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Words of Copywriting Wisdom … An Easy Way to Make Your Copy More Inviting

Written by: AWAI’s The Golden Thread

Article Overview: An Easy Way to Make Your Copy More Inviting Master copywriter Paul Hollingshead reveals how creative use of punctuation can make your copy less intimidating to read while injecting a more conversational tone. How to Force Your Reader to Keep Reading – Let Me Explain AWAI staff writer John Wood explains five ways to utilize conversational transitions in your copy to keep your reader reading. … Stop Screaming! Use Simple Design to Lead Your Reader Directly to the Sale Learn how to create a seamless “reading path” for your reader on any web page or advertisement you create. Successful reading paths use a specific design hierarchy. AWAIer Keith B. Asks Rebecca … Is Nick’s New Program Suitable for Newbies? AWAIer Keith B. asks Rebecca McEldowney about Nick Usborne's new AWAI program

Words of Copywriting Wisdom … An Easy Way to Make Your Copy More Inviting

An Easy Way to Make Your Copy More Inviting
by Paul Hollingshead, AWAI Co-Founder

I’m sure I drive all the English teachers out there crazy.

I don’t exactly follow the traditional rules of punctuation.

That’s because I’ve found that my “creative use” of punctuation gives my letters two advantages.

First, it makes them more visually diverse and interesting by creating some white space within paragraphs. The result? Copy that’s less intimidating to read.

Second, it lets me inject the kind of natural inflections and pauses people use when they talk … making my letters read in a much more conversational way.

My favorites: dashes (–), ellipses (…), quotation marks (“ ”), and italics.

Dashes allow you to effectively separate similar ideas that might be awkward in the same sentence, while, at the same time, peppering your copy with much-needed white space.

Ellipses allow you to “trail off” a sentence, which allows your readers to make some of their own assumptions … or leads them instantly to another connected idea.

I use quotation marks and italics when I want to stress a word, as in:

Remember, these are gains that came in two months. When was the last time you “earned” $20,000 without lifting a finger?

Just remember that huge blocks of text can be overwhelming for a reader. One look at a single page with only two paragraphs and the reader thinks, oh my, do I want to commit to reading all THIS?! And in the garbage it goes … along with the sale.


Improve Your Copywriting Skills …
How to Force Your Reader to Keep Reading – Let Me Explain …
by John Wood, AWAI Staff Copywriter

Oprah always tells her viewers what’s coming up after the commercial break. For example, when Celine Dion was on recently, she said something like “Next, Celine Dion debuts her brand-new single ‘Taking Chances.’ First time ever on network TV.”

All talk shows do this. It’s a very effective way to keep people watching.

Many times, I’ve been about to turn off the TV, only to be tempted to stay tuned.

The same technique, of course, is used in copywriting. Here are a few examples:

But there’s more …
So read on …
But I didn’t stop there …
Let me explain …
Now here comes the good part …
Another way to use this technique in a sales letter is to put a very short sentence at the end of a paragraph that offers a reason for the reader to read the next paragraph.

In the “Finding a Winning ‘Voice’ for Your Copy” lesson in AWAI’s Masters Program, Paul Hollingshead refers to these prompts as “conversational transitions.”

And in The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, copywriting legend Joe Sugarman calls them “Seeds of Curiosity,” because they make you to want to continue reading even if the copy is slowing down at that point.

Here are five different types of transitions to try …

Transition #1: Adding clarification or driving home a point

Here’s the thing …
But here’s the kicker …
Here’s my point …
My point is this …
Example without transition:

Now, of course, you can spend $40.00 a month on a regular dating service. Select your dates from one-dimensional profiles that you can only hope are accurate. Scan through pictures that, in all probability, are five or 10 years old. Go out on date after date and come home frustrated, throw up your hands, and yell “I give up. I’ll never find the love of my life.” Or you could become a member of CEO Dating.

Example with transition:

Maybe you’ve already tried “regular” dating services. If you have, you know how frustrating it can be … misleading profiles … pictures of potential mates that are five or 10 years old. Not only can it be really frustrating and uncomfortable, it can be a huge waste of time.

Here’s my point …

At CEO Dating, you won’t’ have that problem. You’ll know exactly what your prospective date looks like – not 6 months or six years ago, but today. And you’ll have the comfort of knowing every fact about your date has been double- and tripled-checked by our team of researchers.

Transition #2: Informing your reader that you’re about to add clarity/proof to what you’ve just said

Please allow me to explain …
Let me explain …
I’ll explain …
Here’s what I mean …
Example without transition:

At CEO Dating, we listen to your feedback. And one thing you’ve told us is that you want variety. Although you love candlelight dinners with vintage wine and Mozart playing in the background, sometimes you want to “get a little wild.” If that’s the case, you can select from one of our 105 exotic “excursion” dates. Maybe you want to take your potential lifemate to South Africa to photograph elephants or to Tibet to do some mountain climbing. Now, with the click of your mouse, you can.

