Sales Letters that Sell!

The average consumer is inundated with sales pitches. So if you’re selling a product or service to today’s ad weary consumer, if you want your sales letters to get results, you’ll need a step-by-step plan that breaks down the barriers to buying. A plan that bypasses the head and goes right for the heart. 

If the heart’s in it, the brain will follow.

Buying anything is largely emotional.  Whether it’s paper clips or plain paper copiers, emotions lead the purchase.  Facts, specs and the like are simply used to justify the decision, once made.  Which means that everything about your sales letter, every sentence, every phrase must appeal to your customer’s emotions.

What emotions?

The simple truth is, there are only two emotions that really motivate people: The promise of gain or the fear of loss--with the fear of loss being the stronger. Example: Given the choice of headlines: “Save money in legal fees.”  Or  “How to keep from being sued.” The latter will probably get a better response. 

Supporting the promise of gain and the fear of loss are seven key emotional hooks or basic human needs. No matter what your product or service, to be effective, your sales letter must directly address as many of these basic needs as possible:

• Safety/Security

• Wealth

• Good looks

• Popularity

• Self-satisfaction

• Free time

• Fun/Excitement

So how do you get them to act? How do you go from head to heart? What’s the copy paradigm?  Imagine you’re in a baseball stadium facing an audience in rows of bleachers.  It’s the game of the century, ninth inning, bases loaded.  And you’ve got a bag of peanuts you absolutely must sell or the boss will fire you on the spot.  What would you do to get their attention? Yell “Peanuts?”  

Start with a verbal “2x4”

You’ve got to hit them over the head with an emotional motivator.  And that means you start with the envelope.  Remember-- gain or loss--it has to be right there on the outside, in bold. (When was the last time you rushed to open a plain white envelope?)  Two examples:

Gain-- “We Put a Money-Making Miracle in this Envelope.”

Loss-- “Throw This Away and Work Hard for the Rest of Your Life.”

Okay.  They’ve opened the letter and what do they see?  A boring paragraph about your leadership in the industry?  Stuffy sentences about commitment, innovation and dedication? 

Whoosh.  In the round file it goes.   

Time to visit our key motivators--gain or loss. Again, it’s got to be there in a headline they can’t miss.  And it must reinforce the headline that compelled them to rip open that envelope. Both headlines must dovetail in their message and emotional impact.

Example: “Finish reading this letter and you’re halfway to becoming rich.”

Next comes the all-important body copy.  What to say to leave them begging for your product. For this we go right into the consumer’s emotions, mining for clues to the perfect selling pitch. 

What’s the problem? 

A while back, McDonalds was beating the pants off its competitors. So Burger King hired a big powerhouse ad agency to gain them market share. They tried everything--analyzing secret sauces, elaborate contests, toy tie-ins. Nothing worked. Finally, they sent out questionnaires, did focus groups, and literally stopped people on the street.  And you know what they discovered?  Not what consumers liked, but what they didn’t like about hamburgers. For on thing, the leading hamburger came practically “factory made” with everything on it.  Some folks liked pickles, others hated onions or mayo.  That was “the problem.” The solution was simple: hamburgers made to order, followed by the now all-too-familiar slogan “Have it Your Way.” The point is, you’ve got to find and exploit your consumer’s problem.  And make your product the hero. 

Life without your product--miserable

So, you’ve succeeded in getting your reader’s attention. You’ve discovered their “problem.”  Now it’s time to remind them how many ways that problem affects their lives. If you’re selling a cordless electric lawnmower, you’ll want to remind them of all the headaches of their old gas powered mower.  Like running out of gas, finding the gas can, taking it to the gas station, driving back with a can full of smelly gas in the car, maybe spilling gas on the carpet. Once at home, there’s the annoyance of yanking the starter until your arm feels like a wet noodle. And the fire danger of having a can of gas in the garage with kids playing near it.  The point is, you want to paint a very troublesome picture of life without your product.

Life with your product - absolute bliss

Now that you’ve raised your reader’s interest by making them feel the pain of life without your product, it’s time to provide your solution.  Here’s where you’ll briefly introduce yourself and your product or service.  No more running out of gas, no more smelling gas cans in your new car, no more yanking that starter cord till your arm falls off.  Just flick the switch and you’re ready to mow. Plug it into your electric outlet and it charges overnight.  Your worries are over. You go on and on, hammering home the fact that your product or service is the perfect solution.  At this point, your reader will probably ask, “Sounds interesting, but who the heck are you to think you can solve my problem? I never heard of you.”

