I’m guilty and you are guilty too!

Before I started writing copy, I used to believe that if you inform and give people the highest quality and most enlightening information, they would love you and become more successful and you would sell more.

Ha! What a joke!

You see, I recently realized that not only do people have no idea what they want in some markets, but they are TEN times lazier than I used to think they were.

Now that doesn’t sound too positive and certainly not the words of a well informed consultant or copywriter right? Well, the thing about it is…when you’re selling a product I’ve come to realize that it’s not so much how great your sales letter is, but rather how “magical” it is.

Think I’m kidding?

Follow your own buying habits and see for yourself.

People tend to buy the things that fulfill the Big 4.

Quick - Easy - Love - Money

…And if you’re a politician (who I would vote for by the way) then you also want quick and easy love, even if it costs money! LOL — I’ll have to explain that one another day.

Okay back to the point. You see, we all want what’s easiest — the path of least resistance. Enter the Law of Attraction (which I actually believe in) and all the fun gadgets you see on TV Infomercials. Top that with some diet pills, some muscle building supplements and the dieting fads around. Getting the point?

But WAIT There’s More!

Think about it, what the heck is in our driveways or garages? A frickin’ car? You mean walking is not easy?

But we also buy, “How To” books and products, all kinds of pills for our skin our butts, our breasts, our penises…uhhh NO, not me…lately.

What I realized from feedback from over 7,000 customers in the last 3 months, is that, if you want a 5% conversion on your sales letter…

Sell them the Magic Pill

Sell them what they want. But don’t just stop there. If you want to keep those customers, give them what they want…but make it realistic. Most people think that giving a person what they “need” is effective, but the truth is people are LAZY and the less they have to do the less they want to do.

You see, I was selling an information product that was so comprehensive, and so detailed that people were shocked when they got it.

Can you say refunds? So what was I to do? Well, the truth is, my solution is in its final phase, but what I did do was look at why my sales letter converted so high and figured out what in the world I did right in the sales letter that was I doing wrong in the fulfillment.

As it turns out, the sales letter sold a Magic Pill of sorts, it did what it was supposed to do. It was truthful and if an experienced person read it and bought my product they would also feel the same.

So now, my product is a “magic pill” as well. The lesson I learned was simple.

If people want, Quick, Easy, Love and Money…and they want it as fast and easy as possible, then find those qualities in your product and sell that!

As long as you can deliver on your promises, sell the Magic!

Don’t Sell The Steak…Sell The Sizzle — Elmer Wheeler

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“YO! Wassup squirrel. If you don’t stop pulling on my nuts I’m gonna stomp your little ass with my size twelves,” I said. That obviously didn’t phase him much because, he fell to the concrete pavement laughing and rolling and pointing at me. All while he squeaked in his little squirrel talk.

I was pissed. This little tree rat was laughing at me calling me an overgrown gorilla in front of my baby girl. Who was luckily distracted at this point and didn’t see or hear my wickedness. So while he was busy cracking up, I bent my knee, cocked my leg back and gave him a swift kick in his little puffy tail.

Eeeeek…! He went flying into a tree, head first, and SPLAT…smacked into the tree on his belly…hand ans legs spread eagle. What a sight that was to see. “Whoa, I thought…Did I just murder the little rat in front of my daughter?” The heat of fear flushed my chest, face and neck. And a single bead of sweat rolled down my forehead and on to my eyebrow. I put my hand on my head and said, “Oh God what have I done?” But…luckily a minute later he peeled his fuzzy, little, aching body off the tree and shook himself conscious.

“Whew,” I thought…”that was close!”

Feeling bad about what I had done to the little guy I opened the bag of nuts, that would have been his anyway, and I let him have some.

At least that kick in the ass will teach him to mess with me again!

Anyway, with this little incident I just wanted you to read and experience what happened to you as you read it.

Were you bored? I doubt it.

More likely you were a bit taken back and even felt a weird attraction to my utter nonsense. My words were more human and less like n authority. Did it make you want to read and visualize what I was talking about?

