Webmaster Help | 12-Copywriting Tips to Make Your Advertising More Profitable.

By Thom Reece

Year after year people make the same mistakes in direct-responsecopy and advertising. You can avoid the most common and costlyblunders by following the following proven tips...

1. WRITE IN DIRECT RESPONSE LANGUAGE:

* Use short paragraphs and short words. This article has 68%short words-five letters or less. Strive for at least 65%-75%.Never go under 50% unless you are writing to Ph.D's.

* Make your sentences and paragraphs flow like a breeze.

* Ignore good grammar when you have a good reason.

* Keep the bucket brigade going: Start paragraphs with And, But,So you see, However...

* Use the freshest concepts and the most colorful language youcan without disturbing the flow.

* Use hot words: free, profit, new, now, secret, easy, save,guarantee, today... and the hottest word of all: YOU!

* Use bullets... lots of them.

2. WRITE LOTS OF HEADLINES.

Always think up dozens of alternative headlines. Put yourstrongest benefits in them and test your best alternatives. Whenwriting headlines for web sites make sure they include keysearch words and phrases along with the benefits.

3. DROP THE WARM-UPS...

You'll destroy your entire letter/ad by starting off, "As ahomeowner, you know how maintenace costs are climbing everyday...". Take your first draft and try cutting out the first twoto three paragraphs... you'll usually find the real "meat"starts to appear in your copy after you have started to"warm-up" to the writing.

4. STAND OUT.

Separate yourself from the competition as clearly as you can.Discover, isolate, and dramatize all the reasons for doingbusiness with you...today..., instead of your competitor. Buildyour entire package or ad around these reasons (benefits).

5. SELL BENEFITS, NOT FEATURES.

Readers don't buy products or features of products. They buy thebenefits-of-use of the product or features. Be humble enough torealize that a buyer will not give you one red cent for anyproduct or feature until you convert the features intobenefits-of-use.

6. LEARN TO GIVE.

Most advertisers and charities think of direct response strictlyas a device to "get". Unfortunately, most readers also want toget. So, to succeed, you must adopt a "give" attitude... beyondwhat you offer in the product or service. Give them somethingimmediately in your ad, your letter, your web page. Give themnews, business tips, interesting stories, resources, freebies,special deals.

7. USE TESTIMONIALS.

They're proof that you're as good as you say you are, and thatyou'll do what you say will do. Like...

"I increased profits by $100,000 last year using yourservices..." Joe Smith, President, Smith Corporation

The more specific the testimonial the more power it has. Givefull attributions whenever possible. Testimonials give youbelievability and credibility. You can't do successfuldirect-response without these two essential factors.

8. OFFER A MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE.

Whatever you are selling, make sure you offer a money-backguarantee. It's a critical factor in getting someone to send intheir monty to someone they don't know or maybe never heard of.

9. CREDIT CARDS, TOLL FREE NUMBERS.

Credit card purchases and toll-free "800" numbers can increaseyour response by as much as 50%. If you're on the web make sureyou opt for secure on-line transmission (SSL) of credit cardorders... or allow other means for your customer to providetheir credit information to you.

10. ASK FOR ACTION.

It's amazing how often otherwise good copy never gets around toasking for the order. If you don't ask for action... you won'tget any.

11. BUDGET YOUR TIME.

Devote about one third of your writing time to the leadelements, headline, subheads, teasers, opening paragraphs.

12. KEEP CURRENT.

Direct-response is more scientific than other types ofadvertising. Like any fast-moving science, it has it'sdiscoveries daily. This is especially true of writing for theInternet/World Wide Web. Subscribe to industry trade journalssuch as Target Marketing, DM News, Direct, and other relevantpublications.

Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com