If you happen to be new that will writing publication articles, you may well be looking for useful information. First, you will need to research prior to write. This research can certainly be carried out online, using a standard world wide web search, or by purchasing a copy belonging to the Writer’s Current market books. These kind of books create paying journals, including magazines, and its expectations.

In terms of the exterminator dallas of study, it can help you save time plus money. Magazines concentrate on a variety of genres; determine precisely what these makes are early. You need to obtain the magazines that is a perfect fit on your article. Research could also increase your chances of asking for published, as numerous publishing companies specifically format what they are searhing for and what they aren’t.

Once you’ve got decided which often magazines you are interested in write a piece of writing for distribution, buy copies of that magazine. Anyway, see in the event magazine articles can be purchased on the actual company’s webpage for observing. It is not uncommon for the particular magazine to acquire a specific type of writing so it follows. Be sure your write-up is unique, but follows identical the producing style.

One way to transform your life chances winning a mag article published is to choose the topic of a person’s article prudently. Write on the topic that you’ve got a great desire for or one that you will be passionate related to. When any topic “tugs from your heart, ” your own article is likely to be more needed and of better quality. Also, write over a topic that you are educated at. Are you a student with any teaching qualifications? If and so, use your background for you to write informative pieces at education, and so forth. Many qualified publishing companies not just want excellent articles, but articles that are backed having facts, figures, and understanding.

Setting sensible goals for yourself is essential. If you are new for you to freelance creating, don’t expect to find out your content accepted plus published initially around. Indeed, you want to aim higher, but never let a rejection letter bring you down. Instead, use it to improve your content creation quality.

Another easy solution to improve a person’s chances winning a journal article published could be to get published online 1st. Many creating companies ask to check out samples of the previous operate, want a summary of your own work practical experience, or request references. Owning content published online, even though it should be on the right website or perhaps blog, will help you to make everyone appear for “experienced, ” contributor. Namely, a bed that can carry something into the magazine. For the best success, target websites which are known as eZines, because they are internet magazines.

When submitting a piece of text for submitting, it is essential to comply with all plans given anyone. As reported above, most publishing companies will explain what they need or don’t really want. Can an individual submit the full article or even are plans requested? If you double room or individual space your article? Are types of prior work published desired? Always send articles intended for submission while they are inquired. This by yourself significantly helps your chances of having published.

Auto Rapid Traffic

A copywriter is a person who uses his or her knowledge and skills to work with mediums such as magazines, internet websites and even television to capture the attention of potential clients. There are many ways they are able to do this but it normally is done using the written word.

Copywriters know how to phrase certain words to grab the readers attention. This is done in many ways using headings as well as key phrases within a document on a website that will allow the site to appear more often.

Companies often call on these services when they are looking to increase their exposure to the public and eventually increase their sales. Making use of a good copywriter can do wonders to gain attention from the public as they are trained to know what the public is looking for.

Copywriting services can be found in various places. One of these places is the internet where you can search through their website in order to establish whether or not they are right for you and your company. Not all copywriters will be able to provide you with excellent service so take care.

You will have to pay for these services but they do not always have to be very expensive. The fee they will charge will depend on the type of work they will have to do as well as the extent of the job that you have given them.

Copywriters often work as part of team together with the designers who will provide graphic representations next to their textual work. This increases the chances that the public will find interest in the product and eventually purchase whatever is being provided.

Visit The Copy Box now to book some of the best copywriting services in the UK

Did that headline grab your attention? Are you anxious to learn what this amazing free technique is?

Why, it’s the headline itself!

You have one chance and one chance only to grab your audience’s attention like our headline grabbed yours. If your heading doesn’t draw readers in, odds are that they will never even get to the second sentence. Instead, they’ll move on—right to your competitor.

A strong headline guarantees that you will never lose a visitor before they stop to learn more. More people stopping translate directly into more sales and more profits!

By keeping just a few key points in mind, you can start writing engaging, money-making headlines in minutes. The sooner you improve your headlines, the sooner you can enjoy the wealth that has been waiting for you inside them.

Key Point #1: Be Specific!

 Stand out from the competition!
 Real numbers and dollar signs attract the most attention.

Chances are you have some competition selling something similar to the same people you are targeting. Get ahead of your competitors by specifically telling customers what they have to gain—and lose—from you right upfront.

In our example headline above, we didn’t simply say that our technique increases profits. Instead, we said it increases profits “by $1,000s.” By adding this tiny detail, it immediately changed from a generic headline to an enticing offer.

