Roy H. Williams - Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads

ISBN: 9781932226096

Dear Reader:

Some time ago I published a book titled The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires. That collection of essays by Roy Hollister Williams on life and commerce came into my possession under rather extraordinary circumstances, and I felt compelled to share them with a larger audience.

Shortly after the book's publication, correspondence began to pour in from around the country. People in all walks of life told how the Wizard had radically changed the way they thought about advertising, business, and life. Many asked for more help in putting the Wizard's powerful principles into action. His essays had convinced them of the need to change, but the question in their minds was "How?"

One letter mentioned rumors of an Academy, a school of ancient principles and wisdom, where the elusive Wizard shared his philosophy and teachings with selected students. Intrigued, I began to make inquiries, and, after much effort and expense, I was able to verify its existence. My quest eventually brought into my hands the Wizard's annotated teaching guide and numerous personal effects.

The spirit of the Wizard's work best shines through in one of his letters where he says, "There are as many kinds of Wizards as there are passions in the hearts of humanity, yet a single characteristic is common to them all: Wizards love to be fascinated. Refusing to be restricted by the limitations of the body, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking attained the status of Wizards of Worlds. Read of Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers and you'll witness the birth of Wizards of Wrenches. Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Dr. Seuss stand in a centuries-long line of Wizards of Words. Teddy Roosevelt, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King were Wizards with a Contagious Dream. My question for you is simply this: What kind of Wizard will you be?"

Drawing on the Wizard's teaching guide, here in much of its original form, I offer you this treasure, Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads. It is my hope, and I'm sure the Wizard's as well, that many future wizards find a personal epiphany within its pages.

Ray Bard

Publisher

You study pivotal people and events in history, searching for a common denominator. You hope to identify the recurrent elements of greatness, the keys to phenomenal success. You search for the secret of miracles. After several hundred hours of reading, you reach an utterly inescapable conclusion: Words are the most powerful force there has ever been.

Monumental events explode with energetic words, and great leaders are remembered for the things they say. Although a grand idea may carry the seeds of change, it takes powerful words to launch the idea skyward, words strong enough to carry the full weight of vision. Likewise, great ad campaigns begin with grand ideas and come alive with vivid words.

Oddly enough, most business people have fabulous ideas; they simply don't have the words. Their wonderful ideas are sadly shortcircuited when they cannot find the words to carry them skyward.

You have seen Rodin's famous sculpture The Thinker and were intrigued the moment you saw it. But how your interest increases when you hear Rodin speak of it! "What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with the brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils, and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back, and legs; with his clenched fist and gripping toes." Seeing it now with our ears, we find Rodin's Thinker far more interesting than when we saw it only with our eyes.

Words are electric; they should be chosen for the emotional voltage they carry. Weak and predictable words cause grand ideas to appear so dull that they fade into the darkness of oblivion. But powerful words in unusual combinations brightly illuminate the mind.

Yes, words are electric. If a sentence does not shock a little, it carries no emotional voltage. When the hearer is not jolted, you can be sure he is not moved. Remember the words of Napoleon: "Small plans do not inflame the hearts of men."

Words start wars and end them, create love and choke it, bring us to laughter and joy and tears. Words cause men and women willingly to risk their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Our world, as we know it, revolves on the power of words.

In your ads, use words that are majestic, words that have the power to inflame people's hearts and illuminate their minds.

It's 2 am and my friend Tony and I have walked 270 feet down a dark alley to the back of a hardware store, then turned around to see a policeman standing next to our car. We stare at each other a moment, then slowly walk the 270 feet back toward the policeman. I tell Tony, "Don't say a word. Let me handle it. You'll just get us cuffed and scuffed." I turn to the cop.

"Hello officer I'm sure this looks suspicious but my name is Roy Hollister Williams and this is my best friend Anthony Marc White and we were having an argument in the kitchen of my house at twoeleven West Detroit where my wife Pennie is in bed already because she can't stay awake past ten o'clock and Tony said he was thinking about renting this vacant space next to the hardware store for an auto body shop because he thinks he can get twenty cars in this place and I said No way because the building is barely a hundred and fifty feet long and he said it was twice that long so we bet a cheeseburger and then came here to step it off together and I'm really good at stepping off distances because I used to work as an estimator for Aqua-Tite Seamless Guttering Company on Mingo Road and I can step off any distance to the exact foot because I used to do it several times a day to estimate the length of the guttering because we sold it by the foot and I had to bid the jobs and -- "

"He's gone," says Tony. "You can quit babbling like an idiot now." "Yeah," I answer, "but at least we're not in jail. Every time you talk to a cop, everyone within fifty feet of you goes to jail, and while that might sound like fun, I've got to go to work in the morning." "Okay," says Tony, "but you still owe me a cheeseburger."

Even though I'm only twenty, I already know that specifics are more believable than generalities. Tonight it saves me from taking a long ride in the back seat of a patrol car, and tomorrow it will help me write the kinds of ads that make people rich. In another few years, I'll use this little nugget of insight to launch my own advertising firm.

The simple truth is that nothing sounds quite so much like the truth as the truth, and most people seem to know the truth when they hear it. The truth is never full of loopholes and generalities. The truth is made of specifics and substantiation; it's solid. That's why it's easy to spot in a world full of paper-thin lies, half-lies, and hype.

What about your ads? Are they full of generalities and unsubstantiated claims? If so, your customer probably thinks you're lying even when you're telling the truth. Ads that sound like "ads" are never quite convincing.

Do your ads sound like "ads"?