How
to Write Copy That Get's
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 verhaul 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.
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