15 Copywriting Gems that changed World History
Words change the course of history. They alter the very consciousness of mankind.
Words are keys that unlock new realities. When the right words get planted in the soil of humanity, the world is changed forever. Yes, ignorance is bliss… but you can't un-learn a truth.
Consider these words, and how they've literally changed the world:
"The pen is mightier than the sword."
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1839
"Let's Roll."
-Todd Beamer on flight 93, September 11, 2001
"Go ahead. Make my day."
-Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry, 1983
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
-Neil Armstrong, Moon Landing, 1969
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
-John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address, 1961
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
-Declaration of Independence, 1776
"I have a dream – that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
-Martin Luther King at his March on Washington, 1963
"What we've got here is a failure to communicate."
-The Captain, Cool Hand Luke, 1967
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want"
-King David, 1000BC
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
-Charles Dickens, a Tale of Two Cities, 1859
"My Mama always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get.'"
-Forrest Gump, 1994
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"
-Rhett Butler, Gone With The Wind, 1936
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
-Jesus to Nicodemus, 30AD
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
-Lewis Carroll, from Jabberwocky, 1872
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."
-Robert Frost, 1915
Without exception, every person who spoke these words was a connoisseur of words. Every single one studied at the feet of the masters of their time. They had a deep appreciation for great truths expressed in compact sentences.
This, my friend, is why copy is king. Always has been. Always will be.
7 of these 15 quotes went viral through TV or movies… yet someone had to WRITE them first.
And this is why the serious student of marketing is ALWAYS sharpening their copywriting skills. You never rest on your laurels. No matter how good you are, where you are today is merely a good start.
Notice how pithy each of these gems are. The longest one is the Declaration of Independence – and it's only 35 words. A mere 177 characters. Almost all comfortably fit in a Google ad, a tweet or a cell phone text message.
I'm a fan of long copy as you know, but what I love most of all is punchy phrases and sentences that slice through the mind like a knife through butter.
177 characters or less, but every single one of these sentences altered history.
You may not have an ambition to be Martin Luther King and change the flow of humanity, but I know you have an an ambition to change your marketplace.
The #1 way you're going to accomplish that is with copy.
Which is why I'm inviting you to participate in a special copywriting intensive that I'm doing with John Carlton starting Tuesday February 16.
It's specifically for PPC advertisers, it's specifically for people who have landing pages, sales pages, and follow-up sequences they want to improve. And it's specifically for those who understand:
You're only a handful of sentences away from doubling your market share.
It's not cheap. And not all will qualify. But if you're a connoisseur of words – if you appreciate the alchemy of the right sentence spoken at the right time – then it's a landmark opportunity to rocket your business and your market penetration to an entirely new standard of effectiveness:
http://www.AdwordsStrategy.com/adwordscopy
Join us.
Perry Marshall
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About the Author
Entrepreneur Magazine says: "Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world's most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising. He has helped over 100,000 advertisers save literally billions of dollars in Adwords stupidity tax."
He is referenced across the Internet and by The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune.
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Again, love the way you introduce something your marketing in such an interesting, offbeat, 'soft sell' way.
I'd be interested to hear more about your thought process from 'how do I promote this copywriting intensive' to 'I'll give examples of a number of greating writings from history and link it to my promotion'.
That's the interesting bit for me…most marketing messages I receive are dull as hell – just simply 'Technique X that I've developed will quadruple your traffic in 4 nanoseconds, buy it now…' – most of the time I've hit the delete key before even getting that far.
Any thoughts on this? (or perhaps a blog post on it would be good)
Thanks,
Richard
Just watch what I do next….
Marva Collins might say some of these quotes "are a good example of how words sway the masses. And when words sway this way people cannot think for themselves."
From the Marva Collins Story starring Cicely Tyson and Morgan Freeman.
thank you for the scripture quotes perry, The Lord is going to eternally reward you!
God Bless
Chris
Perry
An observation.
Why is it that when you quote all these incredible SHORT pieces of copy and are the foremost advocate of Adwords (short copy) you then say you are a fan of LONG COPY?
It might be cultural .. maybe the American market likes long copy (I'm sure you've tested this) but I NEVER read long copy (life is too short) and if copy is long I might look at the opening and close and never read the rest .. and most times I don't bother to read it at all.
To be honest I'm not concerned with social proof – the quotes from happy users might be true and might lies .. and even if true do I care .. my question is what is in it for my business – will this solve my problem … so long copy with social proof is likely to STOP me buying.
But then I'm a Briit … so is it cultural?
Regards
Stefan
There's no one approach that works for everyone.
Infomercials work and they make millions of dollars but I've never bought from one.
There are many guidelines and there are principles but there is no absolute rule about any one technique.
Hey Stefan,
I'm a Brit too…and I've found my buying process has changed as my own copywriting/knowledge of internet marketing has improved.
Like in the past I would read a sales letter and just get an emotional pump 'I'M GONNA BE RICH TOMORROW…YES!!' and buy…
Now I read it with a more objective eye and see if it meets my needs – when I bought Perry's autoresponder PDF a while back this was an example of this – it was exactly what I was looking for at that time.
I guess it depends who you're trying to reach.
Personally, I get a little turned off by over hyped sales letters these days…BUT at the same time, you do have to get your message across somehow.
I'm releasing a new product on my site in the next couple of weeks, and I'm going to trial a different kind of sales letter – it states what the product is, up front and then essentially says 'look, I want you to buy this product, but I also want you to use and get value from it – here's all the reasons I can think of why you wouldn't buy it, and my answers….then it's up to you to decide'.
See if the zero hype angle gets a few more people.
I'm wondering if the internet is starting to move on, and whether these overly long, super hyped up sales letters may start being replaced with something a bit more dynamic – I think people are starting to get wise to them a bit – to the point where simply seeing a sales letter is enough to turn on the super skeptic in them.
But who knows for sure…
Richard
As you say "But who knows for sure…"
None of us know for sure so the only thing to do is test, measure and improvce all we do.
I think your approach is right but you wil only know if you test … and this is the essence of split testing .. especially Advariants in adwords .. we all ought to be using.
I'd be interested to know how it works for you and what you learn
Good luck
great collection of quotes, i love it, awesome!