Writing Sales Copy That Earns Millions Of Dollars - Fast!
Writing sales copy tends to be under-appreciated and undervalued in the marketing world.
All the ad agencies have their secret ways of advertising products and promoting your business, and forget about learning the art of Direct Response Marketing! Well, blowing off DRM sales copy is a huge mistake, so in this article I'll introduce a simple five-point formula that will help you write better sales copy.
What will this formula do for you? That depends on your offer, the marketplace you're selling to, and a 101 other factors that contribute to the success or failure of a specific promotion.
But we've brought in millions of dollars with these strategies, and there's no reason at all why they can't work for any offer that reaches the right audience.
Step #1 is to start with a basic idea that you think your marketplace will respond to.
It's important for you to know that marketplace thoroughly.
Armed with that knowledge, consider who you want as your best customers.
Think about who your best customers are already, if you have an existing customer base.
What do they want the most? What kind of offers will they respond to best? That's the kind of offer you want to make to them -- a killer offer that they can't refuse.
Step #2 is to kill some trees.
Get it all down on paper; or if you'd prefer to stay fully digital, on the computer screen.
It's basically the same.
Go crazy with your copy.
Dream and imagine what the offer could be, or what you would like it to be, by writing down all kinds of ideas.
This may include some actual copywriting, but you're not really writing a sales letter at this point.
Something you should know (if you don't already) is that writing a sales letter rarely happens according to a particular format.
You don't just sit down at your computer and bang it out in perfect order, from the headline on through to the P.
S.
It never happens that way.
Usually you start with a brain-dump, capturing lots of notes and ideas about what you want your offer to be, including the benefits you know the prospect wants.
Then you organize and reorganize until it's in the order you like best.
Now, be careful here, because sometimes your brain starts throwing out negative comments about your ideas even as you're writing them.
Avoid the temptation to listen; just let the ideas flow.
Don't worry about whether they're feasible or not; don't worry about implementation.
Just imagine a best-case scenario in which you can get everything you want, with no concern for how you'll pull it off or how much it costs.
Right now you're just putting your ideas on paper.
Get all your ideas out, as many ideas as possible.
This may take several days, or even weeks.
I suggest you set a deadline, so you don't just keep going and going; but do spend some time letting the ideas flow, and don't throw away anything just yet.
When you're done, sit on it for a while before coming back to it.
Step #3 is where you boil it down.
Separate the best ideas and copy from the rest.
Start looking for things that would make good headlines for the offer.
Look for the strongest benefits.
Pore over your notes and weed out the unusable material in favor of the best of what you've written.
Once you've massaged it a while and started separating, sifting, and sorting, you'll start to see the rough outline of what will be your sales letter.
Step #4 is to identify 3-5 of your strongest benefits-or even as many as 10, if your project is especially large or far-reaching.
Start rewriting, looking for effective ways to incorporate those benefits into your sales copy.
This is where you start to really refine your brain dump.
The quantity isn't important at this point; just start with the strongest benefits.
Then you can decide if you have room for others.
You may find that the biggest benefit should be your headline-the biggest, boldest, promise you can make to your prospect.
The other good benefits might become bullets that describe what the buyer will get when they buy your product or service.
Remember to keep your copy benefit oriented, not feature oriented.
People don't care about features per se; they care about the benefits you can provide.
Then pull together your letter by writing a call to action, a close, and maybe a P.
S.
before polishing it up and adding the finishing touches.
Step #5 is to test the sales letter, so you can determine whether or not this baby has legs and whether it's going to be what you thought it would be back in the daydreaming phase.
Get the letter in the mail to your best customers and see how they respond.
Be sure to analyze the numbers carefully.
Code your letters so you know where the orders came from when they do come in.
That's critical.
Test, analyze, revise, and retest; and with a bit of luck, success, and skill, you can have yourself a hit offer.
Then you can start testing it to people who don't know you.
Start with your best customers, then move on to new prospects.
Those are the five core strategies for writing sales copy that can produce millions of dollars in the right setting.
One advantage we have in the information-selling business is that we can actually dream up the ideal product.
If we're interested in real estate, we can start thinking about unusual ways for people to make money with real estate, then start writing copy for something that doesn't exist yet.
If you're a merchant who has a certain type of product you're trying to sell, you can't really start dreaming about things that don't exist yet, because you're in business to sell that particular product.
What you need to do is start thinking about writing copy for offers that bundle your various products and make them more attractive.
You might tell them that if they'll buy this product for X dollars, you'll throw in another product for half-price.
If it's a cheap product, you might even throw it in for free.
So you still have the ability to create copy for something that isn't offered by your store or business yet, and make it work that way.
The key is to start thinking about innovative ways you can market things, and get them down on paper.
Write down everything you think of, and don't judge anything until you're finished brainstorming.
Only after you've killed a lot of trees do you run it all through the filter and decide whether what you've written is worthwhile.
You'll discover that some ideas are unworkable, while others may simply seem silly.
Sometimes they're even kind of crazy-but some of those crazy ideas will also be great ideas, once you've modified them to fit reality.
Just look for things that best fit your offer.
One of the best things about creating information products is that they have no set intrinsic value; you can charge whatever you think they're worth.
You always have the leeway to dream up new things, even if you're tied down to specific products; you can always bundle them with compatible products, services, or bonuses.
In doing so, you distinguish yourself from competitors who do business the same old vanilla way, day after day.
Just be aware that this is a process with a learning curve, and that the best way to get good ideas is to get a lot of ideas.
Sometimes it takes months or years to get good at this; in fact, your best ideas often come after you've been in the market for a while.
