STEP 2 May 21, Tuesday 2pm PT/5pm ET Spotlight Your Benefits: Capture Attention With Magnetizing Headlines & Bullets

Transcription

1 STEP 2 May 21, Tuesday 2pm PT/5pm ET Spotlight Your Benefits: Capture Attention With Magnetizing Headlines & Bullets Housekeeping Starting place is at Quick Review 10,000 Foot View This *Long Copy Sales Letter Blueprint* is an exclusively detailed graphic created especially for Red Hot Copy for a live event. This graphic breaks down the copywriting process visually using three different channels of instruction. Here s how to read this graphic There are three rows you follow from right to left: a. Read the top row of the tan squares, Scannability, Opening, Body, Offer, Close (S.O.B.O.C.) b. Middle graphic of scroll is the 10,000 foot view of the content of a long copy sales letter. c. Final row are Speed Tips for writing faster. Page 1

2 Hero s Journey Here s how it breaks down: The hero is introduced in his ORDINARY WORLD where he receives the CALL TO ADVENTURE. He is REFUSES the call then MEETS THE MENTOR. Next he CROSSES THE THRESHOLD where he eventually encounters TESTS, ALLIES and ENEMIES. He reaches the INNERMOST CAVE where he endures the ORDEAL. As a result of the ordeal, he receives his REWARD and makes his way on the ROAD BACK to his world. Next he is RESURRECTED and transformed by his experience. Finally he RETURNS to his ordinary world with his prized gift or ELIXIR to benefit his world. Your Hero s Journey Template for Your Hero s Journey Page 2

3 Here is the template for you to construct your own Hero s Journey. Separation How did your life used to be before your calling? Initiation What specific incident happened to create your current business? Return What has changed positively in your life as a result? Industry Research Here are some examples of ways to see what else is out there in your industry: Join organizations and groups they join Subscribe to their ezines using a free account (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo) Search for groups & individuals in Twitter and Facebook Search blogs in your industry Read listservs (online special interest forums) Explore their website history Use Alexa to search traffic rankings, other websites owned, link strategies and more, Visit for background on specialized magazines and advertising kits Writing Rituals Environmental Rituals Smudging or Sage Burning Physical Rituals Working Out Dance Walking Dogs Page 3

4 Mental Rituals Celtic Art Therapy Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or Tapping Sensory Rituals Candles OmHarmonics, Focusing Rituals Timer Features and Benefits People want to know that they made a good purchasing decision. So they WANT to be convinced and persuaded why your product or service is better. You need to make it crystal clear how their lives can be improved by your service or your product. The features are the qualities of what you do that are built into your product or service. Features are the adjectives, or tangibles, of the product. What does it look like? What does it do? How does it help? What unique advantage does it offer? How is it different than other products? And so on. The benefits you provide are the ELIXIR you bring to your tribe or community. They are the keys that free them from whatever pain and suffering they are experiencing in your particular area of expertise. For example, for visionaries teaching in the relationship market, their tribe members might be experiencing loneliness, frustration, sadness. The benefits of learning from a relationship visionary become the solution, antidote, or the ELIXIR to their pain. Remember that benefits are the answers people are looking for. Make them big, bold and original. How Benefits Trigger Deeper Reactions Page 4

5 Did you know the formula for writing copy that was used over 100 years ago is still used today?! And it continues to be very successful. How could that be? Our world has changed so much. We re a global society. We have high speed Internet. Electronic banking. Satellites orbiting the Earth. So, how could old-fashioned copy still work on us? Here s why ready? Because humans don t change as quickly as technology. Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs theory which hypothesized that there are three levels of human needs: material (comfort, physiological, safety), social (belongingness, self-esteem), and spiritual. When copy taps into those needs, it becomes much more effective. Page 5

