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As this is my first post of 2012, I have to officially say … HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that this year proves to be the happiest and most successful year yet…

With a new year ahead of us, now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your business and mark out areas for improvement. In terms of your advertising and marketing copy, that could mean giving it a boost with a re-vamp. Sometimes, the smallest changes can yield the biggest results.

As for other areas, this week’s article may help. It’s the second part of an old favourite and you can find it here.

I hope you enjoy reading it, and please do post any questions in the comments box below … or, indeed, any other insights that may help other readers. Thank you.

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Copywriting master John Carlton is renowned for obsessing over every single word he writes, especially when it comes to headlines, which are key to any marketing campaign’s success.

Is he paranoid about using the wrong word? No. Just smart. Because it can take just one word change here and there to boost the responsiveness of your advertising or marketing efforts –– doubling, tripling or even quadrupling your sales or opt-ins.

Professional copywriters know this and, in order to truly understand what makes consumers ‘tick’, will therefore test their headlines, pre-heads, lead sentences and paragraphs, etc, in the market place. Of course, a good copywriter will only test one change or ‘variable’ at a time.

If you’re not testing your copy, and that includes website content as well as ‘offline’ copy, then you should be. Start by making small improvements to your copy today, and then test each variable to see which pulls best.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Mind a Blank? Pushed for Time? Lost for Words? Try Tracey Dooley at MediaMinister: 

http://www.mediaminister.co.uk

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help from a seasoned copywriter?)

(C) 2007-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

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Whenever I tell people what I do, the word ‘copywriting’ typically draws a blank face. If I follow up with the words “writing marketing and advertising material” there’ll be a flicker of recognition. Yet copywriting is a much, much bigger area, covering a large and rather impressive range of communications, including, but by no means limited to:

• advertorials
• annual reports
• brochures
• ebooks
• ezines
• fundraising materials
• marketing materials, such as flyers, invitations, posters, etc
• press releases
• radio or TV scripts
• sales letters
• speeches
• web pages
• and more.

Put simply, copywriting is the CRAFT of writing advertisements, direct-response sales letters and other communications used to promote, market, and sell products and services. It’s about motivating customer action through (usually, written) words.

Essentially, copywriting involves the process of turning words into cash. Selling your product or service through effective language. Online, it’s the equivalent of your best salesman. Your ’shop front’, if you like.

So it is certainly worthwhile getting to know all about copywriting (or at least the basics) so you can determine whether or not you are clearly communicating the VALUE of your product or service.

Whatever form it takes, copy has two traits:

1. The author of the piece remains anonymous (there is no “by” anyone to be seen).

2. The language used attempts to persuade the reader to do, feel, or believe something. It’s writing that gets things done: making sales, building leads, stimulating interest . . . and so on.

What’s this got to with you? Put simply, copywriting is one of the most expensive skills any solopreneur or business can outsource. And, worryingly, not all copywriters are created equal: I often get asked to work my magic on copy that a client had previously paid someone else to write in the first place.

With good copywriting, however, anyone can make a connection with their customers or potential customers. A connection that ultimately results in improved business performance.

And the best part?

You can do it yourself. You don’t have to be a great writer to write or identify great copy. And when you can recognise powerful copy you are able to get your message noticed, read and responded to.

That said, you will need a firm grip on the proven copywriting principles in order to write copy that is customer-oriented and customer-motivating.

Here then are some copywriting tips to get you started:

1. Before you write one single word of copy it’s essential that you define your product or service. This is so that you can appropriately appeal to and connect with your target audience. You do this by listing all the features and benefits of what it is you’re selling or offering, and then focusing on a one or several of the strongest ones.

2. Headlines sell. That’s a fact. So make sure you include a strong headline, and write it from your prospective customer’s point of view, not your own.

3. Make ample use of one of the most magical words you can use in advertising, marketing, promotional, or web copy . . . the word “you”.

4. Avoid ‘patting self on the back’ copy at all costs.

5. Ideally, your copy should address at least one of the six main human ‘motivators’: duty, gain/greed, love, pride, self-indulgence, and self-preservation.

