Copywriting points that sell

Despite the variety of new marketing methods available today, copywriting remains one of the most effective means of delivering a powerful selling message. A well-written sales letter is simple, personal, easy-to-read, and effective.

While copywriting is something of an art form, you can write an effective sales letter by following a simple, step-by-step formula:

Consider using a headline or Johnson Box. Not every sales letter will have these elements, but they are ideal for telegraphing your offer or a clear benefit statement. Just remember that they make your letter look less personal and more like advertising.

Use an appropriate salutation. Personalization is best when you can do it. Otherwise, use a salutation that connects with the reader as closely as possible. Dear Friend is safe but general. Dear Cat Lover is more targeted and specific. If youre mailing to a business audience, use the occupational or professional title.

Make your first sentence short and attention-grabbing. Dont waste time with a long windup before your pitch. Involve the reader immediately. Make a startling statement. Start an interesting story. Hit an emotional hot button. Or just state the offer and get to the point. This last approach is often the best tactic and offers the least room for error. Then the sentences that follow can expand on this first sentence to pull the reader into the body copy.

Present your offer on page one. If you dont give your offer in the headline or first sentence, you should put it somewhere early in the sales letter text. The better your offer, the earlier you should mention it. Be clear and specific about what your reader will get by responding.

Make the body of the sales letter work hard. Once youve grabbed your readers attention and generated interest in your offer, follow immediately with benefits, details, word pictures, testimonials, and proofs to eliminate doubt.

End the first page in the middle of a sentence. Whether its curiosity or an urge for closure, cutting a sentence in two at the bottom of a page helps encourage the reader to turn the page, finish the sentence, and keep reading. You can also use this technique on successive pages.
Keep your copy on track. You're not writing a novel, but your main idea should be a thread that weaves through the whole letter. At minimum, present your theme on page one and end on a similar note on the last page.

Call for action. Quickly restate the main points of your offer and ask for the response you want clearly and directly. Restate information on involvement devices, motivators, incentives, etc. Restate the big benefit.

Make response easy and clear. How should the reader respond? Give your toll-free number. Explain the ordering process one-two-three.

Guarantee your offer. Assure the reader that there is no risk. State your guarantee in strong terms. This should directly follow your call to action.

Stress urgency. Why should the reader respond now? Is it a limited-time offer? Are supplies limited? Are prices going up soon? Give a logical, sensible, and honest reason why this is the best time to respond. And be clear about what will happen if the reader does not respond. Mention the lost opportunity or the consequences.

End the sales letter when you're finished. Just as your letter shouldnt have a long windup at the beginning, it shouldnt prattle on at the end. End a letter as bluntly as it began. Often this is a quick restatement of your instructions for responding or a simple thank you.

Have the right person sign your letter. Your sales letter should be signed by the highest-authority person available or by someone relevant to the reader. Ideally, the signature should be in blue ink. (Hint: Consider how the signature looks. Does it suggest confidence and believability, or is it shaky and uncertain?)

Use your P.S. effectively. The postscript is one of the most-read parts of a sales letter. It should present an important message, a prime benefit, a restatement of the offer, a reminder of the deadline, a sweetener, or whatever you feel is most effective in this prime spot. Some call the P.S. a headline at the end of the letter. Ideally, it should be short, about one to three lines.

Copywriting: Copywriters listen--Here's the classic client to copywriter lie

"Come down on price on this one and there'll be more work to come.

"This come-on is a favorite of potential new clients who either have no money, or are justifiably trying to keep costs down.Either way it doesn't matter to the copywriter because both circumstances ask the copywriter to sacrifice his or her income on the promise of more work.

Unfortunately, "more work" rarely materializes. In my opinion, most of these people don't lie with malice, they simply lack the funds to pay a reasonable rate for copywriting.

One thing is clear: they do value copywriting and understand its power to add to THEIR bottom line.Why is this situation such a dilemma for the freelance copywriter?

I think it's safe to say that every copywriter has experienced tight finances. And for this reason alone it's tempting to talk yourself into saying "yes" to a bad proposition.

In addition, the copywriter might see value in adding the proposed project to his portfolio...and if it gets a great response, add a powerful case study too.Plus, the most trusting among us will believe there is more work to come, and will be anxious to land the job and develop a new copywriter/client relationship.

These and other realities of the copywriting life help us talk ourselves into a situation we'll regret...a pattern of accepting low pay from clients we don't want in the first place.How to say "yes" the PROFITABLE way...The good news is, you can say "yes" to new clients who promise more work IF you protect yourself.

A couple of years ago a European software company came to me with the intent of breaking into the U.S. market.Phil, the CEO of this mid-size company, was a tough negotiator. He wanted a ten percent price break for work he said would come to me over the course of that year. When I priced the work, the total came to about $12,000.

Obviously, this was a client I wanted to say "yes" to, but knowing the "big lie," I also realized I would be on the line for lost income if he didn't provide me with the promised work.My solution was to work it into my Fee Agreement, which all clients must sign, date, and fax back to me before work can commence.

I stipulated a ten percent price break ($1,200) on the $12,000 job, listed all work to be performed and its respective dollar value, and then added copy to this effect:"In exchange for a ten percent discount of $1,200, all of the above work must be assigned by December 31, 2006; if all of the above work is not assigned by December 31, 2006, then the ten percent discount becomes null and void and an invoice will be submitted for immediate payment of $1,200."

The strategy worked like a charm. In fact, in mid-2004 work slowed from this client, but toward the end of 2004 there was a flurry to complete his obligation for the amount of work contracted for.

WITHOUT the Fee Agreement stipulation, it appears I would have "bought into the lie," cut my pricing by ten percent for the work that I did do, and suffer the "lost income" of expected work that never came.

WITH the Fee Agreement stipulation, I felt good about the ten percent discount because it was a fair negotiation in which both parties fulfilled their obligations. And it brought me a lot of work toward the end of 2006 that may have come to me sometime in 2007...or quite possibly never.

copywriting: Why Long copy Works

You've probably seen those one page sales letters. Pages that go on seemingly forever and usually are there for the sole purpose of selling a product or getting an email sign-up. Do they work? There's a reason this style is used by so many internet marketers and that's because they do work. While the sales copy is usually very long, there is an opportunity to showcase the product and employ a variety of techniques to gain the visitor's interest.

