I believe it was Michelangelo who wrote:
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
Similarly, every hairball of a first draft has a good piece of copy inside it. And it is the task of the copywriter to discover it.
Perhaps you think it’s grandiose to compare copywriting to fine art?
You’re probably right. But the fact remains, I’m currently writing the first draft of a video sales letter, and it is far from fine.
No matter. Because as soon as I wrap up this first draft, hopefully tonight, I will start to polish it. I’ve even got 7 separate grades of sandpaper of varying smoothity, which should help me discover that good piece of copy hiding inside.
#1. Tidbit sandpaper
With this sandpaper, I make a new loop through all my notes. Product research, customer research, testimonials… And I note good tidbits that I haven’t yet included in the sales letter. These tidbits could just be a good phrase, or a convincing argument, or anything. When I’ve made this list of tidbits, I go in, and I squeeze each one into my copy at some point.
#2. Vision sandpaper
Show, don’t tell. So “Jack was starting to give into the pressure” becomes…
“Jack was pounding away at an old typewriter. He had already typed up hundreds of pages, and each one repeated the same phrase over and over. ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'”
#3. Grasp-the-advantage sandpaper
This is a must for good copy, and it comes from Victor Schwab’s book, How to Write a Good Advertisement. Throughout the copy, make sure you are bringing it back to the prospect, and making it clear why this matters to him.
“Our real estate investing system gets you all the hot leads you can handle for free.”
Yeah, so what?
“So you don’t have to spend any of your own money.”
Yeah, so what?
“So you can get started even if you’re dead broke right now.”
Hmmm…
#4. Midge sandpaper
Master copywriter David Deutsch has this thing he calls, “Hey Midge.” Basically, the copy should sound like something a guy would say to his wife (Midge?). In other words, this is where you focus on writing to just one person, your ideal avatar.
#5. Dumb sandpaper
There’s a website out there called the Hemingway Editor. You paste your copy in, and it tells you the reading level. It also tells you how to lower the reading level. I aim for grade 6.
#6. Intense sandpaper
David Garfinkel said on a recent episode of the Copywriters Podcast that the way to make copy “intense” is to write long copy, and then cut it down. So when I finish all the other steps above, I trim down my copy by 10%. I start by cutting out worthless adjectives and adverbs. Next are the complicated phrases that could be simpler. And then I will take out entire sentences or even paragraphs to meet my 10% quota.
#7. Boron sandpaper
I don’t know if Gary Halbert was the first to suggest reading your copy out loud. But his Boron Letters was the first place I saw this advice. And I still stick to it.
So there you go. Hopefully it can help you if you’ve got a hairball on your hands as well.
And if you need more ideas for pre-processing and post-processing your copy, maybe you will find some help here: