How To Master Copywriting for Your Website Using a Systems Approach
By: Jim Green
Submitted: 2011-07-16 22:46:50 | Word Count: 1162
If you had to pick one area of expertise that would be of most value to your marketing business in the next 10 years, what would it be? Since the mid 1850's, copywriting as been the mainstay of the advertising realm. Jason Fladlien has become an Internet marketing sensation in under 3 years, largely based on his copywriting skils. Anyone can enjoy massive results based on Jason Fladlien's 9 Step Copywriting formula, described here. Using this method, anyone with the desire is capable of writing exceptional sales letters within 3 hours.
Step 1 - Research - All research for your letter must be done in 20 minutes or less. Specifically you have to know three MAIN fears and an ideal solution the prospect pictures in their mind. The quickest way to do this is to look at other people's sales letters in the same niche to figure out likely problems/solutions. As an example, his $40 ghostwriting system sales letter exposed the following fears: it won't work for the prospect, they will never make money online with it, and it will take a lot of effort. His 3 main benefits were that it will work in 7 days or less, it's perfect for those who have previously "struggled" in marketing, and a double your money back guarantee. His ultimate solution was those buying his course would be making $40 an hour within 7 days.
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Step 2 - Your Offer - Once you have a general idea of their "ideal solution," create your letter. Your offer is 80% of your success, and the actual writing is only about 10%. Therefore copywriting should actually be called "copyoffering." An offer includes:
a) What they get including a the offer itself and bonus. One bonus that is something people WANT but wouldn't pay for, e.g., time management or information overload. One bonus that is time-limited and one bonus that is "sexy" and closes the deal.
b) The price they have to pay and why it's such a good deal. It's a bargain, which is less than they SHOULD have had to pay, e.g., the "flea market" mentality. There are three ways to make ANY price seem to be a bargain, including dollars at a discount, time saving value, and intangibles (spending time with your children).
c) A way to diminish risk, e.g., a 100% money back guarantee, for instance: "Get this and go through it immediately. If after 10 minutes, you don't feel you've already gotten your money's worth..I DEMAND you contact me.. and I will return every penny of your purchase...quietly and promptly...No questions asked. You only stand to gain by acting on this immediately...better still ..." Note that the focus is on the positive here vs. the usual "You have nothing to lose," which focuses on the negative. This example also includes two action directives, instructing the prospect to purchase. Jason often adds "We don't want unsatisfied people in our business," to further strengthen his offer.
Step 3 - Proof - Even if you don't yet have the proof, you can "interview" an expert. RTIR.com can be used to locate experts. This will allow you to gain experience and build a portfolio of your own "copywriting" clients. Another type of proof is simply providing good information, which in fact is best of all. The "puppy dog close" says to just take the dog home and you can return it if it doesn't work out. This is essentially a risk-free trial with the product. In a similar vein, your sales letter can give away a complete secret, e.g., the experience of owning your product (or sampling it) straightforwardly in the sales letter. This makes your advertising valuable in and of itself! If you can't come up with one tip in your sales letter, then your offer probably SUCKS!
Step 4 - Story (optional) - This step, although optional, typically provides something to "hang" the offer on. This is like the skeleton of your sales letter. Jason has found 3 basic story plots in use today. He almost always uses the journey plot, which is used 70% of the time in sales copy. This is where I started, then I hit a low point; just when I thought it couldn't get worse it actually did; then I discovered "the solution" which give me my first success; now look where I am today and this is why I'm sharing it now with you.
Step 5 - Benefits - This is to a large extent done and included in the proof above. Bullet points are typically used, including the following types:
a) Very Specific Benefit. Make your promise of benefit VERY credible by being very specific, without revealing the answer.
b) Contradictive - Say why the conventionally held wisdom is plainly wrong.
c) Curiosity - Saying something very puzzling or odd that they MUST find the answer to, and will want to get your product to find it out.
Step 6 - Scarcity - Even though your product has the best benefit, you need your prospects to be out of their comfort zone using scarcity. Here is an example: " We will be holding a hands-on webinar at this date, so you must buy before then to get the invitation."
Step 7 - The Headline - The easiest headline is "How to do ____ in a [specific time frame]. The following is an example: "How to write a 400 word article in 7 minutes or less including proof reading and research." Another example is "My Best Converting Squeeze Pages all Contain Less Than 100 Words and Take Only 4 Minutes To Create."
Step 8 - The Opening Paragraph - The best and simplest way is to expand on your headline with added benefits and then add in your guarantee.
Step 9 - Put Together the Letter - After the intro paragraph, start on your story and finish your story by introducing your offer. Describe your "core" offer with bullet points. Reveal your proof elements. Explain the price and why it's such a good deal. Then add in bonuses WITH scarcity and explain the guarantee (crafted as a call to action). Finally, you can simply ask for the order. See Jason's Profit Equation: goldenmembercoaching.com/profit-equation for an example.
After a few times, doing a sales letter using this formula will become much easier. It is a vitally needed skill for anyone operating in the attraction marketing space. Although many start out with a turn-key system, such as MLSP, learning copywriting should be high on your priority list.
If you had to pick one area of expertise that would be of most value to your marketing business in the next 10 years, what would it be? Since the mid 1850's, copywriting as been the mainstay of the advertising realm. Jason Fladlien has become an Internet marketing sensation in under 3 years, largely based on his copywriting skils. Anyone can enjoy massive results based on Jason Fladlien's 9 Step Copywriting formula, described here. Using this method, anyone with the desire is capable of writing exceptional sales letters within 3 hours.