Great Advice About Writing Copy From A Guy With A Black Hat

by Mike Sigers

Black HatThe great advice the headline refers to is the last sentence in this post.

In between is some other great advice and some opinion all rolled into one dynamic, super blog post !

For those of you unfamiliar with the world of “internet marketers“, there’s at least one good newsletter out there.

I’ve been a subscriber of this newsletter for several years, probably around 4-6 years. Maybe more. Doesn’t matter.

It’s called TalkBiz News and it’s written by Paul Myers.

I’ve “bought Paul a beer” several times for the great content, free software, great reports, etc, that he’s written or bought and resold.

I’ve sent him more money thru PayPal than I’d like to think about.

And now I’ve pimped him on my blog. That’s a trifecta, in my book.

Recently, the main article in his newsletter was titled, “How Long is “Too Long ?”

Here’s an excerpt:

There’s a discussion that comes up all the time on the forums and in various lists. The question that starts it is a sensible one and usually asked by sensible people. The answers, however, especially from so-called “experts,” can be really annoying.

That magic question is:

“How long should my newsletter or article be ?”

The answers that make me wonder if there’s any actual effort of thought behind them are the ones that say, “You can’t go over 350 (or 500 or 750) words. People won’t read them.”

I’m often tempted to respond to those with, “Well, maybe if you’d learn to say something interesting you wouldn’t have that problem!”

That would be rude. So, I just think it.

But it’s true.


That’s exactly what you get with Paul. No nonsense, blunt, to-the-point advice. You know, the kind that makes you money.

I hate to read comments on blogs where the commenter gives his/her advice, which is really just his/her opinion, that says, in effect – People won’t read long copy.

“Scuse me for a second here while I go all redneck and say Bulldroppings !

The truth of the matter is, I’m looking for more to read than is available … most of the time, on most topics.

There’s more than enough pages out there, they just all happen to say the same damn thang, most of the time, because people don’t live their topic, they just read other people’s writings and re-hash what they read, while throwing in their unlearned opinion.

What’s the great advice Paul wrote ?

Here you go:

” When you make someone laugh, you reset their attention span. “

Want to get your readers to read farther into your copy than ever before ?

Want to get them to stay subscribed to your newsletter, ezine or RSS feed ?

Want to get them to read to the bottom of your PPC ad and click the link ?

Want to get them to subscribe to your list ?

Make ‘em laugh.

” When you make someone laugh, you reset their attention span. “

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Michael A. Stelzner July 23, 2007 at 8:20 am

Laughing is fun.

You should read this post I put up this weekend:
http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2007/07/21/stupid-people/

I could not have made something this funny up.

Mike

Reply

Mike Sigers July 23, 2007 at 5:42 pm

I had actually already read that Mike, as I’m a long time subscriber to your RSS feed, but I’m glad you posted that here for my readers and to add to our conversation.

Thanks for dropping by and come back soon.

Reply

Pete Wailes July 30, 2007 at 3:19 am

It’s only too long when it’s becoming boring and people stop reading. Is Lord of the Rings too long?

Reply

Mike Sigers July 30, 2007 at 8:21 am

Absolutely great analogy Pete.

Thanks for stopping by and for commenting.

Reply

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