It’s easy to overlook the thousands of messages we come across each day. They all promise to create undisclosed amounts of money in undisclosed amounts of time. However, it’s hard to pass by a headline promising to reveal how to make $1,000s in under two minutes. (This second headline detail drives home the idea that our technique is *really* fast!)

Leave the vague promises that everyone else is trying behind. Today, start to attract customers’ curiosities with headlines full of concrete facts and figures.

Key Point #2: Choose Your Words!

 Choose positive (“winning”) instead of negative (“not losing”) language.
 Headlines should always be upbeat and inspiring.

Always keep your headlines positive, upbeat, and full of inspiration. By the time a visitor gets to the end of that very first line, they should not only want to keep reading—they should be *eager* and *excited* to keep reading!

Think carefully about how you word each portion of your heading. Focus on the verbs, or action words. How are you currently describing the action? How else could you describe that same action? Which wording sounds most attractive?

For example, say that you stay home to watch a football game instead of going out to the grocery store. You could describe your action in two ways: “staying home to watch the game” or “not going out to the store.”

The former (“staying home to watch the game”) is the more upbeat of the two and makes a better headline. It involves a positive action (“staying”) and a positive result (“to watch the game”). In contrast, the second option involves a negative action (“not going”) and a boring result (“to the store”). Negativity and boredom will not interest the reader, and they’ll quickly be headed elsewhere.

Key Point #3: Longer Is Better!

 Never skimp on the critical first sentence.
 Highlight key points.
 Use a sub-headline if necessary.
 Four key questions your headline MUST answer.

In most writing, we are taught to be “short and sweet.” In other words, to say as much as possible in as few words as possible.

Not with headlines!

You only have one sentence to hook a reader—make it count!

By the end of that first line, the reader should know what they stand to gain; how easily they can benefit; and how fast they can start benefiting!

Touch on as much of the following as you can:

- What your product is (i.e. “an e-book,” “a technique”)
- How it’s used (i.e. “right from your browser,” “effortlessly”)
- What’s required to use it (i.e. “less than two minutes of your time”)
- Benefits from using it (i.e. “increases profits,” “doubles memory”)

Make the main ideas of your heading stand out! Pepper your headline with uppercase letters, underlines, italics, and/or bold text.

Too many important details? Consider adding a sub-headline. The real headline should include the most captivating points, but a sub-headline can add information to really seal the deal. When positioned close together, many readers can be “tricked” into reading both sentences right off the bat!

Your headline is ultimately what makes or breaks a sale. If it cannot capture your readers’ attention, it cannot bring in sales. If you think your current headline is doing its job, think again. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much success you’ll enjoy—all from taking just two minutes to incorporate the above key points into your headlines.

When you qualify your AdWords leads, you can reduce the click-through rate (CTR) of browsers and help direct only those most interested in your offer to your site.  How is it done?  By inserting text that will purposely eliminate arbitrary visitors.

Qualifying Your PPC Leads

Purposely eliminating visitors sounds like an awful thing to do, doesn’t it?  Perhaps, until you consider the fact that – once these visitors got to your site and found out the details of your offer – they’d most likely leave anyway.

Why not save yourself a click (and the money associated with that click!) and prevent the visitor from running up your monthly AdWords bill?  This is exactly what Steve Jackson of Conversion Chronicles and I discussed awhile back.  Since that discussion, I’ve come up with a process that will allow you to easily write pre-qualifying ads when you use these simple steps.

Step One

Outline the specifications of your offer.  Be precise.  List all the details of the offer, the price, length of time, physical location, size, etc.  For example, say you have luxury cruise packages available.  You’d want to list the details such as: packages depart from New York City and go to several destinations in Mexico including Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán from December 5-15 for a cost of $2500 per person.

Step Two

Go back and highlight anything that would be a deal breaker.  This is a luxury cruise, so the cost of $2500 per person might be too much for most people.  Quite often, cruisers are looking for the best deal possible.

Also, the cruise only leaves from New York City.  The additional airfare cost might not be something your site visitors want to add to the cost of their trip.  Or, it may be inconvenient to depart from New York City.

What about the dates?  These cruises are only available on the dates of December 5-15.  Your site visitors may not be able to take a holiday during that time.

Does the visitor want to sail to the locations on the itinerary?  Maybe they’ve already been to Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán and are looking for a cruise to Cabo San Lucas.

