How to be an Irresistibly Persuasive

Writer — Cashvertising by Drew Eric

Whitman
[Detailed Book Notes]

Sarah Cy
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Jul 11 · 27 min read

Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman

About Ca$hvertising
Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman is an all-in-one book on how to
write persuasive advertising copy. Starting with the “life force 8” and
continuing on with dozens of practical, powerful writing and advertising
tip, Cashvertising is a must-read for anyone interested in the art of
persuasion through words (and design).

This oldie-but-goodie was written for advertisers and copywriters but has
many helpful tips for all writers.

Introduction
“Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil
things.” — David Ogilvy

We are influenced by marketing techniques every day. Skilled

salespeople are masters in psychological communication, and YOU
probably aren’t.

Advertising’s goal is not to entertain but persuade customers to buy

products and services.

Psychology →persuasion →sales →advertising →communication

All of these lead back to psychology.

Persuasion: Making up clients’ minds for them.

Influence: Tell them how to feel about your product.

Psychology: studying what people want, how they feel about what they
want, why they act as they do so that you can better understand how to
satisfy your customers, influence more people to buy, get quality
products into more people’s hands, add more satisfaction to their lives.

Chapter 1: What People Really Want

People care most about themselves. They care what products will do for
them, how products make their lives better, happier, more fulfilled.

 See HE Warren’s 1935 article “How to Understand Why People

Buy”

In this book you will learn 17 foundational principles of consumer

psychology and 41 easy to use, little known response boosting ad
techniques.

The Life-Force 8
These are the things humans are biologically programmed to desire:

1. Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension

2. Enjoyment of food and beverages
3. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger
4. Sexual companionship
5. Comfortable living conditions
6. To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses
7. Care and protection of loved ones
8. Social approval
If you appeal to one of these LF8 desires, you tap into the “essence of
what makes humans tick.” No one can escape the desires for the LF8,
and smart advertisers tap into them.

Mail order advertiser Haldeman Julius sold 200+M books in the 1920s
and 30s by tweaking their titles (he came up with nearly 2K different
titles). They were little books of 5 cents each.

Here are the old titles and new titles:

 Ten O Clock → What Art Should Mean to You (LF#8)

 Fleece of Gold → Quest for a Blonde Misitress (LF#4)
 Art of Controversy → How to Argue Logically (LF #6)
 Casanova and His Loves → Casanova, History’s Greatest Lover
(LF#4)
 Apothegems → Truth About the Riddle of Life (LF#1)

Haldeman-Julius said the two strongest appeals were sex and self-
improvement. Not surprising.

People buy because of emotion and justify with

logic. Force an emotional response by touching on a
basic want or need.

The Nine Learned (Secondary) Human Wants

Aside from the LF8, there are many other wants:

1. To be informed
2. Curiosity
3. Cleanliness of body and surroundings
4. Efficiency
5. Convenience
6. Dependability/quality
7. Expression of beauty and style
8. Economy/profit
9. Bargains

We weren’t born with these wants, we learned them. They’re not

biologically hard-wired and thus not as powerful as the LF8.

We never question the LF8. We simply must have them.

The simple formula for desire goes like this:

Tension → Desire → Action to satisfy desire

When you appeal to the LF8, you create a drive that motivates people to
take an action to fulfill that desire ASAP.

Interesting fact: It’s pleasant not only for us to satisfy our own LF8
desires, but to READ about how OTHERS have done so too.

Good advertisers use SPECIFIC and VISUAL language to install a

“mental movie” in readers’ heads.
Vicarious pleasure is where persuasion begins:
The first use of any product is inside the consumers;
minds.

The less imagery you convey, the less your message occupies clients’
minds, the less likely you’ll influence them.

Use positive visual adjectives to boost your writing.

Summary of this chapter so far:

1. People have 8 basic wants.

2. The strongest ad appeals are based on these 8 wants.
3. The most effective way to appeal to those wants is to write copy that
causes people to VISUALLY use your product/service inside their
heads, building desire for the satisfaction of the want(s) your product
promises to provide.
4. Once you’ve got them wanting fulfillment, influence them to believe
your product delivers what you say.
5. Next, push them to act.

Now, we’ll look at the 17 foundational principles of consumer

psychology…
Chapter 2: How to Get Inside Their Heads:
The 17 Foundational Principles of
Consumer Psychology
Principle 1: The Fear Factor — Selling the Scare
Use transitional phrases like “it gets worse.”

Fear sells. It’s motivating, it urges people to action and drives them to
spend money.

You can use it to sell bread “refined white flour may cause cancer” or
alarms “fear of deadly odorless carbon monoxide.”

Why does fear sell?

It causes stress, which causes the desire to do something.

Missing a big sale causes stress of loss. Choosing a car can cause the
stress of personal safety concerns. Fear suggests loss and damage,
triggering people’s desire for self-preservation.

Fear is ethical if you’re selling something that is a truly effective

solution.

