Sales & Marketing Consultant, Bestselling Author & Business Motivational Speaker

The eloquent style of your writing may be engaging and captivating. Your readers may enjoy your copywriting efforts. But the real measure of your success is whether or not you’ve answered a handful of simple questions within your sales letter.

Do You Know Your Target Market?

Do you know your target market – aka the people you’re writing to? If so, it’ll show in your writing as you’ll be able to speak to them directly. If not, your reader will feal as though he’s simply reading a cold sales letter and you won’t get the results you desire.

What’s the Difference Between Your Product and Product X?

Everyone has competition. Chances are, your potential client has heard of or considered using the products or services created by your competition. What have you said in your sales letter that clearly outlines why your product is different and/or better than the one produced by your competitor?

What are Your Credentials?

Simply writing a letter about your product is all well and good, but why should the person reading your letter believe you have the authority to make claims or sell a product? How will you set yourself apart from the fraudulent salespersons that have approached them before? Back yourself up with statistics and facts.

Does Your Product Have Multiple Benefits?

Make sure you share all of the benefits of using your products, not just the ones you think are the best. If your product has 10 distinct benefits, why would you only list the three biggest? Chances are your potential client may really need a solution that one of the other benefits provides and he’ll never know about it. Always include a complete list of benefits.

You should, of course, review your sales copywriting to make sure you’ve answered any potential objects and have included a call to action, but those are issues we’ll cover at another point in time. In short, you need to make sure you are addressing your audience directly, not writing a letter for a magazine or newspaper. The more your readers feel as though you’ve personally connected, the better your chances of making a sale!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert

In other words: Copywriting 101

The first thing your readers, prospects, and customers will see when they get an email or piece of advertising material from you is your headline. If that headline doesn’t grab their attention you can pretty much forget making a sale because your audience isn’t likely to read the rest of the advertisement or post.

The trick to writing a wonderful headline is to remember that the headline is just as important as the body of the message. It actually needs to be able to stand alone as a message of its own. The headline alone needs to make your reader stop and say “You’re right, I do need to (buy that, read that, subscribe to that).”

There are several different types of headlines you can use in copywriting. Today I’m going to give you five to consider:

The Direct Headline

The direct headline tells your reader exactly what you have to offer up front. It’s not funny, it’s not silly, and it’s right to the point. Example: Free e-Book with Subscription to Sean McPheat.com.

The Indirect Headline

Indirect headlines are pretty clear in what they have to offer but don’t give all of the details up front. They’re a bit more subtle in the way they deliver their messages. Example: Why Copywriting Headlines are Essential to Success.

Asking a Question

Use your headline to ask a question your readers can relate to or would really be interested in seeing the answer to. Example: Are You Ready to take Your Business to the Next Level?

A List of Reasons

It’s really no secret, but lists are incredibly popular. Put together a list of reasons or ways for a person to do something and you’re sure to grab your audience’s attention. Example: 21 Ways to Increase Your Response Ratio.

Be Commanding

Simply tell your readers what you think they should be doing. Use strong verbage combined with a clear direction. Example: Subscribe to SeanMcPheat.com Today!

Be creative with your headlines and I can guarantee you’ll get a better response from your print advertisements, emails, and even blog posts. Give it a try and let me know how things turn out.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat