Revolting copywriting secrets from two hated & reviled newspaper moguls

Behold a copywriting secret used by two of the most hated, most reviled, and most successful media tycoons I ever heard of: One of them is a completely fictional man. The other was as real as the newspapers people read each day — both literally & figuratively. Let’s start with the fictional one: Charles Foster Kane. “Citizen Kane” is one of the most critically acclaimed movies ever made. Yet, believe it or not, when it was released hardly anyone watched it. It was considered too glum and sophisticated for the average person. But what is not too glum or too sophisticated for the student of marketing and copywriting is a quote from the movie about headlines, that applies as much to a business wanting to make more sales as it does a newspaper wanting to increase ad revenue. Here is the quote: “If the headline is big enough, it makes the news big enough” In the news business it’s all about the headline. If the headline is good, the article gets read, which creates more readers, which creates more circulation, which creates more demand for advertising, which creates more revenue for the paper. On the other hand, if the headline is boring the article gets ignored, which loses readers, which cuts down on circulation, which creates less demand for advertising, which guts the paper’s revenues. All great newspaper moguls knew this. (Today, I don’t know if any of these government lapdog papers got the memo or not, though.) And so do all great copywriters, too — as the same principle applies to sales copy: Make your headline big enough, and it’ll make your SALES & PROFITS big enough. That’s why great ad men have always spent so much of their time just on the headline. The late, great Gene Schwartz once said if a brand new copy cub were to write a powerful enough headline… then that “newbie” would beat the pants off the seasoned & more skilled pro just because the headline is so much better - regardless of how “world class” the rest of the ad is. All other things equal (rare as that is) as far as marketing, he with the best headline wins. Moving on: The other (real life) media mogul I want to talk about is the late William Randolph Hearst — who Citizen Kane was more-than-just-partly based on. Like Charles Foster Kane’s fictional story, Hearst’s real life story is just as much a “what NOT to do” lesson as it is a “what to do” lesson. And, incidentally, so were his headlines, too. Take this headline, for example: “Exterminate Entire German Species, Urges Kipling” Yeesh. The German heritage in me bristled at that one... On a side note: It’s amusing to see people whine and moan about today’s news being too slanted, biased, offensive, divisive, and “mean spirited”… when FOX, CNN, MSN, The New York Times, Info Wars, Breitbart, Drudge, Daily Mail, New York Post, etc… ain’t got nuttin’ on Hearst. Anyway, point is, in sales copy it’s all about the headline. And in my Copy Slacker book, I teach the 11 best kinds of headline structures I ever done used — along with examples — for the highest pulling sales copy I’ve ever run, spanning some of the most “rabid” and overheated-with-competition markets on the internet. Including Golf, Self-Defense, MLM, Biz Opp, Dating, Prostate Problems, internet Marketing, and Weight Loss. I daresay if you combine some of Kane & Hearst’s outrageousness with the market research insights (to make sure you get revered and not reviled by would-be prospects…) then I believe these headline structures almost can’t fail to get your business’ sales copy a ho’ lot more attention than it gets now. Yes, even if you aren’t that great at writing. Whatever the case, the book is still on sale at a $200 off the listed price discount — $624 vs $824 — until tomorrow (Sunday, 5/21) at midnight EDT at the link below. Get it at this discount price today while you still can here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/slacker]( Use code: ROPER at the checkout. Make sure you see the price change before entering your info. Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA