A Crash Course In writing Sales Copies That Sell
This is one of the SOA issues you need to save. Because it will serve as a tool and you’ll use it regularly.
Treat this as a crash course on creating phenomenal sales copies. Whether you need to create sales letters, sales videos, webinars, presentations, ads, etc. this will come in very handy.
I first picked it up from the Legendary Copywriter Clayton Makepeace a few years ago, when I was trying to sell a seminar. I used it to sell the seminar successfully, and have since kept it close by.
Clayton Makepeace was a marketing and copywriting legend – one of the best in the world. He passed on last month, March 24, 2020. His legacy and impact on the direct marketing industry won’t be easily forgotten, if at all.
The 8 Points Checklist for Effective Copy
What you’re about to read can take a full weekend to be explained. However, to make it simple enough for you to pull it out and glance through it, I'll just give you a Checklist.
So here we go...
Whenever you’re creating a piece of sales copy, you must sell the reader on:
1. ATTENTION
Without attention, your marketing is dead.
“If the headline does not stop people, your copy might as well be written in Greek” – John Caples
The first time I read the above quote by John Caples, I laughed so hard, because I know he’s right. If people do not stop to read your sales letter or proposal, or watch your video or log on to your webinar, then it doesn’t matter how great your content is; they won’t see it.
You must sell your prospects on why they must give you their attention, since attention is one of the scarcest resources today.
And you do this through a variety of ways... "Headlines, Showmanship, Remarkable Demonstration"
2. READERSHIP (or VIEWERSHIP)
After you've gotten their attention you have to sell them on the idea of reading the rest of your sales copy, or watching your entire video or listening to your presentation, or having a conversation with you...
I call it "Attention Sustenance"
People tune off. If the first paragraphs, or the first few minutes, or the first few lines do not suck them in and make them to keep on reading, watching, or paying attention, they’ll switch to something else.
If they’re physically in a place with you, their mind will wander off. They’ll be thinking “I wonder what we’ll have for dinner tonight” or “I should return Stella’s call, I've been putting it off for so long”
If you’ve ever been reading a book, and you don’t remember how you moved from page 42 to page 45, and what you read; this is one of the reasons.
You can mentally switch to something else while physically engaging in an activity.
3. BENEFIT
What are you really selling and what are they really buying?
People don’t buy products and services. They buy prestige, survival, status, security, peace of mind, etc. In other words, people buy Transformations.
People are not buying your products and services. They are buying what your products and services can do for them – if it helps them accomplish their objective, they will buy.
Sell what the product and service can do for them, and the TRANSFORMATION it brings.
4. CREDIBILITY
Why must your Prospect believe you? Your copy and sales process, must answer the question, why should I believe you?
At this point you defend the credibility of your product, service or brand to deliver on the promises it is making...
You must create your sales copies and entire marketing and sales process with the assumption that your prospect will be stubbornly reluctant to believe any word you say.
Please read the above paragraph again, slowly.
You must offer proof.
5. VALUE
You must create rich value for your prospects, and make such an irresistible offer that your prospect would think “I must be out of my mind to say no to this”
Is your offer that good?
Most times when people say your product cost too much, what they actually mean is that they’re yet to see enough value that matches the price you’re asking.
6. SAFETY
How will your prospects know they’re safe to do business with you?
This is applying the concept of Risk Reversal. I dedicated a whole issue of SOA to this
7. CONVENIENCE
How easy or how hard will it be to get started?
How easy or how hard will it be to use your product? If getting started on your product or service looks like work, many people will pass up the opportunity to buy.
Show them how easy it will be to get started.
8. URGENCY
Sell your prospect on why NOW is the best time to act. Procrastination is the death of the sale.
Most people (and there’s a high chance that includes you and I) are generally bad at purchasing without a sense of urgency.
In fact, most people never get any important thing done without a deadline, or “In Your Face Situation”.
Tell your prospects why they need to act now, and if possible; give them reasons to act now – special incentives, deadlines, etc.
Give a "CALL TO ACTION with URGENCY"
So there you go - A crash course in creating great copy that sells. There's still a lot more, and this is a very small part of it, but this is definitely something you can start working with.
If you've not done so already, please join us here, so that you can get this directly in your inbox EVERY TUESDAY.
The Billion Effect
For thousands of years, if there's one business model that the world has been advancing towards, it's DEMATERIALIZATION.
This is one of the intelligence behind behemoths like Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Uber, Apple, Zoom and the endless list you already know
Everything that can be dematerialized is been dematerialized. And as a stake holder of the future, you need to understand the thinking behind this, how it works, and how you can engineer it.
In this episode of The Billion Effect, I dive into the business model of the future - Dematerialization, and how to engineer one for your business or industry.
Click here to listen or download
Random Word I stumbled On
CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE - The inability to communicate your ideas because you wrongly assume others have the necessary background to understand what you’re talking about
Thanks for taking the time. Talk to you soon.
-- Zubi O'Peters