The Formula for Writing a Sales Letter
September 19th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comDo you feel confused, pressured or overwhelmed at the thought of writing a sales letter for your product? You’re not alone. The sight of that treacherously long page with the neverending streams of words, words, words confounds many.
The good news is, writing a sales letter needn’t be approached with the same dread one might take at having to bang out a college term paper on the night before it’s due. All you really need to do is break it down into manageable parts.
Part 1: Create the “Hooker” Headline and Intro. The “hooker” part of your sales letter includes a headline, subhead, and first paragraph or two. They call it the hooker because it’s meant to hook interest and capture attention. This is frequently done with a series of 3, attention-grabbing questions, but it doesn’t have to. One such question might be: “Are you sick of enduring fad diet after fad diet, only to gain all the weight back as soon as you fall off the wagon?”
Continue reading “The Formula for Writing a Sales Letter“
Popularity: 15% [?]
Posted in Commercial Writing, Copywriting Services, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters, Target Audience, The Creative, Writing Voice | No Comments »Copywriters: Think You Don’t Need One? Think Again.
September 9th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comSome people who “can write” don’t think it’s necessary to hire a copywriter. They figure that having a web designer to build pages, and a VA to set up their online shopping cart, is enough.
What they’ve maybe overlooked is that sheer volume of writing that MUST happen if they plan to make a significant impact within their field of expertise.
When you’re managing a team of professionals, whether for your department at work or for your own business, you force yourself into the role of team motivator, project initiator, executive decision-maker, and primary planner. That’s an awful lot to heap on one plate. Add to that being responsible for every piece of communication that goes out the door of your business, and you’re buried under one avalanche of work.
Let’s face it: communication is the key to every good relationship - especially one that you establish with customers and associates. Such a relationship begins with how you BRAND your company from Day 1, and continues throughout the life of your business. You need to ask the questions: what type of message are you sending? Are you sending it often enough to make a favorable impression? Is what you’re saying today consistent with what you said last month?
Continue reading “Copywriters: Think You Don’t Need One? Think Again.”
Popularity: 20% [?]
Posted in Commercial Writing, Copyediting, Copywriting for the Web, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Newsletter Copywriting, Persuasive Copywriting, Target Audience, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Wife Insurance?
July 14th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comMy pal Ann Zuccardy of the Vermont Shortbread Company sent me this ad pitching “wife insurance” circa 1940. As a lover of antiques, old music and all things nostalgia, of course this ad tickled my funny bone.
But now the question is: did the person who wrote this copy mean to be funny - or was this the sentiment of the day? It’s hard to know what people were thinking during my Grandma’s era, and what might have passed for humor back then. The tone of this seems rather dramatic, if you ask me. I’m sure today’s leading insurance companies would approve.
So what new type of insurance might be the next step for the next generation of families? How about pet insurance? People are fairly mad about their pets - in fact, I like my pet more than most people! And with dog and cat food companies being responsible for thousands of pet deaths due to their questionable ingredients… I’d say we’ve got ourselves a market here.
Insurance… the biggest scam on the planet. “Here… pay us money *just in case* anything happens. But if nothing happens… we still get to keep your money!”
Burns my brisket, it does.
Popularity: 32% [?]
Posted in Print Advertising, Target Audience, The Creative, Vintage Ads, Word Food, Writing Voice | 3 Comments »Should You Sell a Product or Service?
June 10th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comTons of marketing experts preach the Marketing Funnel or Product Pipeline. Their theory on online business is that you should offer an array of product choices, one for every market segment. Your high end consumer will go for the bells-and-whistles package, your budget-conscious consumer will choose the economy offering, and then your middle men will fill in the remaining rungs of the ladder. On top of that, they’ll encourage you to simultaneously market services along with the product you create.
I’m more of a marketing realist myself. As much as they might like to, most of my clients just don’t have the bandwidth to give their readers “everything and a bag of chips.” For those with limited resources, budgets, time and energy, it might be a more practical idea to focus on one, or the other - product, or service, for the time being.
So let me ask you: are you a product man, or a service gal?
Popularity: 51% [?]
