“The need to communicate effectively with your customers will come up
again and again.” - Bill Gates
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© Copyright Ewen Chia, InternetMarketer.com - All Rights
Reserved Worldwide.
About Ewen Chia
Striving
to earn extra income, Ewen started learning the internet business in 1997. For 5 full years, he worked on his internet
business part-time, every day from 11pm - 3am while holding
a full-time job.
He was motivated to build a better life for his family and to clear credit card debts. After years of perseverance
and little sleep, he finally cracked the internet marketing code and has never looked back since!
"World's #1 Super Affiliate"
Since starting as an Internet
business pioneer in 1997, Ewen has come a long way.
Today he is regarded as one of the world's
most respected internet
marketing gurus.
He is often
called upon for his ingenious
marketing advice, especially in the areas
of business integration, email
marketing, product creation
and online branding.
He is also often referred
to as the “World’s #1 Super Affiliate” and his name is synonymous with Affiliate Marketing, although that is not all he does.
Ewen can guide
and teach you how to become rich with the internet. For example, a new
internet business he set up generated US$100,000.00+ in less than 30 days.
Many students have been able to quit their jobs and make their own income online!
#1 International Best-Selling Author, Trainer
& Speaker
Ewen is also a highly sought after international
speaker. He has toured the world helping people achieve
financial freedom. He has spoken
in events with people like Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) and Anthony
Robbins.
In November 2006, Ewen received the
first ever World Internet Summit “World Internet Challenge” award for starting
a new Internet business and generating US$80,000 in 3 days from that very business - right in front of 1,000+ participants!
Visit Ewen Chia’s websites: www.EwenChia.com, www.InternetMarketer.com, www.RealInternetIncome.com, www.Featuring.com, www.IMClassifieds.com
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How your choice of words can make or break your sales - Including
whether copywriting should focus
on ‘you’ or ‘I’.
·
Why you should beware of keyword density
·
Five common copywriting mistakes to avoid!
What makes great copy?
Great copy is more than just a sales pitch. It
might tell a story such as the way the product
came about, or it may describe the author’s own experience with the product. Experienced copywriters will try to find a unique angle
that their readers
will relate to and
weave this into their sales writing.
Great copy sells to the heart.
By finding something that customers can relate to,
copywriters are able to appeal to their readers’ emotions. Research shows that
people buy with their emotions and then look for a rational reason for their
purchase afterwards. Good copy spells
out the benefits of a product
to prevent the customer from having to think for themselves.
Great copy overcomes objections before
they surface.
Great copy is conversational.
When you start copywriting you can forget a lot of
that grammar you learned in school. To engage your reader they need to feel you are actually talking
to them, and so you should write in the same style as you speak.
Here are some tips your English teacher
might not have agreed with:
·
Use slang if it is appropriate
·
Use fragmented sentences if they create
impact
·
Use short punchy words
rather than long complex ones
·
Spell out your meaning
simply rather than using clever
word plays or subtle
hints
However, don’t get too relaxed
or your writing will lose credibility:
·
Check your work for typos, these are unprofessional
·
Don’t use too many capital letters,
this is seen as shouting
in cyberspace
·
Exclamation marks lose their impact if used too often
The length
of good copy is suitable
for the product
There are advantages to both long and short copy.
How do you decide? The safest, surest bet is to always make sure your writing
is long enough for the value of the product you are selling. A more expensive
product will require longer copy as customers will take longer to decide
whether to buy. You don’t want your readers to reach the end of the page when they are still undecided about
whether to buy.
Advantages of long copy are:
·
More information makes your customers feel comfortable about
their purchase
·
Giving your customers the facts upfront
may reduce your customer service work
·
There are more opportunities for search engine
optimization and including keywords
Advantages of short
copy are:
·
You get your message
across before your customer loses interest
·
Your web pages are neater and more compact
·
You avoid repetition and the appearance of a hyped
sales pitch
In the end the quality of your copy is more
important than the length. You can include links in short copywriting to give more information to customers that want it, or
you can highlight key phrases in long copy for visitors
that don’t want to read the
whole page.
Who writes sales copy best?
If you weren’t top of the class in English, or you
have never written anything longer than a thank you note, sitting down to write
sales copy for your new product can be very
daunting. With the number of freelance copywriters advertising their services
on the web, it can be tempting to outsource this task, but there are
many reasons why you are the best person
for the job.
