The Copywriter's Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells, 3rd Edition

Total Rip-OffThat’s exactly what I thought after finishing The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005) by Robert W. Bly.When comparing the crazy amount of value imbedded within these pages, to the small price tag I spent on it, I felt as though I had totally and completely ripped Mr. Bly off.The cost to value ratio is so unbalanced, you’d be a fool not to immediately buy and devour this book.The Copywriter’s Handbook will literally help you leapfrog the competition by accessing a treasure trove of Bly’s experiences through his many years of writing successful ads.Seriously, this is one of the most practical and tactical books on copywriting that I have ever read.In The Copywriter’s Handbook you will learn:• 38 headline examples• The 4 - “U’s” of great copy• 15 ways to open a sales letter• The 10 - point criteria of ads that sell• 11 ways to make your writing more readable• 22 reasons why people might buy your product• The 7 questions you must ask about your audienceWhether you’re a novice to writing copy, a veteran of the craft, a small business owner looking to increase profits, or a solopreneur looking to start a side-hustle with the written word, you will find answers to your most relevant and pressing questions.Additionally, Mr. Bly writes and speaks in a totally approachable and personal manner.He’s wisdom gently rolls off the pages just like you would expect coming from a passionate master and caring mentor.I’m buying and studying more of Bob’s books (several of which he personally recommended for my specific situation) to grow my business.5 Stars all day.Joshua Lee Henry, M.A. & MBA Essentials, SalesforceFounder & CEO, Activate Advertising Agency, L.L.CActivateMyAdvertising.com

The knock that some reviewers gave on this book is that its just contains basic copywriting principles for beginners. Have you guys noticed a lot of the print and television advertising? Mostly cute, gimmicky filler that doesn't do the job of selling products. I remember a few years ago when the media blasted the SaleGenie.com Super Bowl ads for "not being entertaining enough" and being a "major fail." Many media outlets blasted SalesGenie.com for running ineffective ads and not knowing who their target audience is. They were wrong and so are the reviewers who criticized this book. By the way, SalesGenie.com GAINED 10,000 SUBSCRIBERS by Monday morning --the very next day. That was over $21 million in annual subscription sales. So much for not knowing their target market and target audience. It wasn't a cute commercial, but it was great sales copy that targeted underperforming sales professionals looking to gain a competitive edge over their peers. In fact, the SaleGenie.com commercial had the best ad copy, and it followed many of the principles explained in this book.The Copywriter's Handbook will break down the anatomy of what's behind writing a good ad and how to construct good ad copy that sells products. Many copywriting books will tell you to use a bunch of techniques, but never explain the how or why about it. This is why there's so much inconsistent, bad ad copy proliferating. The author helps you understand why you must follow certain principles of constructing ad copy, and why certain techniques work. If you buy this book and actually read and comprehend what's in this book, you will learn how to write better ad copy.

Right from the first page, the book is chock full of practical knowledge on how to better pitch your services or ideas - across a variety of mediums. As an example, it reminded me once again how important Headlines are in everything we do. Whether it is to pitch an idea or draw attention to your advertisement or sell a product. The best headlines get attention, draw the right customer into knowing more about your service, and most importantly allow a marketeer to sell something in under 5 seconds. In the words of David Ogilvy, “If you haven’t done some selling in your headline, you have wasted 80 percent of your client’s money.”The book is full of gems that have sharpened how I think about writing and presenting so I can work better with my marketing partners. It is now an essential part of my tool kit. I highly recommend it to all those interested in pitching services or ideas to their customers.

If you want to improve your writing skills for print or the web, this is the book that you need to own. This book is all steak with the fat trimmed off, powerful tips and techniques with absolutely no fluff.While some of the techniques included in the book aren't unique to copywriting guides, Bly offers his own effective spin on them. In the first 60 pages alone, you're treated to a goldmine of tips on writing effective headlines and crafting easy-to-read copy. Bly tackles copywriting methods for direct mail, catalogs, brochures, websites, and even press releases. Unlike most books on copy, Bly provides great advice on writing for TV commercials and radio spots.As a Search Engine Optimization guru, I found Bly's take on writing web copy to be extremely refreshing, even if it wasn't new information to me personally. I loved that this was probably the only copywriting book that actually stresses finding the balance between writing copy that sells, and copy that is search engine friendly. Most web design books don't discuss copywriting, and most copywriting authors have no knowledge of writing for search engines. Bly certainly did his homework.This is an excellent guide for writing copy, especially if you're writing for websites. This book is probably the best investment that you will ever make.