When most people sit down to write sales copy, they go about it all wrong.
First, they beat on the keyboard for a few minutes or a few hours.
Then they look over the mess they’ve made.
And then they start pulling out their hair in frustration.
Time is passing, but they haven’t written a damn thing yet. Not anything good, at least.
But not you.
Because right now, you’re gonna find out a little secret that I recently discovered in a massively successful promotion, written by A-list copywriter Parris Lampropoulos. I call it the “suckers lead.” It goes like this:
HEADLINE: How to [get unlikely benefit X]
LEAD: Most people [do the conventional thing and get screwed]. But not you. Because you turned to [page in the book on offer]. Here are some of the secrets you’ll learn: [list of fascinations].
Now, maybe you think this lead is obvious.
Maybe you’re saying, “Yeah, sure John. I coulda thotothat myself. I don’t need you to tell me some supposed A-lister’s supposed dumb secrets.”
If that’s how you feel, then I pity you, young starling.
Because you are likely to waste a lot of time, pull out a lot of hair, and write a lot of shitty copy.
You see, one of the things I’ve been focusing on relentlessly over the past weeks…
Is writing FASTER.
It’s not about typing furiously, about stressing yourself out, or about producing crap.
Instead, it’s about having templates, checklists, and processes to eliminate wasted work, second-guessing, and thumb twiddling.
That’s one of the reasons why I’m collecting leads like the one above — even if they might seem simple.
In fact, this is something I’ll do with the advertorials book I’m putting together. I’ll include a list of simple leads, outlines, and angles to use for various kinds of products.
In case you’re interested in seeing this when it comes out, here’s where you can sign up to get notified when I finish and release this book: