I’m changing my domain name for this blog. You can find new posts here: http://www.copywritingdean.com
I decided Stephensblog.com wasn’t the best domain for my business. My name (Stephen) is kind of hard to spell. Many people spell it wrong. And it’s spelled differently than it sounds.
If you want to discover if you’re guilty of committing this Copy Sin, click the link below to watch my free copywriting video.
Click here ->> http://www.stephensblog.com/7copysins
Remember when I had Click2Mail send me a test postcard for ad campaign? I wrote about it here: Sending Postcards To Advertise Your Product Or Services.
Well it finally showed up yesterday. It took a LONG time…
…because of user error. My fault. I accidentally picked “standard mail” instead of “first class.” Instead of 4-5 days it took 9-15. (And I saved a whopping 11 cents!)
So that’s one mistake I noticed. The other is the graphics program I used to create the postcard.
Microsoft Paint just isn’t going to work! I saved the image I made in paint as a .jpg file, which looked fine until it showed up on a printed postcard. There’s too much noise surrounding the words… as a result of Paint not saving the .jpg at a high enough quality.
It’s possible that Paint might be able to work if I save it with another image format. But whatever…
Instead I’m going with Gimp. This is a free software program that acts a lot like Adobe Photoshop (a great program, but very expensive).
Gimp will be able to make a high quality screenshot and fix my postcard.
One more note. I took the advice to keep all of my content an inch up from the bottom in case the post office put a sticker on the bottom. The postcard did not get a sticker. In fact, I think the “sticker” was printed on the card.
However, I don’t want to risk it unless I need the extra space. So I’ll continue to heed that advice for a while.
I just noticed Perry Belcher created a site based on his order button… a button he says is the most tested order button in Internet history. Check it out…
Now compare that to Eric Graham’s Ultimate Submit Button.
Can you see the similarities? What are the differences?
I found this link this morning. Ken Mcarthur lists his best email subject lines (based on open rates) from 2008. It’s good to see people posting real data!
He also writes quite a bit about how to evaluate statistics. All in all, a great post. Go check it out!
Before I write copy, I send all of my clients a questionnaire. The questions I ask are based on 5 years of experience writing copy for clients.
The posts below reveal the questions I ask and why:
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #1
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Questions #2 And #3
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Questions #4, #5 and #6
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #7
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #8
Michel Fortin tipped me off to this awesome headline writing formula by Perry Belcher:
In the last entry we talked a lot about believability and proof. And we mentioned testimonials.
Testimonials are a huge source of proof. Hence the last question in my questionnaire.
10) Finally, send me every testimonial you got!
With most clients who have an established product, this isn’t a problem. They usually have been collecting testimonials and they’re ready for me.
For newer products, it’s understandable that testimonials will have to come later. But my advice is usually, “Why don’t you start looking for testimonials while I write the copy.”
That way when I’m finished, I can just copy and paste the testimonials in.
Now, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about selecting testimonials. Please don’t ask your brother to write an “It’s great!” testimonial for your product. When you do that, you’re really just going through the motions and not giving the copywriter anything to work with.
We need REAL testimonials. From people who had success with your product and are willing to tell you about it.
(Note: If you have to pay them to try your product, so be it! As long as the feedback you get from the trial is legitimate, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just don’t pressure them in to a positive review if they don’t have one.)
A genuine testimonial helps the copywriter out in more ways than one.
First of all, it’s going to make him/her look better. The conversion rate is likely to be higher, and the client is going to be more satisfied.
But second, it’s also going to tell the copywriter what actual customers like about the product. What the major benefits are to them and so forth.
This tells the copywriter what points to emphasize in the copy. That’s a big deal!
So don’t skimp on testimonials. Actively seek out reviews, even if you have to give away your product for free or pay people to try it out.
Here’s how I’d ask for a testimonial.
#1) I always ask for a testimonial or constructive criticism. That means if the customer wasn’t happy with your product, they’re not pressured in to lying. They can simply let you know what they weren’t happy with (which is very valuable in and of itself).
#2) Ask for specific results. If you’re selling an ebook on how to make money, what’s the exact dollar amount the customer can attribute to reading the ebook? And how long did it take to make that money?
A weight loss product? How much weight did they lose? And how long?
#3) Do you want to stress a major benefit in your copy? Ask the customer how that benefit worked for them.
For example, if you want to stress how simple it is to lose weight with your system… Ask them to mention how easy/difficult the weight loss system was for them. Get them to state these benefits in their testimonial, it really will help.
#4) Ask them if you can edit the testimonial and have them sign off on it as truth. Customers are not all copywriters. Sometimes they write pretty poor testimonials… that could be great if spiced up.
It’s perfectly acceptable to edit a testimonial and then get the original author to approve it. It’s ethical, and it sells better.
Another way to go about getting testimonials is to automate it. When a customer buys, are they automatically added to an autoresponder? Put in a few auto-messages reminding them to send in their feedback.
The bottom line is, you need to be actively pursuing testimonials. It’s going to help your sales and it’s going to help the copywriter.
(And if that copywriter is me, I’ll thank you endlessly.)
My first thought was, “Woah, that’s a good question.”
A top Internet marketing guru was interviewing me before deciding to hire me. He hit me with a seemingly simple question… that still stopped me in my tracks. It went something like this…
“What’s the most important component of writing copy?”
Woah. I’d honestly never thought about it like that. And I suppose it can be answered several different ways.
Many people pick the headline as the most important. And I definitely understand that, I test different headlines more than anything else.
James Brausch, the analytical programmer/scientist/entrepreneur, gave the should-be-obvious-but-is-not answer: the order button. Can’t get many sales without that!
