Copy Life

With three to five seconds to capture your potential customer’s attention, you’ve barely any time to work your magic. This is why it is absolutely vital that in addition to proper site design you take the time to really develop your copy.

Imagine your site’s visitors as wild animals. You’ve set out the bait by marketing your site properly, by submitting your site to search engines, by practicing your SEO training (or paying someone else to do it for you), but a wild animal’s curiosity only takes it so far before its instinct is to bolt. If you don’t make the risk all that much more enticing, the wild animal will sniff at the offering, but they won’t stick around. Before you know it, you’ll be staring at their furry little hindquarters as they bound back into the dense cover of the World Wide Web. This is where igniting their interest comes into play.

Grammar: Not Just Someone to Have Around During the Holidays

I’ll be honest. I don’t continue reading a site’s content if I come across poorly constructed sentences, misspelled words, improper use of words, etc. It establishes a particular image in my mind of who the owner of the site is, and I don’t want to make an important decision such as purchasing an item, donating money, or registering for something when I think the wizard behind the curtain is Bubba from the Bayou with a second grade education (no offense, Bubba). I’d much rather associate myself with an educated individual; someone who can back up their claims.

Make certain that you are properly represented. If you write the copy yourself, have it proofed by someone who knows. If you are absolutely enlightened and realize that you don’t have what it takes to put together a sentence correctly, God bless. Hire a professional. The money you’ll spend is worth the PR, trust me.

The First Shall Be Last, and the Last Shall Be First

During my education, I took a series of speed-reading courses. One of the methods for quickly surmising the message of a paragraph was to read the first sentence, or two, and then jump to the last sentence.

My friends, people do this. It is a cold, hard fact of life, so take advantage of it. Your first sentence in a new section, or paragraph, should designate the purpose of the message you’re attempting to deliver. The last sentence should restate the message using different language.

Short, but Sweet

Bear with me while I return briefly to my previous analogy. The wild animal will sniff, sniff, and then, if they become intimidated, they’ll dart. This is why you need to provide your visitors with just enough to give them reason to bite, and then offer them a method for obtaining additional information. Don’t overwhelm them with an absurd amount of content right off the bat. Give them a taste of what it is you’re offering, and then present them with a way to get more information whether by following a link, expanding hidden content, or contacting you directly (the best method in most cases, really).

Flava, Baby!

Last, but not least: write with character. Don’t present bone dry information unless you absolutely have to. Make your content enjoyable to read. It’s hard enough to sit there and stare at a screen emanating light while being oppressed by fluorescent overheads filling out TPS reports; don’t make it any more difficult for your readers to stay awake than necessary. Provide your readers with an enjoyable experience and you’ll not only retain readership, but you’ll make it memorable.

Who knows! Maybe you’re site will be the next water cooler topic.

Learning how to write an effective sales piece is the closest thing to picking money off a tree in the world. You can literally turn your thoughts into money over and over again.

But of course, it is not an easy skill to learn. It can take years, but, by studying the basics you can increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts tremendously with a few simple concepts, and do it in just a few days.

Most sales letters follow the same formula no matter how long or short they are. As a rule of thumb, long sales letters always out perform shorter ones , as long as the content is relevant.

In other words, it should be exactly as long as it needs to be in order to produce the sale. (The more you give, the more you will get.)

There is rarely a sales letter that is too long. Remember, this is not for you. It is for your prospects, so take yourself and your feelings out of the subject, and make it as long as it needs to be to get the job done!

Creating a sales letter that holds a customer’s attention until the end and takes them through a planned emotional journey is the art.

That is what takes years to learn. How to suck someone into your sales copy and spit them out at the other end with a hysterical urge to whip out their credit card and buy from you.

There is a formula. Some may even call it manipulative. This means you must be very careful and use this power with caution and for good, or it will come back to haunt you.

There is no way I could even begin to scratch the surface of how to write compelling sales copy, as it takes years of practice to master, but here is the basic format for most sales letters, and you can use this anywhere! Emails, phone calls, websites, conversations, etc.

