You've probably heard of the concept of the 'seven degrees of separation,' whereby any two people you care to name can supposedly be linked to each other by no more than seven steps. Often, it's fewer than seven of course. Sometimes we may wish it were more...
Other times, we can feel quite pleased, not to say a little smug, when we can connect ourselves to someone we admire and respect. Even if that connection, of itself, doesn't really bestow any genuine credit on us, it's still nice to know.
Of all the great copy writers of the past fifty years, one man probably stands head and shoulders above them all. He's the man, though supposedly long ago retired, to whom the nearly great still pay homage and from whom they still seek approbation and approval.
Ted Nicholas is a legend and I claim him in two.
I've read articles, books and sales letters by dozens of talented writers, most of whom would credit Nicholas with some part in their education, so I suppose I could name a few of those, but there's only one who really connects me to the great Ted, and there's one skill in particular that I'd love to be able to say I share with them both.
Headlines make or break sales letters, as any copywriter will tell you, so it's gratifying to win a prize for creating one. Not quite as gratifying as getting rich by writing one, but still...
Late last year I attended the first UK Internet Entrepreneurs Conference in London, enticed there by a masterful sales letter from the mysterious 'Mr X,' who turned out to be the very successful and talented Nick Wrathall. Naturally, he was a speaker at the conference as well, and naturally he spoke about copy writing.
He also held a competition to write the best headline, based loosely on what we'd learned at the conference, the winner to be announced the following day. After a bit of early morning brainstorming, I was very pleased to win.
Just over a year earlier, Nick Wrathall himself was a winner, in a similar (if probably more competitive) headline-writing competition, judged by none other than ...Ted Nicholas.
His headline, which achieved an almost unheard-of five percent response (in the real world, that is), was:
What Will You Do When Your Business is Shut Down--Or You're Thrown Into Prison--Because Your Fire Safety Procedures Weren't Up to Date?
By most professional's guidelines, that's too long. Which just goes to show that theory isn't everything.
My headline, which hasn't been used in anger yet, was:
They All Laughed When I Said I'd Be an Internet Millionaire - But When I Paid Cash For My New Bentley ...
Which only goes to show there's nothing new under the sun.
Roy Everitt, writing for results
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