COPYWRITING

PLAYBOOK.
: The Fastest Way To Write Copy That Convert Like Crazy.

Copywriting Dad.
ALEX JOSEPH.
 MODULES ANATOMY.
MODULE 1: What is copywriting and why is it an
important skill to learn?

MODULE 2: Why understanding the product is so

important.

1. Create your product description.

1.1 How would you describe the
product?
1.2 What’s unique/special about the
product?
1.3 What big benefit does it provide?
1.4 What pain does it alleviate?
1.5 What features are included and
what are the benefits of each?
2. Understand your customers.

MODULE 3: Do customer research.

1.1 Who currently buys your product?

1.2 Who would you like to buy your
product?

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 1.3 What does a typical customer look
like?
1.4 What do your customers love
about your product?

MODULE 4: Write attention-grabbing headlines.

MODULE 5: Copywriting Research.

MODULE 6: Most important copywriting strategies to

persuade your readers.

MODULE 7: 7 lessons from 4 legendary books.

MODULE 8: Long vs Short Copy- Which is better?

MODULE 9: How to write attention-grabbing headlines

that convert.

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MODULE 10: 16 Most important tips to get more
conversions with your headlines.

MODULE 11: You need to stop writing boring headlines-

11 Types of headlines that pique reader interest.

MODULE 12: Latest trends in headline creation and their

success.

MODULE 13: Tweaks that will turn you into a

copywriting master.

MODULE 14: The Golden rule of copywriting.

MODULE 15: Legendary copywriting tips.

MODULE 16: Simple Anatomy of this course.

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 MODULE 1.

INTRODUCTION TO COPYWRITING.

WHAT IS COPYWITING AND WHY IS IT

AN IMPORTANT SKILL TO LEARN?
Copywriting is the art and science of writing copy (words
used on web pages, ads, promotional materials, etc.) that sells
your product or service and convinces prospective customers
to take action. In many ways, it’s like hiring one salesman to
reach all of your customers.

A sales team contacts customers one at a time; a copywriter

reaches all of them at once through billboards, magazine ads,
sales letters, blog posts, and more.

Design, content marketing, SEO (Search Engine

Optimization), and growth hacking are all parts of a complete
digital marketing plan, but copywriting is the glue that ties it
all together. Copy gives your design meaning and lays the
foundation for your content marketing, SEO, and growth
hacking. Writing better copy enables you to convert more
readers into customers, and I want to provide a guide that will
give you an advantage when writing copy both on and offline.

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If you can leverage your writing to tell a compelling story
while convincing customers of the need for your product,
there is no limit to the growth your business can experience.

However, if you are stuck writing generic emails, ads, and

sales letters, you can expect to spend the rest of your
entrepreneurial career struggling to make a single sale.

But how in the world do you become a good copywriter?

• Should you spend countless hours handwriting famous

sales letters?
• Should you read hundreds of books on copywriting?
• Should you go to college and spend $100k on yet another
advanced degree?
I think there is a better way to become a world-class
copywriter—an easier way that requires almost no investment
from you and that will only take you about 30 days.

The first thing I want to point out is that this course is

designed to help you become a world-class copywriter, not
a master copywriter.

To become world-class (the top 5%) takes only about a month

of focused, intentional work.

Breaking through those extra four percentile points to become

a true master copywriter (the top 1%) will take you years, if
not decades, of practice and dedication.

However, unless your entire career is dedicated to

copywriting, all that effort is unnecessary. If you can break

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out of the realm of good copywriting and become great, the
extra four percentage points are simply not needed to run a
successful business.

Becoming world-class is completely achievable and can be

done faster than you think.

Let’s begin.

MODULE 2.

Why Understanding the Product Is So

Important:
The first step in any copywriting project is fully
understanding whatever product you’re selling. David Ogilvy,
a legendary copywriter, is famously known for taking three
weeks of meticulous study to come up with a winning concept
for a Rolls-Royce ad. The final headline read “At 60 miles
per hour the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from
the electric clock.” It took him that much time to find a detail
compelling enough to sell a Rolls-Royce.

And if it took Mr. Ogilvy that long to discover such an

important selling feature, it’s surely worth taking some time to
study your product to learn which features will stand out to
your customers. That’s the real goal of this chapter — to find
out what makes your product unique and what benefits and
features will appeal to your customers.

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This is step one for any copywriting project.

The good news is that as a business or blog owner, you

already know your product inside and out. You know the
features, understand how it works, and are familiar with the
benefits it provides your customers. This offers a great
starting point for writing copy. Instead of needing to do in-
depth research, you can begin by writing down what you
already know. You won’t need to spend hours researching the
product and taking notes.

On the other hand, it’s still worthwhile to follow the steps in

this chapter to capture all of the details of your product. By
writing down a complete product description along with a list
of the features and benefits, you’ll save this important
information where you can refer back to it in later chapters.
It’s better to have everything saved in one place so you’ll
always have it available at your fingertips.

So, before you start writing copy, complete the following

exercise to write down a description of your product or
service. After finishing, you’ll know every detail of what
you’re selling and have a better idea about how to sell it.

Create Your Product Description.

Get started by answering the following questions about your

product (questions may need to be tweaked slightly if
you’re providing a service instead of selling a product).

Question 1: How would you describe the product?

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For this question, provide a simple, two to three sentence
description of the product. It doesn’t need to be super long or
detailed and don’t worry about providing a fancy answer.
Simply write down a short description as if you were
describing the product to a customer.

Question 2: What’s unique/special about this

product?

The goal here is to identify something unique or special about

the product. What does this product offer that others don’t? Is
it made in the USA? Is it easy to install? Does it provide
analytics that other sites don’t offer?

Eventually, you’ll use this to identify a unique selling

proposition (USP). A USP is something unique that other
companies don’t offer. Is there anything special about your
product? Is there something that makes it stand out from the
competition? Record anything here about the product that
makes it special or unique.

Question 3: What big benefit does it provide?

Not only do you want to know how a product is unique, but

you also know what benefit it provides customers. Many
companies stop at describing the product and don’t go on to
conveying the benefit of using it.

For example, a company may talk about how they offer web
analytics software but don’t tell customers about the benefit of
using the service. Instead, they should tell customers that the
software helps them build a more profitable site, generate

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more revenue per customer, or accomplish something else
along these lines. The focus should be on providing a benefit,
not just describing the service.

So, what big benefit does your product provide?

Question 4: What pain does it alleviate?

People generally buy for one of two reasons — to increase

their pleasure or to minimize pain. In the question above, we
identified the benefit that would “increase the pleasure;” in
this question, we’ll identify which pain is minimized by using
the product.

For example, a car insurance company could use a headline

like this: “Are You Paying Too Much for Your Car
Insurance?” The ad would then go on to talk about how most
customers pay more than they need for car insurance, and how
company X can save them more money. The purpose of the ad
is first to focus on the pain, and then to talk about how
Company X alleviates that pain.

Another option is to focus the ad on the pleasure customers

experience from saving money. It could use a headline like
this: “How Will You Spend the Money You Save Using
[Specific Car Insurance Company Name Here]?” Instead of
focusing on the pain, it draws attention to the pleasure
experienced by switching to a different insurer.

Often, focusing on the pain eliminated is more effective than

focusing on the pleasure provided, but both approaches can be
tested to evaluate their effectiveness.

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So, what pain does your product alleviate?

Question 5: What features are included and what

are the benefits of each?

The first thing you want to do to answer this question is to

write down each of the product’s features. You may not end
up using all of them in your copy, but at the very least, you
want to record them all in one place so you have them at your
fingertips if needed. Some products have a lot of features,
others have less. Either way, list all of your product features
here with a short description of each.

In addition to listing the features, be sure to list the benefit of

each. We’ll talk more about benefits later, but in short,
customers care more about benefits provided by features than
the features themselves (but you still may need to list the
features in your copy so be sure to record them all here).

For example, customers care more about high-speed internet

that helps them watch streaming videos without interruption
than the internet that provides 15 Mbps download speeds. The
“15 Mbps” is a feature, in this case, and “streaming videos
without interruption” is the benefit provided by the feature.
Record the features of your product and the corresponding
benefit

There’s a big difference between features and benefits.

Features are the technical aspects of the product, and the
benefits are the way those features help customers accomplish
something they want to accomplish. It’s good to record both,
but we’ll talk more about the importance of benefits in a later
chapter.
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Now that we’ve taken some time to understand your product
and record it features, let’s move on to the other critical step
in the copywriting process.

2.Understand Your Customers

Next to understanding the product inside and out, the most
important step in any copywriting project is knowing who
you’re selling to. Here’s why.

How you sell whatever you’re selling is determined by who

you’re selling it to, what they want to buy, and what will
convince them to make a purchase. It’s all about the customer,
not your company.

If you’re selling to stay-at-home moms, you’re going to write

differently than if you’re selling to high-net-worth business
executives, and if you’re selling to Fortune 500’s, you’re
going to write differently than if you’re selling to start-ups.

You may be wondering, “Why is this so important?” It’s

important because each group of customers has different
hopes, fears, dreams, and expectations. Moms, for example,
have different priorities than business executives. Saving
money is more important for moms, whereas saving time is
more valuable to executives.

These differences influence the way you write and how you
sell the product. It also means you need to know what appeals
to your customers.

So, as you can see, defining your customer is a critical part of

the copywriting process.
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Understanding your audience and their fears, wants, and needs
are the first step to writing great copy.

How do you do this?

First, put yourself in their shoes. This should be relatively

easy if you are selling a product that solves a problem you
once had.

For example, my eBook, write it, sell it, Helps read, write, and
sell eBooks online. Quite frankly, it’s easy to write copy to
sell my eBook because I used to struggle with the same
problem.

There are no hypotheticals or guesswork involved when I was

writing the guide. It’s like biking downhill. No effort. I know
the pain of having no way to make a living; I know how it
affects people’s lives, and I know how to fix it. This makes it
easy for me to speak to others facing the same pain.

However, if you are selling a product or service you would

not use yourself (a common problem among freelance
copywriters), you need to gain more knowledge about the
issue.

This is where customer surveys are a lifesaver. Instead of

having to guess what your customers are looking for, just ask
them directly.

Ideally, you’ll have some sort of marketing persona already

created and can use this to target your customer.

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If you are not working directly with your final client (for
example, if you are a ghost-writer or run a copywriting firm),
make sure to find a way to survey the end user.

This will allow you to gain deep insights into what your
audience is looking for whenever you are writing your copy.

MODULE 3.

Do Customer Research.
Answer these 4 questions (again, the questions will need to
be modified slightly for service businesses.)

Question 1: Who currently buys your product?

The first question identifies who your current customers are.
You may be selling to both start-ups and Fortune 500’s, but
whatever the case may be, it’s important to know who your
current customers are because you need to know who pays
your bills. (If you haven’t started selling anything yet, skip
this question and move on to the next one.

Question 2: Who would you like to buy your product?

This second question identifies who you would like to be
selling to. As mentioned above, you may be selling to start-
ups and Fortune 500’s, but you’d rather focus on the Fortune
500’s because they have larger budgets and are less likely to
be price-conscious.
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It’s ok to sell to both, but if you’d like to target one over the
other, you’ll end up writing your copy differently. That’s why
it’s important to know exactly who you’re selling to and who
your target customers are.

Question 3: What does a typical customer look like?

The goal of this question is to create a detailed picture of your

typical customers. The other questions create an overview in
broad brushstrokes, but this question zooms in on individual
customers. We’re zeroing in on a handful of real customers to
find out what’s important to them.

Question 4: What do customers love about your

product?
In addition to needing to know who your customers are, you
also need to know what delights them about your product.
Why did they buy in the first place, and why do they keep
coming back?

Prius owners, for example, buy because they’re interested in

doing their part to save the environment. That’s more
important to them than how the car looks. So, Toyota is smart
to play up that angle and not to focus on how sexy the car
is (which is good because Prius’ aren’t the best looking
cars on the road)

BMW owners, on the other hand, care less about the size of
their carbon footprint and more about their self-image. They
want a car that makes them appear successful and elite. Their
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image is more important than gas mileage, and that’s why
they buy a BMW in the first place.

With both of these examples, the copy needs to focus on what

appeals the most to the target customers and what they love
the most about the product. This will be different for every
product, even within the same industry.

So, take a minute and reflect on the main reasons people buy
your product. What do they love about it? Once you’ve
figured it out, record your answer in the document.

At this point, you should have a good idea of:

• How to describe your product or service in a simple yet

understandable way
• The main features and benefits of your product/service
• The big benefit, i.e. the main selling point(s) of your
product/service
• Who your customers are and what matters to them.
The notes you’ve taken up to this point will provide a solid
foundation for the copy you’ll write.

MODULE 4.

Write attention-grabbing headlines

Headlines can make or break your copy.

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It doesn’t matter whether you are writing for ads, a website
redesign, Facebook posts, or landing pages. Headlines
convince readers to click on your article and give your copy a
fighting chance.

How do you write attention-grabbing headlines? There are 3

keys to attention-grabbing headlines.

1. Your headlines should be unique

The Internet and advertising world are full of copycats and
people who thrive on plagiarizing other people’s content.

Don’t be one of them.

If you want to stand out from the crowd and sell your
products, you need to have unique, attention-grabbing
headlines.

2. Your headlines should be extremely specific

As soon as your audience reads your headline, they should
know exactly what they’ll receive from your product or
service.

Steer clear of generic or ambiguous phrases, and describe

what your potential customers will get very specifically (this
is where the elevator pitch comes in handy).

3. Your headline should convey a sense of urgency

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You want your audience to think about what they’ll lose if
they don’t take immediate advantage of your product or
service.

Are they losing clients? Are they missing out on potential

social opportunities? Capitalize on people’s fears of missing
out (FOMO), and your headlines will help your copy convert
like crazy.

Write a persuasive copy.

Copywriting, when compared to other forms of writing, is a
different kind of animal.

It’s not necessarily about writing well.

It’s about writing persuasively.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a world-class wordsmith or a

literary genius.

If you can’t effectively move readers through the proper

sequence of steps and ultimately convince them to buy, your
conversions are going to suffer.

Here are my favorite copywriting tactics:

Start with a killer value proposition

The research found that you have a very small amount of time
to grab a visitor’s attention before they leave your page.

You usually have a max of 20 seconds.

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Your first order of business is to make it abundantly clear
what your value proposition is.

Now, there are several ways to go about this, but I believe in

keeping things simple.

Getting too complex tends to dilute the message and confuse

prospects.

What I’ve found to be most effective is keeping my value

proposition short, sweet, and clear.

Don’t make them guess what you’re offering.

Let them know in a split second what you are offering with
your crystal clear value proposition.

To accomplish this, try to condense the essence of your

product down to just a few words.

Swiftly move to the benefits

“What’s in it for me?”

That’s what most visitors are thinking after hearing your value
proposition.

But here’s the thing.

Most people tend to emphasize features over benefits.

But it should be the other way around.

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Of course, you need to explain how your product works. But
you can elaborate on that later.

What you want to do first is explain how the product fulfills a

need or desire.

In other words, explain how your customers’ lives will be

better after they buy your product. When it comes to
describing benefits, there are three main types to cover:

• Tangible- Physical, provable, or measurable benefits.

Make them real and vivid in the reader’s mind.
• Intangible- Emotional and psychological benefits that
cannot be measured. Link them to the readers' concern.

• Commercial- Show why the reader needs the product or

service.

As they point out, “Benefits need not be unique, but they must
be compelling.”

Keep this in mind when deciding on an angle.

I find that it’s best to highlight the benefits before getting

down to the nuts and bolts of the features.

That way prospects should be more receptive and willing to

wade through the details.

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But if you go the other way around and cover the features
before the benefits, you’re probably going to lose a sizable
portion of your leads.

Just saying.

Now explain the features

“What’s in the box?”

That’s what Brad Pitt’s character David Mills wanted to know

in the closing scene of the movie Seven.

While the contents of the box were quite grisly (his wife’s
severed head), this question demonstrates the importance of
promptly telling your leads what they’ll get by making a
purchase.

In other words, let them know what’s in the box.

They already know what you’re offering and what the benefits
are.

Now it’s time to succinctly break down the features of your

product.

Break them down into points,

“Digestibility” is huge, and you want to present your

product’s features in an easy-to-absorb, intuitive way.

You also want to touch on specifics to distinguish your

product from competitors and to add a sense of value.
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Keep it simple, but include a few key details that explain why
your product is the bee’s knees.

A strong call to action (CTA)

By now, your prospects should understand what your product
is, how it will benefit them, and what the features are.

Your final task is to tell them what to do next.

In other words, it’s time for your CTA.

You can liken this to battling a boss in the final level of a

video game.

It’s arguably the most challenging aspect of the process, but if

you’ve done what you were supposed to do in the previous
steps, you should see a reasonable sales increase.

Once again, simplicity reigns supreme, and I see no reason to

complicate your CTA.

Be persuasive
Okay, now we’ve covered the basic structure of well-crafted
copywriting.

The general structure of a landing page should be rough as

follows:

• Value proposition
• Benefits

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 • Features
• CTA
But how do you ensure you’re hitting all the right notes and
being highly persuasive?

The value proposition and benefits will offer some

motivation, but here are some other things I’ve found to be
impactful.

Make your content scannable

I’m not going to launch into a huge sermon about the
importance of creating scannable content.

You probably already know people read online content

differently than they do offline content.

But if you want to efficiently get prospects from Point

A (your value proposition) to Point B (your CTA), it helps to
make everything in-between easily scannable.

Luckily, the formula for scannable content is quite easy.

Just include headers, bullet lists, and a considerable amount of

white space along the way.

Apple, being the savvy marketers they are, does this perfectly
on their MacBook pro landing page.

It’s seamless.

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Use persuasive words
So, if there was ever a copywriting hack, it’s using highly
persuasive words that make the “old part of the brain light
up.”

According to research, the five most persuasive words in the

English language are:

• New
• You
• Free
• Because
• Instantly
Peppering these words throughout your copy in key locations
should have a noticeable impact on conversions.

Social proof
This is my last point, and it’s a biggie.

Incorporating social proof into your copy is the icing on the

cake.

I’m not going to go into all the gory details of social proof
here.

But I will say that testimonials are usually your best bet,
pound for pound.

You can also use things like:

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 • ratings
• media logos
• subscriber counts
• social connections (your number of followers)
• clients you’ve worked with
Just be practical, and provide whatever type of social proof
you think would most persuade your prospects to take action.

MODULE 5.

Next Steps
Now that you have the basics, I will take you through all the
strategies you need to be a better copywriter in a flash.

Let’s continue with copywriting research which will help you

learn how to better understand your customers and write a
more compelling copy, which is up first in our list.

1. Copywriting research.
2. Copywriting strategies.
3. Copywriting tips from 4 legendary books.
4. Long vs short copy. Which is better?
5. Copywriting and design.
6. Copywriting call to action.
7. Headline writing 101.
8. The formula for a perfect headline.
9. Headline tips.
10. Stop writing boring headlines.

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 11. Headline trends.
12. Copywriting Tweaks.
13. Copywriting Testing.

1. COPYWRITING RESEARCH.
How to Better Understand Your Customers and Write
More Compelling Copy.
I want to take you one step further to fully understand your
customers.

We want to know how they feel about your product and what
words they use to describe it. In short, we want to know what
matters to them.

This is a key step in the copywriting process and a secret

weapon of the best copywriters.

Many people research the product and write down a customer

profile. Then they start writing.

But when they do, they miss the opportunity to understand the
most important person in every copywriting project — the
customer.

They don’t know what matters to their customers and what

convinces them to make a purchase. Decisions about how to
write the copy are made without talking to the people who
eventually will put their hard-earned money onto the table to
buy the product or service.

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You can skip this if you feel like you already know exactly
how your customers think, but unless you’ve already had
hundreds of conversations with your customers, you
probably really don’t know your customers as well as you
may think. In the end, knowing what your customers think
about your product and the words they use to talk about it will
prove to be the most important part of the copywriting
process.

So, let’s talk now about the easiest way to better understand
your customers and write a more compelling copy.

The Easiest Way to Learn More about Your

Customers
The easiest way to learn more about your customers is with
short surveys, and the good news is that there are many
helpful tools for this. You can use Google Forms, Wufoo,
SurveyMonkey, or any of the other survey tools available
online.

The point of the survey is to “talk” with your customers. You

could call them up individually to chat over the phone, which
is great if you have the time, but surveys make it easier to
have a conversation with a large number of customers at the
same time and to record their answers all in one place.

Let’s discuss how to do that now.

Step #1: Create Your Survey

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First, choose the survey tool you’d like to use. We’re going to
use Google Forms because it’s the easiest to use.

Now, start by adding the seven questions listed below. The

type of question to create is listed in brackets and an
explanation of the question is provided in italics next to the
question.

1. What’s your job title? (Short Answer)- This question lets

you know what type of customer is providing the
answers.
2. What company do you work for? (short answer)-
Provides more background information by letting you
know which company the customer works for.
3. How would you describe our product to a friend or a
colleague? (Paragraph)- Reveals the words your
customers use to describe your product or service.
4. What questions did you have before buying, i.e. what
prevented you from making a purchase? (paragraph)-
Reveals the hurdles the customer needed to get over
before making a purchase.
5. What ultimately convinced you to buy this product?
(paragraph)- Attempts to find out what aspect pushed the
customer over the fence and convinced them to buy.
6. Which features were the most important to you when
deciding whether or not to buy? (paragraph)- Identifies
which features mattered the most to the customer
because not every feature is equally important.
7. What did you hope to accomplish by using this product?
(paragraph)- Attempts to identify the benefit the customer
hoped to receive by purchasing the product.

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Now that you’ve created your survey, let’s talk about how to
use it.

Step #2: Surveying Your Customers

After creating the survey, you need to go on to conduct the
survey and learn more about your customers. But before we
do, here are a few questions you might have at this point:

Question 1: How many people should I survey?

A: Even a handful of responses will help with your
copywriting, but you should survey as many people as you
can. Just remember not everyone will fill it out. 10 responses
are better than 0, 25 is even better than 10, but 1,000
responses will probably be too much. Do what you can to get
a relevant number of responses without getting so many that
you won’t have time to review the answers.

