Book profile
The Adweek Copywriting Handbook
Joseph Sugarman
A master direct-response copywriter reveals the mental process, structural axioms, and psychological triggers that cause readers to exchange their hard-earned money for a product or service.
Drawn from Joseph Sugarman's legendary $2,000-plus marketing seminars, The Adweek Copywriting Handbook teaches that copywriting is a learnable mental process, not a mystical talent. Sugarman demystifies how to mentally prepare to write, how to craft a 'slippery slide' of copy that compels readers from the first short sentence straight through to the order, and how to deploy 31 psychological triggers, 23 copy elements, and 10 graphic elements that turn attention into action. With candid stories of his own failures and successes selling everything from pocket calculators to BluBlocker sunglasses to a $6 million home and a $240,000 airplane, plus annotated classic ads, the book equips novices and veterans alike to build businesses 'through the power of your pen' across print, catalog, direct mail, radio, TV, infomercials, and the Internet.
The model
A causal model in which copywriter preparation and craft design levers create psychological states in the reader (engagement, trust, desire) that drive reading-through behavior and ultimately the purchase outcome.
Frameworks you can use
- Get the reader to read the first sentence, then the next, in an unstoppable slippery slide.
- Create the buying environment in the layout and opening paragraphs.
- Resonate and harmonize with the reader, getting them to say 'yes.'
- Sell the concept, not the product.
- Edit to express exactly what you mean with the fewest words.
- Make every communication personal, from writer to recipient.
Key terms
- Product and Customer Expertise
- The copywriter's mastery of the product's nature and the prospect's motivations through broad and specific knowledge.
- Slippery Slide Copy Structure
- The structural arrangement of copy that compels uninterrupted reading from headline to offer.
- Buying Environment Creation
- The emotional and tonal context established by layout and opening copy that disposes the reader to buy.
- Emotional and Concept Appeal
- The extent to which copy sells an emotional concept rather than bare features.
- Editing and Clarity
- The refinement of copy to maximum meaning per word at an appropriate reading level.
- Psychological Triggers Deployment
- The deliberate inclusion of motivational levers that address underlying reasons people buy.
- Reader Trust and Credibility Perception
- The reader's belief that the seller is honest, credible, expert, and acting with integrity.
- Reader Engagement and Curiosity
- The reader's state of compelled attention, curiosity, and harmony with the copy.