Copywriting Tips And Tricks

Writing is a strange art.

We have ideas in our heads and must first communicate those ideas in writing so that (hopefully) our original thoughts will end up in the reader’s head. Scary, huh? Only if there was a short-cut to this process so we didn’t have to communicate in the first place—telepathy? At least most husbands I know wish so.

I mentioned this process of communication because a lot of what is called copywriting involves selling an idea. But what I discovered while reviewing a lot of my coaching students sales letters is that the idea get lost in the writing process. I then have to dig through a lot of words to get the idea beneath them—if they even exist.

One of the most important aspects of any sales letter writing is clarity. That’s why I suggest to my students that they write out in a simple ‘thesis’ sentence–what they are trying to say BEFORE they actually say it.

I’ve taken a speed reading course in college. The real essence of this skill is picking out the kernels of ideas from the bushels of words. We really don’t need words if you can communicate ideas. So if you can quickly look over a paragraph for the main idea, (which is normally expressed in the topic sentence) then you can quickly move on to the next paragraph.

As a copywriter, it’s easy to get caught up in all the parts of the sales letter and miss the most important goal—“what are you really trying to say?” If the reader cannot determine this very early on, then you’ll confuse him and drain his patience. A prospect reading an advertisement is not very patient, nor wants to work hard at deciphering your words.

Now there are two levels of clarity as I see it: There’s the micro-level and the macro-level.

At the micro-level you can add clarity to your writing by using short sentences expressing simple ideas, using familiar words and even appealing to the experiences of your readers. The use of active instead of passive verbs and making your writing conversational all add to reader comprehension.

On the macro-level, you are looking at the logical flow of the ideas expressed in each paragraph and how to move towards a certain goal. The familiar AIDA also gives a tried and true order for presenting your sales pitch just as public speakers use PREP–Position, Reason, Example, Position. The speaker first states his position, and then gives reasons for that position followed by a supporting example, and finally restates his position.

Of course even if your macro-level clarity is intact but the sentences are clumsily written your sales letter will still suffer. While the ordering of ideas are easy to come by, most writers still struggle with expressing ideas in simple sentences.

And ‘simple’ doesn’t mean short. A sentence can be short in length but mentally tedious because of the number of ideas it is trying to express at the same time. Poets are experts at expressing grand ideas in the most succinct form. But your copy doesn’t have to read like poetry to accomplish the same goal.

The ‘not’ construction, for example, can often lead to confusion. Consider the statement, “The sales letter was not without its shortcomings.” Does this mean that the sales letter had shortcomings or not? Was it good or bad? This double-negative can better be expressed as a positive: “The sales letter had shortcomings.”

I would recommend that every copywriter should own at least one book on editing. An editor’s job is not just to correct grammar and spelling but to ensure clarity. Brushing up on your own editing skills will also help your sales letter writing.

(Caveat: The more ‘rules’ of editing you learn, the slower your writing can become. Do not allow the editor in your head to slow down your free flow of thoughts. Write first; edit later.)

In the final analysis if your message is not understood then your sales would suffer. I can’t begin to tell you the number of “sales”-letters that I read through and the one question left in my mind was, “What are you really selling?”

If you cannot give me the answer to that question in a few short sentences I doubt you’ll be able to in a million. So be sure to have the few short sentences written down before you attempt the million.

[I’ve challenged myself to take my own advice and give the thesis sentences for this article. They are, (1) Communication only takes place when our ideas are understood by us as by our readers, (2) Clarity is derived from two levels: sentences and idea flow. (3) Editing skills are important for copywriters to learn.

If you missed any of those ideas after reading the article then I failed.]

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One of the best ways to begin a sales letter is with a question. Sales people know that asking their prospects questions not only builds trust but also extracts important information on which to base their appeal.

Consider this opening of sales letter for a fictitious product that restores hair in bald men:

Dear Friend,

Are you worried about your present hair loss? Have you already tried hair restoration products that didn’t live up to their claims? Are you embarrassed to look in the mirror? Are you about to settle for the myth that ‘this is just genetic and nothing can be done about it?

As you read through each question you can see how the copywriter tries to enter a conversation with the reader by showing that he knows what concerns him. The prospect also assumes that since you raised the questions that you have the solutions to his problems.

In the case of a sales letter you cannot ask the prospect questions expecting to get a live answer since the letter is a one way conversational tool. But asking the question that the prospect is already asking in his head helps build rapport and gets his attention.

Some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers asked the correct questions that led them to discover some of the laws of nature that we take for granted today. Asking questions early in the sales letter can also cause the reader to think in the direction you want him going.

Since you are trying to build rapport oat the beginning of the letter you want to asl questions with a definite ‘yes’ answer. Questions such as, “Do you want to make more money than you are making now?” will get the client nodding in agreement with you. The answer to the questions should also be the main benefits that is offered by your product or service.

Questions also help to engage the reader early in the sales process because he is forced right away to think about the answer. The copywriter must assume that readers comes to the letter with a preoccupied mind and the only way to break through this natural barrier is the get the mind onto a different frequency. Questions are therefore great attention-getters.

Another great way to use questions in the sales letter is to raise objections in the form of questions and then answer them one by one. This is one of the ways that I have used the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for clients and incorporate these into the main sales letter. If people keep asking these questions this means that your sales message is not answering them and these questions are really objections to getting your product.

For example, if you are selling a software product that help people create videos to be uploaded to YouTube and people keep asking how large are the video files output from your software then you that is one objection you must meet squarely.

In that case I would suggest that you raise the question: “Does you software produce high quality videos with small file sizes?” I would then immediately answer that question by illustrating the file size inputs compare to the output and comment on the quality versus the file size.

Questions are powerful sales tools that are often taken for granted and not used often enough. Asking a question can often engage a reader more than simply sharing facts with them. And getting attention these days is one of the toughest battles to be fought online.

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