I started coding in October 2018. It was after reading a book by MJ DeMarco. I didn’t know one can learn how to build a website that easily. By easy, I mean having access to the tools and materials needed to build one. Fast forward to 2019, I wanted to build a website for my elder sister. She runs the online page of her husband’s wine store. Midway, I decided to learn about wines. I downloaded two to three PDF files.I read only one.I got an idea of wines but that doesn’t make me a wine expert. I am not even a beginner. I just read it for reading’s sake. I downloaded the files in 2019 but I read that‘one’in 2020. I have forgotten almost everything I read in the book.
This one thing I didn’t forget is how to taste wine. According to the article/file/book…
Okay, so we know that the very first thing to do before you begin pumping that sales letter is research.
This is where we put on our detective coat and begin our investigation on finding what our target audience wants.
Most times, it is advised that the best way to decipher the pain point of the customer is by calling them directly, speaking one-on-one.
But as humans, sometimes we don’t always mean what we say.
At times, we want to come off as normal, so if asked directly, we don’t give genuine answers because we don’t want to express our flaws.
Gary Halbert points this out too in his book, “The Boron Letters.”
Now, if that is the case, how do we get our target markets’ innermost desire?
That’s why we love forums.
People bare their soul out there, are more vulnerable in describing and expressing their fears, pains and frustrations.
Really, you shouldn’t try to project an emotion of your target audience by yourself. There are a string of worthy content for you to swipe from forums.
If you haven’t been onto that since, well… You’re making a lot of mistakes.
Luckily for you, I have compiled the best means where you can find information about your target market. Here goes
1. Reddit –
Come on, who doesn’t love this forum? If this isn’t your first bank of call, I wonder where else is. No matter what niche you’re in, you are certain to find your target market here.
And the best part is, Reddit is grouped into several subreddits, so it’s even easier to detect your target audience.
Real Estate Subreddit
I mean, look at this subreddit. There are over 159k members! That’s mind-blowing. You definitely will find stories of people, their angst and frustrations if you look.
See how detailed the above users are in their contribution.
Another thing about this platform is that sort of anonymity that goes in it. So, these people are so blunt, vulnerable and honest in their stories.
So, if you’re really serious about finding your audience, Reddit is your best friend.
2. YouTube
Surprising, no? In case you are not aware, YouTube is a goldmine. It’s sad copywriters overlook this platform.
Not only do you find lots of documentaries, interviews and speeches simplifying whatever complicated topic you are writing on, the comment session is also underrated.
People like me love to read comments whilst sourcing for information. There is nothing you can’t find there.
MeetKevinMeetKevin
This channel is from MeetKevin and he is one of the great teachers of Real Estate on the platform. Notice his headlines?
Infact, if you are stuck on discovering headlines, YouTube got you covered. The algorithm places the most hooking headlines and you can swipe it all the way.
Even from other industries. Try to incorporate it to yours. Yes, it is allowed.
3. Quora
No, tell me, why aren’t you on Quora?
Okay, maybe it doesn’t have status stories, or any of the usual interfaces of other social media but Quora is also a goldmine.
People ask questions on the app and other users provide answers. In most cases, the answers are so detailed, links are made available by the person who answers a question.
Real Estate space
Honestly, I really love the app. Apart from the answering of questions, there are several spaces dedicated to different industries.
Question on Quora
As you can see from the image, there are about 100+ answers to this question asked. You only need to join and find the content you are seeking.
Answer on Quora
Plus, did you see how articulate the answer is. And that’s only one out of the hundreds of response. Let’s not add several other questions asked in the app too.
You will most likely find a unique mechanism when you click on the link to an answered question on Quora. So get onto Quora immediately if you aren’t using it yet.
4. Facebook
Oh yeah, the good ole Facebook. It’s interesting to realise that Facebook is not just for sharing pictures, the different groups and communities are really helpful during research.
Especially if you’re on pages/groups advertising a product. People do share their pain point without any limitations.
So quit using your Facebook for just chit-chatting and get to work in those pages and groups where your target audience is at.
5. Amazon
This is the best place to embark on your competitors’ research. And it’s really great cos you only need to navigate the review bar, click on the 1-star reviews and you see very angry and dissatisfied customers.
