Ever heard of P.A.S.? 

 

It stands for problem, agitation, solution, and it’s the basic framework for A LOT of advertisements. 

 

You spell out a problem your market faces, you agitate the problem in the reader’s mind so they can more deeply understand why they must solve this problem, and then resolve the agitation by offering a solution to the problem.

 

Bullets can be like an ad in themselves, in the sense that one good bullet can sometimes create the same impact as an entire full-page ad in just one or two sentences. 

 

But they don’t often follow entire sales frameworks like P.A.S. or A.I.D.A (attention, interest, desire, action) that aim to convey complete selling messages/arguments.

 

However, you could think of this bullet as using a very basic two-part framework… 

 

 

And I don’t mean “postscript”.

 

I mean: problem, solution.

 

The problem is re-framed like a benefit: “Get Beach Body Ready.” 

 

Phrasing it this way emphasizes the positive outcome — the beach body. This is a lesson in emotionally intelligent misdirection, as you’re better off not bringing the types of negative thoughts (and the accompanying negative feelings) associated with “non-beach bodies” to the forefront of your reader’s mind.

 

But of course, if you need to “get” beach body ready that implies that you are not yet beach body ready — and that’s a problem. 

 

Not to worry though, we have a solution! 

 

 

The word “fast” serves at least two purposes here. 

 

One is pure sales psychology. 

 

When it comes to advertising appeals, speed is an almost irresistible classic that never goes out of style. (Always be asking yourself, “In what ways does my solution/product create fast results, and how can I clearly convey this fact to my target market?”) 

 

The second is to deal with the objection that most people have towards workout routines: that they don’t have the time (or energy, or willpower, or desire, etc.) to do a long time-consuming workout. 

 

By describing the workout as fast, that objection gets nipped in the bud before it even enters the reader’s mind. 

 

In fact, the word “fast” appears before the word workout does, pre-framing it in the reader’s mind before they even know that a workout is involved (this is getting pretty subtle, but all of these little things add – or take away, when improperly executed – from the ultimate impact of the bullet).

 

While we’re examining the subtle things, let’s look at the second half of this bullet and see why it works so well.

 

One is the use of colloquial language. 

 

Describing the workout as involving “abs and ass” is not exactly “professional” terminology, but using this type of phrase creates an affinity with the target market, who would likely use this exact language themselves. 

 

 

Ideally, every bullet you write would be both hard-hitting in its impact and also entertaining and fun to read – that way people will keep on reading your bullets without skipping a single one.

 

Another thing that makes this bullet fun to read is the use of alliteration and assonance.

 

What are those?

 

Alliteration is the use of the same sound at the beginning of multiple words in a row. In this instance, it’s “Ass And Abs” (three words starting with the “A” sounds). 

 

But that’s not all. There is also the use of assonance as well. 

 

Assonance is the repetition of similar vowel sounds across words to create an internal rhythm. In this instance, it’s the use of the “a” vowel sound in the words fAst Abs And Ass. The vowel sound in each word is the same, and this makes it kind of fun to read like a little poem, even if the reader doesn’t consciously realize it.

 

Overall, this is a rather simple bullet, and probably not the most incredibly persuasive-sounding one you’ve ever heard before. 

 

But its simple structure, combined with some re-framing techniques and use of subtle entertaining elements make it well worth spending some time studying and emulating.