Credentials time

Here’s where you build trust by detailing key facts that build confidence in you and your company. You could start by listing some testimonials from satisfied customers.  If these come from people in the industry who your prospect is familiar with, so much the better.  And if you can get photos, phone numbers and so forth, it will add even more to your credibility. This is also the time to mention how long you’ve been in business and any articles that about your company and/or its products that have appeared in the local or national media (these can be particularly valuable, since they come from an impartial source).  

Now that you’ve assuaged their fears about doing business with a complete unknown, they’ll want to be totally sold about your product or service.  Here’s where you go into detail.  And this is the perfect time to do so, because you’ve established trust. They won’t be thinking about who you are, but what you can do for them--how you’re going to solve their problem.  

Detail benefits, not features

A key caveat here.  Don’t get your reader quagmired in “Featurespeak.” It’s easy to do and it’s what most unskilled writers fall victim to.  Featurespeak is for your sales team, not your potential customer.  Avoid things like “Our new cordless electric mower features the X9T Autoflex handle, or the PT600 Zenon Battery. Better to say, “Our new electric mower’s handle easily adjusts to your height for maximum comfort.” Or “The easily rechargeable battery lasts up to 5 years without replacement.” If your product or service has more than three major benefits, list them in bullet point form to make them easier to read.  

Make them an offer they can’t refuse

This is the crucial part of your sales letter. Your offer should be compelling, irrefutable and urgent. You want your reader to say, “This is a great offer, I’ve got nothing to lose but my problem.” Try to combine the big 3 in your offer--irresistible price, terms, and a free gift. For example, if you’re selling a cordless electric mower, your offer might be a discounted retail price, low interest rate, and a blade-sharpening tool.  Try to raise the perceived value of your offer by adding on products or services--for electric mowers, it might be an extended warranty or safety goggles.  Augment this with compelling benefits these additional products or services will provide. 

Assuage with a guarantee

There’s a little voice in the back of every customer’s head that whispers, “Buy this and you’ll be sorry.” So make your offer bulletproof.  Take the risk out of the purchase. Give the absolute strongest guarantee you can.  It tells your reader you’re confident in your product or service.  Enough so to back it up with a strong guarantee. Don’t be afraid to make this final commitment.  

Motivate the procrastinators

So they’re reading your letter and are pretty convinced that your company and your product or service can solve their problem.  They want to buy.  The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.  Time to bring in our key motivator—fear of loss.  One way to tap into this fear is by convincing your reader that because this is such a good deal, only a scant few mowers remain.   Or that the extended warranty is being offered only for the next few days, or for the next 50 customers.  Our old motivator--gain--can be used here as well.  Example: “Buy now and get a $20 gift card--FREE!” 

Call to action - KISS

You and your staff know what readers need to do to buy your product or service, but your readers are inundated with offers every day. And each offer has a different procedure for buying. Give them a break and walk them through the order/purchase process. And KISS (keep it simple stupid). Use simple action words like “Pick Up the Phone and Call Now!” If your phone number spells out a catchy slogan or company name, always add numerical phone numbers. If they need to fill out a form and mail it, say so.  And if possible, use large type on your form—especially if you’re selling to seniors.  Be clear on what they’re ordering and for what price. 

ABC!

Follow Alec Baldwin’s admonition in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross - “ABC…Always Be Closing.” Sprinkle your call to action throughout your letter.  Ask for the order.  Then when you give the call to action at the end of the letter, it won’t come as a surprise, but just another reminder.   Better still, if they’re ready to order halfway through your letter, they’ll know what to do.  

Postscripts are magic

Nobody reads postscripts, right?  Wrong. The P.S. is the third most read element of a sales letter - after the headline and any picture captions. The top wordsmiths use several (P.P.S) in their letters.   It’s one of the best places to remind readers of your irresistible offer.  But you have to be brief and compelling, establishing urgency and value, and drawing on your key motivators of gain and loss. 

Drive it home on the order form

The order form is where some of the greatest sales are won or lost.  It’s where that little voice in the back of your customer’s head comes alive once again and says, “You’ll be sorry” or “You sure you want to buy this now?” It’s what I call Preemptive Buyer’s Remorse.” Time to bring in our top gun persuaders--gain and loss--one last time.  Use the same persuasive arguments as before--only be brief, more compelling and urgent.

