Good copywriting speaks not just to the mind of our future customer but to their heart.

When our writing stirs up emotions and feelings in our reader this is a good thing.

The only way to do that is to speak from the heart in our writing.  From our heart to theirs.

It sounds a bit odd doesn’t it – speaking from your heart to the heart of some unknown reader?  But marketing and copywriting is all about building relationships with people we will probably never meet.

It’s a strange idea isn’t it?

I’m talking to you right now, dear reader, yet I’ve no idea who you are.

So what does speaking from the heart mean?

I find that we can understand things better through what we see.

So the best way to describe speaking or writing from the heart might be to describe its opposite.

Think of a fashion show.  Look at the long white catwalk and watch the giraffe of a girl, a truly beautiful creature strutting towards the camera.

You are looking through the lens of the camera.

That look she gives you.  You know the one?  I don’t need to describe it.

That is the opposite of speaking from the heart.

It’s something we all learn to do over time, particularly while alone within a crowd of strangers.  It is the mask we wear.

Speaking, writing from the heart is the complete opposite.

It’s more like the communication from pre-school children.

If we learn to remove our masks as we communicate our copywriting (and life) will improve effortlessly.

Rachel Goodall
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It’s been a while.

Sometimes the flow just stops and when it does it’s best not to fret.    Relax and it’ll come back.

Business, or should that be busy-ness is usually the culprit, either that or exciting new things to learn and do.

Copywriting is all about the right state of mind.  Not just your customer’s – YOURS!

Yes, your own state of mind plays a major role in copywriting.

Excited enthusiam is the emotion you need to be able to slip into at will.

Can you do that?

It’s one of the tricks to master, once you’ve studied and practised the nuts and bolts of good copywriting.

I’m going to begin a music collection and label it according to the emotion is brings about.

Plus an array of aromas.

Along with a headful of memories.

The older you are, the more life experience you have to tap into for achieving certain mind sets, ready to write.

You have a whole bank of ready-made experiences to use at will.  What an opportunity!

Right now my neighbour seems to have a house full of toddlers.  Strong, loud, urgent emotions pouring from their little bodies through the wall into my hearing range.

Easy to tap into these sounds ready to bring up the right emotion to begin copywriting.  Particularly useful if you’re selling childcare services.

Or those birds singing their hearts out to be heard over the traffic.

Sweet and pure as a peaceful contrast to young raw human sounds.

You can use anything you like to begin the creative process.

You want to sell an oven cleaner?  Just glance over at your filthy glass oven door and listen to the thoughts and feelings that come up inside your own mind.

Shame?  Laziness?  Anxiety about judgement? Frustration over lack of time?  Annoyance at having to use precious life time for mundane tasks?  Self-rightiousness?  Snobbery?  Does it make you feel slovenly? How about regret (about not wiping it down after every use, just like you vowed to when you first bought it?)

Those are the negatives.

How about the positives?

Anticipation of a spring clean?  Sense of satisfaction about a decision made to clean it?  No more acrid smell every time you bake?  Triumphant about overcoming your natural tendency to leave unpleasant tasks until tomorrow?

Never forget that you have a lifetime of ready-made feelings and emotions to tap into at will in your copywriting.

Stay alert.  Remain connected.  Use your senses.

Rachel Goodall

So you have finished your latest course and you are ready to take action.

The problem is you don’t know where to begin….

At your finger tips the power to change your life forever…You’ve invested in your education and have the power to make the change you need.

So what’s stopping you?
Is it fear, or uncertainty?

So may people never take action for fear of failure or disapproval from their peers. Don’t be an education statistic… Take Action!

If you live by these 7 simple steps, you are sure to be a part of the elite group of copywriters who are truly great…

1. Know what you want. Who do you want as clients? Go after them, a little bit of ambition is the perfect fuel. However do not be so obviously ambitious that you alienate all your colleagues.

2. Be the Expert. In any project that you take on be the most informed person on a particular project.

• Take the time to read; text books, trade journals, research reports, and marketing plans on the subject.
• Know more than anyone else in your firm or in the market place.
• Be your clients best friend.
• Spend time physically researching the product.

• Use it yourself, talk to customers about their thoughts on the product.

• Visit your clients competitors, study their advertising campaign.

3. Work twice as hard as other copywriters. Hard work will pay off in the long run…Roman wasn’t built in a day!

4. Make yourself a specialist in a niche market. Start writing copy for a market that you are familiar with, one that you know the in’s and out’s of.

