What I will do is speak the truth, maybe even a truth
you’ve overlooked for far too long.

You see, like you, when I started out online there were
quite a few hurdles I had to overcome. I’m sure you’ll
agree that starting a business online is not just fun and
games.

It takes work, and most times you’re “it!”

There are quite a few things that we have to master, or
at least become semi-proficient at, in order to turn a
profit. Right?

One of those things is learning the art of copywriting.

I call it an art, because it truly takes a certain kind
expertise to turn simple words into profit generating
machines.

Now it’s no secret that many of the largest and most
powerful advertising agencies in the world were founded
by copywriters and rightfully so.

These people had a deep understanding of salesmanship in
print and were able to turn their words and ideas into
sales.

A great example of the evolution of advertising can be
seen in the book, “Born in 1842. A History of Advertising”
by Dan O’Donoghue, Maurice Levy, Stephane Pincas, and
Marc Loiseau.

You will find that many of the most compelling ads in the
book are the older and more direct response focused ads.

Why? Because it works!

So before we get into the nitty-gritty fundamentals of
how to increase your profits through efficient copywriting
you should know this.

If you have the budget, then hire a professional
copywriter to write your sales material for you and focus
your efforts on your other tasks.

If you don’t have that kind of budget, then read the rest of
this article very closely.

Keep in mind that this article will put you on the right track
but it is near impossible to learn everything you need to
know about “direct response copywriting” from one article.

Step 1

Identify your market.

Before you write a single word of copy
for your product or service, you must identify your target
market and as Stephen Pierce puts it, “What are their needs, wants
and wishes?”

Doing this will not only keep your copy laser focused but
also highly relevant to your target audience, and thus
multiplying your sales conversions.

Step 2

Write out your offer and P.S.

Yes, instead of writing out your headline, subhead and body copy
your next step is to write out your offer or rather
the closing offer and your P.S.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that
this is one of the places where 95% of sales letters
fall short.

I’ve seen people write out phenomenally compelling sales
letters and by the time they get to making their offer
they fall flat on their face because they’ve spent
all their energy on writing the sales letter.

Many people in fact, develop a sort of, temporary intimacy
with the prospect they are speaking to in their sales letter,
causing them to become less likely to make a firm offer and
ask for the money!

Don’t let this happen to you.

When writing your offer, state your price and why the price
you’re offering is such a great value to your prospect.

Make sure it’s believable and justified.

Then give an “Iron-clad Money Back Guarantee” or similar
as a risk reversal mechanism to increase their trust in
you. This will help to increase your sales.

Inject scarcity in the form of a Limited Quantity, Limited Time,
or a date dependent price discount. Many times a simple, “Act
Now or Others Will Leave You In The Dust” styled scarcity
injection will do the trick.

Next, you write your first P.S. make it one where you restate
your offer and the guarantee.

Your second P.S. should be a final call to action.

This is where you would add a “self-help” or accountability
styled P.S…

For Example…

P.P.S. - Listen, you can keep doing the same things you’ve
always done and keep getting the same results or you can take
quick and decisive action right now, grab your copy of XYZ PRODUCT
today and be on your way to building prosperous new life beginning
today. The choice is yours my friend. Click Here To Take Action
Today…

Step 3

Write a compelling headline.

Now, I can give you some incredible statistic like changing
just a headline produced 700% more sales without
any other changes to a website, but I’m pretty sure you
already know how powerful headlines really are.

So, here are two ways to write powerful headlines that make
your website sell like crazy.

You’ve probably heard this one before but here’s a twist
on it. “Don’t break what aint’ broke!”

You see, there are thousands of powerful headlines that
have converted well for tons of different industries in
the past. You probably already know quite a few of them.

All you have to do is “swipe” the headline and edit it to
suit your product or service.

The second way is…

You can use my “A.C.E.S. method” for writing headlines
that sell!

Here’s the short and sweet explanation of A.C.E.S…

A compelling headline has these four elements in it
almost ALL of the time.

A - Attention
C - Curiosity
E - Excitement
S - Specific

In other words a compelling headline…

1. Grabs the attention of your visitor.
2. Builds curiosity about your product or service.
3. Builds excitement through the use of powerful
‘news type’ words.
4. Is specific to your target market’s needs and your
product or service.

