Dynamic Copywriting

Time Warner Cable has just given me an incredible example of how to waste your advertising money, and I'd like to pass this lesson on to you.

Time Warner just recently bought out Comcast here in the Dallas, Texas area. My parents, who are both in there 70s, have been Comcast cable customers for years, and now they find themselves customers of Time Warner.

Naturally, Time Warner has spent massive amounts of advertising money to tell all of the former Comcast customers how great things will be for them now that they are with Time Warner.

Recently my parents asked me to help them set up a high-speed internet connection and I advised them to stick with the same company that provides their cable service. Big mistake.

It is now 8:46 pm and I have been trying to install a high-speed internet connection for my parents for more than 12 hours.

Actually, installing the connection and loading the software has been no problem. What has been a problem, and what has used 172 minutes on my cell phone and 43 attempts (all documented on my cell phone's call log for today) to contact Time Warner's "Customer service department" (boy is that a misnomer) has been my repeated attempts to get the password and log on ID that should have been given to me when I picked up the self installation kit.

Had I been given this information with the kit, I would have had my parents connected at 9am today.

So if you are listening Time Warner, what good does it do you to spend millions on advertising when your actual service contradicts what you say in your ads? Why not spend a portion of that money on hiring additional customer service employees?

To the rest of you, here is the message: Advertising, marketing and PR are wonderful things that can produce wonderful results for promoting your business. But if your callers cannot get through, or when they finally do get through have to wait on hold for 172 minutes before they are cut off, or if they finally reach an employee who is untrained or incompetant (that hasn't happened to me yet today, but I am expecting it), what good has all that advertising done for you?

Now if you will excuse me, I plan to call another internet provider.

(By the way, if someone would like to forward this post to some top executive at Time Warner, maybe they will get the message).

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Since posting last week's statement about how badly I wanted your comments, I have received feedback from two of you that your comments have not shown up on this blog (thanks Mark and Whitney).

So I have removed the Blogger moderator tool so your comments will now go live right away. I'll just have to be diligent to remove the Viagra and "natural male enhancement" spam comments manually.

The lack of comments and feedback I had been seeing had been my biggest disappointment with writing this blog. I was wondering if I was connecting with anyone out there, and if anyone was finding value to the stuff I was writing.

But now I find that a technical glitch was at least part of the problem. I'm still puzzled by the fact that some comments came through, but hopefully the problem has now been solved.

Thank you again Mark and Whitney. I would not have known there was a problem if you hadn't let me know.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

A lot of big ads are bloated and ineffective. My theory is that the copywriter wants to say so much that he/she loses focus on how to say it.

Here’s a solution: Stick to writing offers by first writing your ad as if it were a small or classified ad. Then expand later.

My definition of an offer is that it must contain two parts:

1. It must contain a clear action you want your potential customer to take. This action can be: to pick up the telephone and call you, to come into your place of business, to opt into an email subscription list, to visit your website, to clip out a coupon and send it in, or to request a free information product, etc.
   
   
2. The offer must also contain a clear and compelling REASON for the potential customer to take the above action. You do this, of course, with a strong benefit that answers the “what’s in it for me?” question.

The beauty of writing out a small ad, even if you eventually want to write a large ad, is that small ads force you to stick to the basics of your offer. You simply have no room in a small ad to waste words or deviate from the straight line between the benefit and the responsive action.

If I ran a big ad agency, I would start all the new copywriters off by writing nothing but small ads over and over again until they could write them in their sleep. Too often copywriters develop excellent creative skills and learn to balance form with function, but they never really learn to write an offer.

When you write a small ad, start with the action you want your reader to take. If you ever lose sight of what you want the person to do, you ad will wander off course and get lost amidst all your creativity.

Next, write a headline that contains both a strong benefit and a powerful, compelling REASON for someone to take the action you just described.

If you are writing a big ad, start with this small ad format as a way to clarify both your offer and the headline you want to use. Then, as you expand the ad, you can include more benefits that give readers even more of a reason to act. You can also clarify the action you wish them to take.

By writing your big ad as a small ad first, you are literally writing your ad from the inside out. But, if you write it this way, your ad will never lose sight of the offer that lies at the heart of your message.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Up until now, I have not made my “policy” about posting comments to my blog, http://dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com, clear.

It’s time to correct this oversight.

I welcome, encourage and cherish your reader comments to any post I put on my blog. Although I have turned on Blogger's tool to filter comments, I only filter out those rare unprofessional and inappropriate comments. (So if you are trying to use my site to sell some “natural male enhancement” product, keep moving).

Feel free to disagree with me. Feel free to point out my glaring mistakes, and by all means fell free to mention your own site, as long as it adds real value to the readers and is appropriate to the discussion at hand.

I think the scarcity of reader feedback has been this blog’s biggest weakness. Hopefully letting you know that I encourage your comments will improve this situation.

So, you now have the official green light to leave your comments and give us your feedback. Let’s hear from all of you.

Michael Seitzer, an authority on marketing with white papers (and a fellow Dilbert fan) put up an interesting post on his blog last week. The post, Inventing Facts To Fit Your Purposes, begins with a quote from a recent Dilbert cartoon strip.

If you follow Dilbert (and why wouldn't you?) his dog, named Dogbert, is an evil genius whose life mission is to exploit everyone around him. In this recent strip, Dogbert brags about making up facts to support his marketing claims. Michael brings up this cartoon as a starting point for a discussion on ethics in marketing with white papers.

Marketing and selling have well-deserved bad reputations. If you read, watch or listen to many ads, you can't help but wonder how all these competitors can be, "the best," "the leading," "recommended by more doctors," etc.

We read ads and other marketing materials like white papers with honed skepticism. We assume the facts, statistics and claims are at best, strategically selected, or at worst, made up.

Contrast this with openly admitting flaws and negatives up front.

Dan Kennedy is one of my freelance copywriter heroes. In his book, The Ultimate Sales Letter, he shows several examples of how admitting these weaknesses up front helps to create a more powerful sales message.

Open admissions does several wonderful things for your marketing materials:

1. First, admissions enhance your credibility. It immediately causes your readers to crack open their protective shields just a little bit. You will still have to earn their trust with the benefits you introduce, but at least they will give you a chance.
   
