Method copywriting – Your ultimate goal

Have you ever watched a movie so arresting that it made you completely forget that all you were watching is fictional? We all have, plenty of times. Actors like Anthony Hopkins, Sean Penn and Robert DeNiro seem to have the natural ability to cause that effect on command… and they can, but their ability is not natural. They have studied and perfected a series of techniques that are known as “method acting”.

In method acting, an actor goes deep into the skin and mind of the character and studies every little possible detail. By becoming the character, they are able to suspend your disbelief and convince you that what is happening on the screen may actually be true. But the truth is that they are fooling you, you have not lost your mind… instead, you have willingly stopped disbelieving in the fiction.

This willing suspension of disbelief does not happen only in movies or the theater. It also happens when you read a good novel… and most importantly, it can also happen when you read a good sales letter or marketing piece.

How many times have you been in a situation where someone is trying to sell you something (a product, a service or even trying to get you to subscribe to a particular idea). You are listening to the pitch, but are thinking “I’m being sold and I am not going to get pulled into this”… but then something happens and bit by bit, detail by detail you end up caving in.

At some point during the sales pitch, and usually without you noticing it, you got carried over and ended up buying the product or accepting the idea. You don’t realize when it happens, but suddenly you hear your mind racing ahead and picturing vividly how good your life will be once you start using the product.

It happens all the time. People “suspend disbelief” not because they have been fooled or tricked into something; but because they actually want to believe in what they are hearing. Something in the writing resonates with their most heartfelt needs and they end up giving in.

Your ultimate goal as a copywriter should be to suspend the disbelief in your readers and make them day-dream about your product while they are reading the sales letter. This is what’s called “method copywriting”.

How can you achieve “method copywriting”? The theory is simple, the reality takes long hours of practice. To achieve method copywriting you must: 1) Understand the deepest needs and desires of your prospect; and 2) ignore everything else and focus most of your writing in persuading the prospect that your product is what will ultimately meet those needs and desires.

If you don’t do your research and dig deep into the mind of your prospect, you will never find her most heartfelt needs, her deepest desires and her most authentic feelings – and without knowing them, method copywriting is a virtually impossible task. You’ve got your homework… go out there, start your research and try to achieve the ultimate goal: suspending the disbelief of your readers through method copywriting.

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12 comments so far ↓

Comment #:1 by Alex Kay

Yes, method copywriting really is the most effective “tool” you can use when selling. Great post, keep it up!
Comment #:2 by Leon

Do you have any recommendations or resources on how to learn method copywriting. It seems that most copywriting books and gurus say the same thing about their copywriting methods: 1) Understand the deepest needs and desires of your prospect; and 2) ignore everything else and focus most of your writing in persuading the prospect that your product is what will ultimately meet those needs and desires.
Does “the method” use a different way of understanding your customers?
Comment #:3 by Miguel Alvarez

Hi Leon.

“Method copywriting” per se is not a copywriting course. It is a way of writing better copy by taking elements from human psychology.

To learn more about this, I recommend you take a few minutes to read the series of posts I did entitled “Understanding human nature” (Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4). In them I share a lot of information about the human psyche and how we’re all more similar to each other that we want to admit.

Cheers!
Miguel Alvarez
Copywriting.com
Comment #:4 by seema

Thanks a lot Miguel,

You know how I stumbled here on this site?
One day I was very much depressed by all blames from my husband that I am good in communication than him, but still not marketing and helping him grow his website .
That comment made me depressed and I thought of putting my feelings on a blog. I showed my blog to him and he was more than impressed,
but advised me that I need professional copywriting skills which I lack so that my blog looks more intresting.
That made me google for copy writing forums, and here I am in midst of so many fine writers.

Thank you.
Comment #:5 by Raplh Lee

Cool tip thanks. Anthony Hodgkins rocks

Ralph
Comment #:6 by Robert J Chamberlain

dude, i am an aspiring copywriter. i have the skill, marketing savvy and know-it-all attitude of a great direct marketer in the making, but i need a process to follow, an outline if you will…

the emotions that i can pack into my copy will make a reader want to latch onto a product as if it is their deepest, most intimate secret and it is all theirs, but i am overwhelmed by the small, little steps to begin a business and begin sending queries to prospects.

what i need as an aspiring copywriter is not methodologies (i have that down), but a mentor’s outline, not the lame descriptive who what where when why how how much etc., but a kit which will help me analyze the keywords and products myself.

i am a 24 year old dude, who has been working on websites for about a dozen years now, but none have really became super successful.

i have therefore been doing PCP marketing and it is draining me. i really want to do copywriting full time, because writing is my passion.

do you have any suggestions for someone in my shoes?

thank you for a little bit of your time, and if you could please e-mail me some hints or tips. great post!
Comment #:7 by Michelle

This post is fantastic! I look forward to reading your posts on the human psychology. Your presentation of how we can effectively copywrite and reach our target market is wonderful.
I look forward to learning more.
Comment #:8 by Deb Lamb

As a writer myself, I see exactly where you are coming from and your right, it takes practice and more practice. That is how all of us that write really hone in on our abilities to capture our audiences attention. You have provided some excellent information and great advice. Thanks so much and I’ll be back for more!
Deb
Comment #:9 by David C.

