If the best way of communicating with prospects and existing customers was through sign language, we’d all have to learn to sign. Or if the best method of communication proved to be some kind of mutually understandable code, we’d all have to learn that code in order to say anything. Thankfully, our communication process is much more simple…or is it?
A sales person has the benefit of meeting his prospect face to face, and will be able gauge his pitch according to visible response signs displayed by his prospect. An experienced salesman will instinctively know from the facial expressions and body language of his prospect, whether he’s hitting the right buttons. This is usually indicated by the prospect’s head nodding up and down combined simultaneously with a beaming smile and wide-eyed appreciation.
A telesales person has much less to go on. They can only judge response to their sales pitch through the prospect’s answers to questions and the actual tone of their voice. Most telesales people find their job easier when they try to imagine the look on their prospect’s faces while they’re talking to them. But, the deciding factor will almost always come down to the tone of voice deployed by both parties.
The Internet and Direct Mail Marketer have no such advantages over their prospects. They can’t see them and they can’t hear them. Their only weapon in their armory of sales pitches is their written word.
How we communicate through our written words holds the absolute key to successful selling online and offline. Whether it’s a sales letter, an email or ad, the written words must convincingly convey the sales message directly into the prospect’s mind. But first, you have to get your prospects to actually read your message, and usually this very first hurdle will claim many, many casualties.
Getting someone to read your sales pitch will almost certainly depend on your headline. Your headline is your introduction. Your ‘hello’, your ‘hey you’ and your ‘listen up’. If your headline doesn’t grab the attention of your prospect within two seconds, it’s goodbye and farewell.
Other important aspects of a ‘killer’ sales message are sub-headings. Sub-headings are generally used to maintain interest throughout the copy. But they’re also included for the benefit of prospects that first scan your message before deciding to read it in full. To some degree, they’re almost as important as the headline itself.
Then there’s the body copy. It’s here that your copywriting talents and skills should really shine through. Here you have the opportunity to use any words in the English language to describe and explain in fine detail, the benefits and features of your product or service on offer. And the English language is positively rich in adjectives, so there can be no excuse.
But the real secret to creating captivating copy is to use ‘sense’ words. That is, words that arouse the senses. Touch, see, smell, taste and listen is what we instinctively do every day. They represent our human survival mechanisms and for the most part, we trust them. Other mammals rely on them totally.
When you use sense words in conjunction with emotionally fuelled trigger words, you can elicit all kinds of responses, which can be carefully channeled into the heart of your message for maximum impact. Harnessing words for profit in this way is a skill, and it’s a skill that every online and offline marketer needs to fully comprehend.
Learning to write outstanding and emotionally charged sales copy is not an essential requirement for business success, but recognizing the effectiveness is.
Never underestimate the secret power of words.
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
How To Get More People To Respect Your Value
Doesn't it suck when people don't respect the price you charge? When they always want a special deal? Well guess what? It's probably YOUR fault! When people ring around for quotes on price, and it happens a lot with Yellow Pages directory ads, they'll ring 2-3 businesses usually. That's what everyone has been 'trained to do as consumers, and it's the ads that force them to. How? All the ads look the same!
Just think about when you need a service, say your lawns mowed. So you open the yellow pages and look up lawn-mowing, and there are dozens of ads with people wanting to mow your lawn. So who do you choose?Whoever is cheapest, right? And why? Because all the ads look the same, so there isn't anything that makes one business different from the next. And if that's the case, the only difference comes down to the price!
Makes sense really, because if all the ads look the same then PRICE can be the only difference between them, right? So if the ads for each industry are virtually all saying the same thing, can you understand that you're educating your market to base your value on price? Then what you need to do is create a unique selling proposition that will make you STAND OUT from your competition.
Now let me explain what a unique selling proposition is and how you can get one for your business. Every day we are subjected to about 4,000 to 5,000 advertising messages, so we all need to do work a bit harder to stand out from the crowd, and that's what the USP will do for you. It's that CORE reason that someone should buy from you. And here's a great tool for finding your USP in half an hour.
Grab a piece of paper, and draw a straight line down the middle. On the top of the left-hand column I want you to write "You know how...." And here is where you write down all the things that your competitors do badly. Now we are just building a list, so don't be critical of what you're writing, or how you write it.
At the top of the right-hand column write "Well what we do is..." And here you write down all the things that you do that are great, basically laying out ALL your cards. Once you've done this, you should have a list of what your competitors do, and all the things you offer which are different from them, and this is what you base your Unique Selling Proposition around.
