P.S. How To Increase Your Sales By 300%
Why have a P.S.?
A certain Christian Godefrey, one of Europe’s most successful direct marketers once admitted to Ted Nicholas that for his first 5 years in direct marketing he never used a P.S. When he added a P.S to an already profitable sales letter his response rate increased by an amazing 300%.
“How can a small thing like a P.S. make that much difference” I hear you ask. Well as a copywriter you would love for your reader to read every word of your carefully crafted letter wouldn’t you? We all know that’s not going to happen, but after the headline the P.S. is the best read part of your letter.
You see what actually happens is that your prospect will read your headline which will obviously interest them enough to find out more. They then look at the bottom of your letter where they find your signature and P.S. People tend to scan through a sales letter picking up on the parts that interest them. Here are 5 types of successful P.S.’s:-
- Motivate the prospect to take action now.
An example of this would be “P.S. We will not repeat this offer. Please act now. This offer expires on…..” - Reinforce the offer.
Can be very powerful if properly used providing the offer is compelling. - Introduce a surprise benefit.
This could just make those ditherers decide and take action. “P.S. I nearly forgot to mention,included in your membership is this beautiful….and best of all it’s free” - Emphasize the price or terms of your offer.
An example of this would be “P.S. Send no money now. If you are not completely delighted with…return within 30 days and owe nothing” - Emphasize the guarantee.
A money back guarantee takes away the risk for your prospect. “P.S. Don’t forget our no-risk money back guarantee”
I have seen some people experiment with a P.S. longer than the sales letter itself. I don’t really like this and as a rule if you can’t read the P.S. without taking a breath it’s too long.
What about a P.P.S.? I don’t know about you but this appears to me to be a bit desperate, as if you haven’t done a good enough job of selling.
So only one P.S. and always treat it with the respect it deserves, after all it is your letter’s bottom line.
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
The Eye Is a Creature Of Habit
How to make your copy easy to read.
Give the eye what it’s used to. Let’s start with the headline, the most important part of your sales letter. Have a look at these examples:-
HOW TO LOSE A STONE IN ONE WEEK
How to Lose a Stone in One Week
Which is easiest to read? Because they have no ascenders or descenders to help you recognise the word, capital letters are difficult to read. The eye is a creature of habit and we are used to reading lower case type in magazines and newspapers.
Another common mistake is to superimpose the headline over a picture, again this makes it extremely difficult to read. If it’s difficult to read it won’t get read.
Never put a full stop at the end of a headline.
A full stop tells the reader to stop reading, which is not what you want to happen. You will notice in newspapers there are never any full stops at the end of headlines.
If your page is set too wide or too narrow this will make it harder to read. Most newspapers are set at about 40 characters wide, most sales letters online are set at abut 600 pixels. Give the eye what it’s used to.
What typeface should you use?
Again what typeface people are used to, for example, how difficult is this to read? Our eyes are accustomed to reading a serif typeface such as arial or times new roman.
Of course with a lot of copywriting now on websites the combination of colours is endless. Bear in mind however:-
Give The Eye What It’s Used To
Give The Eye What It’s Used To
The eye is a creature of habit and finds it much easier to read black typeface on a white background.
Does size matter?
Well in copywriting it certainly does. I think you’d soon stop reading if the type was as small as this, whereas this is far too big. Generally speaking your type needs to be about 11-12 point in size.
You might think it’s not that important how your copy is set out but something as simple as line spacing between paragraphs can increase readership by an average of 12 percent. All the research and hard work will be for nothing if no one can read your copy so do yourself a favour and “Give the eye what it’s used to”
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
Effective Letter Writing
Have you ever written a letter?
I’m sure you have, I think everybody writes a letter at some point in their lives. Increasingly now they are sent via email…but they’re letters all the same. So what does a Copywriter do? Well a copywriter knows the secrets to writing effective letters.
I receive a lot of advertising mail for one thing and another, which I’m sure you do too. Some of them look very colourful with nice pictures and professionally put together, but how many of them do you actually read?
It seems to me that a lot of time and effort is being wasted on making this material look good…and not enough attention is being spent on the message. The words are the most important part of any sales letter whether that be direct mailing, website, email or anything else. The letter is the vital ingredient.
So as I said earlier a Copywriter knows how to write effective letters…so why is that so many of them don’t? Some like to think of themselves as being creative. Well the truth is they’re not, they’re salespeople. Some are more creative than others I’ll grant you…but they’re salespeople all the same.
