Copywriting

Why piling on the benefits can weaken your bullets

by

File this one away under “psychology behind advertising.” Let’s start with an example bullet:

“Why adding improvements to your home can lower its value!”

This is a bullet written by Gary Halbert for a book on selling your home in a buyer’s market. The following is the relevant passage in the actual book:

“If your interior designer has used your home to make a personal artistic statement, that’s great while you’re living there but don’t expect it to translate well when you’re trying to sell. Rather than overdecorating or overrenovating, try to create a neutral canvas onto which a potential buyer can project his tastes.”

So what’s the psychology here? Well, I covered it all in today’s lesson in the bullet. The point is that Gary could have gone lots of different ways twisting the above source material… but he chose the one above.

There’s a fundamental rule of human nature hidden behind that decision. And it’s something you don’t want to ignore if you’re writing sales copy, and you’re judged on results.

Anyways, today’s lesson of the bullet course is out and done. To get future lessons before they also disappear, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

How women can write more exciting bullets (even if the source material is boring)

by

See if you can answer the following question:

If you’re a man, do you know why you should never wear a gold bracelet to a job interview?

No? But you’re curious? Well I’m not surprised.

Because that bullet/fascination was written by one of the greatest copywriters of all time, Gary Bencivenga.

​​Gary was selling a book by Benci-Ventures, his own tiny publishing company, about how to succeed when you search for a new job. So what’s up with the gold bracelet?

Well, the secret behind that is the same secret behind my subject line. Because it’s true. It is possible for women to write more exciting bullets… even when the material they are working with is deadly dull.

How?

I talked all about this in today’s issue of my bullets course. If you’re new to these parts, maybe you need an explanation of what the bullets course is, and how you can join (for free). Here’s where to start:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

The “Rollie Hall bullet amplifier” for getting richer as a copywriter

by

Two days ago, after my email about Gary Halbert’s “crucial bullet secret,” a reader named Bob wrote in and asked:

“If you don’t mind, care to share any new-ish wellness-related bullets or ads that you like?”

I got to thinking a bit. And a newish sales letter popped into my mind. It doesn’t have any bullets… but it does have fascinations, embedded and then revealed in the copy itself.

One of the fascinations hidden in this sales letter illustrates what I call the “Rollie Hall bullet amplifier.”

This is not a new technique, by the way. A-list copywriters have been using it for decades… and it’s all based on a fundamental quirk of human nature, which people have been exploiting for millenia.

Do you want to know what the “Rollie Hall bullet amplifier” is? Unfortunately, it’s something I only revealed inside my bullet writing course, which is going on right now. If you’d like more information about this course, or even to sign up (it’s free, after all), take a look here:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

The hidden structure of the best bullets. 2 parts needed. Here’s how you could have gotten both

by

Over the past few weeks, while looking over dozens of bullets written by A-list copywriters, I realized the best bullets have a hidden 2-part structure.

I think being aware of this can help anyone write more powerful bullets… and become a top-tier copywriter in general.

For example, one bullet by Parris Lampropoulos that had this structure was so powerful it became the headline for Parris’s entire promotion. And the promotion went on to beat the control.

I covered both parts of this hidden structure in today’s lesson of my bullets course. You could have gotten that lesson for free, had you been signed up.

But it’s still not too late. Because I’ll be covering other bullet topics in the coming days… including special cases of both of those “hidden structure” parts.

In case you’d like more info about my bullet course, or even to sign up, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

Halbert’s crucial bullet secret (almost unknown among copywriters)

by

In his “Killer Sex” promotion, Gary Halbert wrote the following bullet:

“The two almost unknown secrets (one mental, one physical) men need to know to have rock-hard erections… at any age! (These are crucial secrets to improving a man’s sex life forever.)”

Now if you are a man… be honest. This bullet has you curious. How could you not be? “Almost unknown”… “need to know”… “crucial secrets.” What are they??

Well, I hate to break it to you. I tracked down the original book. Gary’s two secrets are not very exciting, and they are certainly not unknown.

But I’m not here to mock the value of this info. What I’m interested in is how Gary made his bullet so sexy that the payoff was almost guaranteed to be a letdown. Because if we can figure out Gary’s trick, can use it for our own promotions — whether they have genuine payoffs or not.

Now if you ask me, there’s one big thing that Gary did. And I spelled this out in today’s lesson of my free bullets course.

That lesson has been mailed out, and is no longer available. But if you’d like to sign up for the course, so you get future lessons as they come out, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

How A-list copywriters stab you in the heart, and then twist the knife

by

Here’s a fascination/bullet written by Boardroom’s “secret weapon” Mel Martin:

“How to travel free on luxury cruise ships. Lots of passengers you meet on board are doing it but never tell you. Page 367”

There’s a lot of hidden psychology in this bullet. Martin uses the first sentence to stab the reader in the heart… and he uses the second sentence to then twist the knife, and to make the wound permanent.

How exactly does he do it?

Well, that’s something I looked at in detail in today’s lesson of my bullets course. That lesson is done and passed. But the course keeps marching on. And it’s still free to sign up for — if you do it now.

For more info, take a look here:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

2-bit proof that keeps 8 out of 10 prospects reading and believing your sales letter

by
Ken McCarthy once wrote there are two tigers all copywriters must beware of. These two tigers are always in your prospect’s mind, and they are always ready to rip your copy to shreds.

One of these two tigers is called “Bullshit!” That’s the skeptical tiger that is just looking for one small, unbelievable misstep in your copy. As soon as he sees it, he pounces. “Bullshit!” he roars, and that’s the end of your sales message.

The second tiger’s name is “So what?” The “So what?” tiger is easily bored. He’s distractible and he needs constant stimulation. Otherwise, he saunters out of his cave, his mouth stretched in a big yawn, and he tears your copy up with his giant claws.

