Effective copywriting is absolutely essential to marketing and selling a product online. You can have the best product in the world and it will dead in the water unless you can present the product to the customer in a way that turns prospects into buyers.

Copywriting is a challenging art that requires a lifetime to truly master, but you can go a long way toward writing copy that sells by following a basic tested and proven formula.

The Hook

You must write headlines and subheads that grab the readers’ attention and create the sense that you’re speaking directly to them about something they care about. Use “trigger words” that conjure specific emotions, such as “secrets” and “discover” and “hidden” and “reveal.”

The Problem

Why do people buy information products online from writers they’ve never heard of for prices significantly higher than they can find at their local bookstore? Because they’re desperate for specific information, and there it is right in front of them. They have a problem and they’re desperate for a solution. Immediately after your headline, perhaps even in the headline or subhead itself, convince the reader that you understand exactly the problem they have.

The Promise

The reader isn’t looking for moral support - the reader is looking for a solution. Convince the reader that by whatever twist of fate, you have the solution that no one else has. Make the reader feel genuinely fortunate that he stumbled upon this quirky one-page Web site in some obscure corner of the internet. Make a promise that will solve the customers’ problem and change their life for the better.

The Benefits

This is maybe the single most important factor in any effective sales presentation, not just copywriting and not just Web-based long-copy direct response sales letters. A good car salesman uses it on the lot when you go to test drive a new car. Do not focus your letter on your product’s features. Every product has features and your prospective customer doesn’t really care about features. The customer has a question gnawing at the back of his or her mind: “What’s in it for me?” Answer that question, again and again. Focus on the benefits that will make the customer’s life better and easier.

The Offer

Make your offer, and make it an offer your customer can’t refuse. You’ve elevated your product’s perceived value by focusing on the benefits, now raise it even higher by overdelivering and undercharging. Offer free bonuses and extras that are relevant to the product and that will actually be valued by the customer. Give the customers what they were expecting, and then give them a little more. Your customer wants a good deal; you can’t negotiate directly with the customer in a sales letter, so negotiate with yourself. List a price, cross it out, and list a lower price that you’re offering for a limited time.

The Objections

Your customer will still have objections, reasons not to buy or to put it off; reasons to hesitate. Anticipate those objections and address them. Leave the customer with absolutely no reason or excuse not to buy.

The Call to Action

Even after reading through the best sales letter ever, it’s still easier not to click the order button than it is to click it. You’ve spent several pages battering relentlessly against your prospect’s defenses, but at least one of those natural defenses is still there: the tendency to procrastinate. Even if your prospect wants the product, needs the product, it’s easier to do it later. Create a sense of urgency. Call the prospect to act now. Show the customer where and how to order; lead your customers to the order button and do everything short of click on it for them.

These “7 Secrets” won’t make you a master copywriter overnight. Incorporate them in your sales letter, though, and you’ll have gone a long way toward turning prospects into motivated buyers.

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