My #1 Copywriting Principle (A MUST in 2024!)

mistake that I see made more often more often than you can imagine is folks are more focused on writing compelling copy than they are on writing believable copy they're more focused on the drama they're more focused on the power they're more focused on we we were joking about the the jealously guarded steroid like tsunami results they're more focused on the flare they're more focused on the on this big the big dramatic hook the big dramatic angle they're more focused on the drama of copy they think that at the root of copy that the more dramatic

it is the more hyperbolic it is that the better it converts but you have to realize at the end of the day you're presenting a message that you need people to believe if they don't believe what you're saying is true they're not buying it doesn't matter how dramatic it is if they don't believe you remember at the core what did we say yesterday we said right they're on and on is they're right here your prospects are here they've got a problem paino frustration disappointment or an unfulfilled desire and they want to go here your job

is to show them is to convince them is to make them believe that you've got a solution that can get them from here to there and do it better more efficiently more effective easier quicker than any other solution that's your job meaning they have to believe what you are saying and I see copy I see messaging that comes across my desk on a regular basis where I'm like this is not believable this is not believable whether it be it's just an outrageous hook like we joked around about you know like you know I discovered the

the secret to you know burning body fat from the lost you know the lost city of Atlantis that ain't believable Man by the majority of normal human beings that's not believable right like you're ask what you're ultimately doing is you're making the you're you're you're making the leap of belief big like you're making it big you're asking these people to take a monster leap meaning you're making the job your job much more difficult right everything that you present needs to be believable and remember you you've heard me say numerous times not everything that's true is

believable and not everything that's believable is true what we're dealing with or what we want to deal with is true and believable at the root it's got to be believable it's got to be believable and ultimately your job and this is what I I I said yesterday like I don't know whether it is time spent in the in the marketing Arena like you know years now at this point two over two decades doing this but I I really think that i' I've really come to believe and view that most Market that they're they're caught up

in this art of copywriting they they they put on that copywriting cap they sit down down and they they spew out stuff that you would never spew out in any other place in your life except when you're writing copy and then we think that that's good that that's good copy right but what did we say yesterday right that good copy doesn't sound like copy it doesn't feel like copy like it doesn't feel like you're being manipulated it doesn't feel like you're being pitched it doesn't feel like it's coming from a biased perspective good copy feels

like you're being educated right like you're being shown in information that it's helping you to to come to a new conclusion a new belief right this is why we say when it's done right in the end your prospect should be like thank you thank you for opening my eyes thank you for helping me to to understand right and and and so I want you to recognize that at the root of everything that I do is I just want them to believe listen if nothing else if nothing else I just want them to believe that that

I've got a solution to bring you from here to here that is superior to the other options if nothing else that's all that I that I want to do that's at the root of what it I don't care about all the other stuff to me is the seasoning all the other stuff is the seasoning at the root that's what I am trying to do and they need to believe it so when I give right when I make a claim about the solution they need to believe the claim therefore I need to present proof evidence support

I need to reinforce it this is why David like talking about communication that's right like and so I I want them to believe it I want them to understand it and and I said you know my my approach to message creation is this where a lot of copywriters a lot of marketers mistakenly think that the emotional the emotional aspect comes from these hyperbolic words and phrases right like that if I if I say to you you're going to experience steroid like results tsunami of results that that's where the emotion comes from the reality is is

that where the emotion comes from is when I believe my gosh this legitimately can get me from here to there like this is plausible this is this sounds legit like this I see it I get it I understand oh my gosh finally the prospect of me going from here to there this is real like I feel good about it that's where the emotion comes from it doesn't come from this artificial uh um puffery that you're creating with words it comes from establishing the belief in them and so everything that you say has to be believable

I would rather you be less dramatic and more believable I would rather you forget the drama for now be believable first you can add in the drama after like in other words I will always start off by proving my my case which we're going to talk about proving my argument proving my thesis making sure that I'm presenting a Rock Solid argument for the fact that I do have a solution that can get you from point A to B then I'll go in and I'll say is there a way that we can say it better with

a little bit more flare a little bit more impact but at the root you got to be believable and so it's it's baffling to me how many people will default to compelling like they think my job is to write compelling copy your job is to write believable copy that's compelling your job is to establish belief it's got to be believable that is compelling