Question 2: How can I get more people to fill it out?

A: Often a simple incentive will help more people to fill out
the survey. For example, you can tell the survey participants
that by filling it out they’ll be registered to receive a gift.
Then, after all the results come in, you can use a site like
random.org to generate a winner based on the number of
responses that come in. You can also pick a winner based on
which response was the most helpful. Whatever works best
for you.

Question 3: Why are so many of the questions open-

ended?
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A: The reason we use so many open-ended questions is that
qualitative responses provide the most insightful answers for
copywriting. Instead of wanting to know the percentage of
people who like feature X or Y, we want to hear how they talk
about the product in their own words. Eventually, we’ll use
those words to write the copy we write.

Now that we have those important questions out of the way,

let’s conduct the survey and then evaluate the results.

Conducting the Survey

Begin surveying your customers by sending the link to as
many of your customers who may fill it out as possible and
who won’t be bothered with receiving an e-mail about the
survey. This could be a group of your most recent customers,
or it could be the members of your email list. Simply figure
out which customers won’t mind being asked to fill out a
survey, and then send them an e-mail with the link.

Step #3: Evaluating the Responses

Once the responses start coming in, you need to know how to
evaluate them. The best way to start is to create a spreadsheet
and copy and paste each of the answers you receive next to
the question so that you have an easy list to work with.

Read through the responses and pay attention to anything that

stands out. You’ll be looking primarily for two things: 1)
Answers that get repeated and 2) Phrases that capture how
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customers talk about your product. When you find these types
of answers, copy and paste them under the corresponding
question in your customer research document.

Let’s look at each question individually to see how this

works. (Note: We’re skipping the background questions
because those answers aren’t needed at this point.)

Question 1: How would you describe our product to

a friend or colleague?
The point of this question is to learn how your customers
describe your product or service. You’re attempting to find
out what words they use to talk about what you do because
often the way you talk within the organization doesn’t match
how customers talk on the street. What matters to you may not
necessarily matter to them, so we want to find out how exactly
they talk about what you do.

When reviewing the answers, copy, and paste the key phrases
into the section you just created in your customer research
document.

You’re learning the exact phrases customers use to talk about

your product and what’s important to them, not to mention
you’re generating some awesome testimonials for your
product. (so long as you ask for permission to use them).

Question 2: What questions did you have before

buying, i.e. what almost prevented you from making a
purchase?

30
Question two identifies the hurdles that prevent customers
from buying. You’re attempting to figure out what stands in
the way between a customer purchasing and not purchasing.

The list of potential answers will be really big, each one

mentions a hurdle that prevents customers from buying. Some
focus on price, others ask for a free trial and a money-back
guarantee.

Question 3: What ultimately convinced you to buy

this product?
This question gets at the root of what convinced customers to
buy your product. It shows you which benefits or features are
the most important to them. Do they care about price or
service? Were they impressed with your client list or your
track record? Or were they convinced with the free trial?

Question 4: Which features of the product were the

most important to you when deciding whether or not
to buy?
The point of this question is to identify which features are
more important to customers than others. Many products have
a list of features, but some are more important than others.

Question 5: What did you hope to accomplish with

this project?

31
This question attempts to find out what benefits customers
were looking to derive from using the product or service.
What exactly are they trying to do? Sell more effectively?
Reach more customers? Or something else?

Conclusion
Surveys are an invaluable way to learn more about your
customers and help to write more persuasive copy. They show
you what’s going on inside the head of your customers, which
questions get asked over and over again, and what words they
use to describe your product or service.

These words will become an excellent sources for copy,

whether it be website content, product descriptions, headlines,
or something else.

Without paying attention to the words your customers use, it’s

easy to slip into corporate-speak and use language they may
not understand. We often describe products based on
buzzwords or industry phrases that our customers are not
familiar with. This kind of copy may make sense to us but
won’t make sense to our customers. It also doesn’t resonate
with customers as deeply as a copy that uses the exact words
and phrases they use. Use the tips above to write a more
compelling copy to learn more about your customers.

MODULE 6.
32
19 Most Important Copywriting Strategies to
Persuade Your Readers.
In this section, I am going to dive into 19 copywriting
strategies that will help you improve your writing skills and
persuade your readers. These secrets will empower you to
write copy that more effectively entices your prospects to take
action and buy what you’re selling.

The good news is that you don’t need to be the world’s

foremost grammarian. Perfect grammar and straight A’s in
English isn’t required to write copy that sells.

But on the other side of the coin, you do need to be a good

writer. You need to be able to write copy that connects with
your audience and communicates your message. Sometimes
this means breaking a grammar rule or two to get your point
across, but if you break rules unknowingly, you’ll lose
credibility.

Read my list of copywriting strategies below that will help

you to become a better writer and close more sales.

1. Emphasize Benefits Over Features

This happens to be one of the most basic copywriting lessons
in the book. Every copywriter learns early on about the need
to emphasize benefits over features, but surprisingly, it’s not
something that comes naturally.

For whatever reason, nearly everyone tends to write about

features instead of benefits. With a pretend Simple Survey

33
Tool product as an example, you might write the following
copy:

Sign up for this Simple Survey Tool to get:

• Unlimited questions
• Multiple question formats
• JavaScript code installation
• Customizable surveys
• Instant notifications
What’s the problem with this copy? The problem is that it’s a
list of features and not a product description that appeals to
customers. Features are needed at the right time to show
what’s included with the product, but they don’t convince
customers to buy what you’re selling. Benefits, on the other
hand, are much, much more persuasive at convincing
customers to buy your product.

Prospects care more about the benefit provided by the product

than by the features included, and they sign up to receive the
benefit, not the features. More often than not, features are
technical aspects that end up confusing customers. They
appeal to a select, hardcore group of customers but confuse
the rest.

So, when it comes to writing copy, you want to emphasize

benefits first. Your goal is to lead with benefits and include
them at the beginning of your copy. Then, after starting with
the benefit, you can go on to list the features.

LET ME GIVE AN EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW ABOUT

BUFFER APP.

34
The folks at Buffer start by talking about how their app is the
smarter way to share. If you’re looking for a way to work
smarter not harder when it comes to social media, you’ve
come to the right place because Buffer can help with that.

Next, they go on to talk about how Buffer will help you to be

awesome on social media. Who doesn’t want a tool that will
help them to be awesome? The copy continues by talking
about more benefits of using the Buffer app: you can easily
add great articles, pictures, and videos so they “automatically”
get shared throughout the day. Sign us up. We want updates
that share “automatically.” Seems like there’s a lot of benefit
to using this app.

Then, after leading with the benefits of using the app, they list
the features. You can post to multiple accounts, get analytics
& insights, and invite all of your team members to use the
app. Each of the bold phrases is features included with the
Buffer. They aren’t necessarily reasons for signing up, but
they explain what you’ll get by using it. Thus, in this example,
Buffer leads with the benefits of using the app and then
reinforces the benefit by explaining the app’s features.

Here’s what you need to remember: Benefits sell the product

and give customers a reason to buy; features explain clearly
what they’ll receive by using your product and give customers
something to compare against the competition. Features are
still needed, but they’re not the primary selling point.

2. Be as specific as possible

35
The second pro tip for a copy that sells is that it needs to be as
specific as possible. It’s easy to make general claims about a
product, but the specific proof is much, much more effective.

For example, a conversion rate optimization company could

say that their service doubles or triples conversion rates.
That’s great, but it’s not very persuasive.

General numbers and general claims are too perfect to be

believable to customers. “Double or triple” is an estimate
that’s easy to make up. How often does a conversion rate
increase by a perfect 100%? Not very often.

So, what should you do instead?

You should be as specific as possible. You should tell

customers that your service increased conversion rates for a
specific customer by 58% or saves your customers an average
of $254 per year. Those numbers are more specific, more
believable, and seem less likely to have been made up.

Writing a specific copy is way more effective than making

general claims. Here are a few great examples:

Example #1: Bidsketch

Bidsketch displays the exact dollar amount their customers
have earned by using their service. The specificity makes the
claim much more believable and impressive. $1,900,000+
wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as $193,654,896. Either
their customers have earned that much money, or they’re
lying through their teeth. Most customers will believe the
former when a specific claim is made.
36
Example #2: Copyblogger
Copyblogger uses a specific subscription rate increase to get
their readers’ attention. They could have used a headline like
“How to Significantly Increase Conversion Rates,” but that
wouldn’t be nearly as effective. The specific number grabs
people’s attention and makes them feel like the advice is
proven to be effective and will provide a real benefit.

So, as you can see, being as specific as possible makes your

copy more effective. Is there anything specific about your
product that will help you sell it to your customers? Are there
any case studies where customers saved $X number of dollars
or grew their business by X%? If so, be sure to feature these
benefits in your copy.

3. Target Emotions
When it comes to making a purchase, people are heavily
influenced by their emotions. We think we make decisions
based purely on logic, but really, most of our purchases are
based on emotions.

The simple reason is that our emotions are tied more closely
to our decision making than most of us realize. Antonio
Damasio, a professor of neuroscience at the University of
Southern California, has studied this extensively and has
written about his research in a book titled Descartes’ Error.
(You should read this book)

In the book, Damasio talks about cases where patients

suffered damage to their pre-frontal cortex, the part of the

37
brain associated with emotions. The result is that they end up
having difficulty making simple decisions.

In many ways, they maintain the same intelligence they had

before the damage, scoring well on numerous intelligence
tests, but with their emotions impaired, they have trouble
making simple decisions like where to eat for dinner or what
food to choose. They can list the logical benefits of each
option but ultimately have trouble making a decision.

So, what does this have to do with the copy? Everything. If

your copy only makes a logical appeal, you’ll miss the most
important part of the brain connected to decision making —
emotions. You can make a very logical argument only to miss
the most important part of the brain you need to target.

Selling a product isn’t just about making a case for why

customers need what you’re selling. It’s creating a scenario
where people want what you have for sale.

Apple is a great example of this. The logic behind buying an

Apple product is quite poor. You end up paying more for a
product with worse technical specifications than those from
another company. Ten times out of ten you can get more
computer for less than when you buy one from Apple.

So why do people pay more for Apple products like a

MacBook Pro? The reason is that customers want them. Apple
knows how to push the desired button and make people want
their products.

Customers line up to buy the new iPhone, not because it

makes so much sense to pay the highest price for the latest

38
phone, but because they have to get it before their friends do.
They have to get the latest phone because they want it so
badly.

You need to do the same with your copy. Instead of just

listing features and checking off reasons to buy your product,
you need to increase the emotional appeal of using it and
create a desire in your prospects for what you’re selling.

4. Leverage testimonials
Pro copywriters know how to leverage testimonials to get the
maximum credibility with customers.

The reason is that prospects take everything you say with a

grain of salt. When you say, “We’ve got the fastest internet in
the universe!”, even if it’s true, prospective customers will
assume you’re biased, because, well, you are.

But when you share a client testimonial, you instantly gain

credibility. Words from a customer’s mouth are much, much
more trustworthy than a similar statement from a business
owner or salesman.

You can use testimonials to increase the believability of your

copy and to say things you otherwise wouldn’t be able to say.
This is the main reason why so many websites use
testimonials on their site. They’re leveraging the believability
of customer testimonials.

Testimonials can be used anywhere in your copy, but they’re

particularly useful when used in the following ways.

39
Testimonial Use #1: To say things you can’t
Testimonials come in a lot of different forms. One of those
forms is an extremely flattering recommendation for your
company. Customers may talk about how your service was so
amazing that they wish they could join your team, or
something else equally flattering.

These are things you can’t say yourself. You can’t say, “We
provide service so amazing you’ll wish you could work with
us.” Thus, you can use customer testimonials to say things
you otherwise couldn’t say.

Testimonial Use #2: To strengthen key aspects of

your copy

Some testimonials are general, but some talk about specific

parts of your product or service that you’d like to emphasize
within your copy. In this way, not all testimonials are created
equal. Some are more strategically important than others.

Your job is to figure out which testimonials match specific

parts of your copy. Some of them might talk about how much
they love instant notifications. Others may talk about how
much they appreciate pre-formulated surveys. The key is
figuring out which ones will strengthen your copy the most
and to use them at the appropriate time.

For example, if you have a service business, you might have a

testimonial that talks about how effective your process is. You
may also have a section on your website/product that
describes your proven process. Instead of adding the
testimonial randomly somewhere on the site/product landing

40
page, you want to match it with the section that’s the most
appropriate so it strengthens key aspects of your copy.

Testimonial Use #3: To highlight key clients

You can also use testimonials to highlight key

clients/customers. Often, there are companies you work with
those prospects aspire to be like. Maybe it’s a larger company
or a well-known entrepreneur.

Your goal is to leverage these testimonials to show off your

work for these clients and customers. A testimonial from an
impressive, big-name client/customer can be worth hundreds
from regular clients/customers. Thus, you want to leverage
your biggest clients/customers to impress the rest of your
prospects.

Testimonial Use #4: Headlines

Headlines can be used in the three ways mentioned above, and
they can also be used as a headline. In doing so, you lead with
words from your customer’s mouth which means your
headline is extra credible. Instead of seeming like a hollow
claim, it will read as a trustworthy review from a
client/customer.

No matter how you end up using them, testimonials are a

powerful way to increase credibility, strengthen key aspects of
your copy, say things you otherwise couldn’t say, highlight
key customers, and capture the benefit of using your product
in your customers own words. Even though they aren’t written
directly by a copywriter, they’re important pieces of copy that
can be placed strategically to achieve the maximum impact.
41
5. Don’t make it all about you
This may seem counterintuitive, but an important rule for
writing better copy is to not focus your copy on yourself. It’s
also a rule that a lot of people break.

Most businesses break this rule by writing a business-centric

copy instead of customer-centric copy. They write about how
awesome they are and how great their product is, failing to
focus on their customers and selling them what they’re
looking for. This is a bad way to write and a bad habit a lot of
companies have.

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to spot this kind of writing.

Company-focused copy uses “we” much more than it does
“you.”

Customers don’t care enough about you and what you do.
They care about themselves and what you can do for them.
They care about you in the context of how you can help them
accomplish their goals.

Thus, all of your copy should focus on the customer.

Everything you write should be something that appeals to
them and shows how you can meet their needs. That’s the
point of your copy, and that’s the point of being in business in
the first place.

The secret is that you can write about yourself so long as it’s
in the context of providing value for your customers. It’s ok to
write about yourself if you’re providing information that’s
useful to the people who may want to do business with you,

42
but it’s not ok to write about yourself just for the sake of
writing about yourself.

You need to write about your business/product in the context

of how it helps your customers by focusing on their needs, by
using “you” more than “we,” and by making sure your copy
explains how you will help the customer instead of only
providing a boring description of your business/product.

6. Write conversationally.
The next rule is to write conversationally since that’s the
whole point of writing anyway. The act of writing is a
conversation between the author and the reader. It’s not the
act of getting ideas onto paper; it’s a conversation that takes
place after a piece of writing gets completed.

In a normal sales process, a salesman talks with customers in

person. He shows up, greets the customer, and proceeds to
talk about the product or service he’s selling. The only
difference with a copy is that it doesn’t take place in person.

Copy ends up being a conversation between your company

and your prospective customers. Your company has a
message to get across so it’s talking with customers online or
in print.

Thus, you want your copy to be as conversational as possible.

You should use words and phrases you would use in everyday
conversation and write in a very similar way to the way you
speak. Don’t feel like you need to sound important or erudite
when you write. This will put your readers to sleep and make

43
you seem arrogant and self-absorbed. You’ll end up seeming
boring and stodgy.

Keep this in mind when writing your copy: Your customers

want to have a conversation with you. They’re not interested
in talking to a faceless organization. They want to talk to a
person. Your copy should make them feel like they are.

7. Create a slippery slide

In addition to writing conversationally, you need to write your
copy so that each sentence compels the reader to continue
reading until all of your copy gets read.

By creating a “slippery slide.” It’s all about writing copy so

compelling that readers can’t stop reading until they arrive at
the end.

This rule starts with the headline. You need to write a

headline so compelling that prospects have to read the
sentence that follows. Next, your first sentence should compel
them to read the second sentence, and so on.

Each section of your copy, each new sentence, and new

paragraph, should work together to draw the reader in and
keep him reading until he gets to the end. None of the copies
should be unnecessary. Every sentence should function to
propel the reader forward.

So, how exactly do you write copy like this?

First, keep the reader in mind at all times. Consider things

like, “Would the reader be bored at this point? Would he be
44
interested in what I’m saying? Is this sentence confusing? Is
this paragraph necessary? Am I going to lose anyone with this
point?”

Always consider how the prospect will respond as you’re

writing the copy. If it’s boring, they’ll go on to read
something else. If it’s confusing, they’ll stop out of
frustration. You want to constantly be thinking about the
reader’s needs, desires, and interests. You need to always
write a copy that keeps every prospect reading.

Second, only write as much as you need to write and no more.

Does your point strengthen your copy and bring your prospect
one step closer to buying? Good, then make sure to include it.
Or is it tangential, and is there a chance that the prospect will
get lost and move on to something else? If so, leave it out.

8. Write quickly
This rule may seem counterintuitive to good writing, but one
thing you need to learn to write copy more effectively is to
write quickly.

The first reason is that when you write quickly, you use more
of the emotional side of your brain. Instead of stopping to
rethink everything and to rewrite on the spot, you let the copy
flow from the way you feel about the subject you’re writing
about. This is good for writing persuasive copy that appeals to
your customers' emotions.

The second reason is that it’s much easier to improve words

that are on paper than it is to write a perfect draft the first time
around. Rewriting, i.e. editing improves your copy much more
45
than taking hours to write the first draft. Rewriting is the
number one secret of professional writers. They don’t always
have the most polished first draft, but they’re excellent at
editing their prose until it’s nearly perfect. I have never had a
perfect first draft too.

Don’t worry too much about your first draft. Take a stab at the
copy and get something onto paper. Once it’s there, you can
take the time needed to edit it and get it ready for publishing.
Most writers consider this to be the most important part of the
writing process. The first draft is just a way to get a rough
draft that’s ready for editing. The second, third, fourth, and
fifth drafts are when the writing gets polished and turned into
a gem.

9. Use simple language

The next rule to follow for better writing is to use simple
language to make sure your copy isn’t too technical or too
complicated for your readers.

Here are one of the main reasons: It’s widely believed that the
average reading level is between the 7th and 8th grades. The
majority of your customers likely read at this level.

If you end up writing at a level that’s too high, your copy may
be lost on your customers. They may not understand your
vocabulary and may have trouble with your complex sentence
structure.

Take the previous sentence as an example. It could have been

written with “diction” and “syntax” instead of “vocabulary”
and “sentence structure,” but the former would be understood
46
by a much smaller audience. Some customers will understand,
but a large percentage will not.

Instead of showing off your extensive vocabulary and making

yourself feel important, it’s better to choose words that reach
the largest number of people because you don’t want to write
in a way that alienates a significant percentage of your
customers.

Writing for a highly educated audience is an exception to this

rule. If you’re writing a sales letter to recent Harvard grads,
then you have full right to flex your well-defined vocabulary
muscles. But if you’re not, it’s better to use words that
everyone will understand.

10. Use short paragraphs

This rule works for an online copy because shorter paragraphs
are easier to read online.

There’s a study from 2004 to back this up. The Eyetrack III
study conducted by the Poynter Institute revealed that shorter
paragraphs received twice as many eye fixations as long ones.
What does this mean exactly? It means that readers read text
with short paragraphs twice as much as text with longer ones.
You will notice this guide consists of short paragraphs.

Short paragraphs end up being a lot less intimidating online.

We can deal with long paragraphs in print, but online it’s
daunting.

This can end up being a hard rule to apply since we were all
taught to write longer paragraphs in grade school, but online it
47
just won’t work. If you want to create a slippery slide that
keeps readers engaged, then you’ve got to use shorter
paragraphs.

If you end up writing a traditional print sales letter, you don’t

have to worry about this tip as much. You can write long
paragraphs and not be as worried about losing your readers.
But if you’re writing a blog post or website content,
remember to use shorter paragraphs to break up the text and
make your copy less intimidating.

11. Always get your copy edited

Possibly the most important tip in this list is to always get
your copy-edited.

Here’s why: It’s nearly impossible for you to find every

mistake in your copy. Even if you’ve put it aside for a few
days, which is a great idea, it’s too difficult to find every error
in a copy you’ve personally written. You’re too close to the
copy, too subjectively involved.

But are typos and grammar mistakes a problem? Yes, they

are.

They’re a problem because they erode your credibility. You

can get away with a mistake here or there in a blog post, but if
your homepage copy or sales brochure has typos, people

48
won’t be able to take you seriously. They’ll question your
credibility. If you can’t write an error-free piece of copy, can
the rest of the work you do be trusted?

Grammar mistakes cause you to lose credibility with your

target audience.

As a general rule, you always want to get your copy edited by

someone else. Preferably this will be a professional writer or
editor who has experience with proofreading and copy
editing. Someone who has experience with editing is much
more likely to catch your mistakes.

At the very least, you need to have someone else at your

business read your copy over. Preferably it will be someone
who has a good eye for clear writing and an understanding of
grammar. The simple fact that someone besides yourself edits
your copy means mistakes are more likely to get caught. Thus,
to avoid having your credibility undermined, you need to
make sure someone always edits your copy.

12. Make people feel like they belong

You may not have noticed it before, but most people want to
feel like they belong to a group of some kind. Everyone, in
some way or another, is looking for a group to belong to and
that gives them a sense of community.

Universities in the U.S. are a great example. Attending a

university makes you feel like you’re part of a larger
community. Everyone who attends becomes a “Longhorn” or
a “Red Raider” or a “Titan.” The longer you’re there, the
more you identify with the community. You start to wear the
49
same shirts and say the same things as “Hook ‘em horns” and
“Wreck ‘em Tech.” You feel like you belong. You feel like
you’re part of a community.

Interestingly, the same thing happens with brands. People

purchase a product, and then they feel like they’re part of a
community. They feel like they’re part of a larger group who
uses those products.

Mini Cooper owners, for example, are known for identifying

with the larger Mini Cooper community. When you buy a
Mini, you aren’t just buying a car; you’re joining a
community of Mini owners.

