Fortune-Magnet News

Much of today’s accepted copywriting wisdom comes from old books written for a different, quieter world.

For most of the twentieth century, widely promoting a successful message was expensive and difficult, requiring control of significant resources and substantial time commitments. Though the general public was more trusting and open to suggestion, more effort was required to reach them. Until the mid-nineties, marketing was generally a money game: whoever could afford the loudest message often sold the most product.

The information age - and the Internet in particular - changed all that.

Today, your competitors aren’t the other businesses providing similar services: they are the millions of voices screaming at the top of their lungs, desperate for attention. They are the vast seas of noise - the four billion websites that are of no interest to your prospects, the commercials that don’t relate to them, the telemarketing calls that still interrupt their dinner despite new laws. Your competitors are everyone and everything that pushes the general public into apathy, desensitized by information overload.

Creative and pushy techniques don’t work when a million other people are doing the same thing. The battle today is not to make people listen, but to convince them that you are worth listening to. While authenticity has always been a good strategy, now it is the entire game.

To write truly effective marketing copy, you must go beyond the buzzwords, slogans and pitches, to get to the secrets that make your business unique and credible:

Challenge your own assumptions about your clients and their needs. It is easy to fall into the trap of limiting your market with faulty assumptions. Take a hard look at your current marketing efforts - who do you think your clients are, and why do you think that? Gather as much information about your clients as possible and challenge any beliefs you hold that are not based on solid evidence. Never assume that common wisdom is actually true - it often isn’t.

Question the quality and value of your own services. People do not buy things; they buy values. Take a fresh look at the value of what you offer, and what makes that value attractive to prospects and clients. Question it: explore new areas where your services would be useful, and new ways that you can improve their relevance. Dig deep to learn what you are really selling and what it truly means.

Embrace your flaws as well as your strengths. None of us are perfect, but most attempt to disguise or deny their flaws by overcompensating in marketing. Flaws are relative things, and weakness in one area is often the result of strength in another. Don’t disguise your flaws - simply present them positively. Brainstorm ways to turn your weaknesses to your advantage.

Ask yourself - is your marketing driving you to higher standards, or disguising lower ones? Effective marketing is never about the status quo; it is either a growth vehicle or a means of damage control. Which are you doing? Are you promoting yourself based on valid strengths, or are you trying to cover up apparent weaknesses? If your marketing does not inspire you to serve your clients better, it won’t inspire prospects to become new ones.

In a world of noise and manipulations, your prospects crave simplicity and integrity. Honestly approaching these issues will result in a wealth of unique material for your advertising efforts, as well as new insights into your own business.

Retire the tricks and gimmicks - they don’t work anymore and probably never will again. If you want to attract and keep clients, use the only copywriting trick worth learning: reality.

About The Author:
Robert Warren (http://www.rswarren.com) is a professional marketing copywriter and editorial consultant, specializing in promoting experts and independent professionals with the power of the written word. His offices are based in Orlando, Florida.

In the marketing world if you want to be a prosperous individual, you need to get the skill of copy writing, immerse into this skill is mandatory, this proficiency is vital ingredient to survive in there, every sales letter must be carefully “designed” going from the headline through the P.S.

As a marketer, if you want to go far away, you know the best way to get targeted traffic to your website: writing articles, this expose you at your client’s eyes like an expert in your field, or maybe you are a knowledgeable people writing with other goals in mind. Anyway, whatever the reason is, you need to hold your reader’s attention up…

Here is the first and most important part of your article: the headline, but do not get me wrong, I am not saying the headline is your article… I want to say: if someone read your headline and it doesn’t grasp his/her attention, is over… you know this true.

The headline is so important and is just the tip of the iceberg!… Acquire the skill of creating catching headlines, believe me this is priceless, it gives you enormous advantages, of course if you master it.

Why the headline is important?. now listen to this carefully: Headlines are your first contact with the reader, is your chance to persuade him/her to go on reading your article, is the first door and must work really well. It is the opening of your message, let me warning you: if you fail to recognize the importance of the headlines you are lost…
The headline is so crucial that is knew as the king in the copywriting world, why it must be different when you write an article?…. I do not believe there is difference at all, after a long time of creating articles I realized the supreme importance of this writing communication component.

