Dynamic Copywriting

As a freelance copywriter, I have come to think of my work as that of slowly, methodically removing a reader’s doubts, apathy and other mental barriers. In some ways, my job is like being a matchmaker between a good, quality product and the person who can truly benefit from owning it.

Here are a few of the mental barriers that a freelance copywriter may have to remove between a product or service, and the potential customer who truly needs and wants what this product can do:

• Lack of awareness that the person may actually have a need or a problem. Some needs require education before the reader recognizes that it exists. Paying for children’s college education might be an example here. Many parents have no idea what inflation will do to the cost of college tuition by the time their kids reach the age of 18.
  
• Lack of concern because the problem seems too remote. Insurance agents and financial planners face this issue every day. We all should plan for retirement, and out deaths are inevitable, but many people lull themselves into complacency because both events seem a long way off. In order to sell a product these people truly need, they must first be shaken out of that complacency.
  
• Lack of interest and attention. the average person is exposed to 10,000 advertisements and marketing messages a day. In order to grab a reader’s attention, you must start with a headline that appeals to readers’ self interest. Check out my article on Freelance Copywriter Secrets: How to Tap Into Your Readers' Deepest Needs
  to learn more about how to appeal to a person’s deepest needs.
  
• Doubts and skepticism. As a result of those 10,000 marketing messages, each claiming to offer the very best widget known to man, people are naturally skeptical of puffery. Support your claims with facts, specific examples, testimonials from satisfied customers, scientific data, etc.
  
• ”They’re all alike.” Shame on you if you allow people to think your product is just like everyone else’s. That is the sign of a freelance copywriter just not doing his or her job. Stand out! Draw attention to why your product is better, different and worth a higher price. But you can only do this by creating a category of one. Your product must be the biggest (or even better, the only) fish in the pond. Your job is to create that pond. Another article I’ve written that you should read isFreelance Copywriter Secrets: 10 Steps to Writing a Powerful USP, because it will show you how to create that category of one.

It is extremely important to understand why a person, who can truly benefit from a product or service, may still choose not to buy it. I want to anticipate these objections and barriers head-on, so I write out every reason, objection, doubt and misunderstanding my potential readers may have.

Then I write copy that answers each of these problems. In so doing, I am able to chip away at their barriers.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Right now, no matter what time of the day or night you are reading this, one of your competitors is making money (a lot of money) using one simple idea. As a freelance copywriter, I strongly encourage every one of my clients to emphasize this idea over all other formulas they may be using now in their advertisements, the approach they use in their web copy or their other marketing programs.

Before I explain what this idea is, let me tell you about a client that didn’t hire me to be their freelance copywriter. I was brought in by the ad agency who had been doing work for a very upscale furniture and decorating chain in Florida. The ads they showed me were breathtakingly beautiful in their design and photography.

But the client and the ad agency were all so enamored with their creativity that they had left out one “minor” element of the ads, copywriting. The only words on the entire layout said something along the lines of, “everything you’ve heard about us is true.”

Apparently the owner of the chain had a reputation for being fussy, particular and a little bit contrary when it came to the interior design work he did for wealthy clientele.

But both he and the ad agency felt that his reputation was so widespread that all they needed to do with the ad was to arouse a reader’s curiosity, and the ad would make a pile of money.

I caused a lot of waves when I suggested that the copy just wouldn’t do. I proposed instead that they adopt the idea below.

So what can this idea do to make an ad (or web site or any other marketing program) more profitable?

• It can create a large list of people who identify themselves as being interested in your product or service.
  
• It can also produce a list of people who ask to receive your marketing materials.
  
• It eliminates forever the problem of sending out untargeted junk mail that does not get opened or read.
  
• It generates repeat traffic to your website as long as you keep producing fresh and useful content.
  
• And most important of all, when your marketing message is requested, welcomed, expected and read by interested prospects; your sales rates increase exponentially.

What is this simple idea? No doubt you’ve already guessed it is Permission Marketing a phrase coined by Seth Godin when he literally wrote the book on the subject.

Mr. Godin defined Permission Marketing as the very opposite of Interruption Marketing, such as the telemarketer who calls right in the middle of your supper. The Permission Marketer instead obtains your consent to market to you often with the offer of a free booklet or some other free product of value.

As I mentioned in my article on , Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Why 2-Step Ads Make More Sales a free offer “lowers the bar” for a reader to respond and it subsequently enables you to build an ongoing relationship with that person. The whole idea behind Permission Marketing is that it breaks through the clutter of all the other messages bombarding your prospects every day.

Godin calls this getting the prospects to “raise their hands” or volunteer to participate in your marketing. Thereafter, any marketing message they receive is by consent, and they can “opt-out” at anytime they choose, so their involvement is always with permission.

My suggestion to the Florida company and its ad agency was to use the ad to pull in inquiries from people who wanted more information. I proposed that they incorporate within the ad an offer for a booklet with ideas for interior decorating and tips for determining quality when buying upscale furniture.

Unfortunately, the creative types felt that my suggestion would cheapen the creative layout of the ad and I did not get the job as their freelance copywriter. By the way, they ran that ad in a Florida magazine that targeted very wealthy Florida residents, and it ran one time. I suspect it didn’t produce enough revenue to justify running it again.

Godin sums up the concept of Permission Marketing as, "turning strangers into friends, and friends into customers." If you aren’t already using Permission Marketing along with your other marketing strategies, you need to get this ball rolling right away.

If you already have some aspects of it in place, keep improving, it will be the best investment you will ever make.

