Compelling

Copywriting
Visual Packaging
© 2007 by Sean D’Souza. All rights reserved. Published by Psychotactics Ltd. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in ad database or retrieval system without the prior
written permission of Psychotactics Ltd.

The Author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and the document contained herein.
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specifically disclaim, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose,
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The Brain Audit Kit is available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in
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etc.

For more information, please write to:

PsychoTactics Ltd., PO Box 36461,
Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: 64 9 449 0009
Email: [email protected]
Contents
Visuals and Graphics 1
Why Visuals and Graphics are Critical To Your Copywriting
Even More Visuals 3
Words don’t sell. Pictures do!
Testimonials 7
There’s more to testimonials than you think
Your Assignment 10
So much to do, so little time!
Additional Reading 11
Connectors: Creating Bridges Where Chasms Exist
Headline and Sub-Headline Examples 15
The Before And After
Paragraph Examples 21
Notice How The Paras Create Breathing Space
Visual Goodies 23
Visuals Make A Huge Difference
Eye Movement 27
Purposeful Direction

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iv  |  Compelling copy
 Visuals
Why Visuals and Graphics Are Critical To Your Copywriting

Y
ou’d think copywriting was about writing copy, right? Well, that’s like saying
the North Pole is about Santa and the elves. Yes, there is an element of truth
in both of the above, but there’s much more to copy (and the North Pole)
than meets the eye.

So what meets the eye?

Good question! You didn’t exactly read the copy on this page first, did you? Your eyes
actually did a quick scan. You saw the headline. You saw the sub-heads. You had a
good look at the layout. And in about three milliseconds, you decided whether to read
this information, or not.

You’re more or less compelled to read this information

Because you’re doing this course, you’re keen to get the most out of the course, so
naturally you’d read this information. Your audience on the other hand, doesn’t give a
hoot. They don’t care about you. So you’ve got to make them care. You’ve got to make
things seamless. Because visuals are simply a shorthand of some kind. And you’ve got
to make the shorthand as easy to use as possible.
So what’s in the visual list?
1) Headlines
2) Sub-heads
3) Paragraphs
4) Eye Movement
5) Graphics
6) Fonts
7) Splling and Grammer Errors
8) Photos
9) Captions
10) Audio

Headlines
The big attraction point of all writing is the headline. But we’re not talking about
writing here, are we? We’re deep in the visual side of things. And look at the headline
on the previous page. Kinda stands out doesn’t it? When you look at Visuals and
Graphics, you should know instantly what to expect from the page. Like some bright
neon sign, your headline needs to stand out.

And yes, it also needs to be:

1) In a bigger sized font
2) Bolder than the body text and sub-headlines
3) Possibly in a different colour

So why isn’t the headline above in a different colour?

There’s a reason. This book will be printed off a printer, and to save on colour costs,
we choose to keep the headlines black. If you’re printing a book in one colour, you’re
likely to choose just black as your headline colour. The main factor is hardly colour. It’s
contrast. So when you make the font bigger, bolder and contrasting with the rest of the
text, the headline kinda sticks out. And does it’s job really, really well in getting your
attention.

Sub-heads need the same treatment as headlines

But they need to be smaller. Still contrasty; still bold; still possibly in a different
colour. What you’re trying to achieve is contrast. And because customers seem to scan
before they read, your headlines are a form of shorthand, to get them interested in
your copy. Of course, this puts a big burden on your head. You’ve actually got to write
interesting sub-heads. Aaaaaaaaaargh!

To write great subheads and understand the concept of connectors better, read about
connectors.

