Zap! Boom! Pow! Use Will Smith's "Magic Formula" to Ramp Up the Selling Power of Your Copy

Since it has been an eternity since I have posted on this site (must improve posting efforts!), here is a great AWAI article for you to enjoy:


By Guillermo Rubio, AWAI Staff Copywriter

Will Smith has made Hollywood history.

And his personal "magic formula" can accelerate your growth … and income … as a copywriter.

His most recent film, Hancock, has raked in $107.3 million since its release last week. This makes him the first actor to star in eight straight movies that brought in over $100 million.

Simply put, Will Smith is the industry's most "bankable" man.

How does he do it?

A recent USA Today article reveals his secret …

"I study patterns," he says. "Nine out of the top 10 biggest movies of all times have special effects; eight out of 10 have creatures in them; seven out of 10 have a love story. So if you want a hit, you might want to throw those in the mix. I just study patterns and try to stand where lightning strikes."

As a copywriter, you can use Will's "magic formula" of studying patterns. In fact, if you plan on becoming an "A"-level copywriter with the earning power to live out the life of your dreams, this might be the easiest and quickest way to get there.

Here's why:

Your biggest challenge as a copywriter is to attract and keep your prospect's attention. The better job you do of this, the higher your response rate—and the more money you and your clients make.

One way to learn how to keep your prospect engaged all the way to the order device is to study control promos that are, or have been, blockbuster hits.

But you can take it one step further by actually studying the patterns in movies like Will Smith does.

Legendary copywriter Gene Schwartz regarded watching successful movies as the best way to train a copywriter in writing persuasive, engaging copy. His reasoning was that popular movies do a masterful job of keeping an audience captivated, all the way through the credits.

In fact, Gene used to tell copywriters to watch the blockbuster film, Lethal Weapon. It keeps the audience riveted right from the start with an explosion, and every few minutes there's a new action scene.

But Gene isn't the only one who knows the value of watching a hit film.

Gary Bencivenga, considered the world's greatest living copywriter, suggests it too.

Gary says, "Watch movies, because movies are the playgrounds of human emotion. As a marketer, you want to be an expert in human emotions. As you watch, try to identify every emotion the actors are playing, and let yourself feel it intensely. It's fun and instructive.

"You'll also open up your emotional channels as never before. This will help you immensely in writing more emotionally powerful copy, because you will feel what you are writing about."

Without question, movie watching can put you on the path to crafting control-crushing copy that can earn you industry-wide respect.

So what patterns do you look for?

Structure. Part of what Gene Schwartz loved about the movie Lethal Weapon is that it has an identifiable pattern in its structure. Action scene … dialogue … action scene … dialogue, etc. This pattern creates what he called a "rhythm." When you watch a movie, notice how often an action scene comes up … how often dialogue between action scenes occurs … at what points new plot elements are introduced. You can use this same pattern, or "rhythm," in your copy.

For instance, begin with an attention-getting headline (action scene) … a compelling lead (dialogue scene) … followed by a new, and attention-grabbing piece of information (action scene), etc.

Emotions. Just as Gary Bencivenga suggests, analyze and feel the emotions in a movie. Understand how you're being set up to feel them. Did the movie give you a peek into the main character's troubled past? Was a word said in a certain way? Was it the music? Facial expressions? How many times throughout the movie are your emotions jerked?

Also, notice patterns across different hit films. Maybe 8 out of 10 focus on suspense and anxiety. And maybe only 6 out of 10 focus on happiness and hope. Knowing these patterns will clue you in to what emotions "sell" best.

Plot. What is it about the plot or story that's engaging? Do 9 out of 10 movies follow a similar plot structure? At what point does the plot climax? The answers to these questions can help you keep your copy fresh and engaging. For instance, many hit movies might seem predictable at first, and then go in a completely different direction than expected, to grab your attention.

Hit movies offer a great copywriting education. Watching them is the quickest, easiest, fun way to learn how to gain and keep your prospect's attention all the way to the sale. Plus, you'll gain a deeper understanding of human emotion.

Next time you watch one, don't just watch it. Study it. Who knows, it might lead to a string of million-dollar controls—making you the most "bankable" copywriter in the industry.