Traditional multi-page websites with lots of sub-pages and links provide lots of opportunities for the site visitor to get lost and perhaps go away. However with the one page sales letter, there are a limited number of options for the visitor. Often it's a choice of 3 things: Buy the product, Sign up for the email list, or leave. So while the long sales letter looks complicated, it really keeps things simple for the site visitor.

Consider the 30 minute infomercial on TV. It's well known that these do a far better job of selling than a 60 second advertising spot can do. It's the same idea with a one page sales letter.

Of course there are exceptions, but in general single page sales letters do work if written properly. Of course not every site can make use of them, but if you have a single product or service to sell and are perhaps considering another style, remember that those 'ugly' one page sales letters are a proven model.

Copywriting: The importance of split-testing your copy

Copywriting for better sales: How do you know which words are the right words to use to convert your customers and increase their lifetime value? Through testing!


You test your headlines, your subheads, your body copy, your guarantees, your offers, your prices, your order forms, your background color, your font style and every other element that contributes to the entire online selling process.


Writing one sales letter and running with it-even if you think it is the most brilliant sales letter in the world-is unwise. Because that leaves you with no way of knowing what might convert better. The only way to know that what you are doing is working is to test, test, test.


You find out by trying different options and tracking what gets the best response. And here's the thing: testing is simple. Most people are just too lazy to do it! The most simple type of test to conduct is an A/B split test where only one element is tested at a time, like price.


For example, let's say you are currently selling a product for $39. And you want to know how raising your price would affect your conversion rates. So you run an A/B test. You keep your control page active at yourwebpage.com then set up a new url, perhaps something like yourwebpage.com/test. On this new page, you duplicate everything on your control page and change only one thing: the price. Instead of $39, you charge $49. Now you set up your traffic generation sources to direct half your traffic to your control page and half your traffic to the test page for a period of two weeks.


At the end of the two weeks, you compare the results: your control had a 1% conversion rate, but your test page had a 1.5% conversion rate. That's a 50% improvement! Your customers are actually willing to spend more money on your product than you thought. But you would have missed out on all that money if you had never conducted the test.


Now you know, though, so your $49 price point becomes your control, and you test again. This time you change the headline to see which one is more effective. And you keep testing different elements to figure out how to optimize your sales page. Or your squeeze page. You can test different headlines and "bribes" to determine which brings in the highest number of subscribers.


Running a sequential test is also an option. With a sequential test, you keep the same url and track the results for a certain time period. Then you change the element, like the price, and track the results for the same length of time. The results of a sequential test may not be as accurate, especially if a holiday or other special event occurred during either test period, but a sequential test is certainly better than not testing at all.

SEO Copywriting: How to overcome its challenges

SEO, Web and Conversion copywriting is quite a challenging task.

The main goal of SEO copywriting is to provide structured content-rich writing that both visitors and search engines can easily find on the web.

Not only do you have to write extremely compelling and informative content that makes visitors want to read every word and ultimately buy a service or product (which is hard enough alone), but you have to structure your writing in such a way that top search engines such as Google and Yahoo can determine that your writing is genuine and optimized for targeted specific search items.

SEO experts know exactly what search engines are looking for to bump your site up higher within the hundreds of thousands or even millions of other sites just like yours.

How SEO Copywriting Works

Search engines have sophisticated algorithms that determine how well your site will rank. You could have the most compelling and well-written text in the world, but if a search engine cannot find major contributing factors in its algorithm, then your site will not rank high.

Examples of these contributing factors include: relevant text, strategically placed related keywords throughout the body of text, keyword density, keywords in the title tag and description tag, headers, bulleted lists, the number of links on your page, the number and quality of web pages out on the web that are linking to your site, and clean code.

If a search engine cannot find these contributing factors, then it will rank your site lower in search engine result pages. Consider that if visitors cannot find your website on the first page of search results, maybe second if you’re lucky, then it’s as if your site doesn’t exist at all.

Most people are too busy to search through pages and pages of search results to find your site.