  |  Compelling copy
Even More Visuals
Paragraphs need to be visually yummy
Magniam ese eum vero doloreet atin venim zzrit lutpatum nos alisi blaorem nonse
magniamet ilit aliqui eu feui blandre rcipit nisit dolendions etum nos adit augiatuero
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aut augait lutpat ipsummy nos dolobor sisse min henis ex elenisl ex eugait iusto elenibh
ero et autpatum et, venibh eugait voloborper autat. Gait lut lut ipit irit lobor summy
nulput wiscili quisis nit accumsan henim alisit verit augait ut ipsum vullam, core ming
exero consequam, commodo lorper sis alis doluptatet in vullum zzrilis ad erci etuero
eugue modo euis dolore corem auguero consed tet ad delestie tisisl ullan ute ming ea
faccumsan henisis issenim zzril do odolor suscipisi tem vullame tumsan utatumsandre
dolutpat wisi blaorerostie exer se modipsum iriure feugiam num dolorem vel dit lum
nosto dolortie magna feugue feugait, volore digna faccum ilisl il dolobortie magna
feu facil utpatie vel ulputpat, sum zzrilla conulla ortisi.Pit, sum dunt eu feugait iure
facillan ex et acilisi blan ut diamcommod te doluptat. Ut iriusci pissim in henibh er sit
autpat. Ut ulluptat. Quatin ullandrem in eugait, vel ut prat iure magniss equisit volorer
ostrud euis nos nos dion erit ing ero erat at amcommod ea faccum inibh esed deliquam
dolobor augiamet, se magna feu feuisis modipit ad dolor suscin henim vendre ea alit
praestin ex eugiat. Xeraestion heniscidunt volorem dipit praesequamet lobore tie ea
faccummy nummolo rtincilit il ing eriure velesto dolorti onsequat accum quisi enim
irit dunt ut lam aliquis et delisse veliqui psustrud elit autatet, senim quatue tet landit
lor sum amet, suscil ut augait irit duissi.

No, you haven’t suddenly lost the ability to read English!

I just dropped in some Latin to demonstrate how difficult it can be to read large
volumes of text. If you’re a brave person, keep really big paragraphs. If you’re a smart
person, don’t let your paragraphs go too long — or wide for that matter. Keep your
paragraphs to between five to seven lines. And keep the width about 11-14 words wide.
In fact, look at the magazines and newspapers you read. Notice how they tend to stick
to the rules I’ve just mentioned?

So keep them paragraphs short and punchy. You can have more paragraphs if you like.
Zat’s no problem. :)

Just be sure of one more thing. Don’t use twenty thousand fonts. Each font is an
element. And elements have the power to distract. So make darned sure you don’t
distract. One font should do for your headline. One font for your sub-head. One font
for your body text. Yes, yes, you can use bold and italics too.

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Too much distraction isn’t good for the eye
But you already knew that, right? So let’s deal with eye movement on paper and online.
On paper, if you’re reading Western script, your eye moves from left to right and then
down the page. On your website, it doesn’t quite do the same logical two-step. Here’s
what your eye movement looks like on a website. See where the eye starts? Yes, it starts
on the left as always, but then it kinda bounces all over the place, and finally decides
to take a breather on the top right section. Hmmm...so what does that tell you? Where
should you be putting your most important information on the web page?

See this caption? Your customers are used to seeing

captions in the material they read each day. So why
would you leave out a caption from the picture on
your website? As you can see, this picture shows you
how eye movement works online.

  |  Compelling copy
Graphics
Graphics are an extremely powerful shorthand. Now there are two sorts of graphics.
1) Word Graphics
2) Picture Graphics
Here is an example of word graphics:
Have you ever waited for your bags at the airport? You leave the airport only once you’ve
taken off all the bags from the conveyor belt. Your customer’s brain is like a conveyor belt
too. If you don’t get the bags off that conveyor belt in her brain, they go round and round.
Even one bag left behind can stop the sale from going through. So what exactly are those
bags?

Do you even know what the ‘bags’ look like?

The bags are simply the things that stop the customer from buying. You’ve got to get them
off really, really quickly, because if you don’t the sale goes down the drain...just like that!
But how are you going to take the bags off, if you don’t even know what they look like?

Picture graphics are analogies. When you start to create analogies you actually drive
people down the path of a very, very important concept.

A concept called ‘Knew’ and ‘New’

Knew is something you’ve known before. New is something that’s new and exciting.
The bags in the previous paragraph are something you know about. So effectively, I’m
easing you in, making you comfortable; reducing your risk. Once you’re comfortable,
I then introduce the New.

The very next paragraph says something brand new!