Whereas certain ad’s and brochures maybe put together by a committee, a sales letter is the work of one person. It is a single coherent statement. That doesn’t mean repeating the same words over and over again. It mean’s thinking about what you are going to write and asking yourself “What am I trying to convince the reader to do?”
Force yourself to be specific because specifics out-pull generalisations every time. How do you know if your letter is successful? Well people might remember your letter but it’s only successful if the reader performs a positive act as the result of reading it. Specifics sell. Generalities don’t.
So you may win awards for your clever use of words…but awards don’t sell! Remember the purpose of your letter is to convince people to act…convince them to buy!
So as I said everybody writes letters, but how many write effective letters?
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
A Few Easy Copywriting Rules…Maybe Not Rules More Guidelines
How do you write copy that people want to read?
Well that’s a bit of a leading question and the subject is so huge we could be here all day trying to answer it. There are however a few rules that can be applied to help you keep your readers interest.
Keep your first sentence short. Not always, but usually a good idea. If your reader starts to read your letter and the first sentence rambles on chances are he’ll get fed up and go on to something else. Compare these two opening sentences:-
“I have something you want!”
Or
“I have something that could interest you if you are looking for a new business opportunity”
This is easy to apply if you remember when you are writing that you are talking to your reader…what would you say?
Never have a paragraph longer than seven lines.
People have very short attention spans on the whole. If it’s hard to read…it won’t get read. If you have a longer paragraph read it through aloud, you will always be able to break it down to two or three paragraphs.
Even the spacing between sentences and paragraphs can make a difference. Think about it. If you have double spacing between every sentence a single page letter becomes two pages, two become four and so on. Suddenly your letter is a lot harder to read. So the rule is always single space between sentences, double space between paragraphs.
If your letter is longer than one page never end a paragraph at the end of the page. Always end mid sentence. This is a little trick known by anyone in the newspaper trade, you may have noticed “continued on page 5 column 3” at the end of a story on page one. It’s a great way to keep your reader interested because they have to know the ending.
Fire your big guns first…what I mean by that is never keep your reader guessing what it is you’re selling. Your best benefits should be up there at the top of the letter. If your reader has to get part way down the page before they even know what you’re talking about, you’ve lost them. In fact your target prospect probably won’t even start to read.
The way you start your sales letter can build instant rapport if you personalise it. Here are a few examples:-
“Dear Fellow Entrepreneur”
“Dear Golf Nut”
“Dear Collector”
Adding a word like “Fellow” is particularly powerful. Your reader will immediately feel that you are on the same wavelength.
Like I said copywriting is a huge subject and we could talk about it all day, but if you remember these easy guidelines it will help you to write copy that people actually enjoy reading.
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
Santa Claus, A Jolly Plump Man In A Red Coat…Or A Clever Marketing Ploy
We all know what Santa looks like, don’t we? The question is when did he first look like the image we all know and love?
The story goes that Santa Claus was a creation of Clement Clarke Moore and Thomas Nast . In 1822 Moore wrote a poem for his daughters called “The Visit from Saint Nicholas” In this poem a tiny elflike creature runs about on Christmas Eve delivering presents. He is so small he can fit down the chimney!
It wasn’t until the editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast published a book called "Santa Claus and His Works" that he became a full sized Santa. So we have Moore to thank for the reindeer but Nast to thank for fattening up Santa and sending him to the North Pole.
Santa started appearing everywhere…but still not quite as we know him today.
In the 1920’s a certain Coca-Cola company were struggling to sell their drink during the winter months. They hit on the idea of using a winter image like Santa relaxing with a glass of Coke. It’s no coincidence that Santa is dressed in Red and White…Coca-Cola’s corporate colours. The idea grew and advertising showed the children leaving glasses of Coke for Santa instead of milk.
By the late 1940’s Coke’s Santa had elbowed aside all other Santa images and was seen as being The Santa Claus. The image we now all know to be Santa was created for Coca-Cola by Haddon H. Sundblom and has proved so successful that one of Coke’s agencies is hired almost exclusively for December.
So the next time you see the Sundblom Santa lift his soft drink bottle in a holiday toast and wink…pity poor Pepsi, they must hate Christmas.
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
Get To the Point
When you start to write your sales copy…get to the point!
