eBooks
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COPYWRITING
A fter doing your research, you should be armed with enough ammunition to fire off a sales pitch to
your prospects. You should:
- Know what problems your prospects want to solve,
- Have a list of features and benefits which can solve these problems,
- Have a unique selling proposition which differentiates your products from your competition,
and
- Have a strategy to combat your prospect’s objections.
Now it is time to write your copy in a sales letter format. Why? Because a sales letter format has
proven to be the one that achieves the highest response.
This section will discuss how to write a profitable web page sales letter. If you are unfamiliar with
what a sales letter is, I have reprinted an article below by copywriter Sam Robbins to explain it.
The only addition I can make to Sam’s article is that your direct response site should at least
contain the following pages.
1. Sales Page: This is the main page that contains your sales letter. It also links to other related
pages on your site.
2. About Us / Contact Us: This explains who you are, how that relates to your product and how to
contact you. This can greatly increase your credibility and believability if used correctly.
3. FAQ Page: A frequently asked questions (FAQ) page allows you to address any objections or
hesitations your prospect may have when considering a purchase. They are a fantastic way of
reducing your prospect’s ‘purchasing risk’ and are a must have as part of your sales letter site.
4. Testimonial Page: If you have a ton of testimonials, but not enough room to use them on your
main sales page, don’t let them go to waste. Testimonials are one of the most powerful
persuaders out there so put any spare testimonials you have onto a separate page and provide a
link to it. The more testimonials the better.
5. Affiliate Page: This details how people can join your affiliate program.
6. Supporting Pages: These pages contain proof of your claims to boost your credibility and
believability. Examples of these pages might be a scanned picture of a check to prove how much
money you can make, testimonials of satisfied customers, news articles promoting your product
etc.
7. Pop Up Page: This provides a secondary response mechanism and allows you to follow up
with your prospects.
8. Online Order Page: This is where your customers can order online using their credit card.
9. Fax Order Page: This is simply a fax order form your prospects can download to fax their order
(if you accept fax orders).
Now for Sam’s article…
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“Anatomy of a Direct Response Letter” by Sam Robbins
Direct response letters have been around for a very long time. The main reason for this is
because they work! In fact, any sales letter not written in a direct response "format" is almost
doomed from the beginning to fail.
Many people on the Internet have turned away from using direct response letters thinking that
it won't work. They think that people on the Net are some how "different" than the regular
John Doe that receives his "snail mail" everyday.
Nothing could be further from the truth! The main reason direct response letters work so well
is because they "attack" the emotional side of the buyer. And you must never forget this:
People buy with emotions, NOT logic!
Regardless of whether you're on the Internet and you have your own web site, or you send out
emails or regular mail as part of your promotional campaign - you MUST always attempt to
write your sales material in a direct response fashion.
The following is a step-by-step breakdown of the perfect direct response letter. Let's begin
with...
The Headline
First, consider the headline. There is always a headline of some sort for all sales letters. If
you're sending out email sales letters, the "subject line" of the email would act as the
headline.
The headline focuses the reader's attention on one quick benefit or promise (or two). It gives
the reader a reason to spend valuable time with your letter. It also helps close out other
random thoughts and provides a context for what is about to follow.
Try to make a promise or allude to some key benefit. Refer in some way to the offer, perhaps
in a subordinate line. Remember, the offer is what the reader will eventually act upon.
Try a "headline group." A headline, subhead and one, two or three short bulleted phrases
that extend the headline message provides more information in a key location. It promotes
greater involvement than one headline.
The Opening
The opening is the first sentence or first two sentences following the salutation. "I am writing
to you about..." or "I want you to know about..." are not openings. Frankly, the reader doesn't
care what you want. He cares about himself. This is a key place to say something about him
or his needs which your product will gratify.
Most letters are won or lost in the first sentence. The best way to lose is to begin talking
about yourself and your organization.
A phrase to keep in mind is, "Talk about my lawn, not your grass seed!" Another famous
saying that speaks to this situation is:
"Tell me quick and tell me true or else, my friend to hell with you. Not how this product
came to be, but what the damn thing does for me."
Offer Preview
After the opening, make a brief reference to the offer:
"...and you can discover it, (prove it, enjoy it) FREE, without obligation with the
certificate enclosed."
Now the reader knows you're not going to be asking him for money. Maybe. The reader can
relax. The response device begins to set up the response behavior.
It's also smart to "merchandise" the offer by referring to it at several points throughout the
letter.
"When you send for your free demo and get it up and running, you'll quickly see..."
Sell Copy
From the offer preview, get right into the benefits that your reader will realize when he/she
tests, previews, examines your product. Stay in second person throughout your letter.
You're talking to the reader (one person, not a market) about the reader, not you, and you're
talking about yourself and your product only in terms of what it will do for reader.
Remember you're selling the offer, not the product. It's much easier to sell a 30-day trial, a
free download of software or a free examination than it is to sell the product itself. You'll
discuss payment terms later.