Ok, back to the structure: Headline: Qualify them. This mentions a benefit or a pain that the reader wants or has so they can raise their hand and say “He is talking about me!”

Story/Problem: Expose their pain. Build a relationship through a story. People get pulled into stories and find it hard to move on until the end, just like reading a great book. The solution; I found a solution. Here is what happened and how it will help you.

Educate: This is how and why it works. Offer; Here is how you can get it and ease your pain/increase your pleasure. Know what you are really selling.

I will tell you right now it is not your company and it is not your product. You are not selling ORAC values or compensation plans. You are selling a way to avoid pain or acquire pleasure.

If you are selling a health product for example, you are not selling the ingredients of it. You are selling a longer and healthier life. You are selling relief from a painful ailment so grandma can play with the grandkids again.

You are selling prevention and peace of mind over the fear (pain) of failing health. When you are marketing your opportunity, you are not selling compensation plans or training calls or a debt-free balance sheet.

You are selling pleasure through the attainment of wealth. You are selling pride and achievement. You are selling the education of their children. You are selling their dream car. You are selling the solution to painful bills and a frustrated spouse. You are selling a solution (to pain), and benefits (pleasure).

“John, if I could show you how to make guaranteed $2,000/mo within nine months so your daughter Suzy can go to college and become a doctor like she has always wanted.”

“And if I could show you how to do that without making a major investment and without spending more than one-two hours a night on your business, is that something you would be interested in?”

Assuming those are the reasons why John gave to you, do you think the ingredients of your product or the date your company was founded will really matter to him? Nope. Sell the solution. Sell the benefits.

How do you tell the difference between a feature and a benefit? Most people cannot. It is rather easy actually. This little trick is priceless and will shock you the first time you test your emails and other writings with it. After every sentence you write, jump into the shoes of your prospect and ask this question: “so what?” Come on, try it.

This was taken from a well known MLM company’s website and reflects the norm throughout the industry.

“Designed with the part-time member in mind. An incentive to achieve with rewards at every level. Dynamic Compression on the 2% Emerald bonus and on the Diamond Override Bonus! My Biz Bonus for 20% of CV on new Team Member’s cumulative orders, for the life of the new member’s orders.

Plus, a Consumer Bonus that pays 50% of the CV on the first order on new CDPI sign-ups! A Top Distributor’s reward for bringing in new business and new volume. The highest overall payout of any major company in the industry, great awards and recognition.

Now read each sentence and ask the question, so what?(Please do that now). See what I mean? It is meaningless until you show me how I can benefit from it! Now let us turn these features into benefits.

An incentive to achieve with rewards at every level so as your business grows, so will your compensation. Dynamic Compression on the 2% Emerald bonus and on the Diamond Override Bonus which will maximize the size of your check and put more money in your pocket! The highest overall payout of any major company in the industry will ensure that your time, money, and efforts are invested wisely, and that you earn what you really deserve!

See the difference?

If you’re writing marketing materials, such as an e-mail to sell a service or product, you may believe your sales copy is about generating sales. It is and it isn’t. You hope, in the end, you will get sales from your marketing materials; the purpose is to build a relationship between you and the potential buyer. We call this “relationship marketing.” You don’t want to hard-sell, because a direct, pushy sell usually alienates potential buyers. You want to build a relationship first, at which point sales will flow (if you do your relationship marketing the right way).

Relationship marketing puts the “CUSTOM” back in customer. You would think this would be logical, but many copywriters think this approach is a radical idea. Inexperienced copywriters focus on attracting potential buyers for a single transaction, rather than providing excellent service and support. If you want to turn buyers into long-term customers, then you will do the service and support, because the bottom line is making money long-term.

Relationship marketing evolved from direct response marketing in the 1960’s. In the 1980’s it evolved into building long-term (relationship) customers rather than relying on just single transactions. This marketing philosophy is called your customers’ “life cycle,” meaning, you offer a range of products/services, as people need them. To do this successfully, you need to write good, compelling copy, among other things.

