#1 What’s the Problem?

Always strive to answer this question first. What is the problem your prospect is facing? What is their pain? What are they experiencing and how is it making them feel?

For example, if you offer a ghost writing service, then your prospect may be feeling the pains of not enough time to get all their writing done. If you are selling a book on how to find the best coffee maker, then the problem your prospect may have is that their coffee pot keeps breaking or makes terrible coffee.

The problem that your prospect is feeling or trying to overcome will be identified very early on your sales page. In fact, it is often stated right in the headline. For example, “Tired of Replacing that Cheap Coffee Pot?”

#2 Incite Emotion

People buy for emotional reasons. They justify their purchase with logic. SO that means you want to first appeal to their emotions. You want your prospect to make the decision to buy right away. Then you can spend some time justifying their decision with facts, testimonials and other tactics. Use emotional words in your headline, subheadings and throughout your copy. In the example used above, “Tired” is an emotional word. It describes how your prospect is feeling.

#3 A Call to Action above the Fold

Often, a person will visit your sales page and make an instant decision based on reading your headline and a quick glance of their screen. They may not ever scroll down. Take advantage of these quick decision makers, and support them, by providing a call to action above the fold. The fold is the point at which your visitor has to start scrolling down to see the rest of your page. It’s the bottom of their computer screen.

#4 Use Formatting Wisely

Have you ever visited a sales page where everything is bolded or in all caps? It makes it very difficult to know what you’re supposed to pay attention to. The result? You don’t pay attention to anything.

First and foremost, make sure your headlines and subheadings stand out. Use bold fonts, larger fonts and you might want to try a different color. Make sure your page is easy to read with plenty of white space between sentences and paragraphs. And simply highlight, bold, or underline those keywords that draw the eye down toward your call to action. These will be words or phrases that promise or stress a benefit to your prospect.

#5 Call to Action

Test and track your call to action. Try various phrasing to see which works best. For example, does a call to action with a post script, PS, work better for conversions? Does your audience prefer a button to click or a link?

When it comes to writing top-notch sales copy, remember that we buy for emotional reasons and justify our purchases based on logic. Hook your prospect by calling out their problem, promising a solution and then showing them why and how your solution works.

Copywriting is not rocket science. If you speak fluent English, chances are you can learn to write great copy soon. Here’s how.

Read the Gary Halbert Letters

Gary Halbert was one of the greatest copywriters to ever live. In fact, he’s the writer who wrote the one piece of copy that’s been mailed more than any other piece of copy on the planet.

Though he recently passed away, all his previous works and teachings are still freely available online. Reading through all his previous works and newsletters will give you a very strong start in learning how to copywrite.

Visit www.thegaryhalbertletter.com

Study Everything You Can

Study everything you can about the various parts of the sales process. Learn how to …

* Write a good headline
* Direct people’s attention
* Intensify the problem and create a solution
* Ask for the sale
* Build proof
* Use power words

Study everything you can from different teachers about everything it takes to make a sale online.

Start a Swipe File

One of the best ways to learn is to study people who are already great. One way to do so is to create a swipe file.

Sign up to as many newsletters or magazines as you can. You’ll immediately start getting letters in the mail trying to pitch to you.

Any that catch your attention, keep them in a folder. This is your swipe file.

Similarly, create a separate email account online. Sign up for as many newsletters as you can. Save any email or favorite, or “star” any email that catches your attention.

In just a few weeks, you’ll have access to tons of great sales material to learn from and draw inspiration from.

Start Writing

Writing copy isn’t something you can learn in theory. You have to actually start writing to really get the hang of it.

After you feel like you’ve got the basics, write your first sales letter. Even if it’s just for someone else’s product or your own product and you have no idea how you’re going to drive traffic to it, just write the letter anyway.

Alternatively, offer to write one for free on a marketing forum online, just for the sake of having a sample (if you want to freelance) and to get experience.

Whatever it’s going to take to get some experience, just do it to get started. Then aim to write at least one sales letter every six weeks or so to build up your skill.

Learning to write great copy is one of the highest paid skills you can possibly learn. It’s not difficult, though it does take effort to start. Learn this skill and it will pay off handsomely for you for the rest of your life.

Step #1 An Attention Grabbing Headline

Your headline is the single most important part of your sales letter. If it doesn’t grab your prospect’s attention, they won’t read the rest of your copy and they’ll never get to the call to action.

So what types of headlines grab attention?

* Promises – Promise to solve their problem.

* Curiosity – Arouse curiosity to motivate them to continue reading

* Make them an offer they can’t refuse

One great way to ensure you have a great headline each and every time is to start collecting top selling headlines. They call it a swipe file and it’s a wonderful way to both learn how to write great sales copy and to perfect your skills.

Step #2 Your Opening Paragraph.

The goal with your opening paragraph is to establish a connection with your reader. You may paint a picture of the struggle they’re dealing with and imply that you have the answer. You may share a personal story of your own so they begin to trust you. The first paragraph’s job is to identify the problem that your product or service solves and to motivate them to continue reading.

Now quite often if your headline and first paragraph do their job, your prospect is now going to do one of two things. They’re either going to skim the bold print and bullet points on your sales copy and then read your call to action.

Or

They’re going to skip right down to your call to action. This means your first paragraph is the second most important thing on the page. The third..your call to action but we’ll get there in a minute.

Step #3 Features and benefits.

Benefits first. The body of your copy will highlight exactly how your product or service is going to solve the reader’s problems. You accomplish this by focusing on the benefits. How is it going to change your reader’s life? We make buying decisions based on our emotions. The most successful copywriters know this and really tap into the emotions and the benefits prospects are truly seeking.

