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1. Just Thinking ...
2. Article ...
"I Almost Flunked English But Went On To Make
Millions of Dollars Writing Sales Copy!" By Joseph Sugarman
3.
Article ...
"Dear Joe - How Can You Judge Successful
Copywriting?" By Joe Robson http://adcopywriting.com
4. Kwik Tip
... "How To Begin Your Sales Message"
5. Article ...
"How an Ingenious Approach to Web Writing is ..."
By Maria Veloso
6. The Last Word
7. Stuff
Articles can be reprinted in their entirety, providing the author's resource details are kept intact.
--------------------------------------
1. Just Thinking ....
--------------------------------------
Hi, nice to be here:-)
It's been a few weeks since the last Digest, as I've been
traveling quite a bit recently.
2 weeks ago my wife and I returned from Tunisia in North Africa
and it was quite an experience to say the least. Now I'm well
used to having to barter for goods and souvenirs wherever I go
traveling, and I'm completely unfazed by persistent hustlers who
are hell bent on selling me something regardless of whether I
need it or not.
But Tunisia is by far the worst I've ever come across. They are
so overly aggressive that I was constantly reminded of the
similarity of their sales methods to the ever worsening hype I
see on the Internet.
Just like the 'Net, the majority carry on trying to out do each
other using the exact same sales pitch on the same potential
customers. In no time at all, even the 'greenest' tourist can
recite the sales script word for word.
Result? Eventually it becomes so annoying, that the customers
switch off altogether and have so little trust in the traders
that they buy nothing at all.
The script is the same. The 'voice' is the same. The promises are
the same. The products are same. The shops are the same. The
salesmen are the same. And they all promise the same lowest
price. And of course, you have to spend an age, digging and
digging and digging, until you determine the final price.
But a (very) few savvy traders have realized that hype turns
customers off, and they have opened stores offering goods at
fixed prices. This is their USP, and once you are inside they
gently persuade you to buy their goods by taking in interest in
what *you* want.
Sound familiar?
Article 5 by Maria Veloso reinforces my observations.
-----------
I've put a new page up on my Copywriting Website containing the
famous and timeless speech that Dr. Russell Conwell wrote to
generate millions of dollars to build his University. It's called
"Acres of Diamonds" and I never ever tire of reading it.
The page is at http://adcopywriting.com/diamonds.htm
Feel free to reprint it if you wish or send it to a friend.
Keep smilin', and I hope you find this month's articles useful.
Joe.
PS A few subscribers have been receiving the Digest in an
unformatted state. I apologize for that. Sometime this week my
new email delivery software should be (note I said 'should be')
installed on my server. Hopefully this will solve the problem.
The techies say it will, but I know from experience that what
they say does not necessarily happen.
--------------------------------------------
2. Article ...
"I Almost Flunked English But Went On To Make
Millions of Dollars Writing Sales Copy!"
By Joseph Sugarman
--------------------------------------------
The Guinness Book of World Records listed Joe Girard as the
"World's Greatest Retail Salesman" for 12 consecutive years. He
holds the singular distinction of having sold an average of six
cars a day over his career. Recently, Joe Girard told me:
"Joe, I can sell in person to individuals in a personal way - in
fact, I can sell more cars per day than anyone else. Yet, I can't
do what you do -- you sell millions of products to masses of
people through the sheer power of print."
-------- "Salesmanship in Print"
When you look at it from Joe Girard's perspective, it's hard to
deny the awesome power of writing good sales copy - which I call
"salesmanship in print" -- a power that anyone can take advantage
of. You don't need good looks, a charming personality or even
great intelligence. In fact, you don't even have to pass English.
This is why it baffles me when people desperately rack their
brains trying to find ways to make money -- when the greatest
opportunity is staring them right in the face. What's even more
mystifying is that those very same people, when presented with
ingenious approaches to writing copy that sells, take the skill
for granted and don't use it to make personal fortunes for themselves.
---------- "Flunking English"
Not many people know this, but I almost flunked English back in
high school. In addition, I don't know many big words, unlike the
rest of my advertising and marketing colleagues -- and my writing
style is quite unsophisticated to boot. Yet, by learning to
incorporate into my sales copy all the things about how the human
mind reacts to certain words and phrases that I've learned over
the years, I have made millions of dollars for myself.
