In his book, How To Make Ads Pay, Caples showed his respect for guidelines in copywriting. In the section entitled, "Seven Steps to Successful Advertising," Caples came up with a list of steps to consider based on the "results of hundreds of advertising tests." The steps of questions to consider are as follows:

1. Does your ad attract the RIGHT AUDIENCE?
2. Does your ad HOLD the audience?
3. Does your copy CREATE DESIRE?
4. Do you prove it is a BARGAIN?
5. Do you establish CONFIDENCE?
6. Do you make it EASY TO ACT?
7. Do you give prospects a reason to ACT AT ONCE?

Caples' well-known devotion to testing ads was also apparent. In the same book Caples wrote, "Make your advertising easy to understand. That can be a life work in itself-- learning how to write simply. Many people go through their entire lives without making themselves understood."