Of course, you then use your copy to channel their frustrations and the promise that your product will solve it for them (if it really will).
It’s also great for generating headlines, fascinations or ideas. You can draft a headline based on people’s reviews from Amazon. For instance, if a customer comments.
Review on Amazon
From the above review – you can create a headline or even fascinations from the marked part.
So making a fascination from that part goes something like this –
An Unethical practice most investors are guilty of… Discover if you are making this error and a quick fix to this immediately.
You should try it. So yeah, make sure you are utilising Amazon to get that Sales letter going great.
6. Bigger Pockets
For those of us in the Real Estate niche, Bigger Pockets is our abode. You find everyone there – Agents, investors, vendors, developers.
Bigger Pockets
It’s the hub/home for the Real Estate Industry.
Plus, it doesn’t only feature forums, but news about the market, podcasts on Real Estate, events and career opportunities are on the platform.
So if you want to understand the lingo and updates in the Real Estate industry, get right on Bigger Pockets ASAP. You won’t regret it.
7. Nairaland
For Nigerians reading this, if you don’t know Nairaland, what other forum do you know? This is where Nigerians rant from today till tomorrow about this and that.
NairalandNairaland answers
This is great if your message is targeting the Nigerian audience.
***
So there you have it. These platforms and Forums are lifesavers for us copywriters. If all the options we had were directly communicating with the customers, it’d be most likely taking up just our time but energy.
Forums make it so much easier to find out the target market and actually have them bare their emotions with no inhibitions.
So instead of wasting your time trying to conjure up what your audience is thinking, go and research. And I promise, it’s not boring at all.
You’d find lots of intriguing stories, so much that you will just need to take your pick of the most dramatic or emotionally compelling stories.
So yippee for these platforms. They make our work all the more easier. Whoop!
Every day, we hear about investments… on how it is to acquire assets as opposed to liabilities.
The truth is – the majority are still not aware of this part of financial education. But for the sake of the intended audience for this blog, let us examine truly what it means to own an asset and a liability.
Now, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear an asset?
Most likely, you’d mention Real Estate. That’s the most stable asset there is. Then there are stocks, bonds, Mutual funds and the rest…
However, contrary to popular opinion, it’s not that simple. Real Estate can be much of a liability as to the next car/mortgage.
Here is what I mean – people are quick to advise others to go buy a house, a Real Estate property and that’s an asset you have.
Well, as you read on, you will discover why that is dangerous advice to go by.
What is an Asset?
“An asset is something that puts cash into your pocket while a liability removes money from your pocket.”
So that extra house in South Africa that you have as a vacation home? That is a liability.
Because you’re paying for its upkeep and you are not getting returns from it. So, before you’re quick to invest in a property, you should ensure that it’s actually an asset, not a liability.
Other liabilities…
Cars – A necessary liability. It’s said that the worth of a car reduces immediately you make the initial deposit. So be mindful of buying those fleets of cars, you are only acquiring liabilities to yourself
Yacht – Those beauties you adore, love and cherish. You may as well be raking in more liabilities.
What then is the Real Asset to have as an investment?
The only basic rule you need to know about assets like this is Cash Flow. You need an investment that brings in return to your pockets and the Real Estate investment, this is done through Cash Flow.
So, if you had borrowed a loan from the bank and you bought a lodge for students in school – the money after you’ve paid off your monthly mortgage is the cash flow entering your pocket.
That is an asset.
If you decide to buy a yacht but you’re renting it out to friends – then it’s an asset cos it’s bringing in cash flow
If you decide to start a little transportation company by the side. Like, give a couple of cars out for people to use as Uber and they are giving you a commission from their usage of the car – then it’s an asset because it’s bringing in Cash flow.
Other assets include –
Hotel Chains
Restaurants
Apartment buildings
Warehousing for rent
Gold/Silver
As long as you are reaping a profit from the property. That’s an asset.
Most people misplace this. In a bid to secure a supposed asset, they’d purchase a property with the belief that everything labelled Real Estate is an asset.
And the reason for that belief is the belief there will be a land appreciation in the future of which they will make returns if they sell during that time.