5. Make great presentations to potential clients – use the wow factor… Sell the plans and campaigns to your potential clients. Sell you.. after all they are buying your expertise’s.

6. Don’t discuss your clients business. Keep their secret papers under lock & key… Ensure that you are the only person who knows the intimate workings of their campaign.

7. Write one good article every year and place it in the Harvard Business Review.

Most of all always remember to love what you do… When you write with passion and excitement your readers will feel your passion.

When you communicate with your clients show them the passion you have for their products.. Love them as much as they do.

Rachel Wadsworth

You know the style of advertisements I am talking about, the ones that win awards and gain recognition from the commercial art exhibitions and the like.

What’s wrong with these ads…

Or should I say the question is have you ever purchased anything from an advertisement like this?

I could almost guarantee that you although you may look at theses advertisements and think how pretty they are, you probably would not be motivated to take action.

The question is why?

The answer is really quite simple….Art and design are created to tone within the surroundings, and to please the senses.

Why does this not work for an advertisement… If you think about a park bench they are generally always green to blend within the environment, imagine if that same bench was bright red with pink spots. It would certainly gain your attention and spark your interest as to why there was a bright red bench seat with pink spots….

Do you want your advertisement to be creative and not spark the readers interest?

Or do you want the advertisement to gain the readers attention and ensure that they take action.

At the end of the day you are creating advertisements to sell your particular product or service, so make your next campaign work for you.

Here are a few tips on how to create a great advertisement?

1. Use a font that people are familiar with which is easy to read.

2. Use strong, black readable type for headlines.

3. User clear cut type for your copy.

4. Make your headlines large enough and bold enough so that even the most careless glancer cannot help but catch your message.

5. Use pictures that create value in your advertisement. Don’t use pictures that are not relevant to the product you are selling .

6. Try using a picture of the product in use.

The key to a great advertisement is in essence ‘don’t be to cleaver’, however do tell your potential customers in your text and with images why they should purchase your product.

Avoid weird, outlandish, or far-fetched pictures that have nothing to do with the product or service you are selling. Use pictures that attract buyers, not curiosity seekers.

If you try even a couple of these tips, it is guaranteed to make a difference in your next advertising campaign.

One final tip is to remember to test your changes. Make sure you understand what change has made the difference.

The aim at the end of the day is to sell products or services, so if your advertising is not working give it a review what you are doing to and implement a change one step at a time.

Rachel Wadsworth

Does Your Copy Need A New Style? Do You Need A New Angle?

If your copy needs a new lease on life perhaps all you need to do is try a new style of writing to spark a readers interest again.

It seems like a simple answer doesn’t it!
In everything we do there are times when we loose focus and need a change; the same is true for your copy.

Sometimes we just need a simple change to make all the difference.

So what type of copy should you use in advertisements, and which styles should you avoid?

There are a number of styles of copy, which can create a different angle on the same content.

The simple answer to give you copy a new look is to simply change the way your write to your target market.

To give you the inspiration that you need, why not try using one of the following angles.

1. Straightforward Copy – this style of copy presents the advertiser’s story in a simple, logical manner. It is devoid of style or rhetoric. It merely states the facts in the most understandable way possible.
2. Story Copy – the appeal of this type of copy is the human interest aspect, which first draws the reader in, this is then followed by the story with the moral of which is to buy the advertised product.
3. “You and Me” Copy – has a conversation directly with the customer, in a friendly chatty way, just as a good salesperson.
4. Imaginative Copy – this kind of copy highlight’s the reader’s interest in the product by describing it in imaginative terms.
5. Factual Copy – Advertisements written with a large number of facts sell the most products, therefore the more you tell the more you sell.
6. Forthright Copy – Sometimes a writer can increase the believability of an ad by admitting that there are some weak points as well as strong points in the proposition she is selling.
7. Superlative Copy – In this type of copy you step right out and blow your own horn as loudly as possible. This kind of advertising is effective if you have the facts to back it up.
8. Teaser Copy – Instead of trying to sell him, it challenges the reader to take action.
9. News Page Copy – The advertiser buys space, usually a page, in newspapers or magazines. The page is made to look like typical editorial matter, with headlines, copy, pictures and often including a regular small ad. The only difference is that instead of being written by reporters, a copywriter writes everything with the product sold as hard in the ‘news’ items as in the regular advertisement.
10. Competitive Copy – This type of copy compares your product to that of the competition, on a quality basis.

