There's a reason why old ads work...

... and that reason is that they were tested infinitely.

What you see in an old ad is the perfect combination of words, evolved over a long time, which can be hard or impossible to come up with in one sitting.

Example:

Yesterday I wrote an email to my list with the subject line:

How an ex-copywriter makes $12k/month in a new kind of part-time job

That subject line (and the entire email) are modeled on this ad:

How I made $10,000 a Year In a New Kind of Business

And when I say "modeled," I mean I used a bunch of the same words, same arguments, same structure.

Results so far:

55 replies, many from people who are surprisingly qualified and serious about the offer.

Would I have gotten the same kinds of results had I simply used my own copywriting brain to write this email?

Maybe.... but my personal guess is no.

I've had this experience before when I modeled old ads.

Completely outsized response to what I normally get.

I know it's familiar advice but it's worth repeating.

Study old ads. And don't just study them. Apply them. Model them. Even word for word.

Old ads are a treasure chest waiting to be opened, and the fact that the treasure chest has been sitting in an attic for the past 100 years doesn't change that.

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