And finally, if you haven’t read Seth’s book, Permission Marketing I just cannot recommend this book enough. It WILL make you money.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

As a freelance copywriter, I often find myself borrowing the techniques from one type of project to solve a problem I encounter in another. This is an article I originally wrote in 2005 to show how the techniques used in speech writing can be adapted to something else entirely.

What follows is not exactly a true story, but it comes close:

Roger was in a state of near panic. He had come out of his office to investigate the cacophony of unanswered telephones ringing throughout the office, and had been met with a horrible sight.

Everywhere he looked, he saw his employees slumped over their desks asleep or staring off into space, as if they had suddenly been struck comatose.

Not a single employee in his entire department appeared to be conscious, and all the while the ringing telephones continued unanswered.

Had some deadly virus suddenly struck his entire staff? Had a toxic gas come through the office ventilation system?

Roger had no idea what could be causing this horror, but he knew that he had to call 911 fast. As he rushed back to his office he saw his secretary slumped over her keyboard.

Suddenly he saw what she was holding in her almost-lifeless fingers.

It wasn’t a disease. It wasn’t a toxic gas that was causing all his people to fall into this stupor. It was something far, far worse.

Today was the day the corporation’s internal company newsletter had been distributed to each employee.

There is no law that says internal corporate communications must be boring.

But you would almost think so wouldn’t you? As you look through a lot of internal newsletters and other corporate communications pieces, it almost seems some writers are afraid they will wind up doing hard time with an overly-tattooed cellmate named Bruno if they anything out of the ordinary appears in their writing.

Not true.

I think the problem comes from attempting to apply traditional journalistic methods within the confined context of an internal communication. Straight news reporting is fine if you have a steady flow of really dramatic stories like the grandmother who foiled a home invader, the latest national security crises, or a winning professional sports team as material.

But if your subject matter is confined to the happenings within a specific company or industry, you may not have all that drama to rely on traditional journalistic methods. You may have to add a dose of creativity.
Use Good Speechwriters’ Methods

A speechwriter, trainer, presenter or any other type of speaker has a very similar problem as a corporate communications writer. How to convey a lot of factual information and ideas, without putting the audience to sleep. Here are a few techniques used by speakers to balance factual content with style and (dare I use the word) “entertainment.”

• Humor. Humor can be dangerous in advertising or external communications, but generally, depending on your corporate culture, you may have more freedom to use humor internally. It goes without saying that humor can backfire on you in many ways if you are not careful, so use good judgment and get a second opinion before going to print.
  
  Keep a humor file of amusing anecdotes, cartoons and photos that you can secure the rights to publish. Also, be on the lookout for the truly funny human beings that populate your workplace. Stories about these funny coworkers will do double duty as a humor piece and as an article where employees can read about one of their own. You can also solicit funny captions for photos and other ideas from the readers. Let your employees write your humor pieces for you.
  
• Second Person When a speaker or writer addresses the listener or reader in the second person, she involves her audience. But even more, writing in the second person practically forces her to find ways to personalize her message and address the concerns and needs of her audience in every way she can think of.
  
  Notice that after my introduction about Roger, I have used the second person to present all of my information, ideas and opinions since. Because I am not writing to a nameless “readership,” I am writing to you, as an individual, and my mind is forcing me to explore ways to write about what you want to learn. Try second person writing on your corporate communications writing and see how it affects your creative process, as well as your readers’ involvement.
  
• Stories. A study of Readers’ Digest magazine revealed that over half of its articles begin with a story, anecdote or narrative of some kind. Surveys of audiences have repeatedly concluded that speakers who scatter stories and anecdotes and stories throughout their presentations hold their hearers’ attentions far better than speakers who bury them under a truckload of facts and information.
  
  I made up the story about Roger because I wanted a way to illustrate the difficulty internal newsletter writers have in communicating their messages in an interesting manner. Stories not only hold your readers’ fascination, they also convey your point with great power. Create your story by simply asking “what if” about the major problem you wish to address.
  
• Turn Numbers Into Vivid Images. By its very nature, internal communications within an organization tends to be heavy on the statistics, earnings reports and other number-oriented material. But there are still ways to present your numbers without having your readers go into a stupor. Illustrate numbers with examples. If one employee out of 100 takes advantage of the company's tuition assistance program, interview that employee and tell her story. If the company lost $163,199 last quarter because of employee absenteeism, show how many new employees could have been hired for that amount to ease everyone's workload.

This is just a brief list of ideas, but I would encourage you to adopt the methods used by speakers and trainers to involve their audiences more. You will find a wealth of ideas that can easily be adapted to your internal corporate communications. In the meantime, please help Roger wake up his employees.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Despite your best efforts (and a lot of money out of pocket) your advertising and marketing just aren’t producing the sales you had hoped for. For some reason, your message just isn’t connecting with the people you’d hoped would become your customers.

As a freelance copywriter, is see this situation a lot when I am called in to fix advertisements, web copy and other marketing materials that just aren’t living up to my clients’ expectations.

More often than not, the problem is my client hasn’t developed a strong Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to set their company, product or service apart from the competition.

A USP tells the world you are different from all the rest. It creates a brand new category for you to be the biggest – or better yet, the only – fish in the pond.

One of my loftiest ambitions as a freelance copywriter is to someday create a USP as powerful as Domino’s Pizza’s one-time promise,

“Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.”

Until some unfortunate accidents involving some of their delivery drivers forced them to soften their message, Domino’s rode this 10 word USP to the top of their industry. That is the power of a compelling USP.