Introducing the Brain Audit: A system that’s 5000 years old!
If you’re looking for something new, you won’t find it here. The Brain Audit is based on
thousands of years of solid psychology. It shows you exactly how the brain is not random
at all. It shows you the bags in the customer’s brain. It gives you real examples and systems
that show you how the brain responds in sequence to psychological triggers.

In effect, we’ve created a word picture using the knew and new in quick succession.

Word pictures are extremely powerful, but what about real pictures?

This workshop has a specific brand image. You don’t have to have a brand image and logo. You can get by without the fancy
footwork. But what about other graphics? See the CDs and the three ring binder? It immediately signals what you should expect with
the Masterclass. If you want to see this page, click in this paragraph and see how many graphics are on this Masterclass page.
Spelling and Grammatical Errors
If your client gives you a testimonial ridden with spellings and grammatical errors,
what should you do? Should you go ahead and simply put it on your sales letter? Will
it affect the authenticity of the testimonial? You may hesitate to change grammar, but
there’s one thing you want to remember. Every thing that doesn’t advance the sale,
slows it down. You don’t want your customer to hang around and start pondering on
some grammatical error (no matter how authentic the testimonial may be).

You’ve done a great job of creating momentum.

Now you’ve got to keep that momentum going. So clear the decks of any grammatical
and spelling errors. They only distract. And distraction is the last thing you want.

Photos
Wherever you can, have photos. Remember that sales is a matter of someone reducing
their risk and increasing the like factor at the same time. The more you reduce the risk,
the more the customer is likely to buy into your product or service. So photos of you,
your customers, your product, even studio shots are fine. If you teach teleclasses, you
could have yourself photographed teaching in a workshop. If you’re selling ebooks, you
can show a real looking book.

Customers can make the leap. They understand the difference (in most cases) between
a teleclass and a live workshop. But the photo makes the leap seamless. And you sure as
heck want to be as seamless as possible.

Captions
Hmmm...looks like we’ve already covered this part. But not really. Where there’s a
picture there’s a caption. If you don’t believe me, look at the picture below.
Notice that the captions on this page
are actually enticing you to click on
something? I actually want you to
listen to the audio. So instead of just
putting a photo, and expecting you
to be brilliant enough to click on the
audio button, I’m actually using
the caption to entice you to act and
listen to what the person is saying.
The combination of photos (visual),
audio (auditory) and clicking
(kinesthetic) gives you a pretty
complete experience...if you know
what I mean.

Um...you can click on the audio and

listen to what it says. Yes, it does
work, but you must have Acrobat
Reader 6.0 (To download a free
Acrobat Reader, click here)

And yes, as you can see, in this little

exercise, you’ve also covered audios.
As you listen to the audios, you’ ll
get a feeling for what the customer
feels. Some customers want to listen
to audio. Some don’t. The crux lies
in creating the caption that gets the
person to click on the audio.

Creating the curiosity. Putting in

specific business titles in the captions.
The little things. They all count!
Nothing is random. If it works, keep
it. If it doesn’t, throw it out.
Testimonials
Testimonials aren’t just testimonials: They’re so much more!
Without testimonials, your business can run.

Very slowly.

Testimonials are one of the most effective tools you can use to attract, and yes, keep
your customers. Keep, did I say? Yes, keep. When a customer gives a testimonial,
they’re not just mouthing stuff off. They are actually endorsing you. When they
endorse you, they’re actually endorsing that they’ve made the right decision. How cool
is that?

They’re ratifying their own decision. This means they like themselves better. And they
like you better as well. And duh — customers who like you are more likely to buy
from you in future than not. So pray, why on earth would you not get testimonials?

And that’s only one side of the coin

The other side is simply that you are getting third-party endorsement. Now, I know
you’re smart enough to know that when you say you’re great, you sound like an
egotistical dork. When someone else says you’re great, even if we don’t know who that
someone is, we assume that you must be great. If that someone is a well known figure,
then you actually become great in our eyes. Of course, you can muck it up by not
delivering the goods, but at least for starters, you’re great.