1. You know your business
and your product
better than any freelance writer.
2. You know the characteristics of your target
audience, and what your
customers will want to know about your product.
3. You are honestly
passionate about your product and this will shine through your writing.
4. You will want to build up a relationship with your customers
and this is easier
if they are familiar with your ‘voice’,
instead of the voice of a freelance
writer.
Of course you can pay a writer to produce
your copy if you are really struggling to do it yourself.
This might be expensive, but you can use the time you would have used writing to focus on other areas of your business. If you do use a copywriter, there are
a couple of things to keep in mind.
·
Make sure they have as much information as possible about
your product
·
Ask them to test your product
if at all possible
·
Try to give them an example
of your ‘voice’ to imitate
·
Before you post the copy make sure there is nothing in it you wouldn’t say yourself
Research Exercise: Start collecting landing pages, sales letters and other copy that
catches your eye. Place the items in a folder or binder.
This is called a swipe file and it’ll
come in handy when you write some of your own copy!
How to write copy like a pro
1.
Research the product you are writing
about.
Unless you are convinced about
the benefits of the product
yourself you are unlikely to be able to sell it convincingly. This will be easier if you are writing
to sell your own product,
but if you are selling
an affiliate product
make sure you have as much information about
it as possible and test it yourself
to give your copywriting that personal touch.
2.
Learn the difference between
benefits and features
The main question your customers will want answered
is “what will this product do for me?” They will be more concerned with how they will benefit from the product than what it actually does.
Will it make them richer, smarter, prettier, more
respected, thinner, or happier? When you are looking
for benefits it is often useful to make a list of your product’s features and then
determine the benefits of each of those features. Here is an example using internet marketing
as a product.
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Product
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=
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internet marketing
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Feature
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=
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working at home
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Benefits
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=
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flexibility of working hours
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|
|
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ability to spend more time with children
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To sell the concept of working online
you would not simply state that you can
work at home, you would need to emphasize the benefits of doing this. As you
can see with this simple example, each feature can have a number of benefits.
3.
Practice makes perfect
Sitting down to write when you are out of practice
is never easy and your copy is unlikely
to flow easily.
Writing something every
day, no matter
what it is, will really improve
your copywriting skills.
If you do not have any writing to do for your
business, you could write something in a journal about
your experiences that day or week. This could
be used later as inspiration for articles or blog posts.
4.
Learn to edit your writing ruthlessly
Every word or phrase you write must have a purpose,
and increase your chances of making
a sale. Be honest with yourself when you are editing your copy. If any of it does not motivate
the reader to buy then it is unnecessary delete it. Words and phrases that do
not encourage sales will dilute the impact of your copy, making it ineffective.
5.
Increase the credibility of your writing
Although great copy is crucial for generating
sales, your customers might need a little
extra something to convince them to buy from you. They may be
more easily persuaded by the opinion
of someone who has already
bought from you, the offer of something for free, or the possibility of
getting their money back if they are not satisfied
with your product.
Some potential
elements to add to your copy are:
- high quality
and true testimonials
- detailed case studies
explaining exactly how your product
will benefit them
-
free bonus material such as an e-book
-
a money back guarantee
6.
Visualize your target customer
Sales copy must feel personal and give the
impression that you are actually talking to your audience, so it often helps to imagine your target customer
and write as if you are chatting to them or writing a letter to them.
The more detailed you are about your target customer, the more convincing your
copy will be, so don’t be afraid to be very specific about who they are.
Ask yourself
some of the following questions:
- How old
are they?
-
Are they employed?
-
What do they do?
-
Are they male or female?
-
How much time do they have online?
-
What is their income?
-
What is their intelligence level?
-
What do they do in their spare time?
-
Do they have children? How old?
-
Do they own a house?
-
Do they have a garden?
The list of possible questions goes on and on and
there may be questions that are more relevant to the particular product you are selling. Spend some
time getting to know your audience; the importance of this should not be
underestimated. It is always easier to target a demographic that you are
actually a part of. As moms we are usually more convinced by writers who
actually have children themselves.
Business Planning Exercise:
Document who your target market is. Write a description of who your typical customer
is or would be.
