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Sales and Copywriting Cheat Sheet

17 succinct, direct and proven copywriting "cheats" that will improve your copywriting, and responses.

 

  1. One demonstration will out pull any sales letter written by ANY master copywriter. I don’t care if you’re Gary Halbert or Gary Bencivenga, if you can demonstrate your product in action, getting results, it will sell more of your product than any words you put on a sales message.

  2. If you cannot, for whatever reason, demonstrate your product in action; the next best thing... is your PROOF. Your prospects are not morons. They have been trained to know what is hyped up, over-promised nonsense. Align your offer with a very strong proof element and you’ll get a much higher response than you would without it.

  3. It is a basic law of advertising that no advertisement is better than its headline.” 
    Claude Hopkins; Tested Advertising Methods
    The goal of your headline is to grab your reader and pull them into the body copy of your sales letter. You can have the best sales letter in the world, but if the headline is poor, it will NOT be read.

  4. You do NOT have to be a master copywriter to get good results. You just need to be better than your competitors – and to be fair – that’s not a difficult thing to accomplish.
    The best tip I can give to anyone who wants to write good copy, without studying copy itself: Imagine you’re sitting in front of your ideal prospect, at the bar in your favourite establishment – you just write EXACTLY how you would speak to them. Speak into a Dictaphone if it helps. Speak in a personal way.

  5. The Velvet Cord: It’s no secret that people want what they think they can’t have. If at all possible, position your product in such a way that suggests to the prospect, that they might not qualify to buy it.

  6. The 5 Ws and a H: Use this variation of the journalist’s technique. Tell your prospects WHO you are … WHAT you’ll do for them … WHERE to send their response … WHEN to respond (NOW!) … WHY they’ll benefit and HOW to respond.

  7. Write it out OLD STYLE: When I first started writing copy. I wrote out, by hand, a fresh Gary Halbert sales letter, every day, for 30 straight days. It’s a very powerful method for getting good at writing copy – and more importantly – it’s what your competitors won’t have the discipline to do.

  8. Use metaphors throughout your copy.  Metaphors are an extremely powerful way to get your reader to visualise what you’re telling them. 

  9. Use a thesaurus: Words are just empty sounds on a page until they are brought to life. Use power words. Unusual words. Unconventional words. When you do, you’re writing becomes much more interesting and engaging.
    Note: Don’t make the mistake of littering your copy with BIG words to impress with your intellectual prowess. In fact, doing so will most likely have the opposite effect.
    Copywriting Cheat Sheet ... The best copywriters do the hard, tedious work of extensive researching. There’s NO way around this.
  10. Focus on the transformation; not the features. How will my life be better after using your product? That’s all I really care about.

  11. Start off your body copy with a very short very powerful paragraph. Don’t overpower your prospect with a block of copy. One or two sentences is all your opening should have.

  12. Headline and Post Script: The headline and the P.S are the 2 most read on a sales letter. Write at least 30 headlines before you choose one for your page. Use the P.S to pique your prospects interests.

  13. Never write copy that draws attention to itself. Don’t be cute or clever.

  14. The AIDA formula is still one of the best ways to structure your sales message.
    Attention – Headline
    Interest – This is what I have
    Desire – This is what it will do for you
    Action – You must act NOW before the offer expires


  15. The best copywriters do the hard, tedious work of extensive researching. There’s NO way around this. You need to know your product inside and out. You need to understand your prospect inside and out. When you do, the copy almost writes itself. Don’t cut corners here.

  16. We buy on emotion. You’ve heard this before no doubt. However, most copy I read tries to appeal to the new brain. You MUST understand that it is the OLD BRAIN that makes the buying decision.
    Selling Probability = Pain X Claim X Gain X (Old Brain)
    The Old Brain responds to EMOTIONALLY driven copy (use strong, powerful words, sentences and paragraphs that REALLY grab attention). The Old Brain is visual, so make sure you’re painting vivid pictures for your prospects (Use metaphors, tell stories). Litter your copy with the word “YOU”.

  17. Guarantee your product so that ALL the pressure is taken off the buying decision (Longer guarantees can increase response and actually decrease refunds) Try a 1-year guarantee.

 


 

Like this cheat sheet?

Well, we have seven more essential marketing cheat sheets - to make sure you are making the most of your efforts:

  • One Page Email Cheat Sheet.
  • One Page Funnel Cheat Sheet (don't know what that means? You need it then).
  • One Page Influence & Persuasion Cheat Sheet.
  • One Page Positioning Cheat Sheet.
  • One Page Product Creation Cheat Sheet.
  • One Page Squeeze Page Cheat Sheet.
  • Productivity Cheat Sheet.
  • And a copy of this one, the Sales & Copywriting Cheat Sheet.

You can buy and download these all right now for only £7.97

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