Did you ever wish you could afford to hire one of those professional copy writers who charge $5000 or more to write a simple sales letter? Or worse, have you laid down your hard-earned cash for a self-proclaimed “professional” writer, and gotten back something your 3rd grader could have written?

If you spend countless hours staring at a blank page trying to come up with compelling ad copy for that “killer” sales letter (you know, the one that’s going to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams?)… STOP!

Why drive yourself nuts and give yourself a major headache trying to train yourself to be a professional copy writer overnight? Do what the gurus do… start a “swipe file.”

That’s an unfortunate name, swipe file. It sounds unethical. Please understand, I am NOT condoning plagiarism! But every so-called “internet marketing guru” openly admits to having a swipe file that they use when they need a little inspiration. (more…)

Copy makeovers can work magic.

Perhaps all you need is a little medicine… and not major surgery. Take whatever sales copy you have now and modify it. Recast, rework and repackage what you’ve got.

Chances are you’re sitting on some solid (yet hidden) sales material. Often simple copy makeovers can work wonders in terms of response. So, before you crumple it up and toss your sales letter in the trash, try tweaking it first. You might be surprised at the result.

Here are 3 simple steps to complete copy makeovers… (more…)

Okay, you’re ready to write the ad of a lifetime. The one that will pull like crazy and leave them begging for your product like Somalians for food. So, do you whet their appetite with a short and sweet ad? Or write a long-copy ad that’s stuffed with information?

The 80-20 rule says 80% of the people only read the headline (and maybe a caption, if you have one). But the fact is, readers will read a long-copy ad. One McGraw-Hill study looked at 3,597 ads in 26 business magazines. What they discovered was that ads with 300 or more words were more effective that shorter ads in creating product awareness, inducing action and reinforcing the decision to buy.

Another ad for Merrill Lynch crammed 6, 450 words into a single New York Times page. It pulled over 10,000 responses even without a coupon! The truth is, the reason people read ads has nothing to do with copy length.

Nobody reads long ads and other urban ad legends

People shun too many of today’s ads long or short because several misleading myths have stubbornly remained with us. Things like negative headlines are a downer since people want to feel good when reading your ad. Or show the product or they’ll never know what you’re selling. Then there’s the stuffy axiom, there’s no place for humor in business advertising. Or the ubiquitous saw, all your ads should look the same, blend in or be swallowed up. (more…)

One of the biggest challenges you need to overcome in order to create more sales in your business is getting people to trust what you say. Now you may very well have a great deal of integrity and be very trustworthy when it comes to your business (and I’m sure you are). But do your customers know that? And how can you make sure that they do?

‘Lack of trust’ is a big problem in advertising. You probably don’t realize how many customers DON’T believe what you say or claim in your advertising. In fact, the best rule of thumb to go by, is that NO ONE BELIEVES YOU. We often see on TV current affairs shows, people who get ripped off by businesses. And it might only be 1 in 1000 businesses in that particular industry, but of course it’s that one that will always get the headlines.

Then the general public see this and make a broad judgement on that industry to protect themselves, and then they become wary of every business. So it’s not enough to just tell people that you have this fantastic, well-respected reputation… and so therefore you’re the company to choose. It just doesn’t work that way anymore, you need to go much further these days. (more…)

Obviously, if you’re paying to advertise your business, you want people to read your whole ad, so they know what you’re offering and can make an informed decision about whether to do business with you, don’t you?

Here’s a few ideas you can use in your advertising to keep your reader interested:

• Conversational short sentences
• Sub-headings
• Break up long text into short paragraphs
• Using bullets to speed the reader through your copy
• Problem-solving copy the reader identifies with
• Talking in “What’s in it for me?” terms
• Educational copy
• And not revealing the price till the end.

Firstly, you need to be aware of the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) concept. What that means is you need to constantly tell your customer what’s in your ad for them, because if they’re reading your ad it’s only to find out something that they want to know about.Your ads need to be the ones that reward them (while your competitors’ BORE them). This also means you should understand the difference between benefits and features. (more…)