Are there other factors that might force shoppers to decline the offer and move to another site?  If so, list them here.

Step Three

Now, decide which bits of information you want to include in your AdWords ads.  You’ll want to test and track to see which combination of details bring the lowest click-through rates along with the highest conversions.  For example, your ad might read:

Luxury Mexico Cruise 12/5
Tour tropical Cozumel, Puerto
Vallarta & more. Leave NYC. $2500pp
www.whatever.com

That would give a lot of information that would keep unqualified visitors from clicking through to your site (and running up your AdWords bill).  At the same time, the use of words like “luxury” and “tropical” help the searcher visualize their wonderful vacation.

Another example could be a special shipment of microwave ovens.  Let’s go through the steps once again.

Step One

The specifications include: convection/microwave combination, built-in with light and vent features, 1200 watts, white, $900, available on the Internet only.

Step Two

Any of these could be used to weed out visitors.  Someone may not want the convection feature.  They want a countertop microwave rather than a built-in model.  Twelve-hundred watts may be more powerful (and larger) than the visitor needs.  Their kitchen may have stainless steel or black appliances, not white.  Lastly, $900 could be more than they have budgeted for a microwave.

Step Three

Again, you’ll want to test and track to see which tidbits of information work best to bring qualified leads, reduce CTR and costs, and improve conversions.

Your ad might look like this:

Powerful Convec/Microwave
Special purchase. Attractive range
built-in with 1200w. Only $900.
www.whatever.com

Rather than using generic terms to describe high cost or frequently compared PPC items, get as specific as you can with “disqualifying” copy.  By weeding out those who would likely take one look and leave, you can save yourself a lot of money in AdWords expenses while increasing conversions.

Let’s go offline for a moment.  Go get your telephone book.  If you were going to conduct a search for, say, an office desk, how would you go about it?  You’d look in the Yellow Pagesâ„¢ under office furniture.  Next you’d drill through the ads in search of ads that specifically mentioned “desks” or perhaps the particular kind of desk you want.

<B>SEO for Newspapers?</B>

When looking through the inserts that come with your Sunday newspaper, your eye would be especially drawn to office supply flyers that featured the word “desks” or a picture of desks.  Why?  Because you’ve got desks on the brain right now.  You’re going to be especially sensitive to that word because that’s the current need you’re trying to fill.

The same, exact thing applies when someone searches online.  Keywords started out because human Internet searchers typed them into the search engines, not because the search engines selected the terms.  The same holds true today.  You don’t just make up keywords.  You use services and programs that allow you to research the exact phrases human beings are typing to Google, Yahoo! and other engines. When you incorporate those words and phrases into your website copy, you’re doing way more than attempting to boost your rankings; you’re also helping to navigate the site visitor from the search engine to the right page of your site.

If you’re the owner of the office supply store we’ve been talking about and you want to create a newspaper ad to sell a new line of desks you carry, what do you think might appear in the headline?  The word “desk” or perhaps the phrase “office desks.”  Why would you do that?  There are no search engines to optimize for in the newspaper industry.  You’ll include those keywords because it makes sense to do so.  You’ll include them because they are descriptive of what you’re selling.  You’ll include them because it will attract the readers’ attention and draw them to your store.  That’s not search engine optimization; it’s just good marketing.

<B>Lead, Don’t Shove</B>

The same applies when writing copy for your site.  There’s more than one reason to include keywords in your copy.  The primary one is not the engines…it’s your site visitors.  Strategic keyword placement helps guide your visitors to the information, products or services they are looking for.  Don’t shove keywords in everywhere you think you can possibly fit them.  Instead, use keywords to lead your visitors in the right direction.

Even if there were no such thing as search engine optimization, your copy would almost certainly still contain keywords.  It only makes sense to have keywords in the headline, so visitors will know what the page is about.  Sub-heads?  Sure thing!  People scan more than they read, so having keywords in sub-heads is a great idea.  And in the body copy?  You bet!  After all, it’s pretty hard to sell desks without actually using the word “desk.”  Since there are school desks and computer desks and many other desks, you’ll want to make it clear that your sale is for “office desks.”  That, too, only makes sense.

As you can see, keyword inclusion has been going on far longer than the Internet has existed. It’s been an important part of copywriting since marketing was invented.  When you create a copywriting plan for your site pages, think through which keywords you should use and where the most effective places to position those keywords would be. Then develop your SEO copy with a goal of directing your visitors to the right information.  When you do, you’ll naturally optimize for the search engines at the same time.