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What motivates people to buy?
To create great copy it helps to understand what
motivates people to buy. In this section we will take a look at the psychological reasons that your customers will by
from you, some words and phrases that you could include in your copy as well as
those you want to avoid,
and a successful introduction for your copywriting.
We’ll also discuss
how to hook your reader
from the get go.
Psychology
of buying
1.
Will it make them happier? Your customers need to believe
your product is going
to add value to their
lives in some way. Copywriting outlines how the product will:
·
Make or save money
·
Save time
·
Make life or work easier
·
Entertain
·
Make customers more attractive
2.
Put on a different pair of
shoes. Successful copywriters really get into the mindset of their target audience and understand what customers want from
their product. If your readers
relate to your sales copy your conversion rate will be much higher. One good strategy is to describe
something your audience is likely to be doing already, and then suggest how
your product could help them to do it better.
3.
Fear is a powerful
motivator. It can be powerful
to concentrate on the idea of
loss rather than just the idea of gain in your sales writing. If buying your
product will prevent your customers
from losing something, you can appeal to
their fear of loss and use this as an effective selling
point.
4.
Let others sell it for you. Seeing real life examples
of how your product has benefited someone else will make your
customers feel more comfortable about buying from you. There are two ways to
achieve this:
·
Case studies that describe
in detail how one of your customers has used and benefited
from your product.
·
High quality testimonials detailing how your product
has made money, saved time, or generally
improved the life of one of your customers.
5.
Appeal to their emotions. We have already seen that people buy with their
hearts rather than their heads, so copywriting is often designed to appeal to
customers’ emotions. Identify
possible emotions in your target
audience such as the need to
feel more attractive, or the desire for more money, and aim your writing at these.
6.
Make it conversational. Ask
questions. Get your reader involved. People are more likely to buy from you if
they trust you and feel they have a personal relationship with you. Using a relaxed personal style in your writing
can create this sense
of trust, and you might
want to include a photo
of yourself.
Business Planning
Exercise: What will motivate
your customers to buy from you?
What benefits does your product
or service offer?
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The power of high impact words
Whatever product you are promoting, using certain words
and phrases will make
your copy more effective, and result in a higher rate of conversions.
The key is to use powerful, high impact language
that will inspire
your readers and motivate them to buy your product.
Grab your reader with your passion for your product
and subject matter.
Use strong positive words. You
can use negative words, but only if you are describing the problem your product will solve and not your actual product.
Example:
Saying that your product will solve a complicated
problem is fine. Saying that your product is not complicated to use is not great
as it associates the word complicated
with what you are trying to sell.
Some powerful, high impact words and phrases
are:
- Dynamic
-
Exclusive
-
100% guaranteed
-
Succeed
-
Proven
-
Award winning
-
Instant
-
Opportunity
-
Lifetime income
Some of the indecisive words to leave
out of your copy are:
- Maybe
-
Possibly
-
Should
-
Could
-
Sort of
-
But
-
Can
Should successful copy focus on You or I?
The advantage of using the word ‘I’ in your copy is
that you create a sense of personal relationship between
yourself and your audience. It gives the impression
that you are offering personal information about yourself. This will make your
readers trust you, which in turn makes
them more likely
to buy from you.
On the other hand, many copywriters believe that
the audience is only interested in what the product
can do for them and that they don’t care too much about the writer.
In this case using the word ‘You’ is better
as it engages the reader and makes them
feel that you are directing
your letter directly
to them.
Which is right? Both. It is entirely possible to use both “I” and
“You” in the same piece of copy successfully. There is a lot of great copy out
there that uses ‘I’ successfully, but I would suggest
you write ‘You’ as many times as you do ‘I’ to avoid
losing the interest of your readers.
Keep it simple
We know that high impact, positive, motivating
words and phrases help to increase your sales conversions, and that balanced
use of You and I can give your writing
that personal feel. A final point to bear in mind, when choosing your
writing style, is to keep the words simple.
If your customer
do not understand what you are saying,
or have to read your copy
twice to know what it means, you will already
have lost a sale.
Eliminate jargon and keep the technical speak to a
bare minimum – even if you’re writing for rocket scientists. A good rule of thumb is to write for someone with an 8th grade reading level!
