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Archive for Copywriting

5 Ways to Become Your Customer’s Habit – Part 1

By Susan Hamilton · Comments (4)
Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Small Business Tips: Build Value, Emphasize the Desirable

When you think about it, you’re a lot more valuable to your client the second, third, or even eighth time around. The more product they need from you, the more services they can’t do without – all point to a feeling of necessity that you want your client to have about your company.

That’s great from the point of view that a repeat customer represents additional sales. But consider the cost comparison between gaining a new customer versus keeping a repeat customer. Repeat customers cost considerably less to procure.

If you’re not already, you need to become your customer’s habit.

Right away.

Get your clients through a five-step cycle to get them to this point.

Honing in on one or more of their eight strongest desires will help you guide them to through the stages it will take to get them habitually needing some aspect of what your brand offers.

Fox listening and waiting.You’ll recognize these desires because we all have them. In fact, they’re undeniable:

  1. Survival, long life
  2. Companionship
  3. Care
  4. Social approval
  5. Superiority
  6. Sensual pleasures, like food, drink, and touch
  7. Lack of pain or danger
  8. Comfort

Speaking to these desires is a powerful way to to gain access to an otherwise unmotivated buyer.

That’s your first step to becoming their habit: get in their heads. Help them realize there’s something they need that they hadn’t thought of before. Create that need if you can honestly within your print and online material.

If you have to be deceptive to create a need or desire for your product or service, you’re on the wrong track. Consumers don’t want to be lied to and will avoid your brand if they can’t trust it. You want to establish trust. I can’t emphasize that enough.

My next post will cover more steps in this progression, stay tuned. Are you ready to become your customer’s habit? I hope so! Tell us, do you use a specific desire to motivate your customer?

Upcoming  Posts:

Small Business Tips: Influence Through Recognition, Pt 2

 

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Online Copywriting – Stick to The Main Thing

By Susan Hamilton · Comments (0)
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

What’s the point? Why is it so hard to stick to it when you write your online marketing copy?

You probably have many good points surrounding a topic. You want readers to know everything they need to know – all at once. You may  also struggle with choosing one intended audience.

Scrabble letters.Sometimes the result can read like a box top full of Scrabble letters. You’ll have much better copy if you learn to stick to one topic and one audience at a time. Landing pages and sales letters must be tightly focused on your readers’ emotional trigger, and your solution to their problem. Effective copywriting and content marketing, while not the same thing, most certainly work together when you see the big picture.

Go ahead and write everything out while it’s in your head, but know that you can’t use that copy effectively till you break it down. All the text, concepts, and additional topics can be used elsewhere when you’re writing online. Let me show you what I’m talking about.

  • Start with a broad brush, and consider it version one.
  • Now go back and search for instances where you may have confused more than one audience. Highlight everything that pertains to one or another in a different color. You may have two or three more pieces of content now!
  • Take everything relating to one topic and one audience and put it in another document. I use Google Docs and easily switch between tabs of things I’m writing on.
  • Using proper flow inside each paragraph, guide your reader from one thought to the next, keeping your paragraphs short and specific.
  • Analyze the order of your paragraphs, does it read more convincingly if you re-order them?

Now, do the same thing with your additional material. What you have now is something you can work with that will in turn work for you, because instead of one rambling piece of content, you now have two to five more concise pieces – maybe more – that may relate in some manner. Once you discover how they relate, create your plan.

  • Blog post series pointing to a landing page?
  • Article submission for back links to your website?
  • Email marketing series or blast?
  • E-book?
  • All of the above?

Write it all down, and then tear it apart. Yep, that’s my advice! Let me know how that worked for you. When you leave me a comment, my CommentLuv Plugin will pull a link to your last post for our readers to check out. I’ll be looking, too!

Photo Credit: allyrose18 on Flickr made available through a Creative Commons License.

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How to Write Engaging Copy

By Susan Hamilton · Comments (0)
Friday, May 27th, 2011

I went to a networking mixer put on by Dallas SEM a couple of months ago because I wanted to meet Brian Clark, Copyblogger, and absorb some much-needed brilliance. I enjoy his perspective, but I really find his business-sense fascinating. That dude is seriously making some good choices.

I told him he was my mentor. He was less-than-moved, though polite.