6 Human Triggers To be a good copywriter, you ve got to adopt the proper mindset. One of my secrets is to get into the mindset of my reader s inner caveman or cavewoman. Think back to the way life was thousands of years ago in the Stone Age. There was no Internet, no satellites, no cell phones. But there was still stress. You had to worry about getting eaten alive or starving to death every day. So we were wired for survival selfpreservation. How do you manage staying alive? You need food. The better hunters got more food and were better survivors. That wired us to want more - greed, if you will. The more you have the better your chances are for survival. But you still needed support and help from a group. It would be much tougher to survive out there without that protection and interaction. So social acceptance became important. You needed protection from the elements. Those with the nicer caves and swanky furs (or who helped provide those for their tribe) enjoyed higher group status the star treatment. Today still we re motivated to want higher group status. Well, to survive you have to procreate, right? The species won t go on without sex. So sex became a very important drive that still exists today. To get that, you need to attract the opposite sex. So physical attractiveness and prowess was important. The higher you were on the popularity meter, the better shot you had at getting the mate you wanted. Are you starting to see the layers here? Page 6

7 And finally giving less fortunate cave people a hand up the good side of human nature. Thank goodness we have a sense of duty to our fellow humans or we probably wouldn t have survived this long! Again, human psychology doesn t change as quickly as technology. We re still motivated by the same triggers: Self-preservation (fear of losing something, survival) Gain/Greed (emotional and physical) Social acceptance (approval of society) Higher group status (having the finest, most luxurious things) Love/Sex (attractiveness to the opposite sex) Duty/Guilt (helping a downtrodden group) When you find a way to work these emotions into your copy, you connect with your readers on a deeper level. Features & Benefits Column Template I have two favorite ways to uncover the features and benefits. One easy way to get there is to do a column exercise. When I m writing copy for a new product I take a sheet of paper, draw a vertical line down the center and title each side. On the left is Features. On the right is Benefits. (NOTE: Handwriting works best for me on this exercise you do what feels right for you). Now list all the features under that heading. You should be able to list at least three to five features. Next under the Benefits heading, describe the outcome of each feature. Benefits are the emotional component. How does that particular feature bring value to the customer? Will they sleep better, eat better, make more money, what? Finally, there should be one ultimate benefit Page 7

8 that stands out your primary ELIXIR. That will be the foundation of all of your copy. Each benefit could actually be converted into a headline, sub-head or bullet point. It is your task to decide on the most compelling benefits and build around it. Features (what the product/service IS) so that Benefits (what the product/service DOES) Ex. Pain relief so that You can enjoy normal activities Ex. Increased circulation so that You can lose weight faster Ex. Raises immune system so that You don t waste time being sick and can do what s important so that so that so that Mind Maps Mind maps are an innovative tool to organize your thoughts. (And face it, in copywriting there are A LOT of thoughts). Mind maps really keep you Page 8

9 focused. Because copywriting is NOT a linear process, but a more creative one, mind mapping is a very useful tool for copywriting. (I personally use software to mind map but you can easily do it by hand). It works basically like this: 1. Write down a central idea (in this case your product or service) on a large piece of unlined paper. 2. Brainstorm your ideas in branches off the central topic. Put down EVERYTHING without editing or judging. 3. Look for relationships among ideas and group them together. I personally use on my PC as a mind mapping software and on the Mac. There are also several free versions if you do a Google search. Frankly it s just as easy to create a mind map the old fashioned way with a piece of paper and a pen. Even if you have never mind mapped before, you ll quickly see how easy it is to organize your thoughts. Acupuncture Client Example for Features and Benefits Page 9

10 Your Mind Map Template for Features and Benefits Bullets Number One Law of Copywriting: NEVER assume the reader gets the benefit, no matter how obvious it may appear to you. Spell it out! Connect the dots for the reader. One of the most effective devices of copy is to use bullets. Bullets are the little typographical symbols that signify a list is coming. They show items of equal importance are listed on separate lines. The reader sees them as little mini bits of knowledge that help them make their decision about buying from you. They can often create an emotional response more effectively in many cases than a longer paragraph. Page 10