Maybe you do not agree with me at this point, but let me tell you something: headlines create excitement, enthusiasm, interest , to achieve this, they must be seductive, appealing, desirables, if your headline succeeds, you have a receptive reader, it’s up to you to give him/her motives to deep into your article.

Do you feel the headline’s importance?, is the opening of your article, but at the same time introduces your topic, attract attention and compelled the reader to go on. Work in your headline, carefully choose the words, remember one word maybe the difference: success or failure.

Headlines sell ideas, concepts or knowledge, whatever intention you have, you are trying to influence, to “hypnotize” and “force” people to go through your article from the beginning to the end.

The marketers know that “Your first 15 words count for more than the 15,000 words that follow!”, in a sales letter the weight of a headline goes from 50% to 80%. Could you bring this knowledge and apply it when you are writing your articles?, I think so, you can write articles that accomplish these features: seductive, interesting and knowledgeable.

For all these reasons, is so important you consider headlines as a prominent part of your writing skills, you need them, it doesn’t matter if you are selling, preparing a presentation, sending emails, getting an autoresponder course, writing a book, ezine, articles… in short… if you write, this is for you.

I would like to tell you more about this interesting skill, but, for now my mission is accomplished, the curiosity factor is in you, work in your headlines and you literally will be sucking readers: hypnotize your audience, great headlines and quality content…. that is it.

About The Author:
Chen Zarza
Webmaster and Project leader, 20+ experience in the information technology world.
He has developed financial system for several years. Background: Databases, Web , Finances
http://www.nesswords.com

1. Use a hand written letter on your ad copy instead of text. Write the ad on a piece of paper, scan it and publish the ad on your web page. Adding a personal touch will always increase your sales.

2. Publish a list of famous and respected customers who have bought from you on your a copy. People will think that if these people bought from you, they should also trust your business and purchase your products. Make sure to get their permission first.

3. Show before and after photos for your products on your web page copy. Show the problem picture and then beside it, show the picture of the resolution to the problem when they use your product.

4. Include an article or review that has been written about you or your business with your ad copy. This will show people that your business is respected and will increase your credibility.

5. When you offer free bonuses in your ad copy, also list the dollar value beside each bonus. People will feel they’re getting a good deal and it will increase the value of your product.

6. Hire a famous person to endorse your product or service. Make sure the person is well known to your target audience. Include their picture and statements on your ad copy.

7. Include your own picture on your ad copy. This will show people that you’re not hiding behind your ad copy and will increase their trust. Also, include your contact information below the picture and a brief statement or quote.

8. Tell your potential customers on your ad copy that you will donate a percentage of their purchase price to specific charity. This will show them you really care about the people. They may just buy your product to donate to the charity.

9. Ask your potential customers plenty of yes and no questions in your ad copy. The questions should remind them of their problem and make them think about what will happen if they don’t purchase your product.

10. Tell your potential customers they will receive a free prize if they find the five words in your ad copy that are misspelled or spelled backwards. The longer you can keep someone reading your copy the greater chance of them purchasing.

About The Author:
Author Dan Brown has been active in internet marketing for the past 4 years. Dan currently is working with the Zabang search engine introducing their new affiliate program which is due out Sept, 2005. http://www.zabangaffiliate.com/

Year after year people make the same mistakes in direct-response copy and advertising. You can avoid the most common and costly blunders by following these profit-enhancing tips…

1. WRITE IN DIRECT RESPONSE LANGUAGE:

• Use short paragraphs and short words. This article has 68% short words-five letters or less. Strive for at least 65%-75%. Never go under 50% unless you are writing to Ph.D’s.
• Make your sentences and paragraphs flow like a breeze.
• Ignore good grammar when you have a good reason.
• Keep the bucket brigade going: Start paragraphs with And, But…, So you see…, However…
• Use the freshest concepts and the most colorful language you can without disturbing the flow.
• Use hot words: free, profit, new, now, secret, easy, save, guarantee, today… and the hottest word of all: YOU!

Use bullets… lots of them.

2. WRITE LOTS OF HEADLINES.

Always think up dozens of alternative headlines. Put your strongest benefits in them and test your best alternatives. When writing headlines for web sites make sure they include key search words and phrases along with the benefits.

