Câu chuyện của tôi trong ngành quảng cáo và khoa học quảng cáo

by Claude C. Hopkins

Câu Chuyện Của Tôi Trong Ngành Quảng Cáo & Khoa Học Quảng Cáo là cuốn sách vô cùng thú vị về bài học kinh doanh trong ngành quảng cáo của tác giả Claude C. Hopkins. Cuốn sách gồm hai phần: tự truyện về cuộc đời cũng như sự nghiệp quảng cáo của thiên tài xuất chúng Claude C. Hopkins và những phương thức khoa học, những khái niệm, lý thuyết ngắn gọn, súc tích về những điều cơ bản trong quảng cáo như nghề viết mẫu quảng cáo.

Claude C. Hopkins tin rằng quảng cáo cũng là một ngành kinh doanh, ông đã ứng dụng mọi chiến lược, nguyên lý về phương cách kinh doanh đích thực vào các quảng cáo của mình. Ông tin rằng những cách dùng thử hay những khoản hoàn tiền đảm bảo... là các cách quảng cáo hiệu quả nhất.

"Trước khi dấn thân vào ngành quảng cáo, hãy đảm bảo bạn đã đọc cuốn sách này bảy lần. Nó đã thay đổi hướng đi của cuộc đời tôi."

(David Ogilvy)

Genres: Business, Biography, Nonfiction, Science, Psychology, Writing, Communication

407 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

Reviews

[Ben Zipkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a worthwhile read for anyone in the advertising or marketing fields. Even though the book was first published decades before Internet, TV, and even radio advertising came of age, the principles are still important.

To summarize:

- Advertising is about selling.
- Do not guess. Perform tests and know your audience.
- Use specific and definite claims. State figures and facts.
- Advertise to the individual, not the masses.
- Never ask people to buy.
- Safety first. All advertising disasters are due to rashness and unnecessary risk.
- Function over form. Do not let artwork and design get in the way of your sales proposition.

After you will read this you can't help but notice how many ads you see fail to make an impact because they violate these simple tenets.

[Nathanael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read. Hopkins practically founded modern advertising. He advocated for measuring everything and testing everything and holding advertisers accountable for results in 1927. Before the internet, before big data, before conversion tracking.

David Ogilvy said: "Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life."

It's required reading for anyone that uses words to convince other people to do things.

[DeBora Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to read if you need help marketing. He thought outside the box being ahead of his time.

[Alejandro Sanoja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE BOOK to read if you want to be a successful marketer.

If David Ogilvy (considered the father of Advertising as we know it today) says that you should read it SEVEN TIMES then what are you waiting for?

It's amazing to see how advertising hasn't fundamentally changed in more than 100 years. Some of the tactics and mediums might have changed, but the principles are the same.

The book will also be valuable to anyone who is thinking about starting their own business as it shared a lot about the mindset that is necessary to sell a product or service and how to scale.

This will be THE BOOK that I will start recommending when people ask me for marketing book recommendations.

Some of my highlights:

"I know of nothing more ridiculous than gray-haired boards of directors deciding on what housewives want."

"A man who has made a success desires to see others make a success. A man who has worked wants to see others work."

"I have never known of a line where individual advertisers could profitably change habits."

"Salesmanship-in-print, in principle, is just the same as salesmanship-in-person."

[Luka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several reasons to read this book:

- Hopkins had developed methods to advertising and business development, which are based on timeless principles, a lot of which can be used as a thinking mechanism upon making decisions, in any business, on any level, during any time and age.
- His life story of non-stop work and professional development is highly inspiring, and blesses you with many interesting case studies on how he advertised successful businesses.
- Considering that book's events and case studies happen in period of 1890-1910, a lot of his principles and learnings do not hold up with advertising rules today, and it's interesting to see how fight for human attention had changed from his to our time.
- Even though not all principles hold up with the future, every point he makes is based on fundamentals and scientific approach, focused on experiments and results, which makes them timeless and highly reusable in modern day businesses.

There's a good reason this book has a reputation of being an advertising bible.

[Ian Hodge · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are two books in this volume. One is biographical, the other is simply advertising genius.

In he early part of the 20th century, business was in the midst of a revolution in the USA. Not only were there significant changes in methods of production, but there was a corresponding change in the methods of marketing and advertising. Claude Hopkins was at the forefront of the sales and marketing revolution, and his Scientific Advertising stands as a monument that is still used today to teach marketing skills to people in business.

