Entries Tagged 'freelance copywriting' ↓
July 27th, 2009 — advertising copywriting, copywriting, freelance copywriting
It is a debate that has been raging for centuries – so does anyone out there really know which came first?
Well, a slightly easier question to answer is when should you write your headline? Before the body of your article or after?
Think of your headline as a promise. Through it, you signal to your reader what you are going to tell them. It will identify what the benefit to them will be for reading your article.
If you think about life in general, you always make your promise first. The same therefore goes for your headline. If you write your content first you’ll end up with a rather dull and uninspiring headline that simply won’t work.
Writing a fantastic headline isn’t always easy – it has to convey the essence of your article, it has to be catchy and have ‘read me’ written all over it. Formulating the perfect headline isn’t easy but there are ways you can get a bit of a leg-up from the experts.
July 24th, 2009 — advertising copywriting, copywriting, freelance copywriting
Ok, perhaps Shakespeare wasn’t exactly renowned for catchy headlines – but he did write some fantastic plays and sonnets.
Headlines can be a real killer sometimes. I bet you’ve sweated for hours staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration to hit. No matter how hard you screw your face up, that illusive super-sales-generating-headline just won’t pop into your mind.
Shall I let you into a secret?
Most copywriters have a headline creating tool.
It works 100% of the time and helps them produce killer headlines everytime.
Want to get your hands on it? What to know what it is?
It is a swipe file. I hate that name as it sounds rather underhand, but basically that is what it is.
It is a collection of winning headlines, sales letters, adverts, magazine cuttings – in fact anything that uses a headline, phrase or sentence that is a real attention grabber.
But shouldn’t your headline be completely original?
Is there really any piece of writing out there that is 100% original?
Every writer in the world gets their inspiration from somewhere so, consciously or subconsciously, their work is influenced by an outside source.
Tried and tested formula
Headlines that work have been constructed in certain was to be effective. They have followed the same structure for years generating thousands or even millions of pounds. The same formula is adapted and put into different contexts and is used over and over again. So why change it?
Is a swipe file cheating?
No. All it means is that you write great headlines in a way you know will work. As your confidence and experience grows you can try an original approach – although as I said above, whatever you try will never be 100% original (I’m happy to be proven wrong there if anyone has any examples of something totally original).
Starting with these tried and tested templates you can immediately improve your blog post titles which should gain more readership and traffic.
Give it a go – start compiling your own swipe file today and start generating more traffic.
July 17th, 2009 — copywriting, freelance copywriting
Wouldn’t it be great if your sales copy encouraged so many sales your products flew off your shelves.
Well for high volume sales you must build a relationship of trust between you and the buyer. If they read your copy and instantly connect with you, you have a greater chance of separating them from their cash.
A sense of urgency and trust are the 2 keys to creating copy that will open wallets. To give you an idea of how this can work, below are 8 techniques you can employ to empty your shelves quickly.
- Order deadlines – if they order by a certain date they will get a discount – this creates urgency.
- Money back guarantee – builds trust.
- Free on-site repair services – builds trust.
- Include qualified testimonials (i.e. with full names) – builds trust.
- Offer affiliate programme so your clients can make money. If you make this a time limited offer it can create urgency.
- 24 hour assistance – whether by phone or email this will build trust.
- Free shipping (if you can afford it)
- BOGOF (buy one get one free) – builds trust and urgency if a time limited offer.
Whether you use one or a combination of several of the above techniques, the overall effect will be the creating of sales copy that will build trust between you and your prospective client.
Then the only thing you have to worry about is to make sure you have enough stock to keep up demand.
July 15th, 2009 — copywriting services, direct response copywriting, freelance copywriting
A great sales letter can stand between you and a small fortune. By getting the content, tone and sales pitch right you could open up a whole new world of customers. But writing the perfect sales letter isn’t easy.
In my post Copywriting – The Sales Letter I talked about the mechanics of the sales letter and its 3 main components – the headline, the offer and the call to action,
These elements are vital but there is something missing – your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). I came across this post recently written by Jonathan Young of Decodefy: What’s Your Unique Selling Proposition? Have a read, perhaps it will help identify your products USP’s and in turn strengthen your sales letter.
Also known as the unique selling position or unique sales position, the USP is often one of the most misunderstood elements of a good sales letter. It’s what separates your product or service from your competitors. Let’s take a quick look at some unique selling propositions for a product itself:
Lowest Price
If you’ve got the corner marketed on budget prices, flaunt it. Tesco has made this USP famous lately, but it’s not new to them. In fact, selling for cheaper has been around as long as capitalism itself. Personally, I’m not crazy about price wars, because someone can always come along and sell for cheaper. Then it’s time for a new strategy…
Superior Quality
If it outperforms your competitor’s product or is made with higher quality materials, it’s a good bet that you could use this fact to your advantage. For example, compare Ben & Jerry’s to their competitor’s. From the packaging to the wholesome superior ingredients, the quality is evident. It may cost a little more than their competitor’s ice cream, but for their market, it sells.