Apple products are the same way. People continue to buy

Apple products, not solely because they are superior to other
products (which is true in some cases and not in others), but
because they become an Apple person. Their identity is tied to
Apple. They can’t buy a PC because all of their other products
are from Apple.

Whenever possible, you want to create a sense of community

or belonging to your products. You want people to feel like
they’re a [enter your company name here] person and not a
[enter your competition’s name here] person.

13. Ask people to join

One way is to use words like “join” or “become a member” on
your website or sales material. This gives people a sense that
they’re joining something larger and won’t just be carrying on
by themselves.

50
Buffer does this on their blog. The copy above their sign-up
form says “Join over 10,629 other good-looking people who
receive free e-mail updates.”

Instead of using the standard wording to ask customers to sign

up for an e-mail list like “Sign up to get free updates,” they
add a sense of community to signing up for e-mail updates.
They also use the “Join Us” for their call to action instead of a
more standard “Sign Up Now” button.

14. Display client/customer logos

Another way to make your customers feel part of something
and add authority to your copy is to display logos from your
top clients or customers.

Here’s why: the logos create a group of companies your

clients can join. By signing up to use your service, customers
can use the same service that [enter big company name here]
uses. If the company logos you show are for industry-leading
organizations, then new customers can join the ranks of these
leading organizations and use the same tools and services
they’re using to get ahead.

15. Show off social media numbers

51
Still another way to create a sense of belonging is to show off
your number of social media followers. By displaying a large
number of followers, you’re showing people that they’re not
the only ones using a product or service and that they’re
joining a community of users by doing so.

Appliances Online from the UK does this on their homepage.

They show that they have over 1 million Facebook fans. This
gives customers a sense of community and shows that they’re
not the only ones to choose a certain product or service.

16. Create a feeling of exclusivity

Another persuasion secret copywriters use is to create a
feeling of exclusivity. The goal is to make prospects feel
special by being part of an exclusive group.

This is one reason why phrases like “secrets” and “insider

information” work so well. They make people feel like they’re
part of an inside group that knows information other people
don’t have.

It’s also why companies frequently use phrases like

“exclusive offers” or “become an insider.” They want you to
feel like you’re part of a special, exclusive group by signing
up.

We’re suckered in because we like to feel like we’re on the

inside getting offers and information other people aren’t
getting. There’s just something in our nature that makes us
want to feel part of an exclusive group.

52
JCrew and the Banana Republic both use this technique on
their sign-up form copy for their e-mail newsletters. JCrew’s
says, “Like being first? Then get we can’t miss style news
before everybody else.” Banana Republic says, “Sign up for
emails and be the first to hear about covetable new arrivals
and exclusive promotions at the Banana Republic.” Efficient,
right?

17. Prove the value of your product

Be sure to prove the value of your product because customers
nearly always want to get a good deal or at the very least feel
like they’re spending their money wisely.

So, one of your main goals is to prove the value of your

product. Your job is to show prospects why they’ll be getting
a good deal when they buy what you’re selling.

The good news is that there are a few proven ways to do this.

First, you can make a comparison to a similar product or

products. You can show prospective customers what they’ll
get with your product and what they’ll receive if they
purchase from the competition. This allows them to make a
feature to feature comparison which they can then compare
against the prices for each.

Another way to prove the value of your product is to compare

it to something similar that isn’t a direct competitor. This
provides a different benchmark against which customers can
compare the value of your product.

53
Digital Telepathy, for example, does this on its “Hire Us”
page. The price for their service is $20,000, which is a lot of
money, but not when you compare it to hiring and managing
your team of designers and developers.

With one sentence Digital Telepathy proves the value of their

service by comparing it with hiring in-house designers and
developers. That makes $20,000 seem like a bargain
compared with paying the salary and benefits of an in-house
design team.

Ultimately, the goal is to show your customers that they’re

spending their money wisely while changing the conversation
going on in their heads. You want them to debate whether
they should pay for your product over the competition and not
whether or not they want to pay $X for your product.

18. Establish yourself as an authority.

Are you an authority in your field? What about someone on

your staff? Are they an authority in the subject matter you
work with?
If yes, you should use some of your copy to establish yourself
as an authority because people tend to look up to experts in
any given field. The more authoritative you seem, the more
seriously your customers will take whatever you have to say.

Here are a few ways your company can establish itself as an

authority:

54
#1: Highly trained staff

Does someone on your staff have a Ph.D. or are they highly

trained in your field? If yes, that’s one way to establish your
authority.

Cream.hr is a great example of this. One of their co-founders,

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, is a clinical psychologist who has
done a lot of research with modern personality tests. He’s also
taught as an Assistant and Associate Professor at Harvard,
which is quite impressive.

Since Cream’s company is based on personality tests that

evaluate potential employees, it makes sense to emphasize Dr.
Peterson as an authority in clinical psychology to gain more
credibility with potential customers. They do this on their
About page with a detailed bio of Dr. Peterson.

#2: Experienced staff members

Another way to establish authority is to highlight the

experience of your team members.

For example, have any of your employees worked in an

industry for a long time or worked for top companies within
the industry? Both can be used to establish authority.

This is a technique that’s used a lot. You’ll frequently see

signs that say things like “15 years’ experience as a tax
accountant” or “25 years’ experience as a trial lawyer.”

#3: Company history

55
Another oft-used way to establish your business as an
authority is to stress the number of years it’s been in business.
Companies frequently use phrases like “established in 1941”
or “Serving our customers for over 100 years.”

John Deere, for example, is an iconic American business and

has been around for over 175 years, but you can’t find that
stat on their homepage (although they probably use it
elsewhere). It would make sense to display a copy such as
this: “We’ve been proudly building farm products for over
175 years” (or something along those lines).

These are three easy ways to establish your company as an

authority in its field.

19. Provide “reasons why”

Providing “reasons why” is another way to write powerful
copy that convinces prospects to buy.

Robert Cialdini, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology and

Marketing at Arizona State University, is famous among
copywriters for his book Influence: The Psychology of
Persuasion. It’s had a significant impact on how copy is
written.

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He also talks about the effectiveness of giving people a reason
why when we ask them to do things. Here’s what he has to
say about that:

A well-known principle of behavior says that when we ask

someone to do us a favor, we will be more successful if
provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what
they do.

He goes on to discuss a study where participants were asked

to cut in line to make copies at a Xerox machine based on one
of three scenarios.

• Scenario 1: The participants were instructed to cut in line

and to say, “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the
Xerox machine.”
• Scenario 2: In the second scenario, the participants were
instructed to provide a reason for cutting by saying, “I
have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am
in a rush.”
• Scenario 3: In scenario three, the participants were
instructed to provide a nearly meaningless reason for
cutting by saying, “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use
the Xerox machine because I have to make copies.”
Which do you think was the most effective?

Not surprisingly, the second scenario led to the best results.

60% of people allowed the participant to cut in scenario one
while 94% allowed the participant to cut in scenario two.
That’s an increase of 34%.

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But it gets really interesting in scenario three. Even though a
nearly meaningless reason was provided, 93% of people still
allowed the participant to cut, which is only 1% less than
when an actual reason was given.

The conclusion from these results is that people are

conditioned to comply more frequently when a reason is
given, even if the reason is meaningless. The fact that a reason
is provided is enough to convince more people to comply with
what you ask.

So how do you use this for a copy? You can use this by
making sure you provide reasons why people should use your
product or service.

Conclusion
In this part, we talked about 19 copywriting strategies that are
critical for your copy’s success. Many of these techniques will
help you to write persuasive copy that sells.

Once you begin writing copy, you don’t have to become a

grammar genius, but you do need to improve your writing
enough to connect with your audience and write compelling
copy.

By following these rules, you’ll become a better writer and be

better prepared to write copy that is persuasive and will
compel your customers to take action.

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 MODULE 7.
7 Lessons From 4 Legendary Books. (You should
check them out if you haven’t)
Although digital copywriting is relatively new, copywriting
has been used for hundreds of years to sell products.
Some of the best books on copywriting I have ever read were
written decades ago. Some are even older than that.

And it’s a shame that they don’t get the attention they
deserve—mainly because we often equate new with better.

But a lot of the new marketing and copywriting lessons and

techniques you read about on blogs aren’t new at all.

In this article, I’m going to break down seven lessons from the
following four books:

• Influence by Robert B. Cialdini

• Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
• Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz
• Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman
In my mind, these four books have all achieved legendary
status.

Every section of each book is gold, which is why I encourage

you to read them.

That being said, I’ve picked out some of the most important
lessons that I think will apply to your online marketing and

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business. I’ll bring any dating advice into the 21st century
with some current examples of it in action.

Let’s get started…

1. You should read this because it’ll make you a

better copywriter
Animals instinctively react to certain noises in a specific way
because more often than not, that action pays off.

It turns out that even though humans might be a little higher

on the sophistication scale, they too have these automatic
reactions.

Dr. Ellen Langer, a renowned social scientist, conducted a

study in 1978 to find out how everyday people react to certain
words. She had actors approach a line of people waiting to use
a Xerox (copy) machine. She instructed them to use one of the
following three sentences to try to get in front of the line:

1. Request only: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use

the Xerox machine?”
2. Real information: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I
use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”
3. Nonsense information: “Excuse me, I have five
pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to
make copies?”
What do you think happened?

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When no reason was given, 60% of people still allowed the
actor to go ahead of them and use the Xerox machine. I’m a
little surprised that it was that high.

What about when the actors said they were in a rush? Ninety-
four percent of people let them go ahead.

Wow.

So, you just need to come up with a great reason and you can
get what you want, right?

Not quite. The final line that the actors used produced some
surprising results. An incredible 93% of people still let them
skip ahead.

Go back and read the line they used (#3). Their reason for
jumping the line was because they needed to make
copies… But of course, they needed to make copies! Why else
would they want to use the copy machine?

So, what can we conclude about this? It turns out that

people—when not paying close attention—often follow
simple scripts, just like animals.

In this case, since the favor was fairly small, the people
followed this script:

favour asked > reason given > comply

But there’s one thing I left out: another part of the experiment
was making a larger request. The actors used the same lines
but asked to copy 20 instead of five pages.

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When they did this, the actors had the following success rates:

o Request only: 24%

o Real information: 42%
o Nonsense information: 24%
In this case, the request was large enough to get people to
consciously pay attention and evaluate the request. Since the
last explanation was silly, it made no difference in people’s
response rate compared to the request-only scenario.

Here’s the conclusion: When making a small request of

readers, give any reason why they should do it.

For example:

• Could you share this article on Twitter because I would

like more people to see it?
• You should read the rest of this because…(hint: go look at
the headline for this section)
• Please leave a comment below because I’d like to hear
what you think.
Does that make sense?

The reason why “because” works is because people like to

have a reason for what they’re doing. It just seems logical.

You can use this concept in blog posts, landing pages,

widgets, social media, or even in emails.

Does it have to be “because”? I know you’re thinking about

it, and it’s a great question. That original experiment only

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tested the word “because,” but the conclusion shows that the
word doesn’t matter.

It’s the principle that matters.

For small requests, as long as you provide a reason (any

reason), readers will be more likely to comply.

2. Your product matters more than your talent.

Have you ever heard the phrase:

He could sell ice to an Eskimo.

It’s often used to describe the perfect salesman: the guy who
could sell someone something that they don’t need.

If there was one lesson from Scientific Advertising that you

should take to heart (there are many), it’s this:

The main reason for a lack of success from advertising is

selling people what they do not want.

If your conversion isn’t good, chances are it’s not because

you’re not an expert salesman.

Sure, being good at selling will help you maximize your

conversion rate, but the main factor behind your conversion
rate is the value you provide:

So why does this matter to you and your business?

The next time you see that your conversion rates aren’t great,
take a hard look at your offer.
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You don’t need to read more books about the latest tips and
techniques to make a great landing page. You need to learn
more about your visitors.

And this goes for anything, not just a landing page. If you’re
trying to get visitors to click something, watch something,
sign up for something… anything that requires them to give
up something valuable (email address, money, a lot of time),
you need to provide value.

If people aren’t signing up for your email list, instead of

trying a different color button, try a different lead magnet. The
more your visitors want it, the higher your conversion rate
will be.

Is learning about selling and CRO pointless? Don’t get me

wrong, I’m not saying that CRO and sales techniques are
useless, but they are a much smaller part of the puzzle than
the value you provide.

You’ll be better off:

1. Knowing exactly whom you’re targeting (hint: build

a buyer persona)
2. testing different offers (find out what they value)
After you’ve done that and achieved a solid conversion
rate, then start split testing your headlines, copy, and buttons.

3. Successful marketing is not guesswork.

Another lesson from Scientific Advertising I wanted to
include is:

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Successful marketing does not involve guessing. Ever.

It sounds simple, but many “marketers” spout BS about their

results without ever measuring the impact of their work.

Let me share a few stats with you…

Almost 80% of marketers do not directly track their email

ROI. That’s shocking. Email marketing is one of the easier
types of marketing to track.

A study found that only 44% of companies can measure paid

search ROI effectively.

That just gives you an indication of how much low-quality

work is out there. If traffic goes up over a few months, how
do you know you had anything to do with it if you didn’t track
it? You don’t.

If you don’t track your ROI, you could be throwing money

down the drain by pursuing marketing methods that don’t
produce tangible results while missing real opportunities.

Step 1: Start tracking

If you’re a marketer, you should be tracking everything you

do on a client’s or your company’s site. If you’re a site owner,
this would be a good time to start.

Having too much data is better than not having enough.

What do you need to track?

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At the very minimum, you need to track:

• money spent
• conversions
That’s it. You can do that with free software such as Google
Analytics.

But what about referral traffic, search engine traffic, the click-
through rate on ads, etc.?

The answer is that you sometimes need to track them, and it’s
usually a good idea to track them all the time. It depends on
your focus.

If 95% of your conversions come from PPC ads, then search

engine traffic isn’t a big concern.

The good news is that most of this data is collected

automatically by your analytics software or ad platform.

Step 2: Determine marketing ROI

Return on investment is a simple concept. You can calculate it

with a simple formula:

ROI = ($ of profit)/($ of cost) * 100%

If you’re tracking your ad spend, content cost, or whatever

your marketing campaign consists of, figuring out the cost is
easy.

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Assuming you’re tracking your sales correctly through your
analytics software, it’s also fairly easy to see which sales
came from your campaign.

A marketing ROI of 5-10% is your goal, but if you’re able to

exceed that, you’re doing great.

Step 3: Revise marketing strategy based on ROI

The results of a marketing campaign will tell you if you need

to adjust your marketing strategy.

If you break even on your ROI, you can usually continue the
campaign. Once you optimize it, you can typically achieve
profitability.

If you get a negative ROI, your time and resources are

probably better spent on other marketing tactics. Re-adjust
your overall marketing strategy to reflect this.

4. Commit your prospect of buying

Are you a hypocrite?

Ask anyone, and they will tell you: “Of course, not!”

Which is strange when you consider that hypocrites are

everywhere. Most people (including myself) can point out an
instance when their behavior might have been hypocritical.

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So, what does this all mean? It means that sometimes people
behave like hypocrites without even realizing it. But if you
brought their beliefs to their attention right before that
potential hypocritical action, they wouldn’t take that action.

This is a principle called consistency, explained in

Cialdini’s Influence.

People like to act consistently with their principles and

beliefs.

And it makes sense. The reason why we believe in and value

things is because we think we’re right—we think we know
what’s logical and important. So, of course, we’re going to try
to act consistently with those principles and beliefs whenever
we get the chance.

Use consistency in your copy: Before you ask a reader to do

anything (share, answer, purchase), mention a related
principle or belief. Sometimes you don’t even need to mention
it explicitly. All you need to do is frame your request in terms
of that principle or belief.

This is a lesson that I’ve seen many pick up on fairly recently,

particularly in pop-ups.

It’s easy to brush off most pop-ups, but when you have to
choose: “No, I prefer to suck at optimization,” it changes
things. To choose that option, you’d have to act against your
primary motivation.

5. ALL people care about these 8 things

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Humans are complicated, right?

Everyone’s their special snowflake, right?

Not quite.

Although each of us is unique in some way, we share many of

the same traits.

In Cashvertising, Whitman lists the “life force 8”, which are

8 motivations of all people. At our core, we’re driven by the
same things, and you can use that to write better copy.

Here are the life force 8 motivations:

1. Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension.

2. Enjoyment of food and beverages.
3. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger.
4. Sexual companionship.
5. Comfortable living conditions.
6. To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Jones.
7. Care and protection of loved ones.
8. Social approval.
We’ve known for a long time that people buy based on
emotion, not logic.

If you can relate your product to any of the life force 8 factors,
you can stir up emotions in your reader that will help you
improve your sales and conversion rates.

69
I’m going to break down each of the life force 8 motivations
and give you examples of how you can use them in your
marketing.

1. Survival comes first: Unless someone has a mental health

issue, they will do almost anything to survive.

You might have heard of or seen the movie 127 hours. It’s
based on Aron Ralston’s real-life adventure. He was exploring
a canyon in Utah when he slipped and his arm became trapped
between a boulder and a wall.

After exhausting all possibilities and unable to free himself,

Ralston thought he was going to die. But he
didn’t. Ralston amputated his arm with a dull blade.

People will go to great lengths to survive.

If you have a product that could potentially save someone’s

life, show it. If you can get a visitor to see themselves in a
dangerous situation, you’ll make your sale much easier.

2. Food is an easy sell: We are wired to like food. It’s not

surprising that as food has become easier to get and more
reliable to produce, people have gotten more obese.

If you have a delicious food product, you should have a pretty

easy time selling it.

Describe the flavor and experience of eating your product, and

people will be ready to buy it in an instant. Pictures or videos
will make it easy for people to imagine the taste.

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Even though pizza commercials haven’t changed much in
decades, they still work. All they need to do is show a few
different types of pizzas, and the goal is accomplished. For
example:

Are you hungry now?

However, you can easily apply this offline as well. If you do
marketing for a bakery, offer free samples to people walking
by. After one bite, most people won’t be able to resist walking
inside and buying something. This is a big part of many big
bakery chains’ marketing plans.

Finally, don’t be afraid to associate your product with food.

Food will get your visitors’ attention, and if you can convince
them that your product will make their meal better, they’ll
buy. You can sell, for example, cookware, dishware, furniture,
TVs (to watch while eating), etc.

3. No one likes fear or pain: People go to great lengths to

avoid pain, and fear is just an extension of the pain. Being
afraid is natural when you think something bad is about to
happen.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that fears and pains are
based on physical problems—just as many are mental.

Again, anything you can do to clarify fears and pains and then
shows how your product can relieve them will help sales.

4. No one wants to be alone: If you’ve ever stepped foot into

an Internet marketing forum, you know how popular the
dating niche is. Online dating is a $2.1 billion industry.

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Although most products don’t directly help people find a
partner, many help indirectly. Think about products and
services such as:

• clothes
• gyms/fitness classes
• personal trainers
• cosmetics
• flower shops
Any product that can be framed as a tool to help you appear
more appealing to the opposite sex, will awaken an emotional
response.

When you see an advertisement for a gym, do you see

overweight, unfit people in it? No, you see attractive models,
and you feel the desire to look like them.

5. Comfort is underrated: “Comfortable living conditions” is

what Whitman calls it, but I like to think of it more as a lack
of stress.

Think about a time where you weren’t sure how you were
going to pay rent or worried that you were going to be laid
off. These are extremely stressful and worrying times. And at
those times, you would have given anything to know that your
bills were taken care of and that you had a steady income.

If your product helps solve a problem for people in

uncomfortable situations, show it.

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This is really what the insurance industry is all about. They
portray their products to make you feel anxious if you don’t
have them.

6. People like to win: Even though we might try not to, we

constantly compare ourselves to others. We look at others to
see:

• how much money they make.

• how big their house is.
• how happy they are.
• and so on…
This is one of the biggest factors behind word-of-mouth
marketing.

It’s one of the hardest emotional drivers to market to, but it

can be done if you have a “high status” product.

Essentially, you need to create a product or brand that, when

seen, will make others envious and cause them to want to
purchase it.

Apple has done this extremely well by making electronics that

are slightly more expensive than those of competitors’ but
with a great look.

Everyone knows that Apple products are stylish, which is why

people stand in massive lines for each product release. People
want the latest product that puts them ahead of the curve:

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7. We protect one another: Just as we don’t want to be alone,
we also don’t want those close to us to be taken away from us
or hurt.

One way of marketing your product is to tie it to the happiness

of others.

In the weeks leading up to all major consumer holidays,

including valentine’s day, companies frame their products as a
way for you to show the people in your life you care about
them.

8. People just want to be accepted: Yes, people want to be

loved and to find a mate, but they also just want to be
accepted and liked by others.

You can tap into this by marketing your product as a way for
your site visitors to fit in with others or become part of a tight-
knit group.

6. Simplicity always wins

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The hardest thing for most marketers to understand is that
your visitors don’t have the same level of knowledge as you
do.

You’ve likely spent years reading about marketing and

learning about your product or service. This makes it easy to
talk over the head of your visitors.

The problem is that if a visitor can’t understand what you’re

offering, they won’t buy.

Whitman summarizes the 4 concepts of successful simple

writing in Cashvertising. Here’s my take on them:

1. Use short, simple words. There’s no need for fancy,

rarely-used words. Whitman recommends writing at a 5th-
grade reading level. I write at just below a 4th-grade level.

2. The shorter your sentences, the better. I rarely write long

sentences because that’s when they get confusing. Try to
limit sentences to 10-15 words.
3. The short, short paragraph trick. Whitman correctly
advises limiting regular paragraphs to 4-5 short sentences.
Having even fewer is better. Most of my paragraphs
consist of 1-2 sentences, which makes skimming easier.
4. Pile on personal pronouns (e.g., I, you, me, he, she, him,
they, them, etc.). Writing in a conversational tone helps
you connect with your readers. It helps your writing feel
personal instead of it sounding like another corporate
message.

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While all these rules apply to print copy, they apply even
more to web writing.

7. How to stand out from (any) competition

The final lesson is from Breakthrough Advertising, and it’s
about 4 states of sophistication.