3. DROP THE WARM-UPS…

You’ll destroy your entire letter/ad by starting off, “As a homeowner, you know how maintenance costs are climbing every day…”. Take your first draft and try cutting out the first two to three paragraphs… you’ll usually find the real “meat” starts to appear in your copy after you have started to “warm-up” to the writing.

4. STAND OUT.

Separate yourself from the competition as clearly as you can. Discover, isolate, and dramatize all the reasons for doing business with you…today…, instead of your competitor. Build your entire package or ad around these reasons (benefits).

5. SELL BENEFITS, NOT FEATURES.

Readers don’t buy products or features of products. They buy the benefits-of-use of the product or features. Be humble enough to realize that a buyer will not give you one red cent for any product or feature until you convert the features into benefits-of-use.

6. LEARN TO GIVE.

Most advertisers and charities think of direct response strictly as a device to “get”. Unfortunately, most readers also want to get. So, to succeed, you must adopt a “give” attitude… beyond what you offer in the product or service. Give them something immediately in your ad, your letter, your web page. Give them news, business tips, interesting stories, resources, freebies, special deals.

7. USE TESTIMONIALS.

They’re proof that you’re as good as you say you are, and that you’ll do what you say will do. Like…

“I increased profits by $100,000 last year using your services…” Joe Smith, President, Smith Corporation

The more specific the testimonial the more power it has. Give full attributions whenever possible. Testimonials give you believability and credibility. You can’t do successful direct-response without these two essential factors.

8. OFFER A MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.

Whatever you are selling, make sure you offer a money-back guarantee. It’s a critical factor in getting someone to send in their money to someone they don’t know or maybe never heard of.

9. CREDIT CARDS, TOLL FREE NUMBERS.

Credit card purchases and toll-free “800″ numbers can increase your response by as much as 50%. If you’re on the web make sure you opt for secure on-line transmission (SSL) of credit card orders… or allow other means for your customer to provide their credit information to you.

10. ASK FOR ACTION.

It’s amazing how often otherwise good copy never gets around to asking for the order. If you don’t ask for action… you won’t get any.

11. BUDGET YOUR TIME.

Devote about one third of your writing time to the lead elements, headline, subheads, teasers, opening paragraphs.

12. KEEP CURRENT.

Direct-response is more scientific than other types of advertising. Like any fast-moving science, it has it’s discoveries daily. This is especially true of writing for the Internet/World Wide Web. Subscribe to industry trade journals such as Target Marketing, DM News, Direct, and other relevant publications.

About The Author:

Thom Reece is the CEO of On-Line Marketing Group, a direct response marketing agency with headquarters in Hawaii. He is the creator of the Online Marketing Resource Center www.e-comprofits.com & the major portal for the network marketing industry www.MaxxMLM.com.

Chances are that you are making many, if not all, of these 5 copywriting mistakes. I call them “deadly” because they are killing your sales and your profits.

Let me make you a bold promise: examine your own sales copy and eliminate these copywriting mistakes, and you will see an instant improvement in your sales.

Lets get started:

Deadly Mistake #1: Being Focused On You, Instead Of On Your Market

This is the easiest mistake to make, and the most common. Most ad copy is focused on the advertiser, not on the consumer. Big mistake.

When you read copy that says things like, “Were the best in the industry… we’ve been in business since 1979… we have the most well-trained associates… our facility has won many industry awards…” what is your reaction?

Most likely, your reaction is, “So what? What does that mean to me and my life?”

If you are using copy that says “we”, “us”, and “our” a lot find a way to change that copy so that it says “you”, and “yours”. Speak about the things that matter to your customer.

Here’s a hint: those things are probably not what you think they are. Why not ask your customers? They know the answer, and they’ll be glad to share it with you if you are wise enough to listen.

Deadly Mistake #2: Using a Weak, Wimpy, or Just Plain Bad Headline

In the beginning, you only have one chance to grab the readers attention. That chance is the headline. Make sure your headline is strong, aggressive (without being pushy), and compelling.

Think of your headline as the sales pitch to get the prospect to read the whole ad. It has to be compelling enough that the reader thinks, “Hey, if this is true, I need to know about it…”

You get one shot. You cant afford to blow it.

A poor headline for an automotive shop: “Our Experienced Staff Can Tend to Your Every Automotive Need, And Are ASE Certified with the Guaranteed Lowest Prices.”

