Anxious to get started writing your sales letter? Good. I strongly urge you to begin with a plan. With a simple plan or outline in place, you'll be armed with all the essentials you need to create a powerful and persuasive piece.
It doesn't matter what your writing project is – book, report, or sales letter. Planning makes life easier. It organizes your thoughts. It gives you a roadmap to follow so you're never stuck at a dead end. A sales letter plan forces you to think things through up front -- before you write -- making the actual writing much easier and giving it a smoother flow.
It doesn't matter what your writing project is – book, report, or sales letter. Planning makes life easier. It organizes your thoughts. It gives you a roadmap to follow so you're never stuck at a dead end. A sales letter plan forces you to think things through up front -- before you write -- making the actual writing much easier and giving it a smoother flow.
When you get right down to it, a sales letter plan helps you:
• Gather Important Information
• Organize and Assess All Available Data
• Assemble Key Sales Letter Components
• Prioritize Benefits Based On Their Appeal To Prospects
• Confirm That The Important Ingredients Are All Present Before You Begin
A sales letter plan simplifies the actual writing. It gives you concrete material from which to work. It naturally dictates the direction you take, and it enables you to follow along a roadmap to the successful completion of your sales letter.
The more detailed your plan, the easier it is to write compelling sales copy. With a plan, you're never left wondering what to write next. All the essential information is right before your eyes -- making it quicker and easier to form interesting and persuasive copy.
"When it comes to writing copy, far too much attention is paid to the actual writing and far too little is paid to ferreting out facts about that which the copywriter is trying to sell."
Gary Halbert
Planning isn't just a means to an end, however. Yes, having a completed sales letter plan in front of you is very important. But the hidden value of your plan lies in the thinking processes that go into completing it. As even the most basic of plans takes shape, you'll discover valuable ideas, key points, and concepts to employ. A plan literally forces you to think things through ahead of time.
After you've used this method to write a few sales letters, you'll see how getting it all recorded on paper helps you tremendously.
Crafting a sales letter plan does take time -- perhaps this is why so few do it. But the time and effort expended always pays a worthwhile dividend. A plan gives you direction, power, and focus. It puts you on a straight path towards your goal.
So you're in class on the first day of the week attentively listening to your professor giving a lecture. In the morning announcement the professor informs the class that two months from now a research paper will be due about some ambiguous topic causing the entire class to moan in agony. After much disbelief and complaint the professor continues on with her lecture for the remaining of the session while you think to yourself, 'Two months is a lot of time.'
Wrong. Two months is definitely not enough time. Thinking you can procrastinate for something like this is what eventually gets you kicked out of school. The professor gave you a two months period to write this research paper because that is the average time it takes for someone to write a well thought-out, well written paper. If you think you can write an A-grade paper in less than a month, then you're either a prodigy or an idiot.
Considering that many of us are more or less well defined by the latter and therefore it is a much more responsible decision if we decide to start off on this project as soon as possible. But where do we begin? Well, first off we need to find a specific topic to write about. You can do this whenever you have free time because it doesn't require you to sit in front of your desk while you think of nothing. Just keep it in your mind as you go about your day when you have time to think of other thoughts. Once you find a topic to write about the hard part begins.
Now that you have a topic, you have to decide on how specific or ambiguous you want to write about your topic. To help you decide on this, you need to go about researching on about your topic and giving a day or two to see what is available on the internet and in print. If your topic barely has any information it might be a good idea to try to come up with a little broader topic making it a bit easier to write your research paper.
Once you decide on how thorough you wish to write your paper the time for research, as the name of the paper suggests, begins. This is the part where most of your time is spent. A good month or possibly even more can be spent on researching on what you are writing about. Many people think the research part comes easy, and it sometimes does. But the one fact people tend to ignore that is that not all the information given out there is true.
With faulty research you can write something in your paper that you may think it's true because someone else said it was while you were researching but that person may have been in the same position as yourself and was ignorant to the fact it may have been a false statement to begin with. To prevent this, it is better to find out about a fact and cross reference it multiple times with various dependable sources, mainly print as the internet has all kinds of faulty information.
Once you think you have enough material to write your paper you can now begin. Write your draft early so you have lots of time to revise it because your first draft is usually your worst draft. After you have had it edited and revised multiple times, once you feel with full confidence or the deadline is now you can at least hand in something that is college material.
So what's the big deal about copywriting for the Internet? It's the same as any other form of copywriting isn't it? In a word, yes. But in another word, no. Confused? Sick of all these questions? I had better myself explain then.