But the truth is, such appreciation happens when there are perfect timing and observations of the market.
Plus, the value of a property only increases if there is an investment into the property to increase its worth.
The successful real estate investors are on the lookout for properties that will be generating enough cash flow so much that they don’t even need to sell at all. They only need to keep refinancing the property (this is to avoid debt but more of that in another post).
The reason for this ignorance is cos most people are not willing to learn. So, it’s of utmost importance that you get educated before making such a dangerous mistake in Investments.
Isn’t technology the best thing ever? It has opened the opportunities for everyone, especially writers in perfecting our craft.
Thankfully, we don’t need to have prowess in the English language. I mean, those that flunk the English language have a great chance of being a successful writer in this age.
And frankly, this has made our copy journey easier. It has removed the burden of mastery of that aspect, leaving us to focus on the creative part of writing.
So, I am going to share with you 9 tools that every copywriter needs to have with them. These tools are lifesavers in this career.
They include
Grammarly
Hemmingway Editor
F2B Converter
AlsoAsked.com
WebFx Idea Generator
Sharethrough Headline Analyser
Rhymezone Rhyming Dictionary
Canva
Translate English to English
If as a copywriter, you aren’t making use of these tools yet, you are wasting time and not priming your craft enough. You need them to polish your writing…
Without further ado, here are the major tools every copywriter needs to have with them
1. Grammarly:
Grammarly App
This is the foundation tool every copywriter must-have. Most Copywriters don’t have an English degree. We don’t know the grammar rules, the word-subject rules and all of that.
This is where Grammarly makes our works so seamless. It fishes out those little overlooked mistakes in not just grammar, but spelling and little errors that may be littered all over our writing.
Grammarly is a must-have tool for every copywriter. It saves you the embarrassment of sending a grammatically incorrect copy to your clients. So, if you haven’t gotten Grammarly, go get it now…
This is a tool for copywriters to make our writing easy to understand. This tool classifies your writing according to the level of comprehension.
And you know copywriters are advised that their writing should be at Grade 5 and below. So, once you input your copy in the tool and click on edit, it classifies your writing, hints on the parts that need to be shortened. Or words that could be replaced with more basic terms.
This means Feature To Benefits Converter and it’s a tool created by Alex Cattoni. One of the biggest challenges of copywriters is using features in their copies as opposed to Benefits.
As Copywriters, we have to let the reader imagine what their life will be if they use our products. And there is no way to do that if you don’t convert the features to the benefits.
What F2B does is provide a template to discover what the benefits of a feature are. This is an awesome tool for easy transition from Features to Benefits. Get Your Own Copy Here
4. AlsoAsked.com
Alsoasked.com
Let’s face it, we are not machines. We won’t magically know what people are looking for, or the content they want to see.
And when you don’t know what people want, you might be going off tangent in creating content/copy they are not interested in at all. Asked.com surfs the net for the questions people are asking about your topic.
So, this gives you an idea of what people are looking for in a business, a service or a product.
Sometimes coming up with content ideas is difficult. If Asked.com reveal the questions people ask, WebFx Idea Generator gives you headline suggestions to create a post. You only need to type a notion, and you will get a variety of posts headlines.
This is a great app for headlines. This app examines the strength of your headline. It checks the emotion, curiosity and how captivating your headline is.
Of course, this is not a White or Black Situation, but it gives you an idea of the kind of copy to use in your Headline.
As you can see, my headline ranked 72, an above average headline. That’s an A (if it’s grading lol). You can use it Here
7. Rhymezone Rhyming Dictionary
At times, we are at a loss of words to use in our copy. This makes some terminologies to be repetitive in our writings, making them redundant and flat out boring.
This is where Rhymezone Dictionary comes in. It not only gives you synonyms of words to replace with but provides rhyming expressions to make the words more descriptive. And also, ensures that the readability of your copy is interesting.
Because we need to make our designs without necessarily paying for a graphic designer. Canva provides templates to use in the creation of beautiful fliers, posts and everything in between.
This adds colour and spice to your copy, without you being an expert or even have a knowledge of Graphic designing in the first place.
For those of us in Africa or even where English is not our first language, this is a lifesaver.
