ComputerHunter.org |
|
|
|||
|
 |
The One Word Every Prospect Craves
It's arguably the most important word in the copywriter's arsenal. It ranks right at the top with words like "free," "new" and "savings." I'm talking about "you." "You" is the word that gets your prospect's attention and keeps them involved. As Herschell Gordon Lewis says in "The Art of Writing Copy," "Unless the reader regards himself as the target of your message, benefit can't exist. Benefit demands a 'We/You' relationship." While the "We" in the "We/You" relationship is important, it's better implied than communicated literally. If your goal is to put prospects first, then it's best to have the "you's" far exceed the "we's." It's the "you's" that matter to prospects. They're your workhorse for communicating your message and include all derivatives such as "your," "yours," "yourself," "you're," and "you'll." Powerful 'You' What makes "you" so powerful? For one thing, it addresses your readers directly. In effect, it says "Hey you," which is much harder to ignore than "Hey somebody." Say "Hey you" in a crowded room and a lot of heads will turn. Say "Hey somebody" and a few heads might turn. While your copy won't actually say "Hey you," it can clearly identify to whom you're talking. Once you have your audience's attention, use "you" to help keep it. Personal 'You' Why does "you" get and hold attention? For one thing, it's personal. It's used in personal conversation every day. What do you think? How was your weekend? You'll be glad to know ? When people say these things to you, they're bound to get your attention and involvement. After all, they're interested in your opinion. They're interested in the things you do. They have something to tell you that will make you happy. That's the goal of you-oriented copy. Address your audience directly, personally and in terms of their interests. Be conversational and "you" will pop up in the copy naturally. Counting 'You' It was mentioned earlier that "you" is a workhorse. A classic example is contained in "The Do-It-Yourself Direct Mail Handbook" by Murray Raphel and Ken Erdman. They highlight a "Newsweek" magazine subscription letter used for nearly two decades. The subscription letter was written by direct mail expert Ed McLean, who used "you" nearly 30 times on the first page alone. More than 100 million copies of the letter were mailed, a testament to its effectiveness. Try counting the "you's" (and "you" derivatives) in your copy. Compare them with the number of "we's" and first-person derivatives. If the "you's" don't outnumber the "we's," consider reworking your copy. Excessive 'You'? Can you overdo "you"? Yes. If you load your copy with "you's" but forget the benefits, your message will have a phony ring. "You" can't save you if there's nothing meaningful to offer your audience. Likewise, it will help put you over the top if there is. (c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel Neil Sagebiel is a veteran copywriter and publisher of "Headlines from Floyd," a FREE monthly ezine for those who want proven copywriting and marketing tips to generate more business. To sign up and also get a FREE bonus report, "Close More Sales with Testimonials," visit http://www.neilsagebiel.com.
Google News - Top Stories
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Power Keys To Writing Power-Packed Marketing Copy In order to maximize your sales efforts and fully seize your greatest profit potential, these essential elements are a "must-have" and "must-apply" in all of your action-driven marketing communications. Working With a Freelance Editor If you are interested in creating information products, you will very likely deal with editors throughout your career. You may need someone to edit a book, review a special report, or tighten up a magazine article. Even if you are a brilliant writer, it always helps to have someone else look at the work with fresh eyes. Be That Copywriter Everyone Wants to Work With So many copywriters think that it's enough to be a stellar writer and grammatical genius. Oh, but this is so far from true. One of the most important aspects of copywriting is project management. When you're tight and together, you can deliver a perfect draft BEFORE the anticipated deadline, that the client can easily decipher and that whomever is designing the project will absolutely love you for. Web Copy ? How Much is Enough? These days, there's widespread acceptance that a website is an integral part of the marketing plan of any business. Likewise, it's commonly accepted that web copy is a vital component of any website. But how much web copy is enough? Writing Copy for Voiceovers As with any of the performing arts, an effective voiceover begins with a well-crafted script. You don't have to have many years of writing experience to create copy that is both effective and a pleasure for the voice actor to perform. Here are some ideas to consider before you put your pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Killer Ad Copy Not everyone is a writer. Good copy writing is a science and can be learned over time. Great copy writing is an art and should problably remain in the hands of those who can craft it well. How To Write Headlines That Get Attention No doubt, the headline is the most important part of any advertisement or sales letter. The reason is very simple. The headline is the first thing your prospect sees when he or she looks at your advertisement. Hey, Client, This Is Me! Sell With Your Writing Voice In a crowded market, clients will be seeking personality as they read what you've written -- they'll click right past pages that feel "been there, read that." They're looking for a voice that says, "Hey, client, this is me!" How Cliffhanger Paragraphs Capture Readers About 50 years ago, movie serials kept theater crowds coming back week after week. Each episode ended with a "cliffhanger," a suspenseful unresolved problem. Audience members had to return the next week to see what happened. How to Build Benefits from Features Fast and Easy with the Solution Approach Every salesperson and fledgling copywriter hears the harangue: DON'T SELL the FEATURES of a product ? SELL the BENEFITS those features bring!!! How Your $2-an-Article Ghostwriter is Like a Cheap Pair of Pants Web marketers: have you figured out that article marketing is the secret to your success on the web? 10 Tips for Tech-Writers Tech-writing is a tricky business. It's not a very high profile industry, so there's not much support around. Follow these 10 quick tips, and you'll be well on your way to a satisfying tech-writing career. 13 Steps to a Slippery Slope Online Sales Letter Many of the solo professionals whom I coach are people who offer services. They're coaches, consultants, creatives. And many of them are also beginning to sell information products on their Web sites. They're smart to offer a lower-priced alternative to hiring them, and to sell a product that can gain them passive income. How to Write Profitable Ads Regardless of how you look at it, the most important aspect ofany successful business is its advertising. In fact,the success of any business is largely dependent on good advertising. Copywriting for Astrology, Numerology, Tarot, and the Mystic Audience These days, you don't have to traverse the dark forest on the eve of the Full Moon to find a gypsy, psychic or "intuitive" as many now call themselves. Chances are, the local astrologist or tarot reader is making more than a comfortable living for herself in a corporate complex near you. She's probably dressed in proper business attire, scheduling consultations from her art-deco office right now. The Secret to Web Copywriting Gurudom Have you seen those copywriting gurus, working it on the web? How'd they get so darned famous? How can YOU get what THEY have? Here are some creative ideas for you to kick around and use in your copywriting escapades. Calls-To-Action: Making Them Fit Makes All the Difference It was going so well, so what happened? Many copywriters get off to a wonderful start: The headline is compelling, the body copy is benefit-filled, but then comes the call-to-action and the whole thing falls apart. Why? It could be a dozen different reasons, but one of the most common I've seen is that the call-to-action doesn't fit the target audience. The Lead: Sinking The Hook Into Your Prospect You only have an instant to capture your prospect's attention. No matter the medium ? a sales letter, print ad, or commercial ? she's going to make an almost instantaneous decision about whether you are worth her time or not. So you'd better start off with a bang. Is Your Content Provider Selling You Ripped Content? Ripped content: well the term itself is self explanatory. Content that has been copied from some other site, without any official authority to do so. Although sounds like an extremely trivial issue but is not so, considering the strict copy right laws governing intellectual properties in various countries. Careless usage of such content can thus lead you in some seriously troubled waters and at times involving legalities of more then one country. By the term "content provider" I denote the person, whom you may hire for writing the content of your website, articles or for copywriting a product or service. Let's look at this problem more closely. You are contacted by some person, quite distinctively, through your IM service. The person introduces himself to be a reputed content provider and for credibility also supplies you with some web site addresses he claims to have given the contents for. The final shot, to sweep you from your feet is their rock bottom prices. Any mention about copyrights is brushed aside or circumvented so effortlessly and cleanly that you stand fooled with both eyes open. However, this is the end of the stage one of their plan. Enter part two and you are supplied loads of tweaked and altered or down rightly plagiarized material from numerous sites, all packaged into one installment for you. While you are complimenting yourself about a steal deal, what you don't probably know is that there are laws you have violated and for which you might have to pay a price many fold ? than your steal deal!! Caution- is the word when it comes to hiring content providers or copy writers for your site or products. And there are some unspoken rules within the industry circles. For e.g., a) Before hiring a content provider or a copy writer, always check for their portfolio, those with a site of their own are some how more trust worthy. b) Request and check references, c) Ask for samples of some specific style or format, this shall help you ascertain the quality of the worker. d) Have a clear understanding about copy rights and laws pertaining to the same. e) Expect to go by the prevailing market rates, do not be fooled by throw away prices and always deal only after fair agreements are chalked out. A good way of finding out ripped content is to Google parts of the final works and cross checking the results. 12 Copywriting Tips to Make Your Advertising More Profitable Year after year people make the same mistakes in direct-response copy and advertising. You can avoid the most common and costly blunders by following these profit-enhancing tips...
|
|
|
|
|
