A 12-String Copywriting Lesson

Pat O’Bryan stopped by the house recently and showed me his 12-string guitar. I have plenty of guitars, but not a 12-string. I decided I wanted one, especially after I heard Pat make his sing.

Plus I still needed to reward myself for the major accomplishment of speaking before 2,000 speakers at NSA last week.

(Tip: Always reward yourself when you do something challenging in your life. It builds confidence and encourages you to do more challenging things. Plus it’s fun.)

I poked around the net, searching for 12-string guitars, but found most descriptions of guitars to be pretty lame.

They didn’t give details.

They didn’t evoke my imagination.

They weren’t, well, hypnotic.

But then I stumbled across Steilberg String Instruments at http://store.stringinstruments.com/

They are in Louisville, Kentucky, been there for over two decades, and seem to truly love their work.

As I browsed their listings for 12-string guitars, imagine what I felt when I read the following:

Taylor 655ce Black w/Florentine Cutaway 

We have never seen anything quite so awesome.  It’s unlikely that you have either, since this is likely one of a kind.  A Maple jumbo 12-string guitar customized with the recently re-introduced Florentine (sharp) cutaway, ES electronics, and an Opaque Black Finish.

Seriously, this thing looks incredible.  We sincerely doubt anyone could walk by this without a double take.  The White binding and Mother of Pearl inlays are the perfect contrast to the black finish, framing the tantalizing curves of the Jumbo body like Hot Rod pin-striping.

But then you play it………..and you forget what it looks like because all you can concentrate on is the vast world of musical sounds that seem to come flying out of this box.  It’s got power and presence, volume with subtlety, and the seemingly full range of a grand piano.  Plug it in and it sounds equally great with the Taylor ES Electronics.  It’s perfect marriage of looks, sound and functionality.  If it only came with it’s own adoring fans, you’d be set.  This guitar might help you make some anyway.

I could just see the looks on people’s faces as they saw me holding that baby.

And when I began to play, I could imagine everyone turning to look, to see where the awesome sound was coming from.

And to think that the guitar had hot rod-like pin-striping made me wonder if Francine would like it, too.

In short, the copy was riveting.

It made the guitar come to life in my mind.

It made me want it.

The only problem on the Steilberg website was the lack of a photo for the Taylor 655ce, which made me really want to see it.

Aren’t you curious about how it looks, too?

So I called the store. I told them I was interested in the guitar. They told me they would call me back in about ten minutes. They were going to take pictures of the guitar right then and there.

Now that’s service.

Well, they called back an hour later. They took pictures but their Internet was down so they couldn’t upload them yet.

At this point I still haven’t seen the guitar.

And naturally I haven’t bought it, either.

In short, great copy can lead to a sale, but sometimes you need a great graphic to close it.

Ao Akua,

Joe
www.mrfire.com

PS – Pat and I just released a DVD set revealing what I’m calling “Knee-Slapping Marketing” though it could just as easily be called “Zany Marketing” or “Outrageous Marketing.” Go see www.patobryan.com/aasp3.htm