It’s not the same spellings that work for the English audience that goes for America. So, when dealing with this kind of copy, you’re stuck trying to navigate your writing.
This tool puts an end to your worries. Cos, you only need to input your whole copy, then you choose the language you want the copy to be and it shows you the correct spellings.
When the term arises, the first thing that comes to mind is that it’s a terrible place to be in.
You hear it all the time – “Never be in Debt. Make sure you pay back the loan you borrow before the interest exceeds the capital.”
The question or mindset to have is
“How can I use debt to my advantage?”
“Where do I put my borrowed money that I can make infinite profit from?”
“How does borrowing make me richer?”
In simple terms, Debt means “Money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another, generally as a result of a loan or other financial transaction.”
One of the biggest hurdles that prevent people from buying Real Estate is debt. They fear that they won’t be able to pay back the loan/mortgage before the interest accumulates more.
The fact is that Debt is a crucial part of financial education. To be highly successful in the Real Estate business, you need Debt.
This is what separates those scrapping by in the business and the highly successful ones.
Let me bust a myth for you.
The big dogs in the Real Estate are there because they are heavily in debt. All the time.
Here is the reason…
Debt is the easiest means to evade taxes legally. The more in debt you are, the lesser of taxes you will pay.
To be specific, if you have debt in a property, then you won’t have to pay any tax on that property.
And even after they clear the loan and the interest, they refinance on the property with another loan and continue paying back the newly borrowed money.
Therefore, the rich rely heavily on this.
And the banks love this too since they borrow millions to these investors for the interest rate.
The reason being that these banks, insurance companies have a lot of money on their hands. People are just giving them money to save and they have no means of generating income except through borrowing investors in either business.
These banks are continuously on the lookout for real estate investors because Real Estate has the best ROIs, and is not as risky as other avenues of investments.
So, they are very much happy to lend investors to get their interest rates from them.
And of course, these investors always payback because of the worthwhile investment they do.
So even if the rich investors in the business have the money to pay for a building completely, they won’t.
Because they need the debt to save more money.
However, this is just to set the air clear from the beginning. If the reason you are not an investor yet is because of debt, then you should get comfortable with accumulating it.
But before doing that, it’s of utmost importance that you know the investment you are incurring the debt from.
For instance, if the reason you want to venture into real estate is to buy a vacation house, then you’d be so in debt because there is no cash-flow to repay that debt.
It’s a terrible mistake to incur debt on liabilities confused as assets. This is a huge mistake people make claiming that they have an asset.
And when you are in this kind of debt, you’d find yourself en route to bankruptcy.
However, if it’s a rental property that you took a loan for… Especially units of apartments in a location that is in demand of housings, then borrow away…
Because you will have a steady income which is free of taxes.
You are saving yourself a lot of money from the government…
Now you may be asking, how then do they make money if they are stuck in paying back the debts of a property.
Well, my friend… This is exactly where Cash Flow comes in.
Cash flow is the sum of cash revenue and expenditure over some time.
In simple terms, it is the money made from the property. For residential properties, it’s the rent that the tenants pay.
I’ll buttress on the concept of cash flow in another post for easy understanding of how it relates to the real estate business/debt.
Therefore, if you are ready to make it big in the Real Estate business – Study how the acquisition of debt works in your location.
One thing is certain though, you won’t be paying as much taxes when you are in debt. It’s as easy as that.
Once you’ve begun acquiring this, you’ll enjoy the game and continue building your Real Estate Empire…
If you are a Nigerian real estate agent, then you can’t afford to miss this post.
You need to be sure that you’ve not been making this deadly mistake that is costing you thousands and even, millions of naira.
If you are, then it’s no wonder why you haven’t been making as many sales as you would have been.
The mistake you ask?
It is the demographic of the people you’re selling to.
The truth is, “not everyone can be a property owner/landlord”
As much as Nigerians ‘kabash‘ from now till tomorrow in their local churches to become a house owner, it’s simply not possible.
Especially in a country that most live under $1 a day. So, even though those of modest living would wish for such, it’s not feasible…
Hence, you’d be making a deadly mistake if your advert is targeted towards every demographic.