This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread

Slow Turtle Sunday

Today was another slow day...another steady stream of reality droplets hit me and I took care of personal matters around my house. And I did it slowly, very slowly. Much like a turtle carefully plodding along towards its goal with no sense of time, space or urgency.

Yep, I'm still moving myself back from turtle mode (aka island living) into full working mode.
Tomorrow will be another step in that direction! Hopefully a very big one.

While I get back to my tasks, enjoy this interview with Gary Bencivenga. It's a treasure trove of goodies for anyone interested in copywriting. Enjoy!

Are Wishes Really Granted?

Yet again I am faced with a day full of more tasks than I accomplish! However the things I don't finish give me something to prepare for the next day so I'm not complaining.

This blog entry was going to be about how to make money as a blogger but I ran out of time yet again. That entry will appear tomorrow because I have simply more on my plate then I could completely tackle in one day (at least by myself..when my apprentices get up to speed we'll have plenty of hands on deck and hopefully a much bigger boat or fleet of boats to manage! Did you follow that analogy?!).

Instead I'm going to share a little story along with a quick recap on how I spent my day.

If you've read my previous entries you know I've discussed The Secret and the Law of Attraction (or Law of Vibration as it's also called). And I've talked about my Holosync meditation ritual.

So last night as I was meditating, I decided to send out this intention: I wanted someone to give me something for free today, Tuesday April 17th.

I didn't say what it was exactly, just something for free without a request on my part.

So I said the intention a few times and felt the happiness and joy I would feel when I received the freebie and then I let the thought and the feeling pass on and went back to meditating.

During one of my sessions in my Gmail account (lloest@gmail.com if you want to reach me), my friend popped in a message window. He is testing a new product and wanted to make sure his Paypal processing was all set up properly.

He asked for my Paypal email address and said he was going to send me some money to test his processing procedure. I gave him my email account and logged in to help him check everything out.

It went smoothly and I received a bit of money from him.

He thanked me, I thanked him and said it was my pleasure to be of assistance and we went about our days.

It wasn't until a short while later that it struck me I had received my previous night's request. I had asked for something free and I had gotten it.

When I realized and understood what had just happened, I smiled from ear to ear. And I did feel as happy and as joyful as I had imagined I would.

I'm sure many people would pass this off as a coincidence and that's fine. I prefer to believe we can create our worlds...scratch that, we DO create our worlds.

I'm aware enough to know I don't know everything about creating the world I want otherwise I'd already have everything I want. But I do know enough to sit quietly and observe..and to believe in my wishes.

The more I study and the more I learn, the stronger my belief in myself and my ability as an Infinite Creator becomes. And that's where it's fun!

I'm not naive enough (or in the least bit lazy) to believe I can sit on my couch and meditate to receive millions but I'm already doing the work behind so many great ventures that when I add belief to the equation I think it will speed up the creation process.

So that was my story for the day. :) I'm sure there are lots more where that came from!

Here's a recap of what I did today when I wasn't receiving money for free:

*Morning update call
*MSN AdCenter ads - rewrote 26 (took 20 min)
*MSN AdCenter ads - uploaded more keywords
*emailed our traffic assistant person
*called our other traffic assistant contact
*emailed 4 apprentices
(2 of these emails were welcome emails and the other 2 were for actual tasks)
*hung out in Warrior Forums...turns out I have to be a contributing member for awhile before I can post in the special offer forum (the offer I posted here yesterday)
*met with my Payroll company so I can start paying myself. YIPEE!
*reviewed material by Clayton Makepeace, Gary Bencivenga, John Carlton and Gary Halbert
*Solo ad emailed to Listdotcom.com
*Emailed friend's friend about a type of web site building program

Things to do tomorrow:
*Blog entry on making money as a blogger!!!
*Networking luncheon (FUN!)
*Check on MSN AdCenter campaigns
*Go to directresponsejobs.com

And a litany of other things I am sure!! Actually I have made a daily habit of writing down the top 6 things I will do that day to move me closer to my goal.

If I haven't told you my goal yet, here it is:

My goal is to have 10 world-class copywriters working with me by April of 2008 and to generate a 100K salary for myself in the process...and to help them create whatever salary they desire as well.

I write this goal every day on a little slip of paper..usually a Post-It and I carry it with me.

I like that goal so I review it at least twice a day but usually more often.

There you have it, my day in a nutshell. Wasn't that fun?!!

Til tomorrow...