Of course! Why? Because people online like to be both educated and entertained at the same time. This same approach has grossed me and my clients hundreds of thousands of dollars with a single email.

Of course you wouldn’t make up dumb crap, but rather tell a more realistic story. Use times, places incidents, and scenery to build the mental imagery that you want your prospects to see and feel. Write like you talk and not like you’re pitching or announcing something. People appreciate and respond to this kind of copy.

It’s VERY different from writing a sales letter but it works like magic!

This approach is EXTREMELY powerful for anyone who uses it. You’ll see more of this kind of post from me on this blog, more tips like this and more colorful language as well!

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No, I don’t eat the PIG!

Not because of religion any more, although that’s how I started not eating the pig.

Today, I’d like to talk about another PIG!

This pig is about 5 years old and has turned into an eyesore to those around it.

Son of a gun doesn’t even eat that much, but he’s grown to about 280 lbs.

Big fu#@er too! 6′0′ if he stands on his hind legs. But why would he do that, he’s always sitting on his ass in front of the computer of all things.

At least he makes truckloads of money though. Better to make money to feed those grandkids he won’t see if he continues living that way.

Alright, alright…it’s ME!

Damn, what did you expect…and they say I’m twisted! Just kiddin’. ;-P

It wasn’t always this way though. And to be honest, most people can’t tell I weigh that much.

You see, in the late 90s and into the early 2000s I was an insane physical culturist. I had the brawny physique that many a man would love to have.

Never very low on the body fat side, but still A LOT leaner than now. Stand me next to any ‘big’ bodybuilder and I often made them look like a a pipsqueak!

Yeah, those were good times. Always, catching the eye of the opposite sex, knowing she wanted some of this brown sugar. Money started finding it’s way to me, but never so much that I was as well off as I am now.

The thing was, I was content. I had my future wife who is a hot little Colombian brunette. I had a wicked business mind and I could create training programs out of thin air for almost any one of my friends.

Yeah, you could say I was an encyclopedia of training knowledge.

So much in fact that, at the end of my “evangelical” training days, I would read almost anything and everything on training, nutrition and supplementation I could get my hungry little hands on.

In any case, at that time I had put so-o-o-o-o much contradicting information into my mind that I was changing training programs more often than my clothes. No lie!

Okay…I’m lying! But I changed training styles almost every week. That’s actually true.

So as time went on, I found myself going less and less and less to the gym and finally almost NEVER! My health and physique turned from fit to shit!

Not this year!

I’ve discovered a secret supplement that lets you sit on your lard ass and eat donuts, drink soda and watch TV…all while you incinerate the fat right off your, bloated jelly-belly and ass!

This special supplement contains a recently discovered compound that seeks out fat cells like a “heat seeking missile” and then it pumps them full of a special chemical that forces the fat cells to swell and explode into tiny little lipid molecules…ready for your body to excrete them in your feces an urine. No exercise needed!

Yeah R-E-A-L-L-Y!

NO! Come on! You didn’t actually believe me did you? I don’t want to know the answer. Keep it a secret.

Seriously though, for 2008 I stick to one thing. Fat loss and thats IT!

Not fat loss -AND- building muscle like most guys ‘think’ is the way…JUST fat loss.

Of course, I’ll be strength training with my body and with weights in some fashion, but my diet and lifestyle will change.

Oh and by the way…this is NOT a resolution!

This is my GOAL. One of my only 10 goals this year. That’s it.

Come to think of it…that reminds me of something else that I overcame in order to get to where I am today.

It’s information overload and it’s run rampant on the internet.

My gosh, I personally think that it is single-handedly responsible for A LOT of self esteem issues, health issues, personal financial issues and a whole slew of other fu@#ed up shit!

Why?

Because too much information breeds negativity, insecurity that you don’t know enough
or you are personally NOT enough as a person.

I say, “screw all that!” Cut through the shit and focus on one thing at a time.