Now does that mean that Domino’s was the only pizza chain that made fast deliveries? Not at all. In fact, I am sure some restaurants out there were probably faster. But Domino’s had created a whole new category in the minds of people who were hungry and wanted their pizza delivered fast. And they owned that category.

Another surprising (or actually not so surprising, when you understand the power of a great USP) effect of their USP was that they re-positioned their competitors as all belonging to the “slower” category. In the perception of people who wanted to order pizza because they were hungry right now, the other guys were just not as fast.

So how do you come up with a powerful USP that creates a whole new pond in which you become the big fish? Here are a few ideas I have put together:

1. Specifically target a need your buyer has that you want to appeal to. These needs can be things like, “to make more money,” “professional advancement,” “better health,” or “to save money/ to get a bargain.” I recently explored how to appeal to your buyers’ needs in an article I wrote called, How to Tap Into Your Readers' Deepest Needs. Click on this link if you want to read more on the subject.
   
   
2. Make a clear promise that you will deliver a benefit. Your benefit statement should promise to solve a vexing problem or bring about a desired change. If your statement does not make a promise, or if it promises something other than a solution or a change; chances are you are talking about a feature instead of a benefit.
   
   
3. Make the solution seem as fast and easy as possible. Your USP is all about chipping away at buyers’ mental barriers. If you can truthfully promise fast and easy results, you have chipped through another excuse NOT to buy from you.
   
   
4. Make sure your claim is believable. If Domino’s had promised 5 minute delivery, no one would have bought in to their concept.
   
   
5. Avoid making a “me-too” type promise. You are trying to create your own category, your own pond. The goal here is not to dive into everyone else’s pond and to out muscle the competition.
   
   
6. Promise a distinct before vs. after contrast. Does your USP help potential customers to visualize a real change doing business with you can bring about?
   
   
7. Talk about your edge, your advantage over the competition. What can you promise that no one else can do? Or, in the alternative, what is no one else talking about? Domino’s was not the first pizza chain to deliver pizzas quickly, but they were the first to make that their claim to fame.
   
   
8. Address your customers in the second person. This is a good rule for writing headlines that I carry over to writing USPs. My own USP is, “I am a freelance copywriter who turns readers into YOUR customers." People respond when you talk directly to them, not when you talk about a subject in the distant third person.
   
   
9. Incorporate key words. In many ways this is the hardest idea on this list to incorporate. But if you are writing web content or if your USP will be prominently displayed on your web site, you just can’t ignore key words. My own keyword is “freelance copywriter,” and I make sure it appears on every article I write. (Did you notice how I just cleverly made the opportunity to use it once again?) Keywords are how people find you on search engines, so you cannot afford to make it harder for them to locate you by not including keywords as part of your USP.
   
   
10. If you are still having difficulty, think of how you want people to think about your competition. Put the emphasis on repositioning the other guys. Domino's did this to their competion and placed the idea in peoples' minds that the other guys were slow. And Avis did this by making people think their chief competitor, Hertz, was too big to try as hard to please their customers.
    

Not only is your USP what positions you as different from all the others, it also tells them why you are the only logical choice in your industry. So go back and look at all your ads and all your marketing efforts that produced less than stellar results. I just bet the problem you need to fix is a broken USP.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

For decades, many researchers and freelance copywriters have demonstrated the same immutable fact: A two-step, or multi-step, advertising program produces many times more sales than ads that attempt to get people to buy from a single exposure to a marketing message.

What is a two-step program? When your ad promises a fee DVD, a free tape, a free booklet, a free report, a free ebook or free information of any kind, you are applying the two-step technique because you are attempting to make the sale on the back end rather than up front.

As I said, we now have decades of research proving that two-step ads bring in more sales. In one study, five million inquiries received by 165 firms were analyzed over a 12 year period. The study concluded that buyers are many times more likely to purchase if they have been exposed to two or more marketing messages.

This means that your ad is the first exposure. The free information you send out is the second. Subsequent mailings just increase the likelihood a person will buy even more.

But the benefit a marketer receives from a two-step program doesn’t stop there. Few companies can stay in business long if their customers make only a single purchase. The two-step process creates a database of qualified and interested potential and repeat buyers.

Smart marketers know that the money is in their customer lists. By recontacting these same people over time with new offers, new products, information about sales and special promotions, and even additional free information packages, their databases can generate considerable long-term profits and sales.

And best of all, since the largest expense was that very first ad, the cost per sale of all this new business keeps going down.

Contrast this to the marketer who puts up a single ad that attempts to make a sale from one exposure to her message. Yes, some sales will come in if the copy is well written, the right audience is precisely targeted and the stars are in perfect alignment.

But these marketers only get one bite at the apple. Either people buy right then or they don’t.

They don’t get the feeling of value your customers receive when they get your free information (which also creates a slight sense of obligation to you), they don’t get exposed to your offer multiple times, they don’t receive information about your other products, sales and special promotions.

And they probably don’t even remember that marketer’s name five seconds after they read her ad.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

As a freelance copywriter, my sole business is to grab the interest of readers and turn them into your customers.

How do I do I accomplish this? Well there are obviously a lot of copywriter tools in my toolbox, but before I can even start tapping at my keyboard, I have to determine what need will influence those readers to buy and what appeal I will use to target that need.