6. Make sure you answer the WIIFM proposition. No matter how diplomatically you put it, there’s only question that your readers will be interested in: “What’s in it for me?” Or, rather, what’s in it for your reader? Why should your readers listen to you? Successfully answering that question can go a long way toward establishing a positive relationship, and help get your copy read — and acted upon.

7. Use specific, powerful and — most important of all — genuine customer testimonials (make sure you get permission first) to back up your claims.

8. Use the active rather than passive voice. In other words, make your subject do things rather than have things done to him or her. The copy reads more dynamically that way.

9. Follow the AIDA rule: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

10. Overlook the grammar rules you learned at school. Instead, use sentence fragments, split infinitives, and contractions to make your copy more conversational in tone.

11. Don’t forget the ‘call to action’ – what do you want the reader to do after reading your copy? Ask! Better still, tell them.

So there you have it: As well as dramatically reducing your marketing costs, being able to recognise the fundamentals of effective copy will help ensure your message is something that prospects will want to read . . . and ACT upon.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

Want More Detailed Step-by-Step Help, With Examples You Can Model? See my quick-start audio programme, “Better Writing Skills 101 - Write Your Way to Blockbuster Results and BOOST Business to Boot“: 

http://snipr.com/10sq8m

(Why struggle needlessly when you can get expert help and/or affordable mentoring and have fun accelerating your sales through credibility?)

(C) 2008-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this tip (or any article, tip or post on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include copyright info above, along with the following:

Tracey Dooley is a freelance copywriter, editor and marketer. She also runs KingfisherCopy.co.uk. She has spent 18-plus years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertain. Her expertise runs across many different sectors and her client list includes marketing agencies, a leading supplier of personal computers, semi-conductors and telecommunications equipment and the UK’s largest TV and interactive production company =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk

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AIDA is one of the most popular time-tested formulas used in writing winning ads, as well as any other piece of ‘responsive selling’ using the power of words. And that applies to both offline and online communications. The acronym stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, and it boils down to one over-riding principle: Every single word you pen MUST be relevant to your target audience if they are to take note of and identify with what you are saying. And particularly if you wish to take your business to a new level…

Here, then, are 12 top tips to getting it right:

1. While striking visuals do get attention, perhaps the best way to attract it is via a compelling headline — that’s the hook on which your overall message is pinned. Imagine you’re in the middle of a crowded, sold-out event of some kind. You spot someone you really need to get an important message to. They can’t hear you, of course. So you shout to get their attention: “Hey, Robert!” (Obviously, in real life, I only advise doing this IF it’s an emergency, else you’ll probably get a lot of cold stares from the crowd itself!) A headline is your online or in-print equivalent. Use it wisely.

2. Use benefits, offers, news, and so on to grab that all-important attention.

3. But don’t overdo it — you really need to come across as credible.

4. No matter how skilfully you gain your audience’s attention, the real test is sustaining that interest long enough to achieve the desired result. Begin to build interest by giving your readers a good reason for reading on, then hopefully they will. So again, you focus on the NEEDS of your audience in order to get that.

5. Reinforce the promise made in your headline, or tap directly into the emotions of your reader, to build interest.

6. Never underestimate the reader’s emotive response to your words. Choose them carefully. People don’t like to be sold. Whether you’re writing a sales letter, your classified ad or your website, don’t apply pressure. Avoid phoniness, too. And certainly never lie or rely on hype to do the selling. Instead, tempt your prospects by appealing to their feelings and desires.

7. Try to make each and every one of your readers feel as if you have written your message purely for their eyes — and benefit — only. Talk to them using “you” throughout — it’s actually one of the most important words that any business can use in direct-response copy.

8. Build desire by making your offer as irresistible as possible. Your readers can’t feel or touch your product like they can in a store, for example, so you have to communicate the VALUE of your offer. Tell them HOW they will benefit and what great things they’ll get for their money. Give them the big picture of what lies ahead. Draw them into the full experience. And always, always make sure you answer the question: “What’s in it for me?” (That’s your reader, not you!)

9. Testimonials, case studies, and statistics all help build the case for credibility, and therefore boost the desire for your product/service.

10. People are lazy — or, more so these days, easily distracted. You have to literally demand action. Make sure you spell out exactly what you want them to do next and HOW. Would that be to call you? Be sure to give them the number. Should they send off for a special report? Make it obvious why they should bother.  Tell them and convince them. And make sure it is easy to apply (common sense, really).

11. It’s a good idea to recap the key message and main benefits of what you’re offering before you end your copy.

12. Above all, make sure what you write is relevant and from the reader’s point of view.

By structuring the way you approach each piece of business or direct-response copy using Aunty AIDA as a guide, the less likely you’ll start with a bang and finish with a whimper. Try it, and see for yourself. Business might just thank you for it.

Adapted from Website Copywriting Secrets that Convert Web Readers into BUYERS.

By Tracey Dooley, Copywriter | Creative Consultant

There’s always room for improvement. If you would like to improve your marketing ROI, get me to review your marketing material to add a bit of zing and power, or create copy that sells for you, just go to: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/contact2.htm

(C) 2008 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this article (or any article, tip or post on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include copyright info above, along with the following:

Tracey Dooley is a freelance copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent 18 years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertains. Her expertise runs across many different sectors and her client list includes marketing agencies, a leading supplier of personal computers, semi-conductors and telecommunications equipment and the UK’s largest TV and interactive production company. =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk.

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Some of my clients originally came to me courtesy of their competitors! They knew the competition were doing something really well with their marketing and advertising, but didn’t know how.

Having spoken with them and researched the competition, it quickly became clear that they hired copywriters.

Hiring a professional wordsmith has been shown time and time again to be a wise investment. Dozens of companies — including Lastminute.com, Independent Newspapers, NEC, IPC Media, Holland & Barrett, Centaur Communications, National Magazine Company and FilmFour — certainly think so. And who am I to tell you any differently? I’d soon be out of work if I did!

So, have you ever hired a copywriter? Do you really need to? Yes!

All businesses – no matter what size or type – have ongoing communication needs. Think of staff newsletters, press advertisements, website content, news releases and a number of other written materials. These are all communication vehicles used to best reach targeted audiences, whether made up of your employees, partners, customers or prospective clients.

When it’s wise to bring in the professionals

“Yes, but I know how to write,” you’re thinking.

That’s great, but do you have the time? (Good, effective writing is time consuming and labour intensive.) Can you really be bothered? (You want to be free to concentrate on what you’re best at.) Even if you could, do you have the necessary skill sets to communicate your company’s message effectively to its target markets?

Let’s face it, you wouldn’t expect someone without a medical background to operate on you. A copywriter is an expert at using words to position your business favourably.

During one summer, I got a call from a client. He’s absolutely fantastic at what he does but admits he’s not writer. Even so, he reckoned he knew enough about his own product to give writing his sales brochure a shot. He called to ask me to “give it a quick once-over” and make sure there were no typos. There were a few misspellings. That didn’t worry me too much. What did was the fact that, while he had included his company’s core messages, it was all very confusing. After a re-write, he agreed that the brochure was much easier to understand.

Make the right kind of splash

Most freelance copywriters work in varying industries. However, that’s not as important as their main speciality: persuasion through language. They do more than produce copy that merely informs; they analyse the way people are in today’s changing global marketplace and craft your message in such a way that it really makes a splash. In turn, that gets the attention and sustained interest of the audience you wish to reach and prompts buyers to do just that – buy.

Even if you do get your reader’s initial interest, this age of information overload and heightened scepticism means you have to work harder to bypass the “Why should I care?” and “Yeah, right!” objections that your target markets will share. That’s where a copywriter comes in handy.

When you hire a copywriter, not only are you paying him or her to write – you are paying her to think how she can overcome any potential problems. She’ll use a selection of proven techniques that appeal to the emotions without hype so that your copy gets real results. The desirable kind that can help your business grow.

