June 5th, 2008 — Tactical Copywriting
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Here’s a simple but deadly effective method to write hard-hitting copy chock full of benefits your readers will eat up like a chocoholic at a candy factory…
It’s called the “so what” test. Michel Fortin teaches it, but I learned it long ago in one of the many sales training courses I’ve taken. However I must say it took me a long time to take the bone out of my head about applying it to “salesmanship in print”. Here’s how it works…
Write down something about your product. Anything.
It comes in “Candy Apple Red” (I must have sweet tooth today :-). So what?
So it’s sexy. So what?
So girls love it. So What?
So you’ll attract girls attention. So what?
So you’ll be more popular with the girls. So what?
So I’m married and I’ll get into a lot of trouble if I continue so I’ll stop here. But you get the idea.
Notice only the FIRST thing I mentioned is tangible. Everything else is imaginary. Benefits are not touched they are felt and that is what makes them so powerful.
Use the so what test in your copywriting and you’ll invoke more emotion so you’ll sell more. So you’ll make more money. So you can hire more people to do your work. So you can spend more time with your family. So you can afford better stuff…
But do me one favor please? Don’t get too wrapped up in the “things”. There really is more to life than can be purchased with cash.
God bless,
Andy
March 10th, 2008 — Tactical Copywriting
Now you’ve done your research, constructed your offer and guaranteed your product - it’s time to work on the heart of your letter… bullets.
What are bullets? They are simply tidbits of information about your product.
Bullets add muscle to your sales copy.
They are usually only a sentence or two so they are easy to scan. Bullets mostly consist of features and benefits. Three types of bullets are usually identified:
They go by other titles also but the idea is the same.
A hidden bullet doesn’t reveal the secret behind it but rather teases the reader so they want to know more.
“What never… ever to eat on a airplane” - this was the headline for a newsletter called “Bottom Line” but it could also be a bullet. The feature is entirely hidden but right from the start you are dying to know what the answer is.
Semi-hidden bullets reveal part, but not all of the answer…
* Discover how the oil derived from an herb many people use daily destroys the fungus responsible for some types of sinusitus. The herb? Organo but if you use too little it won’t help - use too much and you could get into trouble. (See page 122)
Notice the bullet reveals the ingredient but only tells half the story.
Finally the open bullet:
* Put a touch of honey on your blemish before bedtime and it will be gone overnight! (page 78)
This last bullet is more powerfull than you think.
First you gain credibility. If the tip works (and it had better!) they know you’ve got good info.
Second you give the reader something creating a tension. Now the reader “owes” you. It’s called the law of reciprication.
Try to put together as many bullets as you can. Look for hidden benefits. Be as daring as you can but make sure you can back up your claims.
Keep an eye out for your strongest bullets - these are potential candidates for headlines.
This is not to say you have to use any of them for your headline but it’s one source and a good one.
Many good converting sales letters are little more than a list of bullets with a headline an offer and a guarantee tossed in. Even the P.S. is a bullet.
If you’re in a hurry for a sales letter you can try this. Nobody says you can “flesh it out” later.
God bless,
Andy
February 23rd, 2008 — Tactical Copywriting
By a new sales page I mean for a new product or service but you could do this for an existing product too.
From here on out I’ll use the word “product” but the techniques are the same if you sell a service. I’m assuming you’ve used the product and you know it inside out.
Get some paper out and write down all the features it has - all of them. (A feature is something the product as or does.) Feature: Uses “AA” batteries.
Now for each feature write down at least one benefit. Benefits answer the question “so what?” Benefit: so you can use it anywhere you go.
You can use these as a list of bullets - one way is to list them in feature/benefit pairs.
Next make a list of all competitive products and their features. If you can’t do all of them at least try to get the best-selling or best-known ones near your price range. What makes your product different? Is it a better value? Why? What can you offer that your competitors cannot?
Now picture your customer (copywriter Ray Edwards puts it “BE” your customer). What does he want. What itch does your cusotmer have that can be scratched by your product.
If you’ve done your homework you can identify at least one itch only your product can best scratch. Even if you plan on hiring a copywriter to write your sales materials - you should have this research on hand to give to her.
It will save time and money if you’ve hired a decent copywriter because good copywriters usually insist on having decent information. (I say usually ’cause there’s always one wiseguy out there who has to whip up a cranking sales letter out of thin air. I’m not him.) This way you’re not paying a copywriter to research for you.
Oh, you made a package deal where your copywriter quoted a flat price and promised not to charge a penny more? And that was before you revealed you had almost no research about your product? Okay.
So, just assuming the copywriter based the price on the number of hours it should take to write your materials… what do you think she’ll do? Just spend an extra 4 or 5 hours on research or cut some corners? You tell me.
February 23rd, 2008 — Tactical Copywriting
Who doesn’t want to sell more? Selling more is what this blog is about.
While I assume most people coming here already have a sales page, you’ll also find resources to build one from scratch.
Short and sweet here’s what makes a winning sales page:
an irresistable offer - meaning an excellent product at a great value
a solid guarantee - the longer and more iron-clad the better. A note here… at least one marketer (Matt Furey) does exactly the opposite with this concept and bluntly states he offers NO guarantee for his products. Matt gets away with it. It’s possible you could too but for most of us most of the time it’s better to offer a good guarantee.
an attention catching headline
features and benefits - I’m going against what many will say because I’m convinced sales letters need both features and benefits.