Superior Service
If you offer superior service over your competitor’s, people will buy from you instead. This is especially true with certain markets that are all about service: long-distance, Internet service providers, satellite television, etc.
Exclusive Rights
My favorite! If you can legitimately claim that your product is protected by a patent or copyright, licensing agreement, etc., then you have a winner for exclusive rights. If you have a patent, even the Queen must buy it from you.
Ok, what if your product or service is no different than your competitor’s? I would disagree, because there are always differences. The trick is to turn them into a positive advantage for you. You want to put your “best foot forward.” So what can we do in this scenario?
One way is to present something that your company has devised internally that no other company does. Look, there’s a reason why computer store “A” offers to beat their competitor’s price for the same product by X%. If you look closely, the two packages are never exactly the same.
Company “B” offers a free scanner, while company “A” offers a free printer. Or some other difference. They are comparing apples to oranges. So unless you find a company with the exact same package (you won’t…they’ve seen to that), you won’t be able to cash in.
But what if you truly have the same product for sale as the guy up the road?
Unless your prospect knows the inner workings of both your and your competitor’s product, including the manufacturing process, customer service, and everything in-between, then you have a little potential creative licensing here. But you must be truthful.
For example, if I tell my readers that my product is bathed in steam to ensure purity and cleanliness (like the cans and bottles in most beer manufacturing processes), it doesn’t matter that Joe’s Beer up the road does the same thing. That fact that Joe doesn’t advertise this fact makes it a USP in your prospect’s eyes.
Want some more USP examples?
- We are the only car repair shop that will buy your car if you are not 100 percent satisfied with our work.
- Delivered in 30 minutes or it’s on us!
- No other furniture company will pay for your shipping.
- Our recipe is so secret, only three people in the world know it!
As with most ways to boost copy response, research is the key with your USP. Sometimes your USP is obvious, for example if you have a patent. Other times you must do a little legwork to discover it (or shape it to your target market).
Here’s where a little persistence and in-person selling really pays off. Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean:
Suppose your company sells beanbag chairs for kids. So you, being the wise marketer that you are, decide to sell these beanbags in person to prospects before writing your copy. After completing twenty different pitches for your product, you discover that 75 percent of those you visited asked if the chair would eventually leak.
Since the chairs are for kids, it’s only logical that parents would be concerned about their youngster jumping on it, rolling on it, and doing all things possible to break the seam and “spill the beans.”
So when you write your copy, you make sure you address that issue: “You can rest assure that our super-strong beanbag chairs are triple-stitched for guaranteed leak-proof performance. No other company will make this guarantee about their beanbag chairs!”
Now, get to work and start creating your, soon-to-be, world famous USP.
July 3rd, 2009 — copywriting, copywriting services, freelance copywriting
If you are a follower of my blog you would have seen recent posts giving you copywriting secrets that sizzle and 8 Psychological Triggers of Copywriting. Whatever form your sales writing takes, it is vital that it works hard to make your readers want your product or service rather than just describe it to them.
You probably think there can’t possibly be anything else I can cover about how to make your copywriting as compelling as possible. Well, you’re wrong – I could keep going forever because I can’t stress enough how important the content of your web sites, ads, newsletters etc., is if you are going to convert readers into customers.
What else do we need to do?
The following list provides you with details of what techniques you can employ to make your readers buy.
I’m not giving you a guarantee that by using all of these every person who comes across your ad will buy – mainly because people are fickle creatures – but they will give you the best possible chance of maximising your sales opportunities.
- Make your copy read like a story – this will create interest, make it more readable and that way will create more interest in your product.
- Surveys help you ensure your product/service is tailored to the needs of your customers. Give away a freebie if they complete you survey.
- Highlight keywords in your copy using colour, bold or underlining (use the latter sparingly otherwise readers could get frustrated thinking they are hyperlinks)
- Give them plenty of choice – give them several ways to get in touch with you and to order your product.
- Design your site with your reader in mind. What they want to see is far more important than what you want to see.
- Stuck for ideas? Join online forums and participate in chats. You’ll learn a lot from other online marketers.
- Create a sense of urgency by limiting offers by time, or give away something free with their order again making it a time limited offer.
- Offer extras at point of purchase – i.e. batteries, glasses cases etc.
- Compliment your reader – making them feel good about themselves will help them reach that all important buying decision.
- Create up sell and cross selling opportunities by selling products that compliment each other.
