4 Easy Edits That Can Make Your Sales Copy Sing
Issue #2597
- WEALTHY: Transform your sales copy from decent to amazing (Yanik Silver)
- HEALTHY: The best butt-boosting exercise I know (Jon Benson)
- WISE: Clayton Makepeace on sales copy
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
- 5 ways to get more pleasure out of your work (Michael Masterson)
- If you’ve ever felt like giving up… (Paul Lawrence)
- It’s Good to Know… about giving medication by remote control
- Add “defalcate” to your vocabulary
== Highly Recommended ==
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“Your sales copy is only as strong as its strongest link.“
Clayton Makepeace
4 More Ways to Turbocharge Your Writing
By Yanik Silver
Sales copy can make or break your marketing campaign. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that it is as strong and persuasive as possible.
The first step, of course, is to get the first draft of the copy down on paper (or computer screen) as quickly as possible. I always tell copywriters not to worry about getting every word right. Just “let it all hang out.”
Then, the real work begins: the editing. That’s when you transform your copy from decent to good – or even great. As copywriting expert Clayton Makepeace says, “The more compelling you make each section of your sales letter, the greater your response and average order will be.”
In my last article for ETR – “4 Simple Ways to Turbocharge Your Writing” – I said that the best way to do the editing is to focus on one thing at a time. And I walked you through the first four phases of the process.
There are four more steps to take in order to polish your copy to perfection. Put them to work for you, and you’re sure to end up with sales letters that blow past your competition.
1. Call Out the Bucket Brigade
In this phase of the editing process, you smooth out and “stitch” everything together by using “bucket brigade” copy transitions. Like the old-time firefighters who transferred buckets of water from hand to hand, these phrases keep propelling the reader forward. Phrases like these:
• And that’s just the beginning…
• As you read on, I’ll tell you more about how…
• But before we go into that…
• But better still…
• But don’t take my word for it…
• But I’m jumping ahead. Let me tell you how this all came about…
• Here’s more…
• Fact is…
• Here’s the deal…
• Here’s the scary part:
• Listen, there’s more. Lots more…
• My strong hunch is…
• Needless to say…
• What this all boils down to is…
• What’s more…
• What’s the catch?
• Then it hit me…
Anytime you can use a copy transition, you will improve the readability of your copy and move the reader closer to the sale. (I have compiled 226 copy transitions that I use on a regular basis.)
2. Read It Out Loud
I don’t know what it is about reading sales copy out loud, but it gives you lots and lots of insight into how good (or bad) it really is. All the bumps and rough spots jump out at you.
Even better than reading it out loud yourself is to have someone else read it to you while you take notes on a printout of the copy. One big advantage of this is that he is completely impartial. He won’t stress certain words to make the meaning clearer. And if he stumbles over a phrase or sentence or paragraph, you know that’s an area you need to rework.
Another thing I do during this editing phase is make sure the copy is geared to the prospect’s benefit. I do it by changing some of the “I’s,” “We’s,” and “Me’s” to “You’s” – e.g., changing “We are giving you 6 must-have bonuses”to “You’ll get 6 must-have bonuses.”
Much stronger that way.
3. Sleep On It
At this point, let your copy sit for at least a day. If you don’t have the luxury of an extra day, even a few hours will help. When you come back to it, it will be with new eyes and a fresh perspective. You’ll find errors that weren’t apparent before, and better ways of saying what you want to say.
Every sales letter is significantly improved with rewriting. I will often do three, four, or even five rewrites before I’m satisfied.
4. Grammar and Spelling – the Final Phase of the Edit
On my final pass-through, I check the grammar and spelling. Often, I will have someone who is better at “proper English” take a look, too. I take their suggestions with a grain of salt, because sales copy is more “conversational” than formal writing. Still, I definitely want to make sure I don’t make stupid mistakes like confusing “their” and “there.”
Despite the importance of the editing process, most copywriters don’t bother with it – or, at best, give their copy one or two quick “final” reads. But if you take the time to do a thorough job – going through all eight phases, one by one – you will see a guaranteed improvement in the selling power of your writing!
[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 spend two days with one of the best copywriters in the world and get all his most powerful secrets to writing copy for the Web right here.]
How to Find Purpose – and Happiness – in Running a Business
You don’t have to wait until you are financially independent and actually retire to enjoy an early retirement mindset. The sooner you can make your business about something other than making money, gaining power, or in some other way enhancing your personal situation, the sooner you’ll begin loving your work.
That will happen the moment your work stops being about you.
Here are five suggestions:
1. Make customer satisfaction your number one priority.
Ultimately, business should not be about sales, market share, renewals, or even profitability. It should be about leaving the world you inhabit a little bit nicer than it was before you entered it. You can do that only by focusing on customer satisfaction.
2. Focus on improving your people for their benefit, not yours.
Every time you interact with your employees, you have an opportunity to make them wiser and thus increase their prospects of being successful.
3. Don’t do more than you can do well.
There is such a thing as being overly productive. By taking on ambitious goals and translating them into demanding monthly, weekly, and daily objectives, you can force yourself into a situation where you have to race through almost everything you do to get it all done.
4. Don’t grow your business too fast.
When you are actively growing a company, you are automatically creating a certain amount of chaos. By pushing to create more products, sales, and customers, you inevitably put a strain on your ability to do things well.
