customer.

Take a look at the following story told to AWAI by master copywriter Jim Rutz…

I recall there was a copywriter some years ago who had an assignment from
a piano company. They made good quality pianos, but he really couldn’t see
anything that stood out from everybody else’s pianos. So, they gave him a trip to
the piano factory, and I guess he hung around the piano factory for a couple of
days, and couldn’t see anything to it.

But, just as he was leaving, he asked one of the head engineers, “What’s this big
bar that goes all the way across the piano here?” And he gave him the name of
the bar. The writer asked, “Well, what does it do? Does it make the piano music
sound better?”

“No, it really doesn’t.”

“Well, does it make the piano hold together better?”

“No, not really. It’s pretty solid already.”

“Well, what’s it there for then? It’s a huge chunk of metal.”

“Well, it’s a long-term stabilizer. Twenty years from now, thirty years from now,
when other pianos have begun to warp and sound a little different, ours will not.”

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 “My goodness, every piano must have one of those.”

The engineer said, “No, ours is really the only one that puts in that bar.”

So the writer immediately took off from that point. Nobody had ever told him
that. Nobody thought it was worthy of comment. But here, the piano company
took such a long-term view of their product that they put this big expensive metal
brace into all their pianos - just to make sure that, 30 years from now, it would
sound the same as when you bought it.

[This interview can be found in AWAI’s Secrets of Writing for the Financial Market.
www.thewriterslife.com/financialwriting]

Can you imagine the story you could create from that experience? Sometimes what
goes into the creation of a product is so well-entrenched in the company’s philosophy,
they don’t see it as unique and different, but you – as the copywriter – can turn it into
gold.

5) Access testimonials. Your client should maintain a file of customer testimonials.

Feel free to ask if you can have access to this file. You never know when you will find an
incredible success story. Call the person who submitted the testimonial and ask if you can
use their story. While on the phone, have them expand upon their experience.

Take a look at the testimonials on the next page. How many could be made into story
copy?

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 6) Keep up with current events and trends. Sometimes the story is right in front
of you. Financial copywriters, in particular, are often able to turn current events into a
persuasive storyline.

One of the key elements to finding your story is actively listening to other people. If
you actually hear and process what these people are saying, it can be very easy to discover
a story unfolding right in front of you.

But good listening habits don’t stop there. If you will be writing and sharing someone
else’s story, make sure you give the person you’re interviewing your full attention. (Hint:
It’s always a good idea to record conversations whenever possible. That way, you have a
reference point if you later find yourself questioning what was actually said.)

Developing Your Voice

If you’re like most people, you’re probably accustomed to reading materials written in
a third- or first-person narrative. In fact, you may automatically assume that most stories
are written in the third person since that is the voice most often used in novels.

The third person voice is an objective one. The person writing it has no part in the
story. Instead, it is written from an impartial viewpoint that places emphasis on the ideas,
things and people that are being written about.

In a novel, for example, you might read: “By nature, John wasn’t superstitious. But
when the rioting started just as the clock struck midnight, he had the eerie feeling it was
an omen.”

You can see that the writer doesn’t express his own viewpoint, but describes John’s
viewpoint instead. This is the same type of writing often used in newspaper articles.

In the paper you may read something like, “Because of the recent downturn in real
estate, the biggest problem confronting homeowners today is that many of them now
have negative equity in their homes.”

But you should seldom, if ever, use the third person in marketing copy!

Writing in the first person, on the other hand, can be (and often is) used to portray
personal experience stories. This is the “I” or “we” voice. It is written strictly from the

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writer’s point of view and comes off as very friendly, personal and informal.

You’ve already seen how frequently this voice is used. The excerpts I used from Harry
and David’s, Breakaway Investor, the Thompson Cigar Company – and even the Caples
piece – all used the first person to tell their stories.

The voice most frequently used in direct marketing is the second person. This voice
is powerful, because it is the “you” voice. It talks directly to the reader and pulls him into
the story by creating a sense that the reader is one of the main characters.