11 Bullets give the reader s eye a little relief by creating white space, which makes taking in your information much easier. In fact one of your goals throughout creating your copy (and even in your web design) is to consider the reader s experience. You want it to be a pleasant, informative, and gently persuasive experience. If we go back and revisit the features and benefits column you ll see your bullets practically write themselves. Features & Benefits Column Template Features (what the product/service IS) so that Benefits (what the product/service DOES) Ex. Pain relief so that You can enjoy normal activities Ex. Increased circulation so that You can lose weight faster Ex. Raises immune system so that You don t waste time being sick and can do what s important Bullets Example One You will need a lead in phrase that can be applied consistently to every bullet you right in one sequence or set of bullets. (You might have many sets of bullets throughout your copy, depending on the length and your decisions.) For example: Page 11

12 Our Angelic Acupuncture experience is carefully designed to help: Eradicate all levels of pain so you feel invigorated and revitalized, whether you re taking a walk or just relaxing at home; Release those stubborn pounds that seem to keep hanging on so you can slip into that little black dress you love; Bolster your immune system so you don t have to worry about picking up that nasty bug that s going around; And more! Bullets - Example Two Our Angelic Acupuncture experience is carefully designed to help: Eradicate all levels of pain (imagine being able to do the things you love again without a care in the world); Release those stubborn pounds (your friends will want to know your secret); Bolster your immune system (now you don t have to worry about picking up that nasty bug that s going around); And more! I personally like to use parentheses and italics for cosmetic appeal even though my Journalism professors would scowl at the overkill of formatting. You might notice I also use semi-colons rather than periods (although either choice is fine). In fact you might not use any punctuation at the end at all, and that s perfectly acceptable as well. A period mentally Page 12

13 signifies a stop whereas you want one bullet to flow into the next one if possible. Of course there are a lot of different styles to writing bullets but this basic template works every time. As you get more comfortable with your bullets and start crafting your own, you ll start to develop your own style and preferences. It s sort of like music. There are all kinds of styles and different ways to get there, but in the end they follow a certain formula as well. I ll be sending you a list of bullets and headlines that I ve compiled that you can add to your new CONSCIOUS SWIPE FILE. Swipe Files Swipe files are a copywriter s habit you want to develop. What they are is a collection of proven copy that s worked or copy that resonates with you. When it s time for you to write your own copy, it s useful to pull out your swipe files and review them before writing your own. It s very important that you never, never copy the copy word for word. The special swipe file I sent you was created from work I ve done over the years for myself and for clients. Again, it s critical that this work isn t copied directly but used for inspiration and for modeling. That s the true spirit of swipe files to model and share but not to steal. Here s an example of bold plagiarism I just heard about last night: MINE - THEIRS - Q&A Page 13

14 Frequently Asked Questions As your prospect is reading your copy there is already an inner conversation going on in his/her head. In fact from the beginning that little inner voice is constantly trying to persuade your reader NOT to buy. You have to anticipate what questions they have and include them in the copy. Here are some of the basic questions to cover: 1. What is it? 2. Who is it for? 3. How does it make my life better? 4. What if it doesn t work? 5. How much? 6. When do I get it? Example: Q&A 1. What do I do with this? This widget will wash your car and vacuum your house in less than 30 minutes. All you do is charge it in the electrical outlet overnight, then turn it loose on your car. Don t forget to answer the door when it comes in from the garage to vacuum your house. 2. How is your product better than Joe Schmoe s? Well Joe is a good friend of our company who often comes to us for advice. See we ve been in business for 15 years longer than Joe Schmoe. So we actually pioneered this widget. We don t consider ourselves in competition with Joe Schmoe. 3. Can I get it in different colors? The widget comes in chartreuse, magenta and lemon yellow. Page 14

15 Headlines It s a fact. Headlines are your front line to any market. It s the first thing the reader sees. (And the LAST, if it s no good). Here s your one big chance to interest and influence your audience. You want this opening to be the payoff, benefit, or biggest self-serving advantage to the client. Advertising genius, David Ogilvy said, "On the average, 5 times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money." Your big opening is NOT where you want to fall flat on your face. Make sure your headline does its job. The best news about headlines is: You don't need to be a writer... You don't need to be a marketing expert You don t even have to follow proper English rules! So while it s incredibly important to get decent at writing headlines, the good news is ANYONE CAN LEARN. Headline Case Studies From Marketing Experiments One marketer discovered the value of testing by trying 4 different headlines for a diet product, over a 3-month period. The sales material remained identical. Only the headline was different in each case. The headlines were as follows: 1. Breakthrough New Diet Product! 2. A New Diet Revolution! 3. How A Texas Housewife Lost 23.5 Pounds In 32 Days! 4. Dieting Secrets Of a Desperate Housewife! Page 15