5. Don’t ever feel sorry for yourself.
You don’t always have a choice about the problems you have to deal with in business, but you definitely have a choice about the way you respond to them. When you are feeling beaten up or rundown, the worst thing you can do is complain about it. Complaining focuses your (and others’) attention on you-know-who. And paying attention to yourself is, as I’ve said, counterproductive.
[Ed. Note: The above article was adapted from Automatic Wealth: The Six Steps to Financial Independence, published with permission from John Wiley & Sons. Get your copy today.]
Why It Doesn’t Matter If the Markets Tumble
If you’re one of the millions of people concerned by the latest turbulence in the markets, I’ve got some good news for you.
It doesn’t matter if the markets tumble.
One investor delights when the stock market lurches up and down. His name is Frederick James and you won’t see him on Larry King or in the Wall Street Journal.
That’s because he’s always preferred to remain part of an elite group of investors who extract their profits in the background while the masses of regular investors see their nest eggs vaporize.
But, now Frederick has decided it’s time to share the wealth. He has agreed to reveal his secrets to ETR readers. Get your special report right here.
If You Get Knocked Down, Get Up
The letter was from the publisher of a magazine where I’d just placed an ad for an instructional ballroom dance video I’d produced. He informed me that he was pulling my ad. Why? After watching the video, he felt that the quality wasn’t good enough for his subscribers.
This was quite a blow to me. The Internet hadn’t yet developed into the marketplace it is today, and this magazine was the only one that catered to readers interested in ballroom dancing.
I understood why the publisher had a problem with my video. At that time, I had virtually no capital, so I’d videotaped it on my home camcorder and edited it with my VCR. Technologically speaking, it was weak. Still, I believed that people who bought it wouldn’t mind since the content itself was so good.
My video business was temporarily kaput.
Fortunately, I didn’t give up on the idea of selling dance videos. After improving my recording techniques and testing several marketing channels, I ultimately sold many thousands of dollars’ worth. I then expanded into producing other types of instructional videos that have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Steve – an old friend of mine – came out of the army with a few bucks and decided to go into the vending machine business. He bought a couple of machines from a slick company that grossly overcharged him and gave him poor locations. Like me, his ignorance of the industry he was getting into led him to make a big mistake. Unlike me, Steve panicked, sold his machines at a big loss, and never tried to get another business started.
Listen, there is a good chance that you’ll stumble a few times with any new venture. But, if you keep picking yourself up, wiping yourself off, and learning from your mistakes, you will achieve success.
Michael Masterson calls this the Principle of Accelerated Failure. “To develop any complex skill,” says Michael, “you must be willing to make mistakes and endure failures. The faster you can make those mistakes and suffer those failures, the quicker you will master the skill.”
So get out there and fail. Learn from your mistakes. And don’t give up.
[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is a successful small-business entrepreneur who has started over 12 profitable enterprises. For more information on his personal achievement program, Dare to Live Your Dreams, click here.
You can learn more about Michael Masterson's Principle of Accelerated Failure and get his proven advice for taking your business to the next level in his New York Times bestseller Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat. Pick up a copy now.]
How to Firm Up Your Backside
By Jon Benson
Most every gal in the gym is familiar with the lunge. You see hordes of women doing lunges. Some trainers even have them walking around outside doing lunges.
Good idea… bad execution.
The right way to do lunges is one leg at a time. Do not alternate between both legs or do walking lunges. It is hard on the knees, and it doesn’t take advantage of the mind/body connection that focusing on one leg at a time can give you.
- Burn out the muscle on the first leg with mental and physical focus.
- After you do one leg, do the other.
- Rest one minute. Then do a set of 20 squats using dumbbells or a Smith machine.
- Repeat the lunge exercise, one leg at a time, then the squat… then you’re done.
That’s two “giant sets” – two sets of one-legged lunges and two sets of squats. That’s it. You can do it in less than 10 minutes.
Not only is this a great exercise for your legs, your butt will be screaming for mercy and will be more toned practically by the time you get to your car… assuming you can walk to your car! I’m kidding, of course. But seriously – this is a great workout for the booty.
[Ed. Note: If you want to build more muscle in less time while you burn body fat, pick up nutrition and fitness counselor Jon Benson's book, 7 Minute Muscle. It's a complete system for dropping fat and building muscle that's guaranteed to work for you. Try it for 60 days and prove it to yourself.
For more easy-to-follow exercises you can do at home - plus dozens of strategies for getting fit and living longer - sign up for ETR's natural health newsletter.]
It’s Good to Know: Giving Medication by Remote Control
For those who find it difficult to take medication without help, new technology could make pill popping a thing of the past. The idea is for electronic implants placed under the skin to dispense meds automatically or be controlled by a healthcare professional via a wireless signal.
The technology – Remote Intelligent Drug Delivery Systems – is being developed for patients with disabilities, but has the potential to pass into wider use.
(Source: Popular Science)
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Word to the Wise: Defalcate
To “defalcate” (dih-FAL-kate) – from the Latin for “scythe” – is to misuse or embezzle money or property held in trust.
Example (as used by Thomas Moore in a letter to Leigh Hunt): “I suppose you have heard of the calamity that has befallen me through the defalcation of my deputy at Bermuda, who has made free with the proceeds of two or three ships and cargoes deposited in his hands… .”
[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
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