Copywriting Tips And Tricks

I received a query for a sales letter rewrite from a well-respected online
marketer. He is having poor conversion from his website. I took a
quick glance at the website and saw right away why the sales were
doing poorly.

And it wasn’t:

• the salescopy — that was fairly good
• the product — it’s in demand
• the layout - I would change the background color but it’s fairly clean
• the product owners - they have been in business for many years with a lot of great products

So what was the HUGE problem as I saw it?

It was a POOR SALES STRATEGY.

A few of my coaching members asked me if they should learn internet marketing
and my answer was a BIG YES!!

There is no such thing as a pure copywriter. I mean, someone who
just writes great copy and sell products. In the final analysis,
great copywriters are really great SALES PEOPLE!

I’ve often heard many people comment that the late great Gary
Halbert wasn’t that great at writing copy but he knew how to
SELL.

I have a huge respect for Gary, but I must agree. Gary was a
great salesman. Mind you, his copy was great but not “out of
this world” better than any other copywriter out there.

I’ve read many of his letters and he himself would tell you that
it’s selling strategies that really made him the sought-after
copywriter he was.

The point of all this is that if you intend to write great copy,
along with learning how to write you must LEARN HOW TO SELL. Read
books on selling. (Some are listed in the stickie above.)

You can write GREAT COPY and still stink in your sales because
your marketing strategy or selling technique was poor.

I know a couple mediocre copywriters who are masters at selling
and they do very well for themselves online. They would sell you
the shirt on your back–not through words but through STRATEGY.

So the bottom line is that if you want to be a better copywriter
you must also learn how to sell.

Examples:

1. “Take the puppy home for the weekend and if you don’t like
him you can return it on Monday” -that’s selling! Who will
return a puppy?

2. If you are selling software give away a FREE TRIAL that last
for 30 days. Once the use learns how to use the software and get
accustomed to using it they would have literally sold
themselves!

You don’t need a lot of words to sell software–just give it a
away and ask them to ‘return the puppy’ on Monday.

3. If you are selling an “unbelievably good” product — use a
TON LOAD of testimonials. Now you may say that every copywriter
knows that but some products need MORE TESTIMONIALS than others.
Do you know which ones?? — then that’s selling.

4. Give away INFORMATION and sell the service. That’s what
copywriters and other service providers do. That’s why you have
to write articles, build a blog, give free critiques etc., these
are all INFORMATION but when they need copy they will seek you
out. That’s selling.

So while you improve your WRITING skills, learn how to market
online as well. If you intend to write copy for your clients they
would expect this from you.

And you can charge more because you are a MARKETER, not just a
copywriter.

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Few copywriters would discuss the research that’s necessary to write great copy. But a persuasive sales letter doesn’t just jump into a copywriter’s head at will. It takes planning and a lot of research. In fact, I spend over 80% of my time in crafting a sales letter in this research stage and less than 20% doing the actual writing and editing.

Below are the steps a copywriter should take in preparing to write sales letters.

1. Research the market. There are many questions the copywriter has to answer at this step: What are the market needs? What other products have been selling well? Who make up the target market (demographics)? Are there any noticeable trends? The copywriter has to know more about the market than the market knows about itself. Surveys, marketing reports, buying trends and popular forums can all give very telling information about your target market.

2. Research the competition. How well are your competitors doing? What products are selling well for them? What marketing message and media is bringing in most of the profit? Where are they investing most of their advertising dollars? Before the advent of the internet you would have to pay a lot of money for this type of information. But with tools such as ClickBank Marketplace which do rankings of hundreds of websites you can quickly spy on your competition. The use of Google Adwords can also provide you with the marketing intelligence that will guide you in your letter writing.

3. Research your product. If you are selling a product or service then you should know more about this product than the average user. What are the benefits to the end user? How is this product superior to other products in the market? How is it made, distributed, and used? Is the product based on a new idea or old and improved idea? What have the beta users being saying about the product?

4. Plan your letter appeals and structure. Once all the research has been done then it’s now time to plan how all the new information you’ve gathered can best be used to communicate the strongest benefits of this product to the prospect. How would you get their attention? What is the best headline type to use? How should you structure the sales letter? Should you start with a story? How much do you need to educate the prospect within the letter itself? Which are your strongest testimonials? What is the best appeal or hook to use?

Like writing an essay in school, the copywriter should have a rough draft of the letter outline before he starts pounding away at the keyboard. The structure of the letter should depend on your market, the newness of your product and the demographics you are trying to appeal to. Are they very skeptical, accepting, frustrated, and burnt? The answer to these questions will help you choice an appropriate letter structure to use.

Needless to say, a lot of brainstorming goes into crafting the perfect sales letter. As you read and do your research be sure to write down every idea that comes to mind. Don’t depend on your memory to keep those flashes of inspiration; you would lose them just when you need them most.

Along with the preparation of the research materials the copywriter must also prepare himself mentally and emotionally to perform at his peak. A healthy body and outlook on life will tell on your writing style. Writing copy is a tedious job and need a body prepared physically and mentally in order to excel.

To fail to plan is to plan to fail.

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