The most important lesson you must remember is this:
"If you learn nothing else but the proper use of psychological
principles in writing sales copy, you will always make more money
than you'll ever need."
---------- "The Million-Dollar Grapefruit Farmer"
If you're one of those people who believes that you're not a good
enough writer -- and that you couldn't possibly learn to write ad
copy that sells -- I want to tell you the story of a man who
attended one of my seminars. This man was a grapefruit farmer who
had never written sales copy prior to attending my copywriting
seminar. In fact, he expressed his doubts that he would get
anything at all from the copywriting lessons he learned. Yet, by
the end of the seminar, he was able to write direct mail copy to
sell grapefruit by mail which, over a period of ten years, has
earned him millions of dollars.
----------- "Success Leaves Clues"
For many years I specialized in "space-age" products, and my
claim to fame was in building and selling "the better mousetrap"
-- from state-of-the art smoke detectors to chess computers to
new-fangled calculators -- and more recently -- to BluBlocker®
sunglasses.
But you don't need a space-age product to make a million dollars.
In fact, that is the downfall of most people who enter the
marketing field. They find a product, fall in love with it, and
try to get the market to buy it. With an unproven product, you
could lose a lot of money in the process.
"Instead what you should do is find a product that's already
selling well -- and use compelling copy to sell it better."
Harmonize with the Marketplace
One of the psychological principles I describe in my book,
"Triggers," is simply this: Your product needs to harmonize with
the marketplace.
Here's a tip that you would definitely find useful: When you're
looking for a product to sell, go to the library and flip through
the back issues of magazines -- particularly the tabloids. Note
those mail order ads that are running week after week, month
after month. There's only one reason why those ads keep running
-- they're making money. Those products are already proven to
sell well -- they've demonstrated that they harmonize with the
marketplace.
Even if there are many companies that are already competing in
those product categories (example: weight loss, hair restoration,
and wrinkle products, etc.), don't worry. If you apply good
copywriting guidelines, your marketing efforts will fare better
than those who are making money, despite their poor sales copy.
------------ "Splish Splash I Was Takin' A Bath"
Take a clue from Bobby Darin, a popular singer of the '50s. Darin
was a young singer in New York who, for a long time, tried
unsuccessfully to break into the music business. He would go from
record company to record company trying to convince them to make
an album of him singing popular jazz oldies. He was rejected.
So one day, Darin sat down and wrote a song that fitted or
"harmonized" with what the public was buying at the time. What
was popular at the time was good old rock and roll sung by black
artists -- it was called the Motown sound.
The song he wrote was called "Splish Splash" and the words
started out, "Splish splash, I was takin' a bath/ 'Round about a
Saturday night." It had a good old Motown rock and roll sound --
and it became a smash hit, selling millions of copies.
Darin recognized what the market wanted, and he created something
that harmonized perfectly with the prevailing market. From his
earnings, he himself produced a record in the music genre that he
really loved -- popular jazz oldies. His song, "Mack the Knife"
went on to become a multimillion-selling single and made Bobby
Darin famous.
To summarize, you must first have a product that harmonizes with
your market. If you haven't made a substantial amount of money
from your marketing efforts yet, sell only products or services
that have a ready market -- this is the path of least resistance.
Afterwards, with the money you make, you can blaze new trails
with other products of your own preference.
© Joe Sugarman 2002
-------------------------------------------------
Joe Sugarman, the best-selling author and top copywriter who has
achieved legendary fame in direct marketing, is best known for
his highly successful mail-order catalog company, JS&A, and his
hit product, BluBlocker Sunglasses. Joe’s new breakthrough book,
'Triggers', reveals 30 powerful psychological triggers that
influence people to buy what you're selling.
-------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------
3. Article ...
"Dear Joe - How Can You Judge Successful
Copywriting?" By Joe Robson http://adcopywriting.com
--------------------------
That's an email I've received on more than one occasion over the
years. And it's a question I have no difficulty in answering ...
Excuse the political incorrectness, but I'm using the masculine
cos it's easier ...
