The Big Book of Words That Sell: 1200 Words and Phrases That Every Salesperson and Marketer Should Know and Use

by Robert W. Bly

The language you need to sell and succeed, from America's top copywriter.

Robert W. Bly is a self-made multi-millionaire and brings in six figures of sales annually from marketing and selling his own products, not to mention more than half a million from his freelance writing. He's been a professional copywriter for nearly forty years and has been named America's best copywriter. And now he's sharing his secrets.
The Big Book of Words that Sell contains the 1200 words and phrases that have proven to sell most effectively for Bob, and the best situations to employ that language in. Use them Sell any product or service.Get connections, followers, and friends on social media.Write social media posts and ads that generate more clicks and conversions.Optimize web pages for Google and other search engines.Write e-mails that get higher open and click-through rates.Become a more powerful and persuasive copywriter.Increase web site traffic and conversion.Generate better return from your Call to Actions (CTA).
The Big Book of Words that 1200 Words and Phrases That Every Salesperson and Marketer Should Know and Use is your guide to the world's most persuasive words and phrases--and how to leverage them to sell your product.

Genres: Business, Writing, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2019

About the author

Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter with 4 decades of experience in direct response and business-to-business marketing. He is the author of 100 published book on topics ranging from science, sex, satire, and science fiction -- to small business, writing, advertising, and online marketing. McGraw-Hill calls Bob Bly “America’s top copywriter.”

Reviews

[Johannes Blom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank goodness I persevered

Please note: I write this with the utmost respect to Mr Bly, a far more accomplished copywriter than I could ever hope to be. But I must be honest.

It was a slog most of the way through this book.

But I'm a completist, so I had to finish it.

Every now and then there's seriously sound advice, but for the most part it's like reading a dictionary.

All the while I was vacillating between two thoughts: "I got the book at discount, so I can't give it a one star rating," and, "for what I paid for this book, the nuggets of gold interspersed between the long lists of words are worth at least a two star rating."

But then the big surprise...

There's a wealth of copywriting gold waiting at the end of the book.

So it's worth at least four stars. (I reserve five star ratings for John Steinbeck novels and such, so four stars are like five star ratings for me.)

I can heartily recommend the book.

Thankfully. Because I was dreading giving the revered Bob Bly only one or two stars. (Phew!)

[James Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Book of Words That Sell is a practical reference for salespeople, marketers, copywriters, and business professionals who want to understand how language can influence attention and response. Robert W. Bly brings decades of copywriting and marketing experience to a collection of 1,200 words and phrases, with an emphasis on when and how persuasive language can be used effectively.

One of the book's strongest qualities is its practical focus. Rather than treating persuasive language as an abstract concept, it presents terminology that can be applied across sales and marketing situations. The material addresses attention, urgency, curiosity, perceived value, buyer objections, offers, emotional response, and calls to action.

The book also extends beyond traditional sales copy. Its applications include social media posts, advertising, email communication, websites, search optimization, conversion efforts, and other forms of marketing communication. This broad range makes the book useful as a reference that readers can return to when developing or revising their own marketing material.

Bly's long experience as a professional copywriter gives the subject a strong practical foundation. The book is particularly suited to readers who want a resource they can consult when searching for more effective ways to communicate an offer, clarify a benefit, create interest, or make a marketing message more persuasive.

With a Goodreads rating of 3.97 from 65 ratings and 11 reviews, The Big Book of Words That Sell has an established but relatively modest Goodreads presence. Its practical subject matter and broad usefulness across sales, marketing, business writing, advertising, and copywriting provide considerable opportunity for continued discovery among professionals, entrepreneurs, students, freelancers, and anyone seeking to improve persuasive communication.

[A. Paul Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serious copywriters know the name Robert W. Bly. He's been a top copywriter for more than 40 years. He's written how-to books before, but this one is different. This is meant to serve as a reference. The book is organized by application. Trying to underscore a product's advantages? There is a section for that. Need to target and engage an audience? There's a section for that, too. Trying to figure out how to answer objections? Yeah, he's got you covered there, too.

And if you are new to the idea of selling yourself or your product (copywriting), he's included some helpful chapters in the appendix.

If you have a website, or a product... if you write anything that needs to be clear and persuasive, The Big Book of Words That Sell is an excellent reference that you will return to again and again. It is a treasure trove of words, ideas and white-hat strategy. It will help trigger your own great ideas - but in half the time.

Highly recommended.

[Lois Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must have for content creators or marketers

I've avoided and struggled through ad campaigns, blog titles, and social media posts because I just couldn't think of the right thing to say. I picked up this book to solve that problem. Although this is much more of a reference than a curl-up-and-read book, it is packed with copy ideas for all types of situations with examples to illustrate the author's point. While appendices are often fluff at the end of the book, I skipped right to them and found information that may have been best put in the front of the book so as not to be considered an afterthought. I will have this book by my side when I'm creating my next ad campaign or email newsletter.

[Al Lock · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very useful book, although reading it through isn't as useful as using it as a resource - determine what sort of marketing/sales/ads you want to do and look up the appropriate section and choose the approach that makes the most sense for what you are selling.

Having said that, everyone should read the introduction. The points the author makes about poor communication are important and should be read by all.

[Jane Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

words that really do sell

This book contains a very comprehensive set of outlines for words that sell, how, when, where and why. It obviously does not have every word possible in it but the author gives very good lists and reasons so that you will find yourself developing your skills exponentially. I loved this book and as a fledgeling copywriter, found it unparalleled as a book in its field/category. I highly recommend it.

[Reinhardt · Rating 2 out of 5]

not much here

If you‘ve graduated from high school and read at least one advertising book, you will get nothing from this. Mostly a list of words you yourself could come up with if asked. Has a few good checklists in a couple appendixes at the end. If you can get it for 99 cents, it might be worth it.

[Michaell Cavllaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

ANOTHER GREAT BOOK WRITTEN BY BOB BLY

I've read a lot of books written or published by Bob Bly. I learned from reading them, so will you. This book is an excellent book to add to your collection of business books. Buy it!

[Another · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needs an index.

[Nadine S. Huggins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh!

Useful as a basic tool or perhaps food for thought when you are stuck and need ideas to riff from.

[Kirby Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be one of the workbooks for any marketer or copywriter.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas for generating the right wording