Great points re adaptability and change, and the hip elements of persuasion that are still needed to sell, regardless of the packaging.

Gotta love that comment re I write long copy because that’s what works. When my paycheck is on the line, which is every day as an entrepreneur, I use long copy, much of what you taught me, in 100% of my promotions. Because I want to make the sale, and that does it.

It’ll be fascinating to see what technological marvels the ‘net of 10 years hence, or heck even next year, will hold for us. But the key, as you so aptly reminded me as one of your grateful Insiders, was to keep the prospect dead center, and reach them, as the primary goal… not to be blinded by the shiny new toys out there.

So the web2.0 (god I hate that term) whatever it is, just serves as a wake up call, to add the business side of things (like blogs/rss feeds/sales videos, whatever) to the long copy side of it, without distracting or taking away from the pitch.

Glad to hear from you again, John - your tips keep me centered, and I owe a big chunk of my ongoing wealth/success to what I learn from you.

Staying FOCUSED on the pitch, on connecting, drilling down, as the primary part of it, with the technological window dressing only in service of, not a distraction to, the message to market match.

Operation Moneysuck’s on track for a 7 figure year. Thanks, man.

Stay cool,

Ken Calhoun
copywritinguniversity.com

As usual, great stuff! Right to the point, must be why you make the “big bucks!” Copy is King, no matter what the medium is. Human nature will compel people to read an ad that is interesting and tailored towards them, no matter the length!

It’s been interesting watching the “long copy” debate resurface under the guise of a move towards Web 2.0.

The results of various tests conducted lately suggests long copy still outperforms short copy *most* of the time.

I’m still testing to try and pin down the specifics - but I suspect that it has to do with the purpose of the page you’re copywriting for.

However, so far I haven’t seen any hard evidence which suggests long copy is extinct - and in spite of all the hype, I don’t know of a single person who is using long form sales copy online who is experiencing any ill effects.

Brent

Wonderful stuff man.

A wise mentor once taught me that “the copy needs to be as long as it has to be to sell whatever your selling.”

I think copywriters tend to get hung up on “long copy” or “short copy” when they should just be focused on selling the product or service and testing different marketing ideas.

Joseph Ratliff
http://www.dynamicwebcopy.com

I read long copy about stuff I’m interested in (that is if the copy is interesting) but I don’t read long copy about stuff I’m NOT interested in.

Hmmmmmmmm… is there a lesson there?

Best,
Dan

I’ll read e-mails and blogs with marketing lightly sprinkled into good content, of any length. But once the sales pitch tone starts and the copy goes on and on - I hit the back button on my browser.

Maybe there are still gullible people with REALLY LONG attention spans who are captivated a given message, but I’m not one of them.

John

P.S. Like the new site.

Looking forward to hear more about “schedules, scalability, and outsourcing”.

Cheers,
Peter