That sounds like a dumb question doesn’t it?

The answer seems obvious: Of course email copy needs to persuasive!

Or does it?

In his book What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Malcolm Gladwell says, “Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade…It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else’s head.”

He’s not talking specifically about email copy here but as I read that it occurred to me that it applies to email copy too.

An email is not a mini sales letter.

An email isn’t supposed to sell you on the product, per se.

The copywriter’s job is to simply get the reader to click on the link in the email.

And the best way to get the click is to, like Gladwell said:

*Engage the reader.

*Make them think.

*Give them a glimpse inside your head (telling a story works well for this).

This is more difficult than persuasion, I think, because there’s not a formula for it.  Which is why you see so many emails that are mini sales letters.

It’s a question I see a lot in the forums: “Which email lists are the best ones for an email copywriter to subscribe to?”

If you’re first starting out it’s good to subscribe to some lists so that you get a feel for the structure of email copy.

But I’ve found that once you’ve been at it a while, the fewer emails you read from other marketers, the better.

The best swipe file contains:

*The books you read.

*Conversations with friends and family.

*News websites.

*The movies and TV shows you watch.

*Memories from your childhood.

*And more.

These are where most of my email ideas come from. Not from other marketers’ emails.

The more silent your inbox is, the easier it will be for inspiration to find you.

If you have a list or a blog you know how difficult it can be to come up with content sometimes.

There’s an easy way to come up with ideas, however. Do this and in just a few seconds you’ll get new email or blog post ideas (or several).

The next time you’re stuck, go to Google News and type in phrases that are relevant to your niche.

For example, I just typed the word “golf” in Google News and found a cool story about how coyotes have made frequent appearances on a certain golf course.

The article goes on to talk about how, over the years, seagulls have whisked away golfers’ balls, thinking they are eggs, and how alligators sometimes make cameo appearances in water hazards on golf courses in Florida.

It also mentions that rabbit holes were the inspiration for the invention of the sport of golf back in the 1500s.

So if you had a blog about golf, you could get an interesting blog post from that article.

When using Google News don’t limit yourself to searches in your niche.

There’s usually a way to take any current events story and use it in your email copy.

For example, a top news story in Google News right now is about how Dallas got 11″ of snow yesterday and the entire city is shut down.

There’s another story about how Alec Baldwin’s daughter called 911, afraid he was suicidal. As it turns out she misinterpreted his words.

There are several interesting insights things you could mention to your readers about stories these, regardless of your niche (i.e. the importance of not jumping to conclusions, how sometimes life gives you 11″ of snow when you least expect it, etc.).

While you’re in Google News be sure to make use of the left sidebar so that you can narrow your search results. And take advantage of the “starred” feature. If you highlight the star at the top of a story it will save it. You can view your starred items by clicking “starred” in the sidebar. Sometimes you’ll come across a story you can’t use right now but might want to refer to later, so this is an excellent way to save it so that you remember it.

Go forth and let Google write your copy for you.

Someone posted this Jay Abraham video in the Warrior Forum and it’s well worth watching.

He says that when you are writing for a particular niche, do a search in Amazon. For example, type in “weight loss books.”

Look at the titles and subtitles of the top 100 books. There are lots of nuggets here that you can use for headlines, subheads and bullets for your sales copy.

Titles of books aren’t copyrighted so you can use them verbatim if you want too, however it’s always best to use your own wording.

Abraham’s theory is that the book titles of the top selling books are well-researched so you will benefit greatly by studying the titles and subtitles.

He takes it a step further and also looks at the positive and negative reviews for each of the top 100 books.

Focus on the five star reviews and one and two star reviews. There will be statements here that you can rework and use in your copy.

Even more importantly, it will give you a better understanding of the mindset of your market. People that leave passionate reviews (positive or negative) share insights that will improve your knowledge of your typical prospect. It’s an easy way to eavesdrop on your market.

A couple of days ago my daughter told me she had trouble getting to sleep the night before.

I asked her what helped her get to sleep and she said her big sister told her a story.

“From a book?” I asked.

