If you study copywriting for very long you'll eventually come across the term "salesmanship in print.
"Meaning, copywriting is nothing more or less than selling in print (or on the computer screen, or on the TV, etc.
) And that's absolutely true.
But, at the same time, a lot of high-pulling ads are also what I like to call "fantasies in print".
In other words, your ad should -- ideally -- be one big fantasy for your reader.
Why? Because human beings are wired to dream and fantasize about things we want to have -- like members of the opposite sex...
new cars...
new houses...
a better life for our kids...
a great looking body..
..
popularity..
..
love and respect from our peers...
and beating our friends, neighbors and co-workers in the "rat race.
" And I can tell you this from experience...
and from studying thousands of different ads...
if you want to add a whole new layer of hot, sizzling selling power to your ads, simply learn what your market fantasizes about, figure out how your product fits into that fantasy, and then work it into your pitch.
For example, I recently wrote a sales letter selling a DVD course about street-fighting.
And much of the ad is just one big fantasy where you, the reader, are kicking butt in all these potentially violent situations on the street.
In one scenario you're taking out a group of pissed-off gang bangers with just your belt.
In another scenario some thug tries to punch you, and you do a special "block" and he ends up breaking his hand.
In another scenario some guy who jumps out at you from the shadows ends up on the ground, laying in the fetal position, praying you don't "finish him off".
And so on.
And throughout this entire "fantasy", you become one of these guys nobody wants to mess with.
Someone the boss doesn't pick on anymore.
Someone who commands complete and total respect from everyone around you...
and starts to automatically attract hot, sexy women into your life.
This may sound totally lame to you.
Maybe even kind of dork.
But the market can't get enough of it.
To them it's like this fascinating movie or TV show they're starring in.
Where they get the bad guy and walk away with the hot chick at the end.
The whole secret is to take your reader's fantasies and enlarge them...
expand upon them...
maybe even fill in some of the gaps (as long as it's consistent with what they already believe in)...
and then show them how the product you're selling can make it a reality.