 2001 study: Age of Propaganda by Pratkanis and Aronson

Fear appeal is most effective when:

1. It scares the hell out of people

2. It offers a specific recommendation for overcoming the fear-aroused
threat
3. The recommended action is perceived as effective
4. The hearer believes s/he can do the recommended action

The fear strategy needs ALL FOUR components. You can’t leave out
even one.

You also can’t create too much fear, or you can scare people into
inaction, like frozen deer in the headlights.

The fear appeal is more successful if fears targeted are specific and
widely recognized.

Principle 2: Ego Morphing — Instant Identification

Pratkanis and Aronson (Age of Propaganda, 1991) described Ego
Morphing and Vanity Apeal. They said: buying the “right stuff” makes
us rationalize away inadequacies. (aka: Retail therapy)

Your goal is to make consumers associate so closely with the product

that it becomes part of their identity, morphing their ego to your product.

True prospects are pre-wired to have or want the ideas/values associated

with your product.

You’re selling an easy way to what they ALREADY want more of, or to
express how they feel about themselves to the outside world.

Perfume ads feature models who aren’t even wearing the scent. 99.9% of
the ad has nothing to do with the product. It’s just imagery.
Appealing to vanity and ego is best when it hones in on:

 physical attractiveness
 intelligence
 economic success
 sexual prowess

People buy such products to publicize their own egos.

Question: Would such a distinguished British automaker [Rolls Royce]—

long before they were gobbled up by BMW and Volkswagen — stoop to
engaging in such a “manipulative” ploy? (Claiming famous people used
your product by sending it to them for free)

Answer: Is a bullfrog waterproof?

Principle 3: Transfer — Credibility by Osmosis

No matter how wonderful your ad, it must be BELIEVABLE to work.

Transfer: use symbols, images, ideas, cues commonly associated with

people, groups, institutions of authority/respect to persuade people.

People are lazy. They rely on other experts and don’t do otheir own
research.

You can get famous people, or a symbol like the Good housekeeping
Seal of Approval from Good Housekeeping Magazine.
Which people or orgs in your industry have a reputation of credibility?
Get them to endorse you.

Principle 4: The Bandwagon Effect — Give Them

Something to Jump On
People powerfully need to belong. It’s third only to our physiological and
safety needs.

3 types of groups

1. Aspirational: you WANT to belong

2. Associative: you share their ideals/values
3. Dissociative: you do NOT want to belong

Link your product to one of the groups. This uses peripheral/superficial

thought-route to persuasion. The purchase decision depends on clients’
sense of belonging, not merits of your product.

Concensus Implies Correctness heuristic (Stec an dBernstein 1999) aka

bandwagon effect. (See principle 17.

 If seeking aspirational group influence, make sure your prospect IDs

easily with them. If your prospect is in their 30s, don’t feature elderly
people in ads. Also don’t feature the guy next store, because this is
people folks WANT to be like.
 Associative: link your product to a group and alienate others (via
attitudes/values, or by disassociating from other social groups to seem
cool) Ex: Gap’s name reflects “generation gap” and appeals to youth
culture. (Other ex’s: Jif — “choosy moms choose Jif” Walgreens —
“The pharmacy America trusts”
 Categories can include: age, class, sex, geographic, politics,
education (see Cialdini’s study on comparison cues. Influence:
Science and Practice, 1980

Make an effort to tell people how buying your product makes them X,
keeps them X, or helps them show the world they’re not X.

Principle 5: The Means-End chain — The Critical Core

Many buyers buy not for immediate need but future objective.

Luxury goods are often advertised to provide 2ndary benefits (another

ex: flowers, chocolates, sexy undergarments)

Shift your prospect’s focus to the product’s ULTIMATE benefit. (Keep

asking “what’s the benefit of X” until you get to the bottom of it)

The core benefit of a shovel is not the shovel, but the holes to plant trees
in. Microwaves are not beneficial because they’re fancy, but because
they let people eat fast and have time for other things.
For most products, it’s not the product itself that
people want, it’s the bottom-line BENEFIT they’re
buying.

Principle 6: The Transtheoretical Model — Persuasion

Step by Step
There are 5 stages of knowledge and behavior, accordinig to James
Prochaska.
1. Precontemplation: Folks are ignorant of your product’s existence,
unaware they need it.
2. Contemplation: People are aware and have thought of using your
product.
3. Preparation: People are thinking about buying from you, but need
more info about advantages
4. Action: People have purchased!
5. Maintenance: Your product is part of their every day lives.

Create ads that address all 5 stages or a series of ads that progress from
stage 1 to 5. Provide people with enough info and motivation to move
them through the five stages at their own pace.

Principle 7: The Inoculation Theoery — Make Them

Prefer You for Life
Vaccines use weakened viruses (via cell culture adaptation: viruses are
grown in chicken embryos, changing the way they reproduce, so they do
badly in the body. Thus the body gets stronger as it fights the weakened
virus)

Social Psychologist and Yalle Prof William J McGuire created the

Inoculation Theory to do the same:

 Reinforce consumer’s existing attitudes toward a product by

presenting a weak argument, tricking consumers into defending their
positions/strengthening their attitude.

