Copywriting – 10 Key Ingredients Of Power Copywriting (Part 1 - Keys 1-4)

There is no doubt it’s hard work developing products to sell online. It takes time and effort to research your market, find the niche, understand the problems of that niche and then build a product to solve those problems.

What? You thought you could just develop any old product and “stick it out there”?

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen people build products without checking there is a market first, but that’s for another hub for another day!

So, all that’s left to do is write your sales letter. All that’s left?

The sales letter is absolutely the key to your success (or failure) when marketing online. If you want real and lasting success you simply have to learn copywriting…unless of course you can afford the many thousands of dollars needed to hire an experienced, top-drawer copywriter.

Try hiring someone like Brett McFall. He charges $10,000 for a copywriting Masterclass and $25,000 for a sales letter!

Any top copywriter will charge serious money. Yes, you’ll get results, but, copywriting is a key skill in your online arsenal and you definitely should learn copywriting for yourself.

I have talked at length about headlines in my Headline Writing - 5 Things You Must Know hub on the subject. To quickly recap, the headline is the most important part of your sales letter…that’s why it has a hub all of its own!

So, do check out that hub!

This hub will concentrate on ten key pointers to ensure that your copywriting is powerful, not full of hype and BS and genuinely sells your product so that you can make a profit.

1 – The Opening - Stop People In Their Tracks And Make Them Think.

Assuming your headline has done its job, your reader will be led into the main “body copy” of your sales letter. Your opening is also vitally important, and it needs to “break into” your reader’s normal internal working. Break the normal flow of their day? Check out your copy, does it do this?

Each line of your copywriting must ’sell’ the reader on continuing to read. The nearer the beginning you are the more this is so!

In those early lines it is critical that you build enough interest. Once you have interest you then need enough momentum to ensure you get the reader through enough of the points necessary to create a insatiable desire for your product. Oh and you also need to completely overcome any price resistance! Easy then?

As a general rule, research suggests that the higher the cost of the product, the more words you need in your sales copy. I’m sure you have heard the phrase “long copy sells” – in 99.9% of cases this has been found to be true.

2 - FAB Virgil!

Sadly we are not talking Thunderbirds here (for those old enough to remember). FAB in the world of copywriting stands for:

Feature - a facet of the product, i.e., it is an eBook.

Advantage - as the word suggests, an advantage over another product, for example, it’s very easy to download and read.

Benefit - it can help you make money!

Your copy needs to be balanced in containing these very important elements.

The way to use these key elements is to use them to paint a vivid picture of your prospect’s future life (and how much better it will be), because they purchased your service or product.

FAB is one of the most powerful tools at your copywriting disposal and is a major key to success!

So, make sure your copy promises emotional benefits, the gaining of positive feelings, or the banishment of negative ones (solving a problem).

Make sure you clearly demonstrate how these outcomes are achieved using exact and detailed descriptions of the features, advantages and of course the benefits the prospect will receive in return for buying your product.

You need to strike a balance between emotion and logic in your copywriting if it is to be truly effective.

3 - Create Enthusiasm And Excitement

This is a really interesting part of the copywriting puzzle. I spent some 25 years selling (mostly face to face or telesales) and one of the first things I was taught was that you have to really (and I mean REALLY) believe in the product you are selling.

You have to have a genuine enthusiasm for it, champion it, and certainly use it yourself (so you can tell people about your experiences with insider knowledge).

If you don’t, your reader will see right through you! Plain and simple.

Don’t ask me how, but they will. It’s the same when you are sell on the ‘phone, if you’re not talking with true belief, the prospect will intuitively know. That’s where the phrase “smile and dial” came from. So, …smile and write copy!

Like the old beans advert…I know it doesn’t rhyme, but you get the idea!

So, make sure your copy has the ability to quicken the reader’s pulse. Make it upbeat and full of positive energy. Give it real WOW factor!

4 – Your Copywriting Should Be Easily Readable

Many years ago I was taught the K.I.S.S principle, what does it stand for?

Keep.It.Simple.Stupid - simple is best. Keep sentences short. Use a plain 10-point to 12-point font.

Paragraphs no more than a few lines. Make sure the words you use are familiar and easily understood as well as specific to your target audience.

I once read that you should be thinking about talking to a ten year old when you are copywriting! Would a ten year old understand what you are writing?

I’m not sure it needs to be quite that basic, but…you get the idea. Remember K.I.S.S which should help you make it as easy as possible for your reader to understand the points and issues you are trying to get across.

Use regular subheads to break up text and “drag” the reader into the next section (always instruct your reader as to what they need to do!). Use highlight and underlines to illustrate important points.

O.K, that's it for part one of this copywriting masterclass, otherwsie this would be the longest hub in history!

Back with the conclusion very soon!

For more great free copywriting information, check out our Copywriting Blog at Write For Riches - updated regualarly with fresh new copywriting content.