Copy Crash Course Preview – Persuasive Prose

The Great Killer High Converting Revenue Boosting Copy Crash Course

A Quick Start Guide To Crafting High Performing Digital Copy

In this fast-start course we’ll cover 8 response boosting lessons:

LESSON 1

Research

LESSON 2

Change Makers

LESSON 3

Prove or Die

LESSON 4

Client Journey

LESSON 5

K.I.S.S.

LESSON 6

Big Idea

LESSON 7

Call To Action

LESSON 8

Proven Formulas

LESSON 1

Research, Research, Research

The secret to writing great copy is research.

Research is everything!

Once you have your research down, a large part of your work is done – you understand your product, you understand your prospect… and you can figure out how to present them an offer that speaks to their needs.

In fact, doing the research can be up to 80% of the work.

There are three areas of research we need to master:

The Product.
The Prospect.
The Market.

Let’s look at each more closely…

Start with the Product

Use it, subscribe to it, wear it, listen to it, eat it… go through the experience as if you own it.

You want to know it inside out.

Step One: List The Features

Take a pad and pen and list every single feature you can think of.

These will transform into vital parts of your copy.

Let’s do an example:

[table id=2 /]

This is a short list.

If we were doing this for real, we might find another 50+ features (the more the better). Don’t stop until you have racked your brain for every last feature.

Now, a list of features isn’t very persuasive. In fact, it’s pretty much meaningless.

To make these features grab your prospect’s attention, you have to communicate how they will benefit them.

So you need to…

Turn the features into benefits.

There are three types of benefits, and you want to express the features in terms of each:

Functional benefits: what the feature does.
Dimensionalised benefits: what the feature looks like in their life.
Emotional benefits: how the feature will make them feel.

Start with the functional benefits.

Describe what the feature does for the user…

Functional benefits:

[table id=3 /]

Turning these into copy:

You know Roger Federer settles for nothing but number one… so when he chooses his shoes, you can trust they are the best possible choice.
They wrap around your foot like a glove with Nike’s ‘Adaptive Fit Technology’.
Mesh upper casing lets your foot breathe for maximum comfort.

But you can take it to the next level, by showing your prospect how it will impact their life.

Describe what the features will look like in their life…

Dimensionalised Benefits:

[table id=4 /]

Now we’re talking a language your prospects understand.

Hopefully your copy is bringing the product to life.

Turning these into copy:

Trouble with quick turns during extra-long rallies? The Zoom Air In The Heel supports aggressive on court movements so you can make the shot!
Keep your feet fresh game-after-game with the ultra-breathable mesh upper casing.
Your opponents won’t know what hit them, as you just… keep… making… it… to… the… ball – thanks to the super-springy Lunarlon cushioning.

Dimensionalised benefits paint vivid mental pictures that you reader will identify with. It shows them how the product will impact their lives.

But there’s one more level that can really pump up the purchase intention. Emotions.

Emotions are the most valuable tool a copywriter has to persuade. All decisions are made emotionally.

Decisions are made with emotions (benefits)… then are rationalized with reason (features).

Now let’s describe how the features will make them feel…

Emotional Benefits:

[table id=5 /]

Now we’re putting into words how the features will make them feel.

Turning these into copy:

Feel a surge of dominance run through your veins as you face your opponent armed with the weapons Roger Federer himself uses.
You’ll feel that extra advantage on court with springy Lunarlon cushioning, getting you off the mark quicker.
You can trust your Vapors will last you longer than ever before, thanks to the extra rubber weaved into high wear zones… designed specifically to defend against wear and tear.

So have you done this for every product feature? You have? Good.

Depending on the complexity of your product, you could have 20 to 200+ features listed out.

Give yourself a pat on the back, because you’ve completed a very important step…

Now you have the building blocks of your copy.

Take this list and put it on the wall – you should see inspiration for all parts of your copy – from your headlines… to your bullets… to your calls to action… and more.

You can now need to weave each benefit into your copy, starting first with the most important one.

But which benefit is the most important?

To know that…

You will need to know:

The Prospect

Your job now is to develop an intimate understanding of the person you are selling to.

Step Two: Figure out which benefits are most desirable to your prospect, so you know which points to be stressing.

Here are the important categories to focus on:

Desires: what does your prospect want?
Beliefs: what does your prospect believe that could influence his decision to buy?
Emotions: how does your prospect feel now? How does he want to feel? How does he want to avoid feeling?

There’s 4 steps to help you understand your prospect:

1. Common-sense.

2. Become an Insider.

3. Meeting Prospects.

4. Special Ninja Research.

5. Amazon.

Let’s have a look at each…

1. Common-Sense

In this approach we rely on two skills that everyone has – imagination and intuition.

Step into your prospect’s shoes.

Imagine you were in their situation:

What would you experience… how would you feel… what would you do?
What would you be thinking… where else would you look… what would be most important to you?
How would you make your decision?

Spend 20 minutes in your imaginary world.

Jot down everything you can think of.

This exercise works surprisingly well.

2. Become an Insider

Get inside the mind of your prospect.

