In this post I’m going to reveal to you where most copywriters and marketers fall short when it comes to writing copy. And that’s this:
Telling what their product or service is going to DO for them!
Nobody purchases a “make money online” course just to make money online. Money is just a stack of paper. What they’re really buying is what the money is going to DO for them.
It’s all about the benefits. What money is going to DO for them. For example, having more money is going to allow the prospect to pay the bills. To get rid of debt. To take care of that car payment.
Money will also give them more freedom. If you have $2 million dollars in the bank it will absolve a lot of stress and the actions you would take in life would be a lot different than if you were $40,000 in debt.
See where this is going? It’s very important to illustrate the benefits of your product/service. And here’s how I do it:
I use “word pictures” in my copy. You don’t want to TELL them how they’re going to benefit, you want to SHOW them. I was rewriting an existing sales letter last week and the previous copywriter just TOLD then what they’re going to experience when they go to a particular seminar:
“You’re going to experience a lot of certainty and autonomy in your business.”
Blah. That’s OK, but it’s better to say something like this:
“Imagine being able to predict how many clients you’ll be able to attract 6-12 months from now—instead of waking up at 2 in the morning with a cold sweat…wondering how you’re going to make payroll next month?”
See how this is much more compelling? I’m SHOWING them the benefits of the product…instead of TELLING them.
Here’s another little secret: Very often people don’t want to make money just to make money. Perhaps they want to annihilate a competitor…or perhaps they want to show up that in-law they see every Thanksgiving who secretly wants them to fail.
I was at an Unleash Your Power Within seminar last weekend (Tony Robbins seminar) and a member of Tony’s team was pitching their Business Mastery course. He didn’t just talk about “making more money”…he talked about having the ability to take care of their family and to NOT spend time working 18 hours per day at a computer. This was very effective and pulled at the heartstrings at males in the audience.
Here’s another example: Dave Dee of GKIC was pitching the Ultimate Lead Generation Machine last fall in front of 1000+ people on a Google Hangout. He talked about the usual benefits of the course: more leads, more business, and more sales. But orders literally started pouring in when he said the following (paraphrasing):
“Imagine what it will be like to take your kids to the soccer team, go on a night out with your spouse, or hang out with friends and be “mentally present”…and NOT worry about your business?”
So think about how your prospect is going to benefit from your product/service the next time you write a piece of copy. Never assume the prospect will “get it” or “figure it out” for themselves—you have to SHOW them how they’re going to benefit.
Doing this will put you head and shoulders over your competition and other copywriters.
Take care,
Kevin Hill