Click the cover for the Kindle book on Amazon.
David Garfinkel is NOT a name that often comes up on lists of today’s top copywriters, BUT…
Most A-list copywriters I know are either friends with David — or, “Garf,” if you’re John Carlton — and quite a few even regularly hire him to dig into their copy.
One of the top direct marketing companies in the world — Agora Financial — has brought him in for over 100 reviews of their best copywriters’ work, and keeps him on retainer for these reviews… (One of his personal coaching clients, “Million Dollar Mike” Morgan, wrote a sales letter for Agora Financial that has the highest customer value in the history of the company, while under David’s tutelage.)
He’s had his fingers in the copy behind a ClickBank product that held the #2 spot across ALL products… (Although I have to talk smack here, David, and say that copy I reviewed held the #1 spot for months on end! Hah!)
Copy he wrote for one client generated over $40 million in sales… (Though he doesn’t really write copy for clients these days.)
Another client he coaches on copy is consistently bringing in 8-figures per year with that copy…
And so on, and so on…
All the accolades, and all the respect he gets from the inner circle of top copywriters are warranted. He knows his stuff.
Well, I realized the other day that David has a Kindle book available on Amazon: Breakthrough Copywriting: How To Generate Quick Cash With The Written Word.
I know David…
In fact, when people come to me for copywriting mentorship, I’ve referred them exclusively to David’s copywriter coaching programs since shutting my own version of this service down.
I think very highly of him. And I know he has a unique take and perspective on copywriting that has consistently shown to lead to more response, more profits, and more money for the copywriters who follow his advice.
And so I asked David if he had an excerpt from his book I could share with you, as a Breakthrough Marketing Secrets reader…
David’s a nice guy, so he said yes!
In fact, he agreed to share his passage on one of the most important skills in copywriting (actually, THE most, according to direct response Titan Ken McCarthy, among others)…
BULLETS!
Now before I let his thoughts fly, here’s what I want you to pay attention to:
— Principles. Like any great thinker, David focuses on principles first, then strategy/technique/tactic.
— His before/after of great bullets. Studying this will help you write better.
— The tip-the-scale metaphor. Never heard that before, but I might steal it. It’s a great way to think of bullets, benefits, and curiosity-provoking promises in copy.
Okay, so without any further ado… Here’s David!
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Bullets
What are bullets? A lot of people don’t really understand bullets and bullet points. In terms of what they are technically, the little dots are bullets and the words after them are the bullet points.
But from a copywriting point of view, remember that we’re trying to move someone from resistance into action. It’s almost like there is a balance scale filled with BB’s. The bullet points are like BB’s that move the desire to take action high enough so there is no resistance. Bullet points are little things, any one of which could take a person over the edge and could shift the balance scale.
A bullet is a short phrase — sometimes as long as 2 or 3 lines — that in a very concentrated and power-packed dynamic way, sums up what is really powerful or exciting. Usually about one aspect about what you’re writing your copy about.
What a lot of people don’t understand is what a bullet is supposed to do, or how it’s supposed to do that. A bullet point is not a summary. A bullet point is not a condensation.
A bullet doesn’t just lie on the floor in a pile of goo. A bullet is something in action. Take a table fan for instance on an extremely hot day. The blade of the fan is a feature of the fan. It isn’t a bullet. A bullet is the breeze that is created by the fan blade that the fan provides for you. If you ever get stuck on bullets, think of your prospect as someone who is hot and sweaty and your product or your service is the fan that’s going to cool them off and make them feel comfortable again. You have to get them to imagine that comforting, soft breeze that’s calming them down. A bullet is your product in motion.
If you were selling a weight loss product, you would not want to use “Powerful Weight Loss Plan” as one of your bullets. That’s a summary; that doesn’t work.