16 Every individual response was carefully tracked and recorded. The actual documented results may surprise you. Total sales were 165 units over this testing period. Here s a breakdown of the results each specific headline produced: Sales (8% of total sales) 2. 8 Sales (5% of total sales) Sales (59% of total sales) Sales (28% of total sales) As you can see, the most successful headline produced nearly 12 times the number of sales of the least responsive headline! Adding Emotion to Your Headline Here s an example of an intellectual headline: Financial Strategies For Successful Retirement It s a straightforward statement. But does it move you? Does it inspire you to take any kind of action? Let s add a little emotion to it. Here s a stronger version: Discover How You Can Retire In First-Class Comfort And Achieve Total Financial Freedom On Just $5 A Day! You see...as human beings we are literally driven by our emotions. It s impossible to separate those emotions from our thoughts. We attach feelings to everything including people, situations, messages, actions, and decisions. We re directed by our feelings. Keep that in mind as you work on your headlines. Page 16

17 No-Brainer Headlines for Busy People You know how important headlines are. But what if you re just too busy to write a good one? (Warning if you re hoping for a sale, you re NEVER too busy to write a powerful headline). Here are some easy ways to get started. Busy Person Technique #1: Adapt It There are headlines out there that have been tested and proven successful. Why reinvent the wheel? Plug in your benefits for a winning headline. Here are some examples of simple adaptations from original headlines: 1. Original: They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano But When I Started To Play! (John Caples) Adaptation: They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano. They Stopped When I Picked It Up. (Gold s Gym) 2. Original: Breakfast of Champions! (Wheaties cereal) Adaptation: Breakfast of Millionaires (Barron s Financial Magazine) 3. Original: What Four-Letter Word Do You Use When You Have To Write A Check For Your High Healthcare Premium? (Jerry Fisher) Adaptation: What Four-Letter Word Do You Use After Stepping On To The Bathroom Scale? Busy Person Technique #2: Page 17

18 Swipe It As we ve covered before, a swipe file is a collection of copy that worked in the past and resonates with you. If it s in direct mail or magazines, you can be pretty sure advertisers already spent truckloads of cash to make sure you re reading tried and true material. (After all, it costs a printer a lot more money to get the job done than an Internet business person). Find a headline that works with your business, then play with the words until you get a sound headline. An Eye-Opening Fact About How to Become a Magnet for Your Perfect Soulmate In the Next 72 Hours! Yes! You Will Master Your Business and Take Back Control of Your Financial Future. Discover 7 Quick & Easy Formulas for Writing Super-Responsive Classified Ads! Experience the Simple, (Yet Little-Known) Secrets for Creating Your Own Best-Selling Information Product in a Single Evening! How to Give Yourself the Gift of Daily Inspiration Quickly & Easily! Busy Person Technique #3: Fill It In Take these templates and fill in the appropriate words and ta dah! Instant headline! 1) How To Page 18

19 How to (get) (the biggest benefit your product delivers) Example: How To Make $87,000 Per Year As A Magazine Writer! 2) Secrets of The Secrets of (the ultimate benefit your product delivers) Example: The Success Secrets Of The Most Prolific Magazine Writer In America! 3) The Complete Guide to Example: The Complete Guide to Being a Life Coach 4) The Quick and Easy Way to Example: The Quick and Easy Way to Write Copy for Profit 5) Get Fast Example: Get Fit In Record Time. Guaranteed, No Matter How Out Of Shape YOU Are! 6) Solve A Problem Page 19