That’s the bad news. The good news is you can use a simple 2-bit persuasion trick to keep these tigers appeased, at least for a while, at least most of the time.

I wrote about this trick in detail in today’s lesson of the bullets course I am sending out right now. You missed that lesson.

Maybe you don’t care. ​​But maybe you do. And maybe you don’t want to miss any more of this course (it will only be available for another 10 days). If that’s the case, take a look here:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

What never to omit in a bullet. Never.

by

Today, I sent out the first lesson in my new bullets course.

In case you didn’t read my post yesterday, here’s the rundown:

The course is free, and is delivered by email. Each email talks about a copywriting lessons I’ve figured out by comparing the source material (the book or course for sale) to the finished bullets in the sales copy.

Today’s lesson started at the beginning, with the man who invented the modern sales bullet, or really fascination.

I’m talking about the best copywriter you’ve never heard of. This copywriter is so little know because Boardroom CEO, Marty Edelston, kept this copywriter busy — and kept him a secret. Edelston never revealed who was writing all those early winning Boardroom ads. Other Boardroom employees were also under strict orders to keep this copywriter’s name a secret.

Well, the golden age of Boardroom is past. And the secret is out. The “secret weapon” copywriter was one Mel Martin.

And like I said, Martin really wrote fascinations, not just bullets.

Before Martin, most sales bullets gave straight-up benefits or warnings. But that’s often not enough, not in a competitive market. So Mel Martin added another ingredient to his bullets to make them irresistibly fascinating.

That’s what today’s lesson was all about. It’s something you cannot omit if you want to write successful bullets — or really any kind of successful copy.

Unfortunately, unless you are subscribed to get my bullet course, then you missed today’s lesson. It won’t be available again, unless I package all the lessons up one day and make them available as a course to buy.

That’s the bad news. The good news is you can still sign up to get every following bullet lesson I will send out. For example, tomorrow’s lesson is about a 2-bit bullet ingredient that will keep your reader from saying “So what?” or “Bullshit!” when he reads your bullets and your copy. If you want to get that lesson as it comes out, here’s where to subscribe:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup/

Bullets course

by

Two days ago, I wrote a post about a copywriting lesson milked from a Parris Lampropoulos bullet.

After writing up a few more of those lessons based on a few more bullets, I realized this stuff is too valuable to just cast out into the ether, to people who might not value it.

Don’t worry. I’m still willing to share these lessons with you.

But I’ve decided to create a little mini course around them. The course is free if you sign up for it now.

How it works is you will get an email from me every day.

Each email will talk about a copywriting lessons I’ve figured out by comparing the flour, eggs, and milk in the source material (the book or course for sale) to the crisp and shiny pastries that are the finished bullets in the sales copy.

The course will kick off tomorrow, and will run for 7-14 days, or however long it takes me to get tired of it.

If you want to opt in, you just have to fill out the form at the link below. But a warning to ye:

This course is going out live. In other words, it won’t be on autoresponder.

You can join it whenever you like, including later, and you will still get any remaining lessons I haven’t sent out.

But I won’t send you any bullet lessons you’ve missed. Because the idea is to take all this and package it up into a book or a course down the line. So if you don’t like to get it for free now, perhaps you will like to support me later.

Again, we start tomorrow, with what you should never, omit from your bullet. Never. Here’s the link in case you want it:

https://bejakovic.com/bullets-signup

Surprise! How to make your copy more appealing by saying less

by

Back in the 90s, A-list copywriter Parris Lampropoulos wrote a control for a Boardroom book called Tax Loopholes. One of the bullets in that control read:

“Surprise! Choosing the wrong private school for your child can cost you a bundle in tax breaks. What to do on page 90.”

I found the actual Tax Loopholes book online. And here’s what it says on page 90:

“If you send your child to a special school for psychological reasons, be sure to choose the right school. Otherwise your medical deduction could be disallowed. Recent case: A psychiatrist recommended that a child attend a boarding school. The IRS refused to allow the parent to take a medical deduction because the school was not a “special” school, and the curriculum didn’t deal with the child’s problem in any way.”

So how did Parris get from the source material (boring, unsexy) to the bullet (intriguing, sexy)?

Let’s take it step by step. If I had to summarize what it says in the book, I might say something like:

“The trouble is you can send your kid to a boarding school for a medical reason thinking you can get a tax break, but it ends up disallowed because it’s not the right kind of school”

There’s one big problem with this. And that’s that very few people are thinking of sending their kids to a boarding school for a medical reason.

So now the clever thing that Parris did becomes obvious.

Because if your appeal is very specific and limited, you can broaden it simply by generalizing and omitting stuff.

That’s how a boarding school (specific and fairly rare) becomes a private school (general and pretty common)…and that’s how the mention of the medical deduction simply disappears. Now our basic-bitch summary becomes:

“You can send your kid to a private school thinking you can get a tax break, but it ends up disallowed because it’s not the right kind of school.”​​

(This is already pretty close to what Parris’s bullet says. Beyond this one insight, it’s mostly a matter of tightening up the copy.)

Now here’s why this trick is so valuable:

This generalization/omission sleight-of-hand doesn’t just apply to writing bullets. It’s something you can do in all your copy if your initial appeal is too narrow. As Parris said once (I’m quoting from memory):

“Ask yourself, does it help my case, does it hurt my case, or is it neutral? If it hurts your case or it’s neutral, take it out. Only keep it in if it helps your case.”

By the way, I’ll be going through more bullets and source material like this, to figure out how great bullet writers do their business.

If this is something that interests you, you can sign up for my email newsletter here, because that way you’re sure to get my new research as soon as it comes out.