Keys to Better Online Copywriting
by Bruce Carlson
Published on this site: May 5th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
Doing the copywriting for your own website without the proper knowledge
and tools is pretty much like flying blind in a snowstorm without
piloting experience or instruments.
It doesn't work too well.
A very basic knowledge of copywriting and direct marketing principles
will take you a long ways on the Web.
Here are three simple keys to writing better online copy. Armed
just with these, you'll have a jump on 90% of the folks out there
doing the copywriting for their own sites. And you'll increase the
pulling quality of your site's copy today -- even if you've never
written a word of copy in your life.
- Wake up your prospect
In today's overkill ad world most people have become numb
to standard sales messages. Television, newspapers, magazines,
Internet, radio, etc. all blast us non-stop with advertising.
After a while we just naturally tune most of it out.
Copywriting great John Carlton says to imagine that your prospect
is a giant blob sitting there on the couch or in a chair. Now
what would you need to do to get that blob to take action to buy?
Getting someone to stop... actually read your website copy...AND
click through (or fill out a form) is serious heavy-duty
action on the click-and-run Web. Your prospect has a million
things on his or her mind.
Reading your copy isn't exactly Priority One...
So how do you wake your prospects up and get 'em to read
yourcopy?
The secret is right here in this headline:
"ARE YOU TOO BUSY EARNING A LIVING TO MAKE ANY REAL MONEY?"
This is from Joe Karbo's sales letter for his "The Lazy Man's
Way to Riches" book. The letter was probably responsible
for over a million dollars worth of sales for Joe.
Joe's secret here, and one which you can use too, is based
on a simple principle for getting a prospect's attention.
You need to...
- Enter the conversation going on in your prospect's mind
You should know enough about your target market to know
what keeps them awake at night. If you don't yet, then you'll
need to find out right away.
In the example above from Joe Karbo, it's about working
like a dog and barely making enough to pay the bills. Marketers
like Joe who target opportunity seekers understand that
frustrations about money cause a lot of people pain.
But what concerns does your target market have? What problem(s)
do they need solved? What itch(es) do they need scratched?
You can find the answers to these questions fairly easily.
Lurk on the forums where your prospects hang out... Read
the online and offline newsletters, magazines and journals
they read...
Or better yet, just ask them!
Set up a survey page on your website or else survey them through
your newsletter or blog. Or use a Web tool like AskDatabase.
Once you know what your prospects are thinking about most of the
time your copywriting job becomes a heckuva lot easier. You'll
be on a more intimate basis with your market. Which is never a
bad thing...
Good copywriting is wooing your customers in print, after
all. Just like you would woo a prospective mate. And the
more you know about them the more you'll be able to say
the right things!
So now that you know what bothers your prospects you'll
need to...
- Make a compelling offer
This is an area where most website copy really falls short.
Ask yourself this question:
What exactly is it that I want my prospects to do?
You want them to buy! Right? Or at least opt-in to your newsletter...
or get your free report... or sign up for your autoresponder series...
In other words, you want them to take an action! You don't
want them to browse around, look at your pretty graphics
and then click out. The Web is just too too big. And your
site is just one tiny place in that giant Web ocean. Once
they leave, their chances of coming back are one in a billion.
Or worse...
So you need to use your copywriting skills to build an offer that
forces them to make a clear decision.
Make it irresistible. "Make them an offer they can't refuse,"
said the old godfather.
He would've made a good marketer.
By making your offer as seductive as possible, you force
action. You force that clear decision. With pure lead generation
sites this means they give you their contact info. With
direct sales sites it means a sale. Or if it's a combination
of the two they buy and/or give you their contact info so
you can follow up.
If your offer is good enough, then a good percentage of
your prospects will be energized.
Your copy will be like a jolt of electricity...Zap!
That blob on the couch might actually get up and do something...
So make your offer hot. Load it up with perceived value. Tell
'em how your product is going to make their life better. And give
'em a good deal!
To summarize...
Wake 'em up by entering the conversation already in their minds,
and then make 'em an offer they can't refuse. If you do this, you'll
instantly increase the power of your online copywriting. I guarantee
it!
Bruce Carlson is a veteran freelance writer and educator
living in Finland. Sign up for Bruce's Dynamic Copywriter
newsletter today and see how easily you can improve your online
copywriting and marketing skills and boost your sales!
http://www.dynamic-copywriting.com
|
