Copywriting tips from The Zohan: Make it 'silky-smooth'

I’m going to be all over the place today, so see if you can follow along with me here.

Last night we took the kids to see the new Adam Sandler movie, “You Do Not Want To Mess With The Zohan.” It was funny as hell, as long as you like modern slap-stick provocative guy humor. And it would also probably be a great model for how middle-eastern relations could be, if everyone was willing to put all the hatred and years of “stuff” behind them.

Zohan’s goal in life, was to make everyone’s hair “silky-smooth,” which… is how your sales copy should read, so today I’m gonna show you a slick trick to make “silky-smooth” copy easier for you.

This morning I was reading a book called “How It All Began,” by Maurice Baren. It’s a book filled with short one or two page anecdotal and quirky information about how some very well-known consumer companies were founded. There are lots of interesting stories in there about the founders of these companies and how serendipity played a major role in their destiny. And, how their ability to see the glass half-full instead of half-empty, allowed them to change their lives, and ultimately the lives of literally the rest of the world.

I also like the book because there’s tons of old ads in there, and I enjoy studying old ads. In fact, in my library I have no less than a couple thousand pages worth of old display ads.

Old ads were much more copy-intensive and relied on the message to sell their product, as opposed to most modern ads, which rely on a picture, or some sort of meaningless “cute” quote that doesn’t mean anything to anyone other than the owner of the company.

In one of these ads, from the early 1900’s — mid 1920’s if I had to estimate — an ad for SC Johnson Wax reads like this: “Even those spots that you thought were permanent will disappear like magic under Johnson’s Cleaner.”

Want to know how to make this copy silky-smooth?

O.K., try this: “Even those spots that you thought were permanent, disappear like magic under Johnson’s Cleaner.”

Look carefully, can you spot the difference?

Yep, I got rid of the word “will.” In many cases, when you tell someone something “will” happen, it’s not tangible enough to make it compelling.

It implies there’s a work process involved and that they don’t get what they want until they do something. You want to sell in such a way that intimates the process you want them to go through does the work for them and makes the benefit materialize.

Here, see for yourself:

“This will eliminate your back pain,” versus… “This completely eliminates your back pain.”

See the difference?

Sp get rid of “will”… and make it silky-smooth, like The Zohan.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Just finished writing this month’s issue of Seductive Selling. Inside, you’ll see another copywriting strategy that shows you the fastest way to get good at writing copy – even if you’re a newbie. Check it out and get your 30-day free trial (along with 15 free gifts — watch the video) at http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

If you enjoyed this, pass it on to a few of your friends and business associates, and if you have any comments about this message, PLEASE — leave them right here on my blog — it’s important!

Here are all the King’s products: http://www.kingofcopy.com/products