In my swipe file I have a control piece that breaks a major rule of "copywriting." And yet, even though it breaks this "iron clad" rule, it has been running -- untouched -- for at least two or three years.

The "rule" it breaks is it uses lots of complex words, phrases and language not easily understood, even though it is sent to a market that is basically of average education.

In fact, I doubt if even ten percent of the market it's aimed at could define many of the words it uses without a dictionary. (I know I couldn't).

What kind of words and phrases does it use?

How about these:

"soupcon"

"perpetuity"

"eschew"

"lumbar"

"peruse"

"besotted"

Just to name a few.

And yet -- despite it using words and phrases that sound like a foreign language to the majority of people in this particular market -- it works.

The question is "why" does it work?

And if I had to guess, I would say it works because of its extremely strong use of good, old fashioned personality.

You see, the ad is for a subscription to a magazine called "National Review" -- which is a magazine spear-headed by a fellow named Bill Buckley. And since the ad is written "by" Bill Buckley, it is in his "voice" with his personality. Using the exact words he uses in real, every day conversation.

And make no mistake, this letter is bursting with Bill Buckley's personality from start to finish.

And a lot of people -- millions of people, in fact -- love his personality. Even if they can't always understand what he just said or what the word he just said means.

And you know what?

That's the power of having real, flesh-and-blood personality in your ads. It can trump blatant misspellings, poor grammar and even "set in stone" copywriting rules.

Why is personality so powerful in an ad?

I think it's because people like to buy from other people. They like to do business with real people. And when personality is injected into an ad the way Bill Buckley's personality is injected into the "National Review" letter, it makes it all that much more "real" to the person reading. It feels like a real letter, from a real person.

And I can practically guarantee you -- if you put your personality (or the personality the ad is supposed to be "from") into your next promotion, you will see a dramatic hike in your response and profits.

Ben Settle is an expert copywriter and direct marketer. If you liked this article then check out Ben's website at http://bensettle.com -- and get your hands on over 500 pages of advertising ideas, strategies and tactics just like this one -- as well as rare swipe file ads and hot marketing information not easily found anywhere else.