Here is a basic rule of advertising – One Reader, One Customer…
You are writing to one person. If you try to be too inclusive, your ads will be all over the place.
And you’ll be wasting money that should have been channelled to the right source for something else.
What you should be doing is to find the right group of people willing to put down the money, and then craft a great ad that suits their wants.
When you do that and target the ads where they’ll see it, you’ll find yourself closing sales, faster than you can blink.
If that’s the case, who is the right audience especially in the Nigerian market?
That’s what I am here for.
You see, there are 4 groups of people who are willing to buy real estate in Nigeria.
They are:
Investors
Homebuyers
Cash Protectors
Emigrants
1. Investors –
These are individuals that are in the Real Estate business as a means of income. They buy a property, renovate or totally reinvent it to something else.
Then they either sell at a higher price to gain profits or lease it to be gaining cash-flow from the investments.
2. Home Buyers –
These are people who do not want to be answerable to anyone. They want their property and can afford it. They want ownership of that real estate, at times due to pride and ego.
They also want the comfort of having a place to call theirs and something they can leave for their children in the future.
3. Cash Protectors –
Real Estate is one of the most solid assets (if purchased right). It is one of the static investment that doesn’t have as much risk and has the greatest ROI.
For cash protectors, they intend to save their cash in a trusted investment. Especially with Naira that is always inflated. Instead of leaving their money to depreciate, they invest in real estate to protect their money.
4. Emigrants (Those in the Diaspora) –
With the high range of emigration by Nigerians for better opportunities, they are also a great group of people to reach out to for investment purposes.
This is so that they have a great asset back at home to fall back to, should they return in the future.
***
There, you have it.
If you’ve been making the mistake of advertising to all and sundry, I’d advise that you abort that mission with immediate alacrity.
It serves you no purpose, doesn’t help your goal and frankly, you’re wasting your time and money.
What you need is to deduce how to reach out to these people (Algorithms these days help exceedingly with that) and write copies suited to each audience.
Each group is distinct from the other, so it’s not a single copy that will work for them all.
If you need help with any of the copies, shoot me a message here.
If you want to be an expert in Copywriting, then you have to put in the work. Just like how a medical doctor or pilot trains consistently to be a master of the craft, the same goes for a copy.
This is because of the art and science related to the skill. Every single word in a copy is intentional and targeted to a specific audience – specifically one single person, the perfect customer.
Now, there is no course like copywriting in the traditional academic setting. Most of the learning process is either self-taught from works of early Copywriters like Gary Halbert, David Ogilvy, John Carlton etc.
Or, the modern courses by the millennial generation of copywriters. In any case, there is no dictated time-frame to study it. You are not mandated to master the craft, so all the efforts are on you.
This makes most of the average Copywriters to be lax in learning of their skill.
Be it as it may, certain practices improve copy dramatically. Most experts of copy, do not take just one but 3 or more of these practices to hone their craft.
It’s been proven to work time and time again. The secret is in finding the particular method of learning Copywriting that works best for you.
Then dedicate at least 30 minutes every day to improve your Copywriting skill.
Without further ado, let’s get right onto the practices.
Handcopy:
This is the oldest recommendation for learning Copywriting. In The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert, he specifically recommends that any person who wants to be a copywriter should embark on this journey.
Now, nobody is saying that you handcopy 8000 words of sales letter at once (I made that blunder when I began and I nearly crashed).
Anyways, you are not mandated to handcopy at once. You can decide to take it 45 minutes every day. And not just 30 Minutes, but divided into 15 minutes chunks and taking a break of 5 minutes.
This single act (if committed to daily) will ensure that you grasp the 6th sense in writing copy.
Read 10 times or as many times as possible
This is also another recommendation. And it works better if you’re a slow reader.
I’m quite terrible with this because I skim a lot when I’m reading, more so when I’m not reading it out loud. Not my best practice.
However, reading the same copy for as much as possible will also aid you exceedingly in understanding the flow of the copy.
Handcopy and read out loud
As the name implies. As you are hand-copying, you are reading the words out loud.
What this does is that it gives you comprehension. By that I mean, you are forced to understand that which you are writing.
As opposed to merely writing without being focused on the words you are hand-copying.
This is actually my best way of learning copy.