“No! Better than that!” she said.

Her big sister told her a story about when she and the biggest sister were little and shared that same room.

The story made her feel safe…if her big sisters slept in the room without fear when they were little then she could too.

Also, little sisters always love when big sisters pay attention to them and create a story just for them. This is far more exciting than just reading a book to them.

Stories make any situation better.

So it’s not surprising that stories are just as important in your business as well.

Your clients and prospects have anxieties too.

One of the best ways to sooth their anxieties is to tell them a story.

Not some canned sales pitch, but a story just for them that makes them feel understood and also addresses whatever anxiety they may have.

If you listen to your customers, you’ll know what kind of stories to tell.

Learning to tell stories will also improve how you communicate with your friends and family and colleagues.

Have you ever noticed how the best marketing tips are applicable to real life too? Pretty cool.

“Killer” has to be the most overused adjective in sales copy.

The next time you catch yourself using it in a sales letter…

Consider not using an adjective at all!

Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs, as Strunk & White say in The Elements of Style

(By the way, when I was in college, a film writer told me to read that book once a month until I graduated. I did and now I read it once a year and think that every copywriter should do the same).

If you can’t describe your product with nouns and verbs alone, chances are your product isn’t so “killer” after all.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t ever use an adjective. They can pack a wallop in the right situation.

I admit I’m as guilty of using adjectives without proper forethought as anyone else.

But I saw the adjective “killer” in yet another sales letter the other day (sigh) so I whipped out my favorite thesauruses and quickly found 55 alternatives to “killer:”

fierce

awesome

wicked

best

cool

boss

smashing

mindblowing

mindboggling

magnifcient

fabulous

trippy

formidable

unforgettable

impressive

overwhelming

marvelous

tremendous

fantastic

sublime

portentous

vital

landmark

momentous

extraordinary

staggering

stunning

breath-taking

incredible

unbelievable

inconceivable

amazing

phenomenal

rad

astounding

remarkable

exceptional

wonderful

superb

far-out

prodigious

wondrous

unmatched

nonpareil

unusual

unprecedented

staggering

rare

unique

special

superior

incomparable

singular

hot

fly

Not all of those words are perfect alternatives to “killer” but you get the idea.

Your thesaurus is your friend

If you need thesaurus recommendations see my last post.

Perhaps the most indispensable tool for a copywriter, right behind the computer, is a thesaurus.

A thesaurus is a simple but powerful way to make your writing more compelling and persuasive.

As Strunk & White said in The Elements of Style, “Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

If you find yourself using a twenty-dollar work, or you notice that you use the same word too often on a page (I try not to use the same verb more than once in a paragraph, for example), whip out a thesaurus.

Let’s take a look at some print/offline thesauruses:

Rodale’s Synonym Finder The Synonym Finder is terrific. An Amazon reviewer sums it up well: “There are 1.5 million words in “The Synonym Finder”, including variations on the same root word. That’s more than 4 times the number of words in “Roget’s International Thesaurus”. If you simply want to find synonyms, this is the book for you. It isn’t as versatile as a thesaurus that is organized by subject, but it’s more to the point and easier to use if you are simply looking for word alternatives.”

Roget’s Thesaurus Roget’s International Thesaurus, 6th Edition
is the classic thesaurus and is also organized by subject in addition to alphabetically. It’s a bit more scholarly than Rodale’s Synonym Finder.

Here are some online thesauruses:

Answers.com has a thesaurus and much more. In addition to giving you the synonyms for each word it gives you the dictionary definition and a description of the history of the word as well as information about foreign language and idioms. It’s a complete reference for words.

Thesaurus.com is similar to Answers.com. It gives you encyclopedia and dictionary information in addition to the thesaurus.

If you enjoy mind maps you’ll enjoy Visual Thesaurus. Go to the website and in the white box type a word. Then select “look it up.” A box will come up. Select “try.” After a few seconds it will expand and grow. It’s like a living thesaurus. The desktop version works faster than the online version. It’s $19.95 per year or $2.95 per month.

If you have a favorite thesaurus please share it in the comments.