In order to increase traffic to your site, you will want to use a good mix of keyword articles.  These will go a long way in increasing your traffic from search engines.  Not to mention the fact that keyword articles can also be very educational.

When looking to choose a keyword article company to help you out, there are three important things that you should keep in mind.  These details are as follows.

1. A good keyword article company should be devoted to helping you succeed through quality content.  This means that you will want to find a service that offers quality content, not just fluff.  After all, people are going to be reading what you put on your site.  If your writers do not do a good job you will not be making your visitors happy.

2. Even though price is not everything, you will want to take it into consideration.  Think of it this way.  If you need 10 articles a week, and one service offers them for $6 an article and another $8, you will be saving $20 total every week.  Over the course of a month this is $80; and during the year $960.  Surely you could find something to do with an extra $960.  Remember, costs can add up; shop for the best price without compromising quality.

3. Search for personal service.  When you order any type of copywriting project chances are that you will need to be in touch with the writers you are working with.  This means that you should do your best to choose a service that will walk you through the process, not one that simply completes the work and sends it back without communication.

Overall, there are several top quality keyword article companies that are available to work for you.  As long as you do your research and follow the tips above you should be able to find the one that best suits your needs.

As I started reading the original issue of this newsletter, Matt Cutts began to explain that Google uses many factors (other than Page Rank) to evaluate and rank pages.  Matt continues to describe the use of keywords and their relationships to other page factors.

For instance, let’s say one keyphrase you’re working with in your copy is “flat monitor.”  I’ve preached for years that keyphrases work best when all the words remain in their exact order.  That is, when you use the entire phrase “flat monitor” as opposed to only using the single words “flat” and “monitor” individually.  Matt confirms this by saying relevance and trust might be increased in Google’s eyes when the words “flat” and “monitor” are used next to each other.

Why would it matter?  Because “flat” can refer to practically anything.  That word by itself could easily be used on a page that has absolutely nothing to do with monitors.  While the word “monitor” can refer to a screen used with a computer, there are many different types of monitors.  If the search query were specifically for “flat monitors,” pages about CRT monitors and other types would have little relevance and therefore wouldn’t be deemed trustworthy.  “Monitor” can also mean to observe, which would be irrelevant to the search query used in our example.  So, using the phrase as it was typed into the search engine is the most relevant application.

What else?  Have your keyphrase in the title.  While Matt doesn’t say this is a vital element, he does suggest that it “gives a hint” that the page would be more relevant, and therefore trustworthy, to the subject matter at hand than a document that does not include the keyphrase in the title.

Toward the end of the article, Matt refers to Google’s preference to choose the most trusted sites to include in their database.  It’s in a subsequent issue of the Google Librarian Newsletter that Matt explains, in part, other ways Google evaluates trust.

The fonts used on the page and the placement of words on the page are included in assessing trust.  Also, an examination of the text of other pages of the site is included. Of course, this is not the entire equation.  As originally stated, Google uses many factors to determine the relevance and trust of copy.  These are just a few.

But what about copy that isn’t trustworthy?  What practices do you want to avoid?  In a thread on Matt’s blog (from April 26th), Matt discusses penalties.  During the thread, a segment of horrible text is shown as an example of how not to write SEO copy.  Matt’s comments about the copy include mentions of these offenses:  keyword stuffing, deliberate inclusion of misspelled words, gibberish text (the kind normally generated by automated copywriting programs), doorway pages and hidden text on the page. If you are currently practicing any of these techniques, you might want to seriously (and quickly) adjust your copywriting strategy.

The bottom line is that Google wants to include pages that are highly relevant.  By writing your copy in such a way to highlight the relevant factors of the content for Google, you also contribute to your visitors’ experiences.  It’s a win-win-win situation that benefits you, Google and those who come to your site.

Any offer you make through your Internet copywriting needs to be worth the readers’ time. Time is valuable and there is no bigger waste of time – for you as the creator or for your reader – than a worthless offer.

A number of years ago, a newspaper advertising sales rep went to her boss, disgusted that her client would not buy the ad schedule she pitched. It turned out that the last time the client ran an ad – five years before – “I didn’t get a single result from my coupon” that he ran way back then. The coupon was for a free coffee refill… something that was already common practice at the restaurant. Honestly, who would bother?