No matter what medium you are using, all copywriting should have one prime objective - create an effective message that appeals to the audience it is intended to influence. This golden rule applies to websites, brochures, and sales letters, even adding a nice message to Grandma's little pink birthday card. However, the Internet presents a number of unique challenges for a copywriter, even if the people reading your sales letters are the same ones reading your website.
Think about it for a minute. Do you read on the Internet the same way you read on paper? Not for long. First of all, there are comfort factors such as the monitor resolution, colours, glare, and a reading surface that doesn't move. Secondly, we are conditioned to read websites in a different manner. Online, we are quite comfortable scanning sub-headings, clicking on hyperlinks, and jumping between pages.
Thirdly, the majority of people looking at your business website are there because they seek a service that you provide. After all, they made the effort to visit you didn't they? The online reader can be impatient and demanding, and they usually know what they want before they click through he door. If your business doesn't impress them straight away, it's a quick tap on the keyboard to find someone who will. Even if you do provide the product or service they need, it doesn't take much effort to duck into your competitors store for a browse around. Website copywriting is a bit like speed dating – you have to make a big first impression and leave them thinking "I bet we'd be good together".
Readers of hard copy sales material don't have the luxury to pick and choose, so they become somewhat of a captive audience. After all, it takes a lot more effort to call or visit your competitors business in the real world. In addition, a brochure could sit on a potential customers desk for months, staring at them with puppy dog eyes, day in day out, until one day the customer decides to make some enquiries.
With these unique challenges in mind, here are a few copywriting pointers to help make your website a lean, mean, highly effective, sales machine:
1. Snatch their attention from the first paragraph
Most visitors spent less than one minute summing up a website before they decide whether to stay or go. There is no time for waffling paragraphs about who you are, where you live, and how your wife makes the best apple pie. You have to get to the point as fast as you can. If you don't convey your key message in the first few lines, don't expect many people to be around to read them further on.
2. Short paragraphs
If you want people to read your website, forget the long descriptive, romantic prose about the salubrious ambience of your pulchritudinous offer. They will only think you are stercorous (take my word for it, you really don't want to be). Short paragraphs are most effective on the web because they can be differentiated and skimmed at a glance. Visual layout is the key.
3. Make sure your copy flows
Reading online is straining enough. Flowing on from the point above, using jargon, formal language and/or trying to impress your audience with your knowledge of words containing more than ten letters will only make the reader irritated, frustrated and start to think about places or sites they'd rather be.
4. KISS
Remember the old adage Keep It Simple Stupid? Write as though your audience is a bunch of twelve year olds. Don't sound patronising, but don't assume they know anything about your business or what you do. They have arrived laden with buring questions, "What are you selling?" "Why should I choose you?" "Where are you?" "How can I get some of this?" "How much is it?"
5. Appropriately tempt your audience
A lot of hot and personal activity goes down on the Internet, but lets face it, the technology itself isn't causing readers monitors to fog up. The content is what makes things exciting. The Internet itself is just an impersonal two-dimensional screen. Good copywriting might not always be intended to get the heart racing, but it must connect with your intended audience to break through this impersonal barrier. Maybe you need a little humor, sophistication, cold corporate speak, personal touch, or yes, even something racy.
As a writer who works on multiple projects at any given time, I attempt to pin down a deadline from my clients even if one is not stated. Why? Because, the "I am in no hurry for these" statements invariably becomes, "are you done with the articles?" How embarrassing is that if I make the assumption that a project could be put off, especially if my client wants it now?
I have learned to do the following: as soon as I get a project I ask for a specific timeline for when the job should be completed. If the client wants to receive proofs by a certain time, they will. I will also ask them to return to me the reworked article by a certain time too, especially if the "final copy" deadline is fast approaching. No one likes to respond to a panicked, "where is my finished copy?!" statement especially if the hang up is on their end. Regardless of the reason, the burden falls on you, the writer, if there are any snags.
Fortunately, most jobs I do are "in progress" almost as soon as I accept the assignment. Generally, I start my research right away and then I start working on an outline of the article. Once satisfied with the outline, I craft a rough draft and, finally, I write my final copy. Sometimes I take a break between the various steps in order to get more information, give my mind a rest, or simply to attend to other matters.
So, if I receive an urgent request [or demand!] for the completed project I can usually respond very quickly with at least some of the work immediately. Human nature, being what it is, I can expect that even agreed upon deadlines will shift around from time to time. How I respond to these types of demands is indicative to how well I work with my clients.