Example with transition:

At CEO Dating, we listen to your feedback. And one thing you’ve told us is that you want variety. Although you love candlelight dinners with vintage wine and Mozart playing in the background, sometimes you want to “get a little wild.”

Let me explain …

To satisfy the adventurer in you, we’ve created 105 exotic “excursion” dates. Now, with the click of your mouse, you could be on your way to South Africa to photograph elephants or on a flight to Tibet to climb Mount Everest.

Transition #3: Asking people to take a minute and reflect on something

Think for a moment about what that means.
Imagine what that will mean to your life.
Think about the value of this.
Do you see the value here?
Think about that for a minute.
Example without transition:

Sure, we have high standards. Some have even accused us of being elitist. But you wouldn’t want it any other way. You see, few people in the world are qualified to receive an invitation like this. But you are. Your income and business acumen set you apart from 99.9% of Americans. Just like the potential dates you’ll be able to choose from.

Example with transition:

Sure, we have high standards. Some have even accused us of being elitist. But you wouldn’t want it any other way. You see, few people in the world are qualified to receive an invitation like this. But you are. Your income and business acumen set you apart from 99.9% of Americans.

Think about what this means.

If we’re this picky in choosing you, imagine the “quality” and “refinement” of the potential dates you’ll be able select from.

Transition #4: Reminding your reader of a benefit you mentioned previously

As I said before,
Earlier I mentioned,
As I mentioned before,
Keep in mind …
Don’t forget …
Remember …
Example without transition:

At CEO Dating, you’ll be assigned one of our discreet, friendly, efficient customer service representatives. You’ll have access to our one-of-a-kind video library jam-packed with hundreds of potential mates – all of whom make seven figures (or more).

Example with transition:

At CEO Dating, you’ll be assigned one of our discreet, friendly, efficient customer service representatives.

And don’t forget, you’ll have access to our one-of-kind video library. Put on the hot chocolate, curl up on the couch in front of the fire, and spend some quality time with each of your potential mates – all of whom make seven figures (or more).

Transition #5: Alerting your reader that there’s more (and even better) news coming up

But there’s more …
But it’s even better than that …
But that’s not all …
There’s much more to tell you …
Here’s something else …
One more thing …
But here’s the best news …
Better still …
Example without transition:

As a member of CEO Dating, once you select your date we feed both your profiles into our patented CEO Love-a-Tron System. The information the Love-a-Tron System gives us is simply phenomenal. First of all, it tells us how compatible you are … how much fun you’ll have on your date … even what topics you’re most likely to talk about!

Example with transition:

As a member of CEO Dating, once you select your date we feed both your profiles into our patented CEO Love-a-Tron System. The information the Love-a-Tron System gives us is simply phenomenal. First of all, it tells us how compatible you are … and even how much fun you’ll have on your date.

But it gets even better …

The Love-a-Tron System actually generates a list of the topics you’ll most likely talk about on your first date!

No question, “Conversational Transitions/Seeds of Curiosity” are a great way to make your copy flow effortlessly from one idea/benefit to another.

But don’t overdo it.

As Paul says in his “Finding a Winning Voice for Your Copy” lesson …

“They’re like manure. A little can green the grass nicely, but too much can stink up the town.”


AWAI Insider Success Strategy …
Stop Screaming! Use Simple Design to Lead Your Reader Directly to the Sale
by Kammy Thurman, AWAI-Trained Copywriter AND Graphic Designer

Have you ever seen a flier, a Web landing page, or some other advertisement where everything on the page is screaming at you so loudly that you didn’t know where to start reading?

You probably didn’t spend much time trying to figure out where to go before you gave up and trashed it.

You can avoid this by creating a reading “path” for your reader to follow. A well-constructed path feels so easy and natural your reader won’t even realize you’re intentionally leading him along.

Successful reading paths get their power to guide the reader by using this specific design hierarchy …

Big, bold headlines. The headline carries 80% of the responsibility for the sale. So you want to spend a good deal of time designing it for maximum impact. This means using big, bold letters at least 3 times larger than the body copy. Use bold colors too. Stay away from light colors – especially pastels. (They’re not good for readability.

Break long headlines into easy-to-read chunks with line breaks. And put plenty of white space around them to tell the reader “I’m important, read me first!” Sans serif typefaces like Helvetica, Myriad, or Arial work great for headlines. They look clean and easily readable in large sizes.

The “neck” … I mean deck. This is the sub-headline that comes right underneath the headline and before the “Dear Reader” part of the sales letter. The deck helps readers move from the headline into the body copy. It is generally used to explain the headline further and give readers an additional push into the rest of the letter. Think of it as the neck that connects the headline to the body copy.

The deck will be noticeably smaller than the headline, but quite a bit larger than the body copy. If you have a 36-point headline and 12-point body copy, figure 22- to 24-point type for the deck. You can either use the same font you used for the headline or the font you’ll use in the body copy. Don’t use a third font, as too many fonts will look confusing and amateurish. However, you can use a lighter weight font than you used for the headline: For example, Arial Bold instead of Arial Black.

