8-Step Formula for Writing Long Sales Copy

There is never a real guarantee that the copy will do everything it is meant to do and that can stem from outside factors you have no control over, such as the economy, the timing for the product or service, or any other number of factors. If you do your part in the beginning, then from this point on, it is a matter of testing the market to see what happens. Sometimes, you will need to rewrite parts of the piece and retest the send out. It helps when the client acts as a partner and keeps you informed on the results during the course of the marketing campaign.

Here is a list of guide on writing long sales copy:

1. To begin gathering information, provide the client with a questionnaire that will provide information about the business and the product or service.
   
2. After analyzing the questionnaire, you can ask more questions to fill out areas and also start doing research on the project. Start your basic copy in some kind of plain text editor where you can easily arrange and rearrange information as it comes in. You can also save active links there too.

The 7-Step Formula for Writing Powerful Articles in Less Than an Hour

Who says writing can be that difficult? All you need is some simple guideline for you to start coming up with powerful articles in a lesser time. Below is the simple steps for writing powerful articles in  less than an hour.

1. Know and target your audience.
   Do your research and those who are most interested in hearing what you have to say.
   
2. Use a headline that grabs the readers immediately.
   A good way to grab your readers is to state the benefits of using your product or service.
   
3. Make your case by showing how this will work for the readers.
   While you don’t say everything here, you can support what you are telling them by offering facts and results.

The Secret, Simple Formula for Writing A Blog

This is a very short note on the secret, simple formula for writing a blog.

1. Think of a title.
   Great way to get the juices flowing is to start collecting headlines, titles, anything that makes you start exploring and developing better headlines and titles.
   
2. Use a standard set of guidelines every time.
   For instance, you can set a limit of words used at 600, use about 4 links within the copy, and make about 5-10% of total words to be keywords for search engines.
   
3. Build a template that can be used every time.
   Avoid wasting time trying to create a whole new outline for each job. A basic template that is familiar to you will keep you in line every time.
   
4. Add a picture or two, some kind of imagery that pulls the readers’ eyes in and reinforces visually what is being said to the readers.

29 Places to Find a Good Newsletter Items

Coming up with good story ideas is one of the toughest tasks in publishing a company newsletter. Here's a checklist of story sources to stimulate editorial thinking and help identify topics with high reader interest that help to promote the company.

1. Product stories: New products; improvements to existing products; new models; new accessories; new options; and new applications.
2. News: Joint ventures; mergers and acquisitions; new divisions formed; new departments; other company news. Also, industry news and analyses of events and trends.
3. Tips: Tips on product selection, installation, maintenance, repair, and troubleshooting.
4. How-to articles: Similar to tips, but with more detailed instructions. Examples: How to use the product; how to design a system; how to select the right type or model.

50 Lead Generation Tips

What should you know when planning a lead-generating direct mail program? Here are a few pointers to guide you in the right direction:

1. How many steps are there in the buying process for this product? Where in this process does my mailing fit?
2. What can I tell my prospect that will get him to take the next step in the buying process?
3. Can I reduce selling costs by creating a mailing designed to produce a direct sale (a mail order) instead of any inquiry?
4. How many leads do I want to generate? Do we want a large quantity of “soft” leads? Or are we better off getting a smaller number of more highly qualified leads?
5. What happens if the mailing produces too many leads? Too few?

Ideas for Selecting a Winning Premium

If you’ve been in direct marketing for more than a few weeks, you know that offering a premium can significantly increase response rates.

Well, in my opinion, the four most important factors to consider when choosing a premium are: value,novelty, relevance, and desirability.

1. Perceived value 
   A good premium either (a) has a highly perceived value or (b) has a value that the reader cannot determine. The worst premium is an item that the prospect sees as having a low value.
   
   Example: a well-known financial newsletter publisher did a series of blanket renewals with each offering a different premium for early renewal.

The Motivating Sequence for Copywriters

In direct marketing, structure is key: if your copy does not follow the formula for persuasion, it won’t work…no matter how creative you get.


In his copywriting seminars Bob Ly taught a variation on AIDA known as the “motivating sequence.”

The five steps of the motivating sequence are as follows:


Step 1: Get attention.
Before your promotion can do anything else, it has to get your prospect’s attention. It must get the prospect to stop, open the envelope, and start reading the materials inside instead of tossing your mailing in the trash.

You already know many methods of getting attention, and see dozens of examples of them in action every day. In TV and magazine advertising, sex is often used to gain attention for products ranging from soft drinks and cars to diets and exercise programs.

Or, you can make a bold statement…cite a startling statistic…ask a curiosity-arousing question…put a bulky object in the envelope…or use a pop-up graphic. You get the idea.

Christmas Checklist for Business People

Today, I'm going off topic and make you a Christmas List...not just any kind of list though, one you should focus on accomplishing before the end of the year. It's your own little list to check off as you go. My suggestion is to reward yourself, assign a Christmas Gift that you want and open a present every time you achieve completion of one item.

Save some big for the end, you know, like the 12 days of Christmas, if you get them all done do something extra special for yourself.

These are 12 things to do before the end of the year to set yourself up for success and profit in 2013. No more commentary just a list that'll make you money!

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

38 Great Ideas for Your Next Headline

The best way to get ideas for headlines when you are stuck is to keep a swipe file of successful headlines, and consult it for inspiration when you sit down to write a new ad or mailing.