Perhaps the best thing is that you can use and pay for copywriting services only when you need them. The only time it isn’t cost-effective is when you don’t get results. Investing in a proven professional copywriter is an investment that should pay off not just once – but time and time again.

By Tracey Dooley, Creative Consultant | PR Guru | Marketing & Alliance Strategist

(C) 2007-11 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this article (or any article, tip or post on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include copyright info above, along with the following:

Tracey Dooley is a freelance copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent 18 years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertains. Her expertise runs across many different sectors and her client list includes marketing agencies, a leading supplier of personal computers, semi-conductors and telecommunications equipment and the UK’s largest TV and interactive production company. =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk.

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One day it’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising . . . the next it’s Social Media . . . then it’s a new variation on SEO (search engine optimisation) . . . and the list goes on. While these tools can help a business, not one has proven to be the ‘magic bullet’ to catapult your business to success and really set you apart from the competition.

However, there is a single, often-overlooked tool that can and does.

Many top business-owners and marketers from around the world use it. It has the power to make everything you do for your own business work better — from product launches right through to traffic strategies to customer service.

By disregarding this tool, you run the risk of letting your competition take full advantage of it . . . and so accede to them not only getting better results from ANY marketing technique or strategy they use, but also gain a significantly better market share than you.

So what is this essential business tool?

Copywriting.

“Yes, but I already know how to write,” you’re thinking. That’s great. But while we can all ‘write’, copywriting involves SO much more than simply penning a few well-crafted words. Before she or he writes, a good copywriter will spend a considerable amount of time researching the intended audience. They’ll make sure they understand buyer behaviour and how to craft your message in such a way that it really makes a splash.

The Key to Your Success — Online or Offline

Good copywriting can make confusing policies crystal clear. It can keep inter-company communications running smoothly through the careful use of words. And it can build relationships, be positively persuasive and ethically ’sell’ a company’s products or services.

In short, it is the MESSAGE that you present to your target market — at every stage of the sales process. And, as any top author, business-owner or marketing expert knows, WHAT you say and HOW you communicate with your prospect means everything to your business.

Considering Cost Effectiveness

The problem is that most entrepreneurs and SMEs lack either the time to do justice to their ‘business words’ or they lack the necessary skill sets in order to communicate their company’s message effectively.

There is no doubt that copywriting is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Let’s say you’re a small business-owner and you’re spending at least several days per week writing the copy for your sales letters or your blog posts. How much money could you have earned in that time? Would your business suffer more or less by continuing to write your own copy when you have one-hundred-and-one other things you need to do, as opposed to hiring a copywriter to take care of it for you?

No Short Cuts, Now, Please!

Okay, so let’s assume you have the time and you don’t mind that hiring outside will probably save you a lot more than your time is worth. You can always learn to master copywriting yourself through an assortment of educational tools.

What you need to do here is make sure you ALWAYS carefully choose the right words for the right audience and in the right context. If you don’t adequately explain how you differ from your competition . . . If you can’t convey all the relevant benefits you bring to your prospect . . . or the credibility you have . . . or you don’t know what response triggers to use . . . and more, then you are putting a very low ceiling on your overall business growth.

So don’t be tempted to cut costs or give short shrift to copy development. Instead, make sure you are doing everything possible to optimise the performance of the words you use for the benefit of your company. Believe me, your business will thank you for it.

By Tracey Dooley, Creative Consultant | PR Doctor | Marketing & Alliance Strategist

Better Writing Skills 101 — Write Your Way to Blockbuster Results and BOOST Business to Boot explains the ins and outs of good, effective business writing and shows you how to work within the ‘rules’ (or, indeed, when to break them) to write persuasive or professional emails, letters, brochures and more that are clear, convincing and make an impact. Find out more here:

http://bit.ly/BizWriting101

(C) 2010 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved 

Want to use this article (or any other entry on this blog) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include the following:

Tracey Dooley of MediaMinister (www.mediaminister.co.uk) is an experienced copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent 18 years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertains. =====>  www.mediaminister.co.uk.

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There really is no more effective sales clincher than the words of existing clients or customers. As well as boosting your sales, good, believable testimonials can bolster your credibility — an important factor in an increasingly cynical world.