1. Warn of impending attack

2. Make weak attack
3. Encourage strong defense

The more actively people defend against the attack, the more they will
defend their position.

By attacking your ideas/choices/brand preferences, I force you to uses

critical thought to defend, to think more deeply and reinforce your
thoughts/feelings.

Warning: the attack must be weak, or you’ll change people’s minds.

Some companies publicize competitors’ criticisms, using them as weak

attacks to ensure customer loyalty.

Politicians will say “My opponent will tell you…he’ll tell you…but I tell
you this is not the case, here’s why.” Or “Our competitors will tell you
X, but they won’t tell you Y…”

Be a consumer advocate, provide legit info and a helpful service.

Look at what you sell. What do you do better, faster, easier? Bring those
advantages to light.

Principle 8: Belief Re-Ranking — Change Their Reality

People don’t like change, especially changing their beliefs about life.

Even when we know our beliefs are inaccurate/inconsistent, we still

defend them, because the ego links those beliefs to survival.

You can change people’s beliefs, especially the belief that they don’t
want/need your product:
 Change the focus of the belief: present an alternate view of reality
with emotional or intellectual appeals.
 Then people will change their beliefs to fit their new perceptions, or
suffer from cognitive dissonance.
 Or change the IMPORTANCE of a belief rather than the belief itself.
Use facts or examples, or reinforce additional beliefs that won’t
conflict with existing beliefs.
 Reinforce the beliefs of prospects who already have a positive view
of your product, or subtly offer alternative beliefs to people you want
to convert.
 Don’t be blatant, tell people they’re wrong, and cause negative
reactions.
Regardless of what technique you use, your
prospects must remain unaware that you’re
attempting to influence them. You want them to
othink they’ve made their own decision.

How? By removing their need for critical thinking:

Principle 9: The Elaboration Likelihood Model — Adjust

Their Attitude
There are 2 ways to attitude change:

1. Central route — persuade using logic and deep thinking

2. Peripheral route — persuade through positive associations/cues
The second encourages people to focus on superficial cues without
serious consideration of ad content.

People’s motivation increases when considering products with “high

personal relevance.”

The ELM rule of thumb: Elaboration Likelihood Model states that cues
feel good but central route processing makes people prefer you. Because
it’s more resistant to counter-persuasion. (Ex: religion, politics, child
rearing)

Principle 10: The 6 Weapons of Influence — Shortcuts to

Persuasioin
 See Cialdini’s book Influence.

Cues of Life/Influence (CLARCCS)

1. Comparison: Similar to the bandwagon effect

2. Liking: If they like you, they’ll listen to you and BUY.
3. Authority: Mental shortcut “man in the white coat.” Advertisers used
to hire actors who played doctors for this reason. So do whatever you
can to get a testimonial/endorsement.
4. Recprocation: When people give, recipients feel compelled to give
back. (Ex: a pizza company sends gift certificates to people who
move into the neighborhood to start the reciprocation ball rolling and
create loyal long terem customers). You should also give away
something of value.
5. Commitment/consistency: Four Walls Technique — box people in,
make them take a stand. People who take a stand want to stay
 consistent with their beliefs. That’s why advertisers ask questions that
you have to answer with yes, until they create a snowball of interest.
6. Scarcity: We want what we can’t have.

 Men are attracted to pictures of men, and women of women because

of Identification. We’re all most intereested in ourselves.

Principle 11: Message Organization — Attaining Critical

Clarity
If they can’t understand what you’re saying, you can’t persuade them.

Unclear, misinterpreted, inaccurate ads can even HARM your business.

Principle 12: Examples vs Statistics — And the Winner

Is…
Examples. Because they’re more emotional.

Gete your prospect to imagine themselves using your product/service,

and they’ll buy it.

Principle 13: Message Sidedness — Dual-Role Persuasion

Present your side and your competitors’ in a head-to-head comparison.
This is more persuasive.

Make your message appear fair minded. Compliment the other side, but
point out yours is better.

For lazy thinkers, this means you’ve done the research for them.
You can also play both sides yourself. Ex: “If you’re afraid of
persuasion, stop reading because this book is not for you.”
Don’t ever be afraid to tell people why they
SHOULDN’T buy what you’re selling.

This boosts credibility and adds fuel to their desire.

Principle 14: Repetition and Redundancy — The

Familiarity Factor
It takes an average of 7 sales calls to close a deal.

Repetition →familiarity →acceptance →affinity →comfort →trust

→sale.

The aim of all advertising is to create marginal

differences in consumer attitudes and perceptions.

Run different versions of the same ad over and over to take advantage of
redundancy. (the same ad is repetitious/annoying)

Principle 15: Rhetorical Questions — Interesting, Aren’t

They?
Rhetorical questions are disguised statements.

