A member of my coaching program asked a question about the legality of using a pseudonym or alias when writing marketing communications. In other words, can he use a pen name? Stated differently, is it legal to write the copy in the voice of a fictitious character? Or telling the story of, say, a fictitious […]
What’s the single, most important element in copywriting? Let me say it another way. You’ve done your research. You found a starving market. Your product fills a need. And your sales copy shines with benefits. If everything is so perfect, then why is your product still not selling? Is it the price? The offer? The […]
In late 2005 (and early 2006), I predicted the death of the text-heavy, long-scrolling sales letter and the birth of an interactive, content-driven, multimedia model.
The other day, one of my readers asked me the following question, which I found rather interesting: “Why should the author of a product be included in their sales copy?” Seems like a pretty redundant question, right? Especially to any veteran copywriter or marketer worth their salt. But the question didn’t stop there. The reader […]
When writing direct response copy, a few things can maximize the responsiveness of your message. The first and most important element that can turn any website, salesletter, or advertisement into an action-generating mechanism is, without question, the headline. But lately, I’m seeing more and more headlines that are limp, bloated, or simply dead wrong. A […]
I used to teach marketing and selling at a local college here in Ottawa. And one of the things I used to help teach with — I also use them all the time when I want to learn and remember new things, too — was mnemonics. Mnemonics are tools or devices that aid retention. Do […]
I first taught this technique in 1998. While there have been tons of improvements since then, today I still see copy on so many websites, sales letters, or emails using a language that only the person who wrote them understands. The bottom line is, most marketers and copywriters still seem to ignore the most important […]
A few years ago, something happened that provided incontrovertible proof of an infallible rule in copywriting. I knew it all along but never saw it proven to me in such a personal and direct way. The one element that can transform flimsy, “yeah-right” copy into a sales-inducing powerhouse, is proof. Besides poor targeting, lack of […]
One of the most venerable and common elements of good salesletters, following the headline, is the postscript or “P.S.” at the end. The end of every great sales letter should be capped with a strong P.S. We are often told that the P.S. is the second most read part of a salesletter, because after reading […]