   
2. Admissions set up your benefits. No one expects you to pay for expensive advertising just to bad mouth your product or service. They know that if you are willing to admit some flaws, you will soon have some positives you will be mentioning. This builds up anticipation and gives them a reason to pay attention.
   
   
3. Admissions help you to position your product, service or company against your competition. You can't be all things to all people, and you lose credibility when you try. Instead, by openly acknowledging your weaknesses, you put the spotlight on your strengths.
   

Dan Kennedy finds making admissions up front so powerful and so compelling to the reader, that he claims to look for flaws, just so he can admit them.

Possibly that's going too far (although who am I to argue with Dan Kennedy?) but honest and open admissions can go a long way to gaining credibility every one of your competitors lack.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

I could call this article, “More Great Moments in Wasteful Advertising,” but I’m saving that one for the future. I’m sure I’ll get another opportunity to use it soon.

On the back cover of the latest Fast Company magazine (the January 2007 issue), is a big, expensive ad from the software company, SAP. They have a picture of an average-looking guy with a headline that says,

“SAP Has Affordable Solutions For Midsize Companies?
This Better Not Be Another Prank By The Guys in Procurement.”

Yes, it is an amusing ad, but it communicates nothing other than the fact that SAP does something or other for midsize companies as well as the big boys.

Well whoopee! If you look really close, there is a quasi benefit that sort of limps onto the ad down at the bottom where the copy reads, “..modular solutions that let you buy only the software you need now…” And then this poor little benefit wannabe limps back off stage never to be seen again.

I’m all for offering solutions, except when you just offer “solutions.” In other words, go ahead and solve actual problems, but don’t throw the word “solutions” around as if it is code for all kinds of wonderful things you can do for me.

“Solutions” (the word) is bandied about in all kinds of ads these days, without specific examples of problems being solved. “Solutions” has become a buzzword meant to replace the hard work of showing problems getting taken care of.

To quote from the classic movie, Cool Hand Luke, “what we have here is failure to communicate.”

Copywriters use the word “solutions” because it sounds nice and because it is a lot less work than narrowing the scope of an ad by specifying certain needs.

But, my offended copywriting colleagues say, “if you narrow the scope of the ad to only those readers who are affected by this particular problem, you exclude all those readers who are not affected by it.

Yep, that’s right. That is the beauty of targeting a niche. Now SAP could solve this problem of excluding some readers (did you notice I just tied the word “solve” to a specific problem?) in one of two ways.

First, they could run a series of ads, each targeting certain audiences by focusing on certain problems and solutions. Chances are these targeted ads will grab those targeted readers much more than the bland generality they are running now.

Second, they could run a single ad with a menu of problems and offer a free booklet to IT managers, CFOs or other managers who identify with one or more of those problems. Now to be fair, the Fast Company ad does mention their website at the very bottom of the ad. It is a lame mention that says, “learn more at sap.com/midsize.”

Directing a reader to your website, before you have aroused her interest, is expecting the customer to do all your work for you. For every one person this ad gets to check out the website, 10,000 will yawn and forget it.

But, by offering a free booklet or guide, and promising tons of benefits which will be contained within its pages, SAP could not only attract much more interest, they could also generate a lot of leads to be followed up on later.

To sum all this up, when you see the word “solutions” used as a buzzword, you are seeing the work of a lazy copywriter or marketer. Benefits are solutions, but always use it as a specific cure for a specific problem.

For all the money SAP surely spent on this ad, they really should be able to do better.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

I have now spent several days helping my retired parents, who are both in their seventies, work their way through the maze of medicare confusion.

For those of you who have not yet experienced this pleasure, U.S. medicare recipients must either renew their medicare plans before December or their previous plan is automatically renewed. Since rates are going up and what is and what is not covered is changing, just letting it renew without study is not an option.

I should also point out that I hold a law degree, and I still find this stuff confusing.

So across the U.S.A., there are puzzled and troubled seniors who need to make an important financial decision within the next month.

Enter the value of free information. Several of the insurance companies that provide supplemental coverage have put out some excellent free information pieces that answer a whole host of questions about the new coverage.

Not only that, one company has also offered a free consultation and is running a spreadsheet comparison of the plans to give my parents a side-by-side comparison of what is covered and for how much.

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am an advocate of marketing by giving away free information in the form of guides, booklets, ebooks, white papers, seminars, etc.

The marketer who can simplify a complex decision will come out the winner. This is true regardless of whether you sell supplemental medicare coverage or baby formula. Free information makes difficult things more understandable, and therefore removes barriers to buying decisions.

I am looking for examples any of you might have for this. Have you - either as a buyer or a seller - experienced the selling power of free information products? If so, let me know.

freelance copywriter, ghost writer, writing web content, white papers

As a general rule, you just can’t go wrong making your customer the “star” of your advertisement, web content or sales letter. Another way to put this is to focus on solving your customers’ problems (and I include needs, wants, fears, ambitions, desires, frustrations etc. under the umbrella of “problems”).

But there is an exception to this rule. Many successful ads have told stories in which someone else appears to be the “star.”

These people all had a problem, and all found a solution to that problem. Look back at some of the very powerful ads you’ve read, seen or heard that were first person stories about someone who found relief from a difficult situation.

Or look at those stories that were not in the first person, but had the feel of a case history. Again, the formula is the same. A person, family or business faced a serious problem, which are leading to very painful consequences. But fortunately (just in time) a solution arrived on the scene in the form of a product, company or service, leading to a “happily ever after resolution.”

Now, I would like to suggest that these story-like ads were not exceptions to the rule after all. If these ads are well written, the customer identifies with the person being talked about. His problems are your customer’s problems. His pain is felt by your customer. The serious consequences he faced are consequences you customer might face.

In all these cases, your customer is still the star, albeit by identification. This is why stories are so powerful. If your customer identifies with the person facing this problem, or if your customer has also faced this same problem, the customer sees himself in your ad.

This opens up a lot of ways to approach your ad. If you can present your ad as a story or a case history that your customers can identify with, they will form a connection with the person you portray.

Stories are incredibly powerful selling tools. As long as your customers are the “starts,” even if by identification.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Today’s post is about great moments in expensive, wasteful advertising.