Dan Kennedy shares 6 powerful steps used by successful direct marketer Jerry Jones, on how to stay in the frame of mind of the prospect:

Regularly read industry publications.
Spend time on forums and other websites that your prospect goes to discuss issues (this can be a goldmine).
Subscribe to email groups where your prospects discuss relevant issues.
Attend industry functions, seminars, conventions and trade shows.
Play prospect by going through other product and service provider’s sales funnels.
Collaborate in mastermind groups with your prospects and other vendors and service providers.

3. Meeting Prospects

Engage with prospects on many levels to get a deeper understanding of them:

Conduct customer surveys: low cost online tools like Survey Monkey can make it easy to get large volumes of feedback.
Speak with key sales people: sales people are masters at overcoming objections, and you need to know them all!
Interview customers: Spend time with prospects at the point of purchase, or call old customers.

4. Special Ninja Research – Existing Ads

Some of the best info can come from ads running in your industry.

Your prospect will be reading these ads so why aren’t you?

There’s a trick though…

Only pay attention to ads and funnels that have been running for a while – because these are making money!

Why waste time and money testing when you can take a short cut and model something successful?

Pay special attention to these element of the ad:

What benefits are they stressing?
How are they presenting their offer?
Is the price point competitive or premium?
Do they offer a guarantee?

5. Amazon

Another incredible tool of prospect insight is Amazon.

Let’s imagine that you’re selling a sleep aid.

You would search Amazon for ‘sleep aid’ and review the products on the market.

Look for the products with the most reviews.

Now, you want to pay close attention to the reviews – both positive and negative.

Positive reviews will give you a ton of ammunition for sales copy.

Here’s an example:

Let’s count the ways we can pull copy from just 1 review:

“Still awake in the wee hours of the morning?”
“You may have tried other solutions, such as ‘anti-anxiety meds’… which may have worked once, but quickly became ineffective. What started with 1 pill… quickly spirals into 3-4.”
Your new routine: take 1 tablet before bed, and prepare to sleep restfully (no more tossing and turning), and wake up feeling amazing.”
Etc.

And we can use the negative reviews too:

Negative reviews serve up your market’s top objections on a silver platter.

In this case, you’ll need to overcome the objection that the product will provoke ‘horrible nightmares’.

Now with these four steps you should have gotten to know your prospect.

Finally, to help you pull it all together you’ll need to look at…

The Market

Buying decisions don’t happen in a vacuum… and things that affect your market, also affect your prospect.

So pay attention to what’s going on in your market.

Here are a few questions to get you started:

Are there any major news or events that you could play off?
Are there legislative changes you need to be aware of?
Do any of these impact your prospects lives in a way that strengthens your offer to them?
How are your prospects buying – how are they most comfortable buying (ie in store vs online)?
What are your competitors doing?
What are your competitors doing who are selling across different mediums (ie if they sell in store, while you sell online).

These will give you a good grounding to what’s going on in the industry.

Again, this is all about stepping into the mind of the prospect. If you were your prospect – consider everything they are considering, look at the offers they are looking at.

Try to figure out, as your prospect would… which product / service / company / offer you would go with that would bring you the greatest satisfaction / value / benefit.

If you do this step regularly you’ll keep your finger on the pulse of your industry.

You’ll be 10 steps ahead in identifying trends in the market… so you can be well positioned to deal with them, or take advantage of them.

I want to close out this lesson with a quote from the great Gary Bencivenga.

Here’s something you should keep in mind with every piece of marketing material you write:

“The vast majority of products/services are sold because of the need for love, the fear of shame, the pride of achievement, the drive for recognition, the yearning to feel important, the urge to look attractive, the lust for power, the longing for romance, the need to feel secure, the terror of facing the unknown, the lifelong hunger for self-esteem and so on.”

Practical exercise:

To close out this lesson, grab a coffee and run through these questions when thinking about one of your Ideal Clients:

What keeps them AWAKE at night staring at the ceiling?
What causes them PAIN? (socially, monetarily, health, etc.)
What are they AFRAID of?
What HUMILIATES them?
Who are they FURIOUS with, who makes their blood boil?
What do they VALUE most in life?
What is their most URGENT need right now?
What things FRUSTRATE them the most each day?
What do they WANT more than anything?
What Sex, Age, Life Stage, Career, Education Level, Religion, Geographic Area are they?
What do they secretly FANTASIZE about having more of in life?
What kind of SLANG do they use?
What Books, TV Shows, Movies, Music do they consume?
Who ELSE is successfully selling to them?
What do they COMPLAIN about to their friends?

Complete these questions and you’ll have come a very long way in putting together the building blocks for great copy.

Join the Persuasive Prose Newsletter to continue…

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LESSON 2

Change Makers

LESSON 3

Prove or Die

LESSON 4

Client Journey

LESSON 5

K.I.S.S.

LESSON 6

Big Idea

LESSON 7

Call To Action

LESSON 8

Proven Formulas

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The Great Killer High Converting Revenue Boosting Copy Crash Course

A Quick Start Guide To Crafting High Performing Digital Copy

Start with the Product

The Prospect

The Market

Practical exercise:

Get better copy

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