Marketing guru Jay Abraham claims he read Scientific Advertising 47 times. I can believe it. If you're in business and looking to ways to increase sales, read this book. Forty-seven times, at least!

[Pete Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claude Hopkins was the godfather of direct response marketing, and the two books here (now printed as one) changed the game for everyone. This is my go-to gift for new clients, friends or newbie marketers.

[Tam Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Đọc review và tóm tắt của mình tại đây: https://bit.ly/3gcZTNi

[Harry Harman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book (Scientific Advertising) seven times. It changed the course of my life." - David Ogilvy

many years in a vortex of advertising

Any man who by a lifetime of excessive application learns more about anything than others owes a statement to successors. The results of research should be recorded. Every pioneer should blaze his trail

Most business wrecks which I have encountered are due to overreaching. To reckless speculation on a hidden chance.

a pig in the poke

But ordinary failures mean little. They are expected. Every advertising venture in its initial stage means simply feeling the public pulse

I mean advertising men who pilot some big and costly ship to the rocks. Those men rarely recover.

Because of my mother, a dime to me has always looked as big as a dollar. Not my dimes only, but the other fellow’s dimes. I have spent them carefully, both as owner and trustee.

I have supported myself since the age of nine

I distributed the Detroit Evening News to sixty-five homes before supper.

the man who works twice as long as his fellows is bound to go twice as far, especially in advertising

The man who does two or three times the work of another learns two or three times as much

It took me among the common people, of whom God made so many. I came to know them, their wants and impulses, their struggles and economies, their simplicities. I am sure that I could not impress the rich, for I do not know them.

Canvassing is a wonderful school. One of the greatest advertising men this country has developed always went out to sell in person before he tried to sell in print.

Another man exerted a remarkable influence on my impressive years.

I knew nothing of the serious side of student life, but I saw all the college pranks. Thus I gained a rather firm idea that all life was a playground.

They would not think of sending out a salesman without samples. But they will spend fortunes on advertising to urge people to buy without seeing or testing. Some say that samples cost too much. Some argue that repeaters will ask for them again and again. But persuasion alone is vastly more expensive.

Since then I have sent out in magazines and newspapers hundreds of millions of coupons.

Another way I found to make money was by selling books. The profit was 100 per cent

Mother said: “Get the leading men first. They will bring in the others.” So I went up that morning to the mayor—Mr. Resigue—before he left his home.

A man who has made a success desires to see others make a success. A man who has worked wants to see others work. I am that way.

A boy having a good time on his father’s money has always been offensive to me. So, to a degree, a young woman.

I abhor drones

Only the obstinate, the bone-headed, will venture far on personal opinion.

The higher we ascend the farther we proceed from ordinary humanity. That will not do in advertising.

We never ask their education, never their literary qualifications. Those lacks are easily supplied. But let a man prove to us that he understands human nature and we welcome him with open arms.

No man can succeed in any line where he finds himself in disagreement and where unhappiness results. I consider business as a game and I play it as a game.

He called me Mr. Stick-to-itiveness.

I worked sixteen hours a day, my cousin worked as little as he could.

The saver and the worker get the preference of the men who control opportunities.

His idea of teaching was to ridicule us boys and make us feel insignificant.

he was a tremendous worker. He had always done the average work of three men.

They employ us for work, and our capacity for work counts above all else.

my position offered no chance to go farther. I began to reason in this way: A bookkeeper is an expense. In every business expenses are kept down. I could never be worth more than any other man who could do the work I did. The big salaries were paid to salesmen, to the men who brought in orders, or to the men in the factory who reduced the costs. They showed profits, and they could command a reasonable share of those profits. I saw the difference between the profit-earning and the expense side of a business, and I resolved to graduate from the debit class.

A clothing concern was on the verge of bankruptcy. They called in Powers, and he immediately measured up the situation. He said: “There is only one way out. Tell the truth. Tell the people that you are bankrupt and that your only way to salvation lies through large and immediate sales.” The clothing dealers argued that such an announcement would bring every creditor to their doors. But Powers said: “No matter. Either tell the truth or I quit.” Their next day’s ad. read something like this: “We are bankrupt. We owe $125,000, more than we can pay. This announcement will bring our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we go to the wall. These are the prices we are quoting to meet this situation:” Truth was then such a rarity in advertising that this announcement created a sensation. People flocked by the thousands to buy, and the store was saved.