I am looking through the November 6-12, 2006 issue of the Fort Worth Business Press for ads that actually give readers reasons to act. As you can imagine, these ads are hard to find.

American Express has a full page ad that does pretty well. It has three benefit statements that say:

“I get a cash rebate of up to 4% on American Express Travel.” I earn company-level award points on all our purchases.” And, “I save automatically with cash rebates from leading suppliers.”

Following these benefits is the headline which reads, “My company is mid-size, but I save big.”

And that’s all. The main feature of the ad is acres and acres of white space with a small blurb at the bottom a picture of the American Express ExtrAA Corporate Card and a Picture of a paper airplane made out of a $100 bill.

I give them credit for actually stating benefits. What a novel idea in big corporate advertising! But the white space? White space never sold anything. Never.

The next wasteful ad is for the law firm of Blaies & Hightower, L.L.P. The only positive thing I can say about this ad is that they only spent money on a half page.

Other than that, it shows three very serious-looking lawyers in expensive suits and six lines of copy that says nothing:

“When the stakes are high, you need more than legal knowledge. … You need the strongest commercial litigation and personal injury trial lawyers on your side. .. Attorneys who lead the courtroom with integrity and honor.”

The sad thing is, someone actually thought these were benefit statements.

Neither ad called for action on the part of a potential customer/client. They gave contact information and that’s all. But that is futile without giving the prospect a REASON to contact them.

Neither ad made a concrete offer. There were no promises of a benefit in exchange for an action from the prospect. The Blaies Camp; Hightower ad was exactly the same as every other law firm ad we’ve ever seen. For all I know, the same serious-looking lawyers appear on all of them. And you just have to love the line, “Attorneys who lead the courtroom with integrity and honor” as a masterpiece of copy that says nothing.

What both these ads need is an injection of direct response techniques. American Express can offer a free guide to corporate financial strategies that would show a corporate officer how to save money on all company expenditures, how to manage day-to-day cash flow and maximize the rebates they offer.

Blaies & Hightower could offer a report, a case study or a white paper on any one of the areas of law the practice. These could contain tips on how to avoid litigation, what new government regulations effect businesses or how to profit from recent trends in the law.

By offering free information products, neither firm would diminish the brand image they are striving for (and actually in my mind, they would stand out in a positive way). But not only that, these white papers, guides or booklets could generate leads and build a list of potential customers/clients for these firms.

The sad truth is both these ads were incredibly wasteful. White space sells nothing and copy that says nothing, sells nothing. Better luck next time guys.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Most businesses that use Yellow Page advertising fail to understand that these ads reach a very different audience than ads you see in newspapers or other media.

Other ads must first convince readers that they need a particular product or service before it can convince them to do business with a certain company.

In contrast, Yellow Page readers are already planning to buy. They only need a reason to buy from your business rather than the other guys. But you wouldn’t know this is a different audience by looking at most Yellow Page ads.

Look at the headlines you see splashed all over the books. Let’s say you are looking for an accounting firm to help you plan for and prepare your company’s taxes. The first ad you see says, “Smith and Johnson, Certified Public Accountants. We’ve been in business for 25 years.”

The next ad says, “Williams and Jones, Certified Public Accountants. We all went to Harvard,”

OK, it’s good to have 25 years experience and, all other things being equal, I’m fairly impressed that these guys went to a top university.

But suppose the third headline you read says, “7 Ways to Cut Your Payroll Taxes By 35%.”

Which of these three ads will you read and most likely call on?

Notice that the first two headlines were about the company, not the customer. The third headline gave the reader reasons (benefits) to do business with that firm. This ad focused on the customer’s concerns and questions.

You will never go wrong making the customer the “star” of your ad. Focus on what questions that person is asking when they read through your section of the Yellow Pages (and by the way, any other place you put your ad).

Here are some other headlines that give readers reasons to call you instead of the other guys:

”Important Information For Anyone Who Needs A New C.P.A. Firm”

”Warning! Read This Before You Hire Anyone Else To Prepare Your Taxes”

”10 Things You Must Know When Choosing An Accounting Firm”

The idea behind all these headlines is to stand out from the crowd by giving readers reasons (again, "reasons" is code for "benefits") to choose you. Think like your customers before you place your next ad. Imagine the confusion anyone feels when faced with many choices that all make the same claims.

If you give people reasons to choose you, they very often will.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know how much I admire Dan Kennedy. He is a legend among freelance copywriters, and his books are snapped up as soon as they hit the bookstores.

He has recently written, No B.S. Direct Marketing: The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing For Non-Direct Marketing Businesses. As the long subtitle suggests, this book is about how businesses that are not in traditional mail order or direct marketing businesses can still use direct marketing methods successfully.

What makes this book unique is that Dan has invited several of his clients from non-direct marketing businesses to write chapters in this book. There are chapters by owners of a tax preparation business, a chain of men’s clothing stores, a chiropractic practice, a restaurant and a dental practice.

Each of these professionals have incorporated Dan’s 10 “No B.S. Rules” very successfully. The 10 Rules are:

1. There Will Always Be an Offer or Offers
   
   
2. There Will Be A Reason To Respond Right Now
   
   
3. There Will Be Clear Instructions On How To Respond
   
   
4. There Will Be Tracking and Measurement
   
   
5. Whatever Brand Building Occurs Will Be a Happy By-Product, Not Bought
   
   
6. There Will Be Follow-Up
   
   
7. There Will Be Strong Sales Copy, Not Vague Hyperbole
   
   
8. In General, It Will Look Like “Mail-Order Advertising”
   
   
9. Results Rule, Period
   
   
10. You Will Be a Tough-Minded Disciplinarian and Keep Your Business on a Strict DIRECT Marketing Diet for at Least Six Months

I heartily recommend Dan’s latest book. Regardless of what business you are in, this is one book that WILL bring you outstanding results.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

They are fast and easy to write and readers love them. Tip sheets may just be the easiest method for promoting your business you've ever tried. And once written, you can find many ways to put these tip sheets into the hands of your potential clients.