So if testimonials bring such greatness

Maybe we could and should spend some time understanding the science of
testimonials, huh? Maybe we should figure out that testimonials should be:
1) Varied in nature
2) Connected to the objection
3) Have photos wherever possible
4) Have audio/video wherever possible
5) Have a before/after component

Varied in nature: You’re kind, friendly, generous, efficient. Let your testimonials bring
some personality to your business. See the graphic below, to understand what I mean.

Hmm...genius, enjoy working, excellent work, professional, open to feedback, marketing savvy, thinks around corners...and so on!
  |  Compelling copy
Connecting testimonials to objections
So was your client concerned about having enough time to do your course?
The testimonial should start with a time problem.

Was the client afraid it would cost too much?

The testimonial should bring up the cost problem.

You’ll have about six major objections to your offering. No matter what you’re selling,
you’ll get pushback on issues as price, time, feasibility etc. So you need to kill these
objections. You can kill the objection once in the copy itself. But hey, what about the
testimonials? Why not kill the same objection a second and third time, by having
testimonials that are linked to the objections.

See the images below. What objections are they squashing?

Notice how the testimonial
leads with a problem and
not a solution. Notice how
the problem seems to get your
attention right away?

Also notice how the

testimonial is bringing up
a big objection. Can you
tell what objections they’re
bringing up? Sure you can.
And notice, how you tend to
nod your head, when you have
the same objections?

Pay attention to the photos.

They’re mostly smiling photos.
That’s important. Do take
a look at the designations.
Customers want to know
that you’ve got a range of
experience, but they mostly
want to know if you’ve
worked with someone just
like them. Which is why
you’ ll find different types of
companies in the testimonials.

Notice how the testimonials

actually have headlines?
Hmmm...food for thought,
eh? Of course, it goes without
saying that the headlines are
in a different font, bolder
and stand out from the rest of
the text.

To see the full version of these

testimonials, click on the
images.

  psychotactics.com   |  
Your Assignment
Step 1: Fix Three Things
Go out there and fix three of your visual elements. That’s it.
And then when you’re done, fix three more. :)

10  |  Compelling copy

Connectors
You’ve started reading a newsletter. And before you know it, you’re at 500 words.
Then at 750 words. And hurtling past 1000 words. How on earth did you end up
reading so much, when all you wanted to do was skim through the article? The
answer is in the connectors in copywriting.

So what are the connectors in copywriting?

You may have not realised it, but you just read a connector. Look closely. What was
the last line of the last paragraph?. The line said: The answer is in the connectors
in copywriting. And then the very next line said, What are the connectors in
copywriting?

Do you see what’s happening? The reason you slid from one paragraph to another so
easily is because you have a connection.

A connection is like a bridge

See? I did it again. I took the last word and connected it in the next paragraph. And
yes, connectors are like bridges. All you have to do is take the last thought of the
last line, and somehow re-create that thought in the first line of the next paragraph.
And you have a live connection that keeps customers reading, and almost slip-sliding
down the paragraphs.

Why is this slip-sliding so very important?

Umm...think about it. The purpose of this line is to get you to read this line. And
then the next line and the next line, till the copy comes to a logical conclusion. By
connecting lines to the next line and paragraphs to the next paragraph, I keep the
connection always alive.

Example, Example:
Been to Santa’s website recently?
Before you decide to go clickety, click -- Santa doesn’t have a website. You knew that didn’t
you? But what if Santa came to you and said, “Hey, I’ d like to create a website. Can you
help me?

So let’s go about creating a brand for ol’ chubster

You’ d have navigation. You’ d have graphics. You’ d have content. And Santa’s website
would be like any website. Or would it? What would differentiate Santa’s website from
any other website on the planet?

Santa’s website would rock, wouldn’t it?

You’ d put in stories of Rudolph. Of Dasher, Vixen, Prancer and all the deer. Santa’s
personality would bubble through. You’ d feel happy and generous and full of good cheer
once you stopped over at Santa’s website, wouldn’t you? His personality and giving nature
would shine through and you’ d really like this fat, cheerful chap who brings so much cheer
to the world.

Imagine we then we tramped over to your site...

