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How to Write Copy That Get Results
Copyright © Charlie Page
The goal today is simple. That goal is to pull back the curtain
and show you how a professional copywriter creates the copy that
causes people to reach for their wallet or purse. Copy you would
normally have to pay for, only now you can do it yourself.
Let me begin by saying how very much I hate hype. Hate it. Loathe
it. Don't want to read it and will not write it. The pure fact of
the matter is that it does not take hype to sell products. It does
take capturing a person's attention, then their imagination, long
enough to help them see the desire they have for your product.
Here's the first foundational truth about copywriting. The people
who visit your site WANT to buy what you sell. They have the
desire now, or they wouldn't go to your site. They didn't just
wander by. They chose your site because something interested them.
Your job now is to enhance that sense of DESIRE and persuade them
to take action now. Enhancing their desire to benefit from what
you offer. That's the name of the game. Don't confuse desire with
being convinced. Desire creates sales, being convinced doesn't.
I'm convinced the Golden Gate Bridge is a fine bridge, but I don't
want to own it.
On the other hand, there's this very cool laptop I want so bad I
can taste it. I need a laptop like a hole in the head, but I want
it. You see, a person doesn't have to need your product to buy it.
They just have to want it. Very few people really need a Palm
Pilot, or a laptop, or heated leather seats or an expensive ink
pen when the one the dry cleaner gives away still writes, but they
buy these things (and more) every day.
Why shouldn't they buy them from you?
With that in mind, consider the following five key points to
writing copy that gets results ... no matter what product, service
or opportunity you offer.
The five points are:
1. Sell with emotion, support with logic.
2. Be honest.
3. Be brief, but not too brief.
4. Ask for the order early ... and often.
5. Emulate, don't imitate.
The first point is so important, so foundational, that I'm
devoting this entire article to understanding how this will work
in your real world. If you get this first step right you will see
results even if you bobble the other four. Without this one, the
other four will have to work overtime to get people to reach for
the Visa.
Pay careful attention because this is where 99% of ineffective
copy fails to do it's job.
1. Left Brain -- Right Brain
People generally buy things in a very predictable way. They make a
decision to buy based on emotion and defend or justify that
decision with logic. Rarely do people (even engineers!) buy in the
reverse order. Memorize this: People buy based on emotion, and
defend or justify that purchase with logic. That idea is the
reason that people buy. Period.
Let's take a closer look. Here is a quick example from what is
perhaps the best example of buying on emotion and defending it
with logic known to mankind ... the world of new car sales.
Example #1
You go to the dealership one fine weekend just to 'see what your
trade-in is worth'. These sharks are not going to sell you
anything. You are there for facts, just the facts. Not even
shopping. Just getting information. You were in the neighborhood
anyway.
Then it happens. The smell of a new interior. The purr of the
engine. (You didn't really realize how loud your old car is
inside.) Then there's the shine of the new paint job. Red. You
always wanted red. You deserve red. You want red! You can almost
feel the pride swell inside you as you imagine driving down your
street for the first time, your neighbors drooling with envy.
'Bonnie must be doing well.' they say. 'She's always seemed
smart.' You can see the look on your friends faces as you drive
home for Christmas in your new RED car.
By golly, you ARE going to have red. You wanted red in high school
and got the old family junker. Remember the embarrassment? You
wanted red in college but your idiot boyfriend talked you into
black. Black! After you dumped him you couldn't stand to even
drive the thing. It's red you want. It's red you've always wanted.
And you've waited long enough.
You drive home in your new red car. It smells good. It sounds
good. It looks good. You feel great! When tightwad Fred asks how
much you paid, you tell him that the old junker you traded in
needed an engine overhaul and it just wasn't a good investment to
repair the poor thing. You were smart to buy now. In fact, you got
the much better end of the deal.
My friend, you just bought on emotion and defended the purchase
with logic.
What else does this happen with? As you read this list, ask
yourself how many times you've bought more than you needed in one
of these areas just because it 'felt right'.
- Suits
- Dresses
- Homes
- Jewelry
- Stereo Equipment
- Computers
- Software ;)
Let's face it, we are a community of people who love to compare.
We compare how fast our cars go from zero to sixty, how big the
diamond is we gave our girl (or she gave us!) how many square feet
we have (never mind there are two empty bedrooms). The list goes
on and on. Advertisers know this about us. When you are the
advertiser, you must know it too.
How can you apply this to your real world? Three simple steps.
Step 1 - Get a legal pad now and write down the five top
things that make people want your product. Focus on how they will
feel, how others will perceive them, how they will feel about
themselves. Remember, a feature is what something does. A benefit
is what it does for me. People want benefits. People buy benefits.
People will interrupt what they are doing now to buy benefits.
Step 2 - Look at your selling copy now, whether it's a web
page, autoresponders, radio ad copy, classifieds ... doesn't
matter. Look at that copy and see if the five emotional pressure
points you wrote down are in that copy. Does the copy move you?
Does it compel you to action? Does it tell you, in very clear
terms, what's in it for you? If you can't be objective, solicit a
friend to take a look.
Step 3 - Change portions of your copy to add some punch.
I'm not talking about a major rewrite, just change some key areas
to appeal to a person's emotions. Help them imagine life with your
product. The time they will save. The money they will save. How
good they will look to
their peers. How great it will feel to finally (insert benefit
here).
Better yet, give them hints about what they can do with that time
and money. Here's a very short sample.
---------Begin sample------------
Our clients often save over $100 a month when they switch to our
widget. Imagine how good it will feel when YOU begin to save $100
or more a month, just by choosing our super-widget! That's over
$1200 a year! What will you do with your $1200?
- Pay off bills?
- Take a vacation?
- Pay for your child's college tuition?
- Finally have some 'mad' money just for you?
The choice is yours. Do what thousands of others have done. Click
here now to start saving today.
--------End sample----------------
Notice in the example above how the 'need to' and 'want to'
motivations alternate? We 'should' pay off bills and pay for
college. We 'want' to take a vacation and spend money like a
madman on a weekend pass just because it feels so very good. By
including both 'want to' and 'need to', this copy appeals to the
broadest possible audience. No matter what else your copy does,
make sure it appeals to a person's emotions. Remember, people do
what they want to do, not what they have to do.
If you have a hard time finding the emotional points of your
product, service or opportunity, remember that people are moved by
the promise of gain or the fear of loss. Using those two
super-motivators, it won't be long before your copy will be
charged with the emotional electricity that creates orders and
causes people to take action now.
Charlie Page is the owner of the Directory of Ezines, the first
and most comprehensive list of quality ezines that accept
advertising available on the Internet. Charlie can show you how to
sell more products and earn more affiliate commissions using the
Internet's #1 marketing method ... ezine marketing!
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Directory of
Ezines
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The first and most
comprehensive list of quality ezines that
accept advertising available on the Internet.
Learn how to sell more products and earn
more affiliate commissions using the
Internet's #1 marketing method ... ezine
marketing!
Click
here to learn more ...
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