I was looking through my files recently and suddenly noticed how many tip sheets I have saved over the years. It occurred to me that they were examples of very smart marketing because most of the authors had provided information about their services and their contact information at the bottom of the sheets. This made it easy for someone like me to contact them years later, if the need arose for their services.

I am supposing here that I am fairly typical and I would presume there are many other people out there who save and file worthwhile information. This makes the humble little tip sheet one of the most versatile marketing tools around.

So without further ado (and because I would really like to see you print a copy of this article for your files) here are eight tips that you can use to promote your business with tip sheets:

1. Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise when you write tip sheets. Tip sheets are promotional tools that prove that you are an expert in your field. When you condense your knowledge on a given topic, you create something that is far more convincing than any form of paid advertising.
   
   
2. Offer your tip sheets as “freebies” to arouse the interest of potential clients. You can offer free tip sheets on your website, Yellow Page ad, or on your email signature file. Use tip sheets as “bait” to lure potential clients inro opting onto mailing (or emailing) list.
   
   
3. Tip sheets make great inserts to go in your publicity kit. A busy journalist may just glance over your information, but there is something about the numbered list or bullet point format of a tip sheet that grabs the eye. It may be the only thing in your kit that gets read, but it may convince a reporter or editor that your pitch is newsworthy.
   
   
4. Publish your shorter tip sheets as online or offline articles. You can submit them to sites like ezinearticles.com, idea marketers, Go Articles or Article City, or you can submit them to trade magazines your clients are likely to read.
   
   
5. Publish your longer tip sheets as booklets or ebooks. You can give these booklets and ebooks to your potential clients, or you can follow Robert Bly's advice and create a seperate profit center by putting a price on the cover and charging people who are not potential clients. Bly's advice is to put a price on the cover of a booklet even if you only plan to give it away. The price increases the booklet's perceived value to the person who received it free.
   
   
6. Use your tip sheets as free handouts at workshops or speaking engagements. Never do any public speaking without some sort of free handout. Quality tip sheets will insure that you audience remembers you for afterwards and have a way to get back in contact with you if they need your services. Remember the tip sheets I have saved for many years. Those authors who had the foresight to put their contact information on them can reap the benefits of these sheets years later.
   
   
7. Put tip sheet on your website. The more you post useful information on your site, the more people will come to regard it as an information resource. When they view your site in this way, they are likely to bookmark it and become repeat visitors.
   
   
8. Print your tip sheet as a panel on your brochure. Brochures are often thrown away shortly after they come into a potential client's possession. But if you include useful information, people are much more likely to keep and file your marketing materials. Even if they have no need for your services today, their circumstances could change months or even years later. If your tip sheet/brochure is in their files, they can get back with you years after they got your materials.

Not only are tip sheets, written with bullets or numbered list formats, appealing to your readers, writing in these formats helps you to organize your own thoughts and ideas.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Every business should occasionally spend time rethinking what business we are in. my own freelance copywriter business is no exception.

Lately I’ve come to realize that my core competencies are:

1. Helping clients build a marketing strategy based upon giving out free information to their potential clients in the forms of white papers, booklets, ebooks, tip sheets, audio products and writing articles.
   
   
2. Leverage these free information products to generate leads, build a list of subscribers and compile a database, through direct response advertising, sales letters and web content.
   
   
3. Incorporate the incredible power of blogging and article writing (including both online and offline articles) to help clients position themselves as experts in their fields.
   
   
4. Develop multiple ways to distribute the free information products to attract web traffic, email subscribers and inquiries.
   
   
5. Offer ghost writing services to clients who cannot write their own articles, , booklets, ebooks, tip sheets, white papers, audio products and full-length books.
   
   
6. Provide coaching services for those clients who want to write their own articles, blogs and books. Allow them to work on these projects with the support and assistance of a professional writer.

Not only are these the things I do very well, but I also believe they are the most valuable things I can do to produce results for my clients.

I am very interested in your comments and feedback on this redirection of my business model. Blogger has been having trouble accepting comments lately, so if you can’t post a comment, please email me at ***charbrow@gmail.com*** or you can even call me at 817.715.3852.

Any feedback you can give me will be very appreciated.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

I have already written a number of posts to this blog about freelance copywriter secrets that extol the benefits of constructing a story structure around client testimonials. Dry quotes seldom have the force of stories that tell how bad things were before the client discovered your services and how great things are now that they have done business with you.

So it's more than a little humbling to find this article by Richard Stooker that says the same thing I have been trying to say, but he says it so much better than any of my efforts.

Please read this very succinct but powerful article and find out how to transform your clients' testimonials into emotionally charged stories.

Charles Brown
Freelance Copywriter

How to Sell More Through Marrying the Power of Testimonials to "Once Upon a Time" by Richard Stooker

Most marketers understand the power of testimonials. What too many don't realize is that telling an extended testimonial as a story ramps up their power.

All of us hunger for stories. We love to follow along as likable people solve interesting problems. We love satisfying conclusions (maybe because they're so few and far between in our real lives!).

All too often marketers content themselves with typical lame testimonials such as: "Loved your weightloss product, it's great."

Better marketers include benefits and specifics: "I lost 83 pounds in 11 months, without dieting or exercising."

Great marketers understand that their prospect really craves the story behind the testimonial.

"I was so overweight my husband and kids laughed at me. I weighed 385 pounds. I was ashamed to leave my house. But the more miserable I felt, the more high calorie I wanted to eat. Then one day I got your letter in the mail and decided I didn't have anything left to lose.

"When the package arrived in the mail, my fingers were so fat I could barely open the little cap on the bottle, but finally I popped it off and took my first few capsules.

"Frankly, nothing happened the first few days. I might have stopped, except your directions warned me not to expect instant miracles. The second week, I noticed that my clothes weren't as tight."

. . . and so on.

Don't you start to feel happy for her? She had a problem, she found a solution (your product) and therefore is now on the road to a healthy body weight.

Suddenly your prospect can start to think that she can lose weight too. She's probably no worse off than the woman in the testimonial.

Now she can start to believe that she can lose weight without dieting or exercising too.

So customer success case studies help dissolve what's often the biggest unstated prospect objection to any problem: "It wouldn't work for me."