If you drone on aimlessly your reader will very quickly lose interest. Here are a few things to avoid. Subtleness, subtlety will cost you response because again some readers will not appreciate it and will therefore lose interest. Cleverness for the sake of being clever will again lose you response. In jokes…in fact humour can be a dangerous thing altogether because everyone’s sense of humour is different. So just get to the point.
How do you know if you are getting to the point? Well here are a few opening phrases that I use a lot to help me.
1. For example…
Using this forces you to actually give an example and therefore get to the point.
2. Why? Because…
This is quite a clever one because you are putting yourself in your prospects position who will naturally be asking the question “Why?” By asking it and then answering it for them you are immediately building rapport with that person. Again by answering the question you are forcing yourself to get to the point.
3. The reason is…
Using this again forces you to be specific. You are offering evidence which is by it’s very nature specific.
4. I have something you want.
This is a really good one to use, just think about it.
If I said to you “I have something you want” what would your reaction be?
Of course you would want to know what it is…wouldn’t you? You are then drawn into the rest of the sales copy to find out what you’re missing out on.
Is there a risk of someone saying “No, that isn’t what I want”. If they do say that then they are obviously not the market you are trying to reach. So this shouldn’t happen if you’ve done your homework properly. Don’t forget that by this stage you should know exactly who your target market is and what it is they want.
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
Put Drama, Power And Passion Into Your Benefits
What’s the difference between Benefits and Features?
A lot of people struggle with this one. You will hear time and time again from copywriters that your copy must be full of benefits. Your problem is how you determine the difference. Ok let’s look at some everyday examples. If you have a hairdressing salon it might look something like this.
Feature: -
- We have 10 of the best trained stylists.
- The most up to date salon including fully adjustable seats.
- We stock only the best brands of hair products.
- We have 3 of our own fully trained nail technicians.
Benefit: -
-
Fully trained redesign specialists means we will give you at least 5 brand new drop dead gorgeous hair designs to choose from.
-
Which means, no more uncomfortable hair washes leaving you with a sore neck.
-
Which means, our products will condition your hair to leave it silky smooth and manageable.
-
Which means you can complete your new look by having your nails beautifully manicured.
It’s a good idea before you start writing to make a list of the features of your product. To do this properly you have to really know your product. Beside each one write “which means” then write a benefit for your reader. If you can’t think of a benefit chances are it’s not an important feature.
Some writers take this a step further. The highly acclaimed Ted Nicholas for example writes as many benefits as he can think of on 3×5 cards. He uses short action words which are appealing to the reader always keeping in mind WIIFM.
The only reasons your reader will be interested in your product are the benefits they will gain from it, remember people are only interested in themselves. Quite often when you are going through this process of listing the benefits you discover your headline.
You then need to decide the order of the benefits, ie placing the strongest benefit first then the second and so on. These can be used in bullet form or weaved into your copy or sometimes even a combination of the two.
So remember, you have to think Benefits, Benefits and then more Benefits, you can never have too many!
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
The Long Versus Short Argument
How long should your copy be?
I’m sure you’ve read a lot of discussions around this particular question…I know I have! So I’ll ask it again “How long should your copy be?” Well the first thing it depends on is what your product is. If for example your product is a tube of toothpaste…there’s only so much you can say about a tube of toothpaste without boring your reader to tears. Use short copy. If on the other hand your product has many features and benefits use long copy. The more you tell the more you sell.
Some people believe that a reader will not read long copy…nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the most successful direct mail letters and adverts over the years have used long copy. The world famous Claude Hopkins once wrote five pages of copy for Schlitz Beer which moved from fifth place to first place in just a few months.
Research does show that readership falls off quite quickly for the first fifty words, but slows quite dramatically between fifty and five hundred words. In his first famous Rolls-Royce advert David Ogily used 719 words. He literally piled one fascinating fact on top of another. In his last paragraph he wrote the line “People who feel diffident about driving a Rolls-Royce can buy a Bentley”. The number of motorists that picked up on the word diffident concluded him to believe his copy had been thoroughly read. So he used 1400 words in his next advert!
Every piece of copy you write is a complete sales pitch for your product. You have to treat it as though this is the only chance you will ever get to sell the product to your reader. The more facts you tell the more you will sell.
