3 Keys to Better Online Copywriting

Doing the copywriting for your own website without the proper knowledge and tools is pretty much like flying blind in a snowstorm without piloting experience or instruments.

It doesn't work too well.

A very basic knowledge of copywriting and direct marketing principles will take you a long ways on the Web.

Here are three simple keys to writing better online copy. Armed just with these, you'll have a jump on 90% of the folks out there doing the copywriting for their own sites. And you'll increase the pulling quality of your site's copy today -- even if you've never written a word of copy in your life.

1) Wake up your prospect

In today's overkill ad world most people have become numb to standard sales messages. Television, newspapers, magazines, Internet, radio, etc. all blast us non-stop with advertising. After a while we just naturally tune most of it out.

Copywriting great John Carlton says to imagine that your prospect is a giant blob sitting there on the couch or in a chair. Now what would you need to do to get that blob to take action to buy?

Getting someone to stop... actually read your website copy... AND click through (or fill out a form) is serious heavy-duty action on the click-and-run Web. Your prospect has a million things on his or her mind.

Reading your copy isn't exactly Priority One...

So how do you wake your prospects up and get 'em to read your copy?

The secret is right here in this headline:

"ARE YOU TOO BUSY EARNING A LIVING TO MAKE ANY REAL MONEY?"

This is from Joe Karbo's sales letter for his "The Lazy Man's Way to Riches" book. The letter was probably responsible for over a million dollars worth of sales for Joe.

Joe's secret here, and one which you can use too, is based on a simple principle for getting a prospect's attention.

You need to...

2) Enter the conversation going on in your prospect's mind

You should know enough about your target market to know what keeps them awake at night. If you don't yet, then you'll need to find out right away.

In the example above from Joe Karbo, it's about working like a dog and barely making enough to pay the bills. Marketers like Joe who target opportunity seekers understand that frustrations about money cause a lot of people pain.

But what concerns does your target market have? What problem(s) do they need solved? What itch(es) do they need scratched?

You can find the answers to these questions fairly easily. Lurk on the forums where your prospects hang out... Read the online and offline newsletters, magazines and journals they read...

Or better yet, just ask them!

Set up a survey page on your website or else survey them through your newsletter or blog. Or use a Web tool like AskDatabase.

Once you know what your prospects are thinking about most of the time your copywriting job becomes a heckuva lot easier. You'll be on a more intimate basis with your market. Which is never a bad thing...

Good copywriting is wooing your customers in print, after all. Just like you would woo a prospective mate. And the more you know about them the more you'll be able to say the right things!

So now that you know what bothers your prospects you'll need to...

3) Make a compelling offer

This is an area where most website copy really falls short.

Ask yourself this question:

What exactly is it that I want my prospects to do?

You want them to buy! Right? Or at least opt-in to your newsletter... or get your free report... or sign up for your autoresponder series...

In other words, you want them to take an action! You don't want them to browse around, look at your pretty graphics and then click out. The Web is just too too big. And your site is just one tiny place in that giant Web ocean. Once they leave, their chances of coming back are one in a billion. Or worse...

So you need to use your copywriting skills to build an offer that forces them to make a clear decision.

Make it irresistible. "Make them an offer they can't refuse," said the old godfather.

He would've made a good marketer.

By making your offer as seductive as possible, you force action. You force that clear decision. With pure lead generation sites this means they give you their contact info. With direct sales sites it means a sale. Or if it's a combination of the two they buy and/or give you their contact info so you can follow up.

If your offer is good enough, then a good percentage of your prospects will be energized.

Your copy will be like a jolt of electricity...Zap!

That blob on the couch might actually get up and do something...

So make your offer hot. Load it up with perceived value. Tell 'em how your product is going to make their life better. And give 'em a good deal!

To summarize...

Wake 'em up by entering the conversation already in their minds, and then make 'em an offer they can't refuse. If you do this, you'll instantly increase the power of your online copywriting.I guarantee it!

