Anatomy of a great sales offer

As a copywriter myself, I'll like you to believe that
copywriting is all there is to making more sales. But that just
wouldn't be true.

The first thing I look at before I take on a new client is what
they are really selling--their primary offer. If I cannot sense the
value of the offer then I decline their project.

Nothing can be more distressing to a copywriter than trying to
sell a product that he or she knows is not worth what the
business owner may think it is worth. Selling the proverbial ice
to Eskimos is an ordeal akin to sitting in a dentist chair for a
root canal without Novocain.

It is often said that bad copy can sell a great product but great
copy cannot sell a bad product. There is some wisdom in this
saying but it's not totally correct.

You see, great copy CAN sell a bad product but the temporary
success will eventually backfire. You'll get a ton of refund
requests and you can damage the image of your business in the
marketplace.

(As a side note, if your refund rate is close to zero percent
this means that your product or service is under-priced or your
sales message isn't strong enough.)

Second only to great sales copy is the actual OFFER you are
making--the value you are offering to the customer in return for
their monetary investment. Some products literally sell
themselves because you know that they satisfy a genuine need in
the marketplace. And there are others that require used-car
salesmanship to get them in customers' hands.

An effective offer is made up of essentially five critical
elements:

1. A primary product that is new in some respect: the product or
service itself, the price or even a version. You may often see
companies try to present an old product in a new light by using
the terms "new" and then eventually "new and improved".

2. A bonus for responding to the offer. Some people question the
effectiveness of using bonuses but they work. There are customers
who will buy the main product just to get the bonuses. Any
marketer who thinks that customers will see through this
technique and so don't use bonuses is leaving a lot of money on
the table.

3. A free gift just for responding to the offer. This is
different from the actual bonus itself and is given just for
taking the time to even inquire further about the offer. It may
be a free report of a pen with your company name but it's given
just for showing interest - such as visiting your website.

4. A discount on the price. This is the same as offering a sale
but discount that lasts forever is NOT really a sale. What makes
the discount special is the limited time it will be available.
Some marketers use a script to update the expiration date to be
always midnight the next day, but this can erode their
credibility. No one likes to know that they were "pushed" into
making a buying decision when the same offer is made to ‘late
comers'.

5. A time limit or number limit on the offer. People are
typically procrastinators and will always want to make the
purchase tomorrow. If you place a time limit or quantity limit on
your offer you'll see the increase in sales. You will be
providing a strong incentive to act now and not later.

Now the BEST offers will have all five of these elements at the
same time. You may choose to use most of them but why not get the
synergistic effect by using all.

I see so many offers made by businesses that would do so much
better if they offered bonuses or set a limit on quantity sold or
made some effort to ‘fatten' the offer for the prospect. You can
always brainstorm and find a way to increase the perceived value
of your product or service, and small additions can produce big
results.

You may want to take another look at your offer--not just the
sales message--to see what may be missing. A reworked offer may
just take your business over the top.