Do you want the steak knives or the El Dorado?

Okay, you’ve got the prized Glengarry leads. And the formula for writing a winning sales letter. Start by knowing your prospect’s problem, then drive home key benefits using the emotional motivators I’ve described. And don’t forget Alec Baldwin’s other maxim, AIDA--Attention. Interest. Decision. Action.  Get their attention, build their interest, convince them it’s the right decision, and finally, urge them to act.  Good luck.  You’ve got 26 letters in the English alphabet.  How you use them can make all the difference …between getting the steak knives or the Cadillac El Dorado.

The indispensable qualities of professional copywriter

Whatever industry you operate in and whatever web site you have, it indispensable that the content on your web site is written easy-to read, appealing and attractive style. Your potential customers will visit your web site and judge both you and your company by the information presented on your web site. It might be enough to have appealing content in offline advertisement, but it is not enough just to have attracting content to be successful in online environment. However, how can one make sure that your web site will stand out from the numerous other identical ones on the internet and it will attract the attention not only of your visitors but the search engines as well? In order to get high rankings the text of your web site should be well optimized as well. Undoubtedly, this is where the skills of experienced and skilled copywriter count.

It is widely known that the copywriter should be creative, ingenious and must possess excellent writing skills. But apart from these well-known facts, what qualities and experience should professional copywriter possess? First he should know how to perform keywords search and keywords analysis. In my experience there are some specialists in the company, who can perform this task for copywriter; however it is imperative to find out whether the copywriter can perform this task before hiring him.  Second, he should have good knowledge of modern marketing tools. He must understand current online advertisement strategy and the techniques that allow receiving high rankings on your web site.  He also should know how develop highly efficient marketing program that will advertise the site and gain promotion of it online. For instance such techniques as press release and article writing that help to promote you as real professional should be known to your copywriter.

Third, the text written by him should induce customers to take some actions. One should remember that it is crucial to have action –driven text on your web site to get high results. Fourth, the copywriter should be custom-oriented and understand how the potential customers write, talk and act in order to write as much convincing as possible. Killer-Content.com is one of the leading copywriting companies, that provides its customers with appealing, attracting and ingenious copywriting SEO and web content. It also provides its customers with efficient press release services. The writers of Killer-Content.com create press release that helps to get exposure of your company.

Value Added Copywriting

I know a preacher that can burn any pulpit down within an hour. His sermons cause the greatest stirs and responses in his audience and he really can keep his congregation awake. But there is one tiny problem. Ask many of his listeners what they think about his sermons and they’ll quickly respond with only words of acclamation. Follow that questions with a request for what the sermon was about and you’re met with only blank stares.

They knew that the sermon was “great” but cannot recall what they learned. 

This reminds me of the popular selling tenant referred to as ‘selling the sizzle and not the stake’. In other words, build enthusiasm and curiosity about your product without giving away too much. Let them hear it, smell it, imagine it but never taste it until they buy.

I find however that when you’re selling high ticket items, because you are asking for a higher level of commitment from the prospect, you have to give something in order to get something back. So you have to give some ‘steak’ along with the ‘sizzle’. This is what is commonly referred to as ‘value added copywriting’.

I use some of this myself at my website http://www.webcopy-writing.com to sell my copywriting services. Right there in the sales letter itself are some tips and ideas on how to sell to prospects online. So the reader gains some value from reading the letter even before he or she uses my services. 

But this “free information” also serves a few other purposes:

1. It helps to establish goodwill with the potential client. My willingness to share this information shows that I’m not stingy and helps to develop a relationship with the reader. So even if the prospect doesn’t use my service he walks away with something.
2. It helps to establish my credibility. This is an opportunity for me to show that I know what I’m about and have the qualifications to help the reader’s business.
3. It serves as a teaser. It’s obvious that I’m not saying everything that I know and that there is a ‘lot more where that came from’. In other words, if I’m willing to give away this information I must have a lot more ‘secrets’ up my sleeve. 
4. It lowers the sales resistance of the reader because I’m in the giving rather than the taking mode. There is really no argument against someone who is giving you something for free.
5. It provides a natural incentive for the prospect to read your entire sales letter. Any device that encourages readership will also improve sales especially with longer sales copy.