No matter what a Copywriter's style, no matter whether YOU like
his Copy or not, regardless of whether you feel his stuff is
hypey, oversold, overlong, too short, too hyped up, or bland and
ineffective ...
If his Copy SELLS product in good quantities it is SUCCESSFUL!
Yeah right, so you think my answer is a cop-out, but it's true
all the same. Because how else can you measure the effectiveness
of your Sales Message?
By the number of awards it wins at the Cannes Ego-Stroking
Advertising Festival?
By the number of testimonials you get complimenting you on the
entertainment value of your Sales Message?
I sometimes cringe when I see a *real* hard sell Sales Letter
from an expert Copywriter. I don't like that kind of selling. But
I have enough respect for that Copywriter to believe that he
probably knows his Target Market well enough to know that it
works on *them*.
You see, all decent Copywriters have their own style. They've
developed, honed, and experimented with it over time until they
feel comfortable within their own Sales Pitch.
However, it's essential that a Copywriter doesn't become 'stale'
by sounding the same on every Sales Message he writes. That's
what happens to some Singer/Songwriters - after a few years at
the top of the charts, their new songs start sounding like all
the others they've written in the past.
I recently tried an experiment, and deliberately wrote a 'Hard
Sell' Web Page for a new product of mine. It wasn't difficult to
do, after all Copywriting is Copywriting as long as you stick to
the essential 'rules' (see my 'Copywriting Rules' tutorial at
http://adcopywriting.com/Tutorial_2_Rules.htm
)
At first I found it a refreshing change to see my words written
in a style which I don't normally use. I left it for about 2
weeks, but when I returned to it I thought it was awful!
But I was determined to keep an open mind so I rewrote it in my
own style and asked two reliable marketing friends to comment.
Both of them MUCH preferred my usual 'softer' style.
I suppose I should have tested both in the marketplace, but as
the Copy initially converted 14% of visitors then settled down to
a consistent 6% Visitor/Sales Conversion, I decided to leave it
alone.
You can see the result at http://headlinecourse.com
Does this mean that the softer approach to Web Copywriting is
more successful?
Dunno.
Does it mean that the 'Hard Sell' approach doesn't work?
Dunno.
What the heck *does* it mean?
Dunno:-)
Except that there is more than one way to write successful Copy,
and if you wish to become a successful Copywriter you have to
develop your own style. A style you feel comfortable with. A
style that reflects some of your own personality.
There are of course plenty of occasions when you have to reflect
the personality of your client, when 'ghost writing' an article
or newsletter for example.
But whichever style you use, one thing is definitely for sure ...
Sales Copy without personality is a message without passion. And
a message without passion is a failed message.
---------------------------------
You Can Reprint this article in its entirety if you include this
resource ...
Article by Joe Robson - He Writes Sales Copy That SELLS - Period!
http://adcopywriting.com http://newbieclub.com
http://guruspeak.com http://headlinecourse.com
---------------------------------
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--------------------------------
4. Kwik Tip ...
"How To Begin Your Sales Message"
--------------------------------
When you start your Sales Message ...
"Fire Your Biggest Gun First!"
That's correct, write down the greatest possible benefit that
your prospect can gain from owning your product, AND HIT HER WITH
IT STRAIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES.
Don't be shy about it! There is absolutely no point in holding
back your greatest benefit until you get half way down the page.
Because unless your prospect is hooked right away she won't even
make it past the first couple of lines.
So your headline should ideally shout the greatest benefit your
product can possibly give to the reader.
Joe Robson's 'Headline Writing Master Course' is an astonishing
library of ebooks and audios from some of the World's Very Best
Copywriters and Marketers. You won't believe how much explosive information it holds until
you read about it here ...
http://www.headlinecourse.com
--------------------------------
-------- "Listen To The REAL Experts"
Extraordinary 'From-The Gut' Interviews With The World's Top
Copywriting, Internet Marketing, Ebook Publishing, Email & Viral
Marketing Experts. Joe Robson's Guruspeak.com has a new and
extraordinary collection of Interviews with the Very Best and
Most Successful marketers in the world. http://guruspeak.com
------------------------------
5. Article
... "How an Ingenious Approach to Web Writing is Fast
Becoming the New Profit-Building Model for Websites"
By Maria Veloso
------------------------------
A brand new approach to writing website copy (and e-mails) is
emerging - and it might well become the answer to the problem
faced by most commercial websites.
