In your reading, you may occasionally encounter a word or expression from another language.

Some writers ostentatiously drop in such words to flaunt their erudition. But foreign-language words are used for good reasons. Although the English language offers us a remarkably wide choice of words, some concepts are better expressed in other languages, especially when no precise equivalent exists in English. In addition, an imported locution is often more concise and stylistically superior.

Here is an A-to-Z glossary – by no means comprehensive – of such words and phrases. You might occasionally find opportunities to use them. But even if you never do, you won’t be in the dark when you read or hear them.

• a fortiori (ah for-tee-OR-ee), Latin. All the more. Example: “I said I wouldn’t clean the garage and my reasons apply a fortiori to the house.”

• casus belli (KAH-zus BELL-ee or KAY-sus BELL-eye), Latin. An act or event that provokes war. Often used metaphorically, e.g., “That new book on evolution is sure to be a casus belli.”

• l’esprit de l’escalier (les-PREE duh les-kal-YAY), French. Literally, “the wit of the staircase” – the clever retort you think of only after it’s too late to utter it and impress everyone. Interestingly, German has the identical metaphor: Treppenwitz. (I often find occasion to use this one!)

• nostalgie de la boue (NOS-tal-jee duh lah BOO), French. Literally, “yearning for the mud.” An attraction to, or perverse compulsion for, the unworthy, crude, or degrading.

• schadenfreude (SHAHD-en-froi-duh), German. When a once-esoteric word is discussed on The Simpsons and becomes the title of a song in a long-running Broadway musical (Avenue Q), you know it’s hit the big time. Literally, “shameful joy” – taking pleasure in the misfortune of another person. Handy!

• Weltanschauung (VELT-ahn-shou-oong), German. Literally, “world view.” A philosophy of the universe or of life.

• Zeitgeist (TZITE-giste), German. Literally, “spirit of the time.” The characteristic attitude or mood of a specific period or generation. Useful for conversations about politics, society, and the state of mankind.

A few stylistic points: When used in writing, foreign-language words and expressions should be italicized. In German, nouns are capitalized – and that style is usually retained when the words are imported into English text. Exception: schadenfreude. This word has become so common in English that it’s now lowercased.

If you find this subject appealing, you might enjoy They Have a Word for It: A Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words and Phrases, by Howard Rheingold. It’s filled with interesting foreign-language expressions, some frequently used in English and some that probably never will be.

[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book recently published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]

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A “locution” (loh-KYOO-shun) – from the Latin for “to speak” – is a style of verbal expression, a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations.

Example (as used by Don Hauptman today): “Although the English language offers us a remarkably wide choice of words, some concepts are better expressed in other languages, especially when no precise equivalent exists in English. In addition, an imported locution is often more concise and stylistically superior.”

[Ed. Note: Become a more persuasive writer and speaker ... build your self-confidence and intellect ... increase your attractiveness to others ... just by spending 10 VERY enjoyable minutes a day with ETR's new Words to the Wise CD Library.]

Copyright ETR, LLC, 2009

I’m going to share a bit of the information that I first taught at my $3,495 per person copywriting workshop. This subject is something I have not seen anyone else tackle in full. So if you are interested in making your sales copywriting (actually, any writing) work harder for you – pay attention!

You see, once most people learn about copywriting, they can usually crank out some pretty decent letters. But where the rubber meets the road is during a part of the writing process that most people don’t want to think about, let alone do. I’m talking about the editing. Today, I’m going to reveal four of the steps I take to hone, polish, and sculpt my sales letters.

Of course, before you start editing, you need to have something worth editing. And you really cannot write and edit at the same time.

So, when you sit down to write, I suggest that you turn off your internal editor. (You know, that little voice in your head that says, “That’s dumb” or “Blah!” or “Nobody is going to care about that.”) Then write quickly. Get it all out as soon as you can, and edit later.

When you begin editing, focus on one thing at a time. This is one of the biggest secrets to ending up with a great sales letter. It’s like when you buy a new car and all of a sudden you start seeing your make and model everywhere. The same number of Mini Coopers were on the road before – but now you have selective perception. Our brains are trained to seek out what we are hunting for, so most people will do one “general” edit and catch a few big problems. But that’s not good enough.

Phase 1 Edit: The First 500 Words

The opening is one of the most critical parts of your sales copy (after the headline), so that’s what I concentrate on first. Studies have shown that once a person gets past the first 500 words, he won’t stop reading until the 5,000-word mark. So one of your major goals is to get people to read through those 500 words.

Most writers start a sales letter with a lot of “warm up” – getting ready to say what they want to say. You need to be ruthless and get rid of the fluff. To make your copy more powerful, see what you can cut from the beginning of the letter. You’ll usually find that your best lead-in will be further down the page. (When doing copy critiques, I often X out the entire first page – or two! – or several of the initial paragraphs.)

Phase 2 Edit: The Flow of the Copy

The next thing I do is read through the entire sales letter with one thought: “Does this paragraph/section/copy block make sense where it is?”

What I’m looking for is a logical and persuasive flow to the copy. If I am writing to an audience that is especially skeptical, I will move my “Authority” and “Proof” elements closer to the beginning. If I’m using an analogy or a story, I make sure it is positioned in the best spot to keep readers engaged.

