1.
Think before you write! What are you selling? How does it benefit
the buyer? What is your unique selling point (a one-line
proposition that sells your product and service as unique from the
competition)? What is your offer? How do you want your prospect
to respond?
2. Put a benefit in your headline! Your sales idea, your offer,
must be in the headline. If it’s news, put it in the
headline. Want examples of good headlines? Look at the cover of
Reader’s Digest.
3. Make a strong offer! No offer? No sale!
4. Try to visualize the type of person to which you are writing!
Write to one person from that group and use words that person will
recognize and be comfortable with.
5. Attention, Interest, Desire, Credibility. Action! Write your ad in this sequence. No exceptions!
6. The 1st paragraph must substantiate, enhance or expand the message
in the headline. If you ask a question in the headline, answer it
in the first paragraph.
7. People buy benefits, not product features! No one is
interested in your company, its history or its products and
services. They want what those products and services can do for
them … so tell them. A good way to write about benefits is to
keep writing "you get this" … and "the product does this" … so that
"you get" … Keep filling in the phrase so that you get …
8. Always address the five basic objections customers have.
· I don’t believe you (consider using a testimonial)
· I don’t need it (tell them the need it will solve)
· I don’t have enough time (tell them how investing time now will save them time later)
· I don’t have enough money (tell them how they can
afford it – Buy Now and Save! … Easy Monthly Payments … Pays for Itself
in Just 3 Months! … etc.)
· It won’t work for me. (Tell them how it works for everybody just like them)
9. Be excited about the product you're selling! But make sure your
message is believable. Don’t raise doubts. Don’t offer
fluff.
10. Keep it interesting! Don’t let readers stop reading.
Tell them something they don’t know. Use active words. When
you want to write "is", "was", "are" or "to be", change it to an action word
(Our watch is the most accurate versus Our watch keeps time more
accurately than …). Use sub-head to tell what a paragraph is
about (Two short paragraphs and then a sub-head is effective).
Bullet points, indents, questions, unfinished sentences and quizzes are
also good techniques. Be specific (don’t write “dog” when you can
write “beagle”).
11. Words sell, not pictures or white space! Although a good
layout, type and graphics will help people understand your message.
12. Give a guarantee! If possible, make it as liberal as no questions asked.
13. Tell the readers what action you want them to take!
Give a response device (phone number, e-mail address; “To Order” link
button, etc.) Consider adding a credible deadline for response as
well.
People buy for emotional reasons, so play to the reader’s emotions by
weaving emotional words into your text. Words such as
introducing, announcing, astonishing, exciting, exclusive, fantastic,
first, free, guaranteed, improved, limited offer, revolutionary,
special, urgent, breakthrough, new, how-to.
Always use a P.S. to restate your offer, the benefit and any deadline.
TJ Drexler
Marketing and Communications Consultant
313-565-1061 |
I've had several prospects and clients say to me
"I want my web site to come up on top in search engines."
And some have been contacted by an SEO (Search engine optimization) marketing company asking for
lots of money and claiming that they can guarantee top search engine
results. There is no quick and easy way to make a web site display in
the top 10 on search engines. Getting a web site to come up high in
search engines "naturally" can take time and effort. When I say
naturally, I mean without paying
to be a sponsored link. Not every web site can be in the top
10 in search results. If an SEO marketing company
has 30 clients with similar products or services, can they really
promise top 10 results to all 30 companies? 