In plain terms, that means that there are 4 stages that a market
can develop into. They go from stage 1 to 4:

1. You are first in your market: When you’re the absolute

first to cover a topic or create a product, your copy can be
simple and direct.

Put the need your product fulfills, or a claim of what it does,

in the headline. That’s all you need to do to attract attention.

For example, when SEO was first starting to get popular, a

simple 400-word article with “What is SEO?” in the headline
was all that was needed to get traffic:

2. Second in your market: If you’re not quite the first, but

you’ve caught a topic early, just take the direct claim a bit
further.

3. Prospects have heard all the claims, all the

extremes: Once most visitors know the basics, you need to
include more practical information to sell them your product
or service.

In other words: show, don’t tell.

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4. Elaboration and enlargement: Once everyone meets
those minimum standards, you need to go all out. You need to
expand on all aspects of the content or product and make it
better.

You could make it easier, quicker, more reliable, simpler, or

add extra useful features to it.

These 4 stages are essentially the skyscraper technique in

action, except that they were written about many years ago.

Each stage of maturity for a topic or product raises the bar.

Make things substantially better, and you will get attention
from customers.

Either create something before it gets popular or take it to the

next level.

Conclusion
I’d like to finish this part by giving you one additional
lesson: you can learn a lot from the past.

Whenever you’re learning about a new subject, whether it’s

copywriting, marketing, design, or something completely
different, don’t head to the most popular guides right away.

Instead, read through some of the highest-rated books of the

past, no matter how old they are. You’ll learn about how some
of the fundamental concepts of the field came to be. It’s those
lessons that you can build upon so that you can become more
adept in a particular field.

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I’ve given you seven lessons that are jam-packed with useful
copywriting and marketing knowledge, but I haven’t even
scraped the surface of these four legendary books.

If you learned a few new things from this article, I strongly

encourage you to read or re-read any or all of those books.

MODULE 8.
Long vs. Short Copy – Which is Better?
One of the longest-standing debates in copywriting and
marketing circles is over what’s better — long or short copy.

The group following the short copy gospel says that people
don’t like to read, especially in the modern age, so there’s no
reason to write long copy. They believe that long sales letters
and web pages will get ignored and never be read. Instead, it’s
better to use pictures and graphics to get customers’ attention.

The long copy adherents, on the other hand, believe that copy
is the secret to any sales success. More copy to them means
more sales.

These are both generalizations, but they summarize succinctly

the two different schools of copy length. So, who’s right?

In a way, both are because in some instances long copy is

much, much better, and, in others, short copy is better. The

78
only way to know for sure is to test the response rate your
copy receives to see which converts at a higher rate — long or
short copy.

I’ve tested long and short marketing copy with many different
companies and brands, and I have noticed one thing that
seems to be a common trend. When a brand is well-known, it
doesn’t need as much marketing copy as a new brand does.

For example, you already know what an iPad is. You are
either going to buy it or you won’t. Hence, Apple can create
short marketing messages and still make billions of dollars.

And what I found to be even more interesting is that brands

with high net promoter scores (a high score means people love
your product or service) can get away with even more concise
marketing.

Just look at WordPress. People already know all about the

company, and they love the product. For this reason, it can
have a concise marketing copy and still have a high
conversion rate.

But when people don’t know much about your brand, you’ll
have to create a marketing copy that is longer. The reason for
that is that when people aren’t familiar with your brand, they
tend to have more questions and concerns. Through longer
marketing copy, you can answer these objections.

As a general rule of thumb, if your brand is less than 3 years

old, you’ll find that you’ll need a longer marketing copy. And
as time goes on, you can continually make your marketing
message more concise.

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The caveat to this rule is that if you are offering something for
free, concise marketing typically converts better, no matter
how new or old your brand is. And if you are selling
something very expensive and considered an infrequent
purchase, you’ll typically need longer marketing copy
whether your brand is new or old.

The good news is that there are some rules of thumb you can
follow. These rules provide guidelines to indicate when it may
be better to write longer or shorter copy.

Let us Get Started.

1. Only write as much as you need to write and

no more

The first rule of thumb is to always write as much as you need

to write but no more.

Does a point need to be made to convince people to buy your

product? If yes, then be sure to add it to your copy. Will
another section make your copy more persuasive? Then by all
means make sure that section is added to your page as well.

Some points only serve to make your copy longer and don’t
strengthen your argument. Those are the ones you want to
leave out. Others make your copy too long and end up talking
prospects out of purchase instead of helping them to buy.
Those should be left out as well.

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When you’re writing copy, remember to write it as long as it
needs to be to make a persuasive presentation, but not to make
it so long that your readers get put to sleep and go on to do
something else.

You should always test the response rates for your copy (at
least whenever possible) Sometimes, a sales letter will be the
most effective, and other times, a postcard is a way to go.
Sometimes a long e-mail is best, and sometimes a concise e-
mail is much better. It’s really difficult to know without
measuring the response rate your copy achieves, but no matter
what, you always want to write however much copy needs to
be written to increase sales.

2. Long copy answers more objections

The next point to keep in mind is that a long copy allows you
to answer more objections.

Every time a customer is considering an offer, different

objections pop into their head and stop them from making a
purchase. Potential objections include:

• The company may not seem trustworthy so customers

decide not to buy.
• The product may seem too expensive, and the customer
may feel like he can’t afford it.
• Customers may not understand the product and walk away
out of confusion.
Whatever the case, there’s a long list of objections for every
product. Customers aren’t ready to buy for one reason or
another.

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As a copywriter, your job is to identify these objections and
help get the prospect over the fence. This is where a long copy
can help.

One of the most important benefits of long copy is that it

allows you to answer more objections which eventually can
lead to more sales.

With long marketing copy, you can answer any concerns or

objections your visitors have, assuming you can retain their
attention to read all of your messaging

3. Sometimes short copy is better

As with anything, there are two sides to the copy coin, and
sometimes, a short copy is better.

Generally speaking, a longer copy is best for technical

products that need a lot of explanation and for higher value
items. In the first case, a longer copy is needed so customers
understand the product and learn why they need it. In the
second case, a longer copy is helpful to provide more reasons
why customers should make a more expensive purchase.

These are two examples where long copy comes in handy. But
sometimes the short copy is better, or at the very least
necessary.

Take a postcard as an example. There’s only so much you can

write on a card since the space is limited. In cases like this,
it’s the copywriter’s job to condense the copy into the most
effective short form to get the message across and convince
prospects to take action.
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In other instances, short copy just ends up working better.
Some tests show long copy works better for some pages, and
there are tests that show short copy outperforming longer
versions. Sometimes copywriters fall in love with their
writing too much and need to be shown that a shorter version
works better.

The question to ask is whether there’s enough information

provided to convince people to take action. If yes, then more
copy isn’t needed and could So sometimes long copy is better,
but sometimes it gets in the way and distracts customers from
taking action when they’re ready to make a purchase already.

4. Video can help make your marketing message

concise
This way if prospects are too lazy to read, they can get the
information they need by watching and listening. The
important point is to focus on writing a good video script. By
including the 6 elements below, you can ensure that your
video script converts well:

1. Start your video by stating what your company does.

2. Explain the problem you are solving.
3. Show off the features of your product or service or explain
why it is so great.
4. Tell people to sign up or buy.
5. Answer any major objections potential customers may
have.
6. Use proof elements to seal the deal such as testimonials.

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 5. People read what’s interesting to them
If an article or ad is interesting and well written, people will
stop what they’re doing and read.

Take your reading habits as an example. What type of articles

or books do you read? Do you read blog posts or eBooks?
What about feature articles in Inc. or Entrepreneur?

No matter what your tastes are, it’s likely that you read
content in some form or another. And in most instances, you’d
be surprised how much people read, even if it’s just blog posts
or news articles on Yahoo.com.

Imagine you’re sitting at a doctor’s office waiting to be called

in and start looking at the different magazine options available
on the end table next to you. You lean over and begin
thumbing through the stack, flipping past copies of Newsweek
and Car & Driver, looking for something interesting. Ah-
ha! Fast Company, something worth checking out.

Then you start skimming the headlines looking for something

to read. You eventually find an article titled “Instagram’s
Formula for App Success.” Your interest is piqued so you
flip over and read as quickly as you can through the lengthy,
5,000-word feature article. Just when you finish, the nurse
comes out and says it’s your turn. You put the magazine down
and go in to see the doctor.

Did you notice what happened in this story? You skipped past
magazines and articles that weren’t interesting to you until
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you found something that caught your eye. Then you took the
time to read a lengthy, well-written article on a topic you
enjoyed.

This happens all the time. We read articles that are interesting
and ignore others that are not. The same is true with books,
sales copy, or whatever else might come our way.

If we visit a website that’s relevant to what we do, we’ll stop,

investigate, and read all of the copy if it’s interesting and
useful enough. If it’s not, we’ll go on our way and find
something else to read.

So, the argument that people don’t read simply isn’t true.
What is true is that people don’t read things that aren’t
interesting to them — whether that’s a magazine article or an
ad. If something’s interesting and written well, people will
read it; if it’s a topic that doesn’t matter to them, they won’t
read it. It’s as simple as that.

This is something you should take into consideration when

deciding how long your copy should be, and you should
remember that you’re not writing for everyone. It’s ok if 90%
of people don’t read your long copy. You’re not writing it for
them. You’re writing it for the 10% of people who are
interested in what you have to write about. If they’re
interested in the product you’re selling, they’ll devour your
copy looking for more information on the subject.

So, when you’re writing, don’t buy into the misconception

that people don’t read. Instead, remember that they do, as long
as it’s something that’s of interest to them.

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Conclusion
People are tired of reading sales marketing copy that is full of
fluff. Try using a concise marketing message as it typically
will save your visitors time and will boost your conversion
rate.

Here are a few points that you should keep in mind.

• Long copy is often better than short because it allows you

to answer more of your customers’ objections.
• Short copy is sometimes necessary because of the nature
and size of the medium you’re using.
• Short copy can also be better if customers will be
convinced with less copy and more words will only
distract them from the offer at hand.
• Consider testing video as not everyone enjoys reading
long copy.
• Get to the point by showing people what you are offering,
how it works, and how it will solve their problems.
If you’re writing copy for a website, you have room to write
as you’d like. You can intersperse calls to action throughout
the text and don’t have to worry too much about dragging on
and not allowing customers to respond. But if you’re writing a
sales letter, you’ll need to be more judicious with your copy
since you’ll be limited to the amount that will fit on one page.

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 MODULE 9.
How to Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines
That Convert.
If you talk to enough copywriters, you’ll eventually hear that
headlines are critical for your copy’s success. The greater
majority of people who read your headline won’t continue
reading. Only the ones drawn in by an attention-grabbing
headline will continue to read the first sentence of your copy.
So, your headline matters a lot. A great headline convinces
more people to read your copy while a poor one sends
potential customers searching for somewhere else to spend
their money. This leads us to a famous quote by David
Ogilvy:

“It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you
have wasted 90 percent of your money…”

Ogilvy believed headlines were so important that he viewed

them as being worth 90% of the money invested in
advertising. Can this be true?

Why Headlines Are Worth 90% of the

Advertising Dollar
Headlines are so important that a single word can impact a
campaign dramatically. We’ve seen e-mail subject lines where
one-word changes increased click-throughs by 46%.

Open rates were nearly identical and the e-mail creative was
the same for both versions, but click-throughs went up by
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46% in the second. If the ad was sent to 2,000,000 e-mails, the
winning version would lead to 17,000+ more clicks, all from
changing a single word. That’s a measurable difference that
significantly impacts the bottom line.

So, why are headlines so important? It’s because they’re the

first lines of your copy that customers read. They create an
initial impression that either draws readers in or pushes them
away. Even if the rest of the copy is amazing and would
convince 3 out of 10 people to buy, if the headline puts them
to sleep, only a fraction of the customers who would have
bought something will read your copy and make a purchase.

The headline alone can make or break an ad, homepage, or e-

mail subject line. It sets the tone for the rest of the copy. If the
headline pulls readers in, you’ll make more sales; if not,
you’ll be left wondering what happened.

And that’s why we’re devoting an entire part to headlines. By

following the points in this part, you’ll learn how to write
attention-grabbing headlines that convert readers into buyers.

How to Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines

That Convert
The first thing you need to know is the #1 rule for headline
writing: The primary purpose of the headline is to get the
first sentence read. If you hang around copywriting circles
long enough, you’re sure to read this rule at one point or
another because most copywriters view getting potential
customers to continue reading as the number rule of headline
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writing. Convincing your customers to keep reading means
the time or money you invest in your copy won’t go to waste.
So first, focus on writing a headline that pulls your customers
in and compels them to read the first sentence.

Here are four more rules of thumb to keep in mind. They’re

taught as the “four u’s” of headline writing by many
copywriters.

The four u’s:

• Your headline should be unique.

• Your headline should be ultra-specific.
• Your headline should convey a sense of urgency.
• Your headline should be useful.
You can rarely accomplish all four in a single headline, but if
you can at least include one or two then you’re bound to write
a headline that’s more likely to compel your prospective
customers to continue reading. Let’s talk about each in more
detail.

1. Your headline should be unique

The first thing you want to consider is how to make your
headline unique. If yours is just like everyone else’s, then
your company won’t stand out. Your customers won’t have
any reason to think you’re different than your competitors,
which means they won’t have any reason to buy from you
than from someone else.

Today’s consumers are savvier than customers of the past.

They’re used to being bombarded with commercial after

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commercial that says the same thing. We can all remember
watching a commercial with lines like, “Buy now with three
low payments of $24.95. That’s right. Only $24.95 per month.
If you buy today, you’ll get a free carrot peeler valued at
$19.95.”

Businesses use commercials like this because they work, at

least on a subset of customers, but many people are turned off
by commercial wording they’ve heard over and over again. As
soon as they hear, “Three equal payments of $24.95,” they
tune out waiting for something that seems more credible.

If you sound the same as everyone else, you’re automatically

going to put customers to sleep, but if you do something
different, you’ll stand out, your message will be refreshing,
and you may delight your customers enough to get them to
buy from you.

To write compelling headlines you have to be willing to take

risks, but the benefit of doing something unique that stands
out means you won’t be placed in the same bucket as your
competition. You’re more likely to connect with customers
who are looking for businesses that don’t speak like boring
corporate robots.

It works first and foremost because it has personality. People

like to do business with people they like, and the same is true
with businesses. If people like your business, they’re more
likely to want to do business with you. We’d rather give our
money to someone we like than someone we don’t.

Butchers and other local service providers used to

differentiate themselves by being more personable, and you

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can differentiate yourself by giving your business a
personality that appeals to customers.

2. Your headline should be ultra-specific.

In addition to being unique, your headline should be ultra-
specific. It should provide enough information to let
customers know whether or not they offer you’re presenting is
interesting to them. If your headline isn’t specific enough,
customers won’t know whether or not what you’re selling is
something they’re interested in.

A while ago I visited a blog with this headline: “You’ll Be

Missed.” I had no idea what it was about. Did the owner lose
a family member? Did her dog pass away? Did something else
terrible happen? I felt bad for her, but I had no idea what was
going on.

When I clicked through, I found out it was a post about Steve

Jobs. He had just passed away in the past couple of days, and
the author was writing about how she would miss Mr. Jobs. It
ended up being a well-written post, but as a reader, I had no
idea what it was about until I clicked through to read.

In cases like this, it’s much better to provide enough specific

information to compel readers to continue reading than to
write something “clever” that doesn’t give readers adequate
information to decide whether or not they’re interested.

3. Your headline should convey a sense of

urgency.

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When possible, your headline should convey a sense of
urgency. It should include something that compels readers to
continue reading so they don’t miss out. This isn’t a rule that
can always be used, but when it can, it works well.
Whenever possible, it’s good to write headlines that convey a
sense of urgency to convince people to continue reading.

4. Your headline should be useful.

This may be the most important tip of all. If your headline
isn’t useful and doesn’t convey a benefit, then it may not give
people a reason to continue past the headline. People want to
know what benefit they’ll receive from reading what you’ve
written.

This also happens to be one of the rules that companies break

the most. They end up writing something clever because for
some reason most people think that’s the point of writing a
headline. In doing so they fail to communicate a benefit and
fail to give readers a reason to continue reading. Eventually,
they end up with disappointing sales because no one pays
attention to their copy. That’s a mistake you don’t want to
make.

Practice Writing a Headline

Now that we’ve talked about four tips for writing attention-
grabbing headlines that convert, let’s practice writing a
headline for your business.

Write down the first headline that comes to mind.

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We’ll use the following for a “Simple Survey Tool” product
that I made up for this example :

• Headline 1: Easy-to-Use Surveys for Website

Owners
This headline isn’t very good on purpose so we can learn
what’s not good about it.

For starters, it conveys a vague benefit. Being “easy-to-use” is

a benefit, but it’s expected that tools like this would be easy to
use.

It’s also very general. It describes the tool as “easy-to-use

surveys.” Instead, it should stand out from other survey tools
by mentioning how this one is made specifically for surveying
website visitors. There are plenty of other tools for doing
general surveys. This one is special because it allows site
owners to survey their visitors.

Finally, it isn’t targeted. It mentions that it’s for “website

owners,” but we previously defined our target audience as
start-ups and marketing agencies. Speaking to general website
owners means that our offer won’t stand out to our target
market. They won’t realize our product is targeted specifically
for them.

Let’s work on improving this headline by adding what big

benefits the product provides. Here are a few more headline
variations based on this.

• Headline 2: Learn More about Your Visitors and How

They Interact with Your Site

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 • Headline 3: Find Out Which Questions Visitors Are
Asking and What’s Important to Them
• Headline 4: Optimize Your Site by Learning More about
Your Customers
• Headline 5: Gain Insights That Increase Conversion Rates
and Sales
These headlines are an improvement over variation one since
headline one describes the product but doesn’t convey a
benefit. These headlines focus on the actual benefit the
product provides instead of merely describing the product.

Of these four options, number five seems to be the best

because it goes beyond the surface level benefit and describes
what people want which is to increase conversion rates and
sales. Learning more about customers is good, but the point of
that is to increase conversions and sales.

You can also use actual customer surveys or feedback

information. Let’s pretend that you had run a survey and
asked your customers “how would you describe our product
to a friend or colleague?” and they responded with the
following answers:

Let’s write a few more headlines based on these answers:

• Headline 6: The Easy Way to Survey Customers and

Know What Questions to Ask
• Headline 7: The Easy Way to Come Up with Actionable
Survey Questions
• Headline 8: The Easy Way to Survey Website Visitors and
Learn More About Them

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These are three good headlines we can glean from the
answers. Out of these options, #8 seems to be the best because
#’s 6 and 7 convey more of a side benefit. The real benefit of
using the survey tool is learning about site visitors and
improving the site. A secondary benefit is knowing which
questions to ask. Thus, we’ll add #8 to our list of finalists.

Let’s take it one more step and say you had also asked in your
survey “What did you hope to accomplish by using this
product?” and you received the following answers:

And here are some headlines we can write:

• Headline 9: Increase Sales Online by Learning More about

Your Customers
• Headline 10: Write Better Copy and Increase Sales with
Actionable Customer Insights
• Headline 11: Optimize Your Site by Understanding Your
Visitors
• Headline 12: The Best Way to Find Out Who’s Visiting
Your Site
Out of these four, #’s 9 and 10 appear to be the best since they
communicate a real benefit of using the survey tool.
Optimizing your site and finding out who’s visiting it are both
nice, but the point of those is to increase sales and write better
copy. Thus, we’ll add 9 and 10 to our list of finalists.

So, what did we learn?

• First, we learned it’s not good enough to merely describe

the product in a headline. It’s much better to convey the
big benefit the customer will receive by using the product.
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 • Second, we learned that survey response can be a good
source for headlines because they reveal the words
customers use to talk about your product. By paying
attention to survey answers, you’re less likely to use words
that aren’t in your customers' vocabulary while
highlighting a benefit that matters to them.

Conclusion
In this part, we talked about the importance of effective
headline writing and how to write headlines that grab your
customers' attention and convert them into customers. We
covered:

• Why headlines are so important

• How to write an effective headline that conveys a benefit
• How to use survey responses to craft better headlines
• The ultimate goal of headlines which is to connect with
customers at an emotional level
The headline alone can make or break your level of success. It
sets the tone for the rest of the copy. With the proper headline,
you can boost your traffic and sales but with the wrong
headline, you can be left wondering what happened.

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 MODULE 10.
16 Most Important Tips to Get More Conversions
With Your Headlines
What draws people to your content?

One of the simplest ways to boost your conversion rate is by

tweaking your headline copy.

Before readers can even have a chance to read your intros,

they’ll need to click on your headline.

Headlines go way beyond just blog posts. This is something

you need to focus on for every piece of content you produce.

Whether it’s a new video on your website or a breaking news

story you’re sharing via social media, it all starts with a
captivating headline.

You want people to consume the content you’re producing.

But the reality is they probably won’t.

But if your goal is to get clicks and drive traffic to a landing

page, all you need to do is focus on the title.

That’s because 80% of people will read a headline. So, there’s

a good chance your headlines will be seen by most of your
audience. Now, it’s just up to you to make sure it’s appealing
enough to get clicks.

So, how can you boost your conversion rate through

headlines? Well, there are 16 simple strategies you can test:

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1. Solution selling
People are looking for your product or service because you
are offering a solution to their problem. If you can identify
what their problem is and represent the solution as well as the
benefit in the headline, you are likely to increase your
conversion rate.

Solution selling only works if you know phrases and

keywords that resonate most closely with your customers. The
easiest way to figure out what words your customers like is to
survey them. Here are a few questions you can ask them:

• What’s the biggest problem we can help you solve?

• What are you looking for in your ideal solution?

2. Use the word “free”

Who doesn’t like free stuff? For that reason, you should
consider using the word “free” in your headlines, assuming
you are offering something for free such as a “free trial”.

People don’t want to commit to anything they aren’t too

familiar with. By reducing their commitment through free
trials, reduced prices, or even money-back guarantees, you
can increase your conversion rates. Consider using any one of
these three tactics within your headline copy.

3. Create a comparison
You can use this tactic with KISS metrics to boost your
conversion rate. Relate your product to Google Analytics, a

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product with which all of your potential customers are very
familiar.

