Copywriting Axioms of Joseph Sugarman
Axioms
Axiom 1: Copywriting is a mental process the successful execution of which reflects the sum total of all your experiences, your specific knowledge and your ability to mentally process that information and transfer it onto a sheet of paper for the purpose of selling a product or service.
Axiom 2: All the elements in an advertisement are primarily designed to do one thing and one thing only; get you to read the first sentence of the copy.
Axiom 3: The sole purpose of the first sentence is to get you to read the second sentence.
Axiom 4: Your ad layout and the first few paragraphs of your ad must create the buying environment most conducive to the sale of your product or service.
Axiom 5: Get the reader to say "yes" and harmonise with your accurate and truthful statements while reading your copy
Axiom 6: Your readers should be so compelled to read our copy that they cannot stop reading until they read all of it as if sliding down a slippery slope.
Axiom 7: When trying to solve problems, don't assume constraints that aren't really there.
Axiom 8: Keep the copy interesting and the reader interested through the power of curiosity.
Axiom 9: Never sell a product or service. Always sell a concept.
Axiom 10: The incubation process is the power of your subconscious mind to use all your knowledge and experiences to solve a specific problem and its efficiency is dictated by time, creative orientation, environment and ego.
Axiom 11: Copy should be long enough to cause the reader to take the action you request.
Axiom 12: Every communication should be a personal one, from the writer to the recipient, regardless of the medium used.
Axiom 13: The ideas presented in your copy should flow in a logical fashion, anticipating your prospect's questions and answering them as if the questions were asked face-to-face.
Axiom 14: In the editing process, you refine your copy to express exactly what you want to express with the fewest words.
Axiom 15: Selling a cure is a lot easier than selling a preventive, unless the preventive is perceived as a cure or the curative aspects of the preventive are emphasized.
Emotion Principles
Emotion Principle 1: Every word has an emotion associated with it and tells a story.
Emotion Principle 2: Every good ad is an emotional outpouring of words, feelings, and impressions.
Emotion Principle 3: You sell on emotion, but you justify a purchase with logic.
Powerful Copy Elements
- Typeface
- First sentence
- Second sentence
- Paragraph headings
- Product explanation
- New features
- Technical explanation
- Anticipate objections
- Resolve objections
- Gender
- Clarity
- Cliches
- Rhythm
- Service
- Physical facts
- Trial period
- Price comparison
- Testimonials
- Price
- Offer summary
- Avoid saying too much
- Ease of ordering
- Ask for the order
Psychological Triggers
- Feeling of involvement or ownership
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Credibility
- Value and proof of value
- Justify the purchase
- Greed
- Establish authority
- Satisfaction conviction
- Nature of product
- Nature of prospect
- Current fads
- Timing
- Linking
- Consistency
- Harmonize
- Desire to belong
- Desire to collect
- Curiosity
- Sense of urgency
- Fear
- Instant gratification
- Exclusivity, rarity or uniqueness
- Simplicity
- Human relationships
- Storytelling
- Mental engagement
- Guilt
- Specificity
- Familiarity
- Hope