INTERNET ENTREPRENEURSHIP – PART TWO
“The challenge you face is that people don’t care about you. They care about themselves, which is pretty natural.”
– Seth Godin
Let’s talk about your target audience now.
See if you can answer these questions:
- If you were to ask someone to give you their first impression of your website, what would they say?
- Are you using eye-friendly colors and fonts that make it easy for your reader to focus on your content?
- Is your page clean and focused on the content itself? No extra clutter or distractions like auto playing music or videos?
- Is your website laid out in such a way that it’s clear to see what the content is about and there’s a clear call to action- usually somewhere at the bottom of that particular page?
- What real value are you giving your readers/visitors?
- Does the amount of value you offer on your site make it so your visitors are eager to share your website with others?
Hopefully all your answers were positive.
If not, you may need to go back and do some re-adjusting.
Do not neglect to answer these questions.
When done right, they can double your success compared to a competitor who just doesn’t care or make any effort.
Now let’s talk about how we can further appeal to your target consumer or visitor.
Click here if you want to learn basic internet marketing for FREE…
I’ll start with Copy.
Why You Need Copy and How to Write It
Learning the art and skill of copywriting is probably one of the most valuable skills you could ever learn.
With compelling copy, you can get into the minds of your consumer and write in such a way that appeals to them and encourages them to listen and purchase from you.
Many books have been written, and courses created, but it is a difficult skill to learn if you don’t take the time to sit down and actually learn the fundamentals of it.
It takes work.
Real work.
You can start by starting your own private swipe file.
It can be an e-swipe file or an actual physical one where you store away copy that caught your attention, appealed to you in some way, or even something you think you could improve on.
Within this file, save physical copies like maybe some advertisements or sales letters that you get in the mail, or print outs from things you find online.
Whenever you’re stuck or just can’t seem to get the gears rolling, refer to your swipe file to help inspire you.
Next, dedicate some time each day going through your swipe file or just finding copy online and thinking about all the ways you could improve it.
Maybe even consider working on your own improvement as an exercise- they say practice makes perfect.
But what happens if you decide that learning copy isn’t for you?
Well, three things:
You’ll end up spending a fortune for really good copy.
By a fortune, I mean into the thousands of dollars range.
Your conversion of profits/sales will suffer
because nothing is really compelling your visitor to want to buy whatever it is you’re offering.
In fact, without compelling copy, the visitor may not even know what you’re trying to offer to them!
As a result, they may head over to your competitors who DO have compelling yet clear copy.
Thirdly, you may end up wasting a lot of money
on copy that doesn’t convert and was written by someone who read a copywriting book or two.
Can you really afford any of that?
I didn’t think so.
Delivering on Promises
“It doesn’t matter whether your product is information or a flyswatter. If you understand marketing, you can make serious income.”
Robert G. Allan, Author
There’s something else that I want to touch on briefly- but don’t mistake it for being un-important.
It might be the most important thing that you remember out of everything you’ve just read.
Here it is:
People make their purchasing decisions based mostly on emotions.
“Duh” you might say.
Well, let me expand that further by saying if you an appeal to their emotional side, then you’ll have no problem making sales.
This doesn’t mean scaring them into buying something, but rather appealing to their emotions of how their life could be better with your product or service.
Here are some things to think about when crafting your copy to appeal to your consumer:
How will what you’re offering make them look or feel better?
What will their friends and family say?
Will this product/service of yours help them achieve something? (Leisure, more money, better health, etc.)
And lastly, but more importantly, are you offering enough value for the money they have to spend to get those things?
Really think hard on all those questions because they’re key into determing on whether you can stand up behind your promises.
How To Get Your Reader’s Attention
This is actually really simple to do and can be achieved by a variety of things using things like:
Testimonials or endorsements from authorities in your particular niche.
Just be sure that if you use any of these things, that they are in fact true.
You’ll lose trust immediately if any of your visitors or customers ever find out that you made things up.
Treating your customer or visitor with respect
Don’t talk down to them or make them feel foolish or ridiculous in some way.