7 Copywriting tips for headline success

In copywriting, there are two huge mistakes people make when they write headlines. Either they are too bland and don't say enough (such as when they attempt to simply summarize), or they say too much to cover all the bases.In both cases, you will lose readers.1. The True Purpose of The HeadlineThe headline is more than a mere summary of the sales copy. Unlike the title of a book, for instance, it's not meant to introduce the story. It's meant to generate readership in the first place.It's the first thing that people see. Just like front-page headlines of a newspaper are meant to sell the paper, the copy's headline is meant to sell people on the copy.If a headline does not instantly give an indication of not only what the page is all about but also the reasons why people should read further the moment they read it, it will actually deter prospects.In fact, headlines that do not communicate any benefit in reading the next paragraph or navigating the site will dissuade readers from going deeper, which is where sales are made.So the true purpose of a headline is not to summarize or advertise the website, the salesletter, or the business behind it. It's simply to get people to read further. That's it.In advertising parlance, a headline is the "ad for the ad." For instance, a resume is not meant to land a job but to land an interview. A headline is, in the same way, meant to land the reader's attention and arouse their curiosity — not the sale.If a headline does not achieve this quickly, efficiently and effectively, people will simply click away, throw away the salesletter, or skim over it without giving it much thought.You may have heard of the famous "AIDA Formula," which stands for, in order: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Ads must follow this formula in order to be successful.They must capture the reader's attention, arouse their interest, increase their desire and lead them to take some kind of action.Other than "grabbers" like graphics, pop-ups, liftnotes, multimedia, or "lumpy mail" (in direct mail marketing, it's where trinkets are added to grab people's attention), the first part of the formula often refers to the headline.If the headline does not command enough attention (or does not command it effectively and, above all, rapidly), then the rest of the formula will fail — no matter how great your copy is.Ultimately, the headline is not meant to do anything other than to create readership. To "grab people by the eyeballs" and pull them into the copy.Period.2. The GapperUsually, there is a gap between the prospect's problem and its solution (or a gap between where a person happens to be at the moment and the future enjoyment of a product's benefits).In sales, they call this "gap analysis." It works because many prospects either do not know there is in fact a gap or, because it is one, try to ignore it as a result. Therefore, a headline that either communicates the presence of such a gap or implies it can cause people to want to close the gap.And the obvious way to do this is to read further.Using a headline that immediately conveys either a problem or a potential benefit not only makes the reader aware that there is a gap but also reinforces it in the mind. (And this doesn't mean writing all the benefits in the headline to cover all the bases, as in the case of long, wordy headlines.)Some headlines are newsy, others are sensational. Some make claims, others make statements. Some arouse curiosity, others provoke controversy. Some are intriguing, others are inspiring.Either way, it doesn't matter.All that matters is that the headline gets the reader to start reading. And if you created, communicated, or, better yet, widened the gap mentioned earlier, then after reading the headline readers will want to know, by browsing further, how they can close that gap.Widening the gap will not only appeal to those who can immediately relate to it but also cause those people to want to close the gap even more.Famous sales trainer Zig Ziglar said that people buy on emotional logic. In other words, they buy on emotion first but justify their decision with logic. Therefore, emotionally-charged headlines also help to widen those gaps. The wider the gap is, the greater the desire to close it will be.For instance, rather than saying "Lose 40 Pounds In Just 6 Weeks," you can say, "Lose 40 Pounds Of Ugly Fat In Just 6 Weeks."3. The Pain-Pleasure PrincipleWhile your copy should focus on the solution rather than the problem, adding a negative (or a potentially negative) situation to the headline is often more effective because it appeals to stronger emotions and motives.Granted, this might seem somewhat unusual or contrary to what you have learned in the past. So in order to understand this, let's take a look at how human needs and emotions work.In the late 1960s, psychologist Abraham Maslow developed the hierarchical theory of human needs. In essence, Maslow stated that the foundation of all human needs is our need to survive.The next one in that hierarchy is our need for safety and security.After that, it's social needs (e.g., the need for affection, to be loved, to feel a sense of belonging). The need for attention, to feel valuable or respected are esteem needs. And finally, at the top, is our need for self-actualization (i.e., to outdo ourselves, to get to the next level, to be all that we can be, etc).A similar principle is called the "pain-pleasure principle." In essence, it states that people want to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. In anything we do, we want to either move away from pain (i.e., solve a problem) or strive towards pleasure (i.e., gain an advantage).But when given the choice between the two, the avoidance of pain is the stronger motive, because our need to survive and be safe takes over. The emotions attached to pain are far superior than those attached to pleasure.So a headline that communicates a problem (i.e., a painful situation they feel right now, or a potentially painful one that could arise without the benefits of one's offering or without at least reading the copy) will have more emotional impact than a pleasurable one.It also instantly communicates to those who associate to its message and thus isolates the serious prospect from the curious visitor.For example, when I work with plastic surgeons I tell them to use as a headline, "Suffering from wrinkles?" Prospective patients who can instantly relate to the headline will more than likely read the ad further.They do so for two reasons.First, the headline appeals to those who have wrinkles. But not all people who have wrinkles are bothered by them. That's why the headline also appeals to those suffering from wrinkles (i.e., people who also want to do something about them).Therefore, think of a negative situation that is now present, or one that will occur without your product or service.Now, sometimes this pain can be implied. And the implication can often be a lot stronger than the one specified. (As a mentor once told me, "Implication is more powerful than specification.")For example, in a recent headline split-test for a salesletter I wrote that promoted a marriage counselling information product, the headline "Save My Marriage!" won over "Stop My Divorce!" by a huge margin.The conclusion?My guess is, "Stop My Divorce" is a negative. But it's specific. (And the implication is that the product may only stop the divorce but may not necessarily get the relationship back on track and stop the marriage from disintegrating — which is the true problem.)"Save My Marriage!" implies so many things. And the positive benefit is also implied — the marriage (i.e., the love, the passion, the relationship, the happiness, etc) can also be saved. Because not saving those, too, can be labor-intense, painful, and too difficult to bear.(Another reason may be that in "Stop My Divorce!" the divorce is imminent. If this was the case, people would probably be more interested in how to win in a divorce rather than stopping it. But I digress.)4. The DirectorIncidentally, the last headline uses another readership-enhancing technique: It begins with a verb. In other words, it directs visitors and takes them by the hand. Other examples include headlines that begin with the words "claim," "discover," "find," "get," "read," "see," "earn," "visit," "surf," "join," "sign up," etc.But go a step beyond that. Don't stick with mere verbs. Use action words that help paint vivid pictures in the mind. The more vivid the picture is, the more compelling the headline will be.