Social training means when we hear a question, we respond to it. Asking

rhetorical questions in ads forces people to think.
Rhetorical questions can increase message retention.

Principle 16: Evidence — Quick! Sell Me the Facts!

Your words must convince people that what you’re selling is worth more
than the money in their pocket.

WIIFM: What’s in it for me? This is the question all consumers ask.

Many buying decisions involve fear of loss.

People MUST be convinced that what you offer is
worth more than the money you ask for it.

Evidence works well. People want to believe your promises, but don’t
want to be ripped off. Even superficial thinkers are influenced by strong
evidence.

Principle 17: Heuristics — SErving Billions of Lazy

Brains Daily
Persuasion heuristics:

 Length implies strength

 Liking agreement/Balance theory
 Concensus implies correctness
There is no expedient to which a man will not go to
avoid the labor of thinking. — Thomas Edison
Products/services seem more favorable if the ad is long with multiple
facts/figures. Load your ads with testimonials, write long engaging copy,
put in tons of photos of satisfied customers.

Showing dozens of customers implies a perception of

credibility/certainty.

Make a list of good reasons to buy your product. Go from every angle.

Chapter 3: Ad-Agency Secrets: 41 Proven

Techniques for Selling Anything to Anyone
Ad-Agency Secret 1: The Psychology of Simplicity
This is the first and most important message. Write so people understand.
Write to the chimpanzee brain. Simply. Directly —
Eugene Schwartz

The Flesch reading ease formula:

 See The Art of Plain Talk by Dr. Rudolph Flesch

In the 1940s, Flesch created a readability scale (the FRES) on a scale of

1–100.

How the formula works

 Count words (including contractions, symbols, hyphenatioins)

 Count syllables (use the word with fewer syllables)
 Count sentences (anything separated by a period, colon, semicolon,
dash that doesn’t happen WITHIN the sentence)
 Count average syllables per word
 Count average words per sentence

Score rankings:

 90–100: 5th grade

 80–90: 6th grade
 70–80: 7th grade
 60–70: 8th adn 9th grade
 50–60: 10th-12th grade
 30–50: college
 0–30: college grad

To improve your readability: shsorten words and sentences (recommend

11 words), and refer to people (names, pronouns) 14 times per 100
words.

Other indices: Fog Index, Flesch-Kincaid Index, McLaughlin SMOG

Formula, etc.

 Here the author includes a line “There’s no need for you to calculate
all this yourself. I let my computer do the work — the very same
computer I’m using right now to type the words you’re reading.”
 Commenting on the context (you reading the book) shakes readers
out of their reading routine and make them feel more “present.”
Short words and short sentences make reading easier
for everybody.

Other tips:

 Include definite words: nouns, names, pronouns, verbs, specifics.

More of these = less figuring out that your reader has to do.
 Write short sentences. One thought per sentence, no more. It’s easier
and more exciting to read.
 Short paragraph: ask a question or make a quick statement, then
answer or continue the thought in the next paragraph in a few words.
Ex:

Do you want to make money watching TV?

I thought so.

Let me explain…

 See Drew Alan Kaplan’s copy (uses words like “I confess…we’re

free…it’s tough…this is important…SWAT teams use them…it’s a
problem”
 Pile on the pronouns: you, me, s/he, they/them, especially with “you”
and “I.”
 Use repetition in the beginning of paragraphs (paragraph leaders) to
increase speed and establish upbeat tempo. Repetition increases
 perception of volume (length implies strength from Ch 2) and can
boost credibility.
 Paragraph leaders: “You learned…We guarantee…We
promise…You’ll receive…”

Ad-Agency Secret 2: Bombard Your Reader With

Benefits
Feature: component of a product. Aka attributes. (Ex: luxurious comfort
in all climates)

Benefits: things that offer your prospect value. Aka what you get from
attributes. (Ex: leather seats in a Rolls-Royce)

People only want to know WIIFM — what’s in it for me.

Ad-Agency Secret 3: Put Your Biggest Benefit in Your

Headline
Cut through the clutter and noise. 60% readers only read headlines. So
put the most important thing in the headline.

Not just “Designer Designs Homes of Destinction” but “Award-winning

Designer Turns Your House Into a Gorgeous Model Home for Less Than
You Ever Dreamed Possible!”

Headlines should select the audience you want to hook. Not just “we’ll
help you brighten your life and save money” (that could be selling
anything — lamps, antidepressants, paint, etc)

How long should your headline be? The shorter the better. But well-
written long headlines can be very effective.
Ad-Agency Secret 4: Crank up the Scarcity
Your ad is your salesperson.

Motivate people to act now. Remember CLARCCS (above).

The absence of a deadline implies the offer is always available.