The problem is that websites are not generating enough customers
-- and consequently, aren't making enough sales and profits.
People who do business online must either learn this new approach
to web writing, or hire web writers who are competent in
implementing the approach -- or their websites' sales and profits
will always fall way below their potential.
Everyone knows that in the text-driven world of the Internet, it
is the words - not stunning graphics or cool technology - that
are the key to successful online sales. Understandably, the
single most important ingredient in creating a profitable website
is web copy that sells.
Writing web copy that converts prospects into customers is a
discipline all its own. It's a highly specialized genre of
writing that combines marketing wherewithal with a deep
understanding of the Internet's unique culture, mindset,
psychology and "language." What most online business people don't
realize is that web copywriting is distinctly different from
regular advertising copy and offline marketing communications. It
is also quite different from web content writing.
Just because someone is a skilled ad copywriter for the offline
markets doesn't mean his/her writing skills can translate into
effective web copywriting. Even some of the best copywriters for
the offline markets are not necessarily adept at writing
effective copy for the Web.
One of the biggest mistakes online businesses make is that they
take marketing principles that work well in the offline world --
and try to force them to work on the Web.
Many principles that are effective in direct mail, print ads,
radio ads, and infomercials simply do not translate well on the
Web - and in fact, they can even kill sales. Why? Because people
online generally do not want to get "sold to." This is a proven
fact documented by a recent study conducted by John Morkes and
Jakob Nielsen. If web visitors ever do get "sold to," they first
want to be finessed -- not bombarded by blatant advertising.
As such, expert web copywriters employ some "adroit maneuvering"
to capture the attention - and the patronage - of the Web market.
That adroit maneuvering has given birth to an ingenious approach
to web copywriting that's fast becoming the new profit-building
model for websites. It's called editorial marketing.
The strategy involves writing irresistible content that slides
smoothly into a covert "sales pitch" for your product or service.
This means your content must be expertly crafted for hidden
selling. This is the "finessing" that the Web population is most
often receptive to.
It bears repeating that your "sales pitch" shouldn't sound like
an ad, but rather read like an editorial, testimonial, advice,
case study, or endorsement.
[For an actual sample of editorial marketing in action, go to:
http://www.WebCopywritingUniversity.com ]
In the brick-and-mortar (i.e., offline) world, the closest kin of
this kind of writing are the advertorial and the press release.
Many online businesspeople mistakenly regard the Internet as an
advertising medium -- or one big shopping channel. As such, they
create websites that are nothing but cyber-billboards that
advertise their products or services. What they don't realize is
that on an average day, each one of us is bombarded with 3,500
commercial messages -- from TV, billboards, radio, the Internet
and practically everywhere we turn. The last thing we want to see
when we land on a website is yet another ad.
The editorial style of online marketing gives your website an
aura of credibility -- often referred to as the "halo effect."
When you wrap your advertising message within the soft cushions
of a good editorial piece, you position yourself as an expert,
gain the trust of your audience, and increase the likelihood of a
sale.
This kind of cyber-journalism (or editorial marketing) is the new
model for the most successful websites on the Internet.
© Maria Veloso 2002
-----------------------------------------------------
Maria Veloso is widely acknowledged as the leading expert in web
copywriting and web traffic conversion. She is the author of "Web
Copy That Sells: The Secret to Creating a Profitable Website" and
Director of Web Copywriting University, where she reveals a
scientifically proven formula for writing killer copy every time.
Go to: http://www.webcopywritinguniversity.com
------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------
6. The Last Word
--------------------------------
"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope".
------- Charles Revson, Cosmetics Tycoon.
---------------------------------
Read the previous Digest here ...
http://adcopywriting.com/digest/111.htm
---------------------------------
7. Stuff
---------------------------------
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http://www.adcopywriting.com/unsubscribe/
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I'd welcome your feed back on the content of this
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and ...
PLEASE forward this newsletter to friend. Thank You:-)
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