Roy H. Williams – Ad Writing 101

Roy H. Williams – Ad Writing 101

Check it out: Roy H. Williams – Ad Writing 101

What is this course all about? The purpose of this course is to help business people write more powerful ads. When the course is considered as a whole though, it’s really about more than just writing better ads. When you have gone through the 12 sessions you will develop a more holistic perspective for growing your business. Assuming your business is providing a high quality product and/or a high level of customer service, Roy Williams believes that all means necessary to grow it further are available through all contact points with the world. This includes marketing and advertising, and any other interaction your business or employees have with the public sector. Who wrote the course? The teacher/author/designer of this class is Roy H. Williams, and what I write about him here is from firsthand knowledge. His advertising has produced hundreds of millions of dollars for a tiny group of small business owners; Roy’s successful clients were always willing to pay for good advertising. He has since seen at least one of those men inducted into his category’s Hall of Fame because of his years of exponential growth. Williams has also developed his own school for teaching his many techniques and variations of them. It’s called the Wizard Academy. In addition to Williams’ small business clients, he has also consulted J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy, Proctor & Gamble, DeBeers, and a number of Fortune 1000s. Additionally Williams has written a trilogy which may be of particular interest to the reader. His first book is The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires, and was winner of the Business Book of the Year. His next book, Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads: Turning Paupers into Princes and Lead into Gold came out soon thereafter; it became a New York Times bestseller and was named Number One Business Book in America by the Wall Street Journal. And he wrote a third book in this assortment called Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads: Tools and Techniques for Profitable Persuasion. Aside from Williams’ credibility as a bestselling author, he has spent most of his working life trying to help businesses grow. He did that with advertising, and mostly by means of powerful radio ads.

Consequently Williams grew many of his earliest clients more than 10 times the size from where they were when they first began their relationship. A few he has helped grow more than 40 times their former size. Once when I was at the Wizard Academy I observed client’s growth at 83 times in the span of 10 years. How does this course teach you? The course can be taken online through the Wizard Academy website. It consists of 12 streaming videos which are about 9 -12 minutes each. The videos are the Wizard of Ads himself teaching. Each session is concluded with a short 10-question test. Once you have demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the previous session’s materials then you can move to the next video. The person registered for the course is the only one able to access it on the web. So that registered user may view the sessions multiple times if need be. The course is also taught occasionally live by Roy Williams at the Wizard Academy in Austin. The Academy is the teaching/training arm of his Wizard of Ads’ advertising/consulting/speaking business. A bonus of completing this course (not just paying for it but actually completing it) is that you will be considered a Wizard Academy graduate. “Acad Grads” receive 50% discounts on all future courses/books through the Wizard Academy and its Press. Even if you just took Ad Writing 101 online, as a Wizard Academy graduate you can still take any of the other live courses they offer at a 50% discount. I first obtained the 50% discount by attending a Free Public Seminar. Main Points of the Course The course is an insightful glance at growing business. It is broken into 12 main points. Here is the description from the course’s website. List of Modules:1. How to Find the Right Idea – Strategy Beats CopyDon’t worry that you’re not a good writer. “If an ad campaign is built around a weak idea – or as is so often the case, no idea at all – I don’t give a damn how good the execution is, it’s going to fail.”-Morris Hite, legendary adman2. Why Shorter is BetterCustomers can take no action until they’ve seen themselves do it in their minds. Be short, clear, concise, interesting. Don’t clutter your effort. Let nothing get in the way of tight. 3. Transactional Ad Writing – How to Draw a CrowdHow to write ad copy when you must make things happen quickly. 4. Relational Ad Writing – True BrandingHow to write Branding ads that are client-specific, rather than product or event-specific. 5. Where to Begin – Choosing Your First Mental ImageWhere you’ll find it. Open Big – Make one point: Rhino vs. Porcupine Ð Core Message 6. How to End – Choosing Your Last Mental ImageClose Big – Going full circle – If you have an important point to make…

7. What to Leave OutThe danger of the clever trap. How to avoid empty words. And why never to go looking for the “unique selling proposition.” 8. Keeping their Attention; Secrets of Mind’s-Eye ParticipationExamples of Unimaginable Ads made vividly Imaginable. How to do it. 9. How to Make Customers Mention Your AdPlanting a WordFlag. The power of memorable verbs. (Downloadable master list of attention-getting verbs included.) 10. Slogans, Taglines and Positioning StatementsMagnetic Meter and when/how/why to use it 11. Dialogue, Testimonials and Humor (Nitroglycerine) The excitement of the high wire. And why beginners should avoid trying to walk it. 12. How to Write Copy that Keeps Clients SoldGetting credit for delivering exactly what you promised.Some Requirements before you take the course The teachings of Ad Writing 101 seem simple enough; but having said that I would still say that the course would be best for someone who consistently works with businesses to help them grow. A radio AE is the most ideal student of this course. The radio salesman is actually who this course was created for in the first place. To get the most out of the course, one should probably possess a certain degree of business experience. I’ve taken the course several times, in person and online, and my ability to comprehend it grows each time. Some of what you’ll learn specifically: •7 keys to successful brand writing •2 kinds of shoppers •7 techniques for raising awareness •Begin with the end in mind •How to find Evocative Words •Targeting through copy •6 components measuring impact on human brain •Counter-branding •Principles for gaining long-term clients What does the course cost? Presently the course is always available online for $600.

My conclusion The ideas taught here are most readily available for small business owners to enact. However I think a consultant to small businesses would be another ideal student of this course. The reason is because the owner and consultant have flexibility enough to put some of these things into practice. One type of individual who wouldn’t be a good fit for this course is the one looking for instant results. While Williams does address how to do this, most specifically through radio (though the teachings apply elsewhere), most of the modules are taught from a perspective of building businesses with both a committed business owner and a committed annual advertising budget. Another type of individual who wouldn’t get what they want from this course is the stay-at-home copywriter. While again, good principles of copy are applicable anywhere, this course is mainly for the person who is in business and dealing with other businesses on a daily basis. The course teaches you how to write better ads; I will say up front that one should have a fairly in-depth knowledge of the business that one is writing for and/or the entire business category within which that business sits, when taking this course. This course would best suit a small business owner/consultant looking at the horizon more than the horoscope.