 Supplies limited, Offer expires, Price guaranteed only until, Offer

good only before, Seating limited, NO rain checks, Good only for the
first 50…

Ad-Agency Secret 5: 22 Psychologically Potent Headline

Starters
Headlines must do both:

1. Grab attention
2. Motivate people to keep reading

Four qualities of a good headline:

1. Self-interest
2. News (even just announcing a product release or tie in to current
events)
3. Curiosity
4. Quick, easy way

22 tested headline starters:

1. FREE
2. NEW
3. AT LAST
4. THIS
5. ANNOUNCING
6. WARNING!
7. JUST RELEASED
8. NOW
9. HERE’S
10. THESE
11. WHICH OF these hot bodies would you like to show off?
12. FINALLY…
13. LOOK! now you can buy candy machines at wholesale prices
14. PRESENTING
15. INTRODUCING
16. HOW
17. AMAZING new video lowers your blood pressure just by watching
18. DO YOU know how to stop dog attacks with a button?
19. WOULD YOU trade $2 for our famous brick oven pizza?
20. CAN YOU be sure your kid won’t be kidnapped?
21. IF YOU hate cleaning your pool, here’s good news!
22. STARTING TODAY

Ad-Agency Secret 6: 12 Ways to Lure Your Readers Into

Your Copy
After the headline, use these strategies to keep people reading. Based on
tested principles.

1. Continue the thought in the headline

2. Ask a question
3. Quote a respected authority
4. Give them a free taste of what’s to come
5. Challenge them to prove this works (Here’s what I want you to do.
Read page 8 and 9 of this book, no more, then go and…)
6. Start with a story of skepticism
7. Tell what others are saying (bandwagon effect)
8. Play reporter (use news-style writing. “Philadelphia, PA — A NY
psychologist has just released findings…”
9. Get personal with using the word “you” repeatedly
10. Tell a dramatic story
11. Give super detailed specs (“This amazing new book — a hefty 8
1/2 x 11-inch leather bound, hardcover beauty — is jam-packed with
over 327 pages, 10 information-filled chapters, and 45 of the most
effective new communication tools…”)
12. Lure them with a very short first sentence (“Don’t you hate it?”)
Ad-Agency Secret 7: 360 Degrees of Attention-Getting
Power
Use graphic design. Especially in a circle. Most ads are square, so buy a
circle ad.

Ad-Agency Secret 8: The Reverse-Type Pitfall

Do NOT print white letters on a dark background. It makes things
dramatically less readable.

Only exception: headlines on a solid background, with large type and

few words.

 Paterson and Tinker, the “big dogs of advertising research.”

Ad-Agency Secret 9: Crush Your Competition With

Extreme Specificity
 See Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising and Eugene Schwartz’
Breakthrough Advertising

The author once tested pizza places by calling to ask what made their
products better. Most failed. Best answer would be to talk about “buffalo
milk mozzarella, New York tradition of chunking — not shredding —
cheese, hard northern spring wheat flour,” etc.

Ad-Agency Secret 10: The Famous Ogilvy Layout

Principle
The Two-Thirds/One-Third Principle:

 Top 2/3 of ad is one big photo

 Remaining 1/3rd is a headline and the sales copy, often with a drop
cap. (Logo in the lower right corner)
 Drop caps increase readership by 13#

The Reverses Ogilvy also works:

 Top 1/3 is a photo and headline

 Last 2/3 is sales copy.

Place headline under the visual as eyes move to picture first, then moves
down.

Always put captions in pictures. Up to 2x as many people read captions

as body copy.

Ad-Agency Secret 11: The Psychology of Typefaces

Sans serif font produces irradiation: optical anomaly where space
between lines intrude into letters, making reading more difficult.

Garamond is more comprehendable than Times Roman > Helvetica.

Serif fonts on paper are easier to read. Though what looks good on paper
doesn’t always look good on screen.

Set headlines in initial caps.

Popular online fonts: arial, courier, verdana

Ad-Agency Secret 12: Insist on the Pro-Design Difference

Don’t design your own material. Hire someone.

Ad-Agency Secret 13: The Power of Questions

Asking questions makes people desire to know the answer, so they keep
reading.

Neuro-linguistic programming: questions create open loops in readers’

brains, and the brain searches to close the loop.

Ad-Agency Secret 14: The “Granny Rule” of Direct Mail

Ads are a salesperson in print, broadcasted to the masses. Don’t just say
“Hello reader,” but use first names and personal touches.

1. Make a list of benefits you offer

2. Rank them in order of importance to your CUSTOMER not to you
3. Take the #1 benefit and work that into the opening of your letter
4. Start your letter with a question “Do you want/know…”

The AIDA formula:

 Attention
 Interest
 Desire
 Action

Use the message on the outside of the envelope as a teaser too. Use
bright colored envelopes, the word “urgent,” etc.
Don’t tip toe. Make an impact FAST.

Ad-Agency Secret 15: The Psychology of “Social Proof”

Ask for proof. Tell your customers: “We want to make you famous!”

Survey and ask: what do you think? Would you recommend us?