Although it sounds strange to you, to hear your own voice over the P.A, in fact it doesn't sound any different to the audience than if you were talking to them in normal conversation.
The trick here is to be Yourself, if you haven't got the skill to project a warm friendly personality at the functions where ice breaking is required then being an entertainer isn't for you. The trick is to find a balance, most people would simply hire the gear - saving around 50% of a D.J's booking fee and throw a NOW Cd on - if human input and personality wasn't important to them. At some functions, if they pay for an entertainer and get a human jukebox who doesn't own a mic and just sits there playing music then they occasionally feel cheated!.
I can't stress the "BE YOURSELF", advice enough, don't put on a radio style zany DJ voice - that will sound false and doesn't fool anybody. If you are lucky enough to have a D.J training you, or are a young person helping an older mentor D.J then DON'T be tempted to become a clone of him or her. Adopt your own mic style (not a false voice), use your own tag lines but don't rely on the same cliche's 20 or 30 times a night - this becomes boring and predictable.
Don't rely on "that was", "This is" introductions all night. At some functions going out with a Radio Mic and creating banter with your audience is a great way to break the ice at the beginning of difficult, non formal functions - and a good way of enouraging them onto the dancefloor early on. You can relax the mic work and the frquency of them - once the dancefloor is filling.
Of course there are always going to be functions where you need more mic work than the last, and other functions where it is going to be little mic use, but the key is to develop a style and strength and confidence in your mic working ability and not to rely on non stop music alone to do the work for you.
Just be yourself, and talk normally into the microphone. The thing to work on is to speak confidentally and clearly and try to pace yourself. Speaking too fast will make what you are saying sound garbled, speaking too slow will make you sound like you are addressing a bunch of village idiots . Pretty soon, with a little time and practice you'll develop your own individual skill and style and that is the most important aspect, don't try to copy anybody else or put on a different voice, it will sound false and make learning and maintaining the technique a lot more difficult.
If being a comedian is not you, then avoid the jokes unless you are good at this sort of thing , forced comedy can sound false and you may find yourself laughing alone, after all the Client has booked a Mobile Disco and not a stand up comedian!. One of the best pieces of advice I was given my the D.J who trained me, was to "Stick at doing what you are good at and have been booked for, and if in any doubt then leave it out".
Spontaneous one liners are another matter, if something amusing happens, then share it - use the mic to get requests, make a fuss over other people celebrating birthdays / anniversaries - people like to have their 30 seconds of glory and hearing their name mentioned, over the mic
My advice to those nervous about public speaking for the first time, is not to be frightened of the mic or avoid using one - its your closest and most useful ally, at all functions. Don't talk all over the track, learn to pace yourself over the outro of the previous track and any intro of the next track - don't gabble - talk clearly into the microphone as if you were talking to a friend. With time you should be able to familiarise yourself with how themore popular tracks end and finish, this way you can talk upto the vocal, similar to how they do on the radio - stopping your banter at the moment the vocal on the next track starts. Don't rush to perfect this or gabble to do so, it all comes with time and practice. Keep it simple to start off with.
Start with the easy stuff first, just introducing tracks, and buffet announcements. Once you've built up a bit of confidence, you'll move on from the 'That was….. this is….' routine. Try and include your audience, invite requests, make them feel welcome. Even if you are having a difficult gig don't take it out on the audience and try and look like you are enjoying yourself, even if it's not going to plan. Don't worry about making mistakes on the Mic, we all do from time to time, but don't draw attention to it, or dwell on it it'll just make it worse - besides making mistakes shows that you are human and not a pre-programmed jukebox
Keep key information on the gig, such as the Bride & Grooms' names, Best Man Name etc on a piece of paper on the mixer, so that you can casually glance down if you have a sudden memory blank, but don't write your links down as a speech, otherwise it will sound like you are reading from a script and less natural.
Remember that once the dancefloor is full, you can ease off the mic a little, but keep doing the requests and don't forget that it exists. Learn to find the balance, too much talking can bore the pants of your audience, too little mic work can make people think that you aren't earning your keep!. There are functions where you have a full Dancefloor and it would be obtrusive to chat all over the music when people want to dance, equally there are more formal functions where there isn't the room or inclination to dance, and so a bit of light hearted banter to break the ice and the empathsis on the entertainment side of being a DJ is required rather than just continuous music
All of this will take some time, don't expect to develop a mic technique overnight just take it one gig at a time.