Sometimes this is a deep psychological defect on their part. Sometimes they just really believe that ordinary testimonials are written by people who aren't like them, that somehow the deck was "stacked" in favor of the testimonial writer. (And sometimes they're right.)

But when you give them plenty of personal detail, document efforts and mistakes and eventual triumph over real obstacles, you help them visualize a solution to their own problems.

Case studies are often used in business to business marketing, especially in the high tech industry, to verify that a company can solve another company's problems.

The truth is, every company that sells a worthwhile product should use these extended testimonials or case histories to sell their products -- to businesses and consumers.

c. 2006 by Richard Stooker

Start taking advantage of the power of case studies in your
marketing now.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Stooker

freelance copywriter, writing web content, copywriting tips, ghost writer

There is one, simple copywriting technique that if you are not using, you are throwing away at least 50% of your potential sales.

Not only are you blowing half of your potential sales, but if even one of your competitors is using this copywriting technique, he is robbing you blind. He is using this method to take money right out of your pocket, steal some of your best customers and could be putting you out of business before you wake up and correct what you are doing wrong.

What copywriting technique could be this important? Go back and re-read the previous two paragraphs, because I was justing using this tactic it on you. It is the fear of loss, which is easily 100 times more persuasive than the opportunity for gain as a selling tool.

Tell your readers what it will cost them, what they will lose, what they already have been losing and what the future cost will be if they turn down your offer.

Everything you sell has consequences if you say "no." Look at what it costs people NOT to have what you offer, and shout it from the rooftops.

If you sell a car safety device such as tires that get extra traction in bad weather or a child’s car seat, sell death, injury and tragedy. You can do this without resorting to "hard sell" tactics, look at how Mercedes and Volvo show crash test dummies getting smashed to bits in auto accidents involving their competitors' vehicles. Their ads come across as informative and as a public service message, rather than hard sell.


How can you craft a message based upon the losses people will incur if they turn your offer down?

If you sell a water filter, you might say, "Every time you drink out of your tap, you are filling your body with dirt, toxins and deadly chemicals that, over time, build up in your system, weaken your immune system and cause your organs to breakdown."

If you are a bankruptcy attorney, your copy might read, "stop creditors from seizing your house, your car and your assets!"

If you sell financial planning services, your message might be along these lines, "Failure to plan for your own future will leave you dependent on the government and family, will rob you of the travel and fun you had hoped for, will prevent you from receiving the best medical care available and will leave you with nothing to do in your retirement but watch Oprah every afternoon."

If you sell a weight loss system, you could say, "Every diet you have ever been on has left you fatter, demoralized and convinced you will never look attractive again. Each diet does nothing but make you miserable and convinced you lack the willpower to be fit and healthy. But there is a better way."

Clearly you might not want to be this negative all the way through your copy. It will come across as hard sell. But a negative message should be a part of every copy you write. If you sell something worthwhile, it will offer a benefit if someone buys it, but it will also have a cost if they don't. If you leave out the negative consequences of not accepting your offer, you have failed both your customers, and yourself.

freelance copywriter, writing web content, copywriting tips, ghost writer
COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Yesterday I wrote about the differences between advertisements that made a concrete offer vs. those ads that simply attempt to enhance the advertiser’s brand or image. I referred to Zig Ziglar, who describes a salesperson who never attempts to close the deal as a “professional visitor” rather than a “professional salesperson.”

Unfortunately, much of the copy written by many copywriters falls into the “professional visitor” category.

An ad that makes no offer to the reader, makes no call to action, or no inducement to do something, is the written equivalent of a professional visitor. Such ads are simply a waste of lots and lots of money.

So how should a copywriter make an offer? An offer is a benefit tied to an action. The benefit is what you will give the client if they will take a specific action. The action required can be to buy something, but you can also set a lower threshold and simply require that they send in a coupon for a free information product or a free gift that relates in some way to the services you offer.

The problems with brand and image advertising are numerous. First, the most likely response to such an ad is for the reader to put it down and say, “Wow, if I ever need these guys, now I know where they are.” The only way the advertiser is going to get business from this person is if she someday needs that product or service and can some how remember who it was that put out the advertisement she saw months or years ago.

But image ads get even worse. Many of these advertisers imply some vague action to be done by the reader, such as, “contact us if you have any questions.” To this, the reader says, “OK if I ever have any questions, I’ll be sure to give you a call.”

An offer, on the other hand, promises a concrete benefit for a concrete act. “Fill in your email address and you will get a free ebook.” “Call our office and we will send a free booklet.” “Attend our free seminar and we will give you a free meal and teach you how to safely invest for retirement.”

The tragedy of brand and image advertising is that you can do both, make an offer and enhance your image. Look at some of the ads put out by the major financial or brokerage firms. I just recently saw an ad by Morgan Stanley that offered a free analysts’ report on the economic outlook for the next business cycle. Such an ad clearly heightened their image as knowledgeable investment advisors, while also offering a benefit (the free report) in exchange for the reader taking action (sending in the coupon requesting the report).

I can’t think of any business that couldn’t make a similar offer. Not only would such an ad enhance your business’ brand image, you would also gather leads of potential clients and build a database from which you could send out future mailings of interest to that group of people.

Remember, the most profitable advertisers are not “professional visitors,” even on paper. Always be a “professional salesperson” and you will see immediate and significant increases in your profitability.

How long would you keep a highly-paid salesperson on your payroll that never attempted to close any deal? Not for long, I would imagine.

So why do most of you keep running ad after ad that doesn’t attempt to close the deal? For many businesses, their advertising costs far more than any one salesperson. But they do not hold their advertising to the same level of accountability as their salespeople.

Look through your local Yellow Pages. Unless you live in a city that is an oasis of advertising enlightenment, you will hard pressed to find even 1% of the ads that actually make an offer. Same with your local newspaper…no offers. Magazines? No offers there either.

An offer is nothing more than a call to action. A reason for the reader to act now. An offer can be for an information kit, a free sample, a coupon, a buy-one-get-one-free deal, or anything else that prompts the reader to do anything but put the ad down and think, “Well if I ever need those people, now I know where to find them.”

The advertising field is divided into two camps. The Brand and Image Camp, and the Direct Response Camp. Personally, I tend to think of the Brand and Image people as the “We Have More Money Than Intelligence” Camp.