And we run into similar navigation. Similar graphics. Similar content. But there’s
something missing. And it’s only when you compare Santa’s site to yours that you find
what’s really missing.
  psychotactics.com   | 11 
Your site has little or no personality...that’s what’s missing
And if you don’t have personality, you haven’t really started down the road of creating a
brand. Brand? What brand? Where do you start looking for a brand? You start looking for
a brand in your character; your personality.

Personal Experience: In most of my copy I use connectors. They’re very powerful

and it gets the reader to really slip slide away. However, in some cases I also use a
concept that’s disorienting. I do this on purpose, to snap the reader out of a reverie. I’ll
talk about a disjointed connector in a future article, but if you look through a lot of the
hidden articles, you’ll get a headstart and see exactly what I mean.
If you noticed, the content in this piece didn’t have enormous style. It lacked stories.
It lacked metaphors. And yet it made a distinct point. It taught you something very
powerful. Of course, the biggest reason you continued to read, was because of the
connectors. Every movie, article or sales letter that’s brilliant, always has a connection.

And that’s because stories have connections. As a child when we listened to stories we
always wanted to know what came next. Your connector is a bridge to what comes
next.

12  |  Compelling copy

Compelling
Copywriting
Examples: Visuals
 Headline/Sub-Headline Examples

The Brain Audit Sales Page in the year 2003.

The Brain Audit Sales Page in the year 2006.

As you can plainly see, not a lot has changed since 2003 and 2006. But the headline has gotten a lot bolder. And
clearer. And yes, I know there’s more work to be done, but do what you can. Make the small tweaks now, before the big
tweak that you’ ll never get down to making.
Notice how the headline stands clear of everything else. Notice that it’s a different colour than the sub-headline, and actually is
starting to create some attention with the white space between the headline and the sub-headline. The fonts, if you noticed, are
different as well. And that difference creates contrast. You’ ll see the same happening with the sub-heads in the body text and the
body text itself.
You should read Reader’s Digest, because you’ ll
quickly see how the headlines in their articles stand
out, both in terms of font-size, colour and font type.
See how the headlines stand out? If you’re creating a
brochure, or even a testimonial on your website for that
matter, why not have the headlines stand out as well?
Even testimonials can have headlines and sub-headlines. See how effective the headline becomes when it’s separated
from the rest of the information and given its own spotlight? Create drama with your visuals. And when you read
the testimonial itself, you’ ll realise that the words have their own power. By making the headlines stand out, you’re
attracting customers to read further–and isn’t attraction what you want to achieve anyway?

And just for good measure, if you look at Adam’s testimonial on the next page, you’ ll notice an audio button right next
to the headline. Why? Again, an attraction factor. That audio button causes customers to want to click and listen. So
yes, visuals, audio, words...they’re all part of the mix.
Paragraphs

Notice how the paragraphs give you space to breathe. How the paragraphs don’t seem like one mass of information. And
how the sub-heads get you to keep reading. Try reading this page. You’ ll find that the sub-heads and the connectors force
you to keep reading. That’s the power of compelling copy–with the right ingredients of course!
Visuals
See how visuals are being effectively used to
demonstrate bonuses? Even abstract concepts can be
represented with a visual (e.g. ‘ data segregation)
See how visuals explain what will
be covered in the Website Strategy
Masterclass. Visuals attract, and they also
provide a shorthand, as you can quite
clearly see in these graphics. The visuals
not only show you what will be covered,
but also what’s covered in the notes, as
well as what the hotel looks like (not on
this page, but you can see it at http://www.
psychotactics.com/websitemasterclass.htm)
once you fill in the form.
Visuals and more visuals. And notice...captions
too. Yeah, don’t forget the captions.
Eye Movement

There are specific things we want you to see on

this page. And so the ‘attraction’ is done with a
combination of eye-movement and colour.

Notice how you’ ll quickly spot the information that

we’ d want you to read. You should do the same for
your clients. Enable them to spot information quickly.
 If you find anything that bugs you, please click on
the bug above to send me an email. Nothing is too
small or too big. And if I can, I’ll be sure to fix it.
[email protected]

PO Box 36461, Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand

Tel: 64 9 449 0009 Email: [email protected]