I found out about this book a few days ago and was able to track down the audio version of it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8zjzKZdUFQ
The good news about Youtube is that you can speed up the playback speed to get through videos even quicker than normal. 😉
Anyway, I was putting notes together as I went through it and have put them down below:
Chapter 2
- “Would it help a salesman sell the goods?”
- “Would it help me sell them if I met a buyer in person?”
- Do everything you would do if you met the buyer face-to-face.
- Don’t think of people in mass. Think of a typical individual (man or woman) who is likely to want what you sell.
Chapter 3
- Remember the people you address are selfish. They care nothing about your interests.
- The best ads ask no one to buy.
- Picture the customer’s side of the service until the natural result is to buy.
- Whatever people do, they do to please themselves.
Chapter 4
- Quantify the results (cost per response, etc.).
- Use all available space (use every line, etc.).
- “The more you tell, the more you sell”
Chapter 5
- “Hey there, Bill Jones”
- Get the right headline (this will more than likely take more time than writing the Ad itself)
- Readers of your Ad will decide whether they should read them or not by a glance (by your headline or your picture(s)).
- Address the people you see, and them only.
Chapter 6
- Human nature is perpetual and doesn’t change.
- Cheapness is not a strong appeal.
- “Try the horse for a week. Come and pay me then.”
- We’ve opened a line of credit for you. Next time you order, you’re welcome to use it.
Chapter 7 – Be Specific
- Platitudes like “best in the world”, “lowest price in existence” undermine your message. Instead, use something like “supreme in quality”
- “Our tungsten lamps give more light than a carbon” vs. “Our tungsten lamps 3 and a third more light than a carbon”
- “Our prices have been reduced” vs. “Our prices have been reduced 25 per cent”
- Include specific details (7 out of 10 people like this more than that) to portray actual research behind why something is better or worse than another.
Chapter 8 – Tell Your Full Story
- When attempting to get a new customer, don’t hold anything back. Give them a story from beginning to end on why they should use your product.
- You can always address an unconverted prospect.
Chapter 9 – Art In Advertising
- Ads are not written to interest, please, or amuse.
- Use pictures only when they form a better selling argument than the same amount of space set in type.
- Don’t let your picture over-shadow your headline. Your main appeal lies in the headline.
Chapter 10 – Things Too Costly
- Large scale changes to customers are too large to be taken on by any one advertiser. However, widespread co-operation with many advertisers can dramatically change results for the better.
- Costly mistakes are made by blindly following some ill-conceived idea.
- Track and quantify your ads. Try things, but keep track of everything.
Chapter 11 – Information
- A very large volume of data usually precedes an advertising campaign. Even an experimental campaign, for effective experiments costs a great deal of work and time.
- The uninformed would be staggered to know the amount of work involved in a single Ad. Weeks of work sometimes.
- Behind an Ad may lie reams of data, volumes of information, months of research. So this is no lazy man’s field.
Chapter 12 – Strategy
- Names of campaigns are very important. Use a product name to limit lines for competition (Kleenex, Vaseline, etc.).
- Competition must be considered when creating Ads.
- In order to convert (close) many people, you must first find out how you convert one person.
Chapter 13 – Use of Samples
- The product itself should be its own best salesman. Not the product alone, but the product plus a mental impression, and atmosphere which you place around it.
- Using the word “Free” in an Ad often multiplies readers and will generally more than pay for your samples.
- Handing out free samples is usually a waste (they can’t be tracked).
Chapter 14 – Getting Distribution
- Go town by town, until you get to a national level.
- If you get a reply coupon from a reader by mail, send your products to a local store and have the store facilitate the transaction. This way, the reader will be able to get more of the product from that local store.
Chapter 15 – Test Campaigns
- Quantify everything. Test campaigns, but utilize the data, not your opinions.
- From a few thousand, learn what the millions will do. Then act accordingly.
- Actual figures gained at a small cost can settle the question definitely.
- Chemist example: Nobody believes a chemist until he has facts and data to support what he is saying. Apply that to why your Ads work or don’t work.
Chapter 16 – Leaning On Dealers
- Sales made by conviction – by advertising – are likely to bring permanent customers.
- Don’t give free products to dealers (i.e. 1 case in 10).
- Window displays are generally useless.
- Your objective in all of advertising is to buy new customers at a price, which pays you a profit…… Learn what your consumers cost and what they buy. If they cost you one dollar each, figure that every wasted dollar costs you a possible customer.
Chapter 17 – Individuality
- A person who desires to make an impression must stand out in some way.
- The impression must seem to come from the heart.
Chapter 18 – Negative Advertising
- To attack a rival is never good advertising.
- Picture what others wish to be, not what they may be now.
- Picture envied people, not envious people.
- Tell people what to do, not what to avoid.
- Say “Send now for this sample.” Don’t say “Why do you neglect this offer?”
- Invite them to follow the crowd.
Chapter 19 – Letter Writing
- Letters to inquirers, follow-up letters, etc. should all be tested.
- “You are a new customer, and we want to make you feel welcome. So when you send your order please enclose this card. The writer wants to see that you get a gift with the order – something you can keep.”
- Strike while the iron is hot.
- You can afford to pay for prompt action rather than lose by delay.
Chapter 20 – A Name That Helps
- There’s great advantage in a name that tells a story.
- Examples: May Breath, Cream of Wheat, Dutch Cleanser, Minute Tapioca, Alcorub.
- Meaningless coined names: Kodak, Karo, Vaseline, Lux.
Chapter 21 – Good Business
- Quantify and measure your Ads and responses.
- Men and methods will be measured by the known returns, and only competent men can survive.
- Small expenditures made on a guess will grow to big ones on a certainty.