"What Are Your Thoughts On 'Swipe'...?"

I'm not sure I have an agenda to push, regarding swipe. Mostly I'd like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

The reason I'm asking now, several prospects/clients have recently expressed concerns, in such a way, it leads me to believe the presence of swipe in copy used to promote a copywriter's services, is a determining factor in the prospect's buying decision. They don't like it, don't want it and have said so, explicitely. I'm talking about large buyers such as MSoft and smaller buyers too.

They also pointed to certain likable qualities they saw in and felt from reading my copy as a highly weighted reason for initiating contact with me.

They stated they weren't paying premium prices for "cut 'n paste."

I think equating copywriting with swipe puts our profession on par with a clerical position -- masters of the filing cabinet. (My apologies to clericals, for any hurt or discomfort you may experience from my obvious arrogance. I mean no disrespect.).

Swipe files being equal, price leadership, not sales results, becomes your competitive edge.

It's tricky to discuss, because for a truly clear discussion, we'd have to distinguish tolerable levels of swipe from intolerable levels, honesty, the difference between mondo-swipe and swiping a few sentences, or word-for-word swiping vs. swiping concepts and applying them using original copy.

Please, if you're even thinking about quipping, 'why do you think they call it COPYwriting' -- don't.

--Peter

Comments

[Kevin Francis]

Peter,

"Right And Wrong Swiping Methods - And Litte Pointers That Will Increase The Pulling Power Of Your Ads"

(Did I just "swipe" something there!*?!)

Tricky issue to determine the line between "modelling" and "copying" I guess.

I can appreciate that "Big Name" clients are going to look dimly on the more blatant kinds of swiping. I don't imagine a "Wall Street Journal" based letter is going to excite them very much. After all, they are looking for something unique to set themselves apart.

Having said that, how many variations on the standard copy format are there? And what about the argument that you should rely on proven formulas? After all, it's the results that count.

My "2 cents" is that it's the writer's job to produce copy that reflects the unique aspects of the client and the product. There's enough variability in the basic building blocks to produce something that's "unique" while still being based on copy "templates" or standard formats.

Kevin Francis

[Robert]

I see "Swipe" on several levels...

A) The level of principles and practices.

B) The level of ideas and concepts

C) The level of flow and arrangement

D) The level of specific wording and phrasing

Level A: I don't think you can be a practicing copywriter without swiping at this level. You know you need a guarantee, that ethical scarcity is important, that a headline needs a dominant emotion/benefit/news/curiosity, that complimenting the reader won't hurt etc.

Level B: I think swiping at this level is ethical as well. The idea of offering big reason why for a sale, a marketing test, an early bird special, a customers only offer, an inventory reduction sale, a scratch and dent offer, ad infinitum...

Level C: There are common flows we all swipe here - Problem-Solution or AIDA or Star-Chain_Hook, or Picture-Promise-Prove_Prompt and dozens of others (personally, this is one of my favorite areas to study. More on that later)

Level D: Swiping direct elements of wordings and phrasings... "They laughed when I said I swiped this headline - then the cash started flowing into my bank account" "Do you make these mistakes in swiping?" "Who else wants to be a swipe-file millionaire?"

Halbert, Bencivenga and others have all swiped at this level with success.

But here is where it starts to get murky.

Sometimes I'll use proven headlines as idea starters. But, personal pride often keeps me from using them. And that may be false pride that causes my clients loss - but darn if I don't like crafting headlines and arguments that are custom fit to the circumstance at hand.

I've got this belief in what I call the Uniqueness Principle. Each time one sits down to craft copy, they are facing a unique circumstance. And that requires a unique solution.

That is my ideal (of which I admittedly fall short).

Robert

Oh, back to swiping the flows (C) mentioned above...

While there are Meta Flows that most copy fits into, I love studying how the masters addressed each unique circumstance and carefully created a flow from the prospects current state of awareness (or conversation in the mind) and then led them, step-by-step, concept-to-concept to the sale.

[Elizabeth Purvis]

"Swiping" is one of those terms that's used so often and in so many ways that it almost doesn't have any meaning for me any more. I can only speak to my current practices, and they are this:

1. "Direct response" means that after the superbasics like honesty and integrity, response is my number one priority. Any swiping that I do, on any level, must reflect those objectives. Cutting and pasting is plagerism, plain and simple. Not to mention, I honestly can't imagine a situation in which cutting a huge chunk out of one sales letter and pasting it into mine is a good idea from a response perspective. Square peg, round hole, all that.

