Newbie copywriters often struggle remembering that advertising and promotion is not about you, or even for the client for whom you are writing copy. It’s ALL about the prospect and customer, their wants, needs and desires. They are not going to buy from you because you need the business, or because you are the “best”, or for any reason other than their own selfish purposes.

So, therefore, focus on what’s in it for them.

Put yourself in the shoes of your target market. What are their hopes, their dreams, their aspirations?

What do they want to accomplish?

What hidden need will be addressed or fulfilled if they purchase your product or service?

Figure that out, and figure out how to communicate that to your prospect, and you will make sales.

WAYY back in the mid-1990’s, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) was all about driving traffic to your site and NOT really about making sales/conversions. Duh! This kind of bad thinking led up to the dot-bomb. Hey, we’re actually supposed to generate a profit!

SEO copywriting is a blend of writing for the search engines AND for your human prospects.

Here’s an analogy from the Yellow Pages.

There are techniques that you can use to increase the chances that a prospect sees your ad first when searching the Yellow Pages for the answer to their problem. Many companies have chosen a company name beginning with “A” for this reason. Or you may have a catchy headline or graphics. That’s the equivalent of SEO, getting eyeballs to view your copy.

Once you have “hooked” your prospect though, your copy must do it’s job of converting. It doesn’t necessarily mean an immediate sale, though in some industries it will (think tooth pain). It may mean a phone call for more information. If you can get your prospect to take some definite step, that’s copywriting in action.

It seems obvious: you can’t expect anyone else to promote your services…you must take the initiative yourself.

Here are tips to get you started:

Insert your website address at the bottom of every email you send, if appropriate.

Post regularly in relevant internet forums, and always put a link to your website in your signature.

Start your own blog, post often, and include a link in your blog back to your regular website.

Offer to do presentations to your local chamber of commerce (or other similar organization) on the topic of business writing or marketing. When talking with local business people, it may be better to talk about yourself as a “marketer” rather than a “copywriter”. Or say what you do: “I help businesses maximize the effectiveness of their advertising investment”.

When appropriate, hand out business cards with your website and/or phone number.

Set up a Google Adwords account and create pay-per-click (PPC) ads to drive traffic to your site. Make sure that you drive the traffic to a page that makes it easy for the prospect to contact you.

Find another professional copywriter or a person in a similar market who is good at self-promotion, and adapt and revise what they do to your individual situation.

If you write copy, either for yourself or for clients, education is a continual process.

You will always be looking for something new, to help you improve your skills.

Most copywriters are continually on the lookout for books and materials to improve their proficiency.

One book that is universally regarded as a “must read” by expert copywriters is:

Breakthrough Advertising, by Eugene Schwartz.
It’s available here:

https://store.bottomlinesecrets.com/blpnet/offers/order_ba.html?sid=hp

Another book mentioned by most copywriters is:

Scientific Advertising, by Claude Hopkins.

His book can be downloaded for free from many different websites. If you buy a print version, as I did, you will most often find an edition that includes another of his books, My Life in Advertising.

One story that Jay Abraham tells about Hopkins is this:

In the 1920’s, Hopkins accepted Schlitz Beer as a client. Schlitz wanted to increase their market share. Hopkins was given a tour of the facility and the multitude of processes the company performed to ensure consistency of taste and cleanliness.

He was floored. He asked the company why they didn’t tell the public about all of the steps taken to ensure quality and purity in their beer. Their reply: “Our processes are similar to every other beer maker.” They felt that they were not unique.

Hopkins let them know that the market would give them “credit” if Schlitz told the story first.

They (Schlitz) did, and they (the market) did.

Just one example of Hopkin’s genius perspective, and there are many.

David Ogilvy, who was one of the most successful and celebrated copywriters of the previous century, is widely quoted as saying that no one should have anything at all to do with writing advertising unless and until they read Scientific Advertising at least seven times.

Sometimes one just has to get up on a soapbox, to get something off of their chest.

Today is one of those days for me.

Do you ever wonder if folks read their own emails before they send them? Or do they stop to consider how their readers are going to react to the communication…

Here is one example: one firm is sending me regular emails on a list to which I did subscribe. I later decided that I wanted to unsubscribe. Problem: there is no unsubscribe mechanism or instructions, anywhere in the email. None. No contact information either. Hmm…

Another glaring example, pointed out in another newsletter: the ubiquitous phrase, DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. I have normaly seen it in all caps, like I’ve shown here.

Think about it for a second: is that truly the message you wanted to convey. Don’t contact us? If someone has a question, or wants to order something, what are they supposed to do? If they are having trouble with your web page, what then?

How much better would it be to say:

“In order to serve you better, please send any inquiries to one of the following (depending on what sort of question the reader has). Or include a phone number. Or even a link to a “contact us” page. Or, go all out and include all three.
If you put yourself in the your readers’ shoes, it will be fair easy to discover what reasons they might they have for contacting you.

Do your best to make a list all of these reasons, and then provide a means for them to contact you in the event they have any of these problems.

I promise you, speaking from experience as a sometimes frustrated customer, it will make a big difference for your business.