20 (Overcome) (major problem) with this Little- Known (solution) Example: Wipe Out Depression for Good with This Little-Known Natural Remedy Found Deep in Forests of the Amazon! 7) Visualize It Imagine. (you as the proud owner of the dream) Example: Imagine. You on Top of the Best-Seller List! 8) Quantify It With Numbers. (Note that you need to tear up the English teacher rule book here. No number is spelled out it s all numerals. In other words, forget about the one, two, three it s 1, 2, 3. There s something psychologically powerful to our eyes when we read a numeral that just isn t there when we read a spelled out number). (specific number) Ways to (dramatize the big benefit) 7 Easy Ways To Save Money On Groceries Without Clipping Coupons And Running All Over Town Just For Those Sale Items! 9) Problem Solver (Worried about)? (State the prospect s problem as a question, then offer your proven solution) Here s a (solution) Page 20

21 Example: Worried about Your Child s Grades in School? Here s a Guaranteed System for Turning C s into A s, Improving Concentration, and Transforming Your Child s Self Esteem! 10) If Then... Example: If You re Looking for One Convenient Source for All Your Business Needs, We Offer a Huge Selection of Office Supplies When writing your own headline, open your mind. Forget about styles and details. Use your timer to write down as many ideas as you can WITHOUT EDITING. It doesn t matter if they sound silly. Give yourself permission to just try everything. This is what John Carlton calls clearing your throat. Some of your best copy doesn t appear until you ve been in a writing groove for awhile. How long it takes for your best work to appear is subjective but for me it s usually after sitting down and being focused for at least minutes. Attributes of a Quality Headline The headline s job is to keep the prospect reading. A powerful headline will almost assuredly guarantee the reader will continue on. It s only by delving into the copy that you can turn your words into sales. Here is a headline checklist: Is it in present tense? Does it have empowering action words? Does it identify the target market? Does it reveal a benefit? Does it summarize the copy below? Does it entice the reader to keep reading? Page 21

22 On a scale of 1-10, how exceptional is this one? The Headline Writing Process Here is a fail-proof plan for writing your headlines: 1. Find a special marketing pad you save just for marketing. This is part of ritualistic writing that will make your marketing more fun. When you get that particular pad out, you mentally know it s time to get busy. Plus it s helpful to go back through former ideas and see if they translate to your current marketing campaign. Some people like legal pads, steno pads, spiral-bound journals, hardcover books. Make your own choice. 2. Review headline swipe files and emotional words. While I ve given you a head start with swipes in this headline product, I recommend you also begin collecting your own. Modeling, not plagiarizing is what marketing is all about. 3. Fall in love with your timer. It s very easy to procrastinate when it comes to doing anything. Headlines are no exception. I recommend working in 15 minute bursts when it comes to writing headlines. You can do anything for 15 minutes, right? Well, maybe not hold your breath but you know what I mean 4. Write a minimum of 100 headlines. A funny thing happens with copywriting you get better as you take your head out of the game. The headlines you come up with at the end of your process are undoubtedly better than the first ones you wrote. 5. Have fun. When you re enjoying what you re doing, it comes through in your copy. If you re not in the space for fun right now try some of the writing rituals we talked about in the first class. Formatting Headlines Page 22

23 Because it s the lead-in, a headline must naturally attract the eye. So set it in larger type so it stands out even more. It takes up valuable real estate so I try to keep the font size balanced to my online body copy. Our headlines tend to be about 36 with sub-headlines at 28 and body copy at Another preference I have is to often identify the target market in a prehead that I put in a size font and italicize it. I also like to add quotation marks around the headline to give it more emphasis. It s something I adopted from Gary Halbert. Formatting Pointers Parentheses deemphasize the importance of the content. But for the purpose of copy, they are effective teasers. For example, if I were to tell you about what I did last night (never mind it involved a mechanical bull) Dashes set the information apart more strongly, giving it emphasis. Commas are just a breather to take while reading the sentence. Ellipses are just plain cool albeit not liked by spam filters Now am I spending time clarifying English language rules when I already confessed I don t really use them? Here s why. There s a cadence you need to infuse in your own copy. And punctuation is a vital key in setting that rhythm. Which is why all of your copy should be read aloud. Don t just pretend to do it READ IT ALOUD. Here s why. We read copy silently in our heads. And every bit of punctuation is a place to breathe. This is why writing in incomplete sentences is OKAY. It s also fine to start a sentence with a word where you would have taken a natural breath. Q&A Page 23