He just doesn’t know me yet. I’m still a small potato by comparison. I’m not discouraged about that; we share many of the same viewpoints on popular subject matter – the main thing being a love of great copy. Great copy is engaging and convincing.

Racecar. Convince me, I totally dig it! A good argument, a persuasive monologue – some things just turn my key.

While online copywriting is changing in many respects due to our short attention spans, great copy continues to be read and shared regardless of the length. Some people swear by long copy, others insist long copy is dead. Love it or hate it, good long sales copy makes people money.

I personally hate long sales pages. Everyone I know hates long copy. But when Brian addressed the Dallas SEM group that night, he said he didn’t care how long it was if it was good. He said he was told over and over by big guys in the biz that he had to write short blog posts, for instance. No one would ever read long blog posts, they told him. He responded that he never had any trouble getting his material read, so it had to depend on the copy itself! Teehee … go figure.

Not to say that short landing pages don’t convert, that’s not the point.

Short or long, the copy has to be engaging to be read. Interesting, for sure, but if your reader stumbles all over your words, they’re not going to feel very captivated by the experience. Here is my list of tips that help me write better, more engaging copy. I think they’ll help you, too.

  • Focus on an immediate need or desire.
  • Delete all unnecessary words and phrases.
  • Use only excellent spelling and grammar, no matter what you’ve heard.
  • Remember your audience, and be sincere – speak directly to them.
  • Keep your offer relevant to the article, post or landing page.
  • Use brief paragraphs and bullets.
  • Read your material out loud, and
  • Peer-review for copy editing after your second version.
  • Never quit revising.

If you can nail those objectives in a compelling story, I know you’ll be pleased with the results. Tell me, what questions do you have about writing engaging copy? We’ll be happy to help. Leave us your questions and comments below!

Related Post:

Great Copywriting is Necessary For All Businesses

More Resources:

Zero To Sixty Marketing LLC

Copyblogger

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Great Copywriting is Necessary for All Businesses

By Susan Hamilton · Comments (7)
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

What makes great copy? Is it convincing, well-written grammatically, and spell-checked? Yes, but it should also be compelling, and worth your reader’s time. When I read something that just takes me around the block and back to square one, I’m no better off and I’ve wasted my time. If I end up somewhere else, though – if I end up coming to a conclusion that makes me respond, I’ve just been exposed to great copy.

Man going somewhereIf you want to know if you’re website copy is doing everything it can for you, contact me. I’ll review one page of your copy for absolutely nothing. It’s not that I give away my services, although I do offer quite a bit at no cost to my readers. More than anything, I want you to see the difference compelling copy will make for your overall marketing campaign.  It doesn’t take long for companies to realize effective copy DOES make the difference.

Is great copy really effective?

It’s not hype; it’s fact.

Have you ever wondered why you get those mailers addressed to the fictional “Occupant?” Do some make you cringe, while others raise “the eyebrow of curiosity” causing you to hang on to it and show it to someone, possibly even purchase? Never? Of course you have.

Well, they’re being sent out in droves right now, and competition for your attention is fierce. There is risk associated with direct mail advertising, and it isn’t the right choice for every business. For some companies direct mail is extremely effective. Marketers will tell you: everything from the color, to the pictures, to the right words and precision placement of those words was carefully scrutinized before the ad ran.

It stands to reason that free resources offered on the web make great copy a necessity for small businesses online, too. From Twitter to Facebook, to landing pages and blog posts, if the copy needs work, a business can unknowingly suffer.

Here’s a famous quote from Dad,

“When you don’t know, you don’t know that you don’t know.”

No kidding. That quote is especially true when it comes to your copy. If you think your web copy or direct mail advertisement could be more effective, you’re probably right.

How can you tell if your copy is working for you?

Remember not to sell or write for yourself. If you catch yourself reading your material and asking, “Would that convince me?” you’re in trouble. You’re not selling to you, you’re selling to those who already need you. What do they need? What problems of theirs do you solve with your product, service, or advice? Chances are your needs are not theirs, and you may have a whole lot more to offer when you change your perspective. Online improvements should noticeably increase traffic over time.

Tell us, are you enjoying higher rates of inquiries, service calls, or product sales as a result of changing your copywriting focus? Are you spending more on your online or direct mail campaigns? What works best for your local business?

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