And if you haven't come up with anything from this exercise, then you need to create something to be different! Once you have a USP, then turn it into a statement everywhere your advertising goes, as a reason why someone should do business with you over anyone else!
Another great way to make sure your customer is happy to pay extra for your business is what's called 'dollars for cents' copy. We all love a bargain, right? What this means is to throw in so much value it's not funny. Say for example you have a $99 product for sale, and you throw in $300 worth of free bonuses, you'll make sure the customer comes out way in front in terms of value. So they are paying you just 'cents', but getting 'dollars' back in value.
The key with this method is to make sure the bonuses you throw in are low cost to you, but high perceived value to your customer. You could offer a free report, cd or dvd, any type of information products like this are quite inexpensive to produce, yet the information contained within could be very valuable to your customers. This makes the buying decision so much easier when your customer is getting much more value than what they are paying for. This is one technique you should always strive to use, and it can literally set your sales soaring!
Just think about when you need a service, say your lawns mowed. So you open the yellow pages and look up lawn-mowing, and there are dozens of ads with people wanting to mow your lawn. So who do you choose?Whoever is cheapest, right? And why? Because all the ads look the same, so there isn't anything that makes one business different from the next. And if that's the case, the only difference comes down to the price!
Makes sense really, because if all the ads look the same then PRICE can be the only difference between them, right? So if the ads for each industry are virtually all saying the same thing, can you understand that you're educating your market to base your value on price? Then what you need to do is create a unique selling proposition that will make you STAND OUT from your competition.
Now let me explain what a unique selling proposition is and how you can get one for your business. Every day we are subjected to about 4,000 to 5,000 advertising messages, so we all need to do work a bit harder to stand out from the crowd, and that's what the USP will do for you. It's that CORE reason that someone should buy from you. And here's a great tool for finding your USP in half an hour.
Grab a piece of paper, and draw a straight line down the middle. On the top of the left-hand column I want you to write "You know how...." And here is where you write down all the things that your competitors do badly. Now we are just building a list, so don't be critical of what you're writing, or how you write it.
At the top of the right-hand column write "Well what we do is..." And here you write down all the things that you do that are great, basically laying out ALL your cards. Once you've done this, you should have a list of what your competitors do, and all the things you offer which are different from them, and this is what you base your Unique Selling Proposition around.
And if you haven't come up with anything from this exercise, then you need to create something to be different! Once you have a USP, then turn it into a statement everywhere your advertising goes, as a reason why someone should do business with you over anyone else!
Another great way to make sure your customer is happy to pay extra for your business is what's called 'dollars for cents' copy. We all love a bargain, right? What this means is to throw in so much value it's not funny. Say for example you have a $99 product for sale, and you throw in $300 worth of free bonuses, you'll make sure the customer comes out way in front in terms of value. So they are paying you just 'cents', but getting 'dollars' back in value.
The key with this method is to make sure the bonuses you throw in are low cost to you, but high perceived value to your customer. You could offer a free report, cd or dvd, any type of information products like this are quite inexpensive to produce, yet the information contained within could be very valuable to your customers. This makes the buying decision so much easier when your customer is getting much more value than what they are paying for. This is one technique you should always strive to use, and it can literally set your sales soaring!
How To Get More People To Read Your Ad Til The End
Obviously, if you're paying to advertise your business, you want people to read your whole ad, so they know what you're offering and can make an informed decision about whether to do business with you, don't you? Here's a few ideas you can use in your advertising to keep your reader interested:- conversational short sentences, subheadings, break up long text into short paragraphs, using bullets to speed the reader through your copy, problem-solving copy the reader identifies with, talking in "What's in it for me?" terms, educational copy, and not revealing price til the end.
Firstly, you need to be aware of the WIIFM (what's in it for me) concept. What that means is you need to constantly tell your customer what's in your ad for them, because if they're reading your ad it's only to find out something that they want to know about. YOUR ADS NEED TO BE THE ONES THAT REWARD THEM (while your competitors' BORE them). This also means you should understand the difference between benefits and features.
Let's say you sell a colour TV with a 90" screen - that's the feature. But the benefit of this is that the screen is so big that it makes your lounge room feel like a cinema! That's the benefit, ok? Let me now introduce you to two powerful words which will automatically suck out the benefit of any feature;
"WHICH MEANS"
In the example above, in order to put it into WIIFM terms, you could put it together like this - "This sensational TV has a whopping 90" screen, which means you can virtually turn your lounge room into a cinema!".