For example…

A long-time client of mine created a software that
slows down video training material so that the user
can learn specific moves or techniques faster.

Here’s the headline we came up with in only five
minutes and STILL it can be improved but the sales
results have been astounding to say the least.

“Amazing Software That Manipulates Video So That
Anyone Can Learn At Least 3 Times Faster Than Normal . . .
Watching The Same Video . . .In A Completely
Different Way!”

Do you see the A.C.E.S. in there? Great!

Write 10 to 20 of these headlines and save them all.

Step 4

Write down a list of your key benefits and turn them
into bullet points.

There are really only two main kinds of benefits.

The first one is a “functional benefit.” Often
called a feature, the functional benefit can easily
be identified as something like, the fast, overnight
delivery from a company like FedEx or all the office
supplies you need under one roof at your local Staples.

The second type of benefit is the “emotional benefit.”
An emotional benefit can be identified as the ease and
comfort you experience knowing that your package will
arrive by the next business day at your desired destination
or the reduced stress and feelings of happiness when you get
everything you need for your office in one location and
without stress.

When you look at billion dollar corporations like FedEx,
Microsoft, Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples or any number of
the big players in any industry, you’ll find that they have
an firm grasp and a perfect mix of functional and emotional
benefits inherent in their product or service and in their
marketing.

Once you have your emotional and functional benefits written,
your next step is to add the Zeirgarnik effect into them.

“The Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted
or interrupted tasks better than completed ones.” - Wikipedia.org

Basically, you’re forcing your prospects into a state
of curiosity and the only way to satisfy this curiosity
is to buy your product.

Infusing the Zeigarnik effect into your benefits will transform
them into persuasive bullets.

Here’s an example using the software product I mentioned
earlier if you were targeting dancers or martial artists…

Emotional Benefit: Feeling of achievement.
Functional Benefit: Learn difficult moves twice as fast.

Bullet: Experience the overwhelming joy of achievement
when you learn difficult moves twice as fast…using this
one secret feature.

OR

Bullet: How to learn complex moves twice as fast with
a single click of your mouse!

See the curiosity built into the benefit?

Step 5

Line up the social proof…testimonials and statistics.

Social proof is a very powerful form of persuasion, and after
all, copywriting is persuasion in print.

In every sales letter or direct response advertisement you’ll
find the element of social proof.

Social proof in the form of testimonials, provides your prospect
with both the reassurance that your product is good and it
also triggers the “herd mentality,” inherent in all human beings.

Having social proof easily provides your copy with the much
needed impulse buying triggers because both real statistics
and personal testimonials have the power to get past your
prospects defenses and deeper into their minds.

But you know what?

Another powerful form of testimonial exists.

It holds the persuasive power of “authority.”

Getting testimonials from well known experts and/or celebrities
can and will make your testimonials even more powerful.

The persuasion principle of “authority” or rather compliance
with an authority figure can immediately and many times
drastically boost your sales.

I highly recommend you read, “Influence - The Psychology of
Persuasion” by Dr. Robert Cialdini to learn more about
the principles of persuasion.

Step 6

Write your lead.

This is where you begin to address your prospect directly.

It is where you set the stage for the rest of your sales
copy.

To address your prospect directly, you should begin a
sales letter with…

“Dear Friend,” or better yet “Dear Fellow Dancer,”

The next thing you write after that should be a
opening sentence that makes a “big promise” of the
ultimate benefit they will receive from reading your
sales copy.

A classic example of this is the “If…Then” opener.

For example using the software example…

If you’ve been trying to learn a new skill using
‘Windows’ compatible video on your computer, then
you already know the value of what I am going to tell you.

OR

If you’ve been trying to learn a new skill using
‘Windows’ compatible video on your computer, and
want to learn faster, then this may be the most important
letter you have ever read on learning a new skill with
video.

You see the big promise in those?

You’re setting the stage for the copy to follow.

Nothing more.

Step 7

Write out your copy.

Funny that this is the last step but remember each step
is a tactic and adding them together with your copy will
form your entire sales letter strategy.

To get pat your prospects objections and close the sale!

Now, once you have all of the above elements in line, you
should sit down, pretend you are speaking to your best friend
and just write out an explanation of why they should purchase
your product.