Marketing To Sinners

Marketing To Sinners
What people say can often be miles apart from what people do. We are hypocrites in one way or the other. There is the ‘ideal’ and there is the practiced and never the twain shall meet in this life.
So who is you marketing targeted to? Do you really know your target market? Are you picturing them how you want them to be? How you wished them to be? Or how they really are?
Let me explain.
I often wish that people would know anything that is worth getting is worth exerting some effort to gain. But often what sells is the “get rich quick by doing nothing” products.
I wish that people would want to buy integrity but no they prefer success.
I wish that people would be more self-disciplined but they are more self-indulgent instead.
I wish that people were more self-reliant but no they prefer dependence.
You see, all the ‘ideals’ I may have in my head about my target can be very far from the truth. You’d be surprised to know that surveys show that while people SAY they will prefer to hear more positive stories on the news rather than all the disaster, crime, war and economic downturn, ratings are higher for the ‘bad’ news than the ‘good’ news.
I told you what people say don’t generally match what they do!
I once read how the audience of the Howard Stern show, known for its un-sacredness, consists of twice as many listeners who HATE the show as who love the show. When asked why they listen if they hated the show these people commented that they didn’t want to miss the outrageous thing Howard would say next!
Perhaps you’ll be surprised to know of the millions of ‘closet readers’ of the gossip and tabloid magazines—there’s just no other way to explain their wide circulation. Most people who read the tabloids would want people to THINK that they read the ‘respectable’ magazines instead.
As the copywriter and marketer if you don’t consider these trends when you are framing your appeal then you are missing the boat.
I’ve often read many complaints from product owners who are simply frustrated that their products are not selling when their products “do A,B,C,D”. They know their products provide value to their markets but they are not selling to prospects but to themselves. Read that again. As a product owner you can end up selling the product to yourself because you are not considering the REAL prospect but how you want the prospect to be—just like you!
How much are you really in touch with ‘people”? I mean real breathing, living people because these are the people who would buy your products and services. Do you have an ideal picture that is far removed from reality?
Although you may not want to admit it, people are lazy, want easy success, ostentatious, lack integrity, make quick decisions, dependent, restless and ostentatious. This may not be the way you WANT them to be, but this is the reality you have to deal with.
Discuss ‘people’ and most people would not want to be classed as such but it’s the human story, and the quicker you learn this fact as a marketer the better it will be for you.
Often I have seen products of lesser value than mines being sold for higher prices and I’m often left dumbfounded. But when I investigated the matter further I realize that I have too high a view of people. My wife often complain that I am too naïve and people will easily walk over me. But my nature is to see the best in every man. I often see people as I want them to be, instead of what they are. This may be a great trait to have in another field, but in marketing it lead to your demise.
Because the quicker you can understand human nature for what it IS instead of what you WANT it to be, the quicker you’ll be able to reach people. It’s simple: in order to take people where you want them to go you must understand the journey they are already on.
Why do people always fall for SCAMS and conmen? Because these thieves sell to human nature and not what they idealize their victims to be. These scumbags understand human nature and sell to human nature, not to sinless angels.
So, what about you? Are you marketing to sinners or to saints?

You Are Not Your Customer!

As a copywriter, I have to be prepared for a number of scenarios when I deliver my completed copy to my clients. But one reaction that I often get is that clients often mistake their reaction to the copy as that of their customers.

So even before the copy is tested in the “real world” the client would, maybe, give his spouse to read the copy and takes her opinion as the standard for the prospective reader.

Then I’ll have to drill in his head, “You are not your customer!”

But what do I mean by this though? Mainly three things:

1. You are so familiar with your product or service that you’ll often assume that the customer knows too much. But you can never give too much information or be too simple in your explanations. Quite the opposite is possible though—that you overestimate the intelligence level of your customer.

Just think about the last time you made an important purchase. How much did you research and read up on the product before you made the final decision. As business owners we are apt to think that we’ll bore the customer by giving too much details but the opposite is often true.

I recently bought a new computer because I’ll be doing some online video production and I went to every review site I could find online before settling on a particular brand. Now if I had to read that amount of information otherwise I may have found it tedious and boring.

If your customer is interested in the product she’ll read every word you write—sometimes even if it’s boring.

2. The customer doesn’t care two hoots about you, only what you can do for her! I mean, I can write to flatter my client so that she’ll want to give me even more money than I ask for. And you see that type of writing on the web all the time. I’m talking about the boring “we” talk---how long they’ve been in business, all the awards they’ve won, how their product is the best, etc.—all about the company and nothing about the customer.

You think that the “sales letter” was supposed to sell THEM on how good they were! Talk to the customer in her language about things that interest her and you have a sale.

3. Sometimes you have to be outside of the box in order to think outside of the box. For example, I can often see added benefits for my clients’ products than they’ve shared with me because they are sometimes too close to the trees to see the forest.

In other words, I often imagine myself as their customers and brainstorm on what I’ll want from this product or service and so write from that perspective.

You have to listen to what your customers to find out just what they are getting from your product or service and then adjust your copy to suit those needs. If you listen, they’ll tell you how to improve your sales letter to sell even more products.