A good example of how this voice is executed can be seen in Don Mahoney’s first
project for Swiss Money Strategies. He starts his piece by stating, “Your wealth is in
imminent danger,” and then proceeds to build a story about how everyone wants YOUR
money.

…The number of people who want your money is larger than ever before, and the
resources they have to get it are much greater.

Face it. From the guy on the street who panhandles you for a buck, to your ex-
spouse who wants half (or more) of everything you ever made or will make in your
life (for the kids, of course); from the disgruntled employee who wants to sue you
because he didn’t get promoted fast enough, to the jealous friend or relative who
thinks your money is their money (and has hired a lawyer to prove it.) …

The best thing you can do, no matter what person you write in, is to make sure you
keep your story personal, friendly and entertaining. If you have doubts about whether
your writing accomplishes that, don’t hesitate to pull out a recorder and read your story
into it. Listening to it will give you an idea of where you may need to improve your
storytelling skills.

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 14 TIPS COPYWRITERS CAN LEARN
FROM PROFESSIONAL STORYTELLERS
By John Forde

Any storyteller will tell you – Plot is essential. But what else do storytellers do to
engage an audience? And how can we apply those secrets to writing better marketing
copy?

Almost all agree on a long list of techniques that make stories sound good. Below, is
just a small sample of these techniques – along with ways you can use them to improve
your copy.

Good stories …

1. Appear spontaneous. In copy, the secret is to study the message, the benefits,
and the offer until they become second-nature.

2. Give hope. Good stories and good copy give the reader hope for things to come

3. Show passion. Passion in telling and selling is not an option, it’s a necessity. The
key: Having faith in what you’re selling.

4. Overcome obstacles. Drama is all about obstacles and how they’re overcome. So
is copy.

5. Make it personal. From caveman to high intellectual, personal stories have a way
of proving a point that logic and rationalizations just can’t muster.

6. Name the hero. Court storytellers would make the hero resemble the king. In
copy, you can do the same – by showing your reader how he’ll triumph with the
help of your product.

7. Name a villain. What keeps your prospect up at night? That’s an ideal villain
for your sales message to attack.

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 8. Reward and tease. Reward listeners with progress and they’ll be grateful. Tease
with more to come and they’ll hang on for more.

9. Enlarge and enrich. Good stories and good copy remind you of what’s
important. They raise the bar and inspire you to hop over it.

10. Build a relationship. Beneath the surface, a good story strengthens the relationship
between teller and listener. In sales copy, it does the same between marketer and
customer.

11. Commute facts to the subconscious. From the beginning, good stories have
been vehicles for ideas, logic, even moral messages. Sales copy that engages with
a story can commute facts just as painlessly.

12. Have a good twist. A story twist: “The butler didn’t do it after all.” A twist for
an investment letter promo: “Oil is going up – but though it’s too late to buy oil
companies, it’s NOT too late to buy the company that makes the drill bits that
are attached to every drill bit in the United Arab Emirates. Who else holds this
company? Only the richest energy investor on Wall Street, J.P. Calhoun...”

13. Make sense. “Realistic” stories aren’t always real. They just work harder to make
elegant leaps of logic. In copy, the writer has to understand his product well
enough to make good sense, too. Knowledgeable customers can spot a fake from
a mile off.

14. Leave them wanting more. “What’s the sendoff emotion for your sales message?”
asks [editor and publisher] Addison Wiggin. “How do you want them to feel
when they’re finished reading? If you know that, you can write toward it from
the beginning. But if you don’t know, your copy ends up going all over the place.”

[Editors note: John Forde, editor of the Copywriter’s Roundtable, has been writing
direct mail copy since 1992. John currently works from an office in Paris. You can sign up
for his free weekly e-letter at www.jackforde.com.]

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Writing Your Story
Before you actually begin to write, take the time to make sure you know the story you
are going to tell. Knowing the product and your audience intimately will help you craft a
more persuasive story. But there are also other elements you should consider ahead of time.

Identify your message. Before sitting down to write, make sure you know what your
message is and how you will use it to push the reader’s hot buttons. Ultimately, the goal is
to guide the reader toward a pay-off… the purchase. That means tugging at all of the right
emotions within your tale to elicit the appropriate response.