Why would anyone spend money on any ad that does not give the reader a reason to act right now?

Go back to the example of the salesperson who can’t bring himself to even try to close. Zig Zigler calls these people” professional visitors” rather than “professional salespeople.” Brand and Image ads are the “professional visitors” of advertising. They may win awards, but they don’t encourage people to take action.

Just making the switch from Brand and Image advertising to Direct Response advertising, will result in immediate and dramatic increases to your business’ profitability. I guarantee it.

freelance copywriter, ghost writer, white papers, copywriting tips

As a freelance copywriter, I naturally assume my readers will patiently hang onto every word I pen, lingering now and then to ponder what great mind authored such magnificent prose?

Unfortunately, we all would be better off assuming our readers will only take a quick scan over our copy, lasting no more than 3 seconds. Only if that quick glance reveals something that might possibly be interesting (to the reader, not to us) will the reader devote more than 3 seconds.

So how do we write copy that passes that 3 second test?

1. Use numerous sub-headlines. Subheadings do two wonderful things that attract attention even if the reader is scanning over our copy. They break the material into small sections and (if well written) grab the reader’s interest with something that attracts her self interest. If the subheading works, the reader will be pulled into that small portion of the copy. Then if your writing in that small section delivers the goods, she may read your entire copy.
   
   
2. Underline or make important information bold. Underlined and bold phrases makes this information jump right off the page. Don’t overdo this technique, and be slective to only key phrases, or this technique will lose its effect. The rule here is to assume the reader only reads the bold or underlined words. If that happens, she must still be able to understand your basic offer and know what the key benefits to the offer are.
   
   
3. Make the headline count. Don’t be cute, coy or creative. Announce something that tugs at the reader’s self interest. The job of the headline is to persuade the reader to read the first sentence of the first paragraph. And that first sentence’s job is to persuade the reader to read the entire paragraph, and so on.
   
   
4. Bullet points or numbered lists. Lists draw the eye because readers like to read packaged information in “bite sized” portions. Readers also like lists because they get right to the point and they feel you are communicating the essentials of your message without a lot of fluff.
   
   
5. Put some information in small boxes. Like sidebars in magazine articles, these boxes pull the eye to small sections of information. Make these boxes contain stand alone messages and examples. You can use boxes for proof, testimonials or to contain intriguing examples.

It’s always a safe bet to assume that your readers will only scan over your copy. Readers are busy and pulled from many different directions. Only if they see something in that quick scan that appeals to their self interest will they read any more.

If you never assume you have any more than 3 seconds to capture that interest, you will write your copy with scanning in mind. After all, you can do a lot in those 3 seconds.

freelance copywriter, ghost writer, writing web content, copywriting tips

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

I am totally hooked on "24." But it gets worse because 24 was merely a "gateway" show that soon led me to become addicted to "Lost." And now, every Monday night, I tell the family to leave me alone so I can watch "Heroes."

Do you know what all of these TV shows have in common? Cliffhangers.

It is not enough that these shows end each week leaving their likeable characters in peril or wrestling with a puzzle that must be solved in order to save the world, Cliffhangers abound throughout the show. There are cliffhangers just before commercial breaks and even more just before the story line switches to another character. These writers are positively sadistic in the ways they find to leave the viewer hanging.

And now, during 24's season break, I am left to wonder what will happen to Jack Bauer for months until the next season starts in January.

The lesson for freelance copywriters here is that you can greatly improve your ad copy, web content or sales letters by writing your own cliffhangers.

I know one copywriter who writes long sales letters, often running 10 or more pages long. So, to keep readers flipping the pages, he puts cliffhanger sentences at the bottom of each page. They will say things like:

""Beware, there are 3 common pitfalls that can be fatal to your small business, and will cost you tens of thousands of dollars unless you know how to avoid them. See the next page for more information."

or

Find out how Howard B. of Florida make $16,000 in one month using this system. See the next page for details."



You can write your own cliffhangers to keep your potential customers reading. Just remember:

• When you raise an question, don’t give the reader the answer it on the same page,
  
• As soon as you answer one question, raise another.

With a little practice, you can have readers hooked on your copy, just like I am on "Heroes." They will hang onto your words and foloow you from one cliffhanger to the next.

As you write, just think of Jack Bauer. In less than 20 minutes, a nuclear bomb is going to go off in the middle of Los Angeles. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people will die unless he can find the bomb and disarm it in time. In the meantime, Jack’s daughter is missing and presumed to be in the hands of a deranged killer.

Jack has only one choice. He must …

freelance copywriter, writing web content, copywriting tips, ghost writer

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

If you are old like me, you probably remember the Ginsu Knives commercials that came out in the 1970s and changed television advertising forever. They were funny, kitschy and a had a tongue-in-cheek tone that made them fodder for late night comedians.

Some of the phrases from these commercials were quickly adopted as part of our cultural language. Phrases like, “but wait, there’s more,” or “now what would you pay?” were inserted into everyday conversations by average (but not too bright) people.

One of the reasons these knives sold like, well... hotcakes, was the way the sellers kept throwing in more and more add ons for no extra cost.

Every time viewers thought we had seen the entire offer, the announcer would say, “but wait, there’s more.” Then a new freebie was tossed into the package.

Legend has it that the creators of the commercials were looking for an additional kitchen gadget to to add in a premium, and heard about a little gizmo that made decorative peelings out of apple and potato skins. By itself, this little peeler was so inconsequential it would have been very difficult to promote. But as a freebie, it was perfect. It could be visually demonstrated and only cost the sellers about 50 cents.

But the genius of thee commercials was how they introduced the add ons. Instead of just throwing in one new freebie after another, there was a “wrap up” each time a new add on was announced.

The announcer would summarize the entire offer as it stood so far. The voice would go back over each product, the benefits of each product and then the add on products and their benefits. After this, the voice would say, “Now what would you pay?” At this point a few possible prices, which curiously were all higher than the actual price the Ginsu folks were charging, would flash on the screen just to suggest that this was the range the viewer should be thinking of. Then when the actual price was announced as being below those suggested prices (surprise) it made the actual price seem very small.

And then, once the viewer began to assume the offer was complete, the announcer would say, “but wait, there’s more…” and throw in another freebie. The effect of throwing in all these add ons was to make the price seem ridiculously small when compared to the value received.

Now remember that each freebie cost the seller very little, but to the customer, they represented a significant value.

Can you do the same thing with what you sell? What if you threw in a free booklet, a free CD or some other add on that related to your primary offer?

Selling is all about creating a favorable return on investment (ROI) for the buyer. When all your freebies increase the value side of the offer, the price side seems to very small in comparison to what is received.

By the time a viewer had seen all that came with their Ginsu Knives for such a “low” price, they almost felt guilty for taking advantage of these dolts who were offering so much for so little.

Your aim, no matter what you are selling, is to work the ROI by increasing value every chance you can. To do this, you have to come up with your own version of, “but wait, there’s more.”

freelance copywriter, writing web content, copywriting tips, ghost writer

One of the biggest mistakes a freelance writer can make when writing a website’s content is an unfocused goal.

When a visitor happens upon your site, what do you want that person to do? Actually. A more focused goal would be, what do you want your visitor to decide?

The same thing goes for readers who cast their eyes upon your brochure, your advertisement, your sales letter or any other marketing material you create.

What decision do you want to influence your reader to make?

If you have a clear idea of this, you can create copy that steers that reader toward that decision. If you want the person to buy now, or request more information or opt into your subscriber list, or call your toll-free number, you have to make every word you write lead them toward making that decision.

This means you have to demonstrate the benefits they will receive when they make that decision, the consequences of not, and provide all the information they need to feel confident in such a decision.

Do readers always do what you want them to do? Hardly, so for longer copy or a website with many pages, you will need to establish secondary decisions as your objectives.

These secondary objectives are fall back decisions you want them to make. If they don’t chose to buy now, lead them to subscribe to your email newsletter. If they don’t chose to subscribe to your email list, lead them to bookmark your site. These fall back decisions do not require as much of a decision as your primary objective.

With decision-goals in place, your job of writing becomes easier and more focused:

• You know what to leave out and what to put in,
  
• You know what reasons to provide the reader,
  
• You know how to heighten awareness of what will happen if they don’t act,
  
• You can build urgency to act now,
  
• You can show how alternative decisions can lead to painful results,
  
• And, you can paint a happy, rosy picture of how much better life will be after the reader makes the right decision.

Without a clear decision-goal, your copy moves no one and accomplishes nothing. But with a clear goal, every element in your copy can direct your reader to make the desired decisions.

freelance copywriter, copywriting tips, ghost writer

Some things in business are counter-intuitive. One example is the long sales letter. After decades of research, the results are in, longer sales letters sell better than short sales letters.

We all naturally think brevity is the best way to go, but the numbers don’t lie.

The reason is that if someone is interested in your offer, they naturally want to read more. Questions form in their minds and they want answers to those questions. So as long as your long copy prompts those questions in their minds and promises to deliver answers to them, your chances to sell to those individuals goes up.

Of course this assumes your long copy is well-written.

Go back to what I just said earlier. As long as your long copy 1) prompts the reader to ask questions, and 2) promises to answer those questions, you will sell.

I did NOT say to answer those questions right away. Curiosity is one way to keep your reader in an excited state long enough for you to give your entire sales message.

One effective way I have seen is for copywriters to put phrases like, "Find out how you can ______, on the next page." Or, "Learn how to keep this from happening to you on the next page."

These sales letters refuse to let go of the readers’ interest and actually read like a cliffhanger.

I like to use a technique I call "The Cart Before The Horse Technique." All I have to do is mention a string of benefits or warnings, and promise to reveal the answer shortly.

Here’s an example: "Did you know that there is one food item that can help you lose about a pound or more a week if you eat one with every meal? Did you know this food item also tastes delicious, makes a perfect snack and has so many nutritional benefits that it can add years to your life? What is this wonderful food? It is ………….the apple."

Bet you didn’t know all that about the apple, did you? And I bet you weren’t about to stop reading until you found out what food I was talking about.
Write longer sales letters. Excite your readers’ curiosity and promise to answer their questions shortly. Do all that and you will see your sales climb through the roof.

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

What happens when you read a sales letter that contains a long list of bullet point benefit statements? What happens to me is all my resistance just crumbles away under this machine-gun fire of reasons why I must buy this service or product.

When a copywriter writes copy that lists one benefit after another in bullet point form, my mind simply cannot come up with objections or reasons not to buy fast enough to keep up with the copywriter.

As a freelance copywriter myself, I can appreciate the kind of work that went into writing this kind of copy. Many writers barely seem to be able to come up with one or two benefit statements, let alone an entire list. So I know this isn’t a writer who just sat down and quickly slapped down some copy.

But writing a long list of benefit statements is not as difficult as it first appears. There are several ways to organize your thoughts in order to write out a long list of benefit statements:

1. Write out every possible problem your product or service solves for the customer.
   
   
2. Write out consequences of not doing business with you or the consequences of delaying action.
   
   
3. Think of every emotional reward your product or service can give your reader.
   
   
4. Now also write down the logical rewards your product or service offers.
   
   
5. List every reason why your reader should do business with you.
   
   
6. Look at your product or service from your potential customers’ point of view. List their wants. You are brainstorming here, putting yourself into the mindset of your potential clients.
   
   
7. Write out a list of what they don’t want. Put down on paper every hassle, problem, pain or aggravation you can think of.
   
   
8. Go back over the last two lists and write out why your clients want or don’t want these things. Probe into reasons and motives. Again, you are brainstorming here. Your goal is to try to understand the emotional benefits behind first level benefits.
   
   
9. Go back over everything you’ve written and write benefit statements. Use action verbs and paint word pictures. Poke at the painful areas. Discover different ways to state the same benefit as a positive or a negative, what the customer gets and what she avoids. Try to write over a hundred benefit statements if you can. I guarantee nothing you come up with will be wasted.

The simple fact is that the more benefits you roll out, the fewer objections your reader can think of. As they read a long list like this, readers begin to run out of reasons not to do business with you.

copywriter secrets, writing web content, copywriter tips

For many businesses, an annual ad in the Yellow Pages or one of its competitors, can be a huge investment. If the ad works well, it can bring a in steady stream of new customers all year long.