Read out loud and record
This is very important in spotting errors in copy. Because we sometimes skim whilst reading, reading out loud allows you to notice the particular areas where there is a mistake in your copy.
And of course, understand the flow or the copy.
Let’s face it, we’ve all faced that moment where we didn’t exactly like how we sounded.
Now, if you don’t like how you sound (especially when reading your copy), chances are that your target audience won’t like it too.
However, reading out loud and recording whilst it helps improve copy. Because you use both senses of speech and hearing for learning Copywriting.
Read while walking around the house
The importance of this particular practice is that you spot where the flow is difficult.
Most especially if there are huge blocks of writing. Therefore, reading while walking identifies where the breath is stuck. Thus, this allows you to break down those huge blocks for your copy to be more readable for the layman.
Create a new copy every day
Just like every other Writing, it is important to write daily. Even if it’s just a 100 words of copy. The most important thing is that you are creating a copy.
However, you mustn’t write chronologically. It can be the lead, the offer, the background story, etc.
What this does is that you notice improvements in places that you wouldn’t have (if you’d been only consuming content)
Creating a new copy is about practising the art. It’s about putting the theory to action (whether or not you have a client already).
Subscribing to several newsletters
This is encouraged to discover what your competitor is doing. To compare and contrast how their marketing strategy is.
Also, it is advised that you subscribe to newsletters that teach copy because the experts share their tips and nuggets for improving their copy.
Since there is no formal education for copy, it is then essential that you learn from people who are masters at their craft already.
**”
That’s about it – the strategies A-List Copywriters use in becoming better copywriters.
If you haven’t been doing any of this already, this is the best time to start.
And if you have, I’d love to hear your best practice.
As Copywriters, it is our duty and obligation to constantly analyse winning sales letters. This is to understand the nuances and commonalities among them to implement them too in our copies.
In that regard, it is vital to note the various parts of a sales letter that should be analysed, dissected and studied regularly.
They are the 4 Ps of Analysing Sales Letters.
Promise
Proof
Picture
Push
These are the points to note on different sales letters to decipher how well the copywriter utilised it in their sales letters. And learn how to implement them too in your copy.
Deciphering these vital points in a copy will aid your exceedingly while studying a copy because you know what to expect when reading a copy.
It’s much better than merely studying a copy for ‘copy sake.’ This provides better clarity when studying a winning copy.
So, let’s begin.
1. Promise –
This is quite clear and straight to the point.
What is the big promise the copywriter is telling the reader?
What is the reader supposed to expect at the end of the sales letter?
Or, what they are to gain after they have purchased the product.
That is the big promise.
So while studying a sales letter, you should note the promise the copywriter made and if the copywriter truly kept to the promise at the end of the copy.
And whether the promise is compelling enough, believable and realistic.
For instance, if the headline makes a bold promise of “curing cancer” and the copywriter merely rigmarole around the claim after making such an assertion, it shows then that the copywriter is making false promises.
It’s terrible to promise a reader/potential prospect something and the copy is another thing altogether.
And even worse when the prospect reads on because of the promise and doesn’t get what he wants from reading the copy.
So, note the big promise/claim while analysing and dissecting a copy and utilise them properly in your copy.
2. Proof –
Proof embodies different things. The proof that the product works – this is where testimonials are king. The proof that other people have used the products and are testifying to its potency.
Nothing quells an average person’s skepticism about a product more than seeing other individuals, who have tried the product and can attest to the results.
It even works best if there are pictures and videos of the satisfied customers promoting the product (than mere names of people). Still, only names are much better than no testimonial at all.
Hence, while dissecting a copy, note the different testimonials used by the copywriter.
The parts of the copy where the testimonials are placed – note how strategic a copywriter displays the promise and incorporate that into your copy.
3. Picture –
Basically, painting an image of something for the customer. Usually, it’s either painting the picture of how the reader’s life will improve dramatically after they purchase the product.
Or, painting a life of gloom, doom and dissatisfaction when they ignore it.
It could even be, painting how pathetic or miserable their lives currently is and projecting your product as their savour.
The most important thing is the picturesque manner to which you ignite their imagery.
So instead of just saying, ‘My life was bitter, angry and miserable.‘
You can tweak it to be,
“I was laid off a few months ago. I ran out of money. My credit card was declined. I couldn’t afford to pay my rent when it was due. My landlord was screaming on the other side, threatening to call the cops. And I was hiding behind my wardrobe, hearts palpitating, hands shaking, hoping that he doesn’t tear the door down. I’d sneak out when I’m sure he isn’t around.…”
You get the picture… make the reader feel the emotions himself while reading as opposed to telling them what to feel.
Follow how these winning letters paint the picture of their experiences or a story.
4. Push –
This is more or less the most important part of the copy. The call to action. It is the culmination of all the psychological game that you’ve been at since the Lead part of your writing?
How do you pull the trigger for the reader to take that action you want them to take?
It could be in the offer, the bonuses, the discount. What is important is that you pull the reader to finally do whatever.
When studying winning copies, it is essential to examine how the winning letters presented their offer to their reader.
The language they used. How they made it as though the reader has a choice whereas they don’t really have one.
How they present alternate offers as though they are offering them a choice to make while making those alternative offers look like a terrible mistake to the reader.
How to make the offer tantalising enough, a steal that the reader can not afford to take advantage of currently…
How to make it such that the reader feels he is making a terrible mistake if he doesn’t take on the offer.
That is what you should study in the Push Part of Analysing Sales Letters.
Copywriting is a never-ending process. Once you stop learning, you stop improving on your craft.
You mustn’t note all of the above at once while studying a copy. Easily take it a step at a time.
Maybe decide you’ll internalise the proof today and choose on another tomorrow. Or do all at once.
The most important thing is that you are noting these parts of copy while Analysing a sales letter.
As a badass copywriter, you are done with the discovery call with a client.
You have asked the necessary questions about the target market, the product and even the previous campaign letters.
The price has been concluded and you have received the initial deposit. You have promised the date the sales letter would be completed.
You have browsed on several sites and forums, read about your target audience, found their pain points and challenges. Even created the character avatar.
In your mind, you know how you want the sales letter to turn out.
But suddenly, you are scared. That gnawing Imposter Syndrome is leering its ugly head – poking at your capability to deliver.
More so, when you’re met with the blank screen.
One of the biggest fear for a Copywriter, especially a direct response copywriter is staring at that blank page and wondering where you’d start to whip a 5k words and above sales letter for your client.
It seems like a daunting task that you can’t finish, like starting a marathon and knowing you still have miles to go.
However, unlike a marathon, there is a way you can use shortcuts without breaking any rule. And that is the steps I will share with you in this article.
So, typically a sales letter is divided into 5 parts.
The Lead
Background story
The Unique Mechanism/The Big Idea
Finding the solution
Reveal of the product
Making an Offer
These are the basic components of a Sales Letter
Now, as long as you’ve done your research, there is no law mandating that you start from the very beginning to write your sales letter.
Frankly, it deters you from even starting because you will waste a lot of time trying to deduce the best lead that will hook your audience.
And by doing that and not seeing the results you desire, your frustrations will only escalate as the day runs out.
There is nothing more detrimental than a frustrated copywriter who does not know where to begin.
So what do you do?
It’s quite simple. Going by the initial components of a Sales Letter, you should switch up things while writing.
By that I mean, start with the Product Reveal. Since you know about the product you are selling to a customer who will read your letter, start with that part.
Or you can start with the Offer/Close in your writing. This part will be more fun even for you. Because this is where you go in for the kill. This is where you exert your master persuasive skills to make the reader buy the product.
I believe writing this first will put you in the mood. It sets the mood and tone for you to immerse yourself in the Letter.
There are the other parts – the background story, the Final Close after the False Close.
Taking these parts in chunks reduces the intensity of the pressure to write a Killer Sales Letter. It will make your sales letter easier to write.
Then, when you are done, you assemble all these parts and ruthlessly edit the copy over and over, polish the copy until it’s a masterpiece.
So, instead of waiting for the inspiration for the best lead that will hook the reader to befall you, you can leave that part for the last.
When the other parts are done, you can then brainstorm to discover the best lead that will suit the copy.
By doing this, you are taking away the burden of looking at a blank page and not knowing the first word of copy to write.
