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Ten Copywriting Commandments: The Rules That Make Words Sell

The Framework

The Ten Copywriting Commandments from Allan Dib's Lean Marketing distill the craft of persuasive writing into ten non-negotiable rules. Dib argues that copywriting is the single highest-leverage marketing skill because it underlies every other channel: ads, emails, websites, social posts, sales pages, and even verbal pitches all depend on words that move people from disinterest to action.

The Ten Commandments

1. Entertain. Boring copy doesn't get read, regardless of how accurate or valuable the information is. The minimum requirement for marketing copy isn't correctness — it's entertainment. This doesn't mean comedy (though humor works); it means engaging the reader's attention through stories, surprises, contrasts, and vivid language. Dib cites the principle that people read marketing only when it's more interesting than their current alternative — and the alternative is literally everything else competing for their attention.

2. Clarity Above All. Clear beats clever every time. If the reader needs to re-read a sentence to understand it, that sentence has failed. Copywriting isn't creative writing — it's persuasive communication, and persuasion requires instant comprehension. Simple words, short sentences, active voice, concrete nouns. If a 12-year-old couldn't understand it, rewrite it.

3. Headlines Carry 80% of the Weight. Ogilvy's famous rule: when you've written your headline, you've spent 80 cents of your advertising dollar. Most people read only the headline. Of those who read the headline, only 20% read the body. This means the headline must accomplish the majority of the persuasive work — identifying the audience, promising value, and creating enough curiosity to earn the next sentence.

4. Name It. Abstract benefits need concrete names. "Our customer service program" means nothing. "The Platinum Promise" means something. Named systems, named processes, named guarantees, and named methodologies carry more perceived value than their unnamed equivalents — even when the content is identical. Hormozi's MAGIC Naming Formula from $100M Offers provides the specific structure for creating names that sell.

5. Ask for What You Want. Every piece of copy must end with a specific, single call to action. Don't hope the reader figures out what to do next. Don't offer three options. State one action, clearly, and tell them exactly how to take it. CTAs without specificity ("learn more") produce weaker responses than CTAs with specificity ("download the 7-page guide").

6. Emotion First, Logic Second. People buy on emotion and justify with logic. Lead with how the product makes them feel (confident, safe, powerful, free), then provide the rational evidence (features, specifications, testimonials, data) that lets them justify the emotional decision. Copy that leads with features and follows with benefits reverses the natural decision sequence.

7. Write Before You Write. Research, brainstorm, and outline before touching the keyboard. The blank-page problem isn't a writing problem — it's a preparation problem. Dib's Writer's Toolbox (Story Bank, Content Bank, Swipe File, Snippets, Made Me Buy File) ensures that raw material is always available when writing time arrives.

8. Tell Stories. Stories are the oldest and most powerful persuasion technology. Dib's Two-Step Storytelling Framework provides the structure: (1) The Incident — relived through Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Smell/Taste sensory details. (2) The Point — "the reason I'm telling you this is because..." Save the point for the end so the story creates engagement before the lesson creates value.

9. Dual Readership Path. Write for two types of readers simultaneously: skimmers (who scan headlines, bold text, and bullet points) and deep readers (who read every word). Headlines, subheads, bold phrases, and captions must tell the complete story for skimmers. Body copy must reward deep readers with additional detail, evidence, and nuance.

10. Summarize Before and After. Tell them what you're going to tell them (preview), tell them (body), then tell them what you told them (summary). The repetition isn't redundant — it serves the dual readership path (skimmers catch the summary even if they missed the body) and reinforces key messages through the spacing effect (repeated exposure across the piece).

Cross-Library Connections

Hormozi's Content Unit framework from $100M Leads (Hook → Retain → Reward) is the structural implementation of Commandments 1, 3, and 5: the Hook is the headline (Commandment 3), the Retain section must entertain (Commandment 1), and the Reward concludes with a CTA (Commandment 5).

Berger's Contagious explains why Commandment 8 (stories) drives sharing: stories serve as Trojan Horses that carry brand messages under the guise of narrative entertainment. People share stories; they rarely share feature lists.

Voss's tactical empathy from Never Split the Difference is the conversational version of Commandment 6 (emotion first): understand and acknowledge the emotional reality before presenting logical arguments.

Implementation

  • Score your last 5 marketing pieces against all ten commandments. Which rules do you consistently break?
  • Spend 80% of writing time on headlines (Commandment 3). Write 20 headline variations before selecting one.
  • Build and maintain the Writer's Toolbox (Commandment 7). Five files, updated weekly, eliminating the blank-page problem permanently.
  • Add a story to every marketing piece (Commandment 8). Personal experience > hypothetical example > no story.
  • Format for dual readership (Commandment 9). Can someone understand your message by reading only the headlines and bold text? If not, revise.

    • 📚 From Lean Marketing by Allan Dib — Get the book