Subheads. Subheads are used to break up the body copy and keep the page interesting. I use the same color in subheads that I used in the headline, as opposed to using black. Colored subheads draw attention and help hold the reader in the sales message. The headline, deck, and subheads together tell the sales story well enough that a reader could make a decision to buy if that’s all they read (which is what many people do). Folks who want more info will then go back and read the body copy.
Body copy. This is the main sales message – the body of your letter – and it needs to be very readable. In print copy, serif type – such as Times Roman or Georgia – is easier to read than sans serif (Arial or Verdana). But the opposite is true on the Web. Make sure the font is large enough – 11 or 12 points in most cases, and 13 or 14 points for older readers. Never go below 10 points. That’s too small for easy reading.
Sidebars, bursts, and pull-quotes. Place sidebars, bursts, pull-quotes, and other attention grabbers throughout the piece to pull readers’ attention to important information. These give readers a little surprise, and hold their interest much better than pages of text with a few subheads here and there.
And, finally … Help your reader turn the page. Never end a right-hand page on a complete sentence. Break the sentence so your reader is forced to turn the page to continue.

And to further encourage him to turn the page, add “Over please,” or something similar, at the bottom of every odd-numbered page. Even though this may seem unnecessary (who doesn’t know to turn the page?), testing has proven it keeps readers from using the end of the page as an excuse to bail out of the message.

This hierarchy should be used in every sales piece you write and/or design – fliers, posters, letters, buck slips, lift notes, postcards, magalogs, and even orders forms – to make reading (and making the sale) much easier.


AWAIer Keith B. Asks Rebecca …
Is Nick’s New Program Suitable for Newbies?
by Rebecca McEldowney, AWAI’s VP and Director of Online Marketing

While most of the emails I’ve received about Nick Usborne’s Million-Dollar Secrets to Online Copywriting have been along the lines of “Thank you! This is just what I’ve been looking for!” … I’ve received a few like the one below from Keith B. If you have any of the same concerns that Keith did, I hope my response to him helps you decide if Nick’s program is for you.

Rebecca,

Peace and greetings from STL. A few questions for you about Nick Usborne’s Million $ Secrets program –

Question #1: Is it primarily meant to be a program for those already well-grounded in basic copywriting techniques who wish to specialize in Web copy? Or is it, as the promo suggests, suitable for newbies to use to begin earning income as a copywriter?

My response: It’s totally suitable for newbies. I specifically asked Nick to write this program for anyone – not just AWAI-trained copywriters.

Question #2: Is it a standalone program? (Although I don’t suggest that it will be the extent of instruction I receive or the end of my learning. To assume so would be foolish.)

My response: It’s completely standalone. While there is always more to learn in any craft you want to be successful at, you can take this one program and become a knowledgeable working Web copywriter.

Question #3: And while it would be unfair for me to expect you to absolutely predict how quickly I can learn and apply the techniques, assuming I am diligent and consistent, can you give me some estimate of how soon I will be generating income?

My response: Of course, it’s really up to you … how much time you spend marketing your services and how fast you do the work. I personally went through the program in about a week – and love that I can use it as a reference guide whenever I’m working on a new project. What I can say, however, is that Web copywriting projects are usually short and allow for a quick turnaround. So you won’t have to wait a long time to collect your fees from your clients.

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Article Tags: awai, celine dion, co founder, commercial break, copywriter, copywriting skills, dashes, ellipses, english teachers, inflections, italics, john wood, network tv, oprah, paragraphs, paul hollingshead, quotation marks, rules of punctuation, taking chances, white space



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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!
Ad words - And I forgot... you could give Google Ad Words a try. I've used that in the past and was never able to get my click rate below 20 cents, but perhaps you'll have better luck. With Google Ad Words, your ad (which you must make sure you write properly) will send people to your website, so it's a must have.
Re: Quote of the Day - "The only people witho - Thanks for sharing this Evan, there are some very powerful quotes in there, I particularly like this one:- You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don't think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully. regards, Mal.
Re: e-Commerce and e-Payment providers - When I came back to Japan in 1999 I sometimes used to ask my students if they would buy anything on the Internet and at that time most thought it was too risky. I'd encourage them to try by using well known sites such as Amazon.co.jp and also pointed out that using a credit card on a reputable site was safer than using it at a restaurant. I can't remember the last time I had that discussion or when the "tipping point" occurred in Japan. To answer your other question, I use Paypal for several reasons: 1. Brand familiarity 2. Easy to use 3. Free to withdraw 50,000yen+ to my Japanese bank account - a huge benefit (but maybe other systems also offer that...?) 4. Easy to cancel subscriptions On the down side, their transaction fees are quite costly, they are difficult to contact and when disputes arise you can sometimes lose even when you can prove via your tracking service that the disputed item was "delivered" to the customer's address!
Re: Domain name sugestion - Hi Anelly, Support-Box.com sounds very good to me. Easy and catchy.


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