It will be therefore helpful if you can provide your prospects with useful information in your sales literature. This may be in the form of a free report, an email course or case studies. Once this information is useful and not seen as an overt sales piece, then this should lead to an easy conversion of a new customer.

This technique of value added copywriting works very well in service-type industries. There are many services where the professional can ‘reveal’ a lot without fear of losing his value to the customer. This often occurs because even though someone may know how to perform a task, the job may be sufficiently difficult or unpleasant that it may be better left to the professionals.

A quick example comes to my mind. I know how to do simple maintenance work on my vehicle but I’ll prefer to pay to have this done. I’ll happily read all the available literature from my mechanic about how a mechanical repair should be done. The fact that my mechanic made this literature available to me gives me confidence in his performance of a great job.

So, in the same way, a lawyer may want to provide information on how to fill easy legal forms, while a plumber may provide information on performing simple repairs around the home. When a prospect read this helpful information and they need further ‘expert’ attention they would easily think of that lawyer or plumber. 

Because the public today is bombarded with so many advertisers’ messages the usual sales talk is having less impact. With the advent of online advertising where it is easier and cheaper to get your message before thousands of eyes your sales message must have a lot more bite than its bark; a lot more steak where only sizzle use to be.

After listening to your sizzling message, your market congregation will need to recall more than the enthusiasm of your delivery. They must be able to recall enough value to want the whole shebang from you.

Website Copywriter Tips: Homepage Copy – The Transition Zone

Have you read Paco Underhill’s fascinating book, Why We Buy, about the psychology of retail store shopping? One of his major tenets about brick and mortar shopping holds the key to effective homepage copy – something he calls the “transition zone.” If your homepage copy creates a sales zone not a transition zone, you could be losing sales. The Transition Zone Explained Think about the last time you visited a brick and mortar store… Maybe it’s raining or snowing outside. Maybe you just left the dry cleaner before arriving at the electronics store. As you first enter the store you constantly make adjustments to changes in lighting, temperature, sounds, and visual stimulation. You need to get your bearings. Underhill calls this part of the store the “transition zone,” a place for adjusting from outside to inside, not selling. Selling attempts in this early stage are lost. When does your homepage copy start selling? Unless your answer is never, it is too soon. The Trade Show Lesson I remember that the worst trade show booth to have was just inside the front door of the trade center. Instead of making sales I was giving directions, demoted from VP Sales to greeter, gopher. You would think that being first was an advantage. This position might be true in search engine ranking but not in trade shows booths. The fact is many people don’t even notice the first booth until they have completed their adjustment process. By that time they are well past the first booth and buying from booth number 4. Most website visitors behave like trade show guests. Is your web site copy trying to close business in booth one or giving the visitor time to adjust to the new digs? Why not put your actual sales copy in booth two or three or four? Better still distribute the message across all three.After all, that’s where the customers are headed anyway once they have transitioned to your site. Cushion Don't Convince So if selling is inappropriate what can you do to make your homepage copy sell without selling? Effective homepage copy cushions the hard landing strangers feel when they first arrive at your site. A soft landing is a receptive landing. Why not use your homepage copy to give visitors what they need:

• Acknowledgement
• Anticipation
• Acclimatization

Acknowledge Your Visitors Let’s go back to your recent store visit… You’re barely inside the door and the overly friendly sales clerk asks, “Can I help you find what you are looking for?” Most times this clumsy sales attempt is made too early in your transition to the store from your previous location. For most people shopping is an experience not a mission. Instead of being sold during their time of transition, most customers simply want to be acknowledged – greeted, recognized.

• How does your website copy acknowledge visitors to your site?
• Does your homepage copy confirm that your visitors are in the right place?
• Does your copy welcome them?
• Does your web copy make demands of these shaky travellers too soon?
• How does your homepage copy help them adjust to the change in environment?

Build Anticipation You’re standing ten feet inside the store. And there it is, way over there - the outline of that gorgeous HD TV you’ve been after. As you walk towards this target your heart races a little as you anticipate getting up close and personal with your quarry. The closer you get, the more you notice the details of your treasure. By putting products a little off in the distance smart retailers build anticipation. You know what it’s like. Details come into focus over time. Expectation increases.

