Consider this a gift from me
And I don't need you to thank me
I already have enough people thanking and praying for me on a daily basis
But this is very valuable,
And if you choose to piss on it,
That is your affair.
We begin:
This little secret makes up for just 10% of your message
But if you don't get that 10% right,
You will go home with empty pockets
Listen...
Back in 2011,
One of the greatest financial Copywriters to ever touch a keyboard wrote a promo that shook the gates of Wallstreet...
It pulled in $250 smackering million dollars for Stansberry Research...
That promo was titled:
"The End of America"
It's since become recommended reading for financial copywriters
And as you might guess...
It was written by the legendary Mike Palmer.
Now, here's where this gets awkward
The big idea behind the "End of America" was spell-binding
And you'd think that's the #1 reason for it's success
But during one of his internal calls, where he was answering Copywriting questions from his small team of Copywriting proteges...
Mike Palmer (the guy who wrote that promo) said:
The Lead is by far the most important part of any marketing campaign.
Not the big idea.
Or even the offer.
Why?
I'll tell you
But first, for context,
The lead is the first 350-500 words of your copy
Or the first 1/4 , 1/8, 2/16 of your message
It's the introductory-section of your message (ad, email, landing page, sales letter, VSL, Webinar) designed to cast a spell on your prospect -- with instant emotional impact
Curiosity.
Hope.
Fear.
Anger.
Lust.
Excitement
And so on....
It triggers an emotion and keeps them salivating for more....
"This is interesting, this is exciting, tell me more..."
"Wait, What??? I never would have thought of this ??"
"No way!!! Or wait... what if it's true?? "
"Wait, where's this going??"
See, it's true that for a marketing campaign to succeed
You need a compelling big idea.
But your big idea is useless if your lead... the first 350-500 words of your message ... doesn't do it's job
The job of conveying your big idea superbly well,
So it hooks your prospect and pulls them into your message without losing the core appeal of your big idea.
If you read my emails very often
You may have noticed something about my first paragraphs
That's the most important part of my email -- second only to my subject line, which is the first thing in my email-lead
I put wayyyyy more effort there than anywhere else in any email (or anything else for that matter) I write :
Ads, emails, sales letters, whatsapp messages, dms... etc
Hark unto me...
When people don't read your stuff
It's because your lead is weak
And doesn't effectively convey the big idea behind your message
I hope you're paying attention to what I'm telling you??
When it comes to writing high-impact copy
Your lead -- the introductory part of your message -- the title or headline and first paragraph -- or first few paragraphs-- is by far the most important block of your entire message.
It is responsible for 90% of the success of your message
If you don't get it right
Nobody will read your stuff
And as you might guess...
Nobody will buy what you're selling.
Mark Ford hits the nail on the head:
“90% of your success depends on 10% of the copy you write. Get that 10% right, and you’ll have a golden career. Fail to master that 10%, and you’ll be eating ketchup sandwiches. The 10% is the 300-500 words that make up the “Lead” of your marketing campaign.”
End of story.
Morning to you and yours.
Stay frosty
A.
P.S: If you think I'm just blowing hot air...
Take out 30-minutes and study the last 10 emails (from me or anyone else) you opened with excitement or mad curiosity...
The Lead (subject lines and opening paragraphs) got so deep in your emotional brain... sparking so much interest...
You just had to know what it was all about.
Pay attention to the choice of words in the subject line
And the first paragraph or the first few paragraphs
You may learn a thing or two.
P.P.S: Want to join the small group of Copywriters I'm training?
Read my invitation letter here