(For example, a headline like "zoom past the confusion" will be better than "discover how to do it right.")Ultimately, don't let visitors guess what they must do or what they will get from reading further. You can also tell them in the headline. Also, you don't need to be direct. You can, in this case as well, imply what they must do.For example, if you're selling an accounting software, rather than saying "Poor fiscal management leads to financial woes," you can use "Don't let poor fiscal management suck money right from your bottom-line." People can picture the action of "sucking" more than they do "leading."Headlines that communicate something worth reading will cause people to surf deeper into your site (or read further into the letter). But the important thing to remember is, you only have a few seconds — if not a fraction of a second — to connect with you reader. That's why being pithy is vitally important.Think of an "elevator speech."Like with a person you've just met in an elevator, such as a potential client, you only have a few short seconds to make an impact until you or the other person finally leaves the elevator.The important thing to note is that your elevator speech must be good enough and concise enough to capture, in just a few short moments, the attention of the person to whom you're introducing.Sometimes, headlines need a little push. Just making a bland statement is not going to get you anywhere. You need to compel your readers. You need to not only capture their attention but also keep it. You may even need to shock, be intriguing, pique their curiosity, even be sensational, and not just inform.For example, think of the types of headlines you see in tabloid-style newspapers or grocery-line magazines, like National Enquirer, The Globe, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Men's Health, and more.Some of the highest paid copyeditors are often those working on the front-page headlines for these types of publications. If your paper had a story on Britney Spears' latest divorce setllement, what headline would sell more:"Inside Britney Spears' Divorce Settlement With Kevin Federline"? Or, "Uncover The Shocking Reason Behind Britney Spears' Divorce!"How about this one: "Mediterranean Diet Boosts Metabolism"? Or, riding on the buzz created by the recent movie "300," "Ancient Weightloss Diet Used By Greek Warriors Discovered!"5. The Ziegarnik EffectIn 1927, Bluma Zeigarnik, a Russian psychologist's assistant and one of the early contributors to Gestalt Psychology, found that people remember unfinished tasks better than they do finished ones.She noticed something peculiar after observing waiters who seemed to remember orders and forget them once the food was served. In other words, the incomplete task created a certain tension, discomfort, or uneasiness that caused the brain to “hook” onto the unfinished task until it was done.You see, we have an intrinsic need for closure.We get a certain feeling of disconcertedness when something is left unfinished. Often called the "Zeigarnik Effect," we not only remember interrupted tasks best but also the tension tends to create curiosity to an almost excruciating level.Achieving closure is part relief, part release. Until then, we either passionately attempt to complete something that's incomplete, or feel a certain discomfort until it is and often go to great lengths to get it done.In copywriting particularly, this tension can be created in a headline.For example, to the headline "How to lose 30 pounds in 6 weeks," you add "with these 7 tips," it will push people to read further to find out what the heck those "7 tips" are. (That's why the headline, "Do You Makes These Mistakes In English?" worked so well. People wanted to know, "What mistakes?")Let's take a look at a headline I used earlier. With "Inside Britney Spears' Divorce Settlement With Kevin Federline," it doesn't really open up anything. But, with "Uncover The Shocking Reason Behind Britney Spears' Divorce," people want to know, "what is that secret" or "what's so shocking about it?"In fact, making some kind of sensational, controversial, or intriguing statement, even though it doesn't open anything up in a direct sense, creates tension because people want to know what it is.(The "gap," in this case, is implied.)Take, for instance, "Lies, Lies, Lies." "The Ugly Truth About Low-Carb Dieting." Or, "What Doctors Don't Want You To Know."(Here's a little test: take a look at these 100 of the most successful headlines, and see how many use the Zeigarnik effect. You'll be pleasantly surprised.)6. The Window ShopperErroneously, many people often look at their prospects reading their salesletters for the first time as qualified patrons. And they tend to do so by considering their visitors as being "physically" inside the store once they read the front page — with headlines that begin with those hackneyed words "welcome to."(While they may or may not be targeted, they're still not qualified. They may be pre-qualified if they're targeted. But they're only window shoppers at this point.)Have you ever walked by a retail store whose sign in the main window said "welcome to [store name]"? Not likely. But you've probably seen such a sign upon entering a store.And there's the problem: In both cases, you had to walk inside the store first before you were welcomed and asked to browse further or if you needed any help.When people read your headline, they're not "inside the store," yet. They're still outside, thinking about whether to go in or not.So there must be something that gets them interested in walking into the store to browse or inquire further.It could be a variety of things. For example, it could be the showcase display in the window, possibly an outdoor sign touting some special, a banner announcing a special event, a sales flyer received in the mail, or a friend heralding the benefits from a product she bought at — or some special deal she received from — the store.Salesletters are no different. A headline is like the store's front window or entrance — people are not inside yet. And this is especially true in the case of online salesletters.Look at the web as one, colossal shopping mall. When people surf the web, they're browsing the mall. When they hit your site's front page, they are only seeing the "outside" of your store.Think of the people reading your headline as merely "window shopping." So your headline must be effective and efficient enough to instantly capture their attention, and compel them to enter your store and browse further.Understandably, a salesperson's ability to instantly capture the attention of her busy and incredibly preoccupied prospect is easier in the physical realm.Most of all, her enthusiasm for, and belief in, her product are easy to convey in person. Her ability to instill confidence and create trust, as well as her unique set of sales and people skills, product knowledge, personality and expertise, are equally advantageous.A salesletter is your salesperson in print.And like a salesperson, a headline must qualify the reader, and it must do so by communicating those ideas (e.g., credibility, intrigue, proof, etc) and emotions that empower people to at least enter the store.The responsibility therefore rests almost entirely on the words one chooses. Those words can make all the difference. And words should appeal to specific motives — whether directly or indirectly.7. The SpecificOne last tip.Vagueness, unless it is intended to create curiosity and readership by pulling people into the copy, will only confuse people.So try to be as specific as possible. Use very specific, quantifiable descriptions. For instance, use odd, non-rounded numbers instead of generalizations. Odd, non-rounded numbers are more credible and have pulled more than even or rounded numbers.That's why, for example, Ivory soap was marketed as being 99 and 44/100% pure. If Ivory said 100%, it would not have been as believable. "Amazing new system helped me earn $3,956.75 in 29 days!" is much more credible than "$4,000 in 1 month!"This tip may sound simple, but it is indeed very powerful. In fact, I have found that the best claims, benefits, or even headlines, are those that have any one of three components:They are quantifiableThey are measurableThey are time-boundAny one of the three is better than none. But if you can have two or even all three components, the stronger and more credible the impact will be.I've covered "quantifiable." But being measurable means to add a baseline against which the quantity can be compared or contrasted. And being time-bound means there is a specific timeframe the quantity (or benefit, problem, or idea) was achieved.For instance, if I can show you how to make "$784.22," it may mean nothing. But if I tell you, "How I generated $784.22 in just 5 minutes," that would be a lot more interesting.In conclusion, ask yourself: "Does the opening statement beg for attention? Does it arouse enough curiosity? And does it genuinely reflect and cater to the needs, motives and emotions of my target market?" Most importantly, "Is the language easy to understand, especially by that market?"