“Go back and tell that man we’ll run his ad for free if he will live up to the offer we create,” was the ad manager’s response. From there, he proceeded to tell the young sales rep to tell the client that the coupon would read “Bring this in for $1.00 in cash.” So, she did.

The client naturally refused because he knew he would have too many takers. What he finally admitted to himself is that his advertising did not work because his offer was lousy. Keep this business owner’s woes in mind as you plan to create your own irresistible offers with your Internet copywriting.

Make your offer one that is worth the time it takes to respond. A “Free 60 day trial” is a pretty good offer for an online program. What kind of offers can your business make?

The key to getting readers to respond to your offers is to make them irresistible. Can you afford to knock several dollars off the fee for your product or service? Or maybe you can make a strong guarantee, making your product or service almost risk free. Transferring the risk from the customer to you will help remove resistance to your offer.

Whatever it is you decide to offer, honor the offer at all costs. Keep your word and potential customers will quickly fall into place as current customers spread the word.

If you have never done any Internet copywriting before, don’t worry about it. No one knows your product or service as well as you do. Because of your passion for the product or service you are selling, you know it better than even a professional copywriter. Let that passion lead your Internet copywriting as you work to create the perfect offer that your potential customers just cannot refuse!

If you need some help creating an irresistible offer for your Internet copywriting, ask yourself, “What would make me buy?” Think about your answer. Is it do-able? If so, let that be your irresistible offer.

You can always make it available for a limited time (another good way to get people to act quickly) in case you decide the offer is too good to be very profitable.

Add a sense of urgency to your offer to get people to act immediately. If they put it off, they are likely to forget about it and you end up losing the sale. Adding a sense of urgency can be done by limiting the quantity or time of the offer or both. For example, the special offer is good only for the next 100 people who order, or the offer expires in 48 hours. You can even use both to heighten the sense of urgency.

In summary, make your offer irresistible. Make it worth the effort to the customer to place the order. Transfer the risk from the customer to you and add a sense of urgency. Then be sure to live up to what you have written in you copy. If you do these thing, you’ll see your sales skyrocket!

Because the copywriter’s audience is driven by the realities of the business market, so too is the copywriter. Although the good ones love to write, they don’t necessarily love to write about toilet paper and real-estate. Copywriters – in particular website copywriters – write because it’s their job. And like any job, copywriting has very defined objectives and parameters which determine how the copywriter works, and the kind of material they produce.

So, if you need black and white, this is where you’ll find it.

There are two primary commercial realities for a website copywriter. Understand these realities, and you’ll understand the writer. Ignore them, and your job will take longer, be more frustrating, be less engaging, and earn you less money.

REALITY 1 – READER-FRIENDLY AND SEARCH-ENGINE-FRIENDLY
A website copywriter needs to adhere to certain guidelines to ensure your website is both reader-friendly and search-engine-friendly. This is black and white.

Because most websites rely on search engines for their traffic, your website copywriter has to write for two broad audiences: human and computer. This introduces a number of complexities because, quite often, these audiences want different things.

For instance, with humans, less is generally more. But with computers, more is more. Humans need to understand, so the fewer words the better. Search engines, on the other hand, are programmed to think that anything important enough to be ranked highly has to have a lot of words. A website copywriter must balance these conflicting requirements. Your copywriter will work faster and more efficiently if you don’t demand too few words or too many.

TIP: If your site needs both humans and search engines, try not to set your heart on less than 100 words per page or more than 300 words. Generally speaking, somewhere in the middle is a nice compromise for both audiences.

And it’s not just the number of words used that’s important. Humans tend not to like repeated words, whereas search engines do. Humans will understand from your heading what it is you do, and if it’s relevant. Mention it once, and they’ll generally remember. Search engines are not so smart. They need to be told again and again. This is how they figure out how relevant your site is.

TIP: Don’t ask your website copywriter to be a minimalist. The search engines won’t like it. By the same token, don’t ask them to simply jam every page full of hundreds of your primary keyword phrases, because your human readers won’t like that (in fact, neither will the search engines). The trick is to expect each page to repeat one or two primary keyword phrases 5-10 times.

TIP: Remember, balancing human and computer requirements is time consuming. Try to have a clear understanding of the objective of each page before your writer starts. You’ll get a much better product with fewer time consuming iterations.

REALITY 2 – BENEFITS, AUDIENCES, PRODUCTS, SERVICES, FEATURES
A website copywriter deals in benefits, audiences, products, services, and features. This is black and white.