By comparing yourself to a product your potential customers

use, you help them figure out what you do within seconds.
This will increase your conversion rate.

Also, test a few other headline variations, but the “Google

Analytics tells you what happened, KISS metrics tell you who
did it” variation wins.

When you are creating your headline copy, consider testing a

version that compares your company against others in your
market place.

4. Does your headline match your advertising?

If you create a deceiving headline in hopes to boost your
conversion rate, it can potentially hurt.

Your headline shouldn’t just match your body copy, but it

should also match your advertising. If the majority of your
traffic comes from paid advertising, test unique headlines that
are related to specific adverts.

In an ideal world, each of your advertisements should be

pointing to a landing page that has a specific headline tailored
to your ad.

5. Make your headline a testimonial

This may sound a bit unconventional, but turning your
headline into a testimonial could boost your conversion rate.
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If you are going to test this approach, make sure you don’t use
a long testimonial as your headline. A headline is supposed to
gain someone’s attention and make him or her want to learn
more… you can’t do this by having a headline that is a
paragraph long.

6. Tell them what they get

Sometimes the straightforward approach is the best one. You
don’t always have to come up with a creative headline to
boost your conversion rate. All you have to do is to tell people
what you do straightforwardly and simply.

7. Sequence your headlines

It’s very rare that your conversion funnel only consists of one
page. Typically, you’ll have a few pages.

By making sure your headlines flow with each other, you are
more likely to increase your conversion rates.

8. Don’t forget sub-headings

In some copies, sub-headings convert like crazy. You can
decide to test how using sub-headings work on your copy.
When you are A/B testing, don’t forget to test having a sub-
heading versus not having one. In addition to that, test
multiple variations of a sub-heading because some may work
better than others.

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9. Curiosity sells
Use a free trial-based headline that will convert.

Controversy also invokes curiosity and you can leverage this

to your advantage. Find out what works.

Just because something is working well for you doesn’t mean

that there isn’t room for improvement. Keep improving your
copywriting techniques.

10. Time-based headlines.

People don’t want to go through a lengthy signup process.
And they don’t want to use a product or service that’s
complicated and time-consuming.

Within your headlines, you can convey that your signup

process is short and that your product is easy to use.

11. Include a number

Numbers are a great way to draw attention to your post and
increase clicks. That’s because readers know what to expect
when they see a number in the title.

When someone stumbles upon a headline with numbers, they

know exactly what it will entail.

As I mentioned, readers like to skim through content. Lists are

appealing because they make it easy to bounce from one point
to another.

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The reader doesn’t have to read every single word to scan
through this list. As a result, they are more likely to click on
it.

But what numbers should you use? According to research-

based 2017 Facebook engagement data, these are the top ten
performing numbers:

• 10
• 5
• 15
• 7
• 20
• 6
• 8
• 12
• 9
• 3
Numbers that are increments of five make up four of the top
five results on this list.

But that doesn’t mean you should include numbers like 50 or

100. As you can see, none of the top ten results include
numbers higher than 20.

That’s because people don’t want to spend all day reading

your content. They know it will take only a few minutes or so
to skim through a list of 10. But anything upward of 20 is
much less appealing and won’t produce as many clicks.

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12. Don’t overlook the length
Don’t ramble. Your headline shouldn’t be as long as an
introduction. But it shouldn’t be only a few words either.

One sentence or fragment of a sentence should put you in a

good spot to get clicks. That’s because it provides your
audience with enough information to grab their attention.

Research shows that headlines between 16 to 18 words

produce the most engagement.

Analyze your current headlines.

If they are fewer than ten words, it could be the main reason
why you’re getting an unsatisfactory number of clicks. On the
flip side, if your headlines have a word count that’s pushing
30, it’s still not optimized for the highest engagement.

Don’t get carried away here. Your headline needs to make

sense and read well.

Adding or removing a couple of words just to fit within the 16

to 18 range isn’t going to help you if the title doesn’t make
any sense.

In addition to your word count, you should also consider the

number of characters in your headline. 90 to 99 characters
will always work and convert like crazy.

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13. Shock your audience.
Come up with a headline that is too intriguing for readers to
pass upon.

Make your audience ask themselves “huh?” or “is this even

possible?”

Shocking headlines are sometimes referred to as click-bait.

It’s okay to do it as long as you are not letting your readers
down with your content.

Here’s what I mean by this. If you are going to use a shocking

headline, the content had better deliver as promised.

14. Set a benchmark

Another way to get people to click on your headlines is to use
a benchmark.

Show them how they can achieve something by clicking on

your post and reading more information. For example, let’s
say your company sells dietary supplements.

A benchmark headline could say,

“How you can lose 30 pounds in the next 30 days.”

This strategy combines the benchmark method with the
previous tactic of using a shock factor. Losing 30 pounds is
extreme on its own. But doing it in 30 days? That’s something
that even people who aren’t trying to lose weight would be
interested in reading.

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Just make sure your headlines are realistic. You want to set an
attainable benchmark.

15. Discuss relevant topics

Your headlines need to be relevant to a few different things.

First of all, they need to be appropriate for your brand and

voice. If your business is in the music industry, you shouldn’t
be writing headlines about how to survive an earthquake.

Yes, that example may be a bit drastic, but I’m sure you
understand what I’m talking about.

Second, your headlines must be relevant in terms of their

timing. If you’re reporting a news story that happened two
weeks ago, you’re too late. That headline is meaningless now.

16. Teach your readers “how to” do something

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I’m a
big fan of creating informative guides teaching you how to do
certain things.

If you are an expert in a particular field or industry, use your

extensive knowledge to your advantage. Create step-by-step
guides for your readers.

In addition to being informative, such posts are also a great

way to get lots of clicks.

Here’s something else you need to take into consideration.

Sure, you’ll be sharing your content on all your distribution
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channels. But that’s not the only way your content will be
seen.

You’ll also need to write headlines based on organic traffic.

Your organic traffic comes from unpaid search engine results.

If someone needs help accomplishing something, what do you

think they’ll type into Google? There’s a good chance they’ll
type the words “how-to,” so it’s in your best interest to
include these words in your headlines for SEO purposes.

If you can master your SEO skills, you’ll get plenty of clicks
just by occupying the top position on Google. In fact, in 2017
the top position received 20.5% of all Google clicks.

Those click-through rates drop down to 13% for the second

and third positions, which is still good but a significant drop
from the top spot’s rate.

Conclusion
If you want people to read your content, you need to entice
them to click on your headline before you can do anything
else.

Some of the headline ideas I showed you above may boost

your conversion rate, while others may not. Don’t just assume
that what works for one site will work for you even if that site
is in the same space.

Writing a headline shouldn’t be taken lightly. There is a

science behind it.

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You need to continually A/B- test your headlines, and you
need to do it logically. The last thing you want to do is to pull
headline ideas out of your butt and test them. If you do, you’ll
just end up with a lot of losing tests. Instead, you need to
survey your visitors, get an understanding of what they want
to see, and then show it to them.

If you follow this guide and start testing, you’ll see a

significant surge in your click-through rates based on your
new and improved headlines.

MODULE 11.
You Need To Stop Writing Boring Headlines: 11
Types of Headlines That Pique Reader Interest.
You put in hours crafting a great post, but then you come to
the hardest part:

The headline.

It seems like it should be easy to create a solid headline, right?

I mean, it’s usually 5-10 words long. How long could that
possibly take?

So, you write a few different headlines, but they just don’t
quite click. They’re okay, but your audience isn’t going to go
nuts over them.

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And while you’re trying to come up with other headline ideas,
the frustration creeps in. How can writing a single line take
so much time?

Because you expect to be able to write headlines quickly, it

gets frustrating when you can’t do it.

Most marketers end up just picking the “least sucky” headline

and getting subpar traffic as a result.

The solution is easy:

Expect to spend more time on your headline.

Copywriting Legends like David Ogilvy would spend up

to half of their time creating a headline for an advertisement
or article they are working on.

Ogilvy once reported that he rewrote a headline 104 times for

a Rolls Royce ad.

Another master copywriter, Gene Schwartz, often spent a

whole week on the headline and an intro of a sales piece.

So, when you don’t have a great headline after two

minutes, don’t worry about it. That’s completely normal.

As long as you understand that, you won’t get frustrated, and

you’ll be able to continue until you find a right headline.

Your headline is the biggest factor determining the

number of social shares your content gets: The fact is most
people don’t read your content, no matter how good it is.
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What they do is read the headline.

Around 80-85% of people will read headlines, while only

about 20% will read the actual article.

Based on the headline itself, people choose whether or not to

read on.

This is one of the biggest reasons why a great headline is so

important.

But there’s one reason that’s even more important:

Most people will share content based on the headline

alone.
It seems strange, but it’s been shown time after time.

Through research, we (marketers) have learned a lot about

which headlines attract the most shares and traffic.

And I want to show you the 11 best types of headlines to write

as well as ways to use them effectively.

You can use them immediately to increase your website’s

traffic and social engagement.

Understand the potential of a headline: Before we dig in,

there’s one last thing you need to understand about headlines.

Even if your headline is the most impressive headline ever

written, that doesn’t mean you’ll get thousands or millions of
shares.

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Why?

Because there are two other factors at play:

1. Your topic/niche
2. The number of people who see it
Some niches just aren’t “sexy.” You’re never going to get
millions of shares in an article about cleaning floors.

Besides, if you only have 1,000 followers on social networks,

it’s going to be difficult to hit that viral threshold of initial
shares.

Simply put the more followers you have, the more shares
you’ll get.

One way to make up for a lack of followers is paid to

advertise. But you’ll need a decent volume of one or the other.

The reason why understanding these factors is important is to

help you keep your expectations realistic.

I will take you through headlines of content that has hundreds

of thousands of shares. You may be able to produce similar
content, but you may also be limited based on the above two
factors.

Your goal should be to get as many shares as possible (based

on your headline). If you do this well consistently, your site
will grow.

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While going viral is nice, consistently maximizing your shares
and traffic is what will bring you reliable success.

Ready? Let’s get started.

1. The “ultimate headline”

This first headline formula is a great way to break down

headlines into specific components.

The idea behind this formula is that it can describe just about
any highly effective headline.

There are five main parts to it:

• Number – You know what a number is.

• Adjective – A word that describes a thing (noun). For
example: best, adorable, surprising.
• Keyword – A keyword or short phrase that tells us what
the content is about (possibly also for SEO)
• Rationale – The main way that value is delivered in the
content. For example: reasons, ways, secrets.
• Promise – What will the reader get from reading the
content?
These are pretty simple, and you can probably get your head
around the main components.

That’s the easy part—many bad headlines also have these

components.

The hard part is combining the right parts to produce

something special.

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And that’s why I started with this formula. Now you
understand the main parts of a headline. It’s essentially an
overall strategy.

However, for the rest of the headline types, we’ll look at

specific implementations of one or more of these components
(think of them as tactics).

2. “X” Reasons why list headlines are amazing

Let’s start with the first component of most great

headlines: the number.

List content is not only highly readable but they are also very
handy when it comes to writing an effective headline. You
automatically have several items on your list to add to your
headline.

In an of the most popular headlines, it was found that list

content is by far the most shared.

People love list content.

While we’re on the subject, list posts not only attract extra
attention (because of their headlines) but they are also
typically read more.

Lists are much easier to read, and readers can skim them,
moving quickly from one section to another to see if there’s
anything they’re interested in.

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List-post headlines in action: Take a few minutes to visit
some of your favorite sites. If they have a “popular content”
section, pay attention to which headlines are list posts.

In most cases, a large portion of them will be.

In addition to the already mentioned reasons why readers love

list headlines and posts, there’s one more great aspect to them.

You have the option of creating incredibly long lists.

Long lists automatically make people value the content

higher.

Let’s say you saw these two headlines:

• “3 ways to lose 20 pounds”

• “178 ways to lose 20 pounds”
Which one would you be more drawn to?

In most cases, it’s the one with the bigger list.

Many bloggers have taken advantage of this to create content

that automatically gets extra shares and traffic.

Making your list post headline: The good news is that one
part of your headline is decided for you.

If you have a list of 25 items, then “25” will go into your

headline.

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So, that just leaves the rest. The other tactics will help you fill
in that part.

3. “How to” write a descriptive and interesting

headline
Another effective type of headline is a “how-to” headline.

The general format is:

How to + Action (do something) + Unique benefit

For example, “How to Fall Asleep in Under 1
minute.”, which is a real post.

To say that it went viral on social networks is an

understatement. It’s received over 300,000 shares on
Facebook alone:

In this case, the “action” is falling asleep, and the unique

benefit is that it can be done in under a minute.

The real selling point comes from a unique benefit. It has to

be something desirable.

With this example, people are desperate to fall asleep quickly,

so if you have a solution that works fast (as the headline
claims), readers will be interested.

If you have a good article to back up your headline, it will get

shared.

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Why it works: There are a few reasons why more bloggers
should be using “how to” headlines when possible.

First, they’re simple to write.

Break it down into the two main components:

• the action
• the unique, desirable benefit
The action is usually pretty straightforward, but spend a few
minutes looking at different ways to incorporate it into the
headline.

For example, with the action of falling asleep, you could

follow “How” or “How to” with:

• “I learned to fall asleep”

• “Fall asleep”
• “Get to sleep”
• “I nod off”
The reason why the first one won in real life was that it
included the word “learned.”

Think about it from the reader’s point of view. They don’t

care about your falling asleep quickly—they want to do it
themselves. If you were just born with the unique ability to
fall asleep quickly, it wouldn’t be an interesting article.

However, if you’ve learned how to do it yourself and can

share that solution, all of a sudden the headline becomes much
more intriguing.

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Now, to the second part of the headline. This is a bit harder.

Make a list of all the potential benefits of the action you’re

telling the reader to take. Again, try to focus on it from the
reader’s point of view.

Let’s come up with a few for our example:

• “In under a minute” (the original)

• “In less than a minute” (a variation)
• “In under 60 seconds” (another variation)
• “No matter where you are” (a different benefit)
• “And wake up energized” (another benefit)
You could come up with a list of 20 headlines pretty easily,
composed of different benefits and different ways to
describe them.

It still takes practice and experience to be able to create and

pick the best option. But at least this way, you have a formula
that you can repeat over and over again and improve your
headline writing skills.

4. Three common mistakes of headline writing

Okay, time to come clean…

This section isn’t actually about the mistakes of headline

writing.

But admit it, it made you curious.

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What this is about is incorporating the word “mistakes” into
your headline. It’s a magical adjective that draws the attention
of just about any type of reader, which makes it versatile.

In general, people are afraid of making mistakes.

No, it might not be a crippling fear—many understand that

everybody makes mistakes.

However, it’s ingrained into almost everyone that we should

try to avoid making mistakes whenever possible.

So, when you see a headline with the word “mistakes” in it,
you want to make sure that you’re not doing something that
might be considered foolish.

Here’s an example:

20 Beauty Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making

Even if you’re not in that audience, you can understand the
allure of that headline.

So far, that post has over 204,000 shares on Pinterest.

Here’s another example:

8 Mistakes Parents Make in Giving Discipline.

So far, it’s received over 148,000 likes and shares on
Facebook:

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I encourage you to go look at this second example. The
content is very mediocre. However, the strong headline,
combined with a solid social following was enough for this
post to get viral traction.

What mistakes should you write about? The good news is

that you have one word in your headline already decided for
you: mistakes.

The part that requires some practice is determining if your

audience is interested in a certain type of mistake.

It’s a good idea to consider this before creating the content as

well.

And to do this, you need to answer one major question:

What do your readers care about but are uncertain

about?
First, your audience needs to care

Secondly, your readers need to be uncertain about it.

The parenting headline is a great example of this.

No one knows how to be a perfect parent—there’s no manual.

And yet, people care a great deal about being a good parent.

So, when readers see the headline about discipline mistakes

most parents make, they are uncertain whether or not they’re
making those mistakes. It forces the reader to read the
article to find out.

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If most of your readers are already experts on the topic you’re
writing about, they will know that they’re not making any
mistakes and won’t be interested.

This is why these headlines work best on readers with little

formal education in the subject (like parents).

One other bonus: While you can write articles about a single
mistake your readers might be wary of making, you’ll often
create content around multiple mistakes.

Reminds you of something? That’s right, it turns into a list

post.

You can combine using “mistakes” in your headline with the

number of elements in your list (for the reasons I showed you
before).

5. What is the secret to a great headline?

One type of headline that can help you get more social shares
is a question headline.

You ask the reader a question that they would be interested in

learning the answer to, and it’s implied that your content will
provide the answer. The subheading of this section is a basic
example.

Here’s a more complex one from Curious Facts:

A Renowned Psychologist Says There Are 4 Personality

Types Based On 4 Colours. Which Are You?

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Since being published, it’s been shared on Facebook over 3.6
million times (3,600 thousand times!):

Social media is a great platform for headlines like these to

spread because they are all about the user.

It makes sense that they see headlines asking them questions

on social media.

In particular, you’ve probably seen question headlines for just

about every popular quiz on Facebook.

One keynote to include: The best question headlines are the

ones that speak to your reader directly.

Don’t just ask them:

What is the best way to fall asleep?

Ask them:

Do you know the best way to fall asleep?

It forces them to answer the question, and if it’s “no”, it often
makes them seek an answer.

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6. This is the best type of headline EVER!
A famous researcher Dr. Hakim Chishti taught the marketing
world a lot.

He was most interested in figuring out what causes emotional

reactions in people.

And what he discovered was that certain words evoke

emotion more than others.

He also found that emotion drives action.

When people have a feeling about your content, positive or

negative, they will take action. It could be a comment, share,
or anything else. Typically, it’s something that you want to
encourage.

And most of that emotion will be stirred up when they read

your headline.

This is why you should focus on making emotional

headlines.

Try to get your readers to get as positively—or as

negatively—charged as possible.

The EMV index: The emotional marketing value (EMV)

index was created to try to quantify the emotional impact of
words in a sentence (or headline).

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According to an analysis of 1 million of the most popular
assets, an EMV score correlates very well with the number of
shares an article gets.

The higher the EMV score, the more shares an article

typically gets.

Technically, the highest score is 100, but that’s not realistic.

Instead, good copywriters usually get 30-40% with their

headlines.

To check your headline, use an EMV headline analyzer.

Type in your headline, select a category, then submit it for
analysis.

It will promptly spit out an EMV score for your headline.

How to use this tool: My best advice is to create at least 20

different headlines for your content.

Then, get the EMV score for all those headlines to determine
how emotional they are.

Pick from the top scores.

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7. Can’t explain complex topics? Here’s how to
write headlines like…
One of the most difficult parts of crafting a great headline is
figuring out a way to stand out from all the others who have
written about your topic.

If you need a post about writing faster, you don’t just want to
say.

5 tips for writing fast (really, really fast! I promise!)

There are thousands of articles about the topic, so even if your
content is great, it’s really difficult to convey just how useful
it is.

But here’s a simple solution: start name dropping.

What if you wrote a headline like:

5 tips for world-class writing

Assuming that your audience is interested in marketing, just
adding my name makes it easy to add emphasis to the result
your content can bring the reader.

It’s not the most concise headline, but all those highly
recognized brands significantly up the amount of perceived
value for a reader.

There’s only one key to using brands in your

headlines: This is a very simple, but effective technique.

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However, you’re probably wondering which brands to include
in your headline. The brand must be well-known among your
readers.

And not only that, it should be related to your topic.

8. One simple way to cure your headline

problems forever
Did that sub-headline get you excited?

If so, I’m sorry.

There’s no simple way to become an expert headline writer

overnight. Although if you use the tactics in this article, you’ll
be ahead of 90% of other marketers out there.

This technique, in particular, is to say that you have a simple

way to solve a fairly complicated problem that your readers
have.

For example, how about a “simple way to cook rice that could
halve the calories”?

Or how about “5 simple and healthy ways to cut portions”?

It’s no secret that if you want to add value to your readers’

lives (and get the rewards of that), you need to solve problems
in their lives that they care about.

However, what’s just as important is the way you solve them.

The vast majority of people want a simple solution.

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If someone needs a computer, they don’t want to learn how to
build one from scratch; they want to know which one to buy.

They’re both solutions, but one is much easier than the other.

And that’s why using “simple” in your headline is a great way

to capture attention.

The second benefit of simple solutions: When you’re

creating your headline and describe a solution as simple, it
forces you to define the problem well.

You can start with something like:

I’ve discovered a simple way to (solve a problem).

People want a solution to one problem at a time. Otherwise,
they get overwhelmed, so this works perfectly.

Try to get as specific with the problem as possible.

9. A way to combine headlines and sub-

headlines.
The reason why creating great headlines is so difficult is
because your goal is not only to induce curiosity but also to
provide clarity.

If you read about copywriting, you already know that being

too clever is a bad thing.

At the same time, a certain level of cleverness is how you

create the intrigue.

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So, you need a bit of both.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to write a really

short clever headline and include a more traditional sub-
headline, all in one.

I do it fairly often for my clients.

10. Social proof works everywhere, especially on

social media.
Here’s a very simple way to write a good headline.

You can’t use it all the time, but it does work well
consistently.

Start your headline with “Who else wants…”.

The reason why it works is that it shows that at least one other
person wants something already.

Most people follow others, so if they’ve approved an idea or

product, most readers will give it a chance.

The second reason it works is that it asks the reader to join a

group. Do they want to join this group of people who want
something?

People are social creatures and like belonging to groups,

which draws even more attention to your headline.

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11. Make your headlines SHINE with this
method…
A final check that you can do to make sure your headline
covers all of its basis is to see if it meets every point on the
“SHINE” list.

SHINE is an acronym often used for headlines. It stands for:

• S: Specificity
• H: Helpfulness
• I: Immediacy
• N: Newsworthiness
• E: Entertainment value

1. Is your headline specific?

It should be clear that your content is about one specific topic.

Consider the headline, “What’s the best way to cook it?”

That could be about anything.

A better headline would be, “What’s the best way to cook a

steak?”

Now, it has a specific subject.

3. Does it display helpfulness?

At the heart of every piece of content, there needs to be

something of value to the reader.

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Your headline should make it clear that your content will
solve a problem or provide something else useful.

