Kranz On Copy: Insights and answers on copywriting and writing copy

You're in a noisy, crowded room. What's the fastest way to seize everyone's attention?

Lean toward the nearest person and whisper, "Let me tell you a secret..."

There's a lot of power in that one little word, "secret." Even when we know better -- even when we're sure there's no secret to be had, just blue smoke -- the word raises a doubt. A nagging itch. A disturbing fear that someone knows something we don't. And who wants to be left out?

That's why so many successful sales people package their pitches as "secrets": The 10 secrets of successful car dealers. . . the secret to increasing sales 345%. . . the secret techniques of today's top stock pickers. . . and so on.

Hey, I'm not above this kind of chicanery myself. But let me share one small not-so-secret with you: Before you invest hundreds of dollars -- or even thousands of dollars -- in copywriting programs that promise you the golden key to priceless copywriting secrets, simply go to the library.

Spend nothing. Just pick up and read the classics: Ogilvy on Advertising, John Caples' Tested Advertising Methods, Claude Hopkins' Scientific Advertising. The guys selling the copywriting "secrets"? They learned them from these books. And they earned their successes after years of applying what they learned -- with many frustrations and failures along the way -- in real life practice.

While I would never presume to count my book, Writing Copy for Dummies, among the all-time greats, I can promise you this: All the "secrets" are in there. Please ask for it at your local library.