• Where could you put your best offerings to heighten anticipation without killing transition?
• How can you replace assertiveness with anticipation?
• Wouldn’t it be a good idea to introduce your value proposition in your homepage copy, without demanding customer action right away?
• Where could you place the copy that supports this value proposition?
• Shouldn’t your remaining pages build expectancy and familiarity at the same time?
• How about making your web site copy one integrated “time release capsule”?

Deepen Acclimatization Whenever copy goes against the customer’s natural order, it becomes a threat, losing credibility and any chance of influence. It doesn’t make sense to challenge the site visitor’s natural need for transition. Why not embrace this idea? Remember the old ABC’s of selling? Instead of “always be closing,” why not use the transition zone strategy “always be comforting.” Think of ways your homepage copy can help your customers acclimatize to your site.

• Do you repeat your key ideas to build familiarity?
• Is the look and feel of your copy consistent?
• Does your copy give a snapshot of what’s possible on your site?
• Is your navigation system explained?
• Has your homepage copy briefly highlighted your content?
• How can your visitors gain quick control of their journey?

That’s acclimatization. Now you’re ready to sell. YES! Effective homepage copy smoothes the transition from stranger to guest using acknowledgement, anticipation, and acclimatization. Done well and it’s sales zone time for the customer. Done poorly and it’s cortisone time for you.

Website Copywriter Tips: Web Copy 101

You already know how to create great web copy. Just remember your childhood nursery rhymes. As silly as it sounds, “3 Blind Mice” will show you the way. For some reason, “3 Blind Mice” paid me a visit. As I heard the 100th replay, it hit me – this would make great web copy. As a matter of fact, this simple little ditty contains 10 elements of Web Copy 101. In case you’ve forgotten, here’s how it goes. "3 Blind Mice; 3 Blind Mice. See how they run; see how they run. They all ran up to the farmer’s wife; She cut off their tails with a carving knife Have you ever seen such a sight in your life As 3 Blind Mice?” Let’s see how this children’s nursery rhyme is a model of Web Copy 101. Web Copy 101 #1, 2, 3 …3 Blind Mice (title or heading) 1) Try singing “A trio of visually impaired rodents, A trio of visually impaired rodents.” Catchy? Formal writing doesn’t sell. Write the way people speak and you will be heard. The title does something else for this song. 2) If you had to choose between songs entitled “Cows,” “Ducks,” or “3 Blind Mice,” which one would you choose? The title in all web copy has to grab the attention the reader. There’s more. 3) This alluring title makes the content clear right away. How many times do you stumble on a website only to find you’re not sure what they are selling or how it relates to you? Be sure your web copy uses the title or headline to set the table for the visitor. Web Copy 101 #4 …3 Blind Mice, 3 Blind Mice (first line) 4) This song is going to be about little rodents, not geese. Does the first line of your web copy highlight what you offer, or at least whom your site is for? Good web copy is not mystery writing. Instead it says, “We’re here to sell you something and here’s why you need it today.” Web Copy 101 #5, 6 … See how they run, See how they run 5) Repetition is the key to any message track and a staple of effective web copy. From a psychological point of view it lets your message become familiar and safe. From a search engine point of view repetition builds your keyword density and raises your search results. From a net reader perspective repetition in your web copy reinforces your message for the superficial reader who is scanning your site quickly. Repetition works on many levels. Let me say that again – repetition works on many levels. 6) The invitation to watch how the mice run around is also a clever way to involve the readers by getting them to do something. Does your site invite some kind of reader activity in the body of the web copy? Web Copy 101 #7 … They all ran up to the farmer’s wife; she cut off their tails with a carving knife 7) A good way to stitch your ideas together and build more active involvement in your copy is to use pronouns (they, she). By forcing the readers to build connections between previous and current information pronouns keep your site visitors more engaged. Web Copy 101 #8 … Have you ever seen such a sight in your life? 8) Do you know the best way to keep someone interested in what you are writing? What is 3 times 3? If you thought “nine” you proved my point. If you thought “eight” try night school. If you thought anything at all, you demonstrated the power of questions to generate reader participation. Everybody loves and needs to answer questions. Does your web copy provide thought provoking questions that get your reader thinking and involved? Web Copy 101 #9, 10 … As 3 Blind Mice 9) Brilliant web copy. More repetition. Plus, the story ends where it started. One of the advantages of writing with search engines in mind is that keyword focus helps you stay on topic. The glancing reader needs this controlling idea to get the essence of why they need what you have, now. Is your site's central idea consistently expressed all the way through your web copy? 10) True, the song is written for children, but notice the use of short, crisp sentences to tell the tale. How are you telling your tale? You want your web copy to be clear, smart and direct. I hope they get stuck in your head – the 10 lessons that is, not the lyrics. By the way, no animals were hurt during the writing of the article about web copy 101.

