My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #8
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.
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #7
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.
I Got To Interview Ryan Healy!
That was a close one.
Remember when I lost all my blog posts last month? Well I tried to get as many of the valuable posts back as I could from Google’s cache.
One post that I didn’t find the first time around was an awesome interview I did with Ryan Healy.
I was reminded of it when I saw that the interview he gave me was still one of the most popular posts on his blog. Well, I didn’t want to lose this interview. I got Google up and running again and searched for that interview…
…I had to be clever, but I found it. So here it is, once again. The interview!
1. What attracted you to copywriting?
Actually, copywriting found me.
Starting in the 8th grade, I knew I would be a writer. I wrote for the high school paper, poetry journals, and the college paper. I wrote essays, speeches, and fiction — the whole gamut.
At every job I had, people would come to me to edit their writing. At Merrill Lynch, my managers would have me edit and rewrite their most important emails before they sent them out! (I wasn’t hired to do this; it just kind of happened.)
Anyway, I was approached by the owner of Sonlight Curriculum to write copy for him. He wanted to replace himself. He knew I loved to write and had an entrepreneurial bent, so he hired me.
I spent three years writing sales copy for him and his company, and doing all their Internet marketing.
And that is how copywriting found me.
This interview is continued over at my new blog, click here to keep reading.
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Questions #4, #5 and #6
Ever seen the spy movie “Cloak and Dagger” with Henry Thomas? Great movie, one of my favorites from my childhood.
Sometimes when I call my sister’s cell phone and she answers, I shout, “Lady Ace, Lady Ace, Come in Lady Ace!”
Guess you had to see it…
…in any case. I bring it up because it’s time to spy on your competition.
Now, you may be thinking I’m suggesting to spy on your competition so you can take their best ideas and copy them. And sure, I usually take ideas from competitors’ copy.
But that’s not the biggest reason you should spy on your competition.
The BIGGEST reason to spy on your competition is to see what they’re NOT doing. To find out what claims they’re not making… or what claims they’re not capable of making. To discover how your product kicks the pants off their product and so on.
Armed with that competitive intel, your job will be to craft a unique sales message that is superior to your competitors’.
The last thing you want to do is write sales copy that could apply to any other product in your market. If you did, how would they remember you? Why would they read your copy if they’ve read similar copy in the past? If your product is more of the same, why buy from you instead of just finding the cheapest?
It’s important to make your copy unique by discovering competitive advantages and exploiting them.
In my copywriting questionnaire, I ask the client to help me identify these competitive advantages with three simple questions.
4) Who are your competitors? (URL’s please, if available)
I can do a simple Google search to find out who are the top adwords advertisers for a market. But that doesn’t mean they’re the most popular competitor.
We want to find out out which competitors the reader has likely seen before so we can make sure to be different. Google searches are part of that. Checking out popular forums from the marketplace can be part of that.
But asking the client is the quickest and often the most valuable way. They usually know who is spreading their sales message around the best. And we need to make sure we differentiate ourselves from them.
5) In what quantifiable way do you stand out from the competition?
Now that we’ve identified who the main competitors are, this question is aimed at quickly finding out how you can stand out.
If the client gives a good answer, he/she can save you a lot of time digging up the competitive advantages on your own.
6) If your product is an info product, is their a specific passage/segment I can look to that I won’t find in a competitor’s product?
This question narrows down the competitive advantage even further, saving the copywriter a lot of time. Now we can quickly skip to the pages that detail how your client’s product is unique and superior to your competitor’s product.
After you’ve identified the main competitors and identified the competitive advantages, you’re ready to start brainstorming your angle and logical arguments. But NOT before.
That’s what makes questions #4, #5 and #6 so important.
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Questions #2 and #3
When writing copy, you’re not selling a product/service so much as you’re selling a solution. A solution that solves a problem or fulfills a desire.
So instead of asking something silly like, “What’s your product?”, I ask about the major benefit. And that’s question #2 on my questionnaire:
“2) In one or two sentences only, what major benefit does your product/service uniquely provide?”
There are two key words to pay attention to in that question: “major” and “uniquely.”
A product may have a gazillion benefits. But the copy is going to focus primarily on the big idea. The MAJOR benefit of your product. It could be to lose weight, make money, get out of debt etc. That’s the major benefit.
But that’s not all I want to know. I also wanna know how your product UNIQUELY delivers that benefit. There are lots of weight loss products out there, how does your product stand out?
If this question is answered correctly, it could be the entire theme of the copy.
Of course, most products have more than one benefit. Or sub-benefits. So question #3 is designed to expand on question #2:
3) Please list additional benefits of your product/service.
If your product helps you to lose weight while still eating your favorite foods, that’s a great benefit.
If you’re selling exercise equipment that stores away easily, taking up little space. That’s a great benefit.
(Note: For great advice on writing benefits, check out Michel Fortin’s article “Forget Benefits, And you Will Sell More.” Make sure to read all the way down to the advantages vs. benefits portion.)
These secondary benefits will help you support the major benefit. The more you collect, the easier it will be to connect with your reader and write great copy.
The Best Way To Contact Me…
What’s the best way to get a hold of me?
Two ways…
If you want to talk to me about a copywriting project, fill out an application at http://www.copyproductions.com. I’ll respond ASAP by email.
Otherwise, just comment on a post here at the blog. That’s the most appropriate way to chit chat with me.
An email will be sent to my inbox with your message. If it’s appropriate I’ll publish the comment and respond back.
Otherwise, I may respond by email.
This method is a lot better for me than handing out my email address. I don’t have to deal with spambots, stalkers or mean people. (OK, maybe still mean people.)
Another way to keep in contact with me is through Twitter. My page is http://www.twitter.com/stephenPdean
Notice the P in the URL above! Stop by, I’d love to have you as a follower.
Posted in Housekeeping
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #1
The sales letter was good. It was more than good, it rocked.
Michel Fortin was my copywriting coach at the time, he didn’t have anything to add. It was ready to give to the client.
The client was a big name guru you’ve probably heard of.
And he hated it. He changed it quite a bit, including the entire angle, before he published it.
What happened? I didn’t manage my client’s expectations. Part of that job is to discover what the client is expecting the letter will look like.
And the easiest way to get that answer is to ask…
“1) Are there any competing sales letters you like that I should see?”
Have you ever heard, “The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side.” If your client likes a competitor’s sales letter, they’re probably looking for something similar.
Of course your sales letter needs to be unique to be successful. But you can get a good feel of the tempo and energy of the copy. And that’s likely what your client is looking for.
The lesson: If you want to keep your client happy, find out what they like about their competitor’s sales copy.
Awesome Copywriting Advice From Michel Fortin
My favorite excerpt from this blog entry:
The biggest error that most people commit when they write copy is that they try to be clever, trying to ‘WOW’ people with every sentence.
Check it out: http://blog.onecoach.com/2008/12/09/how-to-sell-in-print-the-secret-of-writing-killer-copy/
Posted in Copywriting Heads Up, Copywriting Tips
Do You Know What Type Of Copywriter Scares Me?
You know what kind of copywriter scares me?
One that doesn’t ask any questions.
Before I start a project there are 10 questions I ALWAYS have answered before I start. And over the next few weeks I’m going to be writing about these questions and why I think they’re so important.
I’ll probably address question #1 Monday. For a sneak peak, here’s the question:
“1) Are there any competing sales letters you like that I should see?”
Can you guess why I think it’s so important?
Posted in Copywriting Heads Up