Phase 3 Edit: Graphics, Embellishments, and the Overall Look

The next thing I pay attention to is the “look” and “feel” of the entire letter.

Just like a top chef doesn’t want the spices to overpower the food, you don’t want the graphics and embellishments to overpower the copy. A pinch will do it. So, to make sure I’m not overdoing the bolding, italics, underlining, bullet points, check boxes, fake handwriting, etc., I use what I call my “Squinty Test.”

I print out each page, hold it in front of my face, and squint so all I can see is patterns, not the actual words. If I don’t see a good amount of white space and a balance of graphic elements, I make the necessary changes.

Phase 4 Edit: Double-Readership

I learned the concept of double-readership from Dan Kennedy, and it’s something you have to keep in mind when you’re writing copy.

There are two types of prospects: those who will read your sales letter, and those who will only skim through it, even after you capture their attention with your headline. So you want to make sure they can get enough information to make a buying decision just by skimming through the headline, subheads, and words that are set off by bolding, italics, etc.

If they can do that, you’ve done your job.

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Just by skimming through the above, you get the idea, don’t you? You get enough information to decide whether you’re interested in the product being sold.

There are other important edits you can make to your sales letters to make them stronger – and I’ll address them in an upcoming article. In the meantime, these four can tighten up your sales copy and make it much more appealing to prospective customers.

[Ed. Note: As master Internet marketer Yanik Silver (www.MaverickBusinessInsider.com) says, careful editing can make the difference between mediocre and blockbuster sales copy. Learn how you can get your hands on hundreds of powerful copywriting techniques from one of the best copywriters in the business right here.]  

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American Writers and Artists Inc. (AWAI) co-founder Don Mahoney recently e-mailed me an article about the National Enquirer. In that article, Editor-in-Chief David Perel revealed the secret of the tabloid’s outrageous success:

“The big news organizations tell people what they think they should be interested in, whereas we try to give them stories that they are interested in.”

I think Perel has hit upon a key principle that applies to all writing, not just newspaper publishing. And it is especially relevant to information marketing. Namely, that your sales will be many times greater when you offer your customers information they want to read and learn… instead of information you think they should have.

The late Gary Halbert went even further, advising marketers to sell exclusively to what he called a “starving crowd.”

A starving crowd not only wants what you are selling – it has an insatiable appetite for it. Therefore, even if there are a lot of players in that market, they can all do well, because the market’s demand is a bottomless pit.

In particular, there are three “starving crowd” markets that have an especially consistent and unending demand for information.

Starving Crowd Market #1: Hobbyists

Hobbyists read about antique collecting or quilting not because they have to, but because they want to.

Those who are heavily “into” their hobby, whether that hobby is calligraphy or macrame, can’t get enough of it. In these niches, a lot of competition is a good sign, not a negative sign… for two reasons.

First, it proves the niche is viable. If others are making money by selling information to this market, you can too.

Second, you can make joint venture deals with those other marketers to sell your products to their lists, and vice versa.

Starving Crowd Market #2: Business Opportunity Seekers

There is an insatiable appetite for information on how to make money in your spare time, start a home-based business, change careers, or earn a living without a job.

I believe business opportunity seekers can be divided into two groups.

The first group is doers. Doers are serious about changing their lives, and they actually pursue the course of action you recommend.

The second group is dreamers. Dreamers enjoy learning about small business, yet take no action beyond buying and reading how-to information products.

You can’t usually distinguish between these segments of your market, but you really don’t have to – because both consume an unending stream of info products.

Starving Crowd Market #3: Moneymaking and Investing

People have a nearly universal desire to make more money and increase their wealth. If you sell information that helps people get greater returns from their investments with less risk… or accumulate a seven-figure net worth… or become financially independent… you will never run out of eager buyers.

Of course, there are other starving-crowd niches for information marketers, including: self-help… relationships… sex… health… beauty… fashion… fitness… and weight loss. But the three above – hobbies, business opportunities, and moneymaking – are by far the largest and most active.

One of the biggest mistakes beginning information marketers make is choosing, as their primary niche, a market that is not a starving crowd.

Reason: Without a starving crowd of buyers, you will always be fighting an uphill battle to peddle your info products. And you will be forever frustrated that your prospects aren’t buying your valuable information when you know it’s stuff they absolutely should have.

But people don’t readily do what they should do – or what you think is good for them. They are much more easily convinced to buy what they already want… rather than what you think they need.

And when you select as your primary niche in information marketing a starving crowd… like hobbyists, business opportunity seekers, or wealth seekers… you can sell your prospects the stuff they want – over and over again.

[Ed. Note: The first step to starting a moneymaking information-publishing business is to find a hungry market. What's the next step? Find out as a member of ETR's Internet Money Club. Our experts will give you a step-by-step guide to setting up your own info-publishing business - including finding a market, starting an e-newsletter, creating a website, and writing copy to drive traffic to it. See if there are any spots left for the "Class" of 2009 right here.

To learn more marketing secrets from freelance copywriter and marketing expert Bob Bly, sign up for his free e-zine, the Direct Response Letter. Do so today and get $116 in FREE bonuses.]

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