For example…

Last year, I often found myself bombarded with different copywriting strategies and I
even took advice from people who call themselves the best and then I find out
that my copywriting skills generate more sales than some of these so-called ‘experts’!

After a while I began to realize that I needed to be picky about who and where I got my knowledge from and then only focus on the elements I really felt that I needed to improve on.

That’s all.

The results? Well…I’ve made twice the money in 2007 than I made from writing direct response copy in 2006.

I also made my clients enormous amounts of sales and the resulting profits!

Anyway, back to the Pig!

Yeah so, I’m gonna roast that piggy live and give you the play by play as we progress
into 2008 and he squeals for bloody murder as he shrinks into the lion he was born to be.

My question to my you my reader is this…

WHAT will YOU focus on in 2008?

My advice…scrap those shitty resolutions and turn them into goals.

Do yourself a favor…

After you’re done reading through this blog, go to www.Dictionary.com and
look up two words.

Resolution and Goal.

When you read the definitions, you’ll find that resolution has a somewhat vague
definition with no real conclusion.

Goal on the other hand is a real SUCCESS word. All you have to do is
read through the definitions and you’ll see for yourself.

To your ultimate success in 2008 my friend…Kick ass in 2008!

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This past weekend I went to see The Golden Compass.

The trailer looked pretty good so like most people, I blindly went in to check this flick out.

As I sat there mesmerized at the previews of all of the great fantasy movies on the horizon for next year, I quietly made plans to see them all.

Then I whispered in my wife’s ear, “Hollywood finally gets it. They’re finally getting it right.”

You see, as a freelance copywriter and entrepreneur, I discovered that “The Golden Compass” Formula is where the money is. Hollywood knew it all along, but I think Anakin, Harry and Frodo each played a little part over the last few years in kicking them in the teeth with the obvious answer.

The fact of the matter is, these fellas were all part of very in depth, ‘hypnotic,’ trance inducing stories.

They each kept us glued to the screen, anxiously anticipating the next scene wondering, “Is he doomed?”

“Will a light saber slice through his arms like a hot knife through butter?”

At the end, we were left with an unfinished thought. A reason to go back to the movies complete with an emotional attachment to the characters.

From the moment we step into the movies, the story unfolds. We become a cult. Addicts even. Willingly paying ridiculous movie prices to see more. Wanting, desiring, to quench our thirst for satisfaction. Happily losing all control as we are engulfed in the story.

Fantasy movies have at their core, what ‘everyday’ businesses desperately need. They need a powerful story. A story that gets their customers talking about them, telling their friends and family and coming back to spend more money as many times as they can.

I looked around at my local area and could easily identify many such businesses that do a great job at communicating their story. (You should do the same exercise and what you find may amaze you when applied to your business.)

The first one is an awesome cafe and lounge called Cavo here in Astoria, New York. When you step into Cavo you are visually presented with an elegant mix of ’sexually’ charged design and architecture. The food is an excellent Mediterranean mix and one of the reasons Cavo gets so much word of mouth - even from me! The service is pretty good too.

Not first-class but definitely up there for what it is. Cavo was built inside about two or three multi-family houses that were literally gutted and redesigned.

Lucky for them, they DO get the word of mouth they get because, as cruel as it sounds, their advertising leaves a lot to be desired! Their ads are standard, “look how pretty our lounge is.” Their website is designed to be “pretty” as well. There’s no interactivity and reaching them through their website is a nightmare. I love the standard “Join Our Mailing List” thing, it makes me want to click it and join their list…NO…not really.

Remember, “pretty” doesn’t mean money. Sure, sex sells, but “look at me” marketing doe not.

Outside of that though, the story Cavo tells as you walk into and experience their atmosphere and food, is definitely a compelling one and one you will talk about.

Fact is, I often recommend Cavo to others and go there as often as I can.

Stories sell your product or service on many different dimensions. With story-telling you can stimulate the minds of your customers through the modalities of audio, visual and tactile. Stories are how we pass on knowledge. Story-telling is the key into the subconscious minds of your target market. They get past their conscious defenses and persuade them to spend money with you.