People don’t buy just because a clever freelance copywriter wrote hypnotically, mouthwatering copy; they buy for their own reasons, which are based on their deepest needs. A few of these reasons (needs) might be:

• to make more money,
  
• to save money or get a bargain,
  
• financial security,
  
• better health,
  
• professional advancement,
  
• prestige and recognition,
  
• to be in the “in” group,
  
• fun and leisure,
  
• protect/provide for loved ones,
  
• popularity,
  
• one upsmanship (ie to keep up with the Joneses or even get ahead of them),
  
• make a job or chore easier,
  
• improve appearance,
  
• freedom from worry,
  
• self esteem
  
• love, sexual fulfillment and relationships,
  

The customer’s need (and the appeal you craft to fulfill that need) is the DNA that will run throughout your ad, from the headline through the final word. The fulfillment of this need is the reason you are going to give your readers for buying.

As you can see, some of these needs overlap. “Freedom from worry” may also be part of the need to “protect or provide for loved ones,” or also “financial security.” Any of these needs might be the DNA you incorporate throughout an ad for life insurance as, an example.

Usually, but not always, you should appeal to only one need per ad. Then you should test that ad against other ads that appeal to other needs to find out which need motivates buyers most when choosing to purchase what you are offering. For example, only through testing their ads have some freelance copywriters were surprised to learn that personal “financial security” is often a stronger motivator to buy life insurance than to “protect/provide for loved ones.”

But don’t regard this as a commandment written in stone. If you have the luxury of writing a long ad, you probably should appeal to more than one need.

Once you have identified the need you intend to appeal to, make sure your headline addresses that need with specific benefits that meet that need head on.

For example, suppose you are writing for a financial services firm that has a product designed to protect someone’s retirement income from market ups and downs, and you have determined that “financial security” is the dominant need for your potential clients. Your headline might read:

Retire On a Secure Income
or
Protect Your Retirement Nest Egg
or
Announcing: The Inflation-Proof Retirement Income
or
How I Guaranteed My Retirement Income Will Never Go Down
or
Why Settle for an Unstable Retirement Income?

As you can see, by first identifying your readers’ dominant need, you can then write headlines that appeal to that need like a laser beam.

Next, you use the same need to pinpoint the benefits your copy must address. In the ad that might follow the above headlines on a retirement income product, your readers will probably be interested in the following benefits:

• A retirement income that does not fluctuate with the ups and downs of the financial markets,
  
• An income that is inflation proof,
  
• An income that is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury, or at least a giant company’s reserves,
  
• An income that will allow retirees to live comfortably,
  
• An income that will make sure a retiree will not have to depend on others,
  
• An income that will not for a reduced standard of living.
  

As you can see, not only does determining the buyer’s need make a freelance copywriter’s job easier, it also helps create more compelling copy that appeals to what your buyer really wants. The right appeal is the reason your readers will buy your product.

freelance copywriter, copywriting tips, freelance commercial writer

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

Freelance copywriters should ask their readers more direct questions throughout their advertisements, web copy and direct mail pieces. A question forces a reader to think, to ponder and to become engaged in the message being communicated.

About a decade ago, I was extremely ill with a life-threatening disease that had me out of commission for several months. During this time, I slept most of the day on our sofa in the living room while our small children played around me.

I could sleep through all sorts of clammer without waking up. But if my wife or one of the boys asked a direct question like, “Daddy can you help me with my homework?” or “Daddy, have you seen my (fill in the blank) toy?” I woke out of my slumber at least long enough to answer the question.

The point is, even in a deep sleep my mind recognized a question was being asked of me and pulled me back into the land of the living.

So why do you think questions have such power to engage the mind?

Before I answer that, did you notice what your brain just did? Even though you knew I was using the question to manipulate you subtly to pull you deeper into this article, you still most likely paused to contemplate the answer.

And in all likelihood, the answer you came up with was something along these lines: Questions focus the mind. They pull scattered pieces of information and experiences from different areas of the mind and attempt to assemble these pieces into a conceptual idea.

Think back to your education. Why did some teachers have a greater impact on you than others?

My guess (and possibly yours too, as you paused once again to consider another of my clever questions) is because the really good teachers asked thought-provoking questions throughout the class period. These questions helped you to assemble the information you were studying and formed a deeper layer of learning.

Contrast that to the teachers who just lectured. These teachers simply spewed out information and expected you to take copious notes and regurgitate those facts on an exam.

Lecturers, at best, merely convey raw facts and information, but fail to connect that information to the world around us. Questioners help students to conceptualize and organize information within our brains.

But how do questions help freelance copywriters? Simply this: the ultimate aim of marketing material is to influence people to act, whether that means to buy, request information or join a cause.

But people are not led to act on facts and data alone. They must be engaged. Questions help readers to internalize the message you are communicating and consider, “what will it cost me to go another day without this XYZ widget?” Or, “How can I make sure I have a secure retirement income?”

I like to think of the unengaged reader as not very different from the person who sits through a poignant sermon at church and leaves thinking, “I sure hope my wife was listening, because she really needed to hear that message.” The communication bounces right off that person because it was never internalized.

So how can a communicator (whether you are a freelance copywriter, a teacher or a preacher) make use of questions? First, the questions must provoke thought.

Questions that merely call for a one word, or a yes-no answer do not fit the bill. An engaging question demands that the person assemble various bits of information, and sometimes their own experiences, to come up with an answer.

In copywriting some of the best questions force a person to confront their own need for your product. It makes them realize that they need the benefits your product offers to solve a problem or to bring about a needed change.

So make use of this powerful tool in the freelance copywriter’s toolbox. Can you imagine how much better that will make your writing?

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

As a freelance copywriter, I am always reading books on marketing, writing and advertising in order to hone my skills. I was just rereading Jeffrey J. Fox’s marvelous book, How To Become A Marketing Superstar this week, and had to start jotting down some notes to pass along. Fox has a wonderful knack for distilling his hard-won wisdom into two or three page chapter nuggets that others would have to teach an entire college semester to get across.

Here are a few of my favorites:

·
• NEVER USE WE. Eliminate the personal pronouns "I," "me," "we," "us," or "our" in advertising, packaging, sales literature or anywhere else in marketing communications. "We" is about the marketer and its story. "We" is in the first person. "We" is a bad proxy for your brand name or company name.
  A freelance copywriter's job is to draw the customer into the conversation by focusing on her and her story, her concerns, her headaches, her wants. Your job is to build brand awareness, not "we’ awareness…Never use "we," "us," or "our" in the headline.
  The advertisement is not about you, it is not about your success or experience or hard work. It is about the customer and what the product will do for her or him. To confound this sin, these same advertisers often follow their "we" with trite clichés like, "We put customers first," or, "We are committed to excellence."
  
  ·
• SELL CONSEQUENCES. Always communicate the consequences to the customer of going without your product…It is always more effective to influence the customer by showing the cost, damage or loss they incurring right now by going without your product. Few customers knowingly ignore consequences and then deliberately buy an alternative product on the basis of a lower price alone.…What is it costing your prospect right now to not be doing business with you each month? What other consequences will occur if she delays taking action right now?
  
  ·
• DIFFERENCES. If you flip through any small stack of magazines you will quickly find many examples of ads that inform of such things as "our people make the difference," or "little details make all the difference," "feel the difference," or even, "the right choice makes all the difference." These are all signs of lazy marketers who have not taken the effort to think through what makes their product "different." And yet it is these differences that are your selling points and even your competitive edges (or are they just "wishful differences" with your competitor having the real competitive edge.) If the marketer is too lazy to think through the differences and articulate them, how can he expect the customer to do it for him? If you can’t illustrate to the customer why your widget is different and better than the Brand X widget, he will either choose based upon price, or by what his cousin Ernie thinks he once heard someone say about your brand).

I recommend this book to any marketer or freelance copywriter who wants to compel more customers to buy your products or services. If you haven’t read How To Become A Marketing Superstar yet, go pick up a copy. I’d loan you mine, but I’m still rereading it.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

As a freelance copywriter, I love it when I get to use real customer testimonials in the copy I write for one of my clients.

No matter how much experience I may have as a freelance copywriter and no matter how much effort I put into honing my craft, a real customer’s words of praise will always out-sell anything I write.

When a freelance copywriter has a few really good testimonials to work with, the job is to write good copy which highlights these customer comments and uses them to support key selling points.

So how do you get customers to give you glowing testimonials?

Well you certainly can’t wait for the rare customer to pick up pen and paper and write out a thank you note. Yes, they will arrive in your mailbox every now and then, but there is a better way.

Here are a few tips on how to prime the pump so you never run out of good, strong customer compliments that you can use in your advertisements, direct mail and on your web site:

1. Call your customers. Call them just after they have made a purchase, after they’ve been doing business with you for a while, after they needed service or after you haven’t heard from them in a while. On one hand, your call is a good will call or after the sale call to see how satisfied they are, how helpful your people were or if they have any suggestions for you to improve the way you do business.
   
   
2. Listen to the customer feedback. While you are hoping to generate customer testimonials, keep your eye on the ball and use this opportunity to really listen to what your customers have to say. If they have complaints, treat them as opportunities to wow them with your extra-mile service. But if they have good things to say, jot down some notes while they talk. You may need to reword their comments slightly (people ramble, fail to talk in complete sentences or wander off the subject sometimes). But don’t reword their statements to the point that you put words in their mouths.
   
   
3. Thank them for their kind words, and ask if you can quote them on some of your company literature. In most cases they will say yes.
   
   
4. Read back their comments as you have reworded them (slightly) and ask, “does that sum up what you were saying?” If they agree, go with it; but if not, keep working with them until you have their own words in a form of a strong testimonial. But be very careful that you don’t go too far and try to make them say more than they actually intended.
   
   
5. Send them a copy of the quote.To make sure they know you have quoted them correctly, mail or email thank you notes for their compliments and include a copy of the wording they agreed to.
   
   
6. Make it easy for them to put the testimonial on letterhead.In some cases you might request that they copy the testimonial onto their letterhead for you to use in that form. In other cases you will simply quote them as part of your advertisement, direct mailer or a separate section on your web site called “Customer Feedback.”
   

There are more reasons to take these steps than just to enhance you advertising copy. After you have completed these six steps, you have done more than obtain testimonials. You will also have thanked the customer after the sale (an all too rare courtesy in business these days), you will have learned about any problems and given yourself a chance to fix them, and you will have obtained real feedback that can’t help but improve the way you do business.

As I said before, the words of actual, satisfied customers are far more compelling than anything I, or any other freelance copywriter, could ever write, so get your customers' praise in writing and watch your marketing materials take you to the next level.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

The Before and After Scenario is one of the oldest, and best, methods used by freelance copywriters. And why not? It works because it paints a vivid portrait for your prospect of how he can realize a major change in his life.

A “Before-Scenario” depicts a person whose circumstances are much like that of your targeted prospect: overweight, broke, stuck in a dead-end job, bald or what have you. This is a person your targeted prospect can identify with because he or she languishes under the very same circumstances.

Then you present an “After-Scenario” depicting one of your satisfied customers who is delighted with the changes your product or service has brought about. She is now fit and trim (and has the requisite bathing suit pictures to prove it), they now have enough money to live the life they have always dreamed about, or he now has a full head of hair and is irresistible to the opposite sex.

