Competition is a “killer” for a lot of commodity businesses. Doesn’t really matter whether you market online or offline. If you sell a commodity product then chances are you compete for customers with hundreds of other businesses.

In the next few minutes, I’m going to share with you a proven strategy to…

Out-Market, Out-Sell And Out-Profit...

… Just about anyone in your industry or business category.

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The “Google Slap.” You’ve heard of it. You were probably affected by it. Essentially, Google, the world’s largest search engine, recently penalized a whole bunch of sites because they, too, judged them to be of poor quality.

Either they diminished their pageranks into oblivion, or they increased their AdWords costs by jacking up the prices if the campaigns led to poor content. (And as you probably know, this has driven a lot of marketers out of business.)

But keep in mind, Google didn’t make this change by pulling it out of thin air or to dictatorially decide what’s good for the Internet. They’re simply following what people want and giving it to them.

(In fact, when Google makes such major changes, let it be a good indicator of what’s going on in the marketplace.)

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This another phase of advertising which all of us have to consider. It enters, or should enter, into all campaigns. Every business man receives a large number of circular letters. Most of them go direct to the waste basket. But he acts on others, and others are filed for reference.

Analyze those letters. The ones you act on or the ones you keep have a headline which attracted your interest. At a glance they offer something that you want, something you may wish to know.

Remember that point in all advertising.

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To attack a rival is never good advertising. Don’t point out others’ faults. It is not permitted in the best mediums. It is never good policy. The selfish purpose is apparent. It looks unfair, not sporty. If you abhor knockers, always appear a good fellow.

Show a bright side, the happy and attractive side, not the dark and uninviting side of things. Show beauty, not homeliness; health, not sickness. Don’t show the wrinkles you propose to remove, but the face as it will appear. Your customers know all about wrinkles.

In advertising a dentifrice, show pretty teeth, not bad teeth. Talk of coming good conditions, not conditions which exist. In advertising clothes, picture well-​​dressed people, not the shabby. Picture successful men, not failures, when you advertise a business course. Picture what others wish to be, not what they may be now.

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Whatever claim you use to gain attention, the advertisement should tell a story reasonably complete. If you watch returns, you will find that certain claims appeal far more than others. But in usual lines a number of claims appeal to a large percentage. Then present those claims in every ad for their effect on that percentage.

Some advertisers, for sake of brevity, present one claim at a time. Or they write a serial ad, continued in another issue. There is no greater folly. Those serials almost never connect.

When you once get a person’s attention, then is the time to accomplish all you can ever hope with him. Bring all your good arguments to bear. Cover every phase of your subject. One fact appeals to some, one to another. Omit any one and a certain percentage will lose the fact which might convince.

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Michel Fortin: Gary you on?

Gary: Let’s roll.

Michel: Hey, Gary, welcome. Well folks, we’re gonna have a great call tonight. I think it’s going to be one of the calls that I would do, I’d be on if I was just an asserting copywriter because what we’re going to do tonight is talk about some of the most effective strategies, some of the most pressing questions that you have about writing an effective copy itself.

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Copy is all about words. Or is it?

Copy is about using words to describe the benefits of your offer. About using words to paint vivid mental imagery. About using words to stir the senses, press all the “hot buttons” and push the reader to take some kind of action.

But is it really ALL about words? I mean, just words? No.

Some copywriters claim that graphics, formatting and photographs should NOT be added to a salesletter because they distract. They can take the reader’s focus away from the message.

I agree. But not entirely. Here’s why…

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