Website Copywriter Tips: Web Copy Sabotage

How does your personality affect your web copy? Whether you mean to or not, your site reflects you in ways you might not notice: sometimes good, sometimes bad. While personality peccadilloes can be endearing in social situations, minor personality flaws can cause web copy sabotage. So before you get out your keyboard, get out a mirror. Why not see if any of these 3 personality traits are seeping into the design and copy of your web site?

• Insecurity
• Pride
• Anxiety

Web Copy Sabotage #1: Insecure people create timid sites

Most people are insecure in certain situations as they vary their image to gain the favour of others. Nothing kills web copy faster than trying to be a people pleaser. Insecure people create timid sites that try to be all things to all people. Instead of declaring, “Here’s who I am,” insecure web copy tentatively pleads, “I can be whatever you want; hope you find something you like.” How forgettable and phony is that? Secure people on the other hand have learned to get real. Some people like them; others don’t. Their web copy stands out because their authors stand up. Their web copy is memorable because it is authentic. Does your web copy take a stand or does it sit on the sidelines wanting to be liked? Is your web copy real or real phony?

Web Copy Sabotage #2: Proud people produce narcissistic sites

While timid web copy aims overly outward, narcissistic web copy looks too far in the other direction. Business owners have a justifiable pride in their business. Sorry to say this pride can lead to web copy sabotage.

• Many owners lost in their delight often boast, “Look what I can do,” instead of proclaiming, “Look what you get.”
• Their web copy tends to focus on features instead of real customer benefits. It highlights trained staff rather than peace of mind.

Missing are empathy and impact. Nothing kills internet rapport like a one-sided, relationship. Does your web copy brag about you or resonate with strangers?

Web Copy Sabotage #3: Anxious people make nervous sites 

Nervous sites are the most common form of web copy sabotage. They don’t gaze outward or inward; they look nowhere, all hurried and patchy. The visuals are the first give-away:

• a little red here and a dash of purple there
• a touch of bold with a smidgen of underlining
• a bevy of random quotations
• a frenzy of isolated graphics

Where’s the rhyme? Where’s the reason? Where is the message? The web copy reads more like a digital ransom note than a calm presentation of a distinctive value proposition. The sad part is this kind of web copy sabotage is that it frequently betrays an honest business person who is just not comfortable about expressing his business. This web copy unfairly depicts sleaze and incredulity. Sometimes the anxiety is driven by a specific learning style. A number of individuals are more comfortable with trees than a forest, preferring details to the big picture. That’s too bad because site visitors usually crave the big picture before they invest their care and clicks. What image does your web copy convey – calm or chaos?

Web Copy Sabotage: What can you do about it?

So you’re not perfect. Everybody is a bit insecure, a tad proud and slightly anxious. The trick is to keep these failings from invading your web copy. So what can you do to prevent web copy sabotage? Your human shortcomings might populate your site because you are just too close to the data to detect your demons creeping up the keyboard. You’ve got to get some distance. First have a third party who’s not a family member play site doctor, looking for symptoms of insecurity, pride, and anxiety in your site design and copy. There’s nothing like conducting your own foible check to be sure you parked your sabotaging issues at the curb, not in your web copy. Here are 3 questions to ask:

• What exactly does my site stand for?
• How do my visitors see themselves?
• How have I organized my design and copy?

If these tactics don’t help you improve your web copy, you could either see a qualified psychiatrist or hire – you know – a handy copywriter.