Don't be discouraged by that, because in the meantime you can make plenty of money.
All the ad agencies have their secret ways of advertising products and promoting your business, and forget about learning the art of Direct Response Marketing! Well, blowing off DRM sales copy is a huge mistake, so in this article I'll introduce a simple five-point formula that will help you write better sales copy.
What will this formula do for you? That depends on your offer, the marketplace you're selling to, and a 101 other factors that contribute to the success or failure of a specific promotion.
But we've brought in millions of dollars with these strategies, and there's no reason at all why they can't work for any offer that reaches the right audience.
Step #1 is to start with a basic idea that you think your marketplace will respond to.
It's important for you to know that marketplace thoroughly.
Armed with that knowledge, consider who you want as your best customers.
Think about who your best customers are already, if you have an existing customer base.
What do they want the most? What kind of offers will they respond to best? That's the kind of offer you want to make to them -- a killer offer that they can't refuse.
Step #2 is to kill some trees.
Get it all down on paper; or if you'd prefer to stay fully digital, on the computer screen.
It's basically the same.
Go crazy with your copy.
Dream and imagine what the offer could be, or what you would like it to be, by writing down all kinds of ideas.
This may include some actual copywriting, but you're not really writing a sales letter at this point.
Something you should know (if you don't already) is that writing a sales letter rarely happens according to a particular format.
You don't just sit down at your computer and bang it out in perfect order, from the headline on through to the P.
S.
It never happens that way.
Usually you start with a brain-dump, capturing lots of notes and ideas about what you want your offer to be, including the benefits you know the prospect wants.
Then you organize and reorganize until it's in the order you like best.
Now, be careful here, because sometimes your brain starts throwing out negative comments about your ideas even as you're writing them.
Avoid the temptation to listen; just let the ideas flow.
Don't worry about whether they're feasible or not; don't worry about implementation.
Just imagine a best-case scenario in which you can get everything you want, with no concern for how you'll pull it off or how much it costs.
Right now you're just putting your ideas on paper.
Get all your ideas out, as many ideas as possible.
This may take several days, or even weeks.
I suggest you set a deadline, so you don't just keep going and going; but do spend some time letting the ideas flow, and don't throw away anything just yet.
When you're done, sit on it for a while before coming back to it.
Step #3 is where you boil it down.
Separate the best ideas and copy from the rest.
Start looking for things that would make good headlines for the offer.
Look for the strongest benefits.
Pore over your notes and weed out the unusable material in favor of the best of what you've written.
Once you've massaged it a while and started separating, sifting, and sorting, you'll start to see the rough outline of what will be your sales letter.
Step #4 is to identify 3-5 of your strongest benefits-or even as many as 10, if your project is especially large or far-reaching.
Start rewriting, looking for effective ways to incorporate those benefits into your sales copy.
This is where you start to really refine your brain dump.
The quantity isn't important at this point; just start with the strongest benefits.
Then you can decide if you have room for others.
You may find that the biggest benefit should be your headline-the biggest, boldest, promise you can make to your prospect.
The other good benefits might become bullets that describe what the buyer will get when they buy your product or service.
Remember to keep your copy benefit oriented, not feature oriented.
People don't care about features per se; they care about the benefits you can provide.
Then pull together your letter by writing a call to action, a close, and maybe a P.
S.
before polishing it up and adding the finishing touches.
Step #5 is to test the sales letter, so you can determine whether or not this baby has legs and whether it's going to be what you thought it would be back in the daydreaming phase.
Get the letter in the mail to your best customers and see how they respond.
Be sure to analyze the numbers carefully.
Code your letters so you know where the orders came from when they do come in.
That's critical.
Test, analyze, revise, and retest; and with a bit of luck, success, and skill, you can have yourself a hit offer.
Then you can start testing it to people who don't know you.
Start with your best customers, then move on to new prospects.
Those are the five core strategies for writing sales copy that can produce millions of dollars in the right setting.
One advantage we have in the information-selling business is that we can actually dream up the ideal product.
If we're interested in real estate, we can start thinking about unusual ways for people to make money with real estate, then start writing copy for something that doesn't exist yet.
If you're a merchant who has a certain type of product you're trying to sell, you can't really start dreaming about things that don't exist yet, because you're in business to sell that particular product.
What you need to do is start thinking about writing copy for offers that bundle your various products and make them more attractive.
You might tell them that if they'll buy this product for X dollars, you'll throw in another product for half-price.
If it's a cheap product, you might even throw it in for free.
So you still have the ability to create copy for something that isn't offered by your store or business yet, and make it work that way.
The key is to start thinking about innovative ways you can market things, and get them down on paper.
Write down everything you think of, and don't judge anything until you're finished brainstorming.
Only after you've killed a lot of trees do you run it all through the filter and decide whether what you've written is worthwhile.
You'll discover that some ideas are unworkable, while others may simply seem silly.
Sometimes they're even kind of crazy-but some of those crazy ideas will also be great ideas, once you've modified them to fit reality.
Just look for things that best fit your offer.
One of the best things about creating information products is that they have no set intrinsic value; you can charge whatever you think they're worth.
You always have the leeway to dream up new things, even if you're tied down to specific products; you can always bundle them with compatible products, services, or bonuses.
In doing so, you distinguish yourself from competitors who do business the same old vanilla way, day after day.
Just be aware that this is a process with a learning curve, and that the best way to get good ideas is to get a lot of ideas.
Sometimes it takes months or years to get good at this; in fact, your best ideas often come after you've been in the market for a while.
Don't be discouraged by that, because in the meantime you can make plenty of money.