The simple truth is that now matter how familiar we are with this kind of advertising, it still works because the targeted prospect identifies with your Before-Scenario and strongly wants to escape from those circumstances. And the After-Scenario offers the prospect the very life he or she wants to escape to.

But at times the very familiarity of this formula may simply get old in your market. Nevertheless, there are a few ways to get even more mileage out of this old advertising workhorse by adding a few twists:

1. Create A “Virtual” After-Scenario Sometimes you may not want to use a real person’s situation, but want your reader to visualize his or her own Before and After Scenario.

   You do this by injecting a lot of emotion into the problem your product or service is designed to solve.
   
   

   Suppose your company provides auto financing for people with poor credit. You could create a Before-Scenario by vividly describing the embarrassment of driving an old, dilapidated car. Remind the prospect of the constant fear of driving a car that could break down on a remote highway late at night or on a busy highway in the middle of rush hour traffic. You could also, stir up the humiliation of being turned down for financing from traditional lenders.
   
   

   Then you paint a second, emotional-filled scene of your prospect driving an attractive, dependable car, after being treated with dignity and respect by your finance officers. Paint an emotional picture of your prospect being seen by friends and neighbors driving this nice looking, late model car and having the peace of mind that the monthly payments are reasonable and that the car is in very good working order.
   
   

2. Depict a Negative After Scenario. Sometimes you have to educate your prospect about why buying your competitors’ cheaper product is more costly in the long run. Here is an example, written by Dan Kennedy, to sell an ordinary product like shoes:
   

   
   …but if you insist on just wearing any old pair of ordinary shoes, here’s what you have to look forward to in your so-called golden years; fallen arches…intense lower back pain…even pain from just walking around a shopping mall! You’ll be asking your friends to slow down so you can keep up. You’ll be futilely soaking your feet at night like some old fuddy-duddy. You may even need pain pills just to get to sleep.

   
   
   

   With a Negative After-Scenario, you are projecting an undesirable future resulting from your prospect’s shortsighted attempt to save a little money now by buying an inferior product, or by not spending any money at all to solve a known problem while there is still time.
   
   

3. A Back-Story Scenario. This Before and After formula is not seen by your reader, but is sketched out for you the writer and marketer. Even if I am writing copy that follows a different format, I will often write out a before and after comparison for my own use when I begin my work. This enables me to clearly see the benefits the prospects are seeking in the form of specific changes they want to experience in their lives.
   
   

   I want to know what the prospect is dissatisfied with now, and how intensely that dissatisfaction feels. I also want to know how the prospect wants to feel in the future and what changes must take place in order to achieve that desired state and the emotions that will come with it.
   
   

   Let’s face it, I don’t want to overlook a single benefit that my readers might be seeking. And without my own draft version of a before-after sketch, I might miss the very benefit that will trigger the most response.

Every worthwhile product or service helps to bring about a desired change. And let’s face it, all of us, regardless of what we sell, are really in the business of selling change. A person who is satisfied with the status quo is not a prospect, and will never be a customer.

But when that person is ready for a change, and has become dissatisfied with the way things are right now, a strong Before and After Scenario can show them the way to find that change.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Every freelance copywriter should own a copy of “Tested Advertising Methods,” written by the legendary copywriter, John Caples.

In the mid roaring twenties, 25 year old Caples made advertising history when he wrote the most famous ad of all time. It began with the words:

They laughed when I sat down at the piano.
But when I started to play---

That extraordinary ad for, of all things, mail order piano lessons, became the most successful, and most imitated ad of all time.

But apart from his remarkable writing talent, Caples changed advertising history in an even more profound way. Throughout his career, he pioneered the idea of rigorous, scientific testing for every element of ads and direct mail.

Every ad, every mailer was designated as either a test sample or a control sample. The control sample was usually the best performer from the previous test and not a single aspect of it was changed.

But the test sample was changed in one single way. It might have had a different headline, a different coupon, a different first paragraph, etc.

Then by comparing the results of the control and test samples, the ad or mailer could constantly be improved. In the next test run, the best performer of the two samples became the control for the next comparison.

Caples was such a strong advocate of testing because he saw how a campaign’s results could be dramatically improved. One time he tested to ads for the same product. Both ads were well written, both seemed to appeal to the target audience and both could have been chosen by many ad agencies as the final version.

But when the two ads were run side by side, one version pulled in 19 ½ more sales than the other.

Had this test never been run, the agency might have been pleased with the lesser ad’s results and run it for years.

So what things can be improved by testing? Here are a few:

1. The headline. This is the most important element of any ad, mail piece or web page. Without testing, you are leaving it to chance.
   
   
2. What picture or graphic produces the best results? Or would no image at all be best?
   
   
3. Which publication(s) produce the most sales when the same ad is run side by side in competing magazines or newspapers?
   
   
4. What appeal pulls in the most sales? The appeal is what hot button are you trying to push in the customer. Are you appealing to his need for security or his need for financial gain? Are you appealing to her need for sexual satisfaction or desire for adventure?

But how can the results of all this testing be compared? First, retail sales can provide the information needed. Laser-scanned bar codes at the checkout counter reports sales information instantly and in real time.

Another way that many consumer goods and fast food restaurants are tested is through test cities. I remember when McDonalds first introduced the breakfast burrito, I was in Indianapolis visiting my wife’s relatives. I tried the breakfast burrito and liked it. But when I got back home, I tried to order one from one of the local McDonalds and they looked at me as though I had green skin. The breakfast burritos were being tested in Indianapolis and no where else.