Write as if you are speaking to your friend directly.

Answer the following questions within your copy and add your
bullets and testimonials throughout your copy.

The questions you should answer are…

Who Are YOU?

Why should I listen to you?

What is it?

What’s so great about it?

What’s in it for me?

How much does it cost?

How do I get it?

Remember those headline that you didn’t use?

Well throughout your copy, you can place those
headlines as subheads.

Subheads break up your copy so that a person does not
get tired or bored reading all your sales copy.

It’s what I call “Optical Appeal” and subheads are your
first line of defense against boredom and increasing
optical appeal.

It also prevents “page scanners,” people who quickly scan
through your page, from scanning your sales page
and leaving, by drawing their attention with your subheads.

As a rule of thumb I use one subhead, at least, per printed page
of sales copy.

Another trick to keeping people glued to your sales copy is
to use short sentences or very brief paragraphs to increase
the white space on your page.

Finally, remember this…

Write as if you are “speaking” to a friend, NOT writing a college
essay. If you use somewhat broken language, write it, don’t leave
it out or make it proper.

Just refrain from using too many bad words.

That’s it.

The only other advice I have is go out and read, read, read as
many sales letters as you can, and then apply what works in
each of them to your copy.

Pretty soon, you’ll be a master at writing copy for your market!
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But first let me clear this up…

I don’t like to refer to people as stupid.

– Mostly. ;-P

But, people…human beings, truly do stupid
things sometimes.

And you know what?

They KNOW they’re doing it when they DO!

But as the saying goes, “Old habits die hard.”

Let me explain.

You see, I’ve been doing business online, in a few different markets for about 7 years.

Of those seven years, only the last 3 have been the most profitable for me.

Why?

Because I learned how to get away from poor thinking and I discovered the “truth” about writing effective sales copy!

Truth is…

People tend to bitch and moan about how hard they have it when they get online and how difficult it is to make a buck.

But, the fact of the matter is this…

These people are the same ones that refuse to learn “HOW” to write a few stinkin’ lines of effective copy!

Gosh…

Maybe it’s just me but did it ever occur to them that even the largest advertising companies in the ‘world’ hire copywriters for all of their campaigns?

Wonder why?

Well, it’s not all bad because at least these same people are leaving money on the table for
guys like me who will figure out that their website stinks and I can do better and make more money than them.

– Hint, Hint

My friend, I’m not going to teach you how to “write” copy today.

What I WILL do is show you haw to learn it for FREE!

Yep…

And it’s right in front of your nose.

Simply go to, Clickbank and click on the link that says Marketplace.

Then look at the top 10 websites in any given category and guess what you’ll find?

Direct response sales letters selling thousands of dollars in digital products for the owner!

Read those pages and print them out.

Then as you keep reading them you’ll see that the most effective products tend to have sales copy written in simple language?

It’s just words “for crying out loud.”

Can you do the same thing?

ABSOLUTELY!

It’s not a matter of IF you can do it too, it’s only a matter of WHEN will you take it upon yourself to buck up and spend a little more time learning this stuff.

As a matter of fact…

Here’s a top Clickbank product I ghost wrote the sales letter for…

The product is called Keyword Elite

Take a look.

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It’s one of the deadliest mistakes that any business can make whether they’re offline or online.

You see, the internet is a vast expanse; you have competition, no doubt about that. However, the key to success on the internet and growing a business is knowing exactly how to appeal to your customers and potential customers.

You have to prove yourself and your business beyond that of the competition placed throughout the web.

Many people believe that marketing and advertising are the only methods of doing this. It is true that both marketing and advertising are necessary for the success of any business, whether on the internet or the old brick and mortar establishment.

However, today’s consumers want more. They have a virtually endless supply of businesses to choose from but, they need help in choosing. They want to find a business that promotes the right image or rather a company whose product line communicates the right imagery in their minds eye. Customers and potential customers need to be able to identify with a business.

They want to shop with a company that reflects their ideals, feelings, and desires.

This is the key to success on the internet, or better yet, this is the key to success in any business on or offline. You have to have a story and you have to have an image that represents that story. Your story and image needs to be congruent. Advertising and marketing should simply compound on that story and image.