These things may be painfully obvious to you, but they won’t be to your copywriter. And although a good copywriter will be able to draw them out of you, they won’t be able to accurately and comprehensively identify them alone.

TIP: Before you engage a website copywriter, make a list of what you do, who you do it for, and what benefits it gives them. Your job will cost more if your brief consists of one line, “I want to increase sales!”

When it comes down to it, a good website is written around benefits. Customers are only interested in how you can benefit them. This means benefits are the website copywriter’s inspiration. By the end of the project, you’ll be sick and tired of hearing your copywriter ask, “But what are the benefits of that to your customer?” You’ll definitely thank them for asking though.

TIP: Don’t confuse features with benefits. A feature is what you do or how you do it. A benefit is what advantage that brings to the customer. Your list should make a clear distinction between the two. This will save your copywriter a LOT of time, and save you a lot of money. Most importantly, it will MAKE you a lot of money because your website will engage your customer.

Website copywriting is an artform. But because it’s an artform with a commercial foundation, it can be understood by anyone in business. And when you understand the commercial realities of the copywriter, the greys of the artform will begin to seem more like the familiar black and white of the nine-to-five. Then, and only then, will you be able to make the most of your website copywriter.

‘Lack of trust’ is a big problem in advertising.  You probably don’t realise how many customers DON’T believe what you say or claim in your advertising.  In fact, the best rule of thumb to go by, is that NO ONE BELIEVES YOU.  We often see on TV current affairs shows, people who get ripped off by businesses.  And it might only be 1 in 1000 businesses in that particular industry, but of course it’s that one that will always get the headlines.

Then the general public see this and make a broad judgement on that industry to protect themselves, and then they become wary of every business. So it’s not enough to just tell people that you have this fantastic, well-respected
reputation… and so therefore you’re the company to choose. It just doesn’t work that way anymore, you need to go much further these days.  Here are two powerful tips that will have more people trusting what you say.

1. People believe more of what other people say about you…
than what YOU say about you.

If you were to tell me that you are the best basketball player in your state, that you score more than everyone else and hand out more assists, I would have a fair bit of scepticism as I haven’t heard anything about you.  But if 10 people came up to me and say stuff like, “Have you seen this guy?  He scored 40 points last week!  He was simply amazing.  Plus he handed out 12 assists, he was on fire!”  then you can see that makes it more readily believable right away.  So go to your customers and ask them for their opinion of you.  Get them to write down the wonderful experience they had dealing with you, then you can use it to show others why they should do business with you!

There is however, good and bad ways of writing a testimonial, so I’m going to tell you the best system to use.  It goes something like this – ‘once I was lost, now I’m found’.  For example, if you’re promoting a weight loss program, tell people how your customer ‘once weighed 180kg, and just by eating this amazing fruit bar, I lost 80kg in 2 months!’  That’s just an exaggeration of course, but just to illustrate the point.  Plus, you should always include the full name and suburb, and if possible a phone number.  The more information you provide the more realistic it is, and therefore more believable for your customer!

2.  Simply guarantee what you do.

You are required by law to guarantee your product or service.  If something doesn’t work, or breaks, or goes wrong, 99.9!  A guarantee takes the risk off the customer and puts it on you, and if your customer knows you’re prepared to take the risk then they’ll feel more comfortable doing business with you.

The reason most business owners will keep their guarantee hidden is that they are worried about their customers taking advantage of them.  Let’s say you’re getting a very low return rate now like 1, and by offering a guarantee it goes up to 6%.  So your returns go up by 3 times, but by doing so you also triple your SALES, doesn’t it then make financial sense to offer that guarantee up front?

Just think about when you need a service, say your lawns mowed.  So you open the yellow pages and look up lawn-mowing, and there are dozens of ads with people wanting to mow your lawn.  So who do you choose?Whoever is cheapest, right?  And why?  Because all the ads look the same, so there isn’t anything that makes one business different from the next.  And if that’s the case, the only difference comes down to the price!

Makes sense really, because if all the ads look the same then PRICE can be the only difference between them, right?  So if the ads for each industry are virtually all saying the same thing, can you understand that you’re educating your market to base your value on price?  Then what you need to do is create a unique selling proposition that will make you STAND OUT from your competition.

