Copy Writing Hints

When you hear claims like…

…Best Lawnmower in Australia

…Absolute Lowest Prices In Existence

…Leaves your hair cleaner than any other shampoo

…do you believe them?

Or is there a certain degree of doubt in your mind about their credibility? Or whether they are ‘hyped up’?

Think about it. Everybody expects advertisers to exaggerate their claims. To present them in their best light. Which is the exact reason why general statememts are not as effective as…

SPECIFIC STATEMENTS

So…

Rather than saying “Our prices have been reduced”… instead say… “Our prices have been reduced by 22% to prepare for our end of year stocktake”

Rather than saying “More than 20 varieties of Reebok shoes in stock”… instead say… “More than 23 varieties of Reebok shoes in stock”

Rather than saying “Our staff are very experienced carpet cleaners”… instead say… “Our team of 12 staff have a combined experience of cleaning carpets for 63 years”

Rather than saying “Used all over the world”… instead say… “Used in over 46 countries”

Or rather than a cleaner saying “We clean your house thoroughly” why not list every single thing you do.

One more thing… When you give people a specific number, they tend to believe it must be true. So don’t use numbers which are a multiple of 5 or 10. Instead say 4 or 9. It makes it more believable.

Even KFC realises this.

No. They don’t have 10 herbs and spices on their special chicken. They have 11. That’s a heck of a lot more believable than 10… or heaps, isn’t it?

So take a moment now and think about how you can apply what you’ve learnt and be more specific in your advertising.

When I show some people my advertisements, I sometimes get the feedback: “I’d never read that. There’s too much writing. It needs to be simpler, and cleaner.”

But when the ads run… they invariably work.

Here’s why?

Imagine you were stranded on a desert island… and the man upstairs came down to speak with you. And said…

Hey, due to unforeseen circumstances there’s no way you will ever get off this island. However, I’ll give you everything you need to survive. Beautiful, tasty, natural foods… plenty of water… great weather…

But there’s one catch… You will be the only human alive on this island, apart from a partner you may choose from these 500 letters.

Now imagine when you opened up the letters what would you be looking for. Remember, this is the only person you’re going to be spending the rest of your life with.

Would you be happy with something like: Hi, I’m Susan. I’ve got black hair, brown eyes, and I like to party. I’m lots of fun, and people say I’m pretty.

Would you choose Susan? Or would you want to know EVERYTHING about this person including their personality, what they look for, their values, what they look like (perhaps a photo) what they enjoy, whether they have a criminal record, how old they are, how healthy they are and much, much, much more?

Bottom line is… if you’re making a decision of such importance, you’re going to want to know every damned thing about them. In a nutshell… you’re going to want…

LONG COPY (which is detailed, covers any concerns you may have and appeals to what you want)

And it’s the same with 99% of products. You’ve got to tell people your full story if you want to convert them into customers.

Want proof? Look at mail order advertisements. They are measured every time they run… and in many cases appear year after year. If they don’t work they get rid of them. What sort of copy do they use?

LONG COPY

Listen, when you advertise, you are like a salesperson’s in a busy man’s office. He may have tried over and over to organise a meeting. He may never be admitted again. This is the one opportunity to get a result, and he must employ it to the full.

LONG COPY does work better than short copy. But don’t take my word for it. Test one ad or sales letter against the other… and see for yourself.

People tend to read your ads and sales letters in 2 different ways:

1. Word For Word
2. Skim through it and see if anything catches their eye

Which is the exact reason why you should incorporate at least 2 sub-headlines per page.

You see, many people will skim through your ad or sales letter because they may be short on time. But if something catches their eye, it will hook them back into your pitch.

So how do you generate sub-headlines?

Can you remember my suggestion in an earlier issue to write 30-50 headlines? Well, of course as a result of this, you can only choose 1 headline.

However, you’ll find you have created a bundle of other ones you can use as sub-headlines.

Nothing will help you understand this like an example. So let me give you one:

Recently, I created a sales letter for one of my clients.

Here’s the opening line (before the headline): Discover the fortune that lies hidden in your salary…

Here’s the headline: “Here’s A Quick And Easy Way To Get Started On YOUR Road To Real Estate Riches…”

And here are some of the sub-headlines:

• Real Estate has been responsible for more millionaires over the last 60 years than any other form of investment!
• It’s a shame for you not to create financial freedom through Real
• Estate When These People Are Doing It So Easily
• How the next 5 minutes can get you started on the road to financial freedom, so you can laugh at money worries in the years to come

Think about it. If you were flicking through a sales letter and saw the headline:

“How the next 5 minutes can get you started on the road to financial freedom, so you can laugh at money worries in the years to come…”

There’s a good chance it hook you back into the copy, isn’t there?

Now I thought of the idea for every single one of these sub-headlines while in the process of writing the main one.

So make sure you get busy writing those headlines!

One of the most powerful offers you can use in your advertising is the word Free.

But, you may well ask… how can I make a profit giving my products and services away without charging for them?

Which is the exact reason why you need to understand the ‘LVC Formula’ which stands for the Lifetime Value of a Client!

Here’s how it works. Let’s imagine for a moment you own a beauty salon. Now if you get a new customer, they may pay you $80 for their first treatment.

But how much is this $80 client really worth?

After all, most clients will continue to buy off you for many years to come.

For instance, let’s imagine your average client returns for a beauty treatment 8 times a year… and remains a client for 2 years.

