Guest Expert Article– On-Line Salesmanship

October 26, 2008

Does Your Online Copy Talk?

 

THE UNSPOKEN DIALOGUE

When it comes to online copywriting, it’s not the words you use that count. It’s the reaction to those words in the mind of the reader, as he reads them on the screen…

And it’s your ability to anticipate and plan out those reactions that spells the difference between being able to get your web site visitors to opt-in or buy your product in sufficient numbers to make your business a success.

It’s like a dialogue between two people, divorced in time and space. You are feeding your reader images, ideas, and emotions across the continuum, in a carefully planned sequence… and he is feeding you back reactions.

You plan for certain reactions, and do your best to make them come about. You hope your reader will understand and agree with the assertions you put forward, and that he will share in the emotions you are suggesting he feel.

Included among these reactions are demands, questions, and anticipations, which must be answered, or your copy will fail…

When you’ve successfully aroused your prospect’s interest, his reaction may be to demand more information, more image, and more desire from your copy, as if to say… hmmm, tell me more? Where you have inflamed his desire, he will demand proof. And even when you demonstrate proof, he is likely to demand to know how those results are to be achieved, so he can judge for himself whether or not the product will work for HIM.

CREATIVE SCHIZOPHRENIA… So your challenge is to play a dual role. You must be copywriter and prospect at the same time. You must walk in his shoes, sense his reactions, feel what he feels at each point in the copy… so you can switch direction at the precise moment his demands arise, and answer them. This fracturing of your mind is one of the most difficult skills to master in copywriting. And naturally it demands a great deal of research into the product, and the market you’re working with. This sensitivity is one of the key distinctions between writing “good enough” copy… and writing grand slam home run copy that pulls in obscene returns.

Those anticipation points are crucial. If you miss them, you lose the interest of your reader.

Let’s examine one of these demands in more detail. At some point in your copy, your prospect generally will ask this question. “How does your product do all these good things you say it does?” First you must anticipate where this question will arise, and then answer it.

“REASON WHY”

Notice this a very specific kind of proof. It’s not a testimonial or an authoritative endorsement. Your prospect is asking for an explanation of the “reason why” something works, which may or may not be included in the aforementioned. It is an explanation of the mechanism behind the magic.

I have seen ads that included every conceivable proof element under the sun fail, because they left this simple device out. They failed to demonstrate the ‘reason why’ the product delivered the promised results.

Of course John E. Kennedy and Claude C. Hopkins are well known for popularizing the importance of this idea at the turn of the last century, and today many direct response ads make use of it to some degree. But how much ‘reason why’ is enough, how much is too much, and where in the copy does it belong?

WHEN TO USE LOGIC AND REASONING IN YOUR COPY

The answer to these questions comes from your market. Are you writing to those who already understand the reasons why your product can do what you claim? Do they accept those reasons as valid? If so, there is not much point in wasting the reader’s attention with a lot of ‘reason why’ copy. For example, if you are writing a car ad today, and the car you are writing about has ABS brakes, all you need do is name this mechanism. Millions of dollars of advertising, perhaps hundreds of millions that has gone before you, has distilled the logic and workings of this technology down to a three letter acronym that just about everyone with a license to drive understands. You simply name the feature, tie it to a benefit, and then move on.

But what about the vast array of products that present a new promise, but where the prospect does not yet understand the mechanism behind the claim? Here it is a simple matter of building a strong promise, backed up by a ‘reason why’ the product delivers on the claim. In the early days of ABS for example, the pioneers made the promise of greater safety, and then backed up that claim with a reason why. Safe, because you could now steer while braking in slippery conditions, and so on.

Of course, the cardinal sin is to make your ‘reason why’ copy dull and boring. It is not scientific discourse. It should sell the mechanism, just as hard as the opening sells the promise, and it must continue to captivate and engage the reader’s interest and build his desire.

In the later stages of product competition, where the market is sophisticated, and it seems that everyone has the same technology, the same promise, the same price, a new strategy is in order.

At this stage your ‘reason why’ should take center stage. Move it up from the anonymity of the body copy, and put it in your headline. It is now just as vital as your promise, no longer just a proof element, but a new, fresh incentive for your prospect to read your ad.

Another place in your copy where this reaction commonly arises is where you offer a special price or discount. Your prospect is suspicious. Many advertisers ignore this fact, and are shocked to discover that a price reduction does nothing to increase sales.

What you must realize is that a price cut, like a promise or a claim or a benefit is only as good as the words you use to describe it, and the strategy you use to present it. Price cuts should be justified. There must be a reason for them. A ‘reason why’ you are doing what you are doing. Without it, you are selling with only a fraction of the power.

Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology “Masters of Copywriting” featuring the marketing wisdom of 42 of the world’s greatest copywriters, including Clayton Makepeace, Joe Sugarman, Joe Vitale,Bob Bly, and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit the below link.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=850930

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Written by Brian Sacks in Daniel Levis, Guest Experts | Leave a Comment 

Profitable Online Campaigns - Guaranteed!

October 19, 2008

This is a new series where I will share articles from the top marketing experts in the world. Todays articles is from master copywriter and marketer Daniel Levis… He will show you the 3 Things YOU MUST DO to have a successful on-line presence…  Let me know your thoughts by posting below…

Brian Sacks

here you go…

 

When you boil it right down, there are really only three things that you need to do exceedingly well to market your business effectively online.

And they are,

Obtaining an Opportunity to Sell – Driving traffic to your website.

Closing the Sale – Making your sales presentation on your site.

Following Up on Your Maybes - Pick the ripe ones yes, but be sure to irrigate & fertilize the soil, prune & bug spray the trees with care, and nurture all of the fruit along. In other words, capture email addresses and follow up.

Mastering all three of these activities is critically important to your success.

But when you’re starting a new venture, which one do you master first?

In my experience, the overwhelming tendency is to start at the beginning. That is, spending maximum time & effort attracting traffic.

Unfortunately, this all to common approach often results in failure.

Frequently, those that go this route never really get off the ground, because they can’t turn a profit. They invariably discover, after spending boatloads of cash, that some of the estimates they made in their business plan were off the mark.

Speaking of getting off the ground, allow me relate a story to illustrate my point …

I’m betting you all know the story of Orville & Wilbur Wright. They went down in history as the first human beings to really fly. But how many people remember Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley?

In 1896 the Wright Brothers, and Langley were engaged in a fierce competition.

Who would be first to conquer the skies?

Langley, a distinguished scholar and secretary of the Smithsonian institute was the clear favorite. He had already achieved impressive unmanned flight over the Potomac River with his steam powered Aerodrome No. 6.

Based on this success, Langley was able to raise $100,000 in funding, and set out to develop an extraordinary radial-cylinder internal combustion engine that would produce an astonishing 52 horsepower! In his estimation, capable of powering an aerodrome large enough for manned flight.

The Wright Brothers, by contrast were convinced that the secret to success lay in their ability to control the aircraft, once in flight. They therefore spent their time experimenting with gliders over the forgiving sands of Kitty Hawk.

For several seasons they worked on manipulating the wings, nose, and tail of the aircraft, so as to allow the operator to actively control it.

Wilbur, who most often piloted, suffered a multitude of minor cuts and bruises. But on each successive trial, much was learnt.

On October 7, 1903, it looked like the Wright’s had lost, as Langley made ready his first manned launch. Langley’s plane would go from a dead stop to the 60 m.p.h. flying speed in only 70 feet.

But the stress of the catapult launch proved greater than the flimsy wood-and-fabric airplane could stand, and the front wing was badly damaged on take off.

The nose heavy Aerodrome “A” then plunged into the Potomac.

A reporter who witnessed the event claimed it flew “like a handful of mortar”.

Things went even worse during the second launch of December 9, 1903, where the rear wing and tail completely collapsed during launch.

Langley had succeeded in burning through almost all of his $100,000 in capital.

Just 8 days after Langley’s spectacular failure, a sturdy, well designed craft, powered by a tiny 8 horse power engine, costing about $1,000, struggled into the air at Kitty Hawk, defining for all time the moment when humankind, mastered the skies.

Langley died in 1906 after a series of strokes, a broken and disappointed man.

“What on Earth Does Flying Wooden Airplanes Have to Do With Marketing My Online Business?”

The moral of the story is this.

Test, test, and retest your prime value proposition to be sure it converts customers, BEFORE committing yourself to major capital outlays, and the start of your campaign.

Will your site convert a high enough percentage of prospects into customers to make your campaign profitable?

Like the Wright brothers, who focused on control, versus brute force, you will dramatically improve your chances of success, if you make the development of a persuasive, & compelling closing pitch, your number 1 priority.

TESTED, to bring home the bacon! Don’t even consider launching your production campaigns until this is done.

And then, BRING ON THE TRAFFIC!

It’s all about your ability to control, influence and motivate the minds of your prospects, once you’ve attracted them to your place of business. Just the way the Wright brothers were able to manipulate the wings, rudder, and nose of the aircraft.

Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology “Masters of Copywriting” featuring the marketing wisdom of 42 of the world’s greatest copywriters, including Clayton Makepeace, Joe Sugarman, Joe Vitale,Bob Bly, and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit the below link.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=850930

Copyright © 2008 Daniel Levis

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