A much better headline for the same client: “Are Hidden Mechanical Problems With Your Car Threatening The Health And Safety Of Your Family? Our 9-Point Safety Inspection Could Save Their Lives And Give You Peace of Mind…”

Deadly Mistake #3: Not Using Enough Bullets

Bullets break up your copy into short, readable bursts. Especially on the web, people tend to scan copy before they read it; breaking your benefits into bullets increases the chances your copy will “catch the eye” and thus get read.

To recap the benefits of bullets:

• They break up copy (just like this) into short pieces

• Makes the copy easier to scan

• Makes it easier to pick out key words and phrases

• Gets more of your copy read

• Makes you more sales

• The more the better.

Deadly Mistake #4: Using big words and jargon.

Copy should read like conversation; it should flow naturally and be easy to process.

Using big words and jargon might sound impressive, but it wont get you sales. Which would you prefer?

Use strong, punchy words. Write simply and clearly.

Read Strunk & Whites Elements of Style and follow its advice. Avoid jargon.

Deadly Mistake #5: Using Weak, Wimpy, or Just Plain Bad Sub-Heads

You should use subheads every 3-4 paragraphs in your copy. Make subheads strong and compelling; think of them as headlines for each section of your copy.

If read in sequence, your subheads should sound like an abbreviated version of your sales pitch (which is what they are). Sub-heads done correctly are a way to “stop the eye”, catch the readers interest, and get him to slow down enough to read that section.

What to Do Now

Here’s your “takeaway” from this article: Grab your own current sales copy, this list of copy mistakes, your favorite beverage, and go through your copy line-by-line.

Ferret out these mistakes and eliminate them from your copy.

Do it now, and don’t put it off.

You’ll be glad you did.

And if writing is “not your thing” hire a professional. Having great copy is the single most important tool you have at your disposal to sell your products or services.

Get a Free Marketing Critique from the
author
Ray Edwards is a sought-after Copywriter and Marketing Consultant. Get a free critique of your marketing materials or copy (a $197 value) at:
http://www.RayEdwardsCopywriting.com.

About The Author:Copyright © 2005 by Ray Edwards. All rights reserved. You may post this article on your website, or publish it in your newsletter, free of charge as long as you do so without altering its content in any way, and as long as you include the “About the Author” information. Other conditions may apply.

Effective headlines make all the difference in whether your prospect reads your marketing materials or simply tosses them to the side. You don’t even have a chance for a sale if the audience won’t read what you write. One way to keep prospects reading is to give your copy attention-grabbing headlines. Here are eight tips to make sure your headlines get the message across:

1. Turn each headline into a problem or benefit-oriented statement. What interests a prospect most about what you offer? Reading headlines that tell how great your company is or focusing only on the features of your product or service won’t cut it. Instead, speak to what appeals most to a prospect – usually, that’s the fact that you offer the solution to their problem.

2. Make headlines short, sweet and to the point. Your reader’s attention span can be measured in milliseconds, so you must get to the point fast. Use as few words as possible to entice your reader to continue reading.

3. Don’t sensationalize your headline. Ever read a headline that sounded too good to be true? That’s exactly what your reader will think if you promise too much in your headline. Keep headlines factual but exciting…from your prospect’s point of view.

4. Immediately explain your headline in the copy that follows. Once you’ve got your prospect’s attention with exciting headlines, make sure your copy tells the rest of the story. And do it as soon after the headline as possible, or your prospect may quit reading after less than a paragraph if he feels the headline didn’t explain itself promptly.

5. Use attention-grabbing verbiage. Don’t be shy with your headlines…use words and phrases that give your reader an enticement to keep reading. After all, if you see headlines starting with Free, Secrets of…, Tips to…, or a question, you’ll probably keep reading so you don’t miss anything. Your prospect feels the same way.

6. Keep your target audience in mind. Explain the benefits of your product or service in a way that always appeals to your target market. Never forget who they are, what they like/dislike, what problems they face, and what solutions they need.

7. Use action verbs instead of “to be” verbs. One of the simplest, most powerful ways to liven up headlines means changing “to be” verbs into action verbs. Replace verbs such as is, are, was, were, has, and have with action words. In fact, you should avoid using “to be” verbs in all of your copy, but especially avoid using them in your headlines.