You should aim to do the opposite.
Relate to them.
Tell them how you were in the same position (only if you really were though) and how it impacted you.
But don’t turn it into something all about you.
You just want to show them that you can relate.
This builds trust.
Stand behind your word
If you offer a 30-day money back guarantee, stick to it.
Similarly, if your product or service is on sale for a limited time only, stick to it.
Don’t betray their trust by telling them that they can only purchase your product for 7 days and then you’re yanking it forever, only for you to repeat the same scheme a few weeks or months down the road.
That’s how you lose trust and surprisingly, a lot of marketers and business owners are guilty of that exact same thing.
Don’t be one of them.
Click here if you want to learn basic internet marketing for FREE…
Writing Your Copy
When you finally sit down to write your copy, take a look at what your successful competitors are doing.
They’re successful for a reason.
Don’t copy what they’ve done, but rather, take notice about how their copy is written and how it might appeal to their consumer.
Focus on how it will benefit them or what it will do for them.
Just keep writing until you’ve laid everything out.
Now sit back and let it marinate for a bit.
Don’t even look at what you’ve written yet.
Give yourself 24 hours or at least a decent coffee/tea break before you come back to your copy with fresh eyes.
Now is the time to dissect it all.
In the case of copy, sometimes more is not better.
What you’re aiming for is clarity.
Clarity is what will sell.
Not a thousand or so words.
So, go through your copy and ask yourself, does the customer need to know this and if I were to delete this from my copy, would my copy still be on point?
Do this for every line.
You’ll find that by using this exercise that any random tangents you went on or anything that would otherwise distract your buyer from the intent of the piece will stick out like a sore thumb.
How to Further Hone Your Copywriting Skills
By no means is this a complete copywriting course.
These are just some of the fundamentals I think are important to get you started on your copywriting journey.
To further your skills, I suggest:
Paying attention to some of the best copywriters like Marc Goldman and Alex Mandossian.
Reading and collecting issues from The National Enquirer. Some of the best and well-paid copywriters frequently contribute their skills to the products being advertised.
Only pay attention to the ads and disregard everything else.
While looking at the ads, ask yourself:
What specifically attracted you- the reader, to the ad? Was it a headline? Was it the way the ad was formatted?
What about the ad keeps your interest?
Does the ad make you want to know more about the product being advertised?
What is the call to action? Do they want you to pick up the phone and call a number? Send for more details via postage?
Does the ad excite you and make you want to take action?
Rate each ad you see from a scale of 1-10.
10 being the best.
Get into the habit of doing this for every ad you see. Doesn’t matter where you see it.
On tv, in a magazine, the back of a book, a sales flyer that arrives in your mail.
Doing this trains your brain to recognize the key persuasion points of the ad. This will help you to be able to determine if an ad is good or bad almost immediately.
Click here if you want to learn basic internet marketing for FREE…
Get Acquainted with AIDA
This formula will be one that you refer to again and again whenever you write copy.
It stands for:
Attention– Get their attention (usually via a headline or promise you can backup)
Interest– Once you have their interest, maintain it with facts (no boring ones, please) or other details.
Desire– Make them desire it.
Convince them that they absolutely must have whatever it is you’re offering.
Action– Ask them to take an action of sorts (call you, purchase your product/service, subscribe to your email list, etc.).
One action is usually better than numerous actions so make sure you pick wisely.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Take everything you’ve learned here and keep applying all the concepts and practicing.
This is the only way to gain expertise in writing good copy, whether it’s online or offline.
Even though some gurus might offer shortcuts to copywriting, there really is no shortcut for learning how to craft good copy other than from lots of practice and applying what you’ve learned.
Realize That the Competition is Steep
No one is going to read your copy or ad if it doesn’t catch your customer’s attention.
Your competition probably realizes this and will be working hard to try and steer the attention away from their competitors directly towards their own offer.
This is why it’s important to become good at copy and really spend some time on making sure your copy will really appeal to your customer.
