Here we go again - the most boring copy question.

>> And once again the wrong answer from an expert - or is it?

This splendid gentleman is Lord Salisbury Prime Minister of England 3 times between 1885 to 1902.

He was wonderfully eccentric, and forgetful; didn't recognise his eldest son sitting three places away at a dinner party - but also very smart.

One thing he said has always struck me.

“If there is one thing long experience of life has taught me it is that you never should trust experts.”

The problem with experts is that they’re very happy to advise you, because it doesn’t cost them anything - it’s not their money at stake.

If it’s your money watch those experts carefully.

Sir Francis Bacon once said “Those who counsel do not pay.”

This brings me to the radiant Kim Genoo - who said this last week.

Hi Drayton Bird,

Long emails that tell a story might FEEL like the right way to stay in touch with the people on your lead list.

And, while telling a story in an email is better than sending no email at all, it's not what will give you the best results.

Why not take a moment and read our latest post: Are You Pouring Your Thoughts into Emails? and see why.

There might be something in there that you didn't realize...

I'd love to hear your thoughts or questions.

To your success,

Kim Albee

Before going any further I will say one thing: Dear Drayton will always beat Dear Drayton Bird.

But about long copy...

Here’s why I think she’s wrong...

Well, the first reason is vanity. I hate to think I'm wrong.

The second reason is that I get flattering comments every day about my emails.

But the third is about readership versus response.

Many people who measure the effectiveness of copy length, go by looking at readership statistics.

She said (correctly) that short copy gets read more than long copy.

And if your profits depended on readership you’d make mint running short copy.

But you’re not looking for readers. You want buyers.

And buyers take a hell of a lot of persuasion.

If they’re on your landing page and you’re trying to get them to buy, the longer the copy the better you’ll do.

The other day Kelly my valiant P.A. measured a landing page containing copy AND a video. It was 1117 words long plus a 1 hour and 47 second video.

Those people - and many like them - mostly crooks - are laughing all the way to the bank.

If you look at the work of my friends the late Clayton Makepeace and Gene Schwartz they made their millions from long copy.

David Ogilvy always recommended long copy.

It doesn’t stop people from ignoring what all these talented writers learnt over and over again.

But don’t be fooled.

And don't assume I am always right. Even though our success rate seems to be above 97% we sometimes flop.

But those are pretty good odds. So if you want to sell more but you can’t write long copy - what do you do?

You drop me a line - and we can help you.

Guaranteed.

Best,

Drayton