Include a legal disclaimer “I give X peremission to use my quotes above,

in complete or edited form, with/without my name for
advertising/publicity purposes. As full compensation, X will provide me
with…”

Ad-Agency Secret 16: The Guillotine Principle

Put a smiling photo in your ad. Faces add trust.

Ad-Agency Secret 17: PVAs — the Easy Way to Boost the

Power of Your Copy
PVA = powerful visual adjective.

Ex:

 Make lots of money →Rake in $2750 cash weekly!

 Jucy red apples →mouthwatering, sugar-sweet, hand-picked apples!
 Drink cleaner water →Enjoy pure, crystal-clear, glacier-fresh water!

When you use detailed PVAs, you seem more qualified, better equipped,
more conscientious, better able to meet customer needs. And gives the
impression others don’t do the things you do.
Ad-Agency Secret 18: Directing Menal Movies
Use VAKOG

 Visual
 Auditory
 Kinesthetic (feelings, emotions)
 Olfactory
 Gustatory

Boost your ads by increasing the strength of representations in

customers’ brains.

Don’t mimic blah ads. Be interesting. Forge your own path. How can you
beef up your descriptions?

Need to create internal representations based on all the senses.

Ad-Agenecy Secret 19: Battling Human Inertia

Ads can’t just inform. They have to cause people to take action. Make it
easy to act.

Ad-Agency Secret 20: Establish Your Unique Selling

Proposition
If people can’t tell how you’re different from the competition, they have
no reason to prefer you.

What interesting stories can you tell people about your product/service?
How can you educate them?
Do things differently, have a hot tag line. Position yourself.

Paint clear specific pictures in your head.

Create a hook different from everyone else. Ex: “Big Bald Chris Teaches
Wing Chun”

 Read Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Ad-Agency Secret 21: Buy Your Own Island

Go for a half page island not a typical vertical or horizontal half page ad.

Ad-Agency Secret 22: Authority Positioning

Market yourself as an authority.

1. Regard yourself as one.

2. Make what you know available to the public in as many forms as
possible. (seminars, ads, blogs, interviews)

Ad-Agency Secret 23: A Sales Letter in Survey’s Clothing

At the end of a survey asking for feedback on your product, make an
appealing offer people can’t refuse. Why?

1. People love giving opinions on things

2. It’s convenient for people

Ad-Agency Secret 24: Power Your Ads With Pictures

Ads made of 50%-75% visuals are better remembered.
7 best types of photos:

1. Kids and babies

2. Moms and babies
3. Groups of adults
4. Animals
5. Sports scenes
6. Celebrities
7. Food

These tap into life force 8.

Pics of products in use are even more effective.

Always provide context for your photos. Don’t just show a fridge. Show
it in a lovely kitchen.

Ad-Agency Secret 25: Grab ’Em With Grabbers

Grabbers: little items at the etop of the first page of teh sales letter that
grab people’s eyes, like a coin or dollar bill, a photo, savings certificate,
etc.

Ad-Agency Secret 26: Long Copy vs. Short

Copy can never be too long, only too boring. — Gary Halbert

If people are good prosepcts, they will read long copy if it’s well written.
Appeal not only to what the reader will think about the product, but what
others will think about their possession of this product.
The more ways you justify the purchase of your
product, the more likely you’ll influence people to
buy.

People don’t read ALL the copy. Some people read half and buy. So if
you write long copy you will catch more fish. Short copy doesn’t give
everyone everything they want to know and they are left unconvinced.

Ad-Agency Secret 27: Offer Testing

Test different offers. If you’re a chiropractor, you can offer a free eval, or
50% off a first visit, etc.

Develop different offers and figure out which works best. How do you
frame your offer?

 Note: Buy one get one FREE is more effective than “50% off.”

Ad-Agency Secret 28: Survey Power

Advertisers first started in the 1930s.

Advertising begins with RESEARCH.

Ad-Agency Secret 29: Editorial Energizers

Make your ads look like news copy. Editorial ads get 50–80% better
readership.
 See Eugene Schwartz’ Breakthrough Advertising

This camouflages your ad to blend in with the publication’s news stories.

With editorial ads, don’t sound too enthusiastic about what you’re
selling.

Ad-Agency Secret 30: The Coupon Persuader

A simple, dotted-line boxed ad can motivate people to buy, even if it’s
not a money off coupon.

Little coupons bring big returns! People are coupon crazy. Coupons
mean savings, a good buy, creates positive feelings that lead to sales.

Advertise Double Coupons to make people look forward for the next
newespsaper.

Ad-Agency Secret 31: 7 Online Response Boosters

 1/3rd people prefer an email a week. Ideally not much more.
 You can expect a 1–20% click through rate for highly appealig
incentives.
 What affects open rate? Familiar sender, Personal subject line
(include person’s name), Offer of interest
 Larger ads are more effective than small ones.
 Animated ads are 15–40% more effective than motionless ones,
because motion catches attention
 Cryptic emails increase click through by 18% But problem: lots of
clicks, feew sales. Because of poor targeting.
Ad-Agency Secret 32: Multi-page Your Way to Success
Repetition is IMPORTANT.