Plan your entry. Consider the story you wish to tell and determine the most exciting
part of it. That exciting part is where you’ll start your tale when you begin writing. In
most cases, the middle of the story is where the action begins. If that’s the case, don’t
hesitate to use that as your starting point. Then fill in just enough background to allow
the reader to follow along.

Lay out the story development. Don’t expect your story to develop on its own. Know
where it’s going to end and take the time to plan how you will get there. Identify obstacles
and how you’ll overcome them. Determine the motivators and inspiration that the reader
can relate to – and how you will use them to give your prospect a reason to care.

Once you’ve taken these steps, it’s time to write your story.

Every story has three parts: a beginning, a middle and an end. In marketing, that
would be equivalent to the headline/opening, the body copy and the close.

The beginning. When writing a story, this is where you grab the readers’ attention
and pull them into the tale. It is where you introduce the challenge, identify the promise,
arouse curiosity, or create the urgency. Hit hard and quick. Start at the most exciting part
of your story.

The middle. Tackle the challenge the hero (usually your reader) must overcome.
Writing in a strong, clear voice, identify the obstacles that get in the way as the story
unfolds. Build drama and use conflict to drive key points home for the reader. Don’t let
your story wander. Instead, create motion and energy by guiding the prospect smoothly
toward the pay-off… the resolution of the conflict.

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 The end. Here comes the pay-off! This is the climax of the drama… a solution is at
hand! The pace quickens as you lead your reader toward the call to action.

As you write, keep your story moving forward at a quick pace. The last thing you want
to do is bore your reader by including unimportant details. Be specific and always keep
the pay-off in mind. This will help you stay on-point as you guide the reader toward the
purchase.

Copywriter John Forde gives us the following four basic steps to telling stories that sell.

1. KNOW YOUR STORY

• Study everything you can about the subject of the story (which is usually someone
who is involved in a discovery, a prediction that came true, or some other
compelling event).

• Read everything you can about the subject of the story.

• Close your eyes and tell yourself what your story’s about.

• Write out the details of your story in a number of different ways.

• Pick out the story approach that’s most effective.

2. PREPARE YOUR STORY

• Ask yourself what message you want to convey.

• Identify the key moment you want to present, the one that makes your story
compelling and relates most closely to your promise.

3. IDENTIFY THE “ARC” OF THE STORY

“Arc” is a Hollywood term for the way the subject of the story develops and overcomes
obstacles in his way.

• Start by figuring out how the story ENDS.

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 • List and put in order inspiring details about the story.

• Start in the middle of the story.

4. CONSTRUCT THE STORY USING THESE GUIDELINES

• Make it tight. Use only important details. Ruthlessly eliminate anything you don’t
need.

• Hint at the Big Benefit to come.

• Tell your story quickly.
• Stick to the truth.
• Rely on specificity and juicy details.
• When finished, tie it all together with your
promise, and then transition to the rest of
the letter.
Good advice to follow right? Funny enough, it
sounds eerily like copywriting. But how do you
take a story and make it great? You know, the kind
of story your reader just can’t put down.
The following article about stories was written
by Seth Godin, a popular blogger and the author
of nine books that have been bestsellers around the
world.
Reader’s Digest – a story?
Over half of all Reader’s Digest
articles begin with a story. As
you know, Reader’s Digest is not
a fiction magazine. Yet more
than half of the pieces begin
with an anecdote or a narrative
of some kind. When you tie this
fact to the fact that many of the
most famous ads ever written
are in the form of stories, you
have something for ad writers
to ponder.
[Editor’s Note: This sidebar
is excerpted from Tested
Advertising Methods by John
Caples.]

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 How to tell a great story
Great stories succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or
important audiences.

A great story is true. Not necessarily because it’s factual, but because it’s consistent
and authentic. Consumers are too good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer
to get away with a story that’s just slapped on.

Great stories make a promise. They promise fun, safety or a shortcut. The promise
needs to be bold and audacious. It’s either exceptional or it’s not worth listening to.