We justify our buying decision based on facts. You’ll want to then add some credibility to your claims. You can use endorsements, supporting data, testimonials and your credentials or experiences and successes to back up your claims.

Highlight the areas you want to emphasize in your sales letter with bullet points and bold lettering. As we mentioned, people skim often the copy and they’re looking for keywords to help them make a buying decision.

Step #4 Your call to action. Every successful sales letter has a call to action. Without it, your prospect won’t know what they’re supposed to do next. Collect a swipe file of calls to action as well.

Step #5 The PS. Interestingly enough, the postscript is often the last thing people read before they make a buying decision. You can use the postscript(s) to add a guarantee, to add scarcity or urgency to your message.

Writing good sales letters takes practice. However, with these key elements you’re on your way to good conversions and profits. Print and keep compelling sales pages in a swipe file. You can pull them out when you need inspiration and guidance.

However, many business owners don’t know the simple secrets to writing effective pay-per-click ads. Here are three secrets to writing effective PPC ads.

#1 Place your keywords in your headline. You have twenty-five characters to use in your headline. Make sure that your keywords are there before you worry about the remaining characters. Once you have your keywords chosen and placed in your headline, then focus on the goal for your advertisement.

For example, are you giving away information? Then consider power words like Discover, Learn, Secrets and so on. Spend some time crafting two headlines that will capture the attention of your audience. Split test the headlines for maximum effectiveness and return on investment.

#2 Use your two body copy lines effectively. For your two body copy lines you have thirty five characters for each line. That gives you a total of seventy to work with. PPC experts have found that most ads are more effective if you list benefits first and then your offer.

For example, if you’re offering a free parenting report to build your opt in list for your parenting website then your benefit and offer might be:

Discover how to talk to your kids so they
will listen – Download Your Free Report

Download your free report is your offer and call to action combined. The benefit is that children will listen to their parents. Learn to identify the benefits for your product or service and to explain them succinctly. The benefit must match the keyword used in the headline and targeted in the advertisement.

#3 The final piece of your PPC ad puzzle is your URL. The URL displayed can be different from the actual URL. This is another piece to test along with everything else about your advertisement. Make sure the URL is relevant to your advertisement.

For example, continuing with the parenting report advertisement example a URL that looks like this: www.sarajaneschatblog.com/free_report isn’t going to grab as much attention as www.freeparentingreport.com

Finally, writing your pay-per-click ad is only the beginning. You won’t know what’s truly effective for your audience until you run split tests for your ads. Test your headline, benefits, call to action and offer. And don’t forget to split test your URL too. Every percentage increase in your click through rate is more traffic, more profits and one step closer to your business goals.

Here’s how to set up a Google AdWords Campaign

Step #1 – Sign up for an account. It’s free. Visit adwords.google.com/ and sign up. If you already have a Gmail account, analytics account or other account, you can simply log onto your account, visit “Advertising Programs” or “Business solutions” and follow the links.

Step #2 – Research your keywords. You may already be familiar with the Google AdWords keyword tool. If not, you can find it here adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. You’re looking for keywords that represent your product or service.

You also ideally want the keywords to have low supply and high demand. That will help your campaign be successful. The more supply there is for a keyword, the more expensive it will be for you to garner a first page position. Additionally, you want a lot of demand for your keywords so you reach plenty of eyeballs.

Step #3 – Click “create your first campaign”. You’ll be prompted to enter a campaign name. Choose a name that helps you stay organized. This is particularly important if you have multiple businesses, multiple offers and/or will be creating multiple campaigns.

Step #4 – You’ll also be prompted to choose your campaign settings at this time. These will be things like language, location, your daily budget and so on. Pay attention to these settings but if you’re unsure, that’s okay. You can go back and change them at any time. One that you may change often is your daily budget.

Step #5 – Once you’ve chosen your keywords simply click on the keywords tab on your AdWords account and campaign screen. Begin adding your keywords. You’ll also notice a negative keywords space. Negative keywords are keywords you don’t want your ad to show up for.

For example, if you have the keywords, “dog trick training,” and your negative keyword is “video” then anyone entering dog trick training video won’t see your advertisement.

Step #6 – You’ll then be prompted to add your text including your headline which is allowed 25 characters, your two body copy lines each getting 35 characters and your URL. It’s recommended to split test your advertisements to get the best results and return on your investment. You can test any aspect of your ad including your headline, your URL and your offer.

Step #7 – Stay on top of your PPC campaign results. Track your CTR and your daily budget. Make sure they’re lined up with your goals!

Pay Per Click campaigns can be extremely effective for driving both sales and traffic. However, a strategy and a plan to follow up is always advised. Start slowly, track results and repeat your success.

Share an Ad Space

Can’t quite afford a newspaper ad? Why not split it with a few partners instead?

Purchase a large ad spot in your local newspaper. Then, split the ad with your partners. You’ll often spend less money than if you bought a smaller ad.

You’ll also build relationships with potential partners and build a relationship with the advertiser, leaving room for more future deals to take place.

Try Postcard Marketing

Postcard marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways you could market your business. It costs just pennies per postcard and can often be extremely targeted.

If you run a local business, you can mail just the people within a few miles of where your business is located. You could even mail just certain people from certain lists who are near your area.

Because you can target people so specifically using such a wide range of options while spending just pennies per person, postcard marketing can be an incredibly effective marketing tool.

Facebook Pay Per Click

Facebook allows small businesses to target very specifically the people they want to market. Unlike data you get for postcard marketing or other kinds of marketing, Facebook data is submitted willingly by users and likely to be much more accurