If you are a business owner, are you of the opinion that there is absolutely no need to hire a copywriter to write your sales materials because you know your product better than anyone else?

I can’t argue with the fact that you probably do know your product better than anyone, but that is the exact reason why you shouldn’t write the copy.

How can you tell if a company has written its own copy?

Because it is focused on what the product is rather than what it will do for the customer. It’s only natural. After all if you spend every waking hour with tumble dryers you will end up thinking about them a lot. You will know what every programme does and will probably be able to explain how it works in your sleep. It would be same if you made top of the range, ultra expensive shoes or any other product for that matter.

The problem with this is that it tends to lead to descriptive writing rather than powerful sales writing. So you will be writing about how great it is at drying clothes and perhaps the different colours it is available in – great, but a freelance copywriter would describe it as a specially designed labour saving device.

The same applies to the shoe example. Being too close to them, you will be selling them as high quality and stylish, which I am sure they are. But your sales writer would look at them and think ‘what does your potential customer want to know?’ They aren’t interested in the quality of the leather, or shade of colour. The will want to know that they are the latest must-have item for the woman-about-town and they’ll make her irresistible to men.

OK, that is potentially a little far fetched, but I hope it illustrates my point.

No matter how much blood, sweat and tears went into developing and producing your product, your customer won’t give two hoots. The only thing they are interested in is what will it do for them?

• Will it save me money?
• Will it save me time?
• Will it make me look successful?
• Will it make me feel like a million dollars?

Knowing your product well is vital but what is probably more important is the ability to dramatise them it terms of their benefits. A skilled copywriter will make your reader believe that not only will their lives be made easier with your product, but they couldn’t possibly live without it.

That is the skill you need to harness through a professional copywriter; the skill that will make your readers reach for their credit cards.

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Email is a quick and easy way to get your message out to thousands of people in one hit.

So what do you need?

Well a copywriter is always a good start, but well written sales copy will only get you so far. Many people make the mistake of thinking that if they get a copywriter on board their email marketing campaign will be a sure success.

But come on, this is the murky world of marketing – nothing is that simple. For a campaign to have the highest possible chance of success (there are no guarantees here) there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration.

• Content

Yes, this is a biggy but it’s not the be all and end all by any means. Your copy needs to be strong, compelling and sales orientated (hence the need for a freelance copywriter) with a strong headline and call to action, but it also has to have a ‘human side’. No one likes to think they are being sold something. The content has to be interesting, personable and engaging to give it the best possible chance of getting your message across.

• Offer

Possibly even more important than the writing (did I really say that?) is the offer you are making. If it’s not irresistible it won’t work. And don’t forget it’s your readers that have to find the offer amazing – your opinion doesn’t count. Let’s face it we all think our products and services are the best, but that obviously can’t be true. It doesn’t matter how great you think your offer is, if your reader doesn’t get excited about it your email will end up in the deleted folder.

• List

You can send out the best offer ever written by the world’s top copywriter, but if you are sending it to a ‘bad’ list it won’t work. You have to carefully research your target market to make sure your message is reaching the correct audience.

• HTML

If you are sending an HTML email, have you tested it? Now I’m not an expert in HTML but I do know that not all browsers/email clients view it in the same way. What might look like a stunning email to one recipient may look like a pile of garbage to another. Test your email to make sure it works otherwise your hard work could either end up in a spam filter or deleted file.

• Timing

Timing is everything. Avoid sending out your mailing on a Monday or Friday. The best time to send is mid morning on a Tuesday or Thursday. Also don’t forget that your recipient has a life too. The reason why your email failed to get their attention may be due to factors beyond your control – too busy, having a bad day, going to the wrong person or simply that you’ve contacted a company at a time when they don’t want or need your product.

I’m sure you can think of many more reasons why an email campaign may not work. But I want to get across the fact that you can’t blame one aspect for failure as there may be multiple reasons.

When embarking on a campaign it should be exactly that – a campaign. One email won’t do it. To be highly effective you need to send a series of emails over a time period. Use them to give information as well as sell. By constantly appearing in your reader’s inbox over a period of time increases your chances of being called when they need your particular product or service.

People will only buy if they need your service. It doesn’t matter how attractive your offer is, if they don’t have a need, they won’t buy.

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The purpose of any copywriting or sales writing is to make your reader want to buy something.

But how can you make sure your reader actually buys your product or service when they land on your website?

Put yourself in your reader’s shoes. You’ve landed on a web page, it looks quite pretty, it’s got some nice images, the copywriting is quite persuasive but you’re not 100% convinced it’s for you.

So what do you do?

