And of course, don't forget The Gary Halbert Letter

and Gary Bencivenga's Marketing Bullets

Priceless information for free from two of the best copywriters ever.


There's also a good forum dedicated solely to copywriting at The Copywriting Board.

Nice, thanks for sharing the Dr. V's, letter that's good stuff right there...Cheers

Dr V's copy page is freakin entrancing....who the hell wrote that???

Damn...

Cheers,

Brad

Make Your Words Sell! - The Simple Art of e-Persuasion (free 250 pages pdf ebook, no signup required): http://myws.sitesell.com/ (the download link is close to the bottom of the page)

Enjoy!

The wealth of expertise (if you follow the links) and shear value in this thread is priceless...

But the list wouldn't be complete without John 'Frosty' Carlton's stuff

Self Defense
Golf

These are biggies:

Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini

Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins

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Some short tips:

• Keep paragraphs short - try not to go over 3 lines per paragraph. If you do break it up with a one line sentence.

• Black and red (#cc0000) have been known to pull the greatest response for headlines.

• Use sans-serif fonts on your salesletter - these are easier to read on-screen. Sans-serif fonts are the fonts WITHOUT the little arms and legs. They consist of Verdana, Arial and Tahoma (plus many more...). Where as serif fonts are your Times, Georgias etc.

• Make sure you have at least 25 (I prefer 30 - 35 pixels) pixels of whitespace between your copy and the edge of your salesetter.

• Use eCover graphics to boost perceived value.

• A winning font combination I use is this (css code included):

For paragraph <p> tags:

p {
font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size:14px;
line-height:21px;
margin-top:21px;
}

For headline <h1> tags:

h1 {
font-family:Tahoma, Verdana, Arial;
font-size:33px;
font-weight:bold;
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
line-height:42px;
color:#cc0000;
}

Hope this helps someone!

Brent

Did someone mention "all in one"?

Here's a link to all the archives of the Early To Rise sales letters all in one place... awesome resource.
Thanks for mentioning it here, Don.

Excellent thread... thanks to all contributors!

Here's a popular tip sheet from my own website to share:

Tweak Away with These 20 Copywriting Tips & Tricks

To help increase your sales, take a look at your copywriting and see if you can make improvements. Often small improvements can result in a much better conversion rate.

In short, as this quote from successful businessman David Ogilvy says, "If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language in which they think."

So go over these tips and see where you can use better language: revise, tweak, edit and otherwise improve your sales efforts.

1. Evaluate your copy. Evaluate repeatedly, over again, until you have it nicely polished, and ready to print. Ask a business contact to read it while in exchange, you read his or her copy.

2. Use shorter words for longer ones.

3. Insert facts, quotes and statistics where possible. These often have more impact than information.

4. Steer clear of witty or obscure phrasing. You want the reader to have clarity of understanding what you mean, rather than to keep them guessing. Say what you have to say in the simplest or most direct of terms. Be concise and to the point.

5. Use straightforward paragraphs and short sentences. Take care to state facts and real figures. Choose not to talk in percentages, but rather state real sums of money.

6. Focus on the advantages and benefits your client will receive from their purchase.

7. When copywriting, do not be overly concerned about the number of words you use while writing. Studies have shown that longer copy sells more products than short copy. Start with short copy, if you like, then add more pages, more depth to your communications.

8. When writing copy, make your words talk with the ease of presenting one-on-one; speak to the customer in their language. In other words, when you are sitting there trying to figure out what to say, just imagine you are sitting there talking to a trusted family member or friend about the product, this should put you right at ease.

9. Copy writing is much easier if you can visualize your audience and then just write to them.

10. Good copy has a sense of quality that is childlike because of its simplicity. Write so anyone can understand your copy and it will come across so much clearer.

11. Read and study the masterpieces of writing by famous advertising authors whose work has paved the path for you and other copywriters.

12. Test everything that comes to mind; write it out if it comes to in a flash or in a simple wave of clarity. Use the positive tested phrases in your copywriting.

13. Write and write, then re-write. Practice does make perfect.

14. Be open to refreshing concepts and ease them into your copywriting while not upsetting the flow of writing.

15. Employ the use of bullets or check lists while copywriting, do not be afraid to use plenty of bullets or check lists.

16. Remember use of FREE, NEW, SECRET, GUARANTEE, PROFIT and YOU are all eye catchers. Heat up your copy with words that reach and grab the reader's attention.

17. You have to place a call to action in your copy to motivate the customer to act, if the customer is not drawn to act on your call, sales may be lost.

18. Gather up some testimonials for use in copywriting. Studies have proven that testimonials grab more reader attention than any other factors combined. Testimonials set the stage for credibility.

19. Always remember in copywriting that you've got almost as much pull with the ending P.S. message for sales attraction as you do with coming up with a killer headline. Your P.S. copy should sum everything up nicely so readers are immediately drawn to answering your call for action.

20. Know your product.

"Good copy can't be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. You've got to believe in the product," David Ogilvy.

So give your copy a good inspection and make improvements where you can. Then put your best sales copy foot forward and get back out there and sell!


@ Moving Ahead

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Might be worth it (no doubt) but this looks like $9.95 to me. The PDF link didn't open.
I'll go to site itself and see if it works there.
RichieG

This is in reference to Dan Kennedy's letter.

My words exactly, just what I have been looking for. Trying to build up some really good content to get all the juices going to come up with some really good ideas. Thanks everyone.

Frank

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This has got to one of the largest collection of Swipe Files I have ever seen. The site's got everything and broken down into niches and even some specific copywriters. There's even a way to get dozens and dozens of swipes emailed to you almost on a weekly basis. Looks like you can gain access to the site for free. It's called SwipeFileMonthly.com .