MY SLEDGEHAMMER TECHNIQUE FOR CLUTTER-BUSTING RADIO COPYWRITING

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• Tim Durling February 25, 2011, 5:22 am

  It’s fantastic Dan, thanks!!

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• Mike Irvin February 25, 2011, 7:53 am

  The sledgehammer method targets weak copy. All writers and producers should feel empowered to be the gatekeepers in the battle against lame advertising. Ultimately we get the commercials we deserve if we don’t stand up and offer solutions to improve a client’s message.

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• Wendy Paterniti February 25, 2011, 8:01 am

  A good slap upside the head like this really gets the creative juices flowing. Thanx!

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• Jaime Solis February 25, 2011, 8:59 am

  Thanks as always for the insight Dan; I just had sunken ‘copy writing’ treasure delivered right to my door 😉

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• Rich Miller February 25, 2011, 9:08 am

  As always Dan you turn the common approach to what we do in this industry upside down and shake it violently until the mental spark happens…. Boom!! Creative explosion!!! Thanks so much!

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• Dom Hoff February 25, 2011, 11:13 am

  Great stuff, Dan. Just goes to show that this technique works VERY well, as I felt an immediate urge to purchase every book you highlighted!

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• Celeste K February 25, 2011, 11:28 am

  Ditto with Rich – although I feel pressured to come up with my own STRONG words just to show I was paying attention.
  Thanks for turning prose in to action films!

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• Duncan Minett February 25, 2011, 11:58 am

  OK Dan my friend, I will be the one to say the Emperor is nude. Long time subscriber and follower of Dan O’Day and no I am not always looking at getting a free ride; my radio station has paid for Dan O’Day services throughout the years. But I do appreciate these little gems you throw at us, as well as all the other things you do Dan, as it does indeed get my creative juices flowing. But when I started watching this I thought we were going to see more examples of your technique in radio copy not in the titles for your books. You preface the video by saying it’s not a sales pitch but through out you use the books as your platform to share your technique. Finally at almost the 18 minute mark you say “Here’s boring radio copy and here’s my technique in action” and talk about the prime rib. I thought there would be more of that in this video.

  I actually have no problem with you starting off your videos with a sales pitch; you are a businessman trying to make money. So feel free to tell me that what you are about to teach me can all be learned from these books in greater detail. I would prefer that as opposed to, even though you claimed it was not a sales pitch, nearly 18 minutes about the books and less than 2 minutes about actual radio copy. Sorry Dan, I do appreciate what you do and I thank you for it wholeheartedly, but this missed the mark for me if I’m being honest.

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• Martin Prell February 25, 2011, 12:39 pm

  Duncan has missed the mark in his estimation of Dan’s motives. When I attended Dan’s 3-day copywriting class, this was the first technique we learned at the end of the first day. It has totally changed my approach to copywriting, and it was clear to all of us that he wasn’t trying to sell us e-books. After he took us through the examples you saw in that video as well as some others, he had us “sledgehammer” our own commercial copy that we had brought with us and then he gave very specific feedback and suggestions to each of us as we read our “before & after.” I understand that with the video version you weren’t able to experience that live interaction, but after Dan’s giving everybody here a week of truly great copywriting lessons, he deserves better than your attack on his motives.

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• RickyC February 25, 2011, 12:48 pm

  Reality Check: Dan O’Day produced a 20 minute video teaching a copywriting tool that obviously works, gives it away on his blog, and someone is upset that he didn’t fill it with radio commercial examples? Every word change he cited from his ebooks could just as easily be applied to a radio spot.

  By the way, Dan’s a hell of a copywriter. When he’s trying to sell you something, he doesn’t try to hide it. I might not always agree with his opinions, but he’s probably the most honorable person in the biz.

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• Duncan Minett February 25, 2011, 2:01 pm

  Martin, I know the written word is at the mercy of the person reading it putting their own slant/feelings on what is in print. I am sorry you saw my comment as an “attack” as it was not intended in that way at all. Dan asks for feedback, honest feedback; that’s what I gave. I appreciate all Dan does for us and has done for us over the years. I don’t wish to belabour the point but 2 things: 1) In your own post you say that you got to see it applied and apply it to radio copy. That was my comment which leads to 2) The Headline of the video is “radio copywriting” but 18 minutes pertained to how Dan used his techniques with regards to his book and only 1 real example of radio copy, the prime beef. We can agree to disagree but in no way was my post an attack.
  And Ricky C, no I was not upset, sorry if you read that I was and ironically you are right “Every word change he cited from his ebooks could just as easily be applied to a radio spot”; ironic because it wasn’t which is what the headline of the video was.
  Apologies Dan if I offended, that was not my intention. I’ll say it once again, I appreciate all you share with us.

  Cheers!

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• Dan O'Day February 25, 2011, 3:37 pm

  @Duncan: No worries. You’re mistaken in thinking I was trying to sell e-books, but no worries.

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• Dale Percy February 25, 2011, 6:06 pm

  Fascinating, and quite helpful too. Gee, this has been a very productive week with these videos Dan, thanks!

  Another challenge I have recently is this very high-end furniture store here in Toronto. Now, last year when I first met this place I met their new, young vibrant General Manger who was open to new ideas and concepts, and “oh yeah, let’s take this $80K we’re spending and make it happen!” Well … the owners got involved, and we spent the next 8 months trying to re-hash the same old message of the ‘redevelopment sale’.

  But now it’s a new day, and they’re to come back on in mid-March. He’s still open to new and creative (you gotta love clients like that) but he feels it’ll be easier if we stick to the same voice, same underscore I picked out last year — you know — just to keep the status quo. Not a problem, but — how to please the stuffy owners, and their already established (let’s face it: “snob”) clientele, while turning on the younger, affluent condo dwellers who listen to classical music and not boring them with the same old ‘music and voice’ commercial? As the Rep — who ironically is the voice on the commercials — said to me: “It’s all about the words, Dale”.

  Hmm. Sledgehammer away!!!!

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• Chris Vadnais February 25, 2011, 10:30 pm

  Dan,

  Stop giving away the secrets I paid good money to learn.

  This is a simple and brilliant technique. I shared it with my staff of TV and radio producers after I learned it to make our spots more compelling. One producer used this in conjunction with one of your quick-start methods for writing copy. He wrote a spot in three minutes, which he produced and began airing the next day.

  An added benefit you didn’t mention is that using the Sledgehammer technique makes writing spots easier and (dare I say it?) a bit more fun. Thanks.

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• Rita M. Reali February 27, 2011, 3:12 pm

  Hey Dan,

  Enjoyed the video. I like how you used the enhanced titles of your ebooks as examples of your sledgehammer technique; I don’t believe it was out of the scope of the video’s intent at all.

  I initially signed up for your email list several years ago, because my first novel was set in a radio station and I hoped to glean insight into the boss’ role.

  Now, as a professional copywriter for an online retailer, I found this video particularly helpful, because it reminds me to go the extra step in keeping my product descriptions fresh and intriguing.

  To help the creative process along, I keep several magnetic poetry sets on my desk, so at a moment’s notice I may wander through a whole new crop of adjectives, verbs and adverbs — whenever I’m in need of inspiration.

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• Neal Angell March 1, 2011, 12:20 am

  I don’t believe Dan was trying to plug his e-books…so I will! I have “Commercial Emergency: 534 Radio Commercial Headlines” and “Dan O’Day’s Guaranteed 5-Step System…” And I highly recommend them to anyone who writes commercial copy as one of the hats they wear. Thanks for the video, Dan; it’s just another example of how you continue to provide fast-acting brain laxatives for those suffering from creative constipation.

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