15 Sure Steps To Copywriting Success

In marketing, copywriting is a valuable skill that everyone needs to employ. Whether you're a graphics designer, php script developer, or whatever the case maybe, having or at least becoming familiar with the principles of copywriting can work to your advantage.

And just to get you started, here are 15 steps to copywriting success:

1. Research first - Identify the problem, agitate, solve

2. Openings – open with stories- Stories are relationship building, lowers resistance, engages readers and connects with them

3.Copy should be scannable, use subheadings and lists

4. List the facts with bullets, features and benefits - State a feature, then say "so that..." and give the benefit of that feature to customers

5. FAQs – who, what, when, where, who, how

6. Objections - why would someone not want what you're selling?

7. Testimonials - use your best ones up high in the copy and spread the others throughout the copy

8. Order link inserted about 1/3 to ½ way down in the copy, not sooner because you need to make the case based on values and emotions other than the price

9. The product – picture them with it, how much better their lives are with it, benefits, paint the picture, and offer another chance to click and order

10. List the specifics of what they get

11. A guarantee-everyone wants some sort of guarantee, don't you?

12. A call to action-many people spend all of their time giving the details of their product and fail to ask the reader to take action. You MUST ask the reader to take action and buy, because if you don't, they won't buy.

13. Bonuses-Stockpile your offer with free bonuses. This adds value to your offer and it gives the apperance that the customer is getting over on you, the merchant.

14. Final arguments, repeated in a P.S. and PPS.

15. Make sure that your headline is catchy and appeals to readers. We also advise you testing different headlines. A great headline could increase your sales by 377% overnight

The Biggest Copywriting Mistake Marketers Make, Maybe Even You

What’s the biggest mistake that people make in their online business? The answer: People pay very little or no attention to their copywriting. What is copywriting?

The copy consists of the words that are on internet marketer’s websites, ads, etc. They need to know that there are specific copywriting techniques that have proven to be effective. For example, direct response marketing has been around for decades and involves a specific type of copywriting.

These copywriting tactics can and should be applied to Internet copy. If they don’t know about marketing and killer copy then they will fail on the Internet. They have to know how to recognize killer copy. So it is in their best interest to know all there is to know about copywriting.

There are three things that you need to have in both offline and online businesses:

1. You have to have a product or service.

2. You need people to sell their product and service to. This is your traffic.

3. You need a way to persuade people to buy your product or service.

You can persuade people through their website, emails, etc.

Tip: People never buy anything unless they feel like they are going to get more out of their product than what they pay them for it.

For example, if you sell a $100 product, people will buy it because they think that they will get more than a $100 worth of value out of their product.

Tip: Network, network, network! Go to conferences and seminars to not only learn new information, but to network. Networking is a great way to build your Internet business quickly.

Tip: The biggest value on the Internet is to discover products that help you market better.

For example, the product Audio Generator is a great product because it lets you create audios that will increase your business.

Tip: When you convey the experience of your product and service closer to the customer, you will convince them more that your product is worth its weight in gold.

Persuasive Copywriting Is The Key To Sales

Your online copywriting must persuade - it’s integral to getting your visitors or readers to register, subscribe, qualify as leads, and yes, even buy from you. It’s writing that must earn its keep.

And to effectively manage the quality of your online copywriting, you need to understand what works, why it works and how to make it work better for you. Whether you are the marketer responsible for the bottom line or the writer creating the copy, Persuasive Online Copywriting provides the tools you need to get results.

Copywriting that's benefits-focused outsells features 5 to 1

The key to effective copywriting: People don’t buy products and services because of features.They buy the benefits, so your copywriting needs to be benefit rich.

Many copywriters use benefits as the basis of their messages. When deciding to buy, people want to know what’s in it for them. So if you’re clever you’ll tell them up front. If you make the benefits ultra-clear, people can’t misunderstand.


If you highlight the benefits early on, people are less likely to lose interest before they’ve 'got' your message.


A feature without a benefit is about as much use as a one legged man in an arse kicking contest.A car might offer air bags as standard in the passenger and driver seats. Jolly good. But so what?


The benefit of having air bags in both front seats is that the passengers feel safer. If there’s an accident they know they’ll be protected. Because it leads with a benefit, the message suddenly has power.


You’re selling peace of mind, not airbags.In the same way, a hat might be shower resistant and UV proof. Big deal. The benefit is that you can wear the hat in all weathers: it’ll keep you warm and dry in winter, cool and protected from the sun in the summer. You’re not selling a hat, you’re selling comfort, convenience and value for money.


OK, a computer might have a few terrabytes of memory. But does this face look bothered? It’s a yawningly dull message until you realise the benefit: that you can save hundreds and humdreds of films to your PC without running out of space! You’re not selling bytes or even a PC, you’re selling hours of fun, education and entertainment.

3 Profit-Producing Copywriting Tips

Copywriting for the web is a new method of writing any material that is bounded by search engine’s requirements and that which is anchored on the basic demand of the potential clients.

When you are doing an article for copywriting on the web, you need to make sure that you are hitting both entities in order for the copywriting material to be branded as successful and implementing.

Below are some of the basic tips on you can perfectly do copywriting for the web.

A. Focus on your material content and drive to the highest quality.

If you want to gain a sure hit on the traffic brought about by lots and more visitors on your article, then you drive your potential clients by what you can offer them – a highly relative content.

Logically, when people see your copywriting article material that is able to supplement the information that they need, the more that they will keep on coming back to re-visit your site and the material therein.

B. Work closely on having an equally powerful set of keywords on your copywriting material. The keywords are there to work as pacifiers of the search engines. When a search engine is able to see immense number of relevant keywords that are positioned on your copywriting material, it views then your site as something that is frequently being visited and accessed by a large number of visitors.

This is based on the logic that when a net user makes use of a search term during the finding process, search engines equate these search terms on the keywords that are on your material. If a match occurred, that means that there are keywords that are relevant and material.


C. Balance your keyword and your content. Do not go over the boundary of putting too much keyword that you forge the content of the material anymore and vice-versa. There must be an equal balance between the two to achieve the best of both worlds.

Reverse Psychology Works In Copywriting

Many people say that it is easy to write a sales copy and that there is really nothing to it. Well, all I can say is they are wrong!

