Super copy writing has not much to do with suffocating, stuffy language.

It has a lot to do with simplicity, clarity and FROM THE HEART talk.

Though, looking around at your competitors, you’ll see there’s a lot of pompous strutting towards the first way.

Don’t go down their path!

If you’re struggling with commanding attention from your promotional material, especially the ‘headline’ you’d do well to stick to the proven… HOW TO!

In fact, almost any ad or promotional piece, can start with this dynamic duo.

Let’s test…

For an accountant: “John Nairn’s Small Business Accounting - if you’re looking for a cheap, affordable, friendly accountant, then give me a call on 021 23 123 1234 and let’s see what we can do”

Hmm… not too enticing, right?

Okay, let’s stick our tried and tested How To, and rearrange the furniture a little.

“How to Save a Ton of Tax, Breathe More Easily and Keep the Taxman from Sniffing at Your Door!” This special report is waiting for you courtesy of John Nairn’s Small Business Accountancy Practice who Specialises in Helping Small Business owners who have been in business from 1-5 years. Call freephone 0800 1234 123 today, as their are very limited copies available of this special report: Plus, if you are one of the first 35 to call, you’ll also receive a special bonus gift!

Okay, let’s play with another one.

How about…

Dentists!

Joey Jones Dentist Services for all the family. Why not book your family appointment and receive 20% off your first lot of treatments. We’ve been in the profession for 15 years and pride ourselves in our services. Call 020 7665 7773 now; you won’t be disappointed.

Sounds boring, right? Sounds pretty much like most ads in that category!

Though, I’m telling you, that’s what your competition is upto!

And… maybe… you too?

Okay, let’s turn this around.

“How to Make Sure Your Whole Family Can Get Their First Dental Treatment… FREE!” Joey Jones, The Family Dental Specialist, Invites You to A Tour of His Friendly Dental Surgery. Please Call Maria, our Family Dental Welcome Manager on 000 000 000 and she will arrange a time that is suitable to you. By the way, we love children under 10… they’ll be spoilt rotten here and they may not want to leave!

Study these ads for they hold a BIG KEY for you in crafting your own marketing materials.

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Any sales letter roughly follows the following sequence:

a. Image.

b. Headline.

c. Greeting.

d. Lead paragraph.

e. Body.

f. Closing.

The Image:

If there is a logo or design for your business, use it in the sales letter only if it is really pertinent to what you are offering. You are not selling your business logo; you are selling benefits that the buyer will realize if he buys your product or service. Use a specific image that is inherent to your headline, content, and theme, or do not use one at all. Stick to words as far as possible.

Job Of The Headline:

The headline is usually 3 - 30 words long. It should be catchy. It should grab the reader’s attention and tell him what the ad (sales letter) is about. Ideally, the job of the headline is to get the reader’s concentration, target the viewers, list an advantage, and make an assurance.

Greeting And Lead Paragraph:

Any sales letter that influences the reader has a possibility of being opened and read.

- Spin a yarn that the reader can identify with, using a conversational tone.

- Announce a new product or service, an exclusive event, or important news, flaunting your unique selling proposition.

- Speak to the reader as your equal: “Dear fellow car purchaser, are you aware of. . . ”

- You could start with something innovative, perhaps a quote or anecdote.

- You could start by identifying the reader’s problem, one that your product promises to solve.

- Ask a question that might excite the reader.

- Let the reader in on some secret or uncommon information.

You could use a sub-headline to answer a query posed in the headline. For example, Part A could say: “Want to lose 15 pounds within 3 weeks at an affordable price?” Part 2 could say: “Well, this is how you can do it . . . ”

Body Of The Letter:

The body copy should use the same tone and endure with the theme of the headline. You should persist highlighting the benefits and offer proof of the claim you made. Provide details of the benefits and the features. Build credibility. Your basic objective is to create a need or want for your products or services and make people do what you want them to.

Closing Or Call To Action:

If you solicit the reader to order, support, or to contact you for the particular cause, you must make it easy for him to reply. You must support the sales letter with a prepaid envelope and an order form. If not suitable, supply a toll-free telephone number, an email link, and/or your URL. Always thank the reader for his patience. Always use a postscript.

A Final Suggestion:

Getting the reader to spend his hard-earned money on you is the real challenge. The best way to ensure this is to use test readers. Test readers would be able to give their opinion if anything is missing in the letter.

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Copywriting doesn’t have to be an exercise in frustration, but often it is, especially for the web. Even if you’re a writer, catering to the special considerations of the web can be a trying experience. Try these four steps to make your job easier.

1. Use plain language. If you use a lot of vernacular and professional jargon, people will tune you out. Keep the language simple and assume you are talking to an audience unfamiliar with your work unless it is targeted solely for your profession. This involves knowing your audience.

2. Know your subject well, or at least research it. If you are asked to write 700 words of copy on violins and you played the trumpet, you will need to do research. Because of the internet, this can be easy, although you will have to be sure your sources are reliable and cite them if necessary.