The carpet sweeper business was then in its infancy. Users were few and sales were small. On the strength of my pamphlet I asked for permission to try to increase the demand. Christmas was approaching. On my nights pacing the streets I had thought of the idea of a sweeper as a Christmas present. It had never been offered as such. I designed a display rack for exhibit. I drew up cards, “The Queen of Christmas Presents.” I offered both free for Christmas, not as a gift, but as a reward. I sent out some five thousand letters. They brought me one thousand orders

He said: “Why not talk broom action, patent dumping devices, cyco bearings, and the great things I have created?” “I am talking to women,” I replied. “They are not mechanics. I want to talk the things which they will understand and appreciate.”

They agreed to build 250,000 sweepers, twelve woods to the dozen, for me. While they were building the sweepers, I arranged my plans. I wrote letters to dealers, in effect as follows: “Bissell carpet sweepers are today offered twelve woods to the dozen—the twelve finest woods in the world. They come with display racks free. They come with pamphlets, like the one inclosed, to feature these twelve woods. They will never be offered again. We offer them on condition that you sign the agreement inclosed. You must display them until sold, on the racks and with the cards we furnish. You must send out our pamphlets in every package which leaves your store for three weeks.” I offered a privilege, not an inducement. I appeared as a benefactor, not as a salesman. So dealers responded in a way that sold our stock of 250,000 sweepers in three weeks.

epoch

effrontery

he took an intense dislike to me, and it never changed.

That night after dinner I paced the streets. I tried to analyze myself. I had made a great success in Grand Rapids; I was making a fizzle here. What were the reasons? What was there I did in the old field which I could apply to Swift & Company’s problems? At midnight, on Indiana Avenue, I thought of an idea. In Grand Rapids I created sensations, I presented enticing ideas. I did not say to people, “Buy my brand instead of the other fellow’s.” I offered them inducements which naturally led them to buy.

At the time of the opening I inserted half-page ads. in the newspapers announcing the biggest cake in the world. That was on Saturday, and that night the store was to open. During the next week, 105,000 people climbed four flights of stairs to that cake. The elevators could not carry them. There I had demonstrators to offer samples of the cake. Then we had prizes to offer to those who guessed nearest to the weight, but every guesser had to buy a pail of Cotosuet. As a result of that week, Cotosuet was placed on a profit-paying basis in Chicago. We gained many thousands of users.

dilettantes

The way to sell goods is to sell them. The way to do that is to sample and demonstrate, and the more attractive you can make your demonstration the better it will be for you.

the men who know what arouses enthusiasm in simple people

[James Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

Call it scientific advertising because it's tried and true advertising principles still applicable today.

[Vladimir Sakharov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Как сказал Огилви "Гоните в шею любого рекламщика, который не прочитал Хопкинса минимум 7 раз" :)