For many, writing your sales copy is difficult. Having the ability to produce good copywriting is an attribute that not many people have. In copywriting, you need to realize that there are a lot of psychological principles that are involved in the process. Reverse psychology on the other hand, is even more powerful when it is used properly.

In this post, I am going to go over how reverse psychology works, how to apply it to copywriting and when is the best and effective time to use it is.

How Reverse Psychology Works

Reverse psychology is nothing more than a mind game you play and the object of the game is to confuse and distort the minds of others. I know it may sound complicated, but really it’s not.

In fact, you’ve probably used it and don’t even realize it. Let me give you an example of how it works, so that you can fully comprehend it.

If you have children, you can probably relate to this. When you tell children not to do something, what’s the first thing they do? They get into whatever it is that you just told them not to, why? Because you have accelerated their curiosity and desire to see what you have.

But if you were to apply reverse psychology, you would tell the child that they could have it. It wouldn’t be fun anymore, because you’ve taken away their desire to have it and as a result, they wouldn’t want it.

Moreover, you have accelerated the need to know why. Why are you giving it to them?
This does not only apply to children, this also applies to adults and they will react in the same way.

If you were to apply the same scenario to an adult, they would react in the same manner as the child did.

Applying It To Copywriting

The best and most effective time to apply reverse psychology to your sales copy, it is in your opening statement, when establishing your credibility, and in your guarantee. These are just a few important elements of your sales copy that are the most effective areas to use reverse psychology on your visitors.

Not many people use an opening statement in their sales copy. The opening statement is a only a couple of sentences that are before your attention grabbing headline. The opening statement is used to set the stage for your attention grabbing headline.

One of the first opening statements I used in my sales copy was: Before you think about listening to another so-called expert, you need to read this first… It seemed like everyone was using this opening statement, so I used reverse psychology and came up with: The so-called experts are getting nervous…. This made my conservation rate triple, because people wanted to know why the experts were getting nervous.

When you are establishing your credibility, every sales letter always talks about how successful they are and not how they got there. People are reactive towards realistic situations, in my sales copy I talked about how in debt I used to be and how I had no money to market with. This insured my visitor that I knew how they felt. I’ve been there and you can promote your web site without paying a cent for advertising, because I did it.

Other people would rather brag how much money they are making, people don’t react well to braggers. Just because someone makes a lot of money, doesn’t mean they know what your talking about, or doing for that matter. People love stories, it pulls them right in, especially if it’s a story they can relate to.

Another area where reverse psychology works great, is in your guarantee. Having a strong guarantee is the most important element of your sales copy, without it no one will buy from you, period.

When you are presenting your guarantee, make it risk free and reverse the risk.

Comfort your visitor by reversing the risk, insure them that you have more to lose out of the deal than they do.

How?

Well, you are the product creator, your name and reputation are on the line. If you create a poor product, then it will reflect on your credibility, not to mention that you stand to lose a ton of money in the process.

Copywriting Sources To Die For

9. Net Words - Nick UsborneNet Words is a true golden nugget for copywriters. This book reveals Nick’s rare strategies on how to write powerful and compelling copy for the internet by showing you how to drill deep into the minds of your readers and helping you find and develop the “voice” of your website. One of the things I like most about this book is that Mr. Usborne takes the time to give great examples of what to do and what NOT to do when writing online copy.


8. Movies in the Mind – Colleen Mariah RaeThis book is not directly related to copywriting, but to narrative and descriptive storytelling. In this book, Mrs. Rae shares an innovative collection of techniques on how to write a compelling story that pulls the reader in and doesn’t let go until the last word is read – which is a very desirable skill for any copywriter.


7. Triggers – Joe SugarmanMr. Sugarman is one of my favorite copywriters of all time (no wonder two of his books made it to this list). In “Triggers”, Joe shows us 30 valuable sales tools that you can instantly put to use to make your writing more persuasive. The concept of triggers is that by understanding human nature, we as copywriters can come to understand how our audience will react to certain situations or techniques.


6. Influence – Robert CialdiniI’m a big believer in the theory that in order to become a great copywriter, you must first learn as much as you can about human nature; and this book is as good as it gets. In his book, Cialdini unveils with juicy details and plenty of examples the six principles of influence and human persuasion: Reciprocation, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity.


5. Tested Advertising Methods – John CaplesThis classic book is a must-read for anyone involved in advertising, marketing or copywriting. In Tested Advertising Methods, Caples guides you step-by-step through the whole process of creating a powerful ad, from developing a good hook, to crafting a winning headline to writing a good first sentence, to creating the perfect close. What I love about this book is that the principles Caples teaches are truly timeless and never affected by ever shifting social trends or industry changes.


4. The Copywriter’s Handbook – Bob BlyCan you really write a book that teaches someone the craft of copywriting in 350 pages? Most copywriters would consider this an impossible task, but Bob Bly pulls it of brilliantly in this great handbook. The book starts out by explaining to beginner writers that their job is to craft copy that sells, and then goes on to explain exactly how to do it. This perfectly structured book belongs in the bookshelf of anyone who aspires to become a great copywriter.


3. The Robert Collier Letter Book – Robert CollierRobert Collier is probably the most plagiarized copywriter ever. Collier’s amazing ability to write persuasive and hypnotic sales letters has never (in my opinion) been matched. This book is a true classic and worth reading from cover to cover. It includes a collection of Robert Collier’s most profitable sales letters; but most importantly, it includes the precise instructions on how to craft compelling copy that converts prospects into buyers, how to take the guesswork out of advertising and how to keep customers satisfied and coming back for more.


2. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word – Joe SugarmanThis book has been described as “a complete direct marketing course from one of America’s top mail order entrepreneurs”. In my opinion, that hype-sounding description falls short on describing this amazing book. Page after page, Joe Sugarman takes you by the hand, details his thinking process and teaches in a very entertaining way the craft of writing record-breaking direct response copywriting. Each valuable piece of advice he offers is backed up with great examples from his days at JS&A.


