10 Copywriting Principles from G. Lynn Sumners

Advertisers get so caught up in technology and ever increasing media options, they often forget the basic principles of writing that sells.

So here are 10 tips from the past that are still relevant today.

How I Learned The Secrets Of Success In Advertising (Available at Amazon.com)

By G. Lynn Sumners

1. Learn all about your proposition before you write anything about it.

2. Organize your material from the viewpoint of the buyer’s interests, not yours.

3. Decide to whom you are writing.

4. Keep it simple.

5. Use meaningful words and phrases-words that stir the emotions, make the mouth water, make the heart beat faster.

6. Don’t try to be funny. Remember, the most serious of all operations is separating a man from his money.

7. Make your copy specific-names, places, what happens to whom.

8. Prove your points.

9. Make copy long enough to tell your story-and quit.

10. Give your reader something to do and make it easy for him to do it.

I discovered G. Lynn Sumners thanks to reading Bob Bly’s Direct Response Newsletter.