[Bich Ngoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Một cuốn sách đúc rút bài học từ những câu chuyện thành công của Hopkins. Phần đầu là về các case study của ông, cùng những nhận định; phần 2 là đúc rút ý từ những kinh nghiệm đó, nên có vài chỗ còn trùng lặp.
Đọc xong cuốn này mình hiểu hơn rất nhiều về ngành quảng cáo, tự nhiên lại có thể liên hệ thực tế, phân tích được thật là kì diệu. Có nhận ra được à tại sao nhãn hàng này lại dùng cách quảng cáo này, nó có hiệu quả không,
Note lại một số thứ mình vỡ ra được. Hai sai lầm lớn nhất trong quảng cáo là khoe khoang và ích kỉ. Điều này thấy đúng vì nhiều khi thấy người sản xuất quá đề cao sản phẩm của mình, mà nghiễm nhiên xem mọi người phải tôn trọng nó, họ quá chú trọng kể về bản thân, mà quên đi những thứ khách hàng cần.
Quảng cáo phải cụ thể và có số liệu. Đúng là chả bao giờ mình chú ý mấy cái title "nhất thế giới" cả.
Luôn luôn nghiên cứu thị trường trước khi chạy một chiến dịch truyền thông quảng cáo. Trong sách bác có đề cập các cách cụ thể rồi, nhưng một số cách mình thấy không phù hợp với ngày nay nữa. 4.0 quá mạnh mẽ! Cái này cũng đi đôi với phân tích phản ứng và kết quả trong và sau chiến dịch nữa. Khân phục sự nhạy bén trong nghề của bác.
Bác cũng đưa ra một cách đánh giá với mình là khác đối với quảng cáo nữa. Thành công của nó không nằm ở việc kích cầu, đúng hơn là doanh thu. mà nằm ở lợi nhuận, tức là cái doanh thu nó trừ chi phí quảng cáo nữa. Có cái hay hấp dẫn mà chi phí cao thì chẳng bằng cái bình thường mà chi phí thấp, bán ít hơn nhưng tỉ lệ lời nhiều hơn. Mình nghĩ đây là một lời nhắc nhở tới những nhà làm quảng cáo, nhiều khi ngừoi ta quá hài lòng với đứa con tinh thần của mình mà không để ý tới con số cuối cùng.
Bác còn đề cập tới ngôn ngữ sử dụng trong quảng cáo nữa, là cách viết, còn cách đặt tên gọi cho sản phẩm...
Còn nhiều kiến thức mình đã học được nữa, một cuốn sách đáng đọc kể cả cho người không chuyên, hoàn toàn dễ hiểu.
Rất phục nghị lực làm việc của bác. Làm việc rất rất rất trâu bò :)

[Franklyn Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claude Hopkins, a copywriter at his finest during the early 1900s, was offered the opportunity to venture on his own. And yet......his beliefs were in the way. He could have been a business owner. But he denied the opportunity. 30 years later, his wife finally convinced him to start something of his own.

A great book, worthy of another read. This message struck me with great importance to entrepreneurship. Not mainstream but a genuine classic.

"The day before Christmas, in the year I made my inital success in selling carpet sweepers by letters, Mr. M. R. Bissell, president of the company, called me to his offeice. He said: "I have some advice to give you. You have many of the qualifications which make for success, including the selling instinct. You are too good a man to work for me. You shall start out for yourself, as I did."
He told me something of his history. How he had refused every salary offer, every safe anchorage, and struggled alone. And how as a result he had finally arrived on the road to fortune.
He ended by saying: "I am selfish enough to want you to stay here. If you do, your salary will be much increased next year. But I am fair enough to advise you not to stay. Don't let some one else glean the chief profits from your hard work and your talent.
My Scotch conservatism led me to stay. It was my great mistake. Soon after that I married, and any venture of my own became increasingly difficult. Thus I tied myself to a lifetime of service as an employee.

Recommended for beginner copywriters.

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[Chris N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read My Life in Advertising.

The autobiography is a nice cookbook for direct advertising enthusiasts. It shows an interesting timeline of the way advertising changed over the years.
Most of the mentioned companies and some methods are dated, so you may find yourself scratching your head with no contemporary reference.
The book was published in 1927, so when the author says "the '90s" he means the 1890s.

Hopkins' main principle is quite pragmatic - don't try to do beautiful advertising, try instead to make it effective and measurable. That was probably incredibly innovative back then, but with today's tools for advertising online, his advice may preach to the choir.

I didn't enjoy his narrative style too much. Using short simple sentences, it somewhat resembled Bible verses - "I did this...", "never do that...", "an advertiser should always...".

The book is a reference in the history of advertising and one cannot deny Hopkins' influence on the industry, but I wish he had been a bit less self-congratulatory in his autobiography.

[Philip Philipovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A behind-the-scenes look at Hopkins’ life in advertising.
Many of the techniques he invented in the 1920s are still used today, while others have been forgotten.

If I could only keep one lesson from this book, it would be the following:

The best school I know is canvassing, going from home to home. Many great ad-writers spend half their time in that. They learn by personal contacts what wins and what repulses. Then they apply their findings to appeals in print.

One of the most important insights is that advertising is simply salesmanship. A good salesman will be a good advertiser.

Other takeaways:

Never “sell.” Just offer service.
People hate to feel that a product is being pushed on them. Instead, offer solutions and services.

A good product sells itself.
Don’t just tell customers—show them. Free samples help people discover the real value of what you offer.

