…If you’re in the business of writing copy for emails, ads, landing pages, or sales pages and testing the results, you already know how powerful words can be.
Just one tiny word can change results significantly …
And in copywriting, results are king.
You can write dozens of articles, but if no one clicks for an appointment … or signs up for your opt-in … or registers for your course …
You need to change something.
Warm spring days and college exams here in Colonial Williamsburg are reminders that summer reading time is up ahead – but why wait to read books that could be getting you more sales now?
If you’re a seasoned copywriter, you will probably recognize some of these as classics. Hopefully, you’ve read many of them. If not, it’s time to get started. Anyone selling anything would do well to take a look.
One brand new book is free of charge – you only have to pay for the shipping!
And at the other end of the price spectrum is Breakthrough Advertising by the late, great, Eugene Schwartz. At the time I wrote this, the prices ranged from $473.80 to $2995.00 per copy on Amazon.
I also included a new book with some lessons from Schwartz’s writings – so you can still learn from this master of advertising even if you’re not ready to go whole hog and spring for a collectible edition of BA.
1. Scientific Advertising, Claude Hopkins
Claude Hopkins wrote this timeless classic in 1923. He had gotten his start in direct sales when he was only 10 years old. His father had died, and young Claude helped support his mother selling silver polish door to door. He learned the value of listening, demonstrating, and giving samples and coupons early in his career.
Hopkins prescribes a plain, simple style of writing. Nothing clever, nothing fancy … just clear, direct, and conversational. His book models this style of writing perfectly.
Jay Abraham claimed to have read it at least 60 times. And David Ogilvy wrote this:
“Nobody, at any level, should be allowed to have
anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven
times. It changed the course of my life.”
Read and profit.
2. The Robert Collier Letter Book
The letters in Collier’s book may look a tad bit outdated. Today’s audiences simply don’t speak the way he writes. Don’t be fooled. The principles of selling are the same – this book is loaded with proven sales letters to deconstruct and study. Apply his principles to your online sales pages and see what happens.
3. Ogilvy on Advertising
Ogilvy includes his own masterful ads and priceless advice in this classic. You must read the few short sentences about his writing method (yes, it takes time).
4. Breakthrough Advertising, Eugene Schwartz
Schwartz teaches highly advanced and powerful marketing-writing concepts. If you’re just getting started in sales writing, I would suggest that you don’t read this book yet (though you may want to buy it now – the price keeps going up).
Give yourself a year or so to get the basics down. Then read the Schwartz about 5 times. I’m still on number read 2. And yes, it can cost 300-2000 bucks for a book in “good” condition … even though it’s loaded with typos … because the strategy is worth so much more.
5. The Secret of Selling Anything, Harry Browne
This gem from 2-time Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne is now virtually unknown. It’s a compilation of two manuscripts he wrote based on his many years of experience in sales: The Secret of Success and Selling is Easy.
I discovered it by accident. It was part of a high school business course taught by Gary North in the Ron Paul Curriculum (if you have kids, check this out NOW as a supplement to their regular curricula!
BTW, the secret is customer-centric marketing … and the way he explains it is gold.
6. How to Write a Good Advertisement, Victor Schwab
This handy guide is packed advice any advertiser can use immediately. One of my favorite parts is the 100 top headlines of all time – with explanations of why they worked so well. If you have this on hand, you will have a jump start on all your headlines, posts, and emails!
7. The Irresistible Offer, Mark Joyner
You have 3 seconds to capture the attention of your reader. This fast read will help you do it. Joyner really does value time. Tick … tick … tick …
8. Hypnotic Writing, Joe Vitale
The subtitle reads, “How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words.” One of the best parts about this book is that Vitale models each technique as he writes about it. It’s arranged in short, digestible sections you can read on a coffee break.
9. The Advertising Solution, Craig Simpson
If you’re an entrepreneur or digital marketer, your time is precious. Money can be replaced – time cannot. Simpson and Kurtz have saved you time by curating advice from 6 great legends of copywriting and putting it all in one place. You’ll discover tips and wisdom from Robert Collier, Claude Hopkins, John Caples, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert, and Eugene Schwartz arranged neatly according to topic. Now you can discover oodles of secrets to help you multiply sales – and do it without spending the entire weekend at the library.
10. Expert Secrets, Russell Brunson
Brunson has outlined a sales system for anyone creating digital information products and online courses. Though it’s not technically a copywriting book, it contains powerful copywriting secrets you won’t want to miss. The potential for putting even a fraction of this information to work is staggering.