For example, most of my clients often tell me that they like my style of writing. That’s one strong benefit that no other copywriter has—“MY style of writing.” Because it’s from me, and I can’t be copied. A copy of me is NOT me.

But I like the style of writing of some other copywriters and don’t see anything special about “my” style. So, I’m also NOT my customer either!

The bottom line is that you have to ensure that you are reaching those you are trying to sell to, and forget the ego-caressing, trumpet-blowing kind of writing that reads like an award ceremony speech to honor your company.

Remember, you are not your customer!

Raydal Copywriting Protege Program

Hi Folkes,

I'll be conducting a teleseminar style copywriting course in a few weeks time.
This will last for 6 weeks and I'll cover the spectrum of web copywriting for
sales letters, emails, PPC ads and banner ads etc.

You can singup at http://www.learncopy.com to get early notice on when
the site will be open to register students.

Copywriting is the most inportant skill that you can possess as an online
marketer. I've been paid upwards of $10,000 to write for online businesses
so you can even make this a career.

When you take a look at some of the websites online with the crappy copy
you know that these skills are are great need.

Now most copywriting courses lack direct and long interaction with the
person conducting the course. That's why most people lose interest
and NEVER read throug the entire materials because the motivation
is just not there.

You can check out my other copywriting site and look at my portfolio
to see soem of the copy that I've written for my clients.

I'll continue toi keep you posted.

Regards,

Ray L. Edwards,
"the gets results copywriter!"

Color in copywriting

How do you go about choosing the colors you use on your
website?

Most people leave this up to the website designer but maybe
you should take a more active interest in what colors you
use.

In the field of the psychology of colors the work done by
Dr. Max Luscher is often referred to as the authority.
Without getting too academic, he chose to study the
psychological and physiological effect that colors had on
his subjects.

In other words, when you see a particular color what
feelings do you get?   Should you seek to evoke a certain
feeling from your website visitors?

Here in summary form are his findings:

Black:  This is the absence of color and represents death
and nothingness.  It evokes the feelings of evil but also
helps to make the colors it surrounds to stand out more, so
it's not all 'evil' in that sense.

Gray:  Represents the neutral zone.  There is no commitment,
no involvement, just the middle of the road.

Green:  A common color in nature, it represents growth,
health, money and personal ambition.

Blue:  The color of the sky and evokes calmness, relaxation
and unity.  Looking at blue has definite physiological
effect such as lower blood pressure and respiration rate.
(This is my favorite color for the background of my
websites--a dark version-and should be the color of choice
for your "buy" links!)

Red:  This gives the opposite physiological response as
blue. So looking at red causes your blog pressure to rise,
heart rate and respiration also increases.  This color is
associated with activity, appetite, desire and vitality.

Violet:  Mystical, intimacy, union, and longing desire for a
wish to be fulfilled.

Yellow:  It's like a softer form of red.  Suggests
happiness, joy, cheerfulness and boldness.  It is calming
and relaxing like the sun but shows a need for change.

Brown:  (My favorite color) Representing the earth (soil),
it shows home and family, warmth and welcome.  Also have
sensuous qualities.


Along with these emotional responses you may also want to
look into the color combinations you use for your web page.
Here is a website that gives you some  great suggestions:

http://www.kestrel-designs.com/articles/color_combinations.html

It's best to stick to 3-5 colors total, and text is easier
to read when it's black text against a white background.  I
can't begin to say how many times I've seen this little
'rule' broken.  At least the majority of the text on your
website should follow this rule.

So what is the theme of your website?  Maybe just a color
change can bump up your response rate.


Regards,

Ray L. Edwards,
"the gets results copywriter!"

P.S. Interested in boosting your Adsense inc0me?
Check this out http://www.webcopy-writing.com/go.htm

Copywriter Online Resources

You can find a great resource for copywriters at Copywriters

Copywriting is the art of writing persuasively usually to secure a sale.
Writing persuasuve copy is both a science and an art. I'll be posting new
tips and strategies here that will help you in your copywriting.

There are many online websites that really need some advice on pumping
up their copywriting.