Another powerful tool you can use in your copy is bullets. Why? Because you can package up your most exciting and riveting benefits into short little bursts. In fact, the effect of bullet after bullet of really amazing benefits can actually cause nervous tension in your reader. They can get so excited that they literally can't read any more and go straight to the ordering details. That's how powerful they are!
Here are some examples of how intriguing bullets can be in your advertising (then you can just adapt them to your own business)
* Why the advertising you're probably running right now is wasting you thousands of dollars, and what you need to do to turn that loss into cash
* How to get movie and TV stars to help you sell your product or service
* How to get hundreds of prospects to seek YOU out
* The one mistake 99% of businesses make which loses them tons of credibility... and thousands of dollars in sales
* The secret about human nature which expert salespeople use to make their fortune
* 11 simple ways to make your business the "king" of your industry
In fact, each bullet point you write in your advertising should be just like mini headlines that promise something of value to the reader. You might have 25 or 50 bullet points in a long sales letter, if each of them are like a mini headline, then you may only need one to stand out to your reader and make them say "Yes, I need to know more about this!"
And this is also where educational copy comes in. You can't assume that people know as much about your business as you do. You work in it every day, and possibly been doing it for years, and often you can get frustrated because you don't think your customers respect your value. But the reality is, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR VALUE.
So you need to educate them about the value you offer. If you tell them something about your company, then your job is to explain why that's important for them. Let's say you sell an expensive mountain bike, for example. In order to get people to buy the bike you've got to justify why they should spend $2000 on your bike. You've got to tell them the reasons why, which is what educational copy is all about.
Like that the bike has better suspension to handle rough terrain, a comfy seat that you could ride the bike for hours without getting sore, and maybe it has 50 gears for easy riding, and a GPS so you never get lost. These are all just examples of course, but notice how it's talking mainly in benefits to the reader, how it will help them!
Firstly, you need to be aware of the WIIFM (what's in it for me) concept. What that means is you need to constantly tell your customer what's in your ad for them, because if they're reading your ad it's only to find out something that they want to know about. YOUR ADS NEED TO BE THE ONES THAT REWARD THEM (while your competitors' BORE them). This also means you should understand the difference between benefits and features.
Let's say you sell a colour TV with a 90" screen - that's the feature. But the benefit of this is that the screen is so big that it makes your lounge room feel like a cinema! That's the benefit, ok? Let me now introduce you to two powerful words which will automatically suck out the benefit of any feature;
"WHICH MEANS"
In the example above, in order to put it into WIIFM terms, you could put it together like this - "This sensational TV has a whopping 90" screen, which means you can virtually turn your lounge room into a cinema!".
Another powerful tool you can use in your copy is bullets. Why? Because you can package up your most exciting and riveting benefits into short little bursts. In fact, the effect of bullet after bullet of really amazing benefits can actually cause nervous tension in your reader. They can get so excited that they literally can't read any more and go straight to the ordering details. That's how powerful they are!
Here are some examples of how intriguing bullets can be in your advertising (then you can just adapt them to your own business)
* Why the advertising you're probably running right now is wasting you thousands of dollars, and what you need to do to turn that loss into cash
* How to get movie and TV stars to help you sell your product or service
* How to get hundreds of prospects to seek YOU out
* The one mistake 99% of businesses make which loses them tons of credibility... and thousands of dollars in sales
* The secret about human nature which expert salespeople use to make their fortune
* 11 simple ways to make your business the "king" of your industry
In fact, each bullet point you write in your advertising should be just like mini headlines that promise something of value to the reader. You might have 25 or 50 bullet points in a long sales letter, if each of them are like a mini headline, then you may only need one to stand out to your reader and make them say "Yes, I need to know more about this!"
And this is also where educational copy comes in. You can't assume that people know as much about your business as you do. You work in it every day, and possibly been doing it for years, and often you can get frustrated because you don't think your customers respect your value. But the reality is, THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR VALUE.
So you need to educate them about the value you offer. If you tell them something about your company, then your job is to explain why that's important for them. Let's say you sell an expensive mountain bike, for example. In order to get people to buy the bike you've got to justify why they should spend $2000 on your bike. You've got to tell them the reasons why, which is what educational copy is all about.
Like that the bike has better suspension to handle rough terrain, a comfy seat that you could ride the bike for hours without getting sore, and maybe it has 50 gears for easy riding, and a GPS so you never get lost. These are all just examples of course, but notice how it's talking mainly in benefits to the reader, how it will help them!
How To Get More People To Notice Your Advertising
HEADLINES are one of your biggest weapons for getting MORE PEOPLE TO NOTICE YOUR ADVERTISING, for whatever medium you choose to use. Now you are using headlines, aren't you? And NOT your logo - that's not a headline. Only one person cares about your logo, AND THAT'S YOU.