© 2005 by Bruce Carlson

Want to become a better online copywriter? Signup for Bruce's The Dynamic Copywriter and see howeasily you can improve your online copywritingskills and boost your sales!

http://www.dynamic-copywriting.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Copywriting Information:

Related Articles

Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection - Part 2 of 2
In part one of this article series we began looking at the Cruise Vacation Center site: a travel site whose copy was sorely lacking in emotional appeal and visual imagry. (You can see the previous version of the copy here: http://www.
How You Can Find Freelance Children's Writing Positions That Will Last
Freelance children's writing positions are always advertised. Rather, the schooling to learn how to write for these jobs is advertised.
What a Ghostwriter Can Do for You
Do you ever have brilliant ideas for articles, books or a website, but never get around to doing anything about them? Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Trust and credibility are vital in creating consumer confidence.
Five Tips for Writing Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines
If you made it this far, the headline for this story has caught your attention. Hot headlines are a hit with readers because they stick out, grab attention and urge them to read the rest of the story.
The Biggest Mistake Copywriters Make
Most of the sales pieces people ask me to rewrite seem to offer great products and services. In fact, some of their offers are so good, prospects would be crazy to turn them down.
Five Sections of Your Copy Guaranteed To Get Read
Only about 20% of your copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned.
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers
Hands up if the title to this article made you think that you'd strayed into a fishing feature?Perhaps you didn't quite go that far, but hopefully you were puzzled or curious enough to wonder what on earth those three angling associated words have to do with writing. The answer of course is nothing at all if you are thinking of metal barbs, yards of tangled nylon and blobs of lead weights.
Pulling Sales with Your Ad Copy
One of the best marketing tools available to your internet business is good sales ad copy. This can pull in sales faster than just about anything.
Freelance Copywriting Advice #1: Take the Scary Jobs
From time to time you will be faced with an opportunity that looks downright scary.The temptation is to think, "Hey, that's way outside my level of expertise.
Touching the Prospect's Emotions in Your Sales Letter
Your prospect has emotions? and you MUST touch these emotions in your sales letter. Your copy has to excite.
Website Advertising: 10 Tactics To Make Your Ad Copy More Impactful
If your ad is not generating a lot of sales, the reason may be because it is not effective.Here are secret website advertising tactics to make it more impactful and therefore generate more orders:1.
How To Get Started With A Career In Copywriting
Careers in copywriting are booming. Could it be that the new and ever growing market on the Internet has helped to fuel this demand? You can bet your sweet keyword that it has! With so many businesses looking to the internet for their freelance copywriters the demand for employees keeps growing.
How to Negotiate Rates with a Freelance Copywriting Expert
Lots of people who seek out my copywriting services are concerned about money. Rightfully so.
5 Rules for Effective Written Sales Communications
Most salespeople have great ideas, but when it comes to putting those ideas on paper for their prospects, they ramble on for pages and quickly lose their readers' interest. Why do brilliant salespeople often have such a difficult time writing effective sales materials? Quite simply, these professionals haven't mastered the 5 rules of effective written business communications.
To Start Making Cash from Your Online Writing, You Must Draw Blood First
Writers write just like painters, paint on canvas. This is one of the reasons why it is important that you launch your writing career by getting some freelance writing work that you can get paid for doing.
How to Write Profitable Ads
Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect ofany successful business is its advertising. In fact,the success of any business is largely dependent on good advertising.
10 Tips for Aspiring Freelance Copywriters
Every week I receive a couple of emails from people seeking advice on how to get into freelance copywriting. While there's no simple answer, and no answer which applies to everyone, there are a few tips which I believe will help most people make the move into freelance copywriting, and survive the first few months at least.
Killer Ad Copy
Not everyone is a writer. Good copy writing is a science and can be learned over time.
Bullshit Avoid the use of the word Bullshit
It is important in this new paradigm of political correctness to tone down the language a bit. In this present period if you use such words like Bullshit, even when you are describing something that definitely is complete and total BS; it makes you look just as bad as what ever you are describing.
Content is King
IntroductionA pencil. Yes, a pencil.