15 Lessons from Legendary Copywriter Joseph Sugarman

So who is Joseph Sugarman? Let's take a look at his biography!

Joseph Sugarman, born on April 25, 1938, in Chicago, is recognized as one of the leading US copywriters. As the CEO of JS&A Group, Inc., he wrote the introductions for hundreds of high-tech electronic products in the 1970s and 1980s, becoming the standard for other copywriters.  All products are featured in the large ad, becoming a recognizable sign of Sugarman.

His company, JS&A Group, Inc., is one of the largest suppliers of US high-tech products. In 1973, it was the first company in the United States to use the 800 WATS service to receive credit card orders over the phone.

• In 1979, Sugarman was selected as the Direct Marketer of the Year at an award ceremony in New York. 
• In 1991, he won the prestigious Maxwell Sackheim Award for his contributions in creative careers in direct marketing.

Sugarman is also a professional photographer, graphic designer, a commercial pilot with a multi-engine airplane license, scuba diver, and public speaker. He lectures and teaches live marketing conferences throughout the United States as well as Europe, Asia, and Australia. He also organized about 20 specialized marketing conferences from 1977 to 2000, attracting students from around the world for $ 6,000. These four-day events greatly influence the success of students both in the United States and internationally.

Well, he’s considered one of the best copywriters of all time, known as "America's leading advertising witch". And he happened to write a book on copywriting that has become a classic and ranking no.1 of the top 5 books on copywriting.

Now for the lessons from The Adweek Copywriting Handbook. Here goes.

1. All the elements in an advertisement are primarily designed to do one thing and one thing only: get you to read the first sentence of the copy. (p. 29)

2. Your readers should be so compelled to read your copy that they cannot stop reading until they read all of it as if sliding down a slippery slide. (p.49)

3. Never sell a product or service. Always sell a concept. (page 71)

4. A copy is like a woman’s skirt. It should be long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to make it interesting. (p.83)

5. By educating the consumer, you can demand more money for your product. (p.84)

6. Avoid the obvious ones: “Here’s the product the world has been waiting for,” or “It’s too good to be true.” If you feel inclined to use a cliché, don’t. Clichés seem to be used when you have nothing really significant or good to say and must fill up space. (p. 120)

7. One of the important points to remember is to always make that first sale simple. Once the prospect makes the commitment to purchase from you, you can then easily offer more to increase your sales. (p. 157)

8. Everybody likes to feel special. Most people would like to belong to a rare group that owns a product that few people can own and enjoy. (p. 170)

9. When discounting on products, usually you sell more. Keep the price low, and you will continue to sell more units than before if the price drops deep enough. But if the price is too low, you have to explain the reason why and then it starts to cause consumers to worry about the reputation of the product. (p.260)

10. Selling is really a personal relationship between the seller and the buyer. It’s a relationship of trust. (p.280)

11. To beat the retailers at their own game, Internet stores have learned to ship almost on the same day if possible to allow that item to arrive quickly. Shipping promptly greatly reduces the advantage retail has over mail order. (p. 310)

12. You sell on emotion, but you justify a purchase with logic. (p.322)