Website Copywriter Tips: Write Web Copy for People not Technology

Every website copywriter faces a trap – Search Enginitis. Writing web copy with technology makes sense, but writing web copy for people makes the sale. Here are two ways to connect with people across broadband and create web copy that sells. Your website looks great: solid words, easy navigation, graphics just so, and maybe even a bit of flash with some multimedia. But customers are not buying. The Technology Trap You wonder if it’s the web copy itself. How can that be? You remembered the two key mantras of powerful web copy - “write for the search engines” and “write for the medium.” Your web copy used appropriate keywords to help search engines find you and traffic is up. Surely, customers enjoy reading your content because your web copy is laid out with the internet in mind using:

• short sentences
• brief paragraphs
• bullets

Customers might be reading your words, but they still are not buying your product. Chances are your web copy has been optimized for technology not people. Even on the internet, selling is still about connecting to people. Selling on the internet means writing web copy for people not technology. So how do you press the flesh across broadband? Start where brick and mortar relationships do – trust. Why not become the trusted provider in your marketspace? Your web copy can use words to raise your credibility in at least 25 different ways. Here are two ways to craft web copy for people not technology:

• write the way customers speak
• replace your pitch with a theme.

Write Web Copy for People not Technology Step 1: Write the way people speak. People instinctively trust strangers who speak like them. If you find this article useful, how would you tell someone? Are you really going to say, “I read an unusually amazing web copy article that fundamentally increased my sagging sales”? Not likely. Weak web copy, not everyday people, uses too many modifiers. “Amazing,” “fundamentally,” and “sagging” weaken trust. How’s your site for modifiers? Give your web copy the finger test. You might not want fingerprints on your screen, so I suggest printing a copy of your homepage content.

• put your baby finger on the first modifier you can find.
• put your ring finger on the next adjective or adverb.
• repeat until you run out of modifiers or fingers.

If your page is a handful, you’ve got too many modifiers and your web copy is hype heavy, not trustworthy. In addition to giving readers web copy that matches how they speak, it helps to give them time to get to know you. Write Web Copy for People not Technology Step 2: Replace your pitch with a theme. Customers need time before they trust. They will get used to your site in tiny steps, so hold off selling; buy some time with thematic web copy. Have a theme for your site, introducing your offer only after your customer feels comfortable. Themes are a subtle form of repetition because they continually reinforce a single concept. Repeated exposure to an idea usually makes it familiar and safe. Remember the first time you used instant messaging or the family car - not so scary now. Let’s say your site sells dental floss. Here’s how your web copy might handle it. Instead of listing the benefits of DentaThread, you could tie the presentation together under the central idea “Some people have nothing to smile about.”

• The opening section could point out how the discomfort of Gingivitis wipes the grin off a person’s face.
• Another segment of the web copy would show how ugly cavities make someone too self- conscious to smile.
• Yet another piece would reveal how the high cost of root canal causes an individual to frown.

In this way, the web copy offers three versions of one idea to help the site grow on the visitor: one idea, three versions. Does your homepage have a theme? How many chances does your web copy give visitors to get comfortable with you? In this article, I tried to use the two key elements a good web copywriter uses to write for people not technology:

• the language of my readers
• a central idea, trust

Did it work? Did my web copy help? If yes, I guess I proved my point. If no, I have 23 more ideas to go.

What Does It Take To Succeed As An Independent Copywriter?

In looking back on the nearly four dozen aspiring copywriters I've trained and mentored over the years and asking which personal qualities posed challenges and roadblocks and which enable beginners to carve out a lasting niche for themselves, I have zeroed in on four key skill areas. To build and sustain a copywriting or marketing consulting business, you need to be or become good in these four competencies:

1. Writing. To develop persuasive written materials, you must learn to meld creativity, which involves being able to put forth fresh ideas, concepts, phrasings and images, with proven formats - structures for sales letters, brochures, press releases, home pages and so on that embody techniques that work.

If you learn only the latter, your work comes across sounding formulaic and hollow. It can attract clients and produce results, but only to a limited extent. Perceptive clients will notice that your projects tend to come out much the same. They'll conclude that you're either still in the apprenticeship phase of mastery or that you lack the problem-solving skill they need to get the kinds of results they crave.

And on the other hand, if you depend too heavily on creativity, you fail to use the little devices, turns of phrase, formatting tools and finishing touches that help improve response. I see this weakness in a lot of my beginning students - which is fine, because any halfway decent copywriting training course, whether live or canned, can remedy this shortcoming.

To achieve the ideal balance between creativity and the tricks of the trade on your own, you'd need great instincts and loads of practice. Top-notch mentoring, with frequent feedback from an experienced master, is a surer and faster route to finding your feet as a copywriter.