Go back to your search results and look at another site? Probably. But would you actually return to the original site – would you remember which site was the original one? Probably not.

Basically if your reader navigates away from your website you are highly unlikely to see them again.

Therefore it is vital that you create a sense of urgency so your reader will buy your product there and then.

How to create urgency

The simplest way to create urgency is by using a limited time offer. Your reader won’t want to think they are going to lose out on something. It can be in relation to a discount, free bonus, price increase or even stock availability.

If it’s limited by time surely that means it will sell out fast…it must be popular…it must be the thing to have therefore I MUST HAVE IT.

There are a number of different types of limited time offer such as:

• Order now! While the price is still low. After 18^th August 2009 the price will go up to…
• Order before midnight, January 12^th 2010 and you’ll get a 25% discount!
• Order before July 9^th 2010 and you’ll get a free bonus!
• Order now while stocks last! After 12^th November 2009 we can’t guarantee we’ll have any stock left.

By using this method I can’t guarantee everyone will buy straightaway, after all not all your readers are necessarily going to be interested in your product. But if they are interested, a time limited offer will usually make them want to buy.

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One of the most effective online marketing tools is the press release. However it is often misused or under-used.

Let me ask you something – in the past 12 months how many press releases have you made on behalf of your company?

20, 15, 10, 5…less…none?

When should I make a press release?

The simple answer is whenever your company does something it wants to shout about. If it’s news, press release it.

Want some examples? OK, here is just a selection of scenarios where you can spread the news through press releases:

• The launch of new products or services on your web site
• You want to publish the results of an online survey you’ve been running
• To publicise a seminar you’re hosting
• You are launching a new website
• Your company has won an online award
• Publicise online products or services you’re giving away
• If you’ve started an online club/forum
• If you’re lucky enough to have someone famous to endorse your product
• Launching a joint venture with another company
• If you’ve written a new eBook

That was just a list off the top of my head. I’m sure if you have a think you’ll find an angle you can press release about right now.

Press release golden rules

Of course, if you want your press release to stand the best possible chance of being published, you’ll have to make sure it is written correctly. By following these simple steps you should be able to create something interesting, readable and printable.

• Make sure your release reads like news and not an advert
• Only send your release to media related to the topic of your press release
• Keep it one page in length
• Your header, contact information and release date should be at the top of your release
• Use short, simple sentences and double space your lines
• Your header and first few sentences must grab your readers’ attention
• You should tell a story and mention your business, product or service in the body of the press release
• Proofread your press release looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes
• Proofread your press release looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes
• Proofread your press release looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes

No I haven’t gone mad. That last point is meant to appear 3 times. You can’t afford to send out a press release with errors in it.

Don’t forget if it’s new to you, it will probably be valuable news to someone else so shout about it.

These press release tips are brought to you by freelance copywriter Sally Ormond.

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As a copywriter I am asked to undertake a huge variety of projects for my clients. They can range from website copywriting to providing copy for brochures or writing features/articles to interviewing people to write case studies and just about everything else in between.

A recent project I was involved with was to not only write a clients web copy but to also produce an awards entry for their company. They are a freight forwarding company and were looking to enter the IFW Freight Forwarder of the Year Award for the first time.

Working closely with the company, I produced an entry for them and guess what?

The Managing Director phoned earlier this week to tell me they had been shortlisted as finalists!

Superb! Now it’s fingers crossed time that come September there’ll be even better news – a win?

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A great sales letter can stand between you and a small fortune. By getting the content, tone and sales pitch right you could open up a whole new world of customers. But writing the perfect sales letter isn’t easy.

In my post Copywriting – The Sales Letter I talked about the mechanics of the sales letter and its 3 main components – the headline, the offer and the call to action,

These elements are vital but there is something missing – your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). I came across this post recently written by Jonathan Young of Decodefy: What’s Your Unique Selling Proposition? Have a read, perhaps it will help identify your products USP’s and in turn strengthen your sales letter.

What’s your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

Also known as the unique selling position or unique sales position, the USP is often one of the most misunderstood elements of a good sales letter. It’s what separates your product or service from your competitors. Let’s take a quick look at some unique selling propositions for a product itself:

Lowest Price

If you’ve got the corner marketed on budget prices, flaunt it. Tesco has made this USP famous lately, but it’s not new to them. In fact, selling for cheaper has been around as long as capitalism itself. Personally, I’m not crazy about price wars, because someone can always come along and sell for cheaper. Then it’s time for a new strategy…

Superior Quality

If it outperforms your competitor’s product or is made with higher quality materials, it’s a good bet that you could use this fact to your advantage. For example, compare Ben & Jerry’s to their competitor’s. From the packaging to the wholesome superior ingredients, the quality is evident. It may cost a little more than their competitor’s ice cream, but for their market, it sells.