Try to lead off sentences and phrases with benefits.
"You'll make first-hand contact with hundreds of the most active, most involved sales
prospects in the industry in just two short days..."
"As one of America's elite "Million-Plus" pharmacies, you are in a unique position to
increase sales, slash operating costs and grow your business rapidly with xyz..."
Use Subheads To Introduce New Thoughts
To avoid eye-glazing, mind-numbing, wall-to-wall copy, use subheads to introduce new
thoughts and to move from one part of the letter to the next. Write in short sentences. Short
paragraphs. Present a list of benefits or features in list form:
Each item
Preceded by
A bullet... instead of in a linear paragraph.
Use words of one syllable as much as possible. Don't assume that the person you're writing
to is as literate as you are.
Even if he is, he's distracted, and he's trying to extract the key information he needs, often by
just scanning your letter. Which is another good reason to use subheads...bulleted listings...
and...ellipses.
Edit out unnecessary words and phrases and "write like you talk," assuming you can talk like
a successful salesman. Clarity is more important than literary merit. The ability to sell is more
important than the ability to write.
The Offer
When you've fully described the many ways your product will benefit the reader, show the
reader how to acquire this fabulous program. Or, rather, how the reader can realize these
benefits right NOW.
Spell out your offer in detail. What does the reader get? If you're offering a premium, this is
the place to sell that a bit, too. You may also feature it in the brochure, if you have one, or in a
separate premium flyer.
If at all possible, and if appropriate, date your offer. An expiration date helps to keep your
package from going up between the lamp and the tape dispenser for further consideration.
Again, agreement doesn't do it. Only acting on that agreement right now results in sales.
The Guarantee
No one wants to make a mistake, especially not an expensive mistake. Relieve that fear with
your guarantee.
By law you must refund legitimate requests up to 30 days anyway, so why not make it a
virtue?
Don't worry that your guarantee somehow sheds doubt on your product.
The guarantee speaks to your performance as a business person they can trust, not to your
product.
But don't hawk it as a "Money Back Guarantee." or "Full Refund If Not Satisfied" kind of
thing. That's negative.
A Free (or Risk-Free or No-Risk) 30-day Trial is the same thing, expressed in positive
terms. "Examine it, try it, use it for a full 30 days without risk." That's an invitation, not a
warning.
The Call To Action
Even after all that, you can't assume the reader will do what you want him to do, right now.
But that's what he must do. So spell it out.
Does he "click here" to use an order form on your Web site or does he have to send out an
email of some sort?
Does he complete a reply card, call a toll-free number, complete a questionnaire, check a
box?
Detach a reply card? What? Is there a postpaid or self-addressed reply envelope to use?
Ask the reader to do all that right now because that expiration date will be here before they
know it. Because they really want to try this, but if they let it go until "later," they will forget.
The P.S.
Punctuate the call to action with the signature, then add a P.S. After the headline and first
sentence, the P.S. is the most read part of a direct response letter.
Use that important space to repeat a key benefit, or add a twist or an another idea to
something you've already said. Also repeat your call to action here, in slightly different words.
The mnemonic for the basic function of all direct marketing, but especially for letters, is AIDA.
Get Attention.
Arouse Interest.
Stimulate Desire.
Prompt Action.
And it ain't over until the "fat lady" returns the order form, calls the toll free order line or fills out
your order form and hits the submit button!
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Article Written By Sam Robbins - Founder of CashFlowMarketing.com Reprinted with permission
from Sam Robbins/Milestone Marketing Solutions, Inc. www.cashflowmarketing.com
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The above is an extract from the book "Confessions of a Website Copywriter". It is one of the 47
closedly guarded secrets to creating turbo-charged webpage sales letters fouind in the book.
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The following learning opportunities are found in the book "Confessions of a Website Copywritter":
To know the first thing your visitor judges on your site and how to manipulate it to
increase readership - see page 125
To get hold of 8 direct response offers that have proven to lift website conversions
through the roof - see page 84
To master 28 Unique Selling Propositions that can help you dominate any market - see
page 30
To learn 7 simple ways to attract your prospect's eye-path to the important parts of your
sales presentation - see page 158
And much more...
If you are serious about selling online, invite you to learn these important lessons:
Ugly websites hurt response - Forget any crap stories you may have heard about ugly websites
selling big mounts of merchandise. It's all rubbish. Studies by Stanford University (and my own
online testing) have proved that amateur looking sites make consumers feel nervous and will hurt
your response.
Sure, there have been the odd exception, but you'll find in these cases the visitors already knew
the business (eg. Dan Kennedy) well before they arrived so trust was never an issue. But the truth
is you'll never gain the trust of a NEW visitor with an ugly, amateurish site that looks untrustworthy.
Graphic heavy web design doesn't sell - You need a design that communicates trust, but not
one that's so over the top that it kills your download time and distracts away from your message.