Moreover, nobody ever submits their first draft of a copy. So you shouldn’t worry if the chunks are disjointed when you assemble them.
That’s why a copy is edited gazillion times.
So, say goodbye to that mountain task of deducing how to write a Sales Letter. Good luck with your copy…
There is only one single reason you’ve been feeling like motivational gurus are not impacting you enough.
Or why you think those messages are words in the cloud.
It’s simply because you have no purpose in life.
And I use that term loosely…. Very loosely to avoid a misconstrued interpretation.
Here is what I mean. I don’t necessarily mean that you don’t want to do anything worthwhile with your life, it’s because you lack the direction to do it.
It’s because you don’t know exactly what to do.
You don’t know the path to venture.
And if you already know the career you want to pursue, you probably do not have the means or know the ways to go about achieving that
For most people, they struggle with the former, that is having no clear direction on what they want to do with their lives.
And I need to be clear on specificity
Many at times, people just declare that they want to make it in life. We all have made that proclamation on wanting to be a successful personality in life.
It’s not enough to just declare that you want to be successful.
You have to be clear on the Industry or the niche of your focus that would bring that into manifestation.
In what area specifically do you want to grow?
In what industry do you want to be successful in?
That’s where the block takes preeminence in the lives of many people.
Finding that clear path to embark on.
And I struggled with this for the longest of times, leading me to a lot of trials that were not as productive if I had some clear goals.
However, I have always known that I am ready to put in the work to success.
I already knew that it is not an easy path in the slightest.
But I found it excruciatingly difficult to decipher the path to take serious actions.
And I’d heard motivational speakers speak on finding your passion a lot that I’d have smacked my head across the wall if I heard it one more time.
It stopped feeling authentic to me. I felt it was a fraud message they pass to people to make them feel good or work towards a pretty much non-existent path.
But the truth is that finding a passion makes people persevere when it comes to success. Because the journey is not easy in the least.
Having a passion for something is what keeps you going in the face of disappointments, fears and failures.
And whether you hate those emotions or not, they are the ingredients to this success. They will be your constant company throughout this journey, so embracing them is key. It’s of utmost importance.
As I was saying, finding a passion guarantees that you have a purpose.
But finding a passion does not mean finding an unprofitable passion. That is a prepared disaster if you ask me.
I hold the view that you can turn some profitable business or career into a passion. The secret is in finding what you can actually turn to a passion.
What profitable industry can you find possibilities that can be turned to a passionate affair?
That is what gives you a clear purpose.
For me, I mistakenly but purposefully discovered the path of Copywriting. It was an eureka experience for me. But it happened after feeling underachieved, downtrodden and like a massive failure.
The truth is, you can start off by browsing the profitable niches. I wasn’t aware that it’s something that can be browsed, but it works.
However, I will give you an exercise that is recommended by MJ DEMARCO, an entrepreneur and one of the best authors I’ve ever read.
He said in his book Unscripted, “what do you want to do if you had a billion dollars?”
But not just the above,
He went on to specify it this way,
“Away from the vacations, the luxurious lifestyle, travel, adventure, shopping, philanthropy. At the bottom/end of all of that, what do you truly want to be doing at the end of it all?”
He then added that if the above exercise doesn’t work for you, then you should try working a tedious menial job for a year and see what would become of your mindset.
As you can see, the self-development speakers and coaches are there for a reason. They know these things, they are aware of how much the mind is the game changer in the lives of people. It is the mind that influences the discovery of purpose in life.
And purpose is what keeps you focused
During times when you are not sure of what you are doing. When it is not particularly clear that you are even on the right track, purpose keeps you going.
Even when you don’t know where exactly the venture is taking you, purpose is what keeps you going.
And really, if you are not sure of your purpose, take a break.
Watch really funny videos. Read. Sleep.
But be intentional that you want to find something. Something that will change your life.
Because if your mind holds this notion, it works towards it subconsciously. And the Universe is always right at the corner listening and pushing things your way.
So if you haven’t found that clarity with the purpose that you need to take actions, just work towards improving your mindset. Your core values.
Soon, you will find that which will keep you going.
Nenye's Copy Realm 