Superior Service

If you offer superior service over your competitor’s, people will buy from you instead. This is especially true with certain markets that are all about service: long-distance, Internet service providers, satellite television, etc.

Exclusive Rights

My favorite! If you can legitimately claim that your product is protected by a patent or copyright, licensing agreement, etc., then you have a winner for exclusive rights. If you have a patent, even the Queen must buy it from you.

Ok, what if your product or service is no different than your competitor’s? I would disagree, because there are always differences. The trick is to turn them into a positive advantage for you. You want to put your “best foot forward.” So what can we do in this scenario?

One way is to present something that your company has devised internally that no other company does. Look, there’s a reason why computer store “A” offers to beat their competitor’s price for the same product by X%. If you look closely, the two packages are never exactly the same.

Company “B” offers a free scanner, while company “A” offers a free printer. Or some other difference. They are comparing apples to oranges. So unless you find a company with the exact same package (you won’t…they’ve seen to that), you won’t be able to cash in.

But what if you truly have the same product for sale as the guy up the road?

Unless your prospect knows the inner workings of both your and your competitor’s product, including the manufacturing process, customer service, and everything in-between, then you have a little potential creative licensing here. But you must be truthful.

For example, if I tell my readers that my product is bathed in steam to ensure purity and cleanliness (like the cans and bottles in most beer manufacturing processes), it doesn’t matter that Joe’s Beer up the road does the same thing. That fact that Joe doesn’t advertise this fact makes it a USP in your prospect’s eyes.

Want some more USP examples?

• We are the only car repair shop that will buy your car if you are not 100 percent satisfied with our work.
• Delivered in 30 minutes or it’s on us!
• No other furniture company will pay for your shipping.
• Our recipe is so secret, only three people in the world know it!

As with most ways to boost copy response, research is the key with your USP. Sometimes your USP is obvious, for example if you have a patent. Other times you must do a little legwork to discover it (or shape it to your target market).

Here’s where a little persistence and in-person selling really pays off. Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean:

Suppose your company sells beanbag chairs for kids. So you, being the wise marketer that you are, decide to sell these beanbags in person to prospects before writing your copy. After completing twenty different pitches for your product, you discover that 75 percent of those you visited asked if the chair would eventually leak.

Since the chairs are for kids, it’s only logical that parents would be concerned about their youngster jumping on it, rolling on it, and doing all things possible to break the seam and “spill the beans.”

So when you write your copy, you make sure you address that issue: “You can rest assure that our super-strong beanbag chairs are triple-stitched for guaranteed leak-proof performance. No other company will make this guarantee about their beanbag chairs!”

Now, get to work and start creating your, soon-to-be, world famous USP.

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Press releases are something I touched on in an earlier post Is Your Press Release Newsworthy?

They are one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business. Online press release sites provide an excellent opportunity to get your company’s news out into cyberspace. So why do so many entrepreneurs ignore this type of promotion?

Quite simply, because they don’t know how to write a press release but trust me, it is well worth learning. It’s important to promote your online business with press releases because of the media all over the internet. There is a vast amount of advice and information available on the web showing you how to write a press release, but below are some common press release writing tips:

• Your press release must sound like news not an advert
• Only send your press release to the media related to the topic of your release
• Keep it to one page in length
• Make sure your header, contact information and release date are at the top of your press release
• Use short, simple sentences
• Grab your reader’s attention with the header and first few sentences
• Tell a story briefly mentioning your business/product/service in the body of the press release
• Proofread it many times to ensure there are no spelling or grammatical errors

Of course, there is another reason why entrepreneurs don’t use this method of promotion. Because they don’t know what’s newsworthy. Well, here are a few suggestions of what is considered news – I think you’ll be surprised and you’ll probably find something that relates to your business right now.

• New products/services you’re offering on your website
• Results of an online survey you’ve completed
• A virtual trade show or seminar you’re hosting
• A free chat room class that you’re running
• The launch of a new website
• An online award your business/web site has won
• A free e-mail newsletter you’re launching
• A free trial/service/product that you’re giving away
• An online business club you’re starting
• An endorsement from a famous person you have received
• A major joint venture you’re starting with another business
• The launch of a new eBook you’ve written
• A fundraising event you are doing

The list is endless but I hope the above has given you an idea of what counts as news. Do you have something that fits the bill? If so, write a press release and get it out there and start driving some traffic to your website.