In simpler words storytelling.

Storytelling has long been a driving force for successful businesses everywhere. What’s great about these stories is that they work best when they come directly from the mouths of your satisfied customers. Your “customer evangelists” so to speak. You see, customers have no problems in writing you to tell you how they feel, whether good or bad.

However, you need to remember if they are writing you, they are also telling other people at the same time. Statistically speaking, if a customer is happy with your business, products, and services, they will tell at least seven people. However, if a customer is unhappy, they will tell at least fourteen, which one appeals to you more? Likely you’ll want the happy customers telling seven.

Remember, the internet now allows that seven to grow exponentially.

What’s great is that happy customers are more than willing to help your business. They will write about their experiences and most often give you permission to use them on your website (testimonials). These stories from real people will give your business the boost it needs.

People love stories, especially good ones, so why not talk to your happy customers and ask them to tell you about their experiences, share them with other potential customers. Many businesses today are using these to create new ad campaigns as well, focusing on targeted customers or situations.

When seeking stories from your satisfied and happy customers, you want to get specifics, their thoughts, their feelings, and their situations. For example, maybe a specific product that you offered helped them out of a tight spot. Maybe your sales staff or support staff went the extra mile to ensure that this customer had everything they need when pressed for time.

Stories like these from real people will be the boost you need for success in your business. Potential customers love reading real life stories. What is great for your business is if these stories have helped another customer solve a problem.

When customers are shopping on the internet, they have a problem that needs solved. Rather they need a last minute gift, a gift for that hard to buy for person, or their own personal needs, they look to your business to solve that problem.

Whether you’re a direct response copywriter or marketer, stories have ability to get past the conscious minds of your potential customers and get directly into their subconscious mind.

Believe it or not, there are Fortune 500 companies right now, who are spending tens of millions of dollars in research to learn exactly how to better tap into our subconscious minds in order to communicate their marketing messages and get you to buy from them faster and with more satisfaction.

If a prospect can identify with other happy customers with the same or similar problem, your business will thrive. If you are not telling stories and/or giving your customers a story worthy experience at your place of business or on your website, you are sabotaging your business’ potential for success.

Remember this… Stories sell, people sell, and the success of your business depends on your happy customers telling others.

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Because, everyone who reads it will end up having one of those, “Ah-hah” moments that both enlighten us as well as give us a swift kick in the pants for not paying attention sooner.

The reason why is because…

“Benefits” is a word that a lot of marketers, consultants and entrepreneurs like to knock around like a Wilson tennis ball at a US Open.

You often hear them say things like, “sell the benefits not the features” or “people buy benefits not features.”

The truth is, these people are only half right. They’re only getting part of the big picture. And as harsh as this may sound, many say it, but they don’t have the slightest clue as to what a true benefit is.

So how can a person, marketer, consultant or entrepreneur figure it out? How can a well meaning, customer focused person figure out how to find and differentiate true benefits?

Simple, and they’re easier to spot than you think.

The two places to look are billion dollar companies and direct response sales letters!

But, before you start thinking that I’ve flipped my lid and expect you to delve into the inner workings of massive corporations, or the top-secret swipe files of world-class copywriters, just think about this.

No, I won’t put your life in danger by those evil copywriters out there. Wink, wink.

You see, there are really only two main kinds of benefits.

The first one is a “functional benefit.” Often called a feature, the functional benefit can easily be identified as something like, the fast, overnight delivery from a company like FedEx or all the office supplies you need under one roof at your local Staples.

The second type of benefit is the “emotional benefit.” An emotional benefit can be identified as the ease and comfort you experience knowing that your package will arrive by the next business day at your desired destination or the reduced stress and feelings of happiness when you get everything you need for your office .

When you look at billion dollar corporations like FedEx, Microsoft, Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples or any number of the big players in any industry, you’ll find that they have an firm grasp and a perfect mix of functional and emotional benefits inherent in their product or service.

Now, a more simpler task would be to read through a few powerfully written sales letters and you’ll find that the ones that are the most compelling or rather persuasive, are the ones that have a combination of “both” functional and emotional benefits. Effective sales copy whether brief or long, will always have a combination of both. Many may argue on the side of emotional benefits but it is only when you pay close attention to the copy that you discover both functional and emotional benefits hidden within the sales copy.