Researching and understanding your market is another obvious (and truthful) answer.
With this guru sitting in front of me, I didn’t want to give an obvious answer. So I thought about it, probably longer than I wanted to, and said…
Believability.
Sales copy MUST come across as believable to work well.
* If your headline makes a wild claim that’s not believable, you lose them.
* If your copy makes claims that aren’t backed up, you lose them.
* If your offer sounds too good to be true, then you lose them.
If any aspect of your sales copy lacks believability, you’re gonna feel the hurt in your pocketbook.
That’s why I wasn’t surprised when Brausch discovered that testimonials were consistently the most important part of his copy (outside of the order button).
Testimonials help to provide proof, which adds to the believability.
But testimonials are only one form of proof (and I’ll talk more about them in the next entry). And because the entire sales letter needs to be believed, I want as many forms of proof as I can get.
Hence Question #9 in my copywriting questionnaire:
9) What sources of proof can you provide to back up your product’s claims…
When I write copy, I want to back up every claim I make with proof. Both little and small.
If my client is an expert in the field she wrote this ebook for, then I want to know what her credentials are.
Did she have demonstratable success with the topic area? Something I can prove with say… screenshots of proof of income? a photo of her enjoying her new mansion? awards or honors received? a video of success in action?
Does she have relevant credentials? A degree? Is she a published author? Made guest TV appearances on the topic?
I want to know all these things so I can boost the credibility of the seller.
I also want to prove the product works.
Can I have a picture of the finished result? Would a before and after photo set be appropriate?
Can I show a video of the product in action?
Can I construct a solid logical argument backed by facts that the product, does indeed work?
And here’s something that’s a little more creative that can help add proof…
Is there a story or analogy I can use to help the reader believe your product will work…
Success stories can go along way to helping the reader decide, “Yes! This product will work for me.”
The right story can help the reader wrap their head around your product (the solution to their problems) and really start to believe in it. What story do you have for me? What analogy would help the reader make this jump?
Is there a story about the creation of the product that would add believability?
Are there success stories I could use? Maybe an incredible story, like a one-legged golfer who can drive the ball further than most two-legged golfers?
Or maybe an analogy…
I was looking at the Hairmax comb the other day that’s supposed to regrow your hair (fine, I’m losing my hair, if you laugh it’s bad karma!). They compared combing your hair with the laser comb 3 times a week to brushing your teeth, just regular personal maintenance. That’s great!
Dig deep for this as it could play a prominent rule in the copy.
And there are more forms of proof as well. The most obvious one being testimonials as mentioned earlier. But we’ll get to that in the next entry. Until then!
Michel Fortin once told me the 3 most important elements to test in a sales letter are the headline, price and offer.
Price points are easy to come up with. The headline takes a lot of work… but that’ll come from my research.
The offer is something you need to team up and strategize with the client on. And one thing they’re not likely to have given a thought to is how they’ll LIMIT the offer.
Because of that, question #8 comes with a link to Michel Fortin’s amazing article on scarcity.
How are you limiting the offer? (See http://www.michelfortin.com/use-scarcity-to-sell-not-scare/)
At this link the client will discover there are three ways to limit the offer. That’s through limiting the time, quantity or offer.
You can limit the time by giving a discounted price until a certain date.
You can limit the quantity by only selling so many of your product… or only letting so many in to your membership site… and so forth.
You can limit the offer by giving out special bonuses… special extras like free coaching or shipping… and so forth.
Michel has said procrastination is the biggest killer of sales. And that’s why having a legitimate REASON WHY the customer must act now to get the best deal is such a powerful tool for the copywriter.
In addition to Michel’s article, I created a product called “Digital Scarcity” that gives ideas for adding legitimate REASONs WHY the client must act now… even if you have an unlimited supply of your product (because it’s digital).
It’s important to brainstorm these “reason’s why.” Both for the initial launch and after that scarcity is over (for example, after the first 100 bonuses are given away).
You simply must limit the time, quantity or the offer to maximize your sales.
What do beginning copywriter’s forget to think about that can destroy their online sales? Where the visitor is coming from!
Question #7 from my copywriting questionnaire is…
“7) a. Where is your traffic coming from? (Please be very specific)
“b. If you’re targeting specific keywords, what are they?”
How is the client planning on getting visitors to the site. Are they going to rely on methods like Google Adwords? Or are they going to send a mailing to their list?
There’s a big difference between the mindset of these two visitor groups.
When a list owner sends an email out saying, “Come buy my product,” the visitors who click on over are already browsing to buy.
In complete contrast, someone who clicks on a Google Adwords ad may not even be close to looking for something to buy.
You need to approach these two visitors differently.
For the visitor that knows they’re about to see a sales pitch… it’s OK to mention details about the offer (like price discounts and limits on the offer) and display testimonials at the top of the copy. They can be in the headline, deck copy or intro.
But for people who were not expecting a sales pitch. Hold on!
With this group, you shouldn’t mention anything is for sale early on. You shouldn’t mention anything about ordering, price, offer limitations or testimonials. Save that for later.
Instead, just focus on getting their attention and keeping it. Get them interested in the copy and subtly sell them on your product… before they know there is a product.
Then when they’re convinced your offering is the solution, let them know the price, the discounts, the bonuses, the testimonials and so forth.
Part “B” of question 7 asks which keywords are being targeted, if any.
This will further let you know the mindset of the visitor.
If the keyword “easy magic tricks” is targeted and you write copy aimed at professional magicians… you just made a big mistake.
In closing, I hope you realize that understanding the mindset of the visitor before you write the copy is absolutely essential.