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What's the
difference between effective sales copy and
copy that will fall flat on its face? There are a lot of
ingredients that go into good sales copy. Here are just a
few of them:
Put Yourself into It!
You should know who your ideal customer is - write to
that person. Write your copy as though you're speaking
to a friend. Write in a conversational tone - don't be too
formal. Forget all of the multi-syllable words! They aren't
going to impress your reader; in fact, they may have just
the opposite effect. Let your personality show in the words
you write. If you do, your reader will place a lot more
credibility on what you have to say.
Describe Benefits NOT Features
The goal of your ad copy is to tell the reader how he will
benefit from what you have to offer. Consider your ads to
be pre-sales letters. All you want to do is tell the reader
what your product, service, business opportunity, etc. will
do for him. How will it make his life easier? How will it help
his business? In other words, what's in it for him?
The object of the sales letter is to create interest and
make readers want to look into your offer. It puts them
in the right frame of mind to purchase once they know all
of the features. Your web page should do the selling.
Your sales letters or ads are just setting the stage for the
final act.
Give it Some Punch!
No one wants to read long technical sales copy. Less is
more when it comes to good copy. Especially on the
Internet people want to read something quickly and then
go on to the next task at hand. Keep your sentences short
and punchy. Don't use 10 words if 5 will do. Also keep your
paragraphs short - just a couple of sentences will do. If
the reader glances at your copy and sees line after line of
text he probably won't bother to read it. Use sub-headings
to get his attention and draw him to important points. Make
good use of white space to break up your text and make it
look less daunting.
That All-Important Headline
Develop a headline that catches your reader's eye and
interest. Make it unique and catchy but make it honest!
Don't try to lure a reader by making outlandish promises or
by using a headline that has nothing at all to do with your
text. Your headline should introduce your text, not disguise
it. As with text, short headlines work better than long ones.
If your headline doesn't get the reader's attention the rest
of your copy will never be read. So work on that headline
until it reaches out and grabs the reader's eye!
And finally . . .
Sales Copy is Never Finished!
You may write your copy many, many times. There are
always little ways to tweak it to make it better and you
should! Don't let it become stagnant. The best sales copy
changes and adapts . . . it evolves!
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Linda Offenheiser is the owner of Stress-Free Copy, a
budget-friendly copywriting and editing service
specially geared to the needs of the small home business.
Visit her at http://www.stress-freecopy.com
or
To contact her mailto:linda@stress-freecopy.com
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