2. Structure, rhythm, tone -- I have no problem using these things when appropriate. Again, it's using what works. And I only wish it were as easy as "cutting and pasting"! Even when you swipe these things, there are all these meaty bits left to deal with. I can have a great structure, but I still have to uncover the core emotions of the prospects, the main idea of the piece, and so many other things... then craft them into compelling copy that works. There are no shortcuts there, only hard-earned experience.

3. I'm very much from the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of, well, everything. There is so much information available to us, based on proven past experience; it only makes sense to do what we know works. And my clients agree. One client, a direct response firm, swipe from themselves all the time. They have their structures and they stick to their structures because said structures get results. They welcome new ideas, but they're not going to try one just for the sake of its newness. It's too risky and expensive.

This is a very interesting post, Peter. Copywriters talk about swiping so much amongst themselves (you know, out here on the Internet :) ), but this is the first time I've heard actual client feedback about it. I wish I heard this louder and more often, to be honest.

[Peter Stone]

I'm really glad I asked...

See, I think if someone swipes beyond a certain limit, there's a liklihood it'll come back to haunt them. They'll undervalue their work. Sell themselves short and for low prices, possibly to not so great clients.

This is one of the stories I tell myself, anyway.

Again, thank you.

--Peter

[Robert]

Confession is good for the soul I'm told...

So, I must confess that not an hour ago a lead gen survey email a client had me work up bombed. So, I reached back into a dark corner of my mind and pulled out an old Collier favorite "Can I ask a Favor?"

It doubled response in the first 10 minutes it went out.

Sigh...

[Peter Stone]

Robert,

Congratulations on turning it around.

Here's an interesting letter, structured in a similar fashion, to the Wall Street Journal promo:

http://www.copywritingsecrets.com/

--Peter

[Robert]

Peter, thank you for the link.

[Andrew Cavanagh]

I have a huge swipe file and read and re-read parts of it constantly.

But it is exceptionally rare that any of the copy I write looks anything like a swipe.

Having said that most of my copy does follow a very similar format.

I think the problem with a lot of newer copywriters is they're still struggling to master the basics so they copy too much instead of internalizing the principles behind great copy then writing from the heart.

It's highly unlikely you're going to "hit one out of the park" simply by rehashing the copy of past masters.

Markets are different, prospects are different, products are different.

And your copy has to change to influence the behavior of the prospect your copy is speaking to right now.

[Andrew Cavanagh]

I have a huge swipe file and read and re-read parts of it constantly.

But it is exceptionally rare that any of the copy I write looks anything like a swipe.

Having said that most of my copy does follow a very similar format.

I think the problem with a lot of newer copywriters is they're still struggling to master the basics so they copy too much instead of internalizing the principles behind great copy then writing from the heart.

It's highly unlikely you're going to "hit one out of the park" simply by rehashing the copy of past masters.

Markets are different, prospects are different, products are different.

And your copy has to change to influence the behavior of the prospect your copy is speaking to right now.

[Copywriter :: Peter Stone]

Andrew,

Thanks so very much for your relevant insight.

--Peter

[Anthony Blake]

Peter...

The biggest problem with swiping is this... the common advise is that you need to have a swipefile/morgue and should use them but no one teaches anyone how to CORRECTLY swipe! (or use a swipefile)... they just leave it to their own devices...

And that's why there is so much confusion and "theft" in the copywriting world...

I have battled this with clients, students, proteges, readers for a long time... they hear the advice but don't know exactly how to use it ethically and effectively... they think the advice means to "steal" willi-nilli anything that isn't nailed down or can't be traced using Copyscape...

I have a massive swipefile, all categorized, keyword filed and databased... I use my files to give me ideas, to inspire me, to see what has worked before and what hasn't worked... it gives me inspiration in layout, tone, platform, style... it allows me to use ideas from other industries/markets and then adapt & adopt them to the ones I am working on... and on occasion it gives me a nice turn of phrase or an offer idea or a guarantee position that works...

I learned how to use a swipefile correctly, ethically and responsibly... I think that if we're going to teach others about the "art" of copywriting we also need to teach them how to use swipes the right way too -- not just tell them they need a swipefile and leave them to figure out how to use it on their own -- this is often a recipe for disaster...

Success!!!

Tony Blake
Marketing Mindreader™
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PS: One of the most successful letters I ever wrote was one that was comprised of nothing but swipes... it went through the roof in conversions and sales... of course the swipes came from letters I had previously written... :-)