Another 5 Copywriting Tips

There are more things to get wrong in copy than there are to get right. Don't fall victim to the bad mistakes – follow these five tips to keep your marketing message on target.

KISS – Keep it short and simple. Avoid paragraphs of more than 2-3 sentences, and avoid sentences of more than 2 or 3 lines. A large block of text will look difficult to read, and your visitors will avoid it. Keep your copy open and airy – keep it short and simple.

Use the right testimonials in the right places. Don't just cram your copy full of them, you'll look unprofessional. Don't use testimonials that SOUND like testimonials. Try to capture honest compliments from your customers, and ask if you can use what they already said – with a link back to their website of course.

Make sure you ask for the sale – this is something taught in basic sales training to offline sales professionals, but for some reason its missed in most online manuals. If you don't ask the customer to buy, how are they going to know what to do? Tell them – buy now. Point to the link. Tell them to click. Its as simple as that.

Don't even bother with any sales copy if your offer isn't up to par. Make sure that your price and value match up properly, and that what you're offering is something the market desires. Don't just throw anything out there and see if it “sticks” - plan your offer carefully. Otherwise, it is guaranteed to fail.

Finally don't offer your price before your benefits. Although this is common with $7 sales, they are actually leaving money on the table by doing this. First, you'll catch the attention of the “price scanners” (people who look at the bottom for the price before reading the copy) by putting the price at the bottom – they are the ones who care most about price anyway. The rest will be so thrilled with everything you have to offer, they will have a maximum price in their mind of what they will pay. If you beat that price – you're in. If you say “$97” in the first third of your copy, people are going to expect a lot – or expect they can't afford it.

The bottom line is, good copy isn't hard – but it isn't easy, either. You have to have the right mix of buying signals in the right order for that sale to be made. But with a little help from these tips, you're a lot closer to that sale than most.