King Kirby & the swipe file of power

Let me tell you a story about swiping in a way that actually works. In the last few years I’ve read one particularly intriguing book 4 times so far. And I will be reading it again in 2024, too. And then probably once per year after that. A book that is not “about” swipe files or copywriting. But, that contains a short power lesson on the subject. The book: “Marvel Comics: The Untold Story” It’s by Sean Howe. And I suspect Marvel’s PR people ain’t exactly fond of it. Anyway, the early part of the book talks a lot about the man who was arguably the single most influential comicbook artist who ever lived — Mr. Jack “King” Kirby. I cannot think of a single comicbook artist whose interviews I’ve read or listened to who did not give Jack reverence and credit for making not only Marvel Comics what it became, but the industry as a whole. He was a “brand” unto himself in many ways. And his following in the industry was extremely rabid. For better or worse, his art was so popular and in-demand by the fanboys back in the 60’s especially, that Marvel Comics would force their new artists to literally trace over Kirby’s art to get the feel for how to draw the Kirby way. Yes, my little fledgling, Marvel told its artists to SWIPE King Kirby. But, not so their art looked like a cheap knock-off of Jack’s artwork. And not in a way that violated ethics, copyright laws, or the integrity of Kirby’s work. No, they had their artists trace over Kirby’s art to imbibe and get the ebb & flow of Kirby’s way of laying out pages, creating dynamic poses, and tell stories via the panel-by-panel layout (certain modern day Hollywood cinematographers/storyboard artists still reference Kirby’s layouts, if that tells you something) & artwork. In other words: It was the artistic equivalent of a copywriter copying out world class sales copy by hand to get the feel of what it’s like to “write” world class copy, imbibe the structure and flow of a world class ad, and more quickly be able to knock out world class profits as a result. i.e., what the late Gary Halbert called “neurological imprinting.” Which brings me back to the point: Personally, I think copy & paste swiping is remarkably stupid & shortsighted. Especially when people “Frankenstein” ads together, taking a headline from one ad here, a story from another ad there, a close over there from yet another sales letter, etc and then try to assemble it, all out of voice, flow, and context. That’s amateur hour attended to by amateurs. And while it can work in virgin markets that haven’t seen a lot of direct response, for most people in my neck of the internet woods, it just makes people looks lazy, stupid, and inept — which an argument can be made they are. And it certainly won’t get them the response they could get by being a craftsmen about it, to create ads that last for years (and even decades) and that help give you a unique and dynamic “presence” in your market, with the loser copycats desperately trying to grift off your scraps. I’ve seen it many times. I’ve also beaten many copywriters handily who did the swipe & paste shtick. And I can tell you clients, customers, the market… they can smell it a mile away. One client even hired me after the world class copywriter he hired did a total phone-in job by just copy & pasting another writers work because pioneers get all the arrows or something. Even better is when copywriters try to fapGPT-together copy. But that’s a topic for another time. Back to the point: Studying great ads? Having a great swipe file of world class copywriting? Even hand writing out sales copy that has raked in multiple millions of dollars in sales to ice-cold leads selling products the reader didn’t even know existed five minutes prior? I am all for that. And I spent many hundreds of hours doing just that — including copying out an entire Gary Halbert book (The Boron Letters) by hand — during my first few years in the game. I also did same with a lot of other extremely profitable ads, from very specific copywriters, and in a way where that has been far more profitable than just merely copying them out mindlessly. Yes, I used a very specific “technique” for doing it. A technique anyone can (and should) use. But, very few (if any) copywriters I know of have done it or do it. And this technique not only helps you extract far more value from your swipe file, but makes the process of copying ads out by hand (I do not recommend typing) way less tedious or boring. If anything, it makes it a lot more exciting & fun, in my experience. I explain what I am talking about on page 20 in the upcoming January Email Players issue, which is the 150th issue, where I wanted to teach some rather special ideas inside for blowing up sales and kicking some gluteus assimus wherever you may sell. In fact, I DEFY you to use the technique I teach for extracting skill & knowledge from your swipe file and not automatically start writing (not copy & pasting) better emails, better copy, better every kind of persuasive communication you engage in — writing, video, audio, doesn’t matter. It’s not the media that matters, it’s the technique I teach. That’s all I’ll say about this here. Even though it is ridiculously simple, it still takes quite a bit of explanation inside. Speaking of which: This issue is triple+ sized — clocking in at 64-page instead of the usual 20-pages. It also includes an extremely valuable gift to commemorate 150 issues: “Email Players Annual #2: Mad Men Copywriting Secrets” This oversized (literally — in both size and page count) Annual issue I am including with January’s issue exists outside the normal continuity of the newsletter. And it teaches some cool stuff I’ve learned studying the old masters that have practically be all but forgotten about today. (NOTE: it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the TV show “Mad Men”, which I found extremely boring and overrated — it’s about advertising methods used by the actual Mad Men of the 60’s.) You can read more about it if you want in the P.S. below. If you want to subscribe I don’t recommend procrastinating. Once the doors close, that’s it. To subscribe tonight go here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. Here