“Facts and figures are forgotten. Stories are retold.” -Jeffrey Gitomer

But story-telling is not just for restaurants and stores. Web based and service based businesses can and should use stories to market their products and services.

Think about it…painting powerful images through the using the right words on your website or ad copy is the equivalent of a masterful story teller weaving a brief, but powerful story that captivates your prospect with his verbal imagery and catapults them into the emotional realm of feeling, seeing and tasting what it’s like to have that product or service.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s just say that stories are told in two different ways.

The story/stories you tell your customers and the stories your customers tell others.

Effectively communicating your story through your advertising copy, product packaging, product quality and your marketing materials - including your business’ physical appearance and customers service - is a formula for certain success.

Try to short-cut those and you’re doomed to failure!

Be consistent in your story telling and then prepare for a massive surge of sales!

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…And if you do, you’ll have a masculine/feminine figure, sex appeal and animal-like libido to match!

Would it make sense?

No it wouldn’t.

Why?

Because this is a damn blog about direct response copywriting and growing your business!

Now, I took it to an extreme there but that still brings us to the point of ‘congruence.’

Congruency in your copy is one of the elements that determines your ultimate outcome. Keeping your copy flowing, relevant and filled with bite sized morsels of information that your visitor will chomp down on, and want more, is the surest way to convert that visitor into a subscriber or customer.

Boring your visitor/reader into clicking away or trashing your copy with irrelevant information, is something everyone of us has done in our lifetime. Copywriter or not.

Here’s the simple solution.

Stay on point - proofread your copy - eliminate blocks of copy where your visitor can justifiably say “So what?”

I’ll get into more of the actual application of this into your sales copy in the future…

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In it I discuss some of the fundamental principles of copywriting and getting your prospects to buy from you.

As I was giving this coaching session, a student and friend Mike Herberts was launching a new product based on these same principles.

Listen in on his results and the session here…

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“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whatever sales message you write, learn the fundamental principles of direct response copywriting first.

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Can you imagine the traffic and activity happening both at that gas station and in that town, right now because of a little thing like a blue ghost flying around?

Whether it’s real or not - I think real - and about darn time - businesses can learn alot from this freaky video.

Getting your online marketing, videos, sales letters, ads and/or products to attract this kind of word-of-mouth can be a life-altering experience for you. Just watch the video and ponder the things you see on the video and about this event…don’t just look at the ghost. Haha!

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Listen, I’m not kidding around when I say this but…

Should we just let them to fall into a precipice filled with the crap they created for their clients and then dump a 50 foot slab of granite onto their mangled frames? We could just leave them there like they do to others in need and indifferently watch as the vultures circle around, just waiting for the opportune moment when they can sink their razor sharp beaks into some human! Mmmmm…

But NO, that’s too harsh, a little twisted and quite inhumane so…Maybe we should make nice like my sweet wife always says, spare them the misery and teach them, how to gain back what they’ve lost? The most important thing of all…Trust!

You see…I discovered that, surprise, surprise…there are highly paid people out there in my industry that really don’t give a rats butt about their clients.

Recently, I was talking to a few of my clients and realized that a ‘problematic theme’ had arisen in the copywriting industry.

Not with me, but with other copywriters and even consultants.

I’ll tell you what happened in a moment - first, I have to tell you about something else.

Back in my days as a freelance business consultant I learned a few very valuable lessons that I now preach whole-heartedly to my clients.

As a consultant (I’m sure other consultants will agree), in any field, you tend to pick up the tiny intricate and intimate details of various types of businesses and business models. If you’re passionate about helping your clients, and I always am, you sometimes have to come to terms in your own mind, with the fact that you may see a very serious problem with another aspect of their business but your client is not willing to listen to you about it.

This happened to me quite a few times back in those days, and it was costing those clients major amounts of money, but there was always one thing that stood out to me like a sore thumb.