3. Study SEO writing. SEO-Search Engine Optimization-is a great way to get your copy noticed. This generally involves using a keyword or keyword phrase about 2% of the time for optimal rankings on customer searches. Make sure you don’t overdo it though-some search engines are sensitive to padding articles with keywords and your website could be blacklisted.

4. Be clear. Don’t pack your paragraphs with fluff just because you need to write 500 words or copy. If you don’t have enough information for 500 good words, find out more or consider writing a sidebar or a “Did you know…” section.

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Sales letter writing can seem to be a tough task, especially in today’s world when much of business and sales correspondence is done via the internet and telephone. The best sales letter writing, whether you are corresponding with your client through e-mail or conventional post, can be achieved through the following four tips:

1 Be formal, but not stiff. Formal language makes your letter sound professional, but too much formality can lead to a letter sounding impersonal, as if you are using a stock template for every client. This appearance can be very negative to a potential client, and should be avoided. The best sales letter writing will sound formal but have a personal undertone. Aim for this.

2 Your letter should be original. Most of your clients probably receive hundreds of sales letters, and the best sales letter writing will include some means of distinguishing your letter from the masses. You don’t want your client to think that your product or service is just like everyone else’s do you? Of course not, which is why you also do not want your letter sound the same as all the others. Make your letter something interesting without making it gimmicky, and you’ll have caught your client’s attention.

3 Use their business name and name of your contact at least twice to let them know that you are aware of exactly who you are dealing with and that you have written your letter directly to them. Your client and contact should know that you are taking a personal interest in them when writing this letter. Not only does this provide a valuable distinction for you when competing against many other sales letters that are full of stock sentences and phrases, but it also gives a little ego boost to your client, which is one of the keys to the best sales letter writing.

Don’t forget to sell. Some sales letter writers get so caught up in the rest of conventions that they forget to sell their product and service and end up missing the point completely. The best sales letter writing requires that you tell your client firmly in your letter why your particular product or service is better and more worth their time and money. Be clear, concise and upbeat, and you will surely win your clients attention.

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There are great writers everywhere these days. I won’t try to imitate any of them.

Some are more eloquent than I, and some are more brief. Yet the things I write about seem to strike a chord with people. . .big or small, old or young. I like to think it’s because I write like I speak. . .loosely. . .and hopefully, with a bit of a story to rouse one’s curiosity. Sometimes I use a few too many commas despite my status as a professional freelance writer and editor. But who cares. I like ‘em, and again they work with the way I pace things. . .kinda’ like those few dots right there. Yup. I like ellipses too. My grammar teachers would no doubt string me up if they knew where to find me.

But you know what? The entire reason we as humans write is to share ideas with other people via the written word. Only so much can be said and understood in one conversation, and only so much read in one sitting. Putting our ideas to paper allows our intended audience to re-visit and re-learn what has already been stated, and if you want that corporate magazine, company newsletter, white paper, or simple note to a loved one to actually be read, you’d better make it read well. The way to accomplish this simple feat is to write simply.

Last week I volunteered at the Chicago World Usability Day event held at the downtown office of Blue Cross Blue Shield here in the city. It was an event that, quite frankly, I somewhat stumbled upon while on-line searching for concepts and ideas related to my career as a technical writer. I write and edit all sorts of material, actually, but one of my greater joys has always been editing the work of others so as to help them make their message more clear. It is technical writing nirvana for me, really.

World Usability Day was an enlightening event for me because until a few weeks prior to it taking place, I never even knew such a field existed! My first discovery of this “new” creature was through the US government’s usability website where I learned that usability is, quite succinctly, the means by which designers aim to make the things we use and interact with on a daily basis more useful, usable and to quote Don Norman who was the keynoter of the event, more “friendly”. The folks at Motorola, Whirlpool, GE and a host of other companies are working feverishly to ensure the stuff we use in our lives is indeed useful. As writers, we should always aim for the same.

When I was first learning to write critically as a history major in college, I was always instructed to assume nothing when writing. No matter how educated my professors were on the subject matter I was investigating, I was to write my papers as if they knew nothing at all about the topic at hand. It makes sense, of course, and this single lesson is critical to having your work understood. A lack of attention to this principle is often the reason why technical communication in the form of manuals, reports and proposals typically fail to educate their intended audience. As a result, if your firm is spending money on material no one reads or understands, it is spending away its profits on filing cabinet and trash can fodder. There is a reason why our parents never learned how to program the VCR and now their cell phones, and a lot of it can be attributed to those joyful how-to manuals which accompanied those shiny new electronic devices. So if we’re not writing well and using language we can all understand, then fundamentally, we’re not communicating.

So take a step forward and be a change leader. Work on those corporate and technical communications pieces and grab your audience by the short-hairs. Use great ledes, great graphic artists and great writers. After all, you’re competing for your readers eyeballs as much as your own marketing department is, so let’s make it count!

Wouldn’t it be great if after all the hard work you put into your corporate magazine or corporate history piece, your firm’s employees actually read it?

Cool link: The folks at Ragan Communications are the thought leaders in this arena. Check out their work!

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