Why would focusing on existing customers be more profitable? If you’re constantly spending money and resources to attract new customers, your profitability suffers. You aren’t building a loyal base of people who stay with you. Called “churn,” these people won’t come back to you. Another term to keep long-term customers and increase their loyalty is called “defensive marketing.” Customers who have already opened their wallets will continue to spend money on future services and products. If you write compelling sales copy for your website or other marketing tools, then those wallets are going to open often.

You can also view your customer lifetime value as a long-term asset. You value assets and treat them accordingly. Keep your customers (assets) happy and they will remain loyal. Loyalty is worth money to your business, since the cost of keeping an existing customer is only about 10 percent of the cost of getting a new one.

No one person is the same when they come to you for a product, service or opportunity. Everyone needs something specifically for THEM. If you’re marketing online, first communicate and build a relationship with people. You can use many methods, such as: e-mail, instant messaging, community forums, blogging and websites. You want to show them what you have to offer and get them to your website. That takes work. Once they’re on your website (and reading your great copy), get their e-mail address by giving something away instantly. The instant reward keeps them interested.

Provide quality information, well-written and properly researched copy. This adds credibility. If the copy is good, and it motivates people, this will often translate into program registrations, or sign ups for a newsletter, or requests for product information — even orders. THIS is the beginning of your relationship, NOT the end. This is where you start your long-term relationship with your customer and offer value added extras. Show them how to get the best value and use out of their purchase(s). This more than anything will set you apart from your competition. This step will reward you with word-of-mouth referrals and customer retention.

Have you ever visited a site that just screamed, “buy this product”? We’ve all seen them, and asked ourselves how the site owner put together such excellent copy. It’s really no mystery once you’ve learned the proper copywriting techniques. Here’s how:

- Make your copy believable. The first rule of successful copywriting is to make your copy believable. Avoid exaggeration, and be aware that people are not going to immediately trust you enough to accept whatever you tell them! By being honest, you are making a great effort to gain the trust of your visitors and your bottom line is likely to show the result.

- Start headline writing by brainstorming several options. No one – not even the most seasoned copywriters – get a headline right on the first try. So accept this and get started brainstorming headline ideas. Try creating one around each of the major benefits of your product. Other great ideas are to write a few in the style of “How To…” or “Discover…”. You’ll find that the more you write, the easier it becomes to create great headlines. And when you’re done you can combine them to create the perfect one.

- Guide prospects toward purchasing – don’t push them. Pushy sales people do nothing more than irritate potential customers. And by writing a sales letter that is full of hype, you’re putting that pushy sales person in front of every prospect who visits your site. A better approach is to use persuasion and honesty to guide people to buy. Concentrate on pulling in your readers by giving them a solid emotional reason to believe what you say – a strong testimonial or a sincere thank you from an appreciative customer. This will go much further than demanding sales copy.

- Make a groundbreaking announcement in your headline. Of course this only works if you truly have something interesting to announce. But when you do, this is a great way to grab a reader’s attention. The announcement should cater to the desire of the reader to improve some specific aspect of their life. Tell them that your revolutionary approach is making a difference in so many lives… and then tell them HOW.

- Never be afraid to review your existing copy. On average, professional copywriters spend more time editing than they do writing. If they don’t get it right the first time then chances are you won’t either! So if your prospects are not responding in the way that you had hoped, take some time to review your copy and rewrite the sections that need work. Test different styles of copy and track the results so that you know what is working – and what is not.

- Work on the parts of your copy that will be read the most. Although all of your copy is important in it’s own way, there are five parts of every sales letter that you should pay particularly close attention to. They are your headline, subheadings, first sentence of every paragraph, first bullet point in a list and the PSs. These are the parts that will be read the most. And if they’re compelling, potential customers will want to learn more.

So get started today by using even one or two of the tips and see what a difference they can make!