It was the business to client relationship…or rather customer service.

Now, I won’t go on a rant about customer service and how important it is today. I’ll get some facts and figures for you another day.

But that brings us to what recently happened with my clients.

In a single week, 3 of my clients said to me, each in their own words,

“Rasheed, I’m really happy about our relationship, I don’t feel alone and worried with you.”

Another client went on to say,

“Man you really know your stuff, that’s the way it should be! I’ve paid so many copywriters in the past and they write a sales letter and disappear, leaving me without a person to turn to for advice or to improve the copy.”

It struck me as odd. As I was reading these emails over the week, my only thought was “Huh?”

You see, I thought that I was no different than other direct response copywriters in that respect. I have always taken the utmost care in treating each of my clients with concern and intimacy for them and their sales conversions, while maintaining my exclusivity and the value of my time.

I thought other copywriters did the same!

So of course, I got curious and asked my clients about some of their past copywriters and although I won’t name, names here…some ‘A-list’ copywriters are extremely guilty of apathy in a BIG way.

I was humbled a bit by this recent experience because, I was under the impression that it was my compelling copy that kept them calling me with new projects. LOL

Sure, my sales copy often sells more percentage-wise than those other “well-known” copywriters, but the key difference is - I stick around longer to help improve and increase their sales conversions.

Sadly, my company alone can’t possibly (at this stage anyway) take every single project that comes my way…making everyone ecstatically happy.

So my words of advice is this…

Copywriters - take care of your clients. You don’t need to have tons of clients to make it big. You just need a small, select group of clients that know you, trust you and recommend your services to others. That’s all it takes! When your customers love you, they talk about you. Word-of-mouth is the most powerful form of marketing you can get and it’s free!

Business Owners - When you find a copywriter, you most likely won’t be able to demand 100% of their time unless they’re an in-house employee. But when you are looking, look for someone whom other people have had a positive personal experience with. Trust your gut and don’t just run with the herd on your decision. You may end up paying ‘top-dollar’ for ‘no-frill’ service.

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What I will do is speak the truth, maybe even a truth
you’ve overlooked for far too long.

You see, like you, when I started out online there were
quite a few hurdles I had to overcome. I’m sure you’ll
agree that starting a business online is not just fun and
games.

It takes work, and most times you’re “it!”

There are quite a few things that we have to master, or
at least become semi-proficient at, in order to turn a
profit. Right?

One of those things is learning the art of copywriting.

I call it an art, because it truly takes a certain kind
expertise to turn simple words into profit generating
machines.

Now it’s no secret that many of the largest and most
powerful advertising agencies in the world were founded
by copywriters and rightfully so.

These people had a deep understanding of salesmanship in
print and were able to turn their words and ideas into
sales.

A great example of the evolution of advertising can be
seen in the book, “Born in 1842. A History of Advertising”
by Dan O’Donoghue, Maurice Levy, Stephane Pincas, and
Marc Loiseau.

You will find that many of the most compelling ads in the
book are the older and more direct response focused ads.

Why? Because it works!

So before we get into the nitty-gritty fundamentals of
how to increase your profits through efficient copywriting
you should know this.

If you have the budget, then hire a professional
copywriter to write your sales material for you and focus
your efforts on your other tasks.

If you don’t have that kind of budget, then read the rest of
this article very closely.

Keep in mind that this article will put you on the right track
but it is near impossible to learn everything you need to
know about “direct response copywriting” from one article.

Step 1

Identify your market.

Before you write a single word of copy
for your product or service, you must identify your target
market and as Stephen Pierce puts it, “What are their needs, wants
and wishes?”

Doing this will not only keep your copy laser focused but
also highly relevant to your target audience, and thus
multiplying your sales conversions.

Step 2

Write out your offer and P.S.

Yes, instead of writing out your headline, subhead and body copy
your next step is to write out your offer or rather
the closing offer and your P.S.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that
this is one of the places where 95% of sales letters
fall short.