Whereas a headline is something every single one of your prospects will be glued to like a kid on a cartoon. Whatever you're writing, you've GOTTA HAVE A HEADLINE. But here's the deal, there a are good headlines and bad headlines, so I'm going to give you an absolute killer template headline that you should use THIS WEEK in your business.
Remember, a headline's goal is to do one thing only - STOP YOUR PROSPECT IN THEIR TRACKS AND LOCK THEM ONTO YOUR AD, and some people say you only have 1.5 seconds to catch their attention, so you need to make it good!
Master copywriter David Ogilvy has said... "On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar." So if you're using your own logo at the top of your ad, you could improve your response IMMEDIATELY, just by sticking ANY kind of headline up instead!
So would you like to know one of the great secrets for writing headlines that literally slap your prospect in the face and demand they open their wallet?Good, well here it is for you... MODEL HEADLINES THAT ALREADY WORK!!
Don't try and reinvent the wheel, the best way to come up with fantastic headlines is to take what already works, and adapt it to your own business.Isn't that simple?
Here's an absolute knock-'em-dead blockbuster template for a headline:
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR HOMEOWNERS:
Don't pay another phone bill until you read this...
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR WOMEN:
Don't buy any makeup products until you read this...
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS:
Don't run another ad until you read this...
Do you see how powerful this is? And I've shown you 3 different versions, so all you have to do is apply it to your own business and you could easily double or even triple your responses! How about these headlines:
Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Money?
Do You Make These Mistakes Playing Golf?
Do You Make These Mistakes In Bed?
Do You Make These Mistakes Baking Cakes?
I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. This particular headline works on your curiosity. It gets the reader to say to themself, "maybe I'd better read on and find out." The main thing you really want your headline to do is to get your reader to be interested enough to see what else you've got to say. MAKE AN IMPACT! Remember the old saying 'first impressions last'? Well that saying still applies today.
And now that we are bombarded with up to 5,000 advertising messages each day, it is more important than ever to stand out and BE NOTICED! If you have a headline that literally screams out, READ ME, then you'll be more than half way to having an effective advertising campaign that starts making profits for your business! Remember the 80 cents out of each advertising dollar? Well now you know how to focus your efforts to have the maximum impact!
Whereas a headline is something every single one of your prospects will be glued to like a kid on a cartoon. Whatever you're writing, you've GOTTA HAVE A HEADLINE. But here's the deal, there a are good headlines and bad headlines, so I'm going to give you an absolute killer template headline that you should use THIS WEEK in your business.
Remember, a headline's goal is to do one thing only - STOP YOUR PROSPECT IN THEIR TRACKS AND LOCK THEM ONTO YOUR AD, and some people say you only have 1.5 seconds to catch their attention, so you need to make it good!
Master copywriter David Ogilvy has said... "On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar." So if you're using your own logo at the top of your ad, you could improve your response IMMEDIATELY, just by sticking ANY kind of headline up instead!
So would you like to know one of the great secrets for writing headlines that literally slap your prospect in the face and demand they open their wallet?Good, well here it is for you... MODEL HEADLINES THAT ALREADY WORK!!
Don't try and reinvent the wheel, the best way to come up with fantastic headlines is to take what already works, and adapt it to your own business.Isn't that simple?
Here's an absolute knock-'em-dead blockbuster template for a headline:
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR HOMEOWNERS:
Don't pay another phone bill until you read this...
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR WOMEN:
Don't buy any makeup products until you read this...
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS:
Don't run another ad until you read this...
Do you see how powerful this is? And I've shown you 3 different versions, so all you have to do is apply it to your own business and you could easily double or even triple your responses! How about these headlines:
Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Money?
Do You Make These Mistakes Playing Golf?
Do You Make These Mistakes In Bed?
Do You Make These Mistakes Baking Cakes?
I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. This particular headline works on your curiosity. It gets the reader to say to themself, "maybe I'd better read on and find out." The main thing you really want your headline to do is to get your reader to be interested enough to see what else you've got to say. MAKE AN IMPACT! Remember the old saying 'first impressions last'? Well that saying still applies today.
And now that we are bombarded with up to 5,000 advertising messages each day, it is more important than ever to stand out and BE NOTICED! If you have a headline that literally screams out, READ ME, then you'll be more than half way to having an effective advertising campaign that starts making profits for your business! Remember the 80 cents out of each advertising dollar? Well now you know how to focus your efforts to have the maximum impact!
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