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If you are a follower of my blog you would have seen recent posts giving you copywriting secrets that sizzle and 8 Psychological Triggers of Copywriting. Whatever form your sales writing takes, it is vital that it works hard to make your readers want your product or service rather than just describe it to them.

You probably think there can’t possibly be anything else I can cover about how to make your copywriting as compelling as possible. Well, you’re wrong – I could keep going forever because I can’t stress enough how important the content of your web sites, ads, newsletters etc., is if you are going to convert readers into customers.

What else do we need to do?

The following list provides you with details of what techniques you can employ to make your readers buy.

I’m not giving you a guarantee that by using all of these every person who comes across your ad will buy – mainly because people are fickle creatures – but they will give you the best possible chance of maximising your sales opportunities.

• Make your copy read like a story – this will create interest, make it more readable and that way will create more interest in your product.
• Surveys help you ensure your product/service is tailored to the needs of your customers. Give away a freebie if they complete you survey.
• Highlight keywords in your copy using colour, bold or underlining (use the latter sparingly otherwise readers could get frustrated thinking they are hyperlinks)
• Give them plenty of choice – give them several ways to get in touch with you and to order your product.
• Design your site with your reader in mind. What they want to see is far more important than what you want to see.
• Stuck for ideas? Join online forums and participate in chats. You’ll learn a lot from other online marketers.
• Create a sense of urgency by limiting offers by time, or give away something free with their order again making it a time limited offer.
• Offer extras at point of purchase – i.e. batteries, glasses cases etc.
• Compliment your reader – making them feel good about themselves will help them reach that all important buying decision.
• Create up sell and cross selling opportunities by selling products that compliment each other.

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Guess what? There are millions of adverts out there on websites, in newsletters, brochures, emails, TV, magazines…

So, what have you got to do to make yours stand out?

Look at what your competitors are doing…

…and then do something different.

If you study the advertising in your industry, you will probably be able to identify a common theme running through most of the ads. They may say similar things, have a similar layout or follow a similar format.

To make yours stand out you need to stand apart from everyone else.

Great. But how exactly am I supposed to do that?

Quite often you will find that because you know your industry so well, you become blinkered. Without realising it you would have fallen into the trap of churning out the same copy.

Often, when companies realise this is what’s happening, I get a call. As a freelance copywriter coming in from ‘outside’ I can look at their company with a fresh perspective. Whether I’ve worked within their particular field before or not, is neither here nor there. The fact is that I can look at the product or service with an unbiased view and produce something fresh, interesting and attention-grabbing.

Stand out and be noticed

I suppose you want a few hints now on how to make your ads more interesting. Here goes…

1. Add a personal touch by using a hand written letter on your ad rather than text.
2. Add a list of respected people who’ve bought from you – but make sure you get their permission first.
3. Use before and after pictures to illustrate the benefits of your product.
4. If you’ve had an article or review written about your company, use it in your copy – it gives respectability and credibility to your advert.
5. If you offer free bonuses always add their monetary value so your readers can see what a great deal they are getting.
6. If possible use a famous person to promote your product/service.
7. Add your picture and contact details to your advert.
8. Tell your readers that you will donate a percentage of their purchase price to a specific charity.
9. Ask ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions in your copy to remind them of their problem and to make them think about what will happen if they don’t buy your product.
10. Create a competition – for example enter them in a free prize draw if they can find the 3 miss spelt words or the 5 flowers in your ad. The longer you can keep them reading the greater chance of getting them to buy.

Simply by using one or two of these suggestions in your copy, your company will be seen as standing apart from the rest. Being different is good. Being different is being seen.

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It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, you need great copy if you are going to have an impact on your market.

Whether all your marketing is offline, online, or a combination of both, your sales writing must be active, interesting, persuasive, creative and compelling if it is going to attract potential customers.

As a freelance copywriter I am approached by numerous companies from all industries looking for great sales copy. The majority of  these appreciate the skill that is required to craft copy that will attract, promote and sell their products. They understand the power of professionally written copy and therefore see it as an investment.

They don’t look at my quote as an expense – they see it in terms of what the copy will produce. By investing in my services they will achieve x% higher sales and greater market visibility.

If you needed dental work, you wouldn’t get a quote, scoff at the cost and then decide to do the extraction yourself with a pair of plyers. You would know that you need a professional to ensure the best results possible.

Admittedly that example is a bit extreme, but I think it illustrates my point.

Your marketing materials are your company – they are what your potential customers will judge you on. If your brochures, website copy, newsletters, emails and reports are wishy washy, bland, boring and badly written your company will come across as that too. Utilise the services of a professional copywriter, and you will be seen as dynamic, customer centred and professional.

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