8. Test your materials on a knowledgeable audience. Put your piece to the test by asking people you trust to evaluate it and give you honest feedback. Then, tighten up the headlines and copy some more, and get ready to watch your marketing materials convince prospects you really do have the solution to their problem!

About The Author:
Nancy J. Wagner of Cut to the Chase Marketing is a speaker, writer, and marketing strategist who helps small businesses increase their sales with effective marketing materials and websites. Download her free 9-step marketing plan at http://www.CutToTheChaseMarketing.com

Grab ‘em and don’t lose ‘em. Every marketer knows that one. Human beings have very short attention spans, so you can’t afford to waste your prospect’s time - give them the good stuff and then let them go as soon as you can. Writing effective marketing material is all about writing crisply with just a handful of words.

Clean writing isn’t an accident, but is instead the result of the careful application of certain principles and tools. Try these five techniques for crafting leaner, meaner, more effective business copy:

Avoid modifiers. Modifiers change the meaning of other words; the most common of these are adverbs and adjectives (words that describe verbs and nouns, respectively). They’re used when the writer feels that the noun or verb needs a little something extra: “the shining sun”, “run quickly”, etc. Get rid of as many modifiers as you can and choose nouns and verbs that stand on their own.

No lazy words. Every word should be doing real work, conveying necessary information and supporting other parts of the piece. Think of your sentences as support beams and rafters in a building, and analyze the piece word-by-word: are there any nails sticking out of boards? Anything that’s there purely for show? Anything that doesn’t strengthen your writing weakens it. Strip your copy down to its most essential parts, and throw out the words that are sleeping on the job.

Reduce it to a single sentence. Do you really know what you want to say? You might be surprised - try phrasing your entire piece into one simple sentence. Can you do it, or are you insisting that your message is too in-depth? Taking your point down to a single statement can give your copy new focus and clarity.

One thought per sentence. Sentences and paragraphs are different things. Avoid long, complex sentences built up of multiple thoughts. Keep your sentences to one thought each, keep them short and simple, and use your paragraphs for the complex ideas.

When in doubt, cut it out. Every writer has written the perfect sentence that just doesn’t play along well with others. Hemingway was right - kill your darlings. If you can’t figure out how to ease that bit of poetry in with the rest of your marketing piece, cut it completely and don’t look back. Be merciless. You’ll be surprised how often that’s the best solution.

About The Author:
Robert Warren (www.rswarren.com) is a Florida-based freelance copywriter specializing in the unique marketing needs of independent professionals.

Much of today’s accepted copywriting wisdom comes from old books written for a different, quieter world.

For most of the twentieth century, widely promoting a successful message was expensive and difficult, requiring control of significant resources and substantial time commitments. Though the general public was more trusting and open to suggestion, more effort was required to reach them. Until the mid-nineties, marketing was generally a money game: whoever could afford the loudest message often sold the most product.

The information age - and the Internet in particular - changed all that.

Today, your competitors aren’t the other businesses providing similar services: they are the millions of voices screaming at the top of their lungs, desperate for attention. They are the vast seas of noise - the four billion websites that are of no interest to your prospects, the commercials that don’t relate to them, the telemarketing calls that still interrupt their dinner despite new laws. Your competitors are everyone and everything that pushes the general public into apathy, desensitized by information overload.

Creative and pushy techniques don’t work when a million other people are doing the same thing. The battle today is not to make people listen, but to convince them that you are worth listening to. While authenticity has always been a good strategy, now it is the entire game.

To write truly effective marketing copy, you must go beyond the buzzwords, slogans and pitches, to get to the secrets that make your business unique and credible:

Challenge your own assumptions about your clients and their needs. It is easy to fall into the trap of limiting your market with faulty assumptions. Take a hard look at your current marketing efforts - who do you think your clients are, and why do you think that? Gather as much information about your clients as possible and challenge any beliefs you hold that are not based on solid evidence. Never assume that common wisdom is actually true - it often isn’t.

Question the quality and value of your own services. People do not buy things; they buy values. Take a fresh look at the value of what you offer, and what makes that value attractive to prospects and clients. Question it: explore new areas where your services would be useful, and new ways that you can improve their relevance. Dig deep to learn what you are really selling and what it truly means.