It doesn’t work because it satisfies and you don’t want to satisfy the prospect. What do you want to do? You want to provoke them. You want them to read the next sentence. You want to create curiosity, desire, anxiety, and excitement. you don’t want to create that static state of satisfaction. If your bullet doesn’t get someone excited or get someone craving some of the benefit that your product is going to provide — whether your product is providing relief from anxiety, relief from pain, money, hope, opportunity, or whatever your product is providing. The bullet needs to get them into the experience by arousing their emotions.
You don’t want them to say, “Now I understand what it is. I don’t have to worry about getting it because I understand what it is.” What you want them to understand is why they want to buy it, why they want to take action. Creating satisfaction does not accomplish this goal. Intrigue, curiosity, and desire makes the person want to know more or want to do something. The person wants to take the action you want them to take.
This is not a bullet for a weight loss product: “When you’re trying to lose weight, you should never eat two ice cream sized scoops of Crisco covered with a generous serving of maple syrup. In this book, you’ll learn why.”
This is a bullet: “A double whammy dessert that’s a recipe for diabetes and high cholesterol. You may have had this after Sunday dinner, but after you learn what it is, you’ll never even think of eating this again.”
What’s the difference? I’m talking about the same thing. People eat foods that are actually that bad. In the first case, I’m describing it. Now you know what not to eat, so where does that leave you? “I understand something. I learned something. That’s great.”
With the bullet point, you want them to say, “What’s he talking about? Is he talking about my favorite dessert? Am I going to get diabetes from my favorite dessert or high cholesterol? I’m going to have a heart attack just because of my favorite dessert?”
What is it? You don’t know. Won’t they feel better when they learn?
Bullets are important when you are writing copy because, with the type of sales copy I’m discussing here, people can not see your product, they can’t feel it, or hold it, try it out, or take it home. Bullets are dynamic. They are your product in action.
You can tell if bullets are good by how people react. A bullet needs to be more than just merely interesting. They need to reach out and grab someone by the emotions to the point where the other person say, “How can I get that?” or “How do they do that” or “What is that” or “What are they talking about?”
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Do this right, and your copywriting will suck the cash right out of your customer’s wallet!
I remember Ken McCarthy talking about bullets. And how once you mastered that simple principle David describes above, you’ve figured out how to write promise-based copy (ESPECIALLY selling information products).
Because if you apply that same principle throughout the copy, your reader isn’t going to be able to make it through your copy without turning into Pavlov’s dog, sitting there in a puddle of their own drool.
Here are some of the bullets for David’s book on Amazon:
— What “Copywriting Junction” is… and… why it holds the key to making the most money from advertising… no matter what business you’re in!
— The forbidden “Eavesdrop” secret – taught to Hollywood screenwriters – guaranteed to warp speed your copywriting ability from novice to expert in no time flat!
— The “C” Factor: How it forces people to read your ad, letter or website from top to bottom… whip out their wallet… and… buy on the spot!
— How to get a flood of customers – in fact, more than you could handle – without the usual frustration, stress and struggle!
— How to tap the deep reservoirs of the subconscious mind and burst open the floodgates to greater success at a faster rate! (It’s easier than you think!)
— The “Anatomy of a Sales Message” revealed! At last, discover the six parts every promotion – online or offline – must have to pull in staggering results!
— How to “genetically” engineer break-the-bank promotions that almost never quit bringing in piles of cash!
— How to write such monster winners your kids and grand kids will never have to work a day in their lives! (Don’t laugh. It’s happened before… and… it could happen to you.)
If you’re looking to take your copywriting business from $5,000 per month to $20,000 per month…
… OR…
If you write copy for your own business, doing at least $5,000 per month in a market that allows you to do much more…
You should also think about reaching out to David. His coaching services are high-cost, high-commitment. But most copywriters who do any coaching with him call it some of the best money they’ve ever spent.
He likes my readers. He knows you’re the right kind of people.
He just asks that you have already figured out “how to make money with your copywriting” before approaching him, because he helps copywriter make MORE money once they have some momentum.
If that’s you, here’s the link to David’s coaching services, and tell him Roy sent you.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
