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Why You Need to Learn How to Copy Write if You’re Online Doing Business

Written by: Yolanda Allen

Article Overview: If you’re doing business online you must learn how to copy write. Copywriting is the art of communicating with your prospect and is one of the most important skills for an online business owner and Internet marketer. Understanding the intent of copywriting is the first step in mastering this necessary skill.

Why You Need to Learn How to Copy Write if You’re Online Doing Business

As a business owner and internet marketer, you need a way to market to your prospect. There are many ways to market, and almost all internet marketing methods have one thing in common. They all rely on writing, specifically writing copy.

The art of writing copy is called copywriting. Copywriting is how you communicate with your prospect and learning how to copy write is one of the most important skills you can learn if you're doing business on the Internet.

Basically, copywriting is using words to influence someone to take some sort of action. According to Wikipedia, "copywriting is the use of words to promote a person, business, opinion or idea." The actual writing, the copy, is "promotional text," which is written content that is used in both offline and online media.

The purpose of copy "is to persuade the reader, listener or viewer to act - for example, to buy a product or subscribe to a certain viewpoint." A great quote Wikipedia uses is by Robert Nightingale, copywriting is "getting across the perfect message, with the perfect words."

Copywriting is used in all businesses (offline and online) for their marketing materials. For an online business, copy is used in marketing venues such as website and landing pages, sales letters, and ads. For example, when you write a tweet to promote your product on Twitter, you're writing copy.

The book, The Copywriter's Handbook, by Robert Bly, is a good resource for learning about copywriting. The introduction starts off with a quote by Judith Charles, the president of her own retail advertising agency, which gets to the heart of what a copy writer does.

"A copywriter is a salesperson behind a typewriter." (or PC; the original book was published in 1985)

You may be uncomfortable with the word "sell," but persuading someone to do something is a form of selling.

The quote highlights that the goal of writing copy is to persuade the reader to take action. So for an online business, the goal is to get your prospect to take action, such as entering a name and email or clicking on a link to go to a landing page.

Don't confuse the design of your copy with the intent of your copy. If your copy is funny, entertaining, or pretty, great. But funny, entertaining, and pretty don't sell. The primary focus is telling someone how your product or service is going to benefit them. Luther Brock defines selling as "placing 100% emphasis on how the reader will come out ahead by doing business with you." So it's imperative that you understand why someone is looking for a business (or product or service) and translate what you have to offer into benefits that answer their why.

A major question many marketers have is does the Internet change the rules when it comes to copywriting. Generally speaking, the principles and techniques of copywriting still apply because, according to Robert Bly, human nature hasn't changed. Robert Bly does see 4 ways the Internet has changed things, which do affect how you approach copywriting.

1) Reduction in human attention span. Your copy has to be minimal, concise, and to the point.

2) Information overload. Your copy has to be relevant. People don't want to waste time.

3) Smarter consumers. Your copy has to respect them. No one likes to have their intelligence insulted.

4) Busier lives. Your copy has to deliver quickly and be easy and convenient.

If you're writing web copy and want to get high ranking in search engines, there is a niche of copywriting called search engine optimization (SEO) copywriting. This type of copywriting is based on the keywords related to your web site. This type of copywriting does take skill in that you have to incorporate the keywords into the copy in way that doesn't come across as spam. Whether you are focusing on general copywriting or SEO copywriting, however, the key is to understand the problem or question that drove someone to search for an answer. As in all marketing, the best way to find out is through good keyword research.

Learning how to copywriting is a skill you have to master if you plan to do any sort of business online. The sooner you learn this key skill, the better. Don't be intimidated even if you think you can't write. You may actually be a better candidate for learning how to copy write because you won't have a lot of unlearning to do.

Happy Business Building,

Yoli

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Article Tags: copywriters handbook, copywriting, how to become a copywriter, learn how to copy write, robert bly
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



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Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
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Securing Financing - This is a short article that a friend of mine put together. He's a business banker and it seems that he would be the right person to put the info together. He compiled it for inclusion in a book about opening a pizza shop. There could be some useful info here - In order for a bank to even consider financing for a business loan such as a pizza restaurant, the first step is to have good personal credit. If you have previous credit issues that have lowered your credit scores, make sure you are prepared to either hear, “No”, or “Please explain this (these) credit marks.” If you have not demonstrated the ability to manage your own personal finances then most likely you will not have the opportunity to manage the financing from a bank for a business. When you make the initial contact with a bank, ask to speak to a commercial loan officer. Other types of loan officers include consumer (think car loans) and mortgage (think home purchases and home equity loans). The commercial loan officer will be able to provide a list of things you will need to give him/her in order to consider the restaurant financing. Information required for a new business most likely will include the following: Personal financial statement (Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth) Personal tax returns (two years) Business Plan If leasing property, copy of the lease agreement If purchasing property, copy of the sales contract Personal History / Resume (may not be required but is very helpful) If an existing business, add the following to the list above: Business tax returns (two years) Copy of State Corporation Commission Certificate Copy of Federal Tax Identification Number or Employer Identification Number (EIN) Copy of Articles of Incorporation (if corporation) Copy of Operating Agreement (if partnership) One common mistake a new business owner often makes with regard to financing is that one loan will cover all the financing needs. This is typically not the case and can lead to cash flow problems that could result in default on the loan, which is not what the lender or borrower want. In most cases, either two or sometimes three separate loans would be appropriate. For instance, if one is purchasing real estate then a long-term mortgage loan would be appropriate to finance that purchase. However, the pizza restaurant may need to purchase equipment and have cash available monthly to meet payroll and purchase rolling inventory. An equipment loan could take the form of a five or seven year loan with a fixed monthly payment much like a car loan. A line of credit, on which one would pay interest monthly on the outstanding balance, may be prudent for short-term cash flow purposes. All three should be addressed in the business plan and discussed with the commercial loan officer. Chris


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