are some of the secrets inside the bonus described above I’m sending with the January Email Players issue to those who subscribe in time for it: * The sneaky headline trick old school copywriters used to pre-test ads without spending a single dime. * Cunning advice (straight from a private, internal memo at the Leo Burnett agency back in the day) about how to trick egotistical clients (for their own good, of course) into running your sales copy “as-is.” (Old school screenwriters basically did the same thing to get scripts approved, today it’s practically a forgotten trick of the writing trade.) * A powerful Mad Men secret to making your business mysteriously attractive that can be like “catnip” to high-paying clients and others you wish to sell to or influence. * The World-Building technique all the Mad Men agency owners (the ones whose names are still on their companies today long after their deaths) used to position themselves as “the” agency to hire — with certain clients practically magnetically attracted to them, and probably even only them, and likely wanting nothing to do with anyone else. * How to exploit a dangling piece of psychological “wiring” in every human being’s brain to help make your emails and other marketing extremely hard to ignore and a whole lot more engaging. * A sneaky way to adapt Ogilvy’s enormously successful “Man In The Hathaway Shirt” ad from the 1950s into a high converting opt-in pages for your business today. * How the late Mad Man Leo Burnett would address a room of stuck up and snobby vice presidents of giant corporations to keep their egos in check and “prep” them for what he expected of them as clients. * How an old school phone salesman and high school dropout was able to ethically & legally out-negotiate & out-maneuver a room full of high-falutin’, and super educated and wealthy lawyers hired by a bank to get what he wanted. (Nothing directly to do with Mad Men — but what this phone salesman did is something that was quite common for people in the know to do back in the day to get what they wanted in contracts and deals.) * A clever way that certain bashful Mad Men copywriters used their shyness to help create far more powerful advertising. * A (admittedly bizarre sounding to most marketers today) advertising sales trick that David Ogilvy learned from a furniture salesman for turning a product’s flaws into reasons to buy. (Including tips for exactly how to turn high fees, bad reviews, and even slow service into reasons to buy.) * How David Ogilvy used good, old fashioned trolling (he was a world-class troll) to help get compliance and engagement from everyone from heads of corporations during high-pressure negotiations to his own wife in the kitchen. * A ridiculously effective door-to-door salesman technique (that, believe it or not, works even better on Facebook today, I have found) that can help you create headlines, offers, emails, and other marketing that can just seep right into the psychology and souls of your leads and customers, giving them almost no choice but to want to buy what you’re selling! (Does that sound almost like hype? Maybe so. But realize this: it was not uncommon for this technique to works so well it’d sometimes set record for product recalls for weak products.) * Just how brutal and soul-crushing old school Man Men were in their advertising campaign critiques. (One of the most respected copywriters of the day and creator of the famous Pillsbury Doughboy — Rudy Perz — said they’d make him feel like a “martyr”, and the creative director and original Marlboro Man model — Andy Armstrong — once literally suffered a nervous breakdown over one of these brutal critiques, if that tells you something.) * The little-known way the Leo Burnett Agency created such memorable and influential cartoon characters that helped sell truckloads of the products they promoted * The 7-word advertising principle that helped build one of the biggest and most respected ad agencies in human history. (And that is still around today almost 100 years later, while most have long-since floundered.) * Why fire-breathing atheist David Ogilvy was such a big fan of the Catholic Church. (Nothing really to do with copywriting or marketing, but his reasoning could be useful to anyone who runs teams or has lots of employees.) * The Mad Men attitude (almost non-existent today) that can help freelancers, coaches, consultants, and other businesses go from begging to business to having so many new leads practically begging to hire you you might even need a waiting list. (Best part: you don’t even have to be that great at what you do or, for that matter, “do” anything different — this is just a make a simple mindset shift in the way you approach your business.) * David Ogilvy’s bizarre email list-building secret (created back in the 1950’s — long before the invention of commercial email) that can also make your business stand out in an overcrowded marketplace and increase your sales. * A shrewd insurance selling method (that smart radio and magazine advertisers forced their customers to do since it worked so well) that can help drive your email response through the roof. * How an “honorary” Mad Man copywriter (who was a NYC public employee and not an ad man at all) used ANTI-direct response slogans to help create some of the most profitable and memorable advertising every penned by the hand of mortal man. (And yes, what he did can be used to write all kinds of profitable headlines, subject lines, bullets, and any other kind of direct response sales copy.) * A one-on-one interview with a “for real” Mad Man! In fact, the TV show producers even consulted this guy due to him being in the thick of the agency business back then, and who was involved with campaigns like The Marlboro Man, Fly the Friendly Skies, & industry-famous campaigns for Gallo Winery, Proctor & Gamble, Colgate, Vicks, Chanel, Max Factor, Philip Morris, and the list goes on. This interview is a rare look into the psychology behind how these guys worked. How they thought. And, yes, how they made lots of money for their clients and themselves. Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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