1. Wizard of Ads (Trilogy) – Roy H. WilliamsControversial as it may be, I’m a huge fan of “the wizard”. With his creative and unconventional approach to advertising, Mr. Williams has made this trilogy of books my personal favorite. Drawing from fascinating anecdotes, the wizard teaches his copywriting methods through a series thought-provoking essays. It doesn’t matter if you are new to copywriting or a well-seasoned pro, you’ll find this trilogy enlightening and a most worthy addition to your bookshelf.

SEO Copywriting At A Glance

SEO Copywriting, or to give it its full name, search engine optimization copywriting or search engine copywriting, is the technique of writing the viewable text on a web page in such a way that it reads well for the surfer, and also targets specific search terms.

Its purpose is to rank highly in the search engines for the targeted search terms. As well as the viewable text, SEO Copywriting usually optimizes other on-page elements for the targeted search terms. These include the Title, Description and Keywords tags, headings and alt text.

The idea behind SEO Copywriting is that search engines want genuine content pages and not additional pages (often called "doorway pages") that are created for the sole purpose of achieving high rankings. Therefore, the engines cannot possibly view SEO copywritten pages as undesirable, and the rankings they achieve tend to be as stable as those that are achieved by other search engine optimization techniques.

Copywriting Success With Stronger SEO

Copywriting-One thing that can be said about search engine optimization copywriting is that it works for suitable websites and for suitable search terms.

SEO Copywriting can achieve rankings that tend to do well across the search engines, although no page can do equally well in all engines. It is sometimes said by practioners of search engine optimization copywriting, that the method tends to maintain its rankings as the engines tweak and change their algorithms, whereas other methods produce less stable rankings. This can't be true.

If 2 pages are in the top 10 search results; one getting there by the SEO copywriting method and the other by different search engine optimization techniques, they are both there because they match the engine's criteria (algorithm) quite well. When the criteria is changed, the match that each of them had is necessarily changed. The matches could become closer to, or further from, the engine's criteria.

Whether each page goes up or down in the results depends on what changes have been made to the engine's criteria. It is a matter of chance, and not a matter of whether SEO copywriting was used or not.

SEO Copywriting With Ease

You might be a link building whiz kid or an SMO expert, but both search engines and visitors to your site want content. These SEO copywriting tips and tricks won't turn you into Shakespeare, but if you listen up they might just make writing a little easier.

Free Information

Think of your copywriting content as your opportunity to provide "free information". For example, pretend you have a site selling high heels. Be sure to have extensive product descriptions of each shoe, but also create articles. Write articles on proper foot care, what styles are in right now, and what kinds of shoes you'd wear to see mom or go to the club in.

Web-Friendly Copywriting

Notice how I broke this post up into small paragraphs with subheads in bold. Do the same in your SEO copywriting. It can be difficult to read online, but creating bulleted lists and including lots of white space will make your visitors love your site. Remember that content isn't just for search engines. Having a high ranking site doesn't take the place of happy customers.

Go With The Flow

Make sure your content flows. Read it outloud and see if it makes sense. Avoid run-on sentences and long paragraphs. Use spell-check and grab a dictionary. There's no reason to use a "dollar" word where a "penny" word is just fine.

Why SEO Copywriting Can Hurt Your Sales

When your website copywriting content is written to be search engine friendly, you open up the door to a world of possibilities when it comes to the potential success of your website and your business. A site that has been written to be search engine friendly has a greater possibility of being discovered by the search engines. Copywriting that has been written with SEO in mind has the opportunity to rank high in the search engines.


Most online users, utilize the search engines to find what they need. Therefore, a majority of website visitors are lead to the site through the use of search engines. This is why it is so important to have content and copy that attracts all the major search engines.

Some people are more skilled at creating website copy that includes the best keywords and key phrases. If a business owner or web developer is not highly skilled when it comes to writing SEO copy, it can be well worth the money to hire an SEO writing specialist.

SEO copywriting services are services designed with creating successful copy for websites and other online resources. The copy is written to include the keywords that people who would be most interested in visiting this website are likely to use.

Pinpointing these keywords and using them in a rational ratio is essential to the success of optimizing the website for search engines.A website must have copy that is well written and will hold the interest of visitors. However, the first function of this copy is to be noticed by the search engines and to target the proper market.

Selecting keywords that will be used by potential clients is of the utmost important. If the copy is not written to include these keywords, the proper audience will not arrive at the site. When this occurs, there is often a high click through rate with very few sales.The success of a business website depends upon many factors. Keeping new content and interesting resources is always important.

Having an easy order process and professional design is also necessary. None of these factors matter, however, if the websites are not discovered by the search engines.

There is a definite need for website copy that is optimized. From this need has come the opportunity for skilled SEO writers to provide SEO copy and the opportunity for success to online business owners throughout the world.

Copywriting Defined

Copywriting is one of the most essential elements of effective online marketing. The art and science of copywriting involves strategically writing words that promote a person, product, business, opinion, or idea, with the ultimate intention of having the reader take some form of action.


So, whether you’re looking to sell something or to build traffic by earning links from others, you’ll need to tell compelling stories that grab attention and connect with people so that they’ll respond the way you want.

The Importance of The First Line In Copywriting

It has often been said that in copywriting, the purpose of the first sentence of a sales letter is simply to get the reader to read the second sentence.

Not surprisingly, the purpose of the second sentence in copywriting is to get the reader to read the second paragraph. If we can get the reader to read the second paragraph then we have a good chance that they’ll go down the entire slippery slope of readership and read the entire letter.

If the focus of the first sentence is to raise a potential problem that the reader may be facing, the goal of the second sentence is to expand on that problem. There are a couple of ways we can do this.

The first is to focus on the reasons why the problem occurs. In some instances the problem that you’re communicating is well understood. It’s been around for a long time and everyone acknowledges it’s an issue. Thus simply stating that you too understand the problem, won’t earn you much credibility in the eye of the reader.What will enhance your credibility is briefly communicating why the problem exists.

Now I realize that every company is unique, and it’s impossible to communicate the exact reasons for why a problem exists with anything close to 100% accuracy.

