Doing so, could provide a jaded view, or a view that isn’t as clear as it should be.

Perceptions are what matter, and copy creates perceptions.

Well said.

*****

Regarding copywriters and principles: copywriters are hired guns.

If a client is enthusiastic about his product, and I am not, can’t I channel his enthusiasm for the product to help sell it?

If there is evidence that many customers are enthusiastic about his product, and yet I still am not, can’t I channel his customers’ enthusiasm to sell the product?

It certainly helps to be excited about a product or service I’m writing copy for, but is it totally necessary?

In the end, so long as I believe the product or service has value to someone (although maybe not to me), then I have no problem writing copy to sell the socks off it.

I love John Carlton’s advice to copywriters (this is not an exact quote, but paraphrase): Try to see the world as it is, not as you want it to be.

Ryan

It all comes down to personal choices–ethics. If I write to sell a product that will harm someone–do anything for the money–that’s a choice I have to live with.

People spend most of their money on things they WANT, not things they NEED. And most of the things they really want can’t be bought–”can’t buy me love” sang the Beatles.

Everything we want is in us: confidence, sexiness, love. The sad truth of humans is that we don’t recognize that simple fact, so we go out into the world to find what our souls are lacking.

In the meantime, I want to make money to have a more comfortable life, and it’s in my ability to do so, so I will.

Thanks, Michel, for the discussion.

Jan

As always, you provide insightful commentary that can provoke debate - particularly from those who just don’t get the point. Two quick thoughts…

1 - Your perception is your reality. When you look at a tablecloth, you think it’s black. Therefore, it is black. The next guy could look at and think it’s a very deep blue. So it is.

If you’re truly going to make sales to people, then you need to understand their perceptions are the most important - not yours. In fact, for many of us (myself included), we’re not selling to people who live like ourselves, our friends or our neighbors. Their perceptions therefore don’t count for anything.

Only the perceptions of customers - or future customers - actually matter. Those are the perceptions you have to shape and deal with.

2 - As for copywriters being whores, bring it on. I am unequivocably a total capitalist pig. I’m business to suck in every single dime I can get as long as it’s legal, moral and ethical. I sell great products and stand behind every one of them. The leaders of every Fortune 500 company feel the exact same way -just their PR departments don’t admit to it.

You can choose to be in business for any reason you want. But far too many people lie to themselves about why they’re in business. So they’re businesses fail while they hide behind false reasons for that failure.

Of course, their perception yields that reality - as miserable and unfulfilling as it might be.

Michel - see the rhetoric you stir up.

Shawn

This article bring to mind all the advertising that implyies that you will become thus and such if you partake of or use their product. Case in point. Youth are led to believe that if they indulge in drinking beer, wine, they will become popular. If they use such and such deodorant, or perfume; people will flock to them. The cigarette advertising of the past, implied that one is maucho if they smoke cigarettes. Women were led to believe they looked sexy with a cigarette in their hands.

It irritates me to see beer commercials on TV, during sporting events. Common sense tell one that indulging in beer does not make one a good athlete, nor does it make one maucho. The only thing indulging in beer does is to wet the appetite for more, then more, and on to the road of self distruction and many times with family destruction.

Yes, I know many will not agree with me, and that is fine, but the truth is, that in most instances, drinking will eventually get the best of the drinker.

So, as you mentioned, all is in the eyes of the beholder. Copywriters may not even agree with their own copywrite, be it in magazines, newspapers, or on TV, but are in it for the money.

What you see or perceive is not always what you get.

Carolyn Phillips

One thing I’ve learned and noticed during that time is that the personality of the writer ALWAYS comes through. You can’t hide it. Sometimes it’s quite obvious. Other times, it’s very subtle.

Invariably, the writer’s persona leaks into the copy. No matter how hypey. No matter how much it’s been swiped.

(Actually, the swiped copy is a dead giveaway because the personality of the writing suddenly changes, disrupting the flow. The reader senses this - maybe not consciously - and can’t pinpoint why they won’t buy an otherwise decent product or service.)

To change the topic a bit, people will buy from those they like. And if they like your writing, if you’ve proven you’re straight-forward, you shouldn’t have any problems.

I wonder if some of the turmoil surrounding hypey copy really stems from copywriters afraid to be themselves. Read: original. Just a thought.

Thanks for the opportunity to post.

Andrew

I am studying the basics of copywriting and marketing with assistance of Russian coaches. Well, the psychology of an ‘average’ human being is innerly the same, so the principles you’ve mentioned and illustrated are well-known, yet the repetition does never harm.

The point is that word is action, word is power, and talented copywriter, just as talented writer, talented poet, talented orator etc is capable of changing the world with words. And the way this happens is dependent on the copywriter’s experience, ethical principles and goal.

Understanding that, I usually make decision basing on many a factor and I don’t just buy everything I’m told. Even if the orator uses all the psychological tricks to persuade me subconsciously.

I judge people by their deeds and, unless they show how good they are I do not rely on their words, however persuasive they could be. And no amount of free gifts can change my opinion.

Thank you!

Konstantin

Each of these viewers of a man dieing on a cross sees the world through his tunnel vision of reality. A copywriter is paid to make the reader feel good about their limiting perspective and then loosen up the purse strings. For the Christian, he sells salvation. For the barbarian, the taste of conquering or vanquishing the enemy. For the humanitarian, he sells the hope that Mankind can mend their brutal, uncivilized ways.

In a crude manner, a copywriter is a whore unless he has principles. And if he/she knows that what they are selling with the allure of words is mere air and illusions, then they are bold-faced, Machiavelian liars deserving of a prison sentence for fraud rather than a Mazarati in the driveway.

Sorry Michel. I do not buy into your “everything is relative” theme. The best copywriters understand the responsibility of their talent and intelligence. They do not exploit the great sea of humanity that is lazy in mind, short in action, and hoping against hope for an easy path to Shangri La.

I normally charge what is worth for the service provided. For every single project I undertake, the amount of work to be done is justified for the cost they have to pay. If I am to sell ebooks, the cost to one person might be $10,000. But if I am to distribute the same ebook to 1000 persons, then I can just sell it at $100 each. The quality of that ebook is still worth $10,000. So, for similar software project, I am charging lesser for more clients using my service.

As long as an agreement between two parties is made, it is a win-win situation.

Regards
Edward Han

Everything we “buy” is done through perception. If you perceive something to be be of value and the price is “right” for that value then you buy it.

What makes a home worth the asking price? Or a vehicle? Or an e-book?

And perception is also closely related to believability.

Regards

Gary