Grab their attention and do not let go. How to write an attention grabbing headline and introduction
Many visitors to your site will only begin to read your copy if they are impressed with your
headline, and relate to what it offers.
Many
others will stop reading after the first paragraph if it does not live up to what is promised in the headline. These two sections
of your copy are crucial
for attracting and maintaining your audience.
Here are some of the words you could use in your headline to ensure your audience reads on:
- you
-
new
-
how to
There are also a couple
of widely used headline structures that are proven
to keep the attention
of your website
visitors:
1.
What … aren’t
telling you
This headline tells your readers that they are
being given information that their competitors would rather they did not know.
The feeling that they have access to something
exclusive or secret is a powerful motivation for people to buy.
2. ‘How to … and …’
You will have heard of the book ‘How to make
friends and influence people’. Using this structure
for your headline
enables you to tell your reader how they
are going to benefit from your product. A further advantage is that you can
accurately target your chosen audience by including two of their desires in
your headline.
3. Study headlines that you like and
that capture your attention. What techniques do they use? How can you make it
work for you?
Once you have a killer headline, you need to follow
it up with a great first sentence and paragraph. If you have promised something
in your headline, your first sentence
will continue to tell your reader that they are going to get it.
Try to summarize
everything you need to say in paragraph one as a large percentage of your visitors will not read
beyond that point. In fact, many will skip to your call to action. If both
aren’t compelling, click…they’re gone.
Business Planning Exercise:
Practice writing killer
headlines. Stumped for ideas? Try filling in the blanks:
10 Reasons
to Learn how to The secret to
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Beware of keyword density
It would be great if the only purpose of your
copywriting was to sell your product. Unfortunately your copy often
has to serve two purposes; attracting visitors to your
site and then selling to them.
Attracting traffic using
copy requires using search engine
optimization techniques, and
adding keywords. Using the topic of baby food we will look at a few ways to
include keywords in your copy.
The key to successful keyword
optimization in your copy is to keep it natural.
People often make the mistake of overloading the text with keywords, and
replacing every generic key term with the keyword or phrase.
This will not give you high quality
persuasive copy, as you can see in the following example.
==============================
Example:
Keyword = baby foods
As new mothers we all want our babies
to have the best baby foods; we spend a lot
of time researching good baby foods recipes and making sure we buy high quality
baby foods. Giving your child a good start in life with healthy baby foods and
not giving them baby foods that they are not ready for, is one of the major
concerns of new parents.
==============================
The above example is not only annoying to read,
parts of it are grammatically incorrect in an attempt to use the keyword as often as possible. While you might
get a lot of traffic to your website from parents searching for the
keyword ‘baby foods’, they will quickly
move onto another
site when they start reading.
Make sure you select your keywords carefully so that they fit in easily with the subject of your copywriting. This will
improve the flow of your copy, increasing your sales conversions. Bear the following tips in mind when selecting your keywords.
Here are three ways to include keywords
naturally
1.
Break up keyword phrases.
It can be hard to fit a long keyword
phrase into your copywriting. I was once asked to use the key phrase
‘baby food recipes
6 months’.
This is an awkward phrase
to use altogether, but it works well when split up
by punctuation. Search engines read straight through punctuation marks such as
full stops, commas and colons so think how you can use these to split your
keyword phrase.
Example:
Keyword phrase
= baby food recipes 6 months
Look no further for tasty and healthy baby food recipes.
6 months is the
perfect time to start introducing your baby to new tastes and textures.
The above example
keeps the keyword
phrase in tact so it will be recognized
by the search engines, but does not seem out of place or awkward.
2.
Lengthen the keyword phrase
Some phrases are difficult to include because they
are singular when you would usually use a plural or vice versa. Adding words to
the end of the phrase can help you overcome
this problem as well as giving you inspiration
for your writing.
Example:
Keyword
= food for baby
food for baby weaning food
for baby meals food for baby taste buds
Adding a word or two to the end of this phrase
makes it less grammatically
awkward and helps you to fit it into your copy without
sounding repetitive.
3.
Use a keyword phrase
that describes what your product
is not
Take
the example of the keyword
‘cheap baby food’.
When a parent enters this search
term they are looking for good value,
high quality baby food that they do not have to pay very much for.