Only use pictures that serve a purpose, such as a product picture so prospects can visualize your
picture or a professional logo to build trust. And don't listen to your web designer for conversion
advice... they know nothing!
Nothing increases conversions like your offer - John Caples could rise from the grave to write
your copy, but it will pale into significance against a powerful offer. It's true that words sell more
than pictures. But offers also sell more than copy. If you really want to increase your conversions,
then you need to master the direct response offers.
Time-tested copywriting lore still works online - Long copy sells, but not for free offers. Long
copy needs to be interrupted by headlines, bullet points, text highlights and Johnson boxes to hold
a reader's attention. Headlines make a huge difference so test them. People buy with emotions
then justify their decisions with logic, so both arguments increase conversion.
These are just some of the important lessons you will learn.
Confessions of a Website Copywriter contains all the research, all the experiences and all the
critical pieces of the puzzle that the other courses leave out!
In fact, the strategies in this course are so new and revolutionary, they are not being revealed or
taught as a whole by anyone else in the market!
That is an awfully big statement to make, but you don't have to take our word for it.
Just listen to what some of the biggest and most trusted names in Internet marketing are saying
about it:
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"Could Double Or Triple Sales Overnight"...
"If you've ever wondered what makes websites sell thousands of dollars
worth of product and services, while yours is lucky to make a cent ... this
course will finally reveal WHAT you're doing wrong, and WHY you're throwing
good money after bad. Plus you'll get some tips that could literally double or
triple your sales OVERNIGHT - and that's what makes it so valuable."
Brett McFall
Australia's "Results Guaranteed" Copywriter Of Over 7,800 Ads & Sales
Letters
http://www.adsecretsrevealed.com/
"Top 5 Marketing Manuals I've Read"...
"I have been reading around 2,000 pages of Internet marketing material a
week over the last few years… and this is one of the top 5 marketing
manuals I've read period!
It's better than many of the $400 copywriting courses being sold online today.
You should really sell this as a high ticket item Lenny."
Chris Bloor - "The Walking Idea Machine"
Author, Internet Marketing Consultant, Speaker And Highly Sought Business
Coach,
http://www.qualitybusinessinstitute.com/
"Will Save You Countless Hours Finding What Works"...
"A must read for anyone who has been looking for a way to write effective
sales copy. Here is a step by step approach that will save you countless
hours in trying, testing and finding what works. Great value and highly
recommended."
Mal Emery
Australia's Million Dollar Direct Marketer, Author, Business Coach, Sales &
Marketing Seminars & Renowned Speaker
http://www.malemery.com/
"Create Kick Ass Money Making Copy"...
"This is excellent. It's full of great stuff anyone can use to dramatically use to
improve their ability to write kick ass, money making copy.
Probably the best value for money manual I've seen on website copywriting
since 'Make Your Words Sell'! I'd honestly recommend this to everyone!"
Alexi Neocleous
Professional Copywriter, Speaker, Business Coach & Creator of The Kaizen
Marketing System!
http://www.multiplyyourprofits.com/
"Reveals More Than MYWS"...
"I've got MYWS! (Make Your Words Sell!), which I enjoyed, but I discovered
far more from 'Confessions of a Website Copywriter'! Like the technique for
removing resistance to your statements.
After reading this, I went over a very effective sales letter with a hi-liter, and in
a couple minutes found 2 statements that needed to be reworded.
This is especially important in triggering the emotional response that gets
readers involved in the sales argument, but I can show you some pretty
expensive books that make no mention of this.
Not just "copywriting" nuances, but lots of important stuff like how to position
your images on the web page, etc.
This is great stuff, the "pros" all know to do this stuff (as your examples
demonstrate), but it's very hard to find anyone who's been able to write it all
down."
Dan Thies
World Renowned SEO Expert, Author & Moderator at Several Top Search
Engine Forums
http://www.seoresearchlabs.com/
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It is no wonder that "Confessions of a Website Copywriter" is the most popular among the
hundreds of ebooks that I sell.
If you have read thus far, it is likely that succeeding in internet business is of paramount interest
to you. I will make you a very special offer.
In addition to getting this book
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"Confessions of a Website Copywriter"
for only $17, I will give you the following 8 book, adsolutely free as bonuses.
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Yes, you get all the following 9 books for only $17.
Confessions of a Website Copywriter
+
Forbidden Psychological Tactics
+
Internet Promotion for Beginners
+
How to be a Top Salesperson
+
Auction Strategies
+
Consumer Buying Secret Revealed
+
Search Engine Traffic Secrets
+
Internet Copycatting
+
Web Marketing Explained
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8 weeks Money Back Guarantee!
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Your purchase through PayPal is secure.
You purchase is also fully guaranteed - if for any reason, you are not satisfied with your purchase,
you can ask for full refund of your purchase. You can even keep the books.
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