For Mr. Chamberlain,

I would suggest strongly that you find and get a copy of Ted Nicholas’s book on starting a business. It has tons of forms and explains in detail the many options of starting various types of businesses. Ted has been through the mill in many ways and this book is priceless. I would also suggest subscribing to Michael Masterson’s newsletter, Early to Rise. It is always packed with hints, ideas and suggested reading for growing and building your business, no matter what size it is.

Leaders from businesses who are featured in the Fortune 100 to small shops of 2 or three people read this resource and follow it avidly. And I know you’re just posting on a blog but practice and hone those writing skills at all times to make it second nature to write like a writer even if capitalizing your “I’s” may seem tedious. Those little things matter.

And I know Miguel is a huge fan of Ted Nicholas, a multi-billion dollar copywriter whom everyone knows and if there’s one thing you’ll always hear from Ted, if you think you have it down, you don’t. All of the most successful copywriters all say the same thing. Learning never stops and practicing and honing the little things, getting another angle on it by taking as many courses as you can, is essential to launching yourself skyward.

Whether it’s Ted, John Carlton, Dan Kennedy, Michel Fortin, Gary Bencivenga or the late Gary Halbert, if you aren’t reading, practicing and taking every course or seminar you can to jog new ideas, reinforce your foundation, you’ll be surprised by what you miss.

I took Miguel’s beginning course and learned many tips, tricks and insights I thought I already understood only to realize I had only scratched the surface. I still reread many of the lessons for refreshing and cementing them deep into my brain until they become second nature.

Go for it bro. Sign up for all you can and you’ll be surprised.

Thanks Miguel for a great post and a great course I recommend to all I know and everywhere I post.

Thanks again,

David.
Comment #:10 by Jim

For me, copywriting is a balance between understanding the product and creating the perception for the customer that it’s exactly what they want. POP, or Perception of Product, is important for triggering emotional responses that allow my customers to click and make the purchase. Your post on method copywriting is spot on in describing my process. It took time and testing to narrow down emotions and patients to understand how to leverage them.
-Jim
Comment #:11 by Addy

Hi. I’m a person who has a flair for writing since childhood but that has only been used or writing my personal stuff like letters mails or official communication. I’ve been nurturing a desire for taking up Writing in a dedicated manner, which is past the stage of sapling and wants to grow out of the pot into the open now. ‘Accidentally’ I found myself writing copies for a friend’s ad agency, and also realized that those have been quite acceptable too! In fact he only has directed me to your site. I never had a bit of an idea what exactly copywriting was. Now please tell me how can I refine my skills to write the best of the copies. Though I know you are not a career counselor, but please guide me how far is it possible to take it up for a living, especially from home. Are there any online options available. I’m 40+. Thanks.
Comment #:12 by Vijay Valluri

Hi Miguel!

The site is fantastic and I’m learning not only from your article but also from what the commentators write.

I wonder what the techniques are for method writing. I use my own home grown 6-layer techniques. 1. Studying the marketing information and brief 2. Creating a platform with position 3. Defining in a few lines about what my communication message ought to be
4. Coming up with the ideas that are going to be the engines that’ll drive my messages through the clutter 5. Working out the content and structuring the flow 6. And last comes the tone, feel, style and I call this the designing part of copywriting.

Consumer behaviour, as you said, is my key concern. I believe that once you know what the buyer wants you’ve cracked 99% of the problem. Now, research is costly and most agencies may not afford it. We’ll have to go by our ‘circle-groups’ and inputs in the brief. Maybe it all boils down to our social insights.
It’s about, ” Hey buddy! What’s your dream in life pal? Is you little dreamlette a fine shave to freshen up a dull morning?” But someone has to tell me that.

Comments were my teachers too:
@ Miguel – Importance of human nature
@ Seema – I felt she ought to work hands on in an agency
@ Robert J Chanberlain – I felt that he must be talented but humility in learning will make him a pro by 26. Without that it’ll take 36
@ Michelle – She looks forward to learning- I loved that-that’s me
@ David C. – every word made fantastic sense. He spoke like a master
@ Jim- POP- Perception of product – that’s interesing- That’s something I’ll debate with my friends – Interesting a) The consumer needs something b) He has a view about the product b) So he’ll also have an extended view about various competing brands – food for my thoughts
@Addy- I suppose most successful career start by accident. David Ogilvy started writing copy at 36- then he became a worldwide Billionaire.

Wow- I than all the gurus. I am going to recommend this site to all my pals. Actually I wanted to keep this blog a secret like my ABRACADABRA treasure lamp. But second thoughts tell me that it’s selfish thing to do to the site and people who wish to learn.