So the next time you decide to create a product, service, write a business plan or write a sales letter, spend a considerable chunk of time on uncovering both your functional and emotional benefits. As you can clearly see, massive success can be achieved when you combine these two types of benefits.

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Many small business people only really think about advertising when sales start to decline and panic sets in, yet how much benefit did they truly get out of their customers? They could take a leaf out of McDonald’s book and ask their customers if they would like to upsize their metaphorical purchase.

Cross selling and up selling are two of the easiest ways to make the most of the customers you have. This doesn’t mean you don’t have to do any marketing to attract new business, but new customers are expensive to purchase in terms of your marketing dollar. Increasing sales and attracting return visits from your current customers is relatively inexpensive and far easier if you have given good service. That is really the key, though, isn’t it?

Customers do not return if they have had poor customer service. So while, cross selling and upselling and encouraging return visits is far cheaper than advertising for new customers, they do cost you good customer service and an investment in credibility.

Up-selling can and should be to the customer’s benefit not just a revenue raising exercise. Done right, up-selling helps the customer purchase the best product for their needs rather than simply the cheapest. The financial benefits from making an additional effort at the point of sale can be substantial. A typical approach to up-selling would be to offer an attractive discount with the purchase of a complementary item. For example, if a person is purchasing a television you could encourage them to buy a suitable DVD player to go with it. Or for a washing machine, a dryer might be a compatible up-sell. You don’t know if the customer has already been thinking about it anyway, and a discount might persuade them.

Other forms of up-selling are to offer a free gift if the customer upgrades their purchase to a more expensive or more profitable product (for you). McDonald’s supersize campaign increased their profits by twenty five percent in the first campaign. When people are asked as they are paying if they would like a particular item, there is a strong likelihood that they will say yes. For example, in a clothing store you might offer someone purchasing a tee-shirt an extra tee-shirt at fifty percent off. If the profit margin is large enough and you turn over enough, this tactic is very profitable.

A specially purchased product for the purpose of up-selling can be very profitable for a business. A special buy in of underwear, for example, might work well in a clothing store. If the design is unusual and attractive, a sales person can pick up an item show the customer and ask if they would like to add it to their purchase at a special price. Research has shown that about twenty five percent of customers asked will say yes. This form of up-selling can actually add to the revenue substantially over time. The easiest way to up-sell anything is to simply ask the customer if they would like that item as well as whatever else they are purchasing.

In recent online tests, forty eight percent of customers offered an up-sell opportunity responded positively and decided to add the additional product to their purchase. Some successful online entrepreneurs have an up-sell conversion rate of a massive sixty to seventy percent.

If you would like to increase your sales through up-selling, asking yourself the following questions is a good place to start…

1. What is my current initial sale per customer and WHERE is it coming from?

2. What led them to this sale (marketing, advertising etc.)?

3. What are my other products or services that are not being sold to this customer during this sale that they may have a need, want or wish for?

4. Is this additional product or service relevant or congruent with the customer’s current purchase?

5. How can I include this product or service into my sales process?

6. Eliminating lead acquisition costs and the sales and marketing expenses that I do not have in order to up-sell this product or service - what is a profitable yet steeply discounted rate that I could charge IF the customer buys the up-sell with their current purchase?

These questions are important in planning your up-selling campaign business-wide, but questions 3, 4 and 5 are also important for sales people to ask themselves in each new sales opportunity.

In fact, once you have established an up-selling business plan, incorporating it into all sales training is essential. It is not enough to simply tell staff to offer an up-sell, you need to train them to recognize a customer’s potential needs so they can offer an appropriate up-sell opportunity to them.

Don’t forget, if you’re an online business, then offering an upsell in your online sales letters will be VERY profitable to you. SO if you’re selling a $27 product, you can easily offer premium to your product for $39.95, $49.95, $67 or even $77. Only testing will tell which upsell price works best for you.

Up-selling that increases your sales and profits, is a win-win situation with the customer walking away satisfied that they got a good deal. After all, you want them to come back. Remember, it costs an awful lot more to attract new people to your business even an online business. It makes a great deal more sense just to do a good job in the first place.

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