You can’t place just one ad. More than one ad in the same publication
can be effective.

10 most effective multi-ad formations:

1. 3 single-page ads in sequence on the right saide

2. 2 single page ads in different sections of the same issue on the right
3. Double page spread
4. Single page ads on the right
5. Single page ads on the left with strip ad on the right
6. Single page ads on the left
7. Right page checkerboard
8. Left page checkerboard ads
9. Half page ad, upper right or lower right

Ad-Agency Secret 33: Guarantees that Guarantee Higher

Response
How strongly do you believe in your product? A great guarantee instills
confidence in buyers.

Buyers feel vulnerable.

Guarantees reduce pre-purchase stress. Longer guarantees (beyond 30,
60, 90 days) gives customers confidence and avoids “beat the clock”
mindset of using the product and sending it back soon.

Offer the LONGEST, STRONGEST guarantee in your industry.

You can add: “Why do our competitors guarantee their product for only
90 days? Do they know something about their product that they’re not
telling you?”

A well-crafted guarantee is the most powerful sales tool.

Ad-Agency Secret 34: The Psychology of Size

Bigger ads get more attention.
An ad’s attention value is approximately
proportionate to the square root of the area.

Ad-Agency Secret 35: The Psychology of Page and

Section Positioning
Page positioning have almost no difference in ad effectiveness.

Good ads will get noticed no matter the position.

Ad-Agency Secret 36: The Fantastic Four

However, four places do better:

 Inside front cover

 Opposite the table of contents
 Back covere
 Inside back cover

Ad-Agency Secret 37: Consumer Color Preferences and

How Color Affects Readership
Colors people like most:

1. Blue
2. Red
3. Green
4. Violet
5. Orange
6. Yellow

Men and women differ slightly (men put orange 5th, yellow 6th, women
reverse that.

Infants prefer red →yellow →green →blue. After a year: red →yellow
→blue →green. 5 year olds: red →green →blue →yellow. Grade school:
blue preference into adulthood. Yellow goes down as people age. Red
remains high.

Consumers prefer lower value (light/dark), high chroma/saturation

(purity of color).

Best color combos:

1. blue/yellow
2. blue/red
3. red/green
4. purple/orange
5. red/orange

Best paper combo: black ink on yellow paper. Worst is red ink on green
paper. Color encourages more in depth reading.

Black and white ads work when appealing to the intellect, emphasizing
end benefits, demo-ing dramatic situations (Starch REsearch)

Ad-Agency Secret 38: The Psychology of Pricing

Psychological pricing: using 19.98 instead of 20.

Odd even pricing theory: prices iending in odd amounts suggest greater
value than prices rounded up to the next whole dollar. ($19.97)

 PRicing ending in 98 and 99 indicate that the price wasn’t recently

raised, and that the product is on sale (more so than 00 end prices)
 49, 50, 90 aren’t suggestive of low price.
 79, 88, 98 convey value.
 95 is not as effective as 99.

Prestige pricing: if you want something perceivied as higher quality, use

rounded whole numbers when pricing. ($1,000.00)
Ad-Agency Secret 39: The Psychology of Color
Apparent weight: darker is heavier illusion.

Colors strongly associated with other products can be confusing (Coca

Cola owns red)

Ad-Agency Secret 40: Wrap Your Ads in White

White wrap isolation: surrounding your ad with white space gets more
attention. Don’t exceed 60% of the area of the ad.

Ad-Agency Secret 41: Give Yourself a “Cleverectomy”

The purpose of your headline isn’t to be catchy, but to be effective.

Chapter 4: Hot Lists: 101 Easy Ways to

Boost Your Ad Response
Combining some of the most helpful tips in this section…

Response superchargers
1. FORGET style, sell instead
2. SCREAM “free info!”
3. WRITE short sentences to keep people reading.
4. USE short, simple words.
5. WRITE long copy
6. BOIL it down, cut the fluff
7. STIR desire by piling on benefits
8. SHOW what you’re selling — action shots are best
9. GET PERSONAL: Say “you” a lot
10. USE selling subheads to break up long copy
11. PUT selling captions under your photos
12. WRITE powerful visual adjectives to create mental movies
13. SELL your product, not your competitor’s
14. DON’T hold back, give them the full sell now
15. ALWAYS include testimonials
16. MAKE it ridiculously easy to act
17. INCLUDE a response coupon to encourage action
18. SET a deadline to break inertia
19. OFFER a free gift for quick replies
20. SAY the words “order now!”
21. OFFER free shipping
22. BOOST response by 50% with a “bill me”/credit option

Ways to convey value

1. SCREAM sale
2. GIVE a coupon
3. DIMINISH the price “less than a cup of coffee today”
4. EXPLAIN why the price is low “our boss ordered too many”
5. AMORTIZE it: “Just $1.25 a day”
6. BOOST value: tell what it’s worth, not just what it costs
7. TELL how much others have happily paid
8. CREATE a sense of scarcity with deadlines
9. EMPLOY psychological pricing