However, if you’re marketing to a specific niche, which you should be, then there are going to be some common reasons that are shared across companies within a particular group. By communicating the reasons for why the problem exists, you will demonstrate that your understanding of the issues is deep rather than superficial. An approach I use is the following:

Although the problem is well understood, the underlying issues are often not so readily apparent. For example in many cases we find that the key contributors to this problem include: (A, B, C)

When you create the three bullet points make sure you keep them short and concise. Remember that at this point in the relationship building process what we are tying to do is to raise enough interest so that the reader will do what we want them to do once they have finished reading the letter.

The Biggest Copywriting Mistake Marketers Make-Maybe Even You

What’s the biggest mistake that people make in their online business? The answer: People pay very little or no attention to their copywriting. What is copywriting?

The copy consists of the words that are on internet marketer’s websites, ads, etc. They need to know that there are specific copywriting techniques that have proven to be effective. For example, direct response marketing has been around for decades and involves a specific type of copywriting.

These copywriting tactics can and should be applied to Internet copy. If they don’t know about marketing and killer copy then they will fail on the Internet. They have to know how to recognize killer copy. So it is in their best interest to know all there is to know about copywriting.

There are three things that you need to have in both offline and online businesses:

1. You have to have a product or service.

2. You need people to sell their product and service to. This is your traffic.

3. You need a way to persuade people to buy your product or service.
You can persuade people through their website, emails, etc.

Tip: People never buy anything unless they feel like they are going to get more out of their product than what they pay them for it.

For example, if you sell a $100 product, people will buy it because they think that they will get more than a $100 worth of value out of their product.

Tip: Network, network, network! Go to conferences and seminars to not only learn new information, but to network. Networking is a great way to build your Internet business quickly.

Tip: The biggest value on the Internet is to discover products that help you market better.

For example, the product Audio Generator is a great product because it lets you create audios that will increase your business.

Tip: When you convey the experience of your product and service closer to the customer, you will convince them more that your product is worth its weight in gold.

Copywriting Must Be Persuasive Or Nobody Will Listen

Sooner or later, as a small business professional, you’ll need copywriting that persuades. According to our poll, readers find that persuasive copywriting the most challenging. But here are a few ways to pump up your copy:

Repetition

Reasons Why

Consistency

Social Proof

Comparisons

Agitate and Solve

Prognosticate

Go Tribal

Address Objections

Storytelling

I don't believe this list is in any particular order, but nobody is going to read your copy unless you get their attention.

And like newspapers, you've got to use bad news up front in your headlines.It's hard wired in our brains to pay attention to pain. Yet many clients we work with struggle with finding the real pain of their market.

Some write their blogs, newsletters, and copy with the same up-beat optimism that makes them successful and fun to be around.When it comes to copywriting that persuades, however, take off those rosy glasses.

Go for the pain. Agitate it and make it worse. Get readers to remember how bad it feels. Then you can talk about solutions to their problems.The reason you do this, besides getting their attention, is to establish your credibility as someone who knows what they're experiencing.
You're creating rapport through empathy.

Reverse Psychology Works In Copywriting

Many people say that it is easy to write a sales copy and that there is really nothing to it. Well, all I can say is they are wrong!


For many, writing your sales copy is difficult. Having the ability to produce good copywriting is an attribute that not many people have.


In copywriting, you need to realize that there are a lot of psychological principles that are involved in the process. Reverse psychology on the other hand, is even more powerful when it is used properly.In this post, I am going to go over how reverse psychology works, how to apply it to copywriting and when is the best and effective time to use it is.


How Reverse Psychology Works


Reverse psychology is nothing more than a mind game you play and the object of the game is to confuse and distort the minds of others. I know it may sound complicated, but really it’s not.


In fact, you’ve probably used it and don’t even realize it. Let me give you an example of how it works, so that you can fully comprehend it.


If you have children, you can probably relate to this. When you tell children not to do something, what’s the first thing they do? They get into whatever it is that you just told them not to, why? Because you have accelerated their curiosity and desire to see what you have.


But if you were to apply reverse psychology, you would tell the child that they could have it. It wouldn’t be fun anymore, because you’ve taken away their desire to have it and as a result, they wouldn’t want it.


Moreover, you have accelerated the need to know why. Why are you giving it to them?This does not only apply to children, this also applies to adults and they will react in the same way.If you were to apply the same scenario to an adult, they would react in the same manner as the child did.


Applying It To Copywriting


The best and most effective time to apply reverse psychology to your sales copy, it is in your opening statement, when establishing your credibility, and in your guarantee. These are just a few important elements of your sales copy that are the most effective areas to use reverse psychology on your visitors.


Not many people use an opening statement in their sales copy. The opening statement is a only a couple of sentences that are before your attention grabbing headline. The opening statement is used to set the stage for your attention grabbing headline.



One of the first opening statements I used in my sales copy was: Before you think about listening to another so-called expert, you need to read this first… It seemed like everyone was using this opening statement, so I used reverse psychology and came up with: The so-called experts are getting nervous…. This made my conservation rate triple, because people wanted to know why the experts were getting nervous.


When you are establishing your credibility, every sales letter always talks about how successful they are and not how they got there. People are reactive towards realistic situations, in my sales copy I talked about how in debt I used to be and how I had no money to market with. This insured my visitor that I knew how they felt. I’ve been there and you can promote your web site without paying a cent for advertising, because I did it.


Other people would rather brag how much money they are making, people don’t react well to braggers. Just because someone makes a lot of money, doesn’t mean they know what your talking about, or doing for that matter. People love stories, it pulls them right in, especially if it’s a story they can relate to.


Another area where reverse psychology works great, is in your guarantee. Having a strong guarantee is the most important element of your sales copy, without it no one will buy from you, period.When you are presenting your guarantee, make it risk free and reverse the risk.


Comfort your visitor by reversing the risk, insure them that you have more to lose out of the deal than they do.


How?


Well, you are the product creator, your name and reputaion are on the line. If you create a poor product, then it will reflect on your credibility, not to mention that you stand to lose a ton of money in te process.