On Copywriting

72-Hour Special: Scientific Advertising Audio Book

Have you heard of Scientific Advertising?

It is a book Claude Hopkins wrote back in 1933. It is one of my favorite advertising books. I have read it three times.

I believe Scientific Advertising is one of the best books (if not the best book) to learn advertising. It contains some of the most profound wisdom about advertising ever written.

That's why I decided to turn this classic into an Audio Book.

Yesterday, I finished recording. Now, if you so desire, you can listen to Scientific Advertising on your computer or MP3 player.

I'm not a professional audio guy, and I'm not professional voice talent, so I can't say the audio is the best quality. But the whole book is there.

I recorded each chapter separately. So there are 21 chapters listed on the download page. You can use the streaming audio player to listen to a chapter a day. Or you can download them and listen to them at your leisure, apart from your computer.

Listen to one chapter a day and you'll be through the book in 21 days. That's only three weeks. And it requires less than 10 minutes a day.

I didn't set up any kind of fancy sales page for this. The normal price will be $20. But for the next 72 hours I'm letting you get it for just $12. After Monday, Nov 19, at 4 p.m. Mountain, the price will go up to $20.

If you are interested, you can place your order here:

==> http://www.goldbar.net/sc/ap.php?m=7440&i=6854

Or, if you'd prefer, PayPal $12 to rhealy [at] gmail [dot] com.

If you pay by PayPal, please be patient. I will be batching emails, so it may take a few hours to get your download link. If you use the link above, you'll get the download link instantly.

My Best,

Ryan

P.S. You can't even get the print version for less than $15 new, so $12 for the audio version is a bargain.

A Great Book I'm Reading...

I can't stop buying or reading books. I'm totally addicted.

Just this week I bought three new books to read:

1. The Game: Win Your Life in 90 Days by Sarano Kelley


2. The Internet Business Book, Vol. 1 by James D. Brausch


3. The Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing by Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer & Robert Skrob

Which book did I decide to read first? I chose James Brausch's book.

The reason I chose to read it first is because James ran a promotion to encourage people to buy the book. As part of the promotion, I agreed to write a review of the book on Amazon. Of course, I have to read the book to fulfill my commitment to James.

So I started reading the book this morning. It is excellent. I'm on page 51 and I already feel like I've gotten more than my money's worth.

The book is actually a collection of James's best blog posts. I like this for two reasons. One, each chapter is easy to read and delivers a lot of value.

Two, I don't keep up with James's blog as much as I'd like to. I enjoy reading in print better than on the screen. So this gives me the opportunity to read his blog without sitting at my computer screen for hours.

Anyway, based on what I've read so far, I suggest you get a copy of James's book. It's called The Internet Business Book, Vol. 1. I got my copy at Amazon.

The Paradox of Choice

I recently finished reading The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz. It is one of the better business books I've read this year.

It's important for copywriters and marketers alike to understand how choices affect decisions. So I bought the book mostly for its marketing insights, although I wanted insight into my personal life as well. The book sheds much light on how we as consumers make decisions.

A quick synopsis:

The Paradox of Choice explores the emotional impact of living in a society with too much choice. In America, we have practically unlimited choice. Common wisdom suggests that more choice equals more happiness.

And yet research proves otherwise. The reality is, more choice is a liability for both the advertiser and the consumer.

When writing copy or designing the flow of a web site, I always keep in mind this simple mantra: "A confused customer never buys."

In other words, simplicity is key. And as Schwartz demonstrates in his book, more choices depress response, increase "buyer's remorse," and cause more refunds.

Fewer choices, on the other hand, result in more sales, more customer satisfaction, and a reduction in refunds.

Yet faced with the plain facts, we all tend to overcomplicate things, myself included. Which is why I so strongly recommend reading Schwartz's book.

Here are two "take aways" I underlined as I was reading:

"Even if companies sell almost none of their highest-priced models, they can reap enormous benefits from producing such models because they help induce people to buy their cheaper (but still extremely expensive) ones." (p. 63)

"[...] individuals facing decisions involving trade-offs, and thus opportunities for regret, will avoid making those decisions altogether." (p. 157)

Ultimately, Schwartz concludes that "choice within constraints, freedom within limits" is what will lead to the greatest happiness in life. Consequently, it is also what leads to the greatest results in marketing and advertising.

If you have any interest in reading it, you can buy The Paradox of Choice here.

P.S. I just noticed that Seth Godin blogged about choice a few days ago. He describes the current dilemma well.

Fiction for Copywriters (And a Free Gift)

This fall, I actually read a fiction book. I don't read much fiction these days, but this book kept me flipping pages all the way to the end. Here's what kept me reading:

• The main character is a direct mail con-man.
• He sells craps systems that don't work through direct mail.
• One day, one of his craps systems works...
• ...Because of a crazy theory called Parrondo's Paradox.
• All of which leads to a fascinating discussion of spirituality and physics.
• Oh, and did I mention the mafia gets involved?

Okay, you might be scratching your head right now. How does an author seamlessly pull together so many seemingly unrelated elements? I don't know. You'll just have to read the book and see for yourself.

The book: God Doesn't Shoot Craps by Richard Armstrong

But here's the thing. While I greatly enjoyed the book, I'm not even asking you to read it. All I want you to do is go to Richard's web site to download a free gift for copywriters. It reveals how he went from $2,000 to over $22,000 per project--back in the 1980s!--by turning work away.