Embrace your flaws as well as your strengths. None of us are perfect, but most attempt to disguise or deny their flaws by overcompensating in marketing. Flaws are relative things, and weakness in one area is often the result of strength in another. Don’t disguise your flaws - simply present them positively. Brainstorm ways to turn your weaknesses to your advantage.

Ask yourself - is your marketing driving you to higher standards, or disguising lower ones? Effective marketing is never about the status quo; it is either a growth vehicle or a means of damage control. Which are you doing? Are you promoting yourself based on valid strengths, or are you trying to cover up apparent weaknesses? If your marketing does not inspire you to serve your clients better, it won’t inspire prospects to become new ones.

In a world of noise and manipulations, your prospects crave simplicity and integrity. Honestly approaching these issues will result in a wealth of unique material for your advertising efforts, as well as new insights into your own business.

Retire the tricks and gimmicks - they don’t work anymore and probably never will again. If you want to attract and keep clients, use the only copywriting trick worth learning: reality.

About The Author:
Robert Warren (http://www.rswarren.com) is a professional marketing copywriter and editorial consultant, specializing in promoting experts and independent professionals with the power of the written word. His offices are based in Orlando, Florida.

Whether you’re wet-behind-the-ears or a seasoned copywriter, your craft will benefit by remembering one thing:

You’re nothing more than a salesperson.

There’s an old saying in the “business” that, “a copywriter is a salesperson sitting in front of a typewriter.” True, few of us are using typewriters these days. The principal, however, remains unchanged.

We’re in sales. I know this. You know this. We all know this. Yet why does much of the copy out there, especially ads produced by expensive agencies, seem to miss the point?

If all we’re doing is sales, albeit transmitted through a written or broadcast medium, then we’d better know what we’re doing.

Starting the process

While studying creative writing, I learned this storytelling maxim: every character has a motive for being in a scene. The same is true in a sales situation.

The salesperson’s motive is simple. He wants to make the sale and get his commission. But what does the potential customer want?

First, what type of customer are they? Are they ready to make an immediate buy? Are they information shopping, looking for a great deal? Are they even looking for our product or service?

Ask Questions, then Shut-up and Listen

When selling to prospective customers ask questions that get them to reveal their needs. It’s a mistake to sell the product on the tip of your tongue. “Model X” might work, but if you listen you might discover that the more expensive “Model Z” is what the customer really needs.

Once you know why the prospect is there–whether they have an unresolved need, an emotional reason for buying, or they’re just shopping around–tailor your pitch to their specific reason.

Now when you make the pitch, tell how your product benefits the customer, rather than rattling off product features you think he cares about.

When You’re Finished, Close the Door

By this point your spiel should be unforced. You know the customer’s “hot-buttons” so everything should be smooth sailing.

After you’ve explained the last product benefit, you (as the salesperson) are obligated to close the deal. The way you do that is simply to ask, “Are you ready to make your decision?” or “Is this the product you’d like to buy?”

Hopefully the answer is yes. If not, then you ask, “When would you be ready to make your decision? Can I contact you then?”

What Does This Have to Do with Copywriting?

Remember, you’re nothing more than a salesperson. So you, so while writing copy, you should go through similar steps.

1. Qualify the prospect. How you write your copy, and the ratio of hard selling to information-based soft selling, will change with the medium you’re working in. But the first thing your copy should do is state outright what business you’re in and what you’re selling.

If your pitch is too vague, if it’s implied, or it depends on prior knowledge for comprehension, then your prospect might never realize he needs what you’re selling.

2. Sell Benefits, not Features. I’ve heard many sales trainers say, “It’s not about you, it’s about them.” That’s golden advice. The best way to apply this idea to your copy is by focusing on your product’s benefits.

A sports car’s features might be power steering, fast acceleration, and fuel efficiency. The benefits of that same car to a man a mid-life crisis, however, are the social status and appearance of youth it gives him. Which reason, the benefits or the features, would cause him to buy?

In a face-to-face sales environment it’s easy to ask for a specific customer’s needs. When writing sales copy you can create the same rapport by being customer-centered. To do this, write in the second person, or “You” voice. If your copy repeatedly says your company does this, or your product does that, you’re being self-centered. Your prospect won’t see himself benefiting from your product.