Great ads can last.
Strong campaigns can work for years if refined over time. Use data and iteration to find the best performers.

[Anthony Catantan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claude C. Hopkins, one of the greatest advertising pioneers, believed that advertising existed to sell something. He was among the first to see advertising as something that can be measured. What was unique about him was how he lived with the users of his products to understand these people even better. He knew them very well — their needs, desires, behaviors, and wants. What he learned in advertising and his experiences are all documented in the book: My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising.

I enjoyed reading it! Although I was not a finance or marketing graduate, I was still able to grasp what he was talking about. His simplistic writing is very much worth commending. The only downside was that there were times when I was tempted to skip some chapters. If you want to read the book and you feel like a certain chapter is not that essential for you, feel free to skip it.

More detailed review at https://anthonycatantan.com/boost-you....

[wanderlust_bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka, którą polecam każdemu zainteresowanemu tematem copywritingu i reklamy.
Jest to jedna z najważniejszych u najlepszych pozycji na ten temat.
Jak stworzyć reklamę, która zainteresuje odbiorców?
Jak sprawić, że klient kupi właśnie nasz produkt?
Czego unikać tworząc reklamę, a co sprawdza się w 90%?
To znajdziecie w tej książce.
Autor opisuje swoje pomysły na sprzedaż produktów, swoje wzloty i upadki.
Warto dodać, że dzieje się to w czasach, gdzie reklama dopiero zaczyna się rozwijać.
Same konkrety. Tu nie ma lania wody.
Zawsze interesował mnie temat tego, dlaczego ludzie decydują zakupić się tę konkretną rzecz, dlaczego niektóre reklamy tak silnie oddziałują na ludzi, ale też tego jak "olewać" reklamy i nie dać się zmanipulować. A znajac różne taktyki opisane w tej książce stosowane przy reklamie, dokładam kolejna cegiełkę do tego, żeby na reklamy uwagi nie zwracać.

Czytałam po polsku.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I picked this up with the intention of reading only Scientific Advertising, My Life in Advertising actually turned out to be well worth a read. An interesting mixture of biography and lessons, though as Hopkins notes, he doesn't bring anything up unless it has pedagogical value.

Hopkins had a clear understanding of what makes people tick – some of this, I'm sure, is innate, but the main reason for his knowledge is the amount of time he put in – 18 hour work days were not uncommon. My Life in Advertising shares the things he discovered through all of this effort.

Might be a bit outdated (Hopkins died in 1932), but at the very least his scientific approach is as relevant as ever. Scientific Advertising, the second book, is a succinct summary of all of the lessons in the former, so it's worth looking at if one doesn't have the inclination to read his biography.

[Quanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Omg finally! This book took me about 20 months to read. Not that's totally useless or stupid. But.
1) it was in paper. I have much less opportunity to read paper books against ebooks.
2) it wasn't fiction - you have to focus and think about what you're reading.
3) it was in English - mind you, more than 100 years old English! Now while I'm not a native speaker, I don't usually have troubles with English texts, but 100 years old... Omg.
4) it's outdated. While I understand that some great advertising men (even David Ogilvy) appreciate Hopkins very much, I feel many of his claims are simply deprecated.
All in all - wasn't worth the time, I am sorry. There are two timeless thoughts - that ad writer is a salesman, not an artist, and that you should always test your campaigns on small samples. The rest... Meh.

[Justin Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

If most popular business books have spent the last century rehashing "My Life and Work," most popular advertising books have spent the last century rehashing "Scientific Advertising." If you're interested in split testing, copywriting, or buyer psychology at all, your time reading the less-than-100 pages in Scientific Advertising will be some of the best you'll ever spend. My only complaint is that there's not a lot of depth in most of the topics (the chapters tend to run 3-7 pages each), but you'll still be filled with ideas of things to try. I was frankly shocked at how many things I read here that were treated as brand new ideas in books published within the last 10 years. I wish I had read this earlier.

My Life in Advertising covers most of the same information told more biographically, but I liked the writing so much that it was still worth reading.

[Fahim Sachedina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot about Claude Hopkins' life for a little while and I picked up this book to hear from the man himself; one of the founding fathers of modern advertising.