4. Is there some sort of urgency?

There should be something that encourages the reader to read

the content right away.

If a reader isn’t compelled to do it right away, it’s unlikely

that they will later.

If you’re solving a big problem, the urgency is built in.

Otherwise, you need to promise some sort of immediate

benefit that a reader will get out of the content.

5. Does it need to be said?

All content should have something new in it, no matter the

topic. Otherwise, why should someone view your content
when they could have seen it in the past?

What about your content that’s newsworthy?

To show that you have something of value to share, use the

following words:

• dates (e.g., an SEO guide for 2020)

• “updated”
• “discovered”
• “new way to”

6. Does it sound fun, even a tiny bit?

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Unless you have extremely motivated readers, no one looks
for content that bores them.

If they get the impression from the headline that your content
is boring, they’ll likely pass on reading or sharing it.

Some topics, admittedly, are a little dry. Use adjectives to

spice up your headline to make it sound a little more fun:

• “attract”
• “clever”
• “fun”
• “inventive”

Conclusion
Your headline is the most important part of your content when
it comes to getting traffic and social shares.

But creating a great headline isn’t easy; it takes a lot of

practice and knowledge.

I’ve shown you 11 different ways that you can immediately

apply to start writing better headlines.

Start using them as soon as possible. You’ll improve right

away and will continue to improve as you use the tactics over
time.

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 MODULE 12.
Latest Trends in Headline Creation and Their
Success.
No matter what kind of a website you have, the one thing that
is always true is that your headlines are really important.
Headlines affect things like user engagement, readability,
conversions, SEO, social sharing, and even click-throughs.
• 80% percent of people will read a headline, but only
20% will read the article. Whether or not you snag that
extra 80% depends on the magnetism of your headline.
• A really good headline can spike up your traffic by up
to 500%.
It’s worth putting the time and effort into crafting a beautiful
headline! I’ve studied headlines very carefully and learned
this powerful truth. Success lies in creating masterful
headlines.

So, before we get into how you can create and leverage
magnetic headlines, let’s first go over what’s changing.

What’s changing in headline creation?

You’ve probably read a thing or two about developing a great
headline. Beware of anyone who tells you that headlines have
to be a certain way. Web content is an evolving entity. Even
so-called “magnetic” headlines have changed over its short
history.

What’s popular and trending in headlines is always changing.

Headlines are like trends in fashion — they come and go,
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changing and shifting with popular sentiment and
contemporary concern. To capitalize on popular headline
trends, you’ve got to stay aware.

Takeaway: Keep up with the trends in headline creation.

What do you want from a headline?

What is the perfect headline?

That question is impossible to answer. Instead, you need to

ask the question “what’s the perfect headline for my
situation?” Headlines are going to vary based on three things:

1. Your goal
2. Your audience
3. Where the headline will be promoted
First, let’s answer the question “what’s the goal of this
headline?”

In other words, what do you want your headline to do for

you?

If your headline is intended to boost your social presence, it

needs to have viral and link bait elements. If your headline is
for an SEO-centric content marketing strategy, the headline
needs to contain the right mix of long-tail keywords and
engaging language. If your goal is conversions, then you’ll
need conversion-generating language for your headline.

Second, ask “who is this headline for?”

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Your audience needs to be at the forefront of your mind when
you write a headline. Who are these people? What do they
like? How do they think? What’s their favorite drink?

You will have to write a headline that’s a personal letter to

your target persona. Think of them; write for them; target
them.

Finally, ask “where is this going to be promoted?”

The final factor has to do with where the headline is going to

be promoted. For example, Twitter’s character limit prevents
you from posting long headlines. Google+ and Facebook use
easy picture embeds. Twitter’s picture may or may not appear
in a Twitter feed, depending on the app. These key differences
mean critical alterations to the headline, associated image, and
any preview text.

You want to make sure that you’re utilizing all the channels,
but you may wish to adapt your headline slightly to maximize
all the features of a particular social channel.

Takeaway: Write a headline that meets your goals, connects

with your audience and matches your promotional strategy.

What’s changing in headline creation?

In the field of headline creation, there are five traditional
types called the “high-level headline types.”

1. Normal (Ways to Make Drinking Tea More

Delightful) – you’ll see these just about everywhere.

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 Traditional newspapers and magazines practice this kind
of headline creation.
2. Question (What are Ways to Make Drinking Tea More
Delightful?) – strategic or scintillating questions have
been a staple of headlines for a long time. It’s assumed
that these questions will interest the viewer enough for
him or her to read the article to get the answer to the
question.
3. How to (How to Make Drinking Tea More
Delightful) – the “how-to” headline style is a great way to
offer something directly to your readers that they are
interested in. It’s a problem-solution approach, and it
works great.
4. Number (30 Ways To Make Drinking Tea More
Delightful) – the numbered headline is probably the most
popular to-date. Have you read BuzzFeed recently? You
will get an eyeful of numbers. (And you will desperately
want to click.)
5. Reader-Addressing (Ways You Need to Make Drinking
Tea More Delightful) – there are plenty of article titles
that confront the reader with an alleged need. These
headlines often start with “why.”
Headlines should leverage human curiosity. Use the first-
person style and shock-value language to make people want to
click.
Use social fuel — Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. That’s
where the reading, sharing, and viral activity happens. But
such sharing can’t happen without the headlines, serving as
catalysts for your readers’ actions.

Raw, shocking, intriguing, curious, and racy, these headlines

tap into something deep within the human psyche. They tug,
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question, offend, or humor us enough to make us stop, click,
look, and share.

These are powerful headlines.

Takeaway: To cash in on the power of headlines, use a

combination of these methods.

How do I create a powerful headline?

So, we come to the clutch question — how do you do it? How
do you write these brilliant, psychologically moving headlines
that create a 500% traffic upswing or claw their way to
worldwide recognition?

Let me give you four simple tips.

• Dominate your niche – don’t expect to be the next

Buzzfeed, Upworthy, or Viral Nova. I’m all about
shooting for the moon, but I need to provide caution. Are
you trying to be the next viral social sharing information
aggregator? Then, go ahead; duke it out with Viral
Nova. But ideally, you should focus on dominating
your niche.
• Imitate what’s good – as I mentioned, keep a pulse on the
trends in headline writing. You want to find out what’s
working and then go out and do it for your audience. Go
ahead and employ the strategic techniques used by the
winners in the industry. The saying “good artists copy;
great artists steal” has some merit, even in headline
creation. Genius is imitation.
• A/B test the heck out of it – the most reliable information
comes from your investigation. Conduct A/B testing as
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 early, as often, and as aggressively as possible. Viral
Nova’s headlines show every sign of rigorous A/B testing.
You can write up to 25 headlines and then use testing
software to select the best one. I recommend conducting
at least a new A/B test every month, although more
frequently is better.
• Own your language – headlines boil down to this: words.
You’ve got to have an expert ability to express yourself in
the language in which you are writing your headlines.
Since your article’s success depends on the headline,
spend plenty of time tweaking words, trying iterations, and
testing your versions on friends and unsuspecting
colleagues. Words, sounds, definitions, synonyms, verbs
— these are the ingredients of headlines. Create something
amazing.

Conclusion
If you want to become a master of social media, content
strategy, or indeed of digital marketing itself, you will first
have to become a master of smart headlines.

There is nothing more satisfying than looking at your

analytics and seeing that brilliantly-strategized headline
delivering explosive traffic and unbelievable share metrics.
This kind of satisfaction is completely within your reach.

Go for it.

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 MODULE 13.
Tweaks that Will Turn You into a Copywriting
Master
Can I confess?
When I started writing, I was no Shakespeare. I was a no one.

I was downright awful.

Like many of you, I didn’t get any kind of degree in writing. I

didn’t shine in high school English. I never entertained
dreams of being a best-selling author.

And my first few posts online proved it, short and super
weird.

But over time, I started realizing how important writing is in

business. (Spoiler alert: it’s super important.)

So, I studied, practiced a lot, and got better. I’m still no

Shakespeare, but I’ve learned a lot about writing.

Writing isn’t a talent—it’s a skill. A skill you can develop,

refine, and improve.

Becoming a great copywriter isn’t easy, but if you

consistently work on your writing, your writing will get better
and better.

Here are 38 writing tweaks that will propel you to copywriting

mastery.

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 1. Use you instead of we or us
Guess what? Your copy shouldn’t be about you. It should be
about the customer.

Using you means the copy is talking directly to the customer.

But using we and us turns you into another boring company.

Don’t fall victim to the “all about us” copywriting trap. Show
your readers how they’ll benefit.

2. Qualify
You know you should sell benefits instead of features. But
you can’t stop there—you have to emphasize that value.
That’s why you need to qualify your value statements.

By making a list or a series of sections about benefits, you’ll

communicate both quality and quantity. Your customers will
be able to see a clearer picture of what you can do for them.

3. Ditch boring verbs

Remember in high school English class when your teacher
told you to avoid the passive voice? That’s still true and
extends to passive-sounding verbs, like the verb to be.

Why?

Because they tend to sound boring.

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Which is more exciting: “Vacation is near” or “Get ready for
vacation”?

I’m betting it’s the second one.

When it comes to your copy, don’t skimp on the verbs. Use

strong, active verbs, and be direct.

4. Focus on your titles and headings…

Legendary marketer David Ogilvy,

“On average, five times as many people read the headline

as read the body copy. When you have written your
headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

Take a lesson from the master, and create the best titles and
headings possible. Whether you’re writing the main headline
on a landing page or an email subject line, put some serious
thought into it.

5. Resist clickbait temptations

While clickbait titles can initially boost your conversion
rate, they’ll hurt you in the long run. That’s because, with
clickbait, you’re over-selling and under-delivering.

Instead, craft titles relevant to your readers. Rely on that

relevancy to sell the title. Promise only what you can deliver,
and then deliver.

6. Practice writing fewer words

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Even if you’re writing a 3,000-word blog post, you still need
to be concise. Omit needless words.

Next time you’re writing something, challenge yourself to

express your idea with as few words as possible. Then, build
on that skeleton.

7. Write shorter sentences

Short sentences are powerful.

While you shouldn’t try to make every sentence short, you

should use them to break up the text. No one wants to read a
sentence that’s two paragraphs long.

Short sentences catch your readers’ attention. They’re easier

to digest, and they help readers move through the content
easily.

8. Harness the power of single-sentence

paragraphs
A single sentence paragraph can do a lot.

(See what I did there?)

When you use a single sentence paragraph on its own, you

draw attention to it. Your readers will know that’s an
important point to remember.

If you want your readers to listen up and remember

something, make that sentence into its one-line paragraph.

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9. Brainstorm unique CTAs
To be blunt, a “Buy now” button is boring. So is “Join.” And
don’t even get me started on “Click here.”

Use your call to action to give your readers something

different. A great CTA lets readers know what they’re getting,
and it gives them a great reason to click on it.

10. Bold or italicize important statements

If there’s something you want your readers to
remember, make it bold.

11. Use the power of reason

People like to feel they have a good reason for what they do.

Next time you ask your readers to do something, give them a

reason to. Using “because” is a good place to start.

(And no, you don’t have to use the word “because.” Just give
your readers a reason to do what you want them to.)

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12. Don’t be afraid of the word I
You might have been taught to not use I, me, or my in your
writing. Well, throw that idea out of the window.

The more you sprinkle in references to yourself, the more

you’ll be able to get personal and genuine with your readers.
Your readers are craving it.

I do it all the time, and here’s what I’ve noticed.

When I write without referring to myself much, it tends to get

ignored. All the engagement metrics I track go down. But
when I do tell a story or share some insights into my life or
business, engagement goes way up.

It just works. Trust me.

Be yourself, and refer to yourself.

Just remember: it’s not about going on an ego trip. It’s about
being as honest and real as you can be in front of the people
who matter—your readers.

13. Use personal stories.

A personal story can turn a good article into a great one. If
you’re writing about SEO and you tell readers how it helped
you, they’ll be more likely to try it themselves.

Personal stories help build personal connections with your

readers. They’ll see that you’re just like them, and they’ll be
willing to listen to you.
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14. Use other people’s stories.
I love using real-life examples in my writing. When I include
stories about how influencers have benefited from something,
my readers understand how powerful it is.

Using others’ success stories lets your readers know you’re

not full of hot air. If you know that something works, use
stories to prove it.

15. Answer questions.

I’m not talking about asking customers to send in questions.
I’m talking about answering customers’ questions before
they can even ask.

Great copywriting provides all the answers to a customer’s

needs. Your copy should tell the what, why, and how of your
product. That means pre-emptively answering the most
anticipated questions in the copy itself.

16. Start strong

When it comes to writing copy, you have to start with a strong
statement. Tell your readers why they should keep reading.

I’m a big fan of using the first few sentences to relate to

readers by addressing their concerns.

But you can also say directly what the post is about. Doesn’t
that make you want to read more? You immediately know
why the article is going to be superb.

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No matter what you do with the beginning of a post, make
sure you connect with the reader right off the bat.

17. Read it aloud.

I know, I know. You’re thinking, “Read my writing aloud?
Yeah, right.”

But trust me—this works.

Reading your writing aloud will help you identify places

where the writing doesn’t flow. If you trip over some words or
stop to process the writing, you know it’s time to go back and
fix those sections.

18. Make friends with a thesaurus.

Ever notice you tend to use the same words over and over
again? Or have you found yourself looking for the perfect
word to use? You need a thesaurus.

Having a thesaurus is ideal for finding new words to introduce

into your writing.

Now please, don’t use a thesaurus to try to find big,

sophisticated-sounding words.

Simpler words are almost always better. But if you can’t think
of a simpler word, maybe the thesaurus will help.

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19. Speak to your readers’ language.
Take a look at past comments from readers. How do they
write? Do you see any common phrases popping up?

Use this information to improve your writing. By literally

using your readers’ language, you’ll make it easy for them to
relate.

20. Use subheadings.

Good writing needs visual contrast. That means no walls of
text and no dense copy.

Using subheadings to create subsections helps the reader

digest the information and understand it more easily. Make
sure you state the main point of each section in the
subheading.

21. Stuck? Try combining ideas.

Fusing unrelated ideas creates a new twist on an old subject. It
works so well because it grabs people’s attention. It makes
you do a double-take.

Readers have no idea what you’re going for. It makes them

want to read more because the combination is so unexpected.

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22. Stay actionable.
There’s nothing wrong with theory—in theory, that is.

When you write an article without giving one actionable tip

within it, it’s hard to take that article seriously. Your readers
have no way of knowing whether you’re sharing good
information.

In each post, aim to include several actionable tips your

readers can use today. Sprinkle them throughout the text so
readers get new advice with each section.

23. Explain the benefits.

What’s the number one reason you buy a product or service?
It’s because you’ve found a solution to your problem, right?
Well, although people want to buy solutions, solution selling
doesn’t work as well as it used to.

Why?

Because of the web, people are now able to do their research

and find their solutions. 60% do their research, benchmark
prices, and rank before making choices to buy. In other words,
customers already know all of the potential solutions out
there, and they are just trying to figure out which one to pick.

This doesn’t mean you should stop solution selling, but you
should also start selling the benefits of your product or
service.

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24. Make friends with summaries.
Summaries, conclusions, wrap-ups. Whatever you call them,
there’s no denying they’re important.

Here’s the thing: If someone’s made it to the end of your

article, they should be rewarded. One easy way to do that is to
include a summary or a conclusion at the end.

You can write a list reminding your readers of the most

important facts in the article. Readers will be more likely to
remember that important stuff, and it’s also convenient for
them. Win-win!

25. Use humor sparingly.

I’m the last person on earth to say your writing shouldn’t be
personable. But there’s a fine line between relating to your
readers and trying too hard.

If you want to use humor, do so—but don’t overdo it. You

shouldn’t be cracking a joke with every new paragraph. With
humor, often less is more. So, be funny, but don’t be funny all
the time.

26. Bookend important points.

You were probably taught that you should start a paragraph by
introducing the main idea (a.k.a. a topic sentence). I’ll go a
step further and say you should talk about your main idea in
the first and last sentences of a paragraph.

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People will remember information better if they see it more
than once. By talking about your main point both at the
beginning and at the end of a paragraph or section, you’re
making that idea stick in your readers’ heads.

27. Be brutal when editing.

Rough drafts aren’t called rough drafts for anything. You may
have a great idea, but without editing, you won’t make your
writing the best it can be.

There’s a saying in writing: “Kill your darlings.”

The point is not to become too emotionally attached to your

writing. Don’t keep something because you think it sounds
nice.

Be honest and unbiased. Cut out filler words, remove lazy

phrases, and shorten any novel-length sentences.

28. Use transitions.

No one likes to be hit over the head with something.

If you’re going from one topic to another, use a transitional

phrase or sentence to make the shift smooth.

One great method is to connect the current section with the

next one.

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29. Avoid clichés.
We all use clichés in everyday speech, but they’re a bad
choice for writing.

That’s because using a cliché is a great way to say nothing at

all. There is always a better choice (unless you’re making fun
of a cliché, of course).

30. Watch your language.

No, I don’t mean curse words! The words and phrases you
use on your copy will either help you get more sales or push
your visitors away.

Let me give you an example… do you know why e-

commerce companies use the phrase “add to cart” instead
of “buy now”? When you click “buy now”, you feel like you
are making a commitment, which is why you are less likely to
click on it. When you click on “add to cart”, it gives you a
sense that you can still back out, which is why you are more
likely to click on it.

And this isn’t the only example of how a few simple words
can decrease your conversion rate.

Phrases like “purchase now” or “buy” can decrease

conversions as they make people feel that they are
committing. “Free trial”, “money-back guarantee”, “we
promise not to spam you”, “discount”, “get instant access”,
“percent off” and “trusted by” are all examples of phrases that
can help boost your conversion rate.

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31. Include rhetorical questions.
Do you want to be an awesome copywriter?

That’s an example of a rhetorical question. If you smartly use

rhetorical questions, you can build a better connection with
your readers and get them hyped for what’s next.

But if you go overboard, your readers will probably leave.

Use rhetorical questions only when you want to emphasize a
point or create hype.

32. Leverage lists.

Lists are fantastic. They break down information into smaller
chunks, and the format makes it a breeze to read.

If you’re packing a ton of information within a paragraph,

consider making it into a list. Numbered lists work well for
processes, and bullet points are ideal for everything else.

33. Eliminate buzzwords.

It’s tempting to use jargon because it’s so widespread. But the
truth? Most of the time, it comes across as vague filler text.

You might want to write a post called:

“Creating a Streamlined Process for Creating a Dynamic

Funnel,”
but it’s more direct to title it:

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“How to Get More Customers Fast.”
There’s a time and place for buzzwords, but don’t go over the
top with them.

34. Keep it focused.

Writing about sales? You could go into all sorts of topics,
from marketing to public speaking.

But it’s important to narrow that scope so you don’t lose

readers by going on tangents.

Keep everything on the topic. Don’t talk about another subject

unless it’s relevant. If you do talk about something else, keep
it short.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

You don’t have to write a lot of copy to convince people to

buy. The trick with writing a marketing copy, whether it is
short or long, is to make sure you are answering objections.
People will always have concerns about buying your product
or service. If you can find out what they are, you can write a
copy that addresses those objections.

A simple way to figure out what objections your visitors have

is to throw up a survey on your website and ask them the
following questions:

1. What else would you like to see on this page?

2. What’s your biggest concern about purchasing [insert your
product or service name]?

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 35. Make your content scannable.
There is nothing wrong with having a lot of text on a page, but
make sure it is skimmable. On average, people leave a web
page within 10 to 20 seconds, so you have to make sure you
can grab people’s attention within a few seconds.

From having a strong value proposition to formatting your

text so people can quickly understand the message you are
trying to convey, focus on making your content more
skimmable.

These are the six simple ways to make your content digestible
in a quick manner:

1. Bold important facts, benefits, and sentences.

2. Break up long paragraphs into shorter ones.
3. Use bullets and numbers, where applicable.
4. Keep your text readable by using black text on a white
background.
5. Pare down your web page by removing unnecessary
elements.
6. Use photos to explain your message.

36. A picture is worth a thousand words.

From placing images of happy customers on your web pages
to using images to explain your product, you can bank on the
power of images to help convince people to buy.

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Apple uses images on its features page to help enforce its
marketing copy. On its iPad mini page, Apple uses a pencil to
help show how thin the iPad mini is.

Text without images can be boring, so you should test adding

images to your content to increase conversions.

37. Optimize your whole site, not just one page.

When you think of a marketing copy, what comes to mind?
Chances are it’s sales letters. You know, it’s those ugly pages
that never end and are just trying to sell you something.

Effective marketing copy isn’t just about one page. You need
your whole site to have one cohesive message. In other words,
your home page has to tie in with your features page; your
features page has to tie in with your pricing page; your pricing
page has to align with your checkout page.

When President Obama was running for election, his team

used to have a single landing page that was used to collect
donations. But when they tested a sequential 4-step landing
page, in which the marketing copy flowed from one page to
another, they were able to boost their conversion rate by 5%.

To ensure that the marketing copy throughout your whole site

is aligned before you start writing your copy, you should first
plan out all the pages. Planning ahead of writing will ensure
that your message is consistent throughout.

38. Build a relationship before you sell.

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Just for a moment, go back in time and imagine yourself in
elementary school. Now think of the time where they made
you sell candy door to door to raise money for the school.

Which of your neighbors bought candy from you? The

ones who knew you, right?

When you get to know people and bond with them, they are
more likely to buy from you compared to a stranger. So, how
do you build a relationship with your readers in a really short
period of time?

• Write in a conversational tone – you can’t get to know

people without having a conversation with them, so use
the words “you” and “I” within your copy because it
creates the effect of having a conversation with your
visitors.
• Tell stories – it’s easier to bond with people who open up.
Telling stories will help people feel like they know you.
• Build trust – one of the quickest ways to build trust with
your visitors is to leverage testimonials.
• Show affection – by showing that you are there to help
people, you will build a bond faster.
• Relate to your audience – people get along with others
who are like them. Don’t act smarter than everyone else,
and don’t think you are better than your customer.
Highlight any characteristics you or your company may
have that your customers can relate to. Creating a bond
with your visitors is an important step in sales. Test a
marketing copy that helps you create a bond with your
visitors.