I hear this all the time and you probably do too: the money’s in the list!

As an email copywriter you might expect me agree with that.

I do agree that a list is of great importance to your business. Whenever I send an email I get many more visits to my website than when I put a link to it on Twitter or Facebook.

Except there’s one problem… this “The money’s in the list!” attitude usually results in endless emails that are just boring pitches.

So what should be in your list?

Your art.

Your gifts (no, I don’t just mean free reports or ebooks….I also mean the generous sharing of your ideas).

Your superpower.

Your stories.

Your magic.

Notice I haven’t said anything about open rates and click thrus and opt-ins and opt-outs.

That’s because the people on your list aren’t buying your products…

They’re buying relationships and stories and magic.

When you send an email your sole motivation should be to connect with your reader and make a difference in their lives.

Respect the bond that exists between you and the people reading your email.

The irony is, if you remember that it’s your magic that is in the list, not money, then it’s likely that the money will follow eventually.

Oh how I love a good metaphor.

You already know how important stories are.

Metaphors are like mini stories.

I would argue that the right metaphor is even more powerful than a story.

A metaphor is a comparison between two or more unrelated objects.

A friend of mine regularly uses metaphors in her emails to me and they are brilliant.

They are so good I copy and paste them into a document filled just with her metaphors.

Here are a few examples:

“Her blood pressure was lower than the Mississippi Valley.”

“There are more wires involved in that desktop than there are pit vipers in India.”

“He ate like a human forklift at a three county landfill.”

“He started snoring like Gunga Din’s chainsaw.”

“…eating like Kirstie Alley in a Fettucini Alfredo factory.”

“I feel like I’m trying to teach Aristotelian logic to Mike Tyson.”

I’ve asked her how she thinks up these metaphors and she just says that they pop into her head spontaneously as she’s writing.

Here are some other metaphors I’ve found from various places:

“”The sun was behind the wood, very red, looking over the paling of trees like a farmer inspecting his own hogs.” (Flannery O’Connor)

“Burst of energy just hit me like a train carrying 10 tons of espresso.” (Dooce.com)

“The landing at JFK was like being on the back of a motorcycle when it crashes through a brick wall.” (Dooce.com)

“All over me like melted cheese on a radiator.” (Elizabeth George)

“As loose as the rivets on a Southwest Airlines 737.” (source unknown)

I’m no expert on how to write metaphors but I do know that the more specific they are, the better.

For example, saying “You look like a madman” just wouldn’t have the same chops as “You look like you might have swallowed a mad dog.” (Flannery O’Connor)

I also know that you should read Gary Bencivenga’s bullet about metaphors.

He says you’ll be one of the most persuasive people on the planet if you master metaphors.

Or, as Aristotle said, “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.”

If a copywriter sold $6 billion worth of products over the years would you listen to what he had to say about headlines?

I should think so.

Ted Nicholas is this kind of copywriter. Sadly, the last time I checked, his book   Magic Words That Bring You Riches (my favorite)  is out of print.

Anyway, Ted says the headline is 90 percent responsible for the success of any piece of copy.

Yeah, I  know. In my last post I argued that openings are the bee’s knees, but let’s hear Ted out.

Most copywriters take shortcuts with headlines at some point, to the detriment of the sales letter.

One symptom of this is the long-winded mega headlines you see on many online sales letters. These often top out at 50-100 words or more.

Rather than take the wrong kind of shortcuts, Ted recommends his “fill-in-the-blank” shortcut for writing headlines.

Headlines fall into one of these 11 categories:

1. How to (Blank)

2. Secrets of (Blank)

3. Stacked Benefits

4. Problem/Solution

5. How to/Guaranteed

6. Get Benefit Fast, Regardless…

7. Solve a Problem…

8. Visualize it…

9. Ways To/Reasons Why

10. Problem Solver…

11. If…Then

Here’s an example he gives of a Problem/Solution headline:

“No More Bad Hair Days! Here’s a Proven Way to Maintain the Perfect Look Any Day of the Week!”

The next time you brainstorm headlines for a sales letter, pull out this list.