Great stories are trusted. Trust is the scarcest resource we’ve got left. No one trusts
anyone. People don’t trust the beautiful woman ordering vodka at the corner bar
(they’re getting paid by the liquor company). People don’t trust the spokespeople
on commercials (who exactly is Rula Lenska?). And they certainly don’t trust the
companies that make pharmaceuticals (Vioxx, apparently, can kill you). As a result,
no marketer succeeds in telling a story unless he has earned the credibility to tell that
story.

Great stories are subtle. Surprisingly, the fewer details a marketer spells out, the
more powerful the story becomes. Talented marketers understand that allowing
people to draw their own conclusions is far more effective than announcing the punch
line.

Great stories happen fast. First impressions are far more powerful than we give
them credit for.

Great stories don’t always need eight-page color brochures or a face-to-face meeting.
Either you are ready to listen or you aren’t.

Great stories don’t appeal to logic, but they often appeal to our senses. Pheromones
aren’t a myth. People decide if they like someone after just a sniff.

Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone. Average people are good at ignoring you.
Average people have too many different points of view about life and average people

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 are by and large satisfied. If you need to water down your story to appeal to everyone,
it will appeal to no one. The most effective stories match the world view of a tiny
audience – and then that tiny audience spreads the story.

Great stories don’t contradict themselves. If your restaurant is in the right location
but had the wrong menu, you lose. If your art gallery carries the right artists but your
staff is made up of rejects from a used car lot, you lose. Consumers are clever and
they’ll see through your deceit at once.

Most of all, great stories agree with our world view. The best stories don’t teach
people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already
believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded
how right they were in the first place.

Thanks Seth – not only for a great article, but for reminding us just how important it
is to know your audience.

We’ve covered a lot of information. You can now find your story, determine which
voice you’ll write in and can take the steps to make sure it’s great. But let’s not stop there.
For instance…

Great stories are authentic and credible.

Once you’ve figured out what your story is, you need to express it in a way that makes
your reader respond. And the following tips from Jen Stevens will enable you to add the
authenticity and credibility that will connect with your readers.

Employ specific details.

Don’t say:

The Rothschilds were rich, very rich.

Instead say:

Over the years, the Rothschild family built eight of Europe’s grandest estates. Mayer’s

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son James, for example, built a French mansion big enough to house dozens of guests, 100
servants, and stables for 80 horses.

Much different right? The details give you a more concrete and believable sense of
what type of rich you’re talking about.

Don’t say:

One cold winter evening a homeless girl came to our door.

Instead say:

It all began just as dark fell one winter evening when a young girl knocked on our front
door. Her cheeks were chapped from the cold wind, and she was shivering terribly. I said
to her, “Please come in and we will find you a couple of sandwiches and a bowl of hot
soup.”

These two stories are in essence the same. But by adding the specific details, the story
becomes alive and engaging.

Avoid filler words.

Fashionable, rich, lovely, charming, upscale, sickly, cozy, colorful, beautiful…

These words don’t really say anything. Or what they say to the reader is not necessarily
what you are intending. Using words like these is a lazy way of writing descriptions.

Use strong verbs.

Replace “to be” and “to have” with verbs that describe an action or offer a visual image.

Example: When the boy was 11, a smallpox epidemic swept through the ghetto. It
killed both of his parents.

Example: Kelly gratefully accepted a pair of jeans, a heavy sweatshirt and an extra
thick pair of socks. Her quivering finally stopped, I was relieved to see. Then later, in the
cafeteria, as she tucked into a sandwich and a steaming bowl of soup, I said to her, “Kelly,
no matter what has happened to you…

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 The words “swept” and “tucked” really give the reader a sense of what is happening in
the story.

Ferret out details others will likely overlook. How?

• Think about not only what you see in the situation you’re describing, but also what
you smell, hear, and feel.

Example: Imagine lounging on your deck, a book on your lap and a cocktail in
your hand. Just steps away, turquoise waters slip gently up onto the talcum-fine sand.
Overhead, palms rustle and pelicans squawk.

