3 Keys to Better Online Copywriting
By Bruce Carlson |
Doing the copywriting for your own website without the proper knowledge and
tools is pretty much like flying blind in a snowstorm without piloting
experience or instruments.
It doesn't work too well.
A very basic
knowledge of copywriting and direct marketing principles will take you a long
ways on the Web.
Here are three simple keys to writing better online
copy. Armed just with these, you'll have a jump on 90% of the folks out there
doing the copywriting for their own sites. And you'll increase the pulling
quality of your site's copy today -- even if you've never written a word of copy
in your life.
1) Wake up your prospect
In today's overkill ad
world most people have become numb to standard sales messages. Television,
newspapers, magazines, Internet, radio, etc. all blast us non-stop with
advertising. After a while we just naturally tune most of it
out.
Copywriting great John Carlton says to imagine that your prospect is
a giant blob sitting there on the couch or in a chair. Now what would you need
to do to get that blob to take action to buy?
Getting someone to stop...
actually read your website copy... AND click through (or fill out a form) is
serious heavy-duty action on the click-and-run Web. Your prospect has a million
things on his or her mind.
Reading your copy isn't exactly Priority
One...
So how do you wake your prospects up and get 'em to read your
copy?
The secret is right here in this headline:
"ARE YOU TOO BUSY
EARNING A LIVING TO MAKE ANY REAL MONEY?"
This is from Joe Karbo's sales
letter for his "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches" book. The letter was probably
responsible for over a million dollars worth of sales for Joe.
Joe's
secret here, and one which you can use too, is based on a simple principle for
getting a prospect's attention.
You need to...
2) Enter the
conversation going on in your prospect's mind
You should know enough
about your target market to know what keeps them awake at night. If you don't
yet, then you'll need to find out right away.
In the example above from
Joe Karbo, it's about working like a dog and barely making enough to pay the
bills. Marketers like Joe who target opportunity seekers understand that
frustrations about money cause a lot of people pain.
But what concerns
does your target market have? What problem(s) do they need solved? What itch(es)
do they need scratched?
You can find the answers to these questions
fairly easily. Lurk on the forums where your prospects hang out... Read the
online and offline newsletters, magazines and journals they read...
Or
better yet, just ask them!
Set up a survey page on your website or else
survey them through your newsletter or blog. Or use a Web tool like
AskDatabase.
Once you know what your prospects are thinking about most of
the time your copywriting job becomes a heckuva lot easier. You'll be on a more
intimate basis with your market. Which is never a bad thing...
Good
copywriting is wooing your customers in print, after all. Just like you would
woo a prospective mate. And the more you know about them the more you'll be able
to say the right things!
So now that you know what bothers your prospects
you'll need to...
3) Make a compelling offer
This is an area where
most website copy really falls short.
Ask yourself this
question:
What exactly is it that I want my prospects to do?
You
want them to buy! Right? Or at least opt-in to your newsletter... or get your
free report... or sign up for your autoresponder series...
In other
words, you want them to take an action! You don't want them to browse around,
look at your pretty graphics and then click out. The Web is just too too big.
And your site is just one tiny place in that giant Web ocean. Once they leave,
their chances of coming back are one in a billion. Or worse...
So you
need to use your copywriting skills to build an offer that forces them to make a
clear decision.
Make it irresistible. "Make them an offer they can't
refuse," said the old godfather.
He would've made a good
marketer.
By making your offer as seductive as possible, you force
action. You force that clear decision. With pure lead generation sites this
means they give you their contact info. With direct sales sites it means a sale.
Or if it's a combination of the two they buy and/or give you their contact info
so you can follow up.
If your offer is good enough, then a good
percentage of your prospects will be energized.
Your copy will be like a
jolt of electricity...Zap!
That blob on the couch might actually get up
and do something...
So make your offer hot. Load it up with perceived
value. Tell 'em how your product is going to make their life better. And give
'em a good deal!
To summarize...
Wake 'em up by entering the
conversation already in their minds, and then make 'em an offer they can't
refuse. If you do this, you'll instantly increase the power of your online
copywriting. I guarantee it!
About the
Author
© 2005 by Bruce
Carlson
Veteran educator and freelance writer Bruce Carlson would like to
help YOU improve your online copywriting. Sign up for his Dynamic Copywriter
newsletter at http://www.dynamic-copywriting.com
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