Ways to make buying easy

1. GIVE your contact info
2. SAY “It’s easy to order”
3. ACCEPT orders in multiple ways
4. INCLUDE a long, strong guarantee — longer than competition
5. OFFER installment payments for products over $15 (boosts response
by 15%)

Ways to boost coupon returns

1. TELL people in the headline/subhead to return the coupon
2. SAY “buy 1 get 1 free, not 50% off”
3. USE a big “FREE” at the top
4. TELL what the coupon brings; say it again in the coupon itself
5. SHOW what the coupon brings with a small photo or illustration
6. USE a bold coupon border
7. SET a hard or soft deadline (date vs “first 100 people”)
8. PROVIDE check-off boxes to get people involved
9. SAY “valuable coupon” at the top
10. GIVE sufficient room for fill-ins
11. POINT to coupon with bold arrows

“Killer ad” checklist

Headline

1. Does it feature your product’s BIGGEST benefit?

2. Does it elicit an emotional response?
3. Does it use any of the 22 potent headline starters from Ch. 3?
4. Is it boldfaced and significantly larger than your body copy?
5. Is it powerful enough to get people to read your body copy?
6. Does it make some kind of offer?
7. Is it authoritative, not wimpy?
8. Is it set in Initial Caps? Only use ALL CAPS if the headline is short.
9. Is it in quotes? (This can boost reading 25%)

Body copy: First sentence

1. Are you using one of the jump starters from Ch. 3?

2. Does it naturally flow from the headline?
3. Does it get right into the benefits for the reader rather than brag about
you?
4. Does it force readers to read the second sentence?
5. Is “you” one of the first few words?

Body copy: General

1. Does it focus on how the reader will benefit?

2. Does it tell readers why they should buy from YOU, not a
competitor?
3. If your product/service is exciting, does the ad sound exciting?
4. Does it progress in a logical, methodical way? 1) Get attention 2)
stimulate interest 3) Build desire 4) Offer proof 5) Ask for actioin
5. Are you selling only one product at a time?
6. Do you use selling subheads to break up long copy?
7. Is the copy colorful with appropriate visual adjectives?
8. Is it believable?
9. Is it respectful and not insulting of the reader’s intelligence?
10. Is it emotional? (positive and negative)
11. Do you use extreme specificity?
12. Are your words simple? Sentences and paragraphs short?
13. Are your printed ads set in serif typeface? Is web copy set in sans-
serif?
14. Do you tell readers what you want them to do in a simple way?
15. Do you outright ask for a sale?
16. Did you set a deadline, if appropriate?
17. If you have many benefits to offer, do you list them in bullets or
numbered form?
18. Do you use testimonials?
19. Is your business name and number large and instantly noticeable?
20. Did you include your logo to build brand equity?
21. Do you give directions, maps, landmarks if necessary?
22. Did you key your ad to track responses?

Layout and design

1. Did you get your ad professionally designed?
2. Is your headline big and bold?
3. Is the ad easy to read?
4. Is there a focus?
5. Is there enough white space?
6. Did you indent paragraphs to make reading easier?
7. Did you keep separate elements to a minimum?
8. Do you use art relevant to your sales message?
9. Did you use a minimum number(1–3, max) of typestyles?
10. Do you feature a picture of a pereson looking at you?

Epilogue
“We don’t know a millionth of one percent about
anything.” — Thomas A. Edison

Now you know more about effective ads than most of your competitors.

The marketplace will be the final arbiter of y our work. Always. But
these tips will help increase your chances of success.

Study advertising. Keep your motivation high by reading the masters.

Effective advertising is always the engine that keeps your business

running in good and bad times. And share your knowledge:
“If wisdom were offered me with the provision that
I should keep it shut up and refrain from declaring
it, I should refuse. There’s no delight in owning
anything unshared.” — Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Appendix: Recommended Reading

On Copywriting, Advertising, and Marketing
 My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude
Hopkins
Known as one of the greatest copywriters of all time, who pioneered
the “tell buyers why to buy”/ “reason why” style of copywriting.
 Advertising Ideas by John Caples
 Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples
 Making Ads Pay by John Caples
 Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy
 How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor O. Schwab
 Small-Space Advertising for Large and Small Advertising by
Printers Ink
 Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M Schwartz
 The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier
 The 100 Greatest Advertisements by Julian L. Watkins
 Words That Sell by Richard Bayan
 More Words That Sell by Richard Bayan
 Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout
 The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W Bly

On Creativity
 Systematic Approach to Advertising Creativivty by Stephen
Baker
 A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech
 A Kick in the Seat of the Pants by Roger von Oech

On Layout and Design

 How to Design Effective Store Advertising by ML Rosenblum
 Looking Good in Print by Roger C Parker