We are living in an e-age where everybody wants to sale their product or
services through Internet. In the physical world your interacting behavior and
friendly relationship can create a better avenue for selling your products. Your
face to face interaction can completely convince an individual to buy your
product.
But in the internet world everything is different. You just get 10 seconds to grab a visitor's attention who may turn into your customers. Your only way of
interaction with your customers is your sales copy. So it must be a copy which really generates sales. It's not an easy task to make your visitor pull out their credit cards out of their pocket.
Are you also thinking of selling your products or services on net? Well it's a great decision. Now what points you should consider when creating a sales copy for your product or services. Here it is:
1. Head line:
Head line is most important part of your web copy. In fact a great headline is
90% success of your sales page. When somebody comes to your site, usually
you have only 10 seconds to grab his attention. Most people will make a decision about reading your sales page in less than 10 seconds. If your headline is compelling enough to grab your visitor's attention they will stay otherwise they will go to other website.
>> Tell about the biggest benefit of your product in headline.
>> Create some serious problem and tell your visitors that you can solve their problem.
>> Show specific results of using your product in your headline. Like if you are selling a book about dog training, tell them that in next 15 days your dog will follow all your instructions.
>> Use attention grabbing words in your headline like Free, Save, Guaranteed.
Many big copywriters say that headlines can increase response rate by up to
1500%.
2. Sub Headline:
A sub head line gives you one more opportunity to grab your visitor's attention and pursue them to read your sales page. Highlights your product's benefits again and create a feeling of urgency in your sub headline so it encourages your visitor to read your sales page.
3. Bulleted Points:
In today's world everybody is very busy and always in hurry. Usually your visitors first quickly skim your webpage to know what's in it for them. Bulleted points always grab attention because it's easy to read. So always tell your product's benefits through bulleted points. Remember bulleted points just act like bullet and triggers a human mind.
A bit of suggestion: always convert your products features into its benefits.
4. Credibility:
It's also a key point of a successful web copy. Your customer must feel that it's not just a sales copy. A real person is sitting behind it. You should put your photo, your full contact details (not just email, full physical address and phone number) in your sales copy.
Testimonials are one of the best ways to build credibility but it should be real not fake. Many people think that they can fool their visitors by placing fake
testimonials but I want to make you clear that whatever you think about your
visitors, your sales page reflect that.
A strong Guarantee is also essential to build your credibility. You may also place an audio or video message to give them a sense of belonging and a kindly feeling.
5. Bonuses:
It's a human psychology to aspire to get one or more thing free with the
product. Offer them some bonuses related to the product you are offering. If you are selling dog training book, you may offer a dog food recipes ebook or a dog health checkup guide.
Try to feel them that the bonuses you are offering are worth more than the price they are paying. It's a good idea to offer digital products as bonus because you have to invest only once to create them and delivery cost is also zero.
6. Sense of Urgency:
You must create a sense of urgency in your sales page. Make them realize that once they lose this offer they will never get it again. Give them an extra price discount, more bonuses, or any lucrative offers which make them buy. You can also offer personal email consultation if they buy within a time frame.
7. Ask for order:
Many people make a great mistake in their sales letter. They write a wonderful sales letter but never ask for order. In the sales letter make it a key point that you are here to sell your product. So ask your visitors to place an order in clear words. It is a must to call them again and again to buy your products on a single sales page.
8. P.S. Lines:
Life goes busy and no one have a spare time to even read your sales copy.
Sometimes they just see your headline and your P.S. Lines. Top copywriters
believe that 9% success of a sales letter depends on P.S. lines. Make it strong and compelling. Pinpoint your product's benefits, bonuses and any special offer you are offering.
These are some points for a perfect sales copy. If you follow these simple points, your dream of having a long queue of customers eager to buy your products will get true.
"Can you give me some feedback on my website?" a life coach named "Kevin" asked his e-zine subscribers. "I just revised my site - -finally!"
Naturally, I couldn't resist clicking over to see what Kevin had done. I knew Kevin was a thoughtful coach with a reputation for high integrity.
Kevin's new site cried out for a re-makeover. He had paid a designer to get drop-down menus and a bit of flash. As a result, Kevin admitted, "I have no budget to pay a copywriter."
Ouch.
After skimming a few pages of the site, I emailed Kevin. "Who is your target market? What do you offer? How are you unique?"
Kevin replied, "I asked for feedback. I don't have time to answer a lot of questions. And everyone tells me the site looks professional."
Okay. I can take a hint.
Sure, the site looks professional. But Kevin admits he's in trouble. So far, he's gotten nothing but compliments -- no orders and no calls.
What can we learn from Kevin?
(1) Copywriters can save you money.
Often I (and other experienced copywriters) can save clients money on web design. Kevin didn't need all those bells and whistles. In fact, some Internet marketing gurus claim they do more harm than good.
And Kevin didn't understand HTML, let alone CSS. A copywriter might serve as go-between, translating Kevin's requirements into web design language. Your web designer saves time - which translates into saving money.