As a shortcut, here’s a partial collection of such headlines from my vast swipe file, organized by category so as to make clear the approach being used:

1. Ask a question in the headline.“What Do Japanese Managers Have That American Managers Sometimes Lack?”
2. Tie-in to current events.“Stay One Step Ahead of the Stock Market Just Like Martha Stewart – But Without Her Legal Liability!”
3. Create a new terminology.“New ‘Polarized Oil’ Magnetically Adheres to Wear Parts in Machine Tools, Making Them Last Up to 6 Times Longer.”

Seven Step Process for SEO Copywriting

When writing Web pages, I use a simple 7-step formula for SEO copywriting.

My proven SEO copywriting process results in highly persuasive pages that are written first and foremost for the human reader—your prospect.

Yet these clear, smooth-reading pages are fully optimized. Result: significantly higher Google rankings generating more unique visitors.

1. Keyword research - someone—you or I—has to determine the keywords for which your site should be optimized. For more information on do-it-yourself keyword research and discovery, go to the following Website: www.thekeywordmoneymachine.com

31 Simple Ways to Make Your Ads Generate More Inquiries

Here is a common lines from a client with a problem.

“Our new ad campaign’s main goal is to create awareness and build image, not generate sales leads,” the ad manager explained. “But my management still tends to judge ads by counting the number of inquiries they bring in. Is there some way I can increase my ad’s pulling power without destroying the basic campaign concept?”

Fortunately, the answer is yes. There are proven techniques you can use to increase any ads pulling
power, whether your main goal is inquiries or image. Here are 31 techniques that can work for you:

1. Ask for action. Tell the reader to phone, write, contact his sales rep, request technical literature or place an order.
2. Offer free information, such as a color brochure or catalog.

Top Reasons Why People Buy

In order to sell your products and services, you have to know why your readers would want to buy them. Knowing the reasons why will help you write really great copy because you are tuning in to the emotions of your readers. Below are 51 reasons put forward as to why readers make their purchases. You can hit on any number of these or even several at once.

The first 50 were outlined in Geoff Ayling’s book, “Rapid Response Advertising.” The 51st one is provided by Jay Conrad Levinson, writer of “Guerilla Marketing.”Reasons Why People Buy

1. To make more money – even though it can’t buy happiness
2. To become more comfortable, even a bit more

The AIDA Formula for Copywriting

A.I.D.A. stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Attention is the beginning of the copy, a headline that grabs the readers, makes them put everything aside and focus on the copy. Something in the headline tells them that this is what they’ve been looking for and now they need to read further to find out more. Additionally, there is a unique hook which sets this product or service apart from any other product or service. It promises to be special!

The next step, Interest, gives more information to the readers and rewards them for having read further by giving out more details about the product or service. This is sinking or setting the hook in so you can pull in harder with less chance of losing the readers.

A Proven Outline for Writing Winners

Having a outline is one of the most effective way on achieving a winner writing masterpiece. Here are some of the Proven Outline for Writing Winners by Clayton Makepeace.

• Grab ‘em by the eyeballs: Use the headline to grab the readers’ attention so they will have to read more.
• Support your headline: Enhance the headline with a supporting argument to reinforce the point. 
• Bribe him to read this: Let the readers know what they will be learning about and the added benefits you plan on giving them if they do so.
• Get his juices flowing: Use creative and emotion-based story telling which appeals to the senses.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Writing- Three Attributes

Three Attributes of a Unique Selling Proposition as shown by Rosser Reeves

1. Always present the benefit in the headline and the proposition within the first few sentences. This grabs the readers into wanting to know more about what’s in it for them and they will want to read more.

2. Give the readers something that is specific to the product, differentiating it from the competition. It makes your product or service stand out from every other product and gives the promise of uniquely solving the problem for the customer.

Copywriting Case Study Outline

1 – Who is the customer?
This information is gathered from surveys, from data cards containing information about each customer, from market research reports, and anything else containing information pertinent to directing sales to a specific type of customer.

2 – What was the problem? How was it hurting the customer’s business?
Identify here what it was that was causing so much trouble for customers in working with prototypes of the product or service and showing how the customer suffered from the problem.

"Works Every Time" Copywriting Tips

Here is a great little formula to use anytime you get stuck and can’t figure out what to write. Justin Brooke, www.myinternetbizcoach.com, uses this 8-step formula to jumpstart his work when he needs a little help.

Step #1: Nothing is more important than your headline
It’s always a great idea to look at and collect great headlines whenever you see them in a written sales pitch. Keep headlines assorted by products and also by types of headlines so you can easily find what you need when you must come up with a new headline.

In fact, you can make a game out of it by trying to come up with five different headlines for everyone of them you collect. You can never use exactly the same headline someone else has written but you can alter it and change it to say what you need, without using someone else’s work directly. Two questions you can ask yourself are: “What is it?” and “What will it do for me?” And keep your headlines short, snappy, and to the point.

The Copywriting Formula for Business Websites

Copywriting online for Websites, a blog, anything that represents your product or service, will still have many of the same necessary elements that print copy has required. What might be different is how long to make the copy.

Traditionally, print copy can handle a 10-12 page sales letter because the customer is just sitting there relaxing and reading. On a screen, like television, customers tend to get the drift of the letter within the first few paragraphs, if written well, and will skip ahead to make the purchase.

10 Headline Formulas That Work Like Magic

The most important part of your copy will be the headline. Spend time getting this part right and the rest will follow. Your first few sentences can mean life or death for the message in the rest of the copy. Therefore, it’s crucial to get it right, to hit the customers and reel them in for the rest of the message.
Miguel Alvarez, Copywriting.com, has come up with his own system for headline formulas. Try these out to help you develop your headlines to be all that they can be. His suggestion is that you write at least five different headlines for each type of headline listed below. That helps you get creative and thinking about different ways to present your product or service.