The reality is when you are selling any product or service you needed to be constantly developing new ways to remind customers why you are fantastic.

So now all you have to do is think about what is going on in your clients lives at the moment that will make you appeal fantastic to them.

Rachel Wadsworth

You have done all your homework you understand your target market, yet you are not sure how to go about writing your copy…

Your copy needs to reach your clients on a personal level, it has to be something that makes them want to get of the couch and take action.

So how can you achieve this?

To get you started use the following guidelines;
1. Use Present Tense, Second Person – It is important to talk to the person directly as if you were having a conversation with them. By communicating in the second person, “you would love, or “you would enjoy’ rather than “A man would enjoy”. Remember you need your clients to think of you as their friend.

2. Use Subheads – practically all mail order advertisers use three or more subheads in every full-page advertisement. Why? Subheads tell the story in a brief form to gain the attention of glancers who don’t have the time to read the entire advertisement; they also ensure that the copy is read when it may not be read.

3. Put Captions Under Illustrations – Captions add to the interest of the illustrations and help explain their meaning.

4. Use A Simple Style Of Writing – reduce to a minimum the time it takes the reader to figure out what you are trying to say.

5. Choose Simple Words – Use short simple words to express your meaning.

6. Give Free Information – to arouse interest give free information as well as sales talk in your copy.

7. Selling Copy Versus Style Copy – style copy is based on assumption that customers are swayed by flowery language and elaborate adjectives, and unsupported claims, whereas selling copy supports its claims with proof.

8. Arouse Curiosity – Curiosity is a powerful selling tool when properly used by the copywriter. On the other hand, the copywriter who satisfies the reader’s curiosity, instead of arousing it, is apt to lose customers.

9. Make Your Copy Specific – It is important to be specific in your copy, actual figures speak louder than an average.

10. Write More Copy Than Is Necessary To Fill The Space – A great strategy is to write more copy than you need, you can always edit later, which will generally ensure that you get the best copy.

With these 10 simple tips you will be well on the way to writing great copy.

For more ideas on writing great copy visit www.iwantgreatcopy.com, not only will you find a wealth of information but you will also have to tools to really evaluate you business like you never have before.

The answer to great copy is finding the right market, the right approach, and a get campaign.

Rachel Wadsworth

To be truthful there is really not perfect formula for writing body copy… The secret is actually in how you write to the individual…

It is all about how you actually sell your product to your client.

The begining is a great headline, to draw the client into the article… But as with getting a client in the door of your store you also need to engage the reader in the article.

So how do you apply the same principles you use in a traditional business to write engaging copy for the internet…

It is as simple applying the follwing seven steps;

1. Be enthuastic about the product you are selling, if you don’t love the product your readers will see straight through the copy you write.

2. Be truthful about the promise you are making… You have to be able to deliver on the promises that you make.

3. Avoid generalities… Be a little unique in your copy it is no point begin the same as everyone else

4. Get straight to the point… Your potential customer will lose interest very quickly if you don’t keep the message on target.

5. Be fascinating… Provide the reading with important factual information that they can learn from, and will draw them into the article.

6. Include action graphics…. use a variety of graphics to draw the readers attention to relevant points you want the client to focus on.

7. Build the offer… As the your potential client reads through the article you need to build trust and confidence with them… as well as working towards the action you want them to take at the end of the copy.

The final point is really the most important one…

The more you tell the more you sell.. Give the reader the most information you can about the product…. this will build the customer confidence in not only the product but also you and your reliability.

It is tough for businesses right now, so you need to be ahead of the pack…. You need to consider how you can apply these seven simple steps in your next advertising campaign to truly make a difference to your business.

It is absolutely imperative that you understand your clients on an intimate level, in order to be able to target effectively using these seven guidelines.

Rachel Wadsworth

All week the papers have been constantly talking about the economic downturn and the recession..

Jobs have been lost in a large range of industries and they predict more to come..

Are you tired of hearing about how bad things are?

This morning I was driving my girls to Childcare and listening to the radio about how bad the world is and how much trouble we have to come..

By the time I got back to my desk I was completely deflated… I was unsure about everything and I wondered which direction I should be going.. What should I focus on first….

It wasn’t until the end of the day when I was trying to figure out why life seemed so hard that I realised that all the negative comments I had listened to during the morning had really put me in a bad, depressed mood..