Finally there are key codes. If you look at a coupon for a typical direct mail ad, you will probably see something like, “Dept. XYZ.” I guarantee there is no department named XYZ at that company, but XYZ represents the key code for a particular version of the ad.

Despite the many decades of research demonstrating how testing improves the profitability of advertising, there are still many companies that spend mountains of money without testing. I hope they are winning industry awards for their creativity and the entertainment value of their ads, because their competitors will be making all the sales.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Of all the neat tricks I’ve learned as a freelance copywriter, nothing grabs and holds onto a reader’s attention faster than the technique I am about to show you. I know of no more powerful way to get a reader to hang onto every word you say or write.

In fact this one technique can help you write incredibly persuasive ad copy, speeches, presentations and any other type of communication in which your job is to influence people to buy or take action. I firmly believe this one formula can make you rich.

Before I explain what this “magic bullet for powerful copywriting” is, let me first tell you about the person I learned it from. Steven K. Scott is the author of the book, “Mentored By A Millionaire.” He made his fortune in one of the most competitive businesses I can imagine, writing infomercials.

If you have ever watched the Total Gym infomercials, starring Christie Brinkley and Chuck Norris, you have seen his work - and you have witnessed this formula - in action. You have also seen his work, and this technique, if you have watched the infomercials on Hooked on Phonics or Victoria Jackson Cosmetics.

Want to see how Steven Scott uses this formula? At the very beginning of the Total Gym infomercial, Christie Brinkley looks at the viewers and says,

“According to recent medical studies at Tufts University, there is now proof that there is one simple thing you can do for a few minutes a day that will absolutely reverse the 10 major signs of aging.”

Now I don’t know about you, but I am hooked from those words on. But for those readers who are not totally pulled into the infomercial yet, Christie goes on to say,

“This one thing can increase your energy level by more than 100%, increase your strength by more than 200%, greatly enhance your sex life, lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, raise your metabolism, lower your risk for cancer and heart disease, add years to your life, and make the years ahead a lot more enjoyable.”

Steven Scott’s formula, the method I call the magic copywriting bullet, is simply this: make some very strong benefit statements before you tell the reader or audience what it is that will do all this for them. (In fact, I have been using it on you throughout this article.)

Now what if Christie had simply answered the what question first, by saying,

“I’m talking about strength training, and the Tufts studies revealed you only need to engage in it for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, three to four days a week, in order to increase your energy level by more than 100%, …”

That statement would have certainly been a powerful benefit statement, but it would not have grabbed and held onto your attention as it did when she put the benefits before the revelation.

Curiosity is the most misused technique in copywriting. All by itself it accomplishes nothing. It comes across as cute or tricky, but it does not activate the reader’s “what’s in it for me” hot button. But the marriage of curiosity with a powerful benefit statement can cut right through a reader’s natural tendency to filter out messages your mind deems irrelevant or uninteresting.

Like I said in the beginning, of all the techniques I’ve learned as a freelance copywriter, I know of no more powerful way to get a reader to hang onto every word you say or write. Look what it did to you.

freelance copywriter, copywriting tips, freelance commercial writer

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

A constant challenge freelance copywriters like myself have to face is how to make our copy more credible and more believable.

Readers have good reasons for their inherent skepticism when it comes to reading advertisements, direct mail pieces and web content. Every marketer claims their widget is the greatest thing on the planet, but too often they merely want to take the customer’s money and run.

Here are a few ideas that might make your marketing materials more credible to the buyers you want to reach. Obviously, not all these types of information will be available in every case, but be sure to take advantage of them when they are.

1. Show third party reviews from the media, comparing your product or company to the also-rans who make up your competition. Clearly this will be a rare opportunity, but make sure your PR people respond to inquiries by the media (especially trade publications that cater to your customers if you are marketing toward businesses). In some instances, the PR staff might even suggest such a review.
   
   
2. Use research evidence consisting of scientific data and published information regarding the problems your product is designed to solve. For example, if you make a product that prevents bone deterioration, cite data showing the causes of bone diseases, how common they are and who is most likely to suffer from it.
   
   
3. Use logical arguments to convince readers of your key points. For example, show how valuable a long-term, repeat customer is worth to you to explain why it is in your own best interest to deal fairly with first time customers.
   
   
4. Referrals. Nothing carries more credibility than statements by satisfied customers. Survey your previous customers to get their feedback. Don’t use multiple choice questions, instead ask for brief answers to specific questions. You can use the most positive answers as customer referrals after you obtain their permission.
   
   
5. Your customer list. If you have served an impressive list of corporate clients, indulge in some serious name dropping. The reader will naturally assume, “if IBM, Microsoft and Coca Cola are doing business with these guys, the must be good.”
   
   
6. Specialization. When you focus your practice on one type of customer or one specific field, it stands to reason you are an expert in that area. Readers trust specialists and understand that they are more qualified than someone who covers too much territory.
   
   
7. Credentials. If your company has received awards and recognition, point them out to your readers. If you are an individual sole proprietorship, and you went to an Ivy League school or have a PhD, flaunt it.
   
   
8. Track Record. If you have been in business since the dinosaurs roamed the earth, let people know about it. The mere fact that you are a long-established firm shows stability and is very reassuring to prospective customers.
   
   
9. Free Information. Publish a booklet, a white paper, an ebook or some other material that you can give out to people who inquire about your product. Create materials that educate people on how to choose the right widget to suit their needs, or show them how to avoid being ripped off. You can also publish a booklet on frequently asked questions. In any case, your credibility will go way up just because of your printed material.
   