Posted in Branding Strategy, Business Management, Business Writing, Marketing Communications, Small Business Marketing, Target Audience, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Your Marketing In Bloom
May 13th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI’m doing a garden this year. Not just two tomato plants, a handful of herbs and some flowers, but a real garden, with real vegetables that we will hopefully be able to eat without any serious repercussions.
As I make my clumsy foray into the world of raised beds and organic composting, I’m reminded of my less experienced copywriting clients, and filled with sympathy for them.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Posted in Creative Platform, Marketing Communications, Newsletter Copywriting, Small Business Marketing, The Copywriting Client, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 1 Comment »Are Demographics Dead?
March 19th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comOne of my copywriting clients has challenged me to write an article claiming that “demographics and psychographics are becoming obsolete.” The rationale being that he attracts coaching clients from all ages, income levels and walks of life.
I spent a restless night with this one rolling around in my head. My client wants me to revoke everything that’s been drilled into my brain for the last 15 years about target markets and ideal customers and who I’m writing to?
When someone makes a bold assertion like this one, I’m inclined to analyze their marketing behavior. So what’s my client been doing all this time to bring in such a vast and varied smorgasbord of clientele?
Popularity: 33% [?]
Posted in Blogging Tips, Branding Strategy, Creative Platform, Marketing Communications, Social Media, Target Audience, The Copywriting Client, The Creative | 6 Comments »How Looking Good Will Help You Write Better Copy
February 13th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comMost *normal* people feel good when they look good. A couple dropped pounds, a clean close shave, and a hot new outfit definitely do wonders for the attitude. When we look good, we’re on top of it, ready to be seen and heard. We get more accomplished in a day.
The same goes for your web copy. Now on the one hand, people want to get the best deal on website and blog design. They’re putting their trust — their image, and their future for God’s sake — into the hands of high school students, faceless coders in India. They’re turning their jobs over to the guy with the fake name who learned web design by downloading a 10-step tutorial.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Posted in Marketing Communications, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »The Almighty Tagline and Why Your Company Needs One
February 13th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comThe tagline is a short, one-liner that follows your company name and makes an emphatic, philosophical statement about your business. A good tagline captures the heart and soul of your company in a single, compelling sentence or phrase. It’s often a call to action (Nike: Just Do It) but it doesn’t have to be.
A tagline is conceptual in nature. It is the abbreviated version of your Company Philosophy or USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Your tagline should convey the greatest values embodied by your organization, or your reason for being.
Who doesn’t enjoy a snappy and clever tagline? Recall these famous taglines that have stayed with us for decades:
Popularity: 30% [?]
Posted in Branding Strategy, Copywriting Techniques, Taglines, The Creative | 2 Comments »Copywriting Boot Camp is Back!
August 23rd, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comLast year, we kicked off Web Copy Gone Wild: the First Annual Copywriting Boot Camp from Wordfeeder.com, attracting writers from far and wide who wanted to go “pro” with their ad copywriting skills.
Here’s what last year’s recruits learned…
• Target Audience Analysis: The Keys to Knowing Thy Customer!
• Creative Platform Development - The Foundation of Every Great Ad Campaign
• Tagline Brainstorm Drills - Using Your Own or a Fictitious Client Business!
• Perspective Shift - What You MUST Change in Your Copy if You Plan to Convert Sales
• Strategic Linking and Calls to Action - the Where, How and Why
• Tone Massage - Practice Changing the Tone Without Losing the Meaning
…and much more!
Popularity: 15% [?]
Posted in Copywriting Course, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Copywriting and the Target Audience Part 1: Who Are You Talking to Again?
June 12th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comHere’s a phrase that’s often bandied about the world of copywriting, advertising and marketing: target audience. Variations on this term include: target customer, ideal customer, target market. (And then you have the cleverly spun “tarket” by Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, which is a combo of target and market.)
When we hear a term like this used over and over, our brains tend to want to ignore it after a while. However, that doesn’t mean it’s any less important to do a full analysis of the target audience and their needs before plowing ahead with your marketing plan.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Posted in Creative Platform, Target Audience, The Creative | No Comments »