The book talks about his life in the field and key lessons learned, such as:

• Advertising and copy are salesmanship in print.
• Facts and figures will always trump opinions and claims.
• Advertise to the individual.
• Always advertise with the benefit in mind.
• There's no harm in doing a cheap test to see if the audience will respond to your product/message - in short, be prepared to test everything.
• Know your numbers.

Even aside from these lessons, there are some great insights into Claude's life, his philosophy and his secrets to success.

[Shayy Tamang · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost shoutout to all my folks who got introduced to Hopkins because of Charles Duhiggs book ,The power of Habits (if u haven’t read TPOH, then you definitely musstttt!).

Hopkins is known to be the father of advertising who used his wits in the early 1900s to reach many major household products to you. Namely Quacker oats, Quacked Puffed rice, Pepsodent, Palmolive soaps and Schlitz beer.

I Love the sequence of this book as Hopkins begins by partly sharing his biography then leading to understand about his endeavouring and development of marketing skills. Age old methods and expertise, basic root understanding of recognising your products and mainly your customers.
THIS BOOK IS GOLD!!! It has a timeless quality to his work and I’ll continue re reading it.

[Jerry Smales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to sell anything online? Then these books might be your secret weapon. My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising are great reads for anyone who wants to persuasive online. This is the first book someone should read if you want to be a copywriter. Copywriting, according to Claude Hopkins, is salesmanship in print. I would rename this book copywriting 101. It is an easy read and quite interesting. These books are free online. Just search on google and you will find it in multiple websites. The copyrights for this book is open, so several people is giving it away as a pdf. You can also find these two book on Apple iTunes in audio form.

[Ruben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fue el primer libro de negocios que.de.verdad.me.gusto te muestra como inicio su carrera de.publicidad.y. cada idea y copywriting que Claude Hopkins utilizo para convencer a dueños de.supermercados para vender sus productos

Tambien como anunciar en el periodico y agregar cupones para que el publico se.interese en comprar tus productos

Ahora en la era de internet esto es.muy comun pero en su epoca 1920 a 30 no lo era tanto, lo mas impresionante es que todas las estrategias que el inicio en su epoca hasta el dia de hoy 2020 se sigue usando

lo.recomiendo al 100%

[mostly meri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reads like a weathered prophet’s journal, unblinking in its study of human want. Hopkins, a pioneer of ad science, strips persuasion to its bones: test relentlessly, track pennies, speak plainly. His tales of selling soap and tonics reveal not cunning, but a sober respect for truth. Ads as mirrors, not manipulations. In our age of clickbait, his pragmatism echoes, a reminder that desire is timeless, and honesty, however mercantile, still flickers in the dark. A century-old compass, rusted but pointing true.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claude Hopkins was a brilliant adman who developed the style of "preemption" (IYKYK) way back in the late 1920's, when this double volume was written. Remarkably, much of it still holds up. But some does not. His dictum that "Frivolity has no place in advertising. Nor has humor." is just one of many examples. Still, I found these two relatively slim volumes quite readable and enjoyable. The fact that he was making $186,00/yr in 1929 still astounds me. Then again, he was THE ad writer of his time—a fact that wasn't lost on him, for better or worse.

[Sam Klemens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not in advertising but I enjoyed this book. Tons of practical advice.

Keep track of your expenditures, measure how much effect the advertising has.
Fancy is not better. Simple is the best.
Talk about specifics. Your product is not "The best in the world". Instead, it's "4x better than XYZ because ABC" and so on.
Your advertisement is not a place for ego, it's a place to tell your customer how they stand to benefit.
Headlines matter. A lot..

Good book!

[Brian Ambrosini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lot of eye-opening themes in this book. Crazy to read this and think of how spot on Hopkins was. Advertising now can actually be traced to a T.

The bad part, that I am realizing, is that we are now doing away with common sense. Since everything is done via "scientific proof" advertisers now a days (myself included) tend to rely far to heavy on stats, than using a little creativity mixed with the ability to break down the performance of the ad.

[Ahmed Awad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished “My Life in Advertising” by Claude C. Hopkins. I’d give it a 4/5.


It’s not just a personal history, but a business story. Loved how it offers helpful suggestions and insights into the world of advertising. But, I felt it could have been more engaging and less focused on trivialities. Some parts were a bit too detailed for my liking. But overall, it’s a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the secrets of how to sell.