But what if your ad just doesn’t pull in as much business as you need? Worse, what if it doesn’t even break even for you? Many businesses depend on the Yellow Pages for most of their sales for the year, so the risk of an underperforming ad is something to be reckoned with.

Here are a few ideas that should help you maximize this investment and generate the highest possible return throughout the year.

1. Test your ad. How do you do this? In the months leading up to the deadline to place your Yellow Page ad, run several small or even classified ads in your local media. Test several headlines, run them against each other to see which one pulls the most. The winner gets to be your standard bearer all year long.
   
   
2. Use your ad to generate leads by offering a free booklet or some other form of free information. Not only will this pull in a better response than your competitors, it will also build a list of interested prospects for you to send out future mailings.
   
   
3. If you go the lead generation route, give your booklet an interesting title, like “31 Ways to Save Money on Car Repairs,” (for the auto repair shop). Or “19 Health Care Tips For Your Child” (for a pediatrician). Be sure this title is prominently displayed on your ad and make it the focus of your ad.
   
   
4. Instead of one large ad that reads like a laundry list of all the services you offer, experiment with several smaller ads offering a single service. Law firms especially put up really boring Yellow Page ads that do little more than list all the specialties they practice. Unless your ad is the biggest, with the brightest colors, and is in the first page of your category, you will have a hard time getting a decent return on your investment for such an ad. But narrowly-targeted smaller ads give you a much better way of catching the eye of a specific group of clients who need a specific service.
   
   
5. Piggy back on the narrowly-targeted smaller ads by offering more free information related to each specialty. Offering free booklets or newsletters positions you as an expert within your specialty.
   
   
6. Now here’s my soapbox.. I have called on too many expensive Yellow Page ads only to be met with incompetent or rude people on the other end of the phone. Train your employees how to answer the phone, to return calls promptly and to have intelligent answers once a caller actually responds to your ad.
   
   
7. Don’t just automatically run the same ad year after year. Your competitors aren’t going to just roll over and play dead. If you run a successful ad this year, you may just find a dozen imitators running very similar ads next year. Find ways to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack. Don’t claim to be the biggest, the best or the most experienced. None of that matters to your potential clients. Don’t try to fight it out among the other big fist in the pond, find your own pond and be the only fish in it.
   
   
8. Write your ad to solve a really vexing problem your reader may be having. To use the law firm ads as an example again, if you specialize in juvenile criminal law, target your ad to the worried parent who has a child in trouble. Make your information piece about “what to do if your teenager is in trouble with the law.” People pick up the Yellow Pages because they have a problem. And they will call the ad that best demonstrates the ability to solve that problem.
   
   
9. Be a specialist. Specialists make more money than generalists. So, if you can, let your ad show your specialty. But a category is not a specialist. (Using lawyers again) if you specialize in white-collar criminal law, don’t just say you practice criminal law. If you specialize in personal injury involving a reckless commercial vehicle, don’t just say personal injury. If you specialize in contract negotiations, don’t just say you practice business law.
   
   
10. Your headline is the most important part of your ad. So don’t just run with the first thing that comes to mind. At the risk of repeating myself, test your headlines. Put your strongest benefit front and center in your headline. Address a problem in your headline. Make a promise in your headline. Headlines are too important to leave to chance. After all, do you want to live a whole year with a mistake?

Don't put up your ad blindly. Too many businesses put no thought into their ad, and then have to live with the results for an entire year.
freelance copywriter, writing web content, copywriting tips

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

I don't often reprint other people's articles, but maybe I should. Here is one article that makes an incredibly simple point while it compresses a lot of copywriting wisdom in just a few words. Any freelance copywriter should be able to gain a lot from this advice from Nick Usborne.
Charles Brown

The Power of Saying 'You Can,' by Nick Usborne

If you have children, you will doubtless remember saying to them, "You can do it."

It's what we say when our toddlers first struggle to their feet.

It's what we say when they face their first day at school, when they first ride a bicycle, or first swim a full length of a pool.

Children face the challenges of early life with greater confidence when they are supported by the belief and support of their parents.

And it doesn't stop at childhood. We continue to say, "You can do it" when our teens take their driving test, apply for college or dress up for that first job interview.

I recently finished reading John Le Carre's book, The Constant Gardener. He frequently touches on the thought that adults are simply the children they once were, with all their childhood strengths and weaknesses, masquerading in grown-up bodies.

I think he's right. As adults, at home and at work, we still crave the support and belief of those around us - our partner, our colleagues, our bosses.

When faced with a tough career challenge, it's still reassuring to have someone put a hand on our shoulder and say, "You can do it."

With this in mind, consider some of the copy you write on your Web site, and in your emails and newsletter.

Where you now say something like:

At Acme Trust we support local arts through our funding program.

Consider saying this:

Through Acme Trust you can successfully apply for a grant to support local arts.

Where you say:

Acme Business Intelligence software aggregates data from across the enterprise and makes it available to your managers...

Think about this:

With Acme Business Intelligence Software you can provide senior management with reports that are complete and on time.

Or instead of saying:

Acme Newsletter Builder provides dozens of ready-to-use design templates...

Say:

With Acme Newsletter Builder you can create professionally-designed newsletters in just a few minutes.

Each of these examples simply shifts the focus from the company to the customer and says, "You can do it".

That's stage one.

When we encourage our young children, we are also there to help and support them. Try the same with the inner children of your customers and prospects.

So stage two is to provide not only your product or service, but also the support to help your customers succeed.

Try adding a line or two like these:

Speak to one of the Acme Trust advisors and find out how to write a successful grant application.

As an Acme Business Intelligence customer, you will be allocated Acme Support Representative.

Not sure how to get started with Acme Newsletter Builder? Ask for help at any time through our Live Chat support service.

If you subscribe to that original premise that we each of us retain many of the fears and insecurities of our childhood, you now have a couple of very simple ways in which to reassure and support your customers and prospects.

Let them know that they CAN do it with your product or service. And remind them that you are right there, with all the support they need, in order to help them succeed.

Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Usborne