Now let me explain what a unique selling proposition is and how you can get one for your business.  Every day we are subjected to about 4,000 to 5,000 advertising messages, so we all need to do work a bit harder to stand out from the crowd, and that’s what the USP will do for you.  It’s that CORE reason that someone should buy from you.  And here’s a great tool for finding your USP in half an hour.

Grab a piece of paper, and draw a straight line down the middle.  On the top of the left-hand column I want you to write “You know how….”  And here is where you write down all the things that your competitors do badly.  Now we are just building a list, so don’t be critical of what you’re writing, or how you write it.

At the top of the right-hand column write “Well what we do is…”  And here you write down all the things that you do that are great, basically laying out ALL your cards.  Once you’ve done this, you should have a list of what your competitors do, and all the things you offer which are different from them, and this is what you base your Unique Selling Proposition around.

And if you haven’t come up with anything from this exercise, then you need to create something to be different!  Once you have a USP, then turn it into a statement everywhere your advertising goes, as a reason why someone should do business with you over anyone else!

Another great way to make sure your customer is happy to pay extra for your business is what’s called ‘dollars for cents’ copy.  We all love a bargain, right?  What this means is to throw in so much value it’s not funny.  Say for example you have a $99 product for sale, and you throw in $300 worth of free bonuses, you’ll make sure the customer comes out way in front in terms of value.  So they are paying you just ‘cents’, but getting ‘dollars’ back in value.

The key with this method is to make sure the bonuses you throw in are low cost to you, but high perceived value to your customer.  You could offer a free report, cd or dvd, any type of information products like this are quite inexpensive to produce, yet the information contained within could be very valuable to your customers.  This makes the buying decision so much easier when your customer is getting much more value than what they are paying for.  This is one technique you should always strive to use, and it can literally set your sales soaring!

Firstly, you need to be aware of the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) concept.  What that means is you need to constantly tell your customer what’s in your ad for them, because if they’re reading your ad it’s only to find out something that they want to know about.  YOUR ADS NEED TO BE THE ONES THAT REWARD THEM (while your competitors’ BORE them).  This also means you should understand the difference between benefits and features.

Let’s say you sell a colour TV with a 90″ screen – that’s the feature.  But the benefit of this is that the screen is so big that it makes your lounge room feel like a cinema!  That’s the benefit, ok?  Let me now introduce you to two powerful words which will automatically suck out the benefit of any feature;

“WHICH MEANS”

In the example above, in order to put it into WIIFM terms, you could put it together like this -  “This sensational TV has a whopping 90″ screen, which means you can virtually turn your lounge room into a cinema!”.

Another powerful tool you can use in your copy is bullets.  Why?  Because you can package up your most exciting and riveting benefits into short little bursts.  In fact, the effect of bullet after bullet of really amazing benefits can actually cause nervous tension in your reader.  They can get so excited that they literally can’t read any more and go straight to the ordering details.  That’s how powerful they are!

Here are some examples of how intriguing bullets can be in your advertising (then you can just adapt them to your own business)

* Why the advertising you’re probably running right now is wasting you thousands of dollars, and what you need to do to turn that loss into cash

* How to get movie and TV stars to help you sell your product or service

* How to get hundreds of prospects to seek YOU out

* The one mistake 99% of businesses make which loses them tons of credibility… and thousands of dollars in sales

* The secret about human nature which expert salespeople use to make their fortune

* 11 simple ways to make your business the “king” of your industry

In fact, each bullet point you write in your advertising should be just like mini headlines that promise something of value to the reader.  You might have 25 or 50 bullet points in a long sales letter, if each of them are like a mini headline, then you may only need one to stand out to your reader and make them say “Yes, I need to know more about this!”

And this is also where educational copy comes in.  You can’t assume that people know as much about your business as you do.  You work in it every day, and possibly been doing it for years, and often you can get frustrated because you don’t think your customers respect your value.  But the reality is, THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND YOUR VALUE.

So you need to educate them about the value you offer.  If you tell them something about your company, then your job is to explain why that’s important for them.  Let’s say you sell an expensive mountain bike, for example.  In order to get people to buy the bike you’ve got to justify why they should spend $2000 on your bike.  You’ve got to tell them the reasons why, which is what educational copy is all about.

Like that the bike has better suspension to handle rough terrain, a comfy seat that you could ride the bike for hours without getting sore, and maybe it has 50 gears for easy riding, and a GPS so you never get lost.  These are all just examples of course, but notice how it’s talking mainly in benefits to the reader, how it will help them!