Nine times out of ten, customer testimonials, or even positive feedback on Social Media sites such as Twitter, will outsell any fact, any other ‘proof’ factor or, indeed, hype.  It works on the idea that not only are you a business to be trusted, but also if everyone else is doing something (buying your products, enlisting your services…),  then others are going to want to do it as well.

If you are going to use other people’s praises for your marketing/promotion purposes, make you get permission first.

Another thing you may want to consider is to get testimonials in formats other than the written word. For example, people call a given telephone number and their feedback is recorded to be used as an audio clip. You can even video your clients when you meet up with them (with their permission, of course!) or ask them to video themselves and send you a copy. The idea here is to have testimonials that are as authentic as can be.

At the end of the day, testimonials form some of the most low-cost, high-impact ways to gain new business. So use them!

Copyright, T L Dooley. All Rights Reserved.

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Despite the official end to the recession, the UK’s economy is still wavering and the immediate future looks anything BUT bright. So it’s little wonder if you’re feeling like most people in business; looking over your shoulder, wondering if you’re next in line to lose your job. If you own a business, then it’s likely you’re worried about the latest ’sales slump’. One thing is for sure; you can’t afford to be complacent right now. You absolutely MUST continue to market … perhaps more aggressively than ever before. (See my blog post, Business Survival Tools: Don’t Get Left Behind: http://TwitPWR.com/au6/)

The lead article in MediaMinister’s latest newsletter, Communiqué for Success, shows you how you can promote yourself in new, creative and low-cost (or F.R.E.E.) ways to bring customers through the door in ANY economy.

To read the full article and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. (That’s a good thing, by the way, or so CfS readers tell me!) As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.

Subscribe here.

(You can unsubscribe at any time, and I NEVER abuse my subscriber’s email address. Your details are safe with me.)

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

Subscribe here.

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According to internet marketing master Marlon Sanders, the top six ways to drive traffic to your websites are:

1. Getting affiliates to promote your products to their lists.
2. Article marketing — see http://bit.ly/9eMN3j and http://bit.ly/9KpIfn for more information.
3. Buying ads in other people’s ezines.
4. Search engine optimisation (SEO) — to generate more organic traffic.
5. Google Ad Words — and other pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
6. Banner advertising — once dismissed, now making a comeback.

Here are a few others you might want to try: joint ventures (JVs) … co-registration … social media/networking … PR … postcard marketing … blogging.

Source: Bob Bly email, 1/7/09

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When I used to work at the largest consumer-magazine publishers in the UK, the one thing that used to really grind away at the section editors was time-wasters. Specifically, people who would send in long, meandering, non-newsworthy or just totally unfocussed press releases. Rather than try to make sense of the tens of releases like this they would receive each day, they simply went into the ‘reject’ pile…

So if you truly wish your release to stand out and make sure it has a future, take note of the the ‘press release wish-list’:

1. Do your homework. Get to know your editor’s audience, and make your release appeal to that audience. How? By studying at least several of the latest issues of the publication in question.
2. Make sure you have something newsworthy to say. Although it sounds obvious, you’d be surprised to learn of just how many releases I saw that did not make this crucial grade.
3. Place your news at the beginning of the release, preferably in the headline or at the very least in the opening sentence.
4. Provide nuggets of information the scream “must be interviewed”. Be fresh, be original.
5. Include a short yet compelling bio (aka boilerplate) at the foot of your release. Ideally, your USP, or point of difference, should be here, too.
6. Finally, proofread your release for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. On the magazines I mentioned earlier, if we spotted more than one error in the first paragraph, we’d throw the release in the bin (unless it was a REALLY great story). If people couldn’t take their work seriously, why should we have?

Need more structured help in finding the right story angle, hook, even publications for your release? Powerhouse Publicity – How to Profit from the Media and Get FREE Publicity is a step-by-step system offering ‘tried-tested-and-proven’ techniques that, when followed, can give you the tools to publicise you, your company, your product or service! It’s packed with facts and tips that you can start applying straight away, too.

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