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 Conclusion
You don’t need years of study to become a master copywriter.

But you do need to practice. And you need to practice a lot.

Your writing will only get better if you take the time to refine
it. Every day, make it your goal to write something, even if
it’s not much. You might be surprised to see how quickly your
wordsmithing improves.

If you are looking to boost your conversion rates and, more

importantly, your sales, don’t forget about the little things.

Small tweaks such as adjusting text in your call-to-action

buttons or changing your headline can have a huge impact on
your conversion rates!

MODULE 14.
The Golden rule of Copywriting – Test, Test, and
Test Some More.
It goes without saying that it’s critical to test all of your copy
because it’s impossible to know how customers will respond
to what you’ve written.

Something you write may be unknowingly offensive or

confusing. Other lines may not be as appealing as you thought
they’d be.

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The only way to know for sure is to test.

But that’s also become a cliche. You hear people talking

about “testing this” and “testing that”, but not many are
doing it. A lot of people are talking about testing, but not as
many are actually testing. The goal of this post is to show why
you need to be testing, and then to show how you can do it for
your business.

Why You Need to Test, Test, and Test Some

More
First, let’s talk about why you need to test. The reason is that
testing is the only way to know how well your copy actually
works.

When you’re sitting in a boardroom talking about a campaign,

everyone has an opinion. Some people think you should use
this picture and others think you should use another one.
Some people think you should use larger fonts and others
think you should use smaller ones.

Often, when you’re coming up with an initial design, you

have to just choose one option or another based on the best
information you have available, and then move forward.
Then, when possible, you need to test because you never
know how your design and copy will actually perform.

If you want to get more for your money, testing obviously

provides big returns.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that these small

changes can make a big difference.
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Here are a few ways you can begin to test your copy.

Test #1: E-mail Subject Lines

The first thing you can test are e-mail subject lines. The good
news is that most e-mail marketing clients make it easy to
A/B test subject lines for the e-mails you send out.
MailChimp, for example, makes it super easy to A/B test your
campaigns. After sending two versions to 20% of your list, it
will send the winner to the remaining 80%. Here are some
screenshots that show how this works.

Example: MailChimp
To conduct an A/B test in MailChimp, first select to start a
new campaign, and then click on “A/B Split Campaign.”

E-mail marketing clients like MailChimp make it easy to test

your subject lines.

Next, choose how you would like to set up your test. You can
select a winner based on “open rate,” “click
rate,” or “manual.” Most of the time click rate is the best
option to choose, but you can decide what makes the most
sense for your e-mail.

Finally, you’ll conduct your test by entering two different

subject lines, and then setting up the rest of your e-mail
campaign.

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For our sample project, we could enter two subject lines such
as:

• Sign up for a free Simple Survey Tool trial today

• Find out why everyone’s talking about the Simple Survey
Tool
Both of these subject lines are different enough to provide
relevant testing results. After sending them to 20% of your
list, you’ll know which one is most likely to perform better
across the final 80%.

As this example shows, setting up an A/B test in most e-mail

marketing clients is as easy as clicking a few buttons and
coming up with two different subject lines.

Test #2: E-mail Creative and Copy

In addition to testing subject lines, you can also test your e-
mail creative and copy. The design and copy of your ad or
website work together to get the optimum result.

To test this, you can send an e-mail to one group of recipients

and a different e-mail to a different group of recipients. The
difference between e-mails can be the design and/or the copy
that’s used.

First, you’ll need to come up with the hypothesis you’re going

to test. Are you going to test two different color schemes, two
different layouts with different font sizes, or two different
copy versions?

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You could, for example, test two versions for the call-to-
action-button copy. One could use “Buy Now” to get people
to click through and the other could use “Learn More” as the
call to action.

You could also test the length of the copy. You could use
more copy for the “Buy Now” version and less copy for
the “Learn More” version since you’ll need to say more to
make people willing to “Buy Now” then you will to get them
to click to learn more “Learn More.”

You may be wondering what you’re testing in this scenario.

With a test like this, you can measure the following:

• Click throughs
• Orders
It’s ok to measure both, but in most cases, it’s much more
important to measure orders because it’s possible that one
version will lead to more clicks while the other will lead to
more orders.

So how exactly do you compare order numbers with a test like

this? One way is to set up campaign links with the Google
URL Builder. Let’s look at how to do that now.

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Setting Up Campaign Links with Google URL
Builder
To measure the performance of different campaigns, you can
set up campaign links for different ad variations.

First, go to the Google URL Builder.

Once there, begin entering the information for your different

campaigns. For ours, we’ll be testing “Buy Now” vs. “Learn
More” and will enter the information accordingly.

Information for version 1:

Information for version 2:

After hitting submit, you get the tracking URLs.

So how do you use these URLs?

First, add them into the appropriate places in your e-mail

campaign such as “Buy Now” or “Learn More” links and
call-to-action buttons for the corresponding e-mail campaigns.

Once you’ve done so, Google Analytics will start to track

visits and conversions from those links. The conversions are
particularly useful to show which e-mail led to the most
signups or purchases. (Note: You’ll first have to set up
conversion goals in Google Analytics in order to track
conversions.)

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To view the campaign results in Google Analytics, click
on “Traffic Sources” and then “Campaigns.”

Now that you’ve set up campaign URLs whose conversions

will be tracked within Google Analytics, you can send them
out as part of an A/B test to see which e-mail version converts
better.

With an example test, we could send the “Buy Now” to

10,000 e-mails and the “Learn More” version to 10,000
more e-mails. After evaluating the results, you’ll know which
one generates more clicks and sales, and you can send the
winning version to the rest of your list.

Setting up conversion goals in Google Analytics and setting

up campaign URLs in the Google URL Builder enables you to
measure different campaigns to see which one gets the best
results.

In-depth tests for different design and copy versions make

more sense for campaigns that require a significant
investment. If you’re just sending an announcement to your
blog subscribers, it’s easier to simply test your subject line to
see which gets the best open or click-through rates, but if
you’re paying $50,000 to send to a rented list of 2,000,000 e-
mail subscribers, then it’s worth testing your subject line and
your copy and creative to find a version that’s the most
effective.

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Test #3: Website Headlines and Copy

Another testing option is website headlines and copy. You can

test to see if one headline leads to more signups than another,
or if longer copy leads to more purchases.

So how do you conduct an accurate test for website headline

and copy? The best way is to use a tool like Optimizely,
Visual Website Optimizer, or Google Analytics Content
Experiments. Since
Optimizely is the easiest to use, we’ll talk about how to
conduct a test with it now.

First, go to Optimizely, enter your URL, and click “Test it

out.”
Next, decide what makes sense to test. Some key areas to test
are:

• Headlines
• Page copy
• Call-to-action-button copy
We know that headlines are the first item that people read. In
order to know which headline version converts better, you’re
going to test contact page visits (the number of people that
click to view the contact page), engagement (which version
leads to more clicks overall), and home form
submission (the number of people that fill out the contact
form on the home page).

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Once you add the tracking code to your site, Optimizely will
begin keeping track of the results and help you to identify a
winner.
You can also use Visual Website Optimizer, Google Content
Experiments, or any of the other tools that are available. You
can use them to test headlines, website copy, or other changes
you’d like to make to your website pages.

Additional Copy Testing Options

In addition to the tests mentioned above, you can test any kind
of copy you’d like. You can test copy on a direct-mail
postcard by mailing two versions with different URLs on
each, or you can A/B test Google display ads by creating two
versions and testing to see how people respond to different
headlines and designs.
The number of tests you conduct is really endless once you
know how to setup a test and measure the results. One famous
example is the testing Tim Ferriss did with his book The Four
Hour Work Week.

When selecting a title for the book, he didn’t rely on his gut.
Instead, he ran Google text ads with different book title
variations. He eventually chose “The Four Hour Work
Week” because it received the highest number of click
throughs. The result? The book went to become a New York
Times bestseller.

This is a great example that shows how testing can be carried

out for more than just e-mail subject lines or website copy.

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You can A/B test nearly any piece of copy to see how people
respond and to see which version gets the best response.

Conclusion
One of the things that’s really cool about testing is that you
start to learn how your audience responds to different pieces
of copy. They may respond well to words
like “free” or “special” or “powerful.” No matter the case,
each time you conduct an A/B test, whether it’s a headline
test, a Facebook ad, or a Google ad, you learn something new
about your business and how people respond to different
wording or different offers.

The amount of testing you do is up to you, but you can

continue honing all of your campaigns by continually testing
new elements. The good news is that the internet makes it
really easy to conduct A/B tests, and there are ways to test
offline as well.

To end I’d like to mention that I understand resources are

limited. Sometimes people talk about testing, but they don’t
have the time or the resources to carry it out. Other times
you’re limited in the number of tests you can conduct. We
understand, and this is totally part of any businesses
operation.

But what you need to realize is that testing can unleash

revenue and profit potentials you never realized were
possible. If changing one word in an e-mail subject line can
lead to 17,000 more clicks, just think what that will do for
your bottom line.

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Testing can be a challenge, but once you figure it out and
commit to doing it, the opportunities are endless. We highly
encourage you to add A/B testing into your copywriting and
decision making in order to improve your results.

MODULE 15.

LEGENDARY COPYWRITING TIPS.

I will take you through the best advice from copywriters of all
time and their best ideas. Although some are passed away and
others alive, their ideas are timeless and very inspirational.

While you will be familiar with some names, others will be

totally new to you. However, what matters is how you can
apply their timeless advice and ideas into your copywriting
career today.

Note that these experts have been sourced from various

disciplines because our most memorable advice as
copywriters can sometimes come from other unrelated fields.
The advice or quotes do not just govern our writing, but also
relationships with ourselves and others.

We gain the insight to not just sell products and services, but
also use the power we have to transform people’s lives.
Here are the best copywriting experts of all time and their best
ideas to give you insights into writing to engage and
succeed. Learn and enjoy!

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1. “DO NOT WORSHIP AT THE ALTAR OF
CREATIVITY.” – DAVID OGILVY
David Ogilvy (lived from 1911 to 1999) is another legendary
in advertising, the father of copywriting. He was called “the
most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry” by
Time magazine in 1962.

He is the author of two great books “Confessions of an

advertising man’ and “Ogilvy on Advertising.”

I highly recommend you to read these books.

Ogilvy’s sophisticated look in suspenders, polished manners,

and a British accent created an aura of casual elegance in the
headlines and content of ads he created.

His brevity and elegance are seen in many of his pieces,

including the “Guinness Guide to Oysters,” “The Man in the
Hathaway Shirt,” “How to Create Advertising That Sells,”
and “At 60 Miles An Hour” for Rolls-Royce.

Create advertisements that are interesting enough for readers

to take their time and read and even go ahead to make
purchases, not having them see your creativity in every piece
you craft.

He became famous for his direct-response speech to

advertisers in India, recorded on video. He said that we all
know the kind of ad that works and their equivalent dollar
values.

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He then advises copywriters and marketers not to worship at
the creativity altar.
What did Ogilvy mean by creativity?

You can sell your product successfully through “advertising

that sells” without focusing your attention on the product
itself.

Ogilvy emphasizes that you repeat your winners. You can

increase your readership by making a maximum of five
repetitions in your copy.

Clearly, when he mentioned “creativity,” he meant that as

long as your ad is generating some revenue, there’s no need to
make alterations to it based on your creativity or just for the
sake of change.

If your ad still generates revenue 6 weeks down the line,

consider keeping it running. Even if it’s 12 months, keep it
running. Twenty years, just keep it running.

Unless your new principles are repeatedly backed up based on

results, stick to your fixed principles.

Ogilvy isn’t against innovation. He just wants that you start a

trend rather than follow it.

He says you can save yourself from general advertising’s

manifold lunacy by worshiping at a direct response alter
rather than a creativity altar.

Don’t forget your job is to sell.

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2. “SHOW YOUR PRODUCT IN USE.” –
VICTOR SCHWAB
Schwab kicked-off his career as a secretary and lived from
1898 to 1980. He worked for Maxwell Sackheim at Rathrauff
& Ryan’s.
He successfully improved Sackheim’s copy and that saw him
get promoted to a copywriter position. That’s how he became
“the greatest mail-order copywriter of all time.”

Schwab was a deep researcher and used coded coupon ads to

track his outcomes. He evaluated his copy appeals, calls to
action, headlines, copy length and split runs.

He created comics for Dale Carnegie, Sherwin Cody (Classic

English Courses) and Charles Atlas, a bodybuilder, as a
content marketer.

He explained through his book “How to Write a Good

Advertisement,” that you should put your product in action for
it to be successful.

Schwab explained that it has been proven that, your product

can get more attention when you showcase it in your
advertisement while in use. For instance, accomplishing or
doing something using the product for your audience.

According to W.S. Townsend, “that makes it live and breathe

and serves right in front of the eyes of the prospect.”
Similarly, incorporating videos on your landing pages can
improve your conversion rates, which can double your
landing page conversions.

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3. “SWAP PLACES WITH YOUR READERS.” – ANN
HANDLEY
According to Ann, in her book “Everybody writes,” you
need to swap places with your readers to get a feeling of what
goes through their minds while reading your copy.

Is your point clearly brought out throughout your copy?

Is your tone honest?

Have you been hooked into the content despite it being of no

interest to you?

Did you enjoy reading it?

If you answer yes to all the above questions, then your copy is
ready for the reader, otherwise, revise it.

Create a lasting impression in your readers’ minds by writing

interesting, factual and memorable content.

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4. “DECIDE THE EFFECT YOU WANT TO PRODUCE
IN YOUR READER.” – ROBERT COLLIER
Whether you are a direct mail or self-help copywriter, Robert
Collier is a name that should ring a bell. He was prominent in
the copywriting field and lived between 1885 and 1950.
Collier is best known for his book, “The Secret of the Ages,”
that he published in 1926 and sold over 300,000 copies in his
lifetime. He’s a legend in faith, abundance, visualization,
desire, and of course, copywriting.
Collier’s books sold for millions of dollars. He shared and
explained the direct-mail letters he wrote and why they were
successful in his book ‘The Robert Collier letters’.

How did he manage to write many successful sales letters?

He explained the secret to his success as a copywriter: you
must first decide on the effect you want your copy to have on
your audience even before you can start writing.

What kind of feeling or emotion do you want to trigger in

your audience? Could it be flattery, envy or pride? Any of
these trigger words should get you started in selecting the
right effect you want on your reader upon reading your copy.

With the chosen effect or emotion in mind, write to invoke

that specific feeling. Start out with intensive research to kick-
off your writing for a pre-determined emotion in your
audience.

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5. “COPYWRITING WITH PASSION, CREATING A
SHARED, EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE OF DESIRE,
DELIGHT, EXCITEMENT, AND AWE, IS THE
PRIMARY CHALLENGE ALL COPYWRITERS
FACE.” – AARON ORENDORFF
Just like any other profession, it takes passion for you to
succeed in your field.

Passionate copywriting can help you create exciting,

delightful and compelling copy that will leave your readers
wanting more.

6. “BE VIVID. TELL A STORY. DON’T BE

BLAND.” – SETH GODIN
This copywriting tip is absolutely timeless because of how
much it inspires us all (as online creators) to be original.
That’s about as foundational as you can get with writing
advice.

Giving your own insights, unique thoughts, additional

expertise, and new perspectives on something will give you
that edge you need to stand out in today’s sea of content.

Seth Godin’s timeless advice is all about writing copy without

fluff, which in his words he calls “weasel words.” They do not
add any value or flesh to your story, but makes it bland and
dull.

7. “BEGIN YOUR BULLETS WITH DYNAMIC

ACTION WORDS, AND KEEP THEM BRIEF AND
PUNCHY.” – CASEY DEMCHAK
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Add powerful bullets in your copy, beginning them using
action words while keeping them sharp and short.
Bullets always make every long-form content easier to read.

8. “WHERE A WEB PAGE IS THE TERRAIN, THE

COPYWRITER’S THE TOUR GUIDE, INSTRUCTOR,
CONCIERGE, MAÎTRE D’, AND OF COURSE, SALES
CLERK. IF THE COPY CAN’T SEAL THE DEAL, IT
MUST OFFER SOMETHING COMPELLING TO
START SOME SORT OF RELATIONSHIP.” – BARRY
FELDMAN
Write compelling content that is good enough to lock in your
prospects. Even if they don’t buy now, they can buy in the
future.

Feldman recommends writing engaging content that converts:

First copy taught you copywriting strategies that work to
retain your prospects.

9. “IN WRITING, RHYTHM IS DEFINED BY

PUNCTUATION AND THE STRESS PATTERNS
OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE. LONG
SENTENCES SOUND SMOOTHER, WHILE
SHORT SENTENCES MAKE YOUR CONTENT
SNAPPIER.” – HENNEKE DUISTERMAAT
Keep your sentences concise for readability and ease of
understanding.

Use rhyming words to create compelling content.

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Duistermaat explains how you can make your words swing
and swill in your copy.

10. “OPEN LIKE A READER’S DIGEST

ARTICLE.” – JOHN CAPLES
Agencies like Ruthrauff & Ryan’s that clearly “understood”
advertising had it easy during the Great Depression.

Seen as a hard-sell mail-order shop, before the Depression,

with templates similar to tabloids, the agency was perceived
to warn people of sensitive issues, just like a soap ad warns of
bad body odor.

However, the most successful copy headline ever was written

in the shop’s humble premises.

Working for this agency, John Caples mastered the art of

crafting mail-order copies based on perfected results.
His ability to get to the point in no time brought him to write
a great headline for a music company “They Laughed When I
Sat Down at the Piano, But When I Started to Play!-“

The success of the headline saw Caples dominate the

advertising industry for almost five decades. He wrote the
copywriting book “Tested advertising methods” and has an
industry award named after him.

Caples says Reader’s Digest is specific, telegraphic and

packed with facts and a few adjectives to arouse curiosity in
your readership.

Similarly, open your blog posts with short (even one-word)

sentences and use the right quotes.
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11. “TAP INTO ONE OVERWHELMING
DESIRE.” – EUGENE SCHWARTZ
Schwartz lived between 1927 and 1995. He was not just a
successful direct-mail copywriter who addressed businesses
and individuals with killer headlines like “Give Me 15
Minutes and I’ll Give You a Super-Power Memory,” but
wrote various legendary books like Breakthrough
Advertising.

Going for at least $95 on Amazon, the graduate-level book

offers insights into direct-response copywriting. He
covers how to write irresistible landing pages copy, writing
exercises that can improve your copy and how you can get
what you want by giving people what they want, among other
great ideas.

Schwartz was pushing for writing a copy that meets a single

main desire, despite its complexity. He said, “Tap into one
overwhelming desire in the hearts of many people actively
seeking to meet it at the very moment.”

No matter how important a copywriter you are, getting this

critical step wrong would render your copy useless.
Getting it right could get the world ticking and dancing to
your tunes.
12. “WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING
NEGATIVE, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE
DRAMATIC, BUT THERE SHOULD BE SOME
COST OF TURNING YOUR OFFER DOWN.
WHAT’S YOURS?” – AMY HARRISON

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Studies show that we respond better to positive people and
positive messages. Therefore, it’s better to write in an
optimistic tone for your content to convert.

13. “MAKE THE ADVERTISER THE

CHARACTER.” – MAXWELL SACKHEIM
Maxwell Sackheim wrote one of the most powerful headlines
in history for a patented English mail-order course dubbed
“Do You Make These Mistakes in English?”
This magnetic headline saw the ad run for about four decades,
a period many businesses can’t even last.

However, his effective strategy of making the advertiser a

“character” was less known.

Your advertising letters should come from the words used by

your customers.

A good example is his disarming letter ‘The Gloucester

Fisherman” that was written for his client Frank E. Davis. The
client showcases his weaknesses in his inability to write, but
only took part in what he does best: fishing.

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He is honest in the letter about his ugly side. He wants to
make a living and hopes for customers who can buy his catch.

14. “DEVELOP A UNIQUE SELLING

PROPOSITION.” – ROSSER REEVES
Rosser Reeves began his career as a reporter in Virginia and
lived between 1910 and 1984, and later relocated to New
York City.

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He was another great marketer during the Great Depression
and joined Bates agency in 1940.

Reeves had an eye for the finest things like food and drinks, in
addition to being well-read and well-travelled. He believed
that the goal of advertising is to sell and he did just that.

He successfully ran several campaigns ranging from

marketing Colgate toothpaste to Viceroy Cigarettes.
However, his most famous ad was for Anacin. It promised
customers to relieve them from depression, pain and even
tension, in an amazing way.

His aim was for customers to recognize a particular, unique

brand proposition. He was following the footsteps of Claude
Hopkins and John E. Kennedy by mimicking the no-nonsense
approach to “advertising must sell” taken by the duo.

Reeves focused on identifying a product’s unique benefit,

feature or meaning and repeatedly putting emphasis on it in an
advert as a way of selling a unique proposition to prospects.
For this reason, Rosser Reeves is known as the “Prince of the
Hard Sell.”

The unique selling point (USP) has gone through so much

alteration and revision since its invention by Reeves.
Today, your USP doesn’t have to be unique as long as it’s
persona-driven or founded on a metaphor.

When you restate your USP and when you repeat words are
two totally different things.
Keep that in mind.

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15. “COPYWRITING IS WAY MORE THAN
PUTTING WORDS ONTO A SCREEN. …
[THE] CONTEXT AND SITUATION THAT
INFLUENCE THE COPY IS CALLED USER
EXPERIENCE.” – NEIL PATEL
User experience is more important than ever. Your audience
wants a great experience using your product, reading your
copy, etc.

Write interesting content with your audience in mind to

ensure they have a great time reading your copy or merely
browsing through your website. You’ll need the 5 essentials
of content marketing from Patel as a copywriter to give your
audience a great experience.

16. “FIND THE INHERENT DRAMA IN

YOUR PRODUCT.” – LEO BURNETT
Leo Burnett was named one of the 20th century’s 20 most
influential business leaders by Time Magazine in 1998. His
career began then, and he lived from 1891 to 1971, atop being
the only advertising executive named by the magazine.

Burnett built one of the largest ad agencies worldwide during

the Great Depression.

He believed that every product has a story or drama behind it.

How do you find this?

You need to dig deep into your subject with honor and love
while being obedient to your hunches as you work really hard.
Burnett used representations of American values in the form
of mythical creatures to tell great stories. Some of these
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characters include the Marlboro Man and Jolly the Green
Giant.

17. “WHEN YOU DON’T GIVE YOUR

CUSTOMERS ENOUGH INFORMATION,
THE RIGHT INFORMATION, OR PUT IT
WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE ON THE PAGE,
YOU RUN THE RISK OF GIVING THEM
THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU CARE
MORE ABOUT THE SALE THAN THEM.” –
JEN HAVICE
Your customer should come first and so are their needs.
Provide them with informational content that answers all their
queries and meets their needs.

Havice explains how you can persuasive yet informational

content to increase and retain your readership.

18. “WRESTLING WITH A 2,000-WORD

ESSAY IS NOT UNLIKE BIRTHING A
CALF. A LIFE IS AT STAKE HERE. YOUR
JOB IS TO MAKE SURE IT SURVIVES.” –
DEMIAN FARNWORTH
When writing long content, ensure consistency throughout
with regards to creating a compelling copy that will interest
your readers and keep them engaged all the way from the start
to the end.

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19. “VALUE IS BEST COMMUNICATED WHEN IT’S
DESIGNED TO BE BELIEVED, NOT JUST
DESCRIBED.” – BERNADETTE JIWA
Create valuable content your readers can believe.

20. “WHEN YOUR CUSTOMERS FEEL

THAT YOU’RE TALKING TO THEM ON A
DEEP EMOTIONAL LEVEL AND
UNDERSTAND THEIR HOPES, FEARS, AND
DESIRES BETTER THAN THE
COMPETITION, YOU’RE GONNA GET THE
SALE.” – ADAM KREITMANN
Get to know your audience–their fears, hopes and desires on a
deeper level and communicate that in your copy.

Relate with your audience emotionally and watch your

content attract more prospects, and ultimately sales.

21. “WRITE TO ONE PERSON, NOT A

MILLION.” – FAIRFAX M. CONE
Fairfax M. Cone lived between 1903 and 1977, only to begin
his career in 1929 at Lord & Thomas that was based in San
Francisco. He became a manager at the company in 1939
before relocating to New York City a couple of years later as
the vice president.

He took over the company’s largest account, the Lucky Strike

cigarettes account, before launching his own agency “Foote,
Cone & Belding,” in partnership with Albert Lasker.

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Cone advocated for honesty and clarity in place of clever and
cute copy. He explained that real people with real issues only
wanted honest and clear solutions, not clever and cute ones.
These people want INSTANT answers.

He explained that good advertising is written for a specific

person, and when aimed at millions, doesn’t work.
Your goal should be to discover your ideal readership or
audience. Get to know your reader’s profession. Is she a
farmer, a marketer like you, or simply a teacher? Where is she
located?

Discover who your ideal reader is. Once you know her
location, interests, profession, etc., write to her and her alone.

22. “BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT.” –

SHAKESPEARE
Use concise and brief sentences to create your copy.
Keeping your sentences short makes your point easy to read
while maintaining the flavor of your copy.

23. “YOUR PROSPECTS NEED A REASON

BEHIND YOUR PRODUCT BASED ON
THREE FACTORS: WHY YOUR PRODUCT
IS THE BEST, WHY YOUR PROSPECTS
SHOULD BELIEVE YOU AND WHY THEY
NEED TO BUY THE PRODUCT RIGHT
NOW.” – BRIAN CLARK
Your prospects could be wondering why they have to buy
your product when they are better off with what your

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competition offers. After all, they know your competition
better and your products don’t seem to have any difference.

This is where you come in to differentiate your product from

your competition. Find a winning difference between your
copy and that of your rivals. As discussed earlier, you need a
deeper understanding of your Unique Selling Proposition
(USP) to set your product apart from the rest.

24. “YOUR CUSTOMERS DON’T CARE

ABOUT YOU, YOUR PRODUCTS, OR YOUR
SERVICES. THEY CARE ABOUT
THEMSELVES.” – JOE PULIZZI
Your customer comes first and so are their interests and
needs. Get to know them and what they want and give them
just that because they only care about themselves.
Write to them based on what you know about them.

25. “THE TIME TO BEGIN WRITING AN

ARTICLE IS WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED
IT TO YOUR SATISFACTION. BY THAT
TIME, YOU BEGIN TO CLEARLY AND
LOGICALLY PERCEIVE WHAT IT IS
THAT YOU REALLY WANT TO SAY.”–
MARK TWAIN
Your draft is simply your ideas put on paper.
Use it to create a well-organized, clear, intelligent
and compelling copy to share with your readers

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26. “TRANSUBSTANTIATE YOUR
PRODUCT INTO SOMETHING ELSE.” –
BILL JAYME
One of the world’s best direct-mail copywriters in today’s
magazine industry was Bill Jayme (lived from 1926 to 2001).
Jayme considered himself a star in “junk mail”.

He launched his career at Time magazine with a great

unorthodox “Cool Friday” letter in which he addressed his
audience as “Dear Reader,” before he spoke a little off-topic
and delved into his main point.

Before becoming his own boss, Jayme also worked for CBS
and McCann-Erikson.

Jayme wrote subscription letters for various publishers in the

60s, 70s and 80s, including Esquire, Smithsonian and
Businessweek.

Some publishers even offered him up to $40,000 for each

letter he wrote.

He had his way of making friendships with his readers by

being fascinating and respectful of their intelligence.
He had a way of getting into the minds of his editors,
publishers and even readers based purely on intuition, his gut
feeling.

Magazines like Mother Jones, Bon Appetit, Worth, Cooking

Light, New York, Smithsonian, and Food & Wine owe their
existence to Jayme, a true testament that his approach worked.

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He capitalized his motivation and creativity to produce
magical copies or letter: transubstantiation is all about
transforming a service or product into something ‘magical.’
For instance, when selling a course on mastering PCs, he
didn’t focus on the features of these devices, but on the end
result, the greater benefit that his readers actually cared about.
He focused on success.

This is how he began his letter:

“You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. If you’re
planning to succeed in business over the coming decade,
you’ve now got just two choices left. You can come to terms
with the computer. Or you can marry the boss’s daughter.”

In this letter, instead of selling the various parts or features of

a personal computer, he sells the ultimate benefit of using a
PC, a new experience. It is only by mastering computing
basics that users can get a taste of that life.

27. “EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD

DIVIDES HIS MAIL INTO TWO PILES.” –
GARY HALBERT
Gary Halbert (lived between 1939 and 2007) is a direct
response marketing legend who came into the limelight after
his 381-word human psychology marvel letter was published.

He is known as “The King of Copy” and “Prince of Print.”

He created a business at the back of the letter, which was later
bought by Ancestery.com.

Several legendary ads he successfully published followed in

later years. You can find his marketing letters on an online
print newsletter called Gary Halbert Letter.
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Gary shared several lessons on direct response culture,
amongst them is how you can sort junk mails.

According to Halbert, we all divide our mails into two piles,

the first being A-Pile and the second B-Pile. The first pile
comprises of letters that are either personal or appear to be so.
Everything else falls under the B-Pile: catalogs, bills,
brochures, envelopes with sales messages printed on them,
printed announcements, etc.

When you create direct mail promotions, ensure that your

letter falls under the A-Pile. The reason is that we open all our
A-Pile mail and only some of our B-Pile mail.

With the internet age, not just readers are a click away, but
also your competitors. The only time you have to grab their
attention is four seconds.

So, do whatever you can just so your audience can notice you.
Get attention and keep it at just that.

28. “FREE IS THE MOST POWERFUL

WORD IN THE COPYWRITER’S
VOCABULARY. EVERYBODY WANTS TO
GET SOMETHING FOR FREE.” – ROBERT
W. BLY
Use free yet powerful words to captivate your audience such
as guarantee, easy, quick and free.

The Flash Copywriting Manual shows you how to use the

right language to successfully communicate to your audience.

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29. “WE HAVE BECOME SO
ACCUSTOMED TO HEARING EVERYONE
CLAIM THAT HIS PRODUCT IS THE BEST
IN THE WORLD, OR THE CHEAPEST,
THAT WE TAKE ALL SUCH STATEMENTS
WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.” – ROBERT
COLLIER
Your audience can smell hype from a distance. Don’t just
claim to be the best copywriter with the cheapest services, but
prove your worth.

Your readers don’t need the hyped salt, keep it low.

30. “ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WRITE ONE

TRUE SENTENCE. WRITE THE TRUEST
SENTENCE THAT YOU KNOW.” – ERNEST
HEMINGWAY

Be as honest as possible with your audience in your copy.

Communicate with them heart to heart.

31. “SIMPLICITY IS THE ULTIMATE

SOPHISTICATION.” – LEONARDO DA
VINCI
This quote by Da Vinci is very inspirational.
It is meant to influence your writing style to a form that
resonates well with the reader.

185
Your writing style should be readable, concise or short and
very simple in the reader’s eyes. Your readers will better
understand your copy when you keep it simple.

32. “YOU CAN HAVE EVERYTHING YOU

WANT IN LIFE IF YOU WILL HELP
ENOUGH PEOPLE GET WHAT THEY
WANT.” – ZIG ZIGLAR
One of the most successful salesmen the world ever witnessed
was Zig. Moreover, he was an honest businessman and an
enthusiastic teacher.

He is proof that ethics and business can co-exist. Zig simply

means that your success as a copywriter is not dependent on a
particular product, article or even person.

Your success is totally hinged on the number of readerships

you can attract with your writing. The more people you can
help with your writing to reach their goals and get what they
want, the more success you can attain.

33. “THE MAN WHO STOPS ADVERTISING

TO SAVE MONEY IS LIKE THE MAN WHO
STOPS THE CLOCK TO SAVE TIME.” –
THOMAS JEFFERSON
You don’t have to look at copywriting as an expense. When
you save a penny, it is just that or even a cent lost.

When you invest in your writing to become a good

copywriter, you’re not spending on an unnecessary cost, but a
lifetime investment.

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34. “YOU MUST MAKE THE PRODUCT
INTERESTING, NOT JUST MAKE THE AD
DIFFERENT. AND THAT’S WHAT TOO
MANY OF THE COPYWRITERS IN THE
U.S. TODAY DON’T YET UNDERSTAND.” –
ROSSER REEVES
Research, research, and research.

Discover what’s unique about your product or service. why

should your prospects get excited about it?

Write just that. Do not exaggerate your product by advertising

what your product can’t even achieve.

Be honest. Make your product just as interesting as your copy,

and watch your sales grow instantly.

35. “COPY IS A DIRECT CONVERSATION

WITH THE CONSUMER.” – SHIRLEY
POLYKOFF
Before founding her multi-million-dollar advertising agency,
Shirley worked for Foote, Cone & Belding.

She became one of the advertisers through her “Does she… or

doesn’t she?” promotion of Clairol. The campaign saw the
company’s customer bases rise from 7% to about 50% of the
female American population, increasing sales from $25
million to about $200 million.

187
When you write ad copy, you’re simply conversing with your
prospects. Therefore, your language and style should be
simple and similar to that of your audience for them to relate
to your product or service.

36. “THE CONSUMER ISN’T A MORON;

SHE IS YOUR WIFE. YOU INSULT HER
INTELLIGENCE IF YOU ASSUME THAT A
MERE SLOGAN AND A FEW VAPID
ADJECTIVES WILL PERSUADE HER TO
BUY ANYTHING.”- DAVID OGILVY
Talk to your prospects and give them enough reason why they
should buy from you. They are more intelligent than you
think.

Use more than just one or two words to convince them to

choose your brand.

If possible, tell them a story. We all like nice stories that we

can identify with.

37. “POOR COPY CANNOT OVERCOME

FAULTS OR GAPS IN DEALER
DISTRIBUTION; IT CANNOT EVEN CASH
IN ON THE FINEST DEALER SETUPS. BUT
GOOD COPY CAN, AND DOES,
SURMOUNT MANY DEALER
DIFFICULTIES, MAKING THEM
SECONDARY, AND SELLING IN SPITE OF
THEM.” – VICTOR SCHWAB
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Writing a good copy is key in winning your prospect’s heart
and money. Once you win them, any difficulty or fault
regarding your product or service becomes less important.

Writing good ad copy sells not just your product or service,

but also the person or company responsible for making the
product.

38. “LET US PROVE TO THE WORLD

THAT GOOD TASTE, GOOD ART, AND
GOOD WRITING CAN BE GOOD
SELLING.” – WILLIAM BERNBACH
You don’t have to use questionable language and shocking
techniques to draw prospects to your brand. It takes just good
writing with good taste and some creativity to sell your
product or service.

Write well to attract a larger audience.

39. “MAKE IT SIMPLE. MAKE IT

MEMORABLE. MAKE IT INVITING TO
LOOK AT. MAKE IT FUN TO READ.”
– LEO BURNETT
Write simple and attractive content to lure your readership.
Readers find great content fun to read and easy to remember.
Isn’t that just what you want?

189
40. “THE MOST POWERFUL ELEMENT IN
ADVERTISING IS THE TRUTH.” –
WILLIAM BERNBACH
Be honest with your prospects. We all love honesty.

41. “NOBODY READS ADS. PEOPLE READ

WHAT INTERESTS THEM. SOMETIMES
IT’S AN AD.” – HOWARD GOSSAGE
Create interesting content for your readership. Make your ad
as interesting as possible.

42. “MAKE YOUR ADVERTISING TOO

VALUABLE TO THROW AWAY.” – SONIA
SIMONE
As the co-founder and Chief Content Officer of
Copyblogger, Sonia Simone emphasizes the importance of
writing for value. Your copy should be so important that no
one can afford to throw it away.

43. “WAKE UP AND REALIZE IT’S NOT

1964 ANYMORE. YOU CAN’T REHASH
THAT OLD STUFF. DON’T USE
SCANDALOUS BLOG HEADLINES ON
YOUR BUSINESS WEBSITE IF YOU WANT
CONVERSIONS. TALK AND WRITE LIKE A
REAL PERSON.” – PEEP LAJA.
Be realistic in your writing and create great headlines for your
copy. Don’t forget to test your content titles the right way.

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44. “A COPYWRITER SHOULD HAVE AN
UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE, AN
INSIGHT INTO THEM, A SYMPATHY
TOWARD THEM.” – GEORGE GRIBBIN
You need to understand your audience, your target
market. Know their needs and create a product to help meet
that need.

When you focus on understanding your audience well first,

you can write copy specifically made for them that meets their
needs.

45. “BELIEVE ME; NOTHING WORKS AS

WELL ON THE WEB AS DEADLINES.” –
CLAYTON MAKEPEACE
As one of the highly-paid copywriter in the market, Clayton
Makepeace recommends using urgency to motivate your
audience.

Create a deadline for your promotion and have it in the call-

to-action.

46. “EVERY PRODUCT HAS A UNIQUE

PERSONALITY AND IT IS YOUR JOB TO
FIND IT.” – JOE SUGARMAN
Find your product’s unique personality and use it to create
your unique selling proposition.

Differentiate your product from your competition and sell its

unique personality.

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Always write unique content. Your readers will appreciate
that.

47. “ON THE AVERAGE, FIVE TIMES AS

MANY PEOPLE READ THE HEADLINES AS
READ THE BODY COPY. IT FOLLOWS
THAT UNLESS YOUR HEADLINE SELLS
YOUR PRODUCT, YOU HAVE WASTED 90
PERCENT OF YOUR MONEY.” – DAVID
OGILVY.
It goes without saying the essence of your headlines. Your
readers will decide to read your copy — or not — based on
your headlines.

Create killer headlines to attract more readership.

48. “IF THE AVERAGE PERSON NEEDS A

DICTIONARY TO TRANSLATE YOUR
COPY, YOU’VE LOST MULTIPLE SALES
ALREADY.” – MARTINA MERCER
Write your copy in a simple style using simple words.
Your audience can easily read and understand your content
when it’s written in simple language.

Don’t use jargon or complex words.

49. “IF YOU CAN JUST SUPPORT THE

EMOTIONS THAT THEY’RE FEELING,
AND YOU CAN DO IT WITH INTEGRITY—
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YOU REALLY DO HAVE THE SOLUTION—
THEN YOU DON’T REALLY EVER HAVE
TO SELL HARD, OR EVEN PUSH TO
SELL.” – RAY EDWARDS.
Understand your audience’s needs and emotions. Use integrity
to give them the support they need.

Write copy aligned to your reader’s needs and emotions.

Speak their language and use their voice in your copy.

50. “I BELIEVE WRITING COPY FOR MR.

SPOCK IS A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS. IF
SOMETHING IS LOGICAL IT IS, BY
NATURE, PERSUASIVE.” – ART ANTHONY
Write a logical copy to convince your readership.

51. “WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING

DIRECTLY TO YOUR SWIPE FILE FOR
INSPIRATION, DON’T LOOK FOR
PHRASES TO COPY, OR FORMULAS TO
FILL-IN-THE-BLANKS. THINK ABOUT
THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND THE COPY.”
– CASEY MEEHAN
You can write great content from an existing copy. But don’t
copy phrases from the original-inspirational copy.

Understand the psychology behind it and work from there.

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52. “YOUR JOB AS A WRITER MEANS PLACING
ENOUGH INFORMATION IN FRONT OF YOUR
AUDIENCE THAT THEY CAN SEE YOUR POINT,
RATHER THAN BE UTTERLY SWAYED TO IT. IT’S
CRITICAL TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE WELL SO
THAT YOU DON’T OVER- OR UNDER-PERSUADE.” –
JAMES CHARTRAND
Know your audience to write for them without over or under
doing it.

53. “NOBODY HAS THE TIME OR

PATIENCE TO READ LINEAR CONTENT.
INSTEAD OF WRITING LONG
INDIGESTIBLE BLOCKS OF TEXT, MAKE
YOUR CONTENT SKIMMABLE.” – TANIA
CHEEMA.
Write skimmable content with 1 to 3 lines in each paragraph.

Write copy with short paragraphs to enable your readers to

skim through your content easily and judge whether it’s
something they want to read or not.

54. “USE WORDS – ALL WORDS – WITH

AN EYE, EAR, AND NOSE FOR THE ODOR
OF SKUNK. IF YOU’RE NOT SURE HOW A
READER WILL INTERPRET OR RESPOND
TO A WORD … IF IT’S POSSIBLY
CONFUSING, AMBIGUOUS, OR

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OFFENSIVE … THAT’S YOUR SIGNAL TO
LOOK FOR A DIFFERENT WAY OF
SAYING IT.” – WILL NEWMAN
Avoid ambiguous words in your copy.

Use simple, easy to understand words. You don’t want to

confuse and offend your readers.

55. “THE OFTEN OVERLOOKED SUBHEAD

IS REALLY A STEALTHY AND LETHAL
NINJA WRITING WEAPON JUST SITTING
THERE QUIETLY WAITING TO BE PUT TO
GOOD USE.” – GARY KORISKO.
Incorporate sub-headlines in your copy.

56. “THE BEST MARKETING – AND THE

BEST COPY – IS NOT ABOUT DUPING THE
READER INTO BELIEVING SOMETHING,
BUT ABOUT AMPLIFYING THEIR NEED,
ALLEVIATING THEIR FEAR AND
EXCITING THEM TO ACTION.” – JOEL
KLETTKE
Know the needs and fears of your audience and showcase
them in your copy.

According to Joel, persuading your audience to read or buy

your product isn’t enough.

Call them to take action at the end of your copy.

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 MODULE 16.

Putting It All Together.

Once you complete this entire course you have learned a LOT
about copywriting.

To help tie everything together, I’d like to provide a checklist

you can use for all of your copywriting projects.

This checklist will help you to remember what we’ve learned

and enable you to employ all of the tactics included in this
course.

Here’s the list:

Start by researching your product and customers to
catalog the benefits and features of your product and to
identify who your customers are.

• How would you describe the product?

• What’s unique/special about this product?
• What big benefit does it provide?
• What pain does it alleviate?
• What features are included, and what are the benefits of
each?
• Who currently buys your product?
• Who would you like to buy your product?

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• What is a typical customer like?
• What do customers love about your product?

Survey your customers to learn more about them

and to find out what words they use to describe your
product or service.

• What’s your job title?

• What company do you work for?
• How would you describe our product to a friend or
colleague?
• What questions did you have before buying, i.e. what
almost prevented you from making a purchase?
• What ultimately convinced you to buy this product?
• Which features were the most important to you when
deciding whether or not to buy?
• What did you hope to accomplish by using this product?

Write an attention-grabbing headline that converts

by employing the four u’s for headline writing.

• Your headline should be unique

• Your headline should be ultra-specific
• Your headline should convey a sense of urgency
• Your headline should be useful

Use the four persuasion techniques of professional

copywriters.

• Emphasize benefits over features

• Be as specific as possible
• Target emotions
• Leverage testimonials

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Make sure your copy isn’t focused on you and follow
six more tips for better writing.

• Write conversationally
• Create a slippery slide
• Write quickly
• Use simple language
• Use short paragraphs
• Always get your copy edited

Follow five more secrets for a powerful copy that

convinces customers to buy.

• Make people feel like they belong

• Create a feeling of exclusivity
• Prove the value of your product
• Establish yourself as an authority
• Provide “reasons why”

Close the deal with your copy by using the following

four tips.

• Use calls to action

• Create a sense of urgency
• Make a compelling offer
• Provide a guarantee

Know when to use long and short copy by following

the rules below.

• Write as much as you need to write but no more

• Use long copy to answer more objections
• Remember that sometimes the short copy is better

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 • Keep in mind that people read things that are interesting to
them

Learn how to use design and copy to get optimum

results.

• Use design to set the stage for your offer

• Remember that the point of your copy is to get read
• Use high contrast for fonts and backgrounds
• Make sure the font doesn’t blend into a background image
• Use graphic elements to draw readers’ attention to
headlines and copy
• Employ reverse type sparingly

Finally, you need to test, test, and test some more to

make sure your copy resonates with customers and
convinces them to take action. Four test options are
listed below.

• Subject lines
• Designs and layouts
• Concepts
• Offers

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