(2) Copywriters help you earn money.
Reading between the lines, I discovered Kevin could be a stand-out. He has developed an innovative 5-step process to help clients overcome obstacles and take charge of their lives.
But Kevin doesn't realize why he's unique, so his website reads like five thousand other life coaching sites: vague promises of "take your life to the next level," "discover what's important to you" and "enjoy the work you love."<
Naturally I'm disguising the details of "Kevin's" story, but I really don't have to. Hundreds (maybe thousands) of sites sound just like Kevin's.
(3) Copywriting is collaborative.
Like Kevin, my clients often think they can show me a few pages of a website and say, "Make it sell!" Copywriting requires energy and planning, whether you're a do-it-yourselfer or a firm believer in outsourcing to a specialist.
My clients often invest many hours answering my questionnaire. As they write, they often realize there's a hole in their business strategy. Or they're sitting on buried treasure.
Until I know what Kevin wants to do with his website and his business, I can't make realistic recommendations - even as a casual ezine reader. I need to evaluate Kevin's copy in the context of Kevin's own goals, target market and unique selling proposition.
Kevin could do this himself. But, like most busy business owners, he didn't want to invest the time. And he wasn't sure what questions to ask.
When clients hire me, we have the luxury (and fun!) of creating a marketing message that hits the target market squarely in the center of the bull's-eye.
Bottom Line: Websites deliver messages. Without a message, a website is a calling card - nice when you have more business than you can handle.
Most of the time, revising copy brings traffic and sales. Websites typically earn back the copy investment with just a few new clients, not to mention saving energy and funds by avoiding a makeover to recover the makeover.
And one day you realize you're not getting compliments... but you *are* getting sales.
When you write, you likely find yourself wrestling with questions. I certainly do, everything from the proper form of abbreviations to the placement of apostrophes. Ideally, you want to get past those questions quickly, so you can focus on the message, not the writing.
Among the tools that helps us answer questions quickly and consistently are stylebooks: those manuals that recommend certain styles or usage. They come in a number of flavors and you may wish to have all of them on hand. But, more importantly, select one and use its recommendations consistently.
This week we look at the Associated Press Stylebook, a useful and frequently-cited reference work for writers.
As the title suggests, it comes from the people at the Associated Press (AP) wireservice, and serves journalists and mass-media writers. By way contrast, the Chicago Manual of Style (to cite another important reference book) serves academics and others who write formally, as well as book writers, editors, and publishers.
The AP Stylebook emphasizes usage of commonly cited names, events, and language. For example, under the listing for assassin, it explains the proper use of three similar concepts: 'assassin,' 'killer,' and 'murderer' (in case you were wondering, the AP book defines an assassin as a politically motivated killer, a killer as anyone who kills with any motive, and a murderer as a killer who has been convicted in a court of law).
Since journalists must contend with the pressure of deadlines, this book is laid out like a dictionary, with the entries in alphabetical order. Each entry is brief and deals with issues that journalists would face in everyday writing.
Many entries provide a standard for capitalization, spelling, use of abbreviations, and other useful information. Rules for grammar can be found under headings such as 'Possessives'.
Incidentally, many other news organizations, in the U.S. and other countries, have their own style guides. In Canada, for example, there's the Canadian Press stylebook. So, if you're writing for a particular wire-service or news organization, check to see if they have their own style guide.
The Associated Press Stylebook comes in two flavors: 'The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law,' and 'The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Law.' The latter is as readily available as the former. Check your bookstore for details.
This article is all about how to achieve fluency and looks at the specific speech impediment known as stammering/stuttering. My name is Steve Hill, I suffered with a stutter from the age of four and despite regular conventional speech therapy, continued stuttering until the age of twenty-two.
I found life with a stutter extremely frustrating as at times I could speak very well. For example when I spoke to what is now my ex-girlfriend I very rarely had a problem, however when attempting to speak to her parents I struggled quite badly.
When I was drunk my fluency level also would improve to a level where I would be shocked if I stuttered at all.
I could not understand why I could talk to one person but not to another and why I could speak when I was drunk but not when I was sober.
I read many books about speech imediments, achieving fluency and stuttering and spoke to many speech therapists. From what I read and from what I was told, I was made to believe that I was unable to live a stuttering-free life as it suggested you are unable to eradicate a stutter.
This is a very negative attitude, however I could not really believe what I was hearing and reading as I knew I could talk very well at times.
I then was fortunate enough to watch Bruce Willis being interviewed on the television. He stated that he had had a stutter which had started when he was a young boy, however he had managed to achieve fluency when he was a late teenager. This was a huge inspiration to me and I then decided that I would attempt to overcome my own speech impediment.
After nearly a year of working very hard by reading books about positive thinking and mind over matter and by basically studying people who I thought were great speakers, I also managed to beat the stutter. As a career I now help other people to achieve fluency.