There's no cost, and you don't even have to give him your email address. Just go here and download the PDF, which is part of the way down the page. How's that for a good deal?

Of course, there are some more bonus gifts available if you buy his book from Amazon. That's why I bought the book in the first place. I read the free report and decided it was so good I had to have the others.

So I bought the book at Amazon back in November. I thought it was a good trade.

Just $11.20 for a bunch of great content from a direct mail copywriter who's written controls for some of the biggest mailers in the world. I'll let you decide if you think it's a good trade too. But first, go grab Richard Armstrong's free report for copywriters.

I Feel Bad About My Neck

As a copywriter, it's important to have a breadth of knowledge on many subjects. It's even more important to understand how your prospects think. That's why I recently finished reading Nora Ephron's new book I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman.

You see, many of the prospects I write to are women. Many of them are middle-aged women. And what better way to learn about how women think than read a Nora Ephron book?

(In case you're unaware, Nora Ephron and her sister wrote the movie scripts for When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail.)

Let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It's laugh-out-loud hysterical in parts. And at 137 pages, it's a very quick read.

I Feel Bad About My Neck is less of a cohesive story as it is a collection of essays and stories from Ephron's life. For instance, the title chapter, which is the first essay, is on female aging. "I Hate My Purse" is, of course, about the curse of carrying a purse. "On Maintenance" is about all that goes into staying fit and pretty. Etc.

But lest you think Ephron's book is all humor, I was pleasantly suprised to find that her observations on life are as poignant as they get.

Here are a couple of nuggets from her chapter called "What I Wish I'd Known":

"Block everyone on your instant mail." p.124

"Whenever someone says the words 'Our friendship is more important than this,' watch out, because it almost never is." p. 125

"If only one third of your clothes are mistakes, you're ahead of the game." p. 126

Anyway, I encourage you to broaden your horizons, get out of your comfort zone, and start learning how other people think. Reading I Feel Bad About My Neck is a great way to start.

The Leapfrog Theory

I've recently finished reading Robert Ringer's To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated? It was formerly called Winning Through Intimidation, which I believe is a better name. And yet despite the book's rather cumbersome title, it is phenomenal.

Ringer details a handful of "theories" that define his personal philosophy about life and success, one of which is "The Leapfrog Theory."

The theory states: "No one has an obligation—moral, legal, or otherwise—to 'work his way up through the ranks.' Every human being possesses an inalienable right to make a unilateral decision to redirect his career and begin operating on a higher level at any time he believes he is prepared to do so."

If you are struggling to get copy jobs or raise your rates, this is a great piece of advice. Too often we think that the freelance world must operate like the employed world. That is, we have to "climb the ladder" one rung at a time.

Fortunately, this is not true. You can leapfrog over all of your competitors if you choose.

This nugget of wisdom from Ringer's book is not the only one I gained. In fact, from start to finish, it is  one of the most enlightening business books I've read in some time.

Now, if you go to Amazon and read the reviews, you'll notice that one fellow says To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated? is "too autobiographical to be useful." And while it might be easy to arrive at this conclusion, you'd have to be an exceptionally one-dimensional thinker to not apply Ringer's insights to your own profession.

Said another way: even though Ringer's wisdom comes from his experience as a real estate broker, it can be easily translated to many service-based professions, including copywriting.

If you have a chance, I strongly recommend you open a slot in your reading schedule for Robert Ringer's To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated? It will transform your thinking—and your income.

Dan Kennedy and Me

On March 3, I attended Dan Kennedy's book signing at Barnes & Noble in Westminster, Colorado. I had to drive from the south side of Denver to the north side in rush hour traffic to get there.

I shouldn't complain. My friend, Ken Calhoun, drove all the way from Colorado Springs, which is roughly 2 and a half hours to the south!

It was a great privilege to meet Dan in person in such a small setting. Not to mention, I've never in my life seen so many people come out for a book signing. There was a 30-minute line just to get your book signed.

Also in attendance was Stephen Oliver, one of Dan Kennedy's Platinum Inner Circle members and the founder of Stephen Oliver's Mile High Karate, probably the most successful chain of martial arts studios in the U.S.

I brought my digital camera to get a picture with Dan. He agreed after giving me his criteria: "You can't use this photo as an endorsement of any kind, yada-yada." Basically common sense stuff. Here's how the photo turned out.

Dan Kennedy & Ryan Healy at Dan's Book Signing in Westminster, Colorado

I was surprised that, besides me, the only other person to ask for a photo with Dan was Ken Calhoun, of Day Trading University fame. Brilliant minds think alike. ;-)

By the way, I've finished reading No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs, and I highly recommend it. One of the things I learned from Harlan Kilstein is that you must turn up your "financial thermostat" if you want to become wealthy. Dan's book will help you do that.

The other book, No B.S. Direct Marketing, is good, but more basic. It's really intended for business owners who are unfamiliar with direct marketing, which is alluded to in the book's subtitle. I'm thinking of giving a copy to any potential client who needs to be educated to the benefits of direct marketing. After they're done reading, they'd be practically forced to hire a copywriter!

I'll be seeing Dan Kennedy again a week from now when I head out to his Marketing Superconference March 31 - April 2. If you're going to be there, post a comment and let me know, OK? I'd love to meet you in person.