   
10. Membership. Join every professional society and organization that promotes excellence in your industry. While you are at it, join the Better Business Bureau, AAA or the SPCA for that matter.
    
    
11. Take away the buyer’s risk. I’ve saved the best for last. Whenever you can offer an ironclad guarantee, a trial period, or reduce the up front cost to a pittance, you make the perceived risk of doing business with you so small the customer has no reason not to act.
    

Credibility is a constant battle if you are to get buyers to act on your offer. But if you put yourself in the minds of your readers and look at your offer through their eyes, you know what they fear and where to strengthen your credibility.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

One of the biggest problems any business has is how to make potential clients aware your company even exists and has the capabilities to solve their problems. These potential customers have problems they want to solve, but have no knowledge about your firm and your skill at solving those exact problems.

An incredibly easy solution is the case study.

A case study is a short article detailing how your company solved a problem for one of your existing clients. When a potential client, with a similar problem, reads your case study, your company is instantly on that potential client's radar as a solver of that problem.

As a freelance copywriter, I follow a very easy formula when writing case studies for my own clients. In fact, my formula is so easy it's almost embarassing to write it down for you.

If you've ever read a book on how to write a resume, you have seen the formula called PAR, which stands for PROBLEM, ACTION, RESULTS. All I have done is adopt this formula for writing case studies.

1. The first step is the Problem. What was the problem you solved for your previous client? As you write out this step, make sure you are both specific enough to clearly describe the situation your client was facing and how it was hindering their business.
   
   An easy way to think of this is to describe the pain your client felt before you arrived on the scene. But your description of the problem must also be general enough for your potential client to identify their own need with the problem you are capable of solving.



2. The second step is Action. How did you solve the problem? What steps did you take and what skills did you utilize on behalf of your client? This is no time to be modest. Demonstrate that your company didn't just fall off the turnip truck when it comes to the kind of work you do. Make this second step a showcase for your capabilities so the potential client will want to pick up the phone and call you right now.



3. The last step is Results. All selling is a presentation of before and after stories. Your potential clients want to see the happy ending your previous client experienced. Ask yourself what changes a potential customer wants. If you were able to deliver these changes to your previous client, make sure you show these changes as the happy ending for your story. If your previous clients have given you testimonials, this is the place to use them to add even more credibility to your case history.

Showing up on potential customers' radar is simply a matter of making them aware you are a solver of their problems and that you have done so for others.

Over time, your goal should be to compile a portfolio of case studies applicable for all the different types of problems you solve. You should also create case studies of different types of clients so a wide range of potential customers can identify your services with their own problems.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Just like you, I saw or heard approximately 15,000 advertising messages today. And even though I am a freelance copywriter who takes a professional interest in noticing ads more than the average person, barely the tiniest fraction of them made any impact on my consciousness at all.

We are all so bombarded with advertising that only a few very good or very bad ads penetrate our awareness. Most advertisers merely waste their money with ineffective messages that may be cute, or creative or even funny; but do little to improve the bottom line.

So here are a few of my suggestions for those advertisers who actually want to pull in more business with their ads.

1. Promote Free Offers. Get readers to respond to clearly promoted toll free telephone numbers or web sites to get free booklets, CDs, information kits or other free information products. Not only will this help you get a second chance to create a sale, it will also generate a list of interested potential buyers.
   
2. Focus on annoying problems your product solves and clearly show how it can take the pain away. It is a psychological truth that avoidance or escape from pain is a much more powerful motivator than promise of gain.
   
3. Make a clear and definite promise in every ad, that your product or service will bring about a desired change for your reader. Think about it, other than necessities, the only reason anyone buys anything is to experience a change. So make sure every ad promises a change.
   
4. Humor, creativity and curiosity are wonderful things that can enhance your ad as long as its message delivers a clear promise or focuses on relieving pain. But if you make them the focus of your ad, readers may remember it for the entertainment value you delivered, but may not be able to recall the name of your product or company.
   
5. Don’t be afraid to educate consumers. Show them how to be informed buyers of your type of product, how to choose the right product for their needs and how to avoid being ripped off. You can educate buyers with the free offer mentioned in step one and in so doing, you will heighten your professionalism and integrity in their eyes.
   
6. Don’t try to sell refrigerators to Eskimos. Yes, there is that one legendary salesman out there who can make such a sale, but you are much better off selling your products to people who want, need and can afford what you have to offer. Study your market, advertise in a media that reaches that market and carve out your niche.
   
7. Tell a dramatic story. I mean a story with before and after scenes. The “before scene” should depict someone who was in dire straits before you or your product; and the “after scene” should show that person living happily ever after. Use actual customer examples or create semi-fictional accounts of what you do for your customers.
   

Slicing through all the advertising clutter and "white noise" that bombard people on a daily basis is not easy, but it only takes a little effort, a little thought about what your potential buyers want and need, and you can easily see your advertising dollars reap dividends.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Charles Brown is a former attorney, who is now a freelance copywriter living in Dallas, Texas. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Brown was a stockbroker with Dean, Witter, Reynolds (now Morgan Stanley).

He specializes in, "writing the words on websites and advertisements that turn casual visitors into buyers."

Because of his legal and financial backgrounds, Mr. Brown is especially valuable to law firms, financial services companies and other organizations who need a writer who can understand law or finance and knows how to write persuasive marketing materials that demand action from readers.

If you would like to contact Mr. Brown, he can be reached at either ***charbrow@gmail.com*** or by telephone at 817.715.3852.