However, if you describe your product as cheap baby
food, it will give the impression that it is poor quality, and therefore not
great for their precious child. Avoid this by using the keyword
to describe what your product
is not.
Example:
Keyword = cheap baby food
Try out one of our healthy, easy to make recipes as an alternative to cheap baby food.
Once you’ve tasted one of these nutritious homemade meals, you’ll never want to feed your little one cheap baby food again.
Using the above techniques will ensure your copywriting remains
natural and that you
don’t have to sacrifice quality
to keyword density.
Tip – Write your copy first and then go back with your keywords
in mind and place them where
appropriate. This will make your copy flow more naturally and will appeal both to your readers and the search
engines.
Five common copywriting mistakes and how to avoid them
Finally we will take a look at some of the most common mistakes
made by copywriters and ways you can avoid these.
1.
Skip the
jargon, please
Complicated words and clever cryptic phrases can
really kill your copy. When most people visit websites they do not want to have to work hard to understand what they are reading. If they
do not immediately know what you are talking about they will lose interest and flick to your competitor’s site.
The best way to write
straightforward copy is to imagine
you are chatting to your best friend over a coffee. How would
you speak to them and how would you expect them to speak to you. Word that you
would consider too formal for this situation
are probably too formal for a website.
2. Let them breathe
You
might think that long paragraphs make your webpage
look content rich and
informative, but this is not what your readers will think. Chunky
paragraphs one after the other are seen as boring and hard to read.
People like to see white space on websites; it is easier
on the eye and makes the
reader believe the text will be simple to read and understand. Short, high
impact paragraphs are more effective than long complicated ones. Keep to one idea per
paragraph, and consider whether you could start a new paragraph after two
sentences.
Many of your visitors will scan your webpage before
they decide to read it in detail.
Highlighting certain words or phrases, and breaking up your text with
bullet points, are effective ways of drawing
their attention to the key points of your
copy.
3.
What does it
do for them?
Sell benefits not features. This point is worth
repeating because it is the key to killer copy. Your customers are not really
interested in what your product
does in general: they want to know explicitly what it will do for them.
Find out a bit about your target audience and what
their needs are likely to be. Target these needs
with your copy, and make sure that you detail
the benefits of your
product, stating how it will meet these needs.
4.
Buy Now! Tell
them what you want them to do next
You have spent a lot of time on your copy, and you have spelt out the benefits
of your product so clearly that your visitors
are all geared
up to buy. Then what?
Many writers baulk at the point of having to ask their
readers to make a purchase, sign up to a list, or generally
take an action of some sort. They hope that their visitors will know what they are expected to do.
Bear in mind that people are expecting
to be sold to. Even as they begin to read
your great copy, they are looking for that sentence
that tells them what they need
to do in order to buy your product. Don’t disappoint them. Unless you ask your
customers to purchase from you, the chances
are they won’t.
5.
Hook them fast!
Your customers’ expectations will have been set by your headline, so make sure they are not disappointed by your first
sentence.
Make it short
and punchy. Capture
your customers’ interest
by making a bold or controversial statement. The first
sentence needs to leap out and grab their attention so they can’t help themselves, they have to read on.
Don’t let the idea of writing great copy scare you. No one knows your business better than you. No one knows
your market better than you.
Copywriting doesn’t have to be as mysterious and elusive as many people
make it out to be. You have
the tools to create great copy no matter what your product or service is.
Focus on the core benefits
of your product, how it will make lives better,
and your job is half done. The rest of the job is
easy, edit, polish, and test the copy to see what works. Copywriting is important
for your business
but it isn’t permanent.
All copy can be rewritten
and made better.
Enjoy writing copy for your customers.
Copywriting Worksheet:
Copywriting is an important part of converting interested visitors into customers. It is
essential for a successful business.
What copywriting skills
or knowledge do you have?
 |
Will you write all of your own copy, will you hire someone to write some of it, or will you
outsource all of your copywriting needs?
|
What information will your market be searching
for?
 |
Who is your target
market? What are their demographics and characteristics?
 |
What benefits
does your product
or service offer?
|
What emotions can your copy tap into? For example
if you’re writing
about organic gardening there
is pride in
a garden, respect for
the environment, love for natural foods,
even anger towards the expensive
product at the grocery store.
 |
Blueprint to success: Steps to creating great copy!
To Your Success!
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