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How to Write for the Web – A Step by Step Blueprint for Writing Killer Copy (Part 3/3)

Guest post by: Zeke Camusio

Article Overview: This is the last part of the series and I want to share with you some amazing tips to convert website visitors into customers and customers into long-term clients. Why Should I Believe You? Your visitors don’t know you. Give them a good reason to believe you. The most common way of doing this is with testimonials. They are great because your customers’ word, unlike yours, is unbiased. If you can, get video testimonials. Audio testimonials work great too. If you have written testimonials at least include a photo of your customer and the city they live in, website, and any other relevant information. Testimonials signed by “John M.” are not very credible.

How to Write for the Web – A Step by Step Blueprint for Writing Killer Copy (Part 3/3)

Case studies are awesome. I love them. We are an Internet Marketing agency and our strongest selling argument is case studies showing how we’ve helped dozens of companies make thousands of dollars online. Nothing is more powerful than a case study.

Other great options are photos or videos of people using your products. You can also use reports or surveys done by third parties to help you get your point across.

Empathize With Your Audience
People need to see that you understand their problem. Show them that you know how they feel. Show them that you are talking to them. Get the problem out there, appeal to their feelings, and then suggest a way to alleviate their pain. Remember that people buy on emotions and they justify the purchase with logic.

Don’t Be Everything for Everybody
Find your niche and dominate it. Don’t just take any customer that is willing to give you her money. Remember that people want what they can’t have. That’s why when women and men play hard-to-get they become still more desirable.

This is a funny story. A couple of months ago we were getting more clients then we could handle. We decided to stop taking clients that didn’t match our Ideal Client profile. So we posted this profile on our website and asked the visitors to read it and fill out an application if they fit the profile. We would then review the application and decide whether or not we would be a good match. The whole point was to keep just a few clients so we could give them personalized attention. Guess what happened? We started getting more applications than ever. The fact that we would hand-pick our clients made our service even more desirable.

Call to Action
I am surprised by the number of websites that don’t ask for the sale on each page. People won’t do anything unless you ask them to. Whatever your call to action is, make sure that it is on every single page. It should be the focal point. Some calls to action might be: Add to Shopping Bag, Checkout Now, Buy Now, Fill Out the Form for a FREE Consultation, etc. Whatever you want your visitors to do, ask them!

Use Conversational Style
I always wonder why some companies try to make simple things complicated. You want to impress your visitors with your product, your offer, and your prices, not with fancy, meaningless words. Instead of saying “Our objective is to increase the profitability level of web-based businesses” say “We Help Companies Make Money Online”. In fact, that is our tag line.

The Golden Rule of Copywriting
I left this one for last because I want it to stick in your head. There is one thing that you need to accomplish to make the sale: show your visitors why they will be better off with your product than without it. That’s it. People want to live a better life. If your product can help them do that and you can prove it, you will make the sale.

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Article Tags: audience, case studies, case study, checkout, client profile, dozens, emotions, feelings, focal point, funny story, guess, internet marketing agency, logic, match, niche, shopping bag, surveys, third parties, thousands of dollars, women and men



Related Forum Posts
Need a book recommendation for writing better - I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book? I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good? Thanks
Re: Your choice between... - I will take the $100,000 and double it on it becomes millions before I spend it. Though I am crazy about information, yet I would rather take the money and turn it into a million before I spend a dime out of it. I will do it in 4 steps. Step 1 turn $100,000 to $200,000 Step 2 turn $200,000 to $400,000 Step 3 turn $400,000 to $800,000 Step 4 turn $800,000 to $1600,000. After getting the goal of step 4, I will spend the $600,000 on myself then continue to double the millions again. I could then by the book for $1,000,000
Step by step approach - Here's what I would do; Step 1 - Observe Wal-Mart’s target customers, what does Wal-Mart offer them? How long do they stay? Discover what it is that they might want or need that Wal-Mart doesn't offer, and then write those ideas down. Some ideas to get you started are - A cafe or fast food venue, something for the kids to do while the parents shop, etc Step 2 - Take that list, and weigh up the pros and cons of each idea, and then select the best one for you. Don't worry about not using all the space. Step 3 - Start the best business for you, and then release the other ideas to the general market and sublet the rest of the space to those who could fill some of the niches you've come up with, plus any they can come up with. If money isn't a factor then developing the building to suit multiple small leases may be a better option, as it's a diversified income, which is potentially more stable than one big income stream.
Re: Video conference system for families living in different cou - 1) How much will someone pay for the service? 2.1) What costs are involved on the business end? 2.2) What percent on top of that do you think you deserve as profit? 3) How many people will sign up for the service? These three will give you a rough estimate of the value of your idea. use the equation below with respect to the questions above to figure out the value of your idea. ((1 - (2.1 + 2.2)) X 3) You have alread identified major problems for your idea -- you have competition that is free! Computers are easy to hook to televisions, and it is becoming easier at very fast rate. (For free stuff other than skype, look up NetMeeting if you have Windows XP.) The video conferencing systems do a poor job of creating the feel of a physical presence. Even high dollar systems with dedicated internet bandwidth and extremely nice tracking video cameras do a poor job, especially for long distance runs. I have the experienced the disappointing performance of some of these systems on our campus. Video can not recreate the connection felt when in the same room with another person. Step 1, Quickly and roughly calculate the cost of the system you propose. Step 2, Compare that with what you think someone will pay and the cost of your current compeition. Step 3, Go / No-Go.
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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