Dream customer, pain, levels of awareness and sophistication. Before you write, understand.
The five awareness stages, unaware, problem-aware, solution-aware, product-aware, most aware, tell you what to say in an ad based on what the prospect already knows.
The dream customer isn't a demographic. It's the specific person your offer was built for, the one whose pain is acute, whose budget is present, whose objections are easy, and whose lifetime value is high.
Most businesses that fail picked the wrong market. Most businesses that thrive picked the right one and then worked hard. Here's the framework for picking, before you commit a year of your life.
The five stages of market sophistication explain why a copy approach that killed last year fails now, and what to do when your market moves to stage 5.
One of the most famous teachings in the field: if you had to open a hamburger stand and could have any advantage, what would you choose? The only correct answer is 'a starving crowd.'