$80 (price of consultation) x 8 (purchases a year) x 2 (number of years)

Now if you have a calculator handy, you’ll work out the value of this client as $1280.00.

And if your profit margin is 40% this calculates to a $512 profit per client.

Now, let’s imagine we sent a letter to all the nearby businesses offering women a free manicure valued at $30.00 (I’m not a beauty therapist, so please forgive me if all these figures are way out).

And imagine the manicure costs you $7 in products and 30 minutes of your time (which if you’re not busy… you’d just be sitting on your butt anyway!)

So effectively the $7 investment could have just made you $512 in profit.

And how easy is it to give away a free manicure?

Or for other industries…

• A free car service
• A free dancing lesson
• A free consultation
• A free ice cream
• A free report of some sort

The secret lies in giving away something which has a high perceived value, but actually costs you very little to produce.

Why does it work so well?

Using the word Free in your advertising STOPS inertia. You see, people are happy with their current hairdresser… or their mechanic.

But when they get an opportunity to trial a product or service for FREE – there’s something irresistible and risk free about it, isn’t there?

A word of warning though. Make sure you offer the best possible service… otherwise people will not come back, and you’ll get a bad name very quickly.

And of course, where possible, make sure you collect a database… and measure your results.

What could you offer for FREE? Write down a few ideas now… and start implementing this stuff.

Next time you’re flicking through your local newspaper, take a good hard look at the ads…  notice how many of them give you a compelling reason to pick up the phone and get in touch with them now. You’ll need to look closely because…

Finding an Ad with a powerful, knock-em dead offer is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But why is a powerful offer so important?

Listen: People will only give your ad a few seconds. If you’re lucky enough to catch them with a strong headline… then they’ll read your ad… but if they get to the end of it and there’s not a dynamite offer to knock their socks off, they’ll turn over to the next page… and your opportunity is gone… FOREVER.

You need to apply offers differently based on the type of business you operate…

1. A service business with a high value product (solicitor, accountant, real estate agent, consultant, copywriter) could offer a FREE REPORT of some sort. Here’s some examples:

Free Report Reveals How To Make Your Assets As Secure As Fort Knox And Deter Any Scumbag From Taking Everything You’ve Got (solicitor)

Free Report Reveals How To Sell Your Home Faster And For A Higher Price (real estate agent - for generating listings)

Free Report Reveals How To Write Ads And Sales Letters That Practically Make People Line Up And Beg You To Take Their Money (copywriter)

Get the idea?

2. A business which has products which customers keep buying over and over again (e.g. ice cream shop, grocer, restaurant, hairdresser etc) would approach things a little differently. Here’s some examples:

Anyone who says there’s no such thing as a Free Lunch hasn’t read this letter

Free Ice Cream… simply present this offer in our store before (date) to collect yours

Free Haircut to introduce you to our new salon

Now you may well wonder… how can I make any money by giving everything away for FREE. Which is the exact question I am going to answer in the next post - LVC Formula

If you own a shop in the middle of the desert, and nobody walks past… obviously you’re not going to attract many customers.

If you own a vegetarian café in the middle of a meat-eating suburb… you could get very skinny… very fast.

And if you run ads where either:

a)    The wrong people see them
Or
b)    Not enough people see them

Your phones aren’t going to ring… and nobody is going to come into your store…

No matter how good your copy is.
No matter how good your headline is.
No matter how good your offer is.

And I see people make this mistake all the time. For instance, a couple of years ago I was chatting with a guy I know who sells computer gear to businesses… and he was thinking about placing an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald.

What’s wrong with this? My guess is 90% of the people reading the Sydney Morning Herald are NOT business owners… and therefore 90% of his advertising dollar is wasted.

What’s the alternative? Place ads in business publications where you are reaching 100% of your target market.

Or alternatively, rent a list, and direct mail the decision makers within the specific companies you want to approach.

You may pay more to reach each individual: however every single person you communicate with is a potential client. It makes a lot more sense… doesn’t it?

And here’s a tip for those businesses who sell products to the general public (like property, clothes, entertainment, home improvement, food or anything else).

If you want your ad to be seen then place it:

a) On the right hand side of the newspaper. Research has proven that right hand side pages get a better result than left hand side pages.

b) In the early general news… as far forward as you can. I always go for page 3, 5 or 7. And pay the loading (usually 30 – 50%) because my experience shows it’s well worth it!

But don’t take my word on it. Implement these strategies, measure the results and see what results you achieve in your business.

Today I am going to reveal a dozen words that could change your life.

Why? Because Yale University researches have identified the twelve most powerful words in the human language… proven to attract attention and stir emotion within their readers.

Here they are:

• You
• Save
• Results
• Health
• Love
• Proven
• Money
• New
• Easy
• Safety
• Discovery
• Guaranteed

So how can these proven new words you have discovered be used to generate results and make you more money?

It’s easy. You’ll love the way you can safely integrate them into your ads and sales letters. Plus, you’ll save thousands of dollars from burning a hole through your pocket from ineffective advertising… Guaranteed.

Notice how easy that was to use those words in the above sentences - and if I can do it, anyone can!

Oh, by the way, one more thing. Once you start implementing all of these words into your copy… you may just find that the extra money you make will help you to chill out. Consequently, many people find their health improves as a result

A word of warning: These words are a very useful tool… but just like painkillers are not a cure for cancer… these words are not a cure for poorly thought out copy.

But they will certainly spice up your communications.