One of the ways you can get their attention is through an attention getting headline.
Once you have their attention through the headline, that headline’s job is to keep them reading to the next line.
The next line’s job is to get them to go to the next and to the next and so on.
Just be sure that when you’re crafting your headlines that you’re not creating clickbait or making over exaggerated claims.
Your customers are smart and will be able to sniff out a scam or otherwise be suspicious of claims that sound fake.
Write Conversational
Remember the last time you and a buddy went to the bar and had a conversation over a drink or two?
Or maybe it was at your favorite coffee place.
“What’s this have to do with writing copy?”
Well, the next time you sit down to write your copy, try and write as if you were talking to a friend over a coffee or a drink.
Don’t talk in a stiff and corporate speak.
If you would never say it out loud to a friend or family member, don’t use it in your copy.
It alienates the customer.
You also want to avoid distracting your customer with a bunch of graphics, moving elements (like videos), or points that have nothing whatsoever to do with your product or service (remember how I said to remove anything that distracts from the copy?)
If you do choose to use photos or videos for your products or services, make sure both are high quality and put your product or service in a positive light.
Really go the distance and make sure either you take high quality shots or make sure you hire a professional to do so.
Remember, It’s Never About You
“Writing good advertising copy is nothing more or less than knowing “who” your buyers are; recognizing what he wants; and then telling him how your product will fulfill each of those wants. “
Sure, you could dazzle them with a bunch of details about how long it’s taken for you to perfect the product you’re now selling, or how you’ve obtained the materials from such and such, but you’ll bore them if you do that.
Instead, focus on what they really want to know.
Specifically, how they will benefit from the purchase of your product.
Usually their wants or needs will fall into one of these areas:
- Better health
- More comfort
- More money
- More leisure time
- More popularity or fame
- Greater charisma/beauty/sex/ etc.
- Greater success
- Greater security
Even though you’ve captured their attention through a headline, you need to keep reiterating the advantages and benefits they will gain with your product.
Help them to mentally picture their new and improved selves.
And then it’s just a matter of delivering on those promises.
Click here if you want to learn basic internet marketing for FREE…
Never Forget Your Call to Action
If you make all this effort to write compelling copy that has your customer sitting on the edge of their seat and ready to take action but neglect to tell them how or what to do, you’re wasting your time.
Make sure that at the end of every page of your website or at the end of your sales copy that you always give your customer a clear call to action.
A call to action is just a simple set of instructions that you want them to take at the end of reading your copy.
It could be anything from:
- Subscribing to your mailing list
- Giving you a call
- Requesting a quote
- Purchasing something
In Summary:
- Learning to write copy can save you money and is responsible for most of your sales.
- If you don’t master it or at least have a basic command of it, you risk spending money on shoddy copy or having to pay steep fees for a copywriter who knows their worth.
- Your copy should always deliver on its promises and guarantees.
- Don’t offer or claim to do/be something you can’t backup. Likewise for your products or services.
- It’s important to get your reader’s attention- it can be difficult because of all the competition and our short attention spans (humans have an attention span of less than 7 seconds)
- Treat them with respect. Don’t talk down to them. Relate to them.
- Stand behind your claims and guarantees.
- When writing your copy, make sure you check out what the competition is doing. Don’t reinvent the wheel but use their copy as inspiration (remember: use your swipe file!)
- Clarity is important in copy so be sure to be merciless when dissecting your copy. Unless a specific line adds to the value or somehow helps your copy, delete it. It’s a distraction.
- Pay attention to some of the best copywriters out there like: Marc Goldman, Alex Mandossian.
- Be ready to dissect every ad you come across- whether it’s on tv, a magazine, or a sales flyer/postcard that comes in the mail.
- Never forget AIDA
- Always practice, practice, practice.
- Realize that the competition is steep and you’re competing with other businesses like yours who may write better copy.
- Write in a conversational tone like you were talking to a friend or family member over a coffee or drink.
- Remember: It’s never about you. They don’t care about you.
- Always have a call to action. Always always always!