How do you know when you've said too much?

There’s always been somewhat of a debate over whether long copy sells better than short copy.

I can tell you now, the only people debating about this are the folks who can’t write long copy, because the rest of us have already proven to ourselves that long copy is far more effective.

But once you’re sold on the “long copy is better”… the challenge then becomes, “How do you know when you’ve said too much?” Simply put, how can you tell when enough is enough?

Well, let me give you an example of “too much,” and perhaps you can start making sense of this.

About 8 months ago, through a series of events, I got introduced to the world of Single Malt Scotch. I’m not much of a drinker, but when I have a drink, I’ve come to enjoy Single Malts, and I’ve also started reading up on the history of SMS, and how it’s produced.

Very interesting, and apparently, a popular pastime as well.

There are dozens of independent small producers of SMS, all throughout Scotland. The other day, I received a bottle, and on the side of the bottle, this was the description of how the Scotch tasted:

“This is a toffee gold dram from a refill butt and is very mature for its age. The nose delivers pencil shavings, ripe fruit, nutmeg, flowers and orange toffee. At full strength, the taste was extremely agreeable and longreaching, with flavours of sweet bread dough, coconut and cherry coke. Once diluted, the nose had pepper and sugared violets (much later perfumed soap), while the palate was orangey with caramel creams and some dry pepper in the finish. Very sophisticated and easy to drink.”

This is WAAY too much for most people to handle.

Plus, to me… after reading this it sounds like this stuff is going to taste like a mixture of all the sledge lying inside the bottom of my trash compactor in the middle of my sink.

After all, does a mixture of bread dough, cherry coke, and pencil shavings sound like something you want in YOUR mouth?

You might as well be licking the bottom of a used ashtray, for goodness sakes.

The reason people do things like this, is because they are trying to separate one item from another, typically when they are selling loads of similar items. They feel a compelling need to differentiate between them all, but in doing so, they tend to dig so far deep into the small details, that only a few die-hards “might” still be with them by the time it’s all over.

The other thing this does, is when you’re talking about things on such a minute level, there’s an air of sophistication that’s supposed to be implied here.

Bad move.

The common man, which is who you’re really selling to — because this is all of us, no matter what you’re selling — isn’t going to be moved by this, and so ultimately you lose.

This is far too much of a description for almost anything. I mean, you can try and be as uptight and highbrow about something as you want, but this is just a bottle of Scotch, right?

Or wrong?

Tomorrow I’ll give you a few ideas you can use that show you other ways of selling in situations like this, that open up the lines of communication much more effectively, attract more buyers, and are a lot more fun.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Think And Grow Rich is BUNK! Sure, Hill’s book is important. But the book that’s made the biggest impact in my life is a little-known book written in 1911 by a genius named Wallace D. Wattles. Wattles showed me why making a ton of money isn’t only my right, it’s my duty! He helped me eliminate any “undeserving” or self-sabotaging feelings I used to have, that had been implanted into my thick skull, from foolish and ignorant messages I received as a kid. Check out the book for yourself — it’ll be the best $10 bucks you’ve ever spent. Plus, I’ll share a story or two about my own background in it, as well. Get it now at http://www.kingofcopy.com/science

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 here on my blog — I want to know what you’re thinking!:

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