In the previous two segments of this series, we covered methods of contacting potential customers through classified and print ads, as well as the stationery used in direct mail contact, including the use of postcards. In this article we give some clues about what is called copywriting or the art of selling your stuff.
You will need to think about what you write in your advertising and in your print and classified ads. There are many books on copywriting available in libraries and at very low prices on the Internet (Amazon.com, Alibris.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.).
For your direct mail or mail order business, you will need Copy for your ads, your web pages, and your direct mail package.
Here are some tips to help you in your writing, but there may come a time when you don’t want to do this because you’re too busy counting your money (but don’t gamble). That may be the time to hire a professional copywriter.
classified ads
Classified ads are sold by the word. There is usually a minimum charge for maybe 15 or 25 words. If you have the thought in your head I must use only 15 words You are in self-destruct mode. You have placed an unnecessary restriction on yourself.
A few more words can often improve response to your ad and cost only a fraction more than the 15 or 25 word ad. If your ad fails to get your point across, it’s dead in the water.
You need a title for your ad. This is the case for a small classified ad and a full page ad. The title MUST provide a BENEFIT to the potential buyer.
A benefit is something like Get rich quick without going broke first!
The following is not a benefit: the Slam-Po 3 comes in red, green, and purple. That describes a property (color) of the product but not a benefit.
A classified ad leaves little room for more than one or two benefits. The fact that their contact information takes up a good chunk of the ad doesn’t help. That’s why many carriers only give a phone number or website as contact information.
That is also the reason why many carriers also use post office box addresses. Box 32A, Slamdunk, AR 12345 is shorter than
The “A” in Box 32A or PO 32A or PO Box 32A is a “key” that reveals to the operator the publication in which the ad appeared. Either of the above designations will result in mail being delivered to P.O. Box 32 because that is the way the United States Postal Service operates.
Certain words “attract” ads better than others. Are here:
Absolutely, Amazing, Approved, Attractive, Authentic,
Bargain, Beautiful, Best, Big, Colorful, Colossal,
Full, Confidential, Crowded, Delivered, Direct,
Discount, Easily, Endorsed, Huge, Excellent, Exciting,
Exclusive, Expert, Famous, Fascinating, Fortune, Free, Full,
Genuine, Gift, Gigantic, Major, Guaranteed, Useful,
Highest, Huge, Immediately, Enhanced, Informative,
Instructive, Interesting, Biggest, Latest, Luxuriously,
Liberal, Lifetime, Limited, Lowest, Magical, Mammoth,
Miraculous, New, Featured, Odd, Outstanding, Custom, Popular,
Powerful, Practical, Professional, Cost-effective, Lavishly,
Tested, Quality, Fast, Rare, Reduced, Refundable,
Remarkable, Reliable, Revealing, Revolutionary, Rare,
Secrets, Security, Selected, Sensational, Simplified,
Important, Special, Surprising, Strange, Strong, Robust,
Successful, Superior, Surprise, Fabulous, Tested,
Tremendous, Unconditional, Unique, Unlimited, Unrivaled,
Unsurpassed, Unusual, Useful, Valuable, Wealth, Strange and Wonderful.
Read the classifieds and put together a collection of the best classifieds and print ads you can find. They will help you a lot to write your ads.
Mail order operators know that they must identify and test ads to optimize performance (response). If you don’t do this and are successful, you’re lucky. You need to minimize luck and maximize the performance of your ads.
print ads
Print ads give you room to expand. A full page ad allows you to fully describe your product or service and provide an order form. You can even include a photo or two of your product.
Check out the topics below to help you write your copy.
The Powerful Package of Mail Order or Website
If your classified ad leads your prospect to your direct mail package or to your website, you’re in business. There is a high rate of return on the requested information. That is, if the ad reader asks for more information, you have it. made in the shade. That is IF YOU SELL YOUR COPY.
Go to some websites that are trying to sell you something. Here is an ad that is found in Google search results when I put the words get rich book
Earn guaranteed money
Don’t spend a lot of money on scams
I found 3 proven home money generators
This ad was a sponsored link on the right hand side of search results. The sponsor paid for their ad to appear when the words get rich book were placed in the Google search box. If you clicked the link, you landed on a launch page that has a title and a list of benefits.