So I made a decision…

I decided to stop and focus on the glass half full, rather than the glass half empty!

Instead of worrying about where the world was financially…

I decided that I should focus on how I could weather the storm, or should I say how I could not only survive the recession, but to actually get ahead…

Do you want to know the secret?

Advertise your business…

That’s right.. It’s not rocket science..

If you bury your head in the sand and cut all your advertising budgets, what is going to happen to your business.

Will anyone see you? You will be like everyone else who is doing the same thing!

So stand out from the crowd and be unique.

You have nothing to loose but to profit from a smart advertising campaign that makes people want your product more than ever…

The key is to think about what is important right now to your clients… Perhaps have a restaurant and you have noticed a decline in your business lunch cliental.

What can you offer them that is going to make them eat out every day next week?

• Two meals for the price of one, then upsell on the wine and dessert?
• 25% off the total bill…
• A weekly lunch package for after your third lunch your fourth is on the house.

The point is more than ever you need to give your loyal clients something back. Give them a reason to choose you over your competition.

More than ever you can profit from advertising and rewarding your clients, each and every time they have a business transaction with you.

So tomorrow instead of working on how you can save costs, start working on how you can give something back. You will be rewarded beyond your wildest imagination.

Rachel Wadsworth

Would you agree?

Would you agree that there’s no such thing as total creativity?

Here’s what I mean.

You have a thought.  That thought turns into a word.  That word turns into a deed.  So really the original thought is the seed to all that you are and all that you do.

Simple but true, no?  Think about it if you like.

But where does that thought come from?

Some thoughts are simply a bringing together of unrelated parts to form something new.

So, you have a “new” idea.  A “new” thought.

But is it?

Isn’t it simply borrowed from your experience so far?  All that you have ever been exposed to during your lifetime?

On the whole, I’d say yes.

Some people, some geniuses, actually “receive” information.  New, unrelated thoughts.  Some musicians, some artists, some writers and others feel that they are simply a medium through which the music, the art or the words come through.  From where?  From whom?  That’s your personal business and not for me or anyone else to declare.

Perhaps we may call that total creativity – and it’s rare.  Rare and beautiful.

But on the whole creativity is simply bringing together unrelated parts to form something new.

As a copywriter, creativity is a must.  The best bit though is that it can be learnt.

Yes, you can learn to be creative.

How?

By observing, borrowing and synthesizing all the methods and strategies being used already outside the business or industry of the one for which you are writing copy for.

Here’s an example.

You are a looking for a creative angle for selling the services of a dog grooming business.

How about looking at the way that train travel is sold?  Trains?  Yes, trains.

Can we really compare a dog with a train?

Well, if you think about it, what is a season ticket?

Paying for a year’s worth of train travel in one fell swoop to get a discount.

It’s similar for gym memberships.

Whether you go to the gym for a full year is up to you.  But the gym owner is guaranteed a full year’s worth of non-refundable fees.

So why not offer a “season ticket” for set periods of time for dog grooming?  Whether the dog owner bothers to turn up or not, (or for that matter whether or not the dog is still around) the dog grooming business owner is guaranteed X months’ worth of paid fees upfront.

The added benefit being that the dog owner feels that they and their dog belong to something.  It also develops a certain amount of loyalty.

Creativity is about observing, borrowing and synthesizing.

And don’t worry about total creativity.  Leave that for the enlightened.

Rachel Goodall

Can’t figure out why your headlines are not working for you?

1. Are your headlines all about you, instead of appealing to the readers self interest?
2. Do you constantly run the same headlines over and over and never stop to tell your loyal clients what is new and happening?
3. Have advertisements that merely provoke curiosity?
4. Haven’t use images in your advertisements?
5. Never try to spark the readers self interest?
6. Use headlines that paint a gloomy and negative picture.

1. If a headline can combine curiosity and self-interest with the ability to suggest that your product will make changes in a hurry, then you have a winning start to writing a great headline..‘How A Fool Stunt Made Me A Star Salesman’
2. An image can say a thousand words; you can use images with an effective headline to draw the reader into the copy..‘What’s Wrong With This Picture?’
3. Headlines purely written to address the readers self interest…‘How To Improve Your Memory In One Evening’
4. Making an announcement with your headline…‘A New Course And Service For Men And Women Who Want To Be Independent In The Next Five Years’

• Self- Interest
• News
• Curiosity
• Quick, easy way

Rachel Wadsworth