Here is a quick story about Max Hart (of Hart, Schaffner & Marx) arguing with his advertising manager George L. Dyer about long copy. Dyer said “I’ll bet you ten dollars I can write a newspaper page of solid type and you’d read every word of it,” Naturally Hart scoffed at the idea. “I don’t have to write a line of it to prove my point,” Dyer replied. “I’ll only tell you the headline: This Page Is All About Max Hart.”
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
7 Styles of Headline Guaranteed To Make Your Sales Soar
What style of headline is most successful?
There isn’t really one answer to that as there are several different styles that can be used with equal success. Before you even start to choose which style you are going to use write down as many benefits as you can think of. The headline should never be put in at the last minute without a great deal of time and thought. Ninety percent of your time should be spent getting the right headline because without it your sales copy will never be read anyway.
1. Announcement. To make this style of headline work you have to be careful not to make it merely factual and boring. It has to be specific aimed at your prospective buyer, for example it would be no good if BMW launched a new car like this:-
“BMW Launch their New Car” – There’s no benefit at all, just a fact. “Top Gear Presenter Praises BMW’s Amazing New M3…0-60 in 3.8 Seconds” – Although unlikely (we all know Jeremy Clarkson hates BMW’s) makes a much more compelling headline.
2. Guarantee. It’s great if your product comes with an iron clad guarantee…provided it lives up to your claims. This can make for a really powerful headline, for example:-
“Lose 10lbs of Ugly Fat in 14 days or Your Money Back” – This benefit is guaranteed.
3. How to. This style is best used when offering a solution to a problem. Although there are already thousands of books with ‘How To’ in the title it is still very successful, for example:-
“How to Improve Your Golf Swing…”
4. Specific. This is aimed specifically at your target reader and therefore will not be of any interest at all to the general public. For example:-
“At Last an End to Your Back Pain”
5. The Testimonial. What better than a testimonial. After all something your customers have said is a lot more believable and powerful than anything you could say yourself. For example:-
“He Couldn’t Believe It Was Me…It Wasn’t! To Be Honest I Just Called In For A Trim…I Left Feeling like a Superstar.
6. Reasons Why. You are giving the reader a specific number of reasons why they should do something. You are also arousing their curiosity as they want to know what the reasons are, so you are drawing them into your copy. For example:-
“12 Reasons Why You Must Be At Salon & Spa Super Conference”
7. Emotional. Use this style to really hook into people’s feelings. For example:-
“I Wept When The Battery In My Camcorder Ran Out At My Daughter’s Wedding”
I would recommend trying out a few different styles when you’re writing out your headlines. Write as many different headlines as you can.
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
How To Write Headlines That Skyrocket Your Sales
Just how important is the headline anyway?
Probably the single most important thing you will write in your copy. There are a number of reasons that the headline is so important, one of them being that on average five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy…that’s five times! The headline is the red flag waving to attract the attention of your prospective buyer. It stands to reason then that by reading your headline your prospect should immediately know you are speaking to them. For example if you are selling a cure for a Bad Back it’s a good idea to use the words “Bad Back” in your headline as anyone who suffers from one will be immediately drawn to it.
I think it’s important at this stage to point out the dangers of excluding readers who may be prospects. For example if your product can be used equally well by men and women don’t slant your headline purely towards women or you will lose the attention of the men.
We know that copy has to appeal to the self interest of the reader and nowhere is that more vital than in the headline. The headline should always include a benefit for your prospect, after all people act 90 percent on their emotions. Benefits help to bring out those emotions.
Don’t forget the all important question “What’s In It For Me?”
The type of words you use in your headline will also influence it’s effectiveness. People are always on the look out for new products or the latest model. Two of the most powerful words you can use in your headline are Free and New. Now it’s not very often you can use the word Free because the aim is to sell your product not give it away! You can however use the word New quite effectively along with other powerful words such as introducing, it’s here, just arrived, amazing, remarkable, revolutionary, sensational and so on. There are a lot of powerful words you can use so just experiment with a few.
Don’t fall into the trap that some copywriters do of writing tricky headlines. If your reader has to decipher the meaning of an obscure headline you have lost them forever. Your headline has to telegraph what you want to say in plain language.
One more thing to avoid in headlines is negatives. These can be dangerous as many readers will miss the negative as they read for example…“Our pies contain No Dog Meat” Most readers will go away with the impression that you wrote…"Our Pies Contain Dog Meat"
So you can see how damaging that could be!
Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter
http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979
Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.
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