This week we're going to build on last weeks research into our messaging and do some basic copy for our websites or any other promotional material we use, be it video (adapt this somewhat), social media posts, etc. If you do not have a place to put copy yet, then never mind this lesson and use your time to get that done first. You can hop over to the Websites 101 class, or get some things listed on Etsy or Facebook stores just to get going.

You will need to decide what you're writing copy for. If you are service based, that's easier to narrow down. If you sell products, you ultimately need to write copy for each of them, but that's probably too difficult to do in the span of this assignment. I'm currently in process of reviewing copy for products done a decade ago, that hasn't had copy updated in years. I'm better at it now. What you can do, is notice where your weak spots are. I tend to bury the lead. Go back and fix all those spots rather than rewrite the entire thing. You can also go through and add calls to action to everything fairly quickly. The alternative is to take your best product and make that copy stronger. To fulfill the assignment, we do have a worksheet for you to do, so you do need to pick at least one thing and write copy according to our specs. Track your before sales and your after sales to see if it helps.

Stick to your Niche.

Back up to last week and create your promotional material for that specific audience. A common mistake is trying to appeal to too many different niches. If you want to reach vastly different niches, you will need multiple sites. You'll need to speak the language of your niche.

Decide on a single goal.

From now on, whenever you write something, be it a web page, blog post or email, determine the next step you want the reader to take. Is it to sign up for your newsletter? Buy your product? Visit another page? Don't try to accomplish too many purposes at once. Create copy that has one focus.

Acknowledge their situation.

You want your writing to affirm that you not only understand their pain and challenges, but have a solution. The more accurately you can speak into their problem, the more they will feel that you "get it" and pay attention to what else you have to say. Then you need to state your solution to that pain. A great way to do this is to have your opening copy directly under your headline start with a question that gets them to say "yes" (assuming they are the right customer for your product or service.) Geico's "Are you tired of overpaying for car insurance?" is a good example.You can even stack 3 questions that way, and I've heard it said that we need the 3 to really get on board with something. Personally I feel it gets question-heavy fast and I'll try other things to get a person to "self-select." Self-selecting is when you give a person the information they need to quickly say "Yes, this is for me, or no, I need to move on." The faster and more concrete you can get them to yes or no, the better. If the product is not right for them, onward! If it is, then they can read through the rest of your material with greater attention.

Stress results and benefits.

Don't over explain what you do and how you do it. A basic level of understanding is fine, but focus on what it's going to do for them. What will be the outcome, what will they gain from doing business with you? Give them a clear, understandable end result.

Use stories and testimonials.

These illustrate your points more powerfully and establish credibility. I love to use testimonies, and I have a testimony from a singer who quit cigarettes and pot cold turkey using flower essences. Its a great testimony but I can't use it without exposing a secret to her fans. So it becomes a story, with a made up name, and I get to craft it rather than using someone else's poor writing.

Address common fears and concerns.

What would stop someone from pulling the trigger on your product or service? Make a list of all possible questions, doubts and objections that prospects might have in the buying process. Address it directly and provide them with security. Consider a guarantee of some sort.

Don't be stuffy.

Keep your writing friendly and informal. Overly formal language causes a disconnect and doesn't trigger people to take action.

Simplicity sells.

If you ever have to communicate within the confines of a PPC (pay per click) ad, you might experience having to ruthlessly edit your copy to fit within the space. Your writing gets stronger and more compelling with fewer words. You get right to the point and lose all the meaningless words like "really," "very," and anything cliched. Get your point across as simply as you can make it. Simple does not necessarily mean it has to be short. Long form copy works, and generally, the more expensive your thing is, the more information they are going to need. People are mostly skimmers, and you need to make it skimmable. Headings, sub-headings, bullets and occasional underlines or bold type where you really need it all help. A small percentage will read every word. Those are the people who are very interested and you'll need to not hold back in giving them the information they need.

Have your headlines communicate benefits.

Nobody will read your content without a headline that immediately communicates why they need to read this. You might be able to get away with intrigue, but mostly you should make it very clear WIIFM. (Whats In It For Me)

Always always end with a call to action!

Tell them exactly what to do. "Buy now," "Sign up." Making a clickable button is even better. For heavens sake, don't leave your button saying the default "submit." Nobody wants to do that!

Make it as simple as possible for them to take the action. No hoops to jump through that are not absolutely necessary.

Homework: Write or rewrite some copy for a product or service. Link us the result. Below is a template you can use. It's just a suggestion, and if you want to see it in action within the confines of ecommerce, you can look over here.

Copywriting 101

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