If you provided enough information, including your phone number, you could get a free copy of a popular book as well as access to the main sales pitch.
I didn’t give out my phone number, so I didn’t get the free book (which I’ve read hundreds of times) and I didn’t get to the sales page.
The reason I didn’t get access to the free book and even the sales page is because the site filters respondents to the ad. Eliminate those without a phone and those unwilling to share phone information.
It also filters out some potential customers, but that’s a risk the site owner is willing to take. More and more site owners are doing this type of filtering.
On mail order, you can filter by asking for a couple of dollars for shipping and handling to get more information. An alternative is to order a couple of stamps or a SASE.
Watch a free book release at http://tinyurl.com/lpgss Before you get to the front page, the writer tries to capture your email address, but lets you go to their free book page even if you don’t give it a go. information.
The free book page has a headline, benefits, and testimonials from happy readers. To get the book for free, just click.
The book is called The Ultimate Super Tip. It’s a .PDF file that you can save to your desktop and hopefully lure you into their system to make money.
Giving something away for free is a great way to convince customers to read your material.
Remember these things in your sales copy:
Write to your friend, Charlie
What I mean here is act like you’ve known the recipient since you were both in kindergarten. Be casual in your approach. You are bringing new and exciting information to Charlie who is your good friend
Now don’t start your letter Dear Charlie, because that won’t get you anywhere fast. try something like Dear Future Money Maker:
use testimonials
A testimonial that claims your product or service is simply wonderful is a gold mine. Collect these testimonials when they come to you. Ask permission to use them. Edit them into idiomatic English with decent grammar, but don’t obscure the message or the tone in which it was delivered. When I say idiomatic english I mean the way people actually talk.
Let’s say you get a testimonial that says:
I got the stuff from your kit and did what you told me and made $270.00 on my first day selling stuff to my relatives and friends.
Make some amends on this testimony:
I got your sales kit, did what you told me and made $270.00 my first day selling to my family and friends.
Testimonials are like spice. Don’t go overboard and, if possible, make sure each state has a different benefit.
Never ever false testimonials.
Use common words and phrases, vary sentence lengths, stay to the point, cut out verbiage
Stay away from flowery language, big words that most people don’t know, and “pretty” words. Remember, you’re talking to your friend, Charlie, on the other side of the fence.
Avoid long and complex sentences. But vary the length of your sentences.
Sometimes you need adjectives and adverbs. An adjective modifies a noun. An adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb. Drops ineffective modifiers. They slow down the reader and cut to the quick. If you are wondering if a modifier is needed, simply remove it from the sentence and decide which one is the most effective. For example:
The big mean brown dog jumped over the white fence.
The angry dog jumped the picket fence.
Which phrase did you like the most?
A long letter is usually better than a short one
If you read the sales pitch on a website, you go on and on and on. Direct mail pieces often have a very long letter to describe all the advantages and benefits of the product or service and to remove objections to the purchase that the reader may have in mind.
You have a lot of space on a web page or in a direct mail piece, so why skimp? Don’t start repeating yourself. When you’ve said what needs to be said, you don’t have to embellish it.
Let your sales copy sit for a while and then come back to it. Let your spouse read it and the good friend of him. See what they think. Okay, ask your old English teacher to take a look at it. He edits and polishes until he is almost perfect in his opinion.
Remember that you want to generate enthusiasm and desire to buy.
You want the potential customer to feel bad if they don’t buy. You want him to think that he will “miss out” and not enjoy the benefits of your product or service.
use color
Color is free on the Internet. There is an additional cost for direct mail packages that include letters and brochures. A splash of color can go a long way. You’ve probably seen little notes in blue ink on sales letters.
A full color or 4 color brochure can be very effective in describing your product or service. A short letter, brochure, order form and return envelope can go a long way. Printers will often help you create a brochure because they want your printing business.
What? After all that you don’t have any product or service for sale? Well, what can you do to find or create a product or service? That will be in the next segment.