Often, it’s the little details that will pull someone into your story.

• Count. Offer exact numbers in your descriptions.

Example: Rothschild married and had ten children -- five sons and five daughters.

This writer really has done his homework. The adding of these specific details gives
much more credibility to the writer’s story.

• Ask. If you’re building a story around a testimonial or a “guru’s” account…

Don’t just say: “Tell me what happened.”

Also ask: “How did you feel?” “In what ways did this change the way you see the world,
or experience it?” And get those specifics…

Example: Your story is about somebody doubling his income. Don’t stop at the
numbers. You want: “I was able to replace the ‘78 Dodge Dart I’d been driving with
a brand-new Lexus LS 430. I put $80,000 away in my son’s college fund. I spent three
weeks in August traveling through France, Italy, and Spain.”

When you’re interviewing people, make sure to draw out the details by having an
in-depth conversation with them. Don’t be shy about asking – most people don’t think
about the details – or they don’t think you’ll want to hear about them.

That’s great advice from Jen. And getting to the story can take a unique blend of
curiosity, persistence and persuasion. But can you ever go too far when you’re telling a story?

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How Far is Too Far?
Some of the most influential stories written by copywriters are based on testimonials
and/or endorsements provided by users of the product. Everyone loves to hear a success
story, and who could be more believable than a happy customer?

What may surprise you is that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has specific rules
regarding the use of endorsements and testimonials.

The FTC treats endorsements and testimonials the same. In both cases the consumer
believes that the message is a personal opinion or belief experienced by the person
supplying the endorsement or testimonial. And, in real life, it should be.

One of the biggest concerns FTC has is in reference to the substantiation of claims
made within endorsements/testimonials.

Let’s say you have a fantastic testimonial from a customer who tripled his investment in
one month using your client’s trading system.

That’s a great story, and could become the basis for a fantastic sales letter. The problem
with it is the fact that it contains an implied claim that if “you” buy this system “you,” too,
can triple your investment.

So can you use the testimonial as your story?

Sure you can… if you can provide substantiation that tripling the investment is the
normal results from using the system. And if you can’t substantiate the claim, just provide
a disclaimer such as “Results not typical.”

This will allow you to tell your story without risking the FTC’s intervention. But be
sure to check with your client regarding anything that is questionable.

Another issue the FTC has an interest in is that the endorsement/testimonial not be
taken out of context. As the storyteller, you have some license in creating the backdrop,
developing the tone, and moving the story forward. However, you must not distort the
opinion of the individual supplying the testimonial.

One of the best ways to make certain you have your story right is to record the
testimonial. This will give you a solid reference point as you develop the story to help

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ensure there are no errors or misunderstandings on your part. And for added insurance,
have the person providing the testimonial sign off on it in writing.

By the way… you should note that the FTC requires that the person providing the
testimonial to actually be a user of the product at the time the endorsement is given. So
for those of you who talk about “making up” testimonials, just forget that line of thought
and just go for the real thing.

In a nutshell:

• Endorsements must always reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs or experience
of the endorser.

• They may not contain any representation which would be deceptive or could not be
substantiated by the advertiser.

• They need not to be in the exact words of the endorser unless the ad says it is.
However, it may not be presented out of context or reworded in a way that distorts
the endorser’s opinion.

• If an advertiser represents that an endorser uses the endorsed product, then the end
user must have been a bona fide user at the time the endorsement was given.

For further information on the use of endorsements and testimonials in marketing

visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/endorse.htm.

A good story conveys a message that’s personal. And if you can become one of the rare
copywriters who reaches out and connects with the prospect using a strong story, you’ll
write packages that become controls and mail in the millions — and you can one day join
the ranks of the highest-paid copywriters of all times!

Above all remember: while it’s important to convey the facts, readers are more likely to
remember and respond to information contained in an interesting story

And Michelle Nichols states it perfectly on her website www.savvyselling.com: “My

children remind me of prospective customers. My little ones often say ‘tell me a story,’ but
they have never said ‘tell me some facts.’”

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