3. Close the Deal. I can’t count how often I’ve read a brochure, watched a commercial, or visited a website and had no clue about what I was supposed to do.

Always end your copy with a Call-to-Action.

Tell the customer exactly what you want him to do. This isn’t the time to be cute, so be exact. Do you want him to call you? Click a “Buy This” button? Make a donation? Tell your customer, or else he won’t do anything.

When asked what I do I usually say I’m a freelance marketing and publicity copywriter. I’m might revise the statement to, “I’m a freelance sales copywriter,” because that’s what it all comes down to: sales. Whether your copy creates a direct response or creates publicity and general awareness of your company, if you don’t sell you might as well not be in business.

About The Author:
J.L. Reid is a freelance marketing—er—freelance sales copywriter based in Raleigh NC. Visit his website, www.reidwrite.com, to learn more about his services.

You could spend thousands of dollars on advertisement and have extremely low or no results in sales because of your poor planed copy. You shouldn’t be amazed by the fact that huge corporations all over the world do that mistake and waste millions of dollars on false advertisement campaigns.

However, how can you write good sales copy, killer ads that get the attention of people? There are no magic recipes for that, but you can follow some fundamental rules, which can lead to you to success if you adapt them properly.

1) Have a good product. Be honest and mean what you say or what you offer. Avoid the exaggerations and hyped claims. You stake your reputation and your business offline or online it doesn’t make any difference.

2) Have a plan on your trial and error period. Don’t expect to write your first copy and be a golden one. You will alter it many times, test it, retest it try a new one and so on. Set a schedule for that. Do not fool around.

3) AIDA. It’s the proven and the bedrock of the copy process. Always follow it. AIDA

• A= Attention. You must grab it instantly or you don’t have a chance.

• I = Interest. You grab and keep their interest. If they get bored, they will leave.

• D= Desire. Interest must be transformed into desire for what you offer.

• A= Action. You must convince them to act now. Not tomorrow, next week etc. They will forget it few hours later.

4) Always work on your prospects emotion. Most of the people buy something emotionally and then justify it rationally.

5) Headline is the Key. If it doesn’t grab their attention then they‘ve gone away. Your headline must be a killer one.

6) Promote your best and strong benefit at first, not last. That’s how you are going to create interest and then desire.

7) Tell stories. That’s an excellent way to rekindle their emotion or even their passion. Stories always inspire.

Answer all the objections and questions you think your prospects could have. In that way you will gain their trust.

9) Use bullet points for each of your benefits and bold, italics fonts for your text. Use the underline feature but not so often.

10) Give time limit. This is an excellent tool for calling your prospects to act now!

11) Offer testimonials. It is the mother of gaining trust tools. Especially, if it is from someone important in your field.

12) Make them easy to buy. Don’t let them get lost in your web site. Make it as easy as possible.

13) Avoid graphics. They won’t help you. People are looking for information not images.

14) Give guarantees. Research has proved that when you have a long guarantee your client feels safer and that leads to fewer refunds too!

15) Never assume that your prospects know what you want to say. Always be specific and clear about your product or service.

16) Have your copy or ad checked by your friends, colleagues etc. It’s better to have other views, after all it’s a part of the testing process.

Here are some great headlines and emotional triggers.

• A Little Mistake That Cost A …… $3,477 A Year

• Do You Make These Mistakes In …..?

• Why Some People Almost Always Make Money In The ……

• How I Improved My ……. In One Evening

• How I Made a Fortune with a ….. Idea

• 161 New Ways To ……

• How To Plan ……

• The Truth about Getting Rich

• Dare To Be Rich

• The Secret To Being Healthy

• How To Write A ……

• Attract The Opposite Se

• Be Independent

• Be Successful

• Avoid Embarrassment

• Be Strong

• Be Healthy

• Satisfy Curiosity

• Make Money

• Gain Knowledge

• Save Time

• Avoid Effort

• Get A Better Job

• Be Your Own Boss

• Add Fun To Life

• Work Less

• Relax.

About The Author:
Christos Varsamis is an internet marketing consultant and the owner of the exclusive internet-marketing club www.internetmarketingsuccesstips.com. Get his knowledge at your desktop! Subscribe to ims-tips@aweber.com.