2. Pleasing clients. I've seen people who have no trouble with #1 flounder or become miserable because of this essential factor. Again it's necessary to strike a balance, this time between doing great work and making sure that the person or company paying your fee is satisfied.

Without knowing how to please clients, you can turn out terrific copy and have clients refuse to pay, or pay up but never come back. It's crucial to be able to listen to the client's goals, to keep those goals in mind while shaping the work, to explain what you've done and why, and to talk through differences in perception so that the two sides eventually see eye to eye.

This skill did not - does not - come naturally to me. I have learned this painfully and repeatedly, by overlooking or forgetting it, analyzing what went wrong and resolving to do better in the future. Sometimes the error here is in accepting projects where the client's expectations are at odds with the way you think things should be done. Sometimes there's not enough communication with the client and education of the client away from what you see as wrongheaded ideas.

While this factor still goes awry for me a few times every year, most of my projects go well because I attract plenty of clients who love the way I do things and respect my opinion where it differs from theirs. If you build a strong enough reputation, clients tend to listen to you - though not always.

On the other hand, I've seen plenty of beginning copywriters as well as colleagues with years of experience struggle with the opposite side of this balancing act. They know how to please clients but in doing so, they make themselves unhappy.

For your own sanity, you need to be able to set firm boundaries - ground rules, policies and things to say when clients become unreasonable in their demands. If they demand rewrite after rewrite, insist that their ignorant ideas are superior to what you know, expect you to chitchat endlessly whenever they feel like calling or otherwise drive you nuts, you must be able to head off these problems, negotiate solutions and disengage.

Having trusted colleagues to discuss problems with, an online or in-person peer group or a coach help immeasurably in finding your way with pleasing clients.

3. Business skills. How much should you charge? How many clients do you need, and how can you find them? What if your sure-fire marketing tactics fail to bring in clients, or bring in more than you can handle? What if clients who say they loved what you did don't pay?

No one is born knowing any of this stuff. With guidance from people who are running or have run a successful business, you can learn key business skills. If you've run any other kind of business before turning to copywriting or have watched successful entrepreneurs up close, you'll probably find this skill area easy.

Years of membership in the New England Women Business Owners organization and my prior experience as a freelance writer for national magazines taught me how to be tough with clients when needed, charge what I'm worth, keep on trying when I felt I was on the right track, regroup when necessary and avoid dumb business decisions most of the time.

One of the most common business challenges I've seen for aspiring copywriters involves money issues. Charge too little, and you may be working very hard, have loyal clients and yet not be earning enough to sustain yourself (or your family) over time. A support group or mentor can help you battle the inner demons that keep you from raising your rates, whereupon almost always you discover that the best clients don't mind paying more, and you feel happier about the business.

The second most common business challenge involves perseverance. If something doesn't work out the way you'd hoped, do you retreat in hurt and disappointment, or do you simply try something else? I've watched a couple of people jump into the copywriting business with supreme enthusiasm and then brood obsessively over every minor reversal. Unfortunately, this type of person isn't suited to self-employment. If you give up or feel overwhelmed easily, then you may be better off working on salary for an employer.

4. Discipline. To earn a living writing copy for others, you must be able to manage deadlines and details. By deadlines, I mean not only the obvious point that if you've promised that a project would be finished by June 30, it must be, but also the less obvious point that you need to be able to complete top-notch work in a reasonable amount of time.

If you can reach excellence only painstakingly or through a slow process of repeated drafts, you may not be able to make it in the business. Few clients are willing to pay enough for a web site, or be patient enough, to let you treat their project as if you were Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.

Another personality type that has trouble with discipline is a Crisis Cathy - someone who masterfully and continually creates emergencies, problems and roadblocks so that things never get done, but with seemingly legitimate excuses. Family members may put up with this kind of behavior, but clients generally won't, especially if it rears its head more than once.

As for details, you must have the discipline to proofread, check facts and get things like names and numbers right. I've seen a couple of writers who can't spell or use proper grammer become fabulously successful nevertheless, but I do not recommend this. Where clients are concerned, it's a much bigger handicap than these blithe spirits will admit. Most clients do not take well to carelessness on your part. When you deliver work containing mistakes, they consider it disrespectful and unprofessional.

So there you have it. These four competencies are roughly equal in importance for success as an independent copywriter or marketing consultant, I believe. Do you measure up? Are you willing to work on developing the qualities you don't have?