I’ve seen people write out phenomenally compelling sales
letters and by the time they get to making their offer
they fall flat on their face because they’ve spent
all their energy on writing the sales letter.

Many people in fact, develop a sort of, temporary intimacy
with the prospect they are speaking to in their sales letter,
causing them to become less likely to make a firm offer and
ask for the money!

Don’t let this happen to you.

When writing your offer, state your price and why the price
you’re offering is such a great value to your prospect.

Make sure it’s believable and justified.

Then give an “Iron-clad Money Back Guarantee” or similar
as a risk reversal mechanism to increase their trust in
you. This will help to increase your sales.

Inject scarcity in the form of a Limited Quantity, Limited Time,
or a date dependent price discount. Many times a simple, “Act
Now or Others Will Leave You In The Dust” styled scarcity
injection will do the trick.

Next, you write your first P.S. make it one where you restate
your offer and the guarantee.

Your second P.S. should be a final call to action.

This is where you would add a “self-help” or accountability
styled P.S…

For Example…

P.P.S. - Listen, you can keep doing the same things you’ve
always done and keep getting the same results or you can take
quick and decisive action right now, grab your copy of XYZ PRODUCT
today and be on your way to building prosperous new life beginning
today. The choice is yours my friend. Click Here To Take Action
Today…

Step 3

Write a compelling headline.

Now, I can give you some incredible statistic like changing
just a headline produced 700% more sales without
any other changes to a website, but I’m pretty sure you
already know how powerful headlines really are.

So, here are two ways to write powerful headlines that make
your website sell like crazy.

You’ve probably heard this one before but here’s a twist
on it. “Don’t break what aint’ broke!”

You see, there are thousands of powerful headlines that
have converted well for tons of different industries in
the past. You probably already know quite a few of them.

All you have to do is “swipe” the headline and edit it to
suit your product or service.

The second way is…

You can use my “A.C.E.S. method” for writing headlines
that sell!

Here’s the short and sweet explanation of A.C.E.S…

A compelling headline has these four elements in it
almost ALL of the time.

A - Attention
C - Curiosity
E - Excitement
S - Specific

In other words a compelling headline…

1. Grabs the attention of your visitor.
2. Builds curiosity about your product or service.
3. Builds excitement through the use of powerful
‘news type’ words.
4. Is specific to your target market’s needs and your
product or service.

For example…

A long-time client of mine created a software that
slows down video training material so that the user
can learn specific moves or techniques faster.

Here’s the headline we came up with in only five
minutes and STILL it can be improved but the sales
results have been astounding to say the least.

“Amazing Software That Manipulates Video So That
Anyone Can Learn At Least 3 Times Faster Than Normal . . .
Watching The Same Video . . .In A Completely
Different Way!”

Do you see the A.C.E.S. in there? Great!

Write 10 to 20 of these headlines and save them all.

Step 4

Write down a list of your key benefits and turn them
into bullet points.

There are really only two main kinds of benefits.

The first one is a “functional benefit.” Often
called a feature, the functional benefit can easily
be identified as something like, the fast, overnight
delivery from a company like FedEx or all the office
supplies you need under one roof at your local Staples.

The second type of benefit is the “emotional benefit.”
An emotional benefit can be identified as the ease and
comfort you experience knowing that your package will
arrive by the next business day at your desired destination
or the reduced stress and feelings of happiness when you get
everything you need for your office in one location and
without stress.

When you look at billion dollar corporations like FedEx,
Microsoft, Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples or any number of
the big players in any industry, you’ll find that they have
an firm grasp and a perfect mix of functional and emotional
benefits inherent in their product or service and in their
marketing.

Once you have your emotional and functional benefits written,
your next step is to add the Zeirgarnik effect into them.

“The Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted
or interrupted tasks better than completed ones.” - Wikipedia.org

Basically, you’re forcing your prospects into a state
of curiosity and the only way to satisfy this curiosity
is to buy your product.

Infusing the Zeigarnik effect into your benefits will transform
them into persuasive bullets.

