The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, by Joseph Sugarman, is one of my favorite copywriting books of all time.

My unhumble opinion:

This $10 book is more valuable than 99% of high-ticket copywriting courses sold online.

There are so many gems packed inside that have helped me build my copywriting skills and launch my copywriting career.

I want to give back by sharing 5 BIG lessons from The Adweek Copywriting Handbook that have made the biggest impact on my writing.

If you use just one of these lessons in your writing, I can almost guarantee you’ll experience shocking results for your clients and yourself.

Alright champion, let’s get to the good stuff…

In Sugarman’s book - The Adweek Copywriting Handbook - he talks about the importance of getting your readers to read every word you write.

He used a great analogy for achieving this…

Picture your entire piece of copy as a giant slide.

As soon as your readers get to the top of your slide (your headline), you want them to slide down (from first sentence to last) as fast as possible.

How do you achieve this?

Make your slide SLIPPERY.

​Here are some slippery lubricants to grease up your slide:

This really blew my eyeballs…

And it’s something that I always keep in mind whenever designing ads, structuring copy and writing my headlines.

​Joe Sugarman revealed the 10 elements that make up every ad, including:

1. Headline: to get your attention and draw you to the sub-headline.

2. Sub-headline: to give you more info and further explain the attention-getting headline.

3. Photo or drawing: to get your attention and to illustrate the product more fully.

4. Caption: to describe the photo or drawing.

5. Copy: to convert the main selling message for your product or service.

6. Paragraph Headings: to break up the copy into chunks, thereby making the copy look less imposing.

7. Logo: to display the name of the company selling the product.

8. Price: to let the reader know what the product or service costs.

9. Response device: to give the reader a way to respond to the ad. By using a coupon, toll-free number or ordering information (usually near the end).

​10. Overall layout: to provide the overall appearance for the ad

However, all 10 elements have the same job.

To get you to read the first sentence of the copy.

That’s it.

Never forget this.

It will help you tremendously when writing copy and keep you on track.

​However, this concept doesn’t only apply to these 10 elements. It also applies to every sentence you write…

The only purpose of each sentence is to get the reader to read the NEXT SENTENCE.

This relieves confusion and stress because it’s much easier to write when your goal is to simply get someone to read the next few words, rather than buy from you.

By keeping this in mind, you will make every word you write count.

Plus:

​It will help you push readers down your slippery slide and read your call to action (“buy now”, “click this link”, etc.), boosting your chances of getting them to take your desired action.
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Do you experience creative slumps?

Joe Sugarman’s advice will solve that real quick.

Sugarman revealed the secret to unlocking creativity.

He came up with a way to crank out breakthrough ideas, on command.

He calls it the incubation process.

The incubation process is where you take a break away from your writing.

When you give your brain some “breathing” room, you allow your subconscious mind to work its magic.

If you give it enough time to “incubate”, your subconscious will feed you all the ideas you need to write killer copy.

The best time to “incubate” is after the research phase (before you write your first draft) and during the editing phase, between drafts.

Incubating is extremely easy to do.

Simply take a break from work.

Go for a jog, grab lunch with a friend or hike a mountain. Do anything but work on your copywriting project.

Often, you will be hit with big ideas while “incubating”.

WRITE THEM DOWN, ASAP.

​By giving yourself breaks you allow your mind to “incubate”. During this time, your subconscious is hard at work, brewing breakthrough ideas for you, while you’re out having fun.
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In The Adweek’s Copywriting Handbook, Sugarman revealed 31 emotional triggers that tap into your readers’ psychology and “force” them to respond to your copy.

The most powerful of these emotional triggers is honesty.

If you want readers to buy from you, you must make your claims believable.

The easiest way to make your readers believe you, is to simply tell the truth.

Wild concept, huh?

If you are brutally honest in your writing, you will not only boost response but you’ll stand out like a skinny pig because most ads are full of BS hype.

Here is the best way to make your claims more believable:

In the wise words of Gary Bencivenga, never make your claims bigger than your proof.

You want to sandwich your claims around proof elements.

​Proof elements:

These 5 copywriting tips can earn you a fortune.

Make sure you buy, read and APPLY all the juicy copywriting lessons in The Adweek Copywriting handbook.