Here’s an example using the software product I mentioned
earlier if you were targeting dancers or martial artists…

Emotional Benefit: Feeling of achievement.
Functional Benefit: Learn difficult moves twice as fast.

Bullet: Experience the overwhelming joy of achievement
when you learn difficult moves twice as fast…using this
one secret feature.

OR

Bullet: How to learn complex moves twice as fast with
a single click of your mouse!

See the curiosity built into the benefit?

Step 5

Line up the social proof…testimonials and statistics.

Social proof is a very powerful form of persuasion, and after
all, copywriting is persuasion in print.

In every sales letter or direct response advertisement you’ll
find the element of social proof.

Social proof in the form of testimonials, provides your prospect
with both the reassurance that your product is good and it
also triggers the “herd mentality,” inherent in all human beings.

Having social proof easily provides your copy with the much
needed impulse buying triggers because both real statistics
and personal testimonials have the power to get past your
prospects defenses and deeper into their minds.

But you know what?

Another powerful form of testimonial exists.

It holds the persuasive power of “authority.”

Getting testimonials from well known experts and/or celebrities
can and will make your testimonials even more powerful.

The persuasion principle of “authority” or rather compliance
with an authority figure can immediately and many times
drastically boost your sales.

I highly recommend you read, “Influence - The Psychology of
Persuasion” by Dr. Robert Cialdini to learn more about
the principles of persuasion.

Step 6

Write your lead.

This is where you begin to address your prospect directly.

It is where you set the stage for the rest of your sales
copy.

To address your prospect directly, you should begin a
sales letter with…

“Dear Friend,” or better yet “Dear Fellow Dancer,”

The next thing you write after that should be a
opening sentence that makes a “big promise” of the
ultimate benefit they will receive from reading your
sales copy.

A classic example of this is the “If…Then” opener.

For example using the software example…

If you’ve been trying to learn a new skill using
‘Windows’ compatible video on your computer, then
you already know the value of what I am going to tell you.

OR

If you’ve been trying to learn a new skill using
‘Windows’ compatible video on your computer, and
want to learn faster, then this may be the most important
letter you have ever read on learning a new skill with
video.

You see the big promise in those?

You’re setting the stage for the copy to follow.

Nothing more.

Step 7

Write out your copy.

Funny that this is the last step but remember each step
is a tactic and adding them together with your copy will
form your entire sales letter strategy.

To get pat your prospects objections and close the sale!

Now, once you have all of the above elements in line, you
should sit down, pretend you are speaking to your best friend
and just write out an explanation of why they should purchase
your product.

Write as if you are speaking to your friend directly.

Answer the following questions within your copy and add your
bullets and testimonials throughout your copy.

The questions you should answer are…

Who Are YOU?

Why should I listen to you?

What is it?

What’s so great about it?

What’s in it for me?

How much does it cost?

How do I get it?

Remember those headline that you didn’t use?

Well throughout your copy, you can place those
headlines as subheads.

Subheads break up your copy so that a person does not
get tired or bored reading all your sales copy.

It’s what I call “Optical Appeal” and subheads are your
first line of defense against boredom and increasing
optical appeal.

It also prevents “page scanners,” people who quickly scan
through your page, from scanning your sales page
and leaving, by drawing their attention with your subheads.

As a rule of thumb I use one subhead, at least, per printed page
of sales copy.

Another trick to keeping people glued to your sales copy is
to use short sentences or very brief paragraphs to increase
the white space on your page.

Finally, remember this…

Write as if you are “speaking” to a friend, NOT writing a college
essay. If you use somewhat broken language, write it, don’t leave
it out or make it proper.

Just refrain from using too many bad words.

That’s it.

The only other advice I have is go out and read, read, read as
many sales letters as you can, and then apply what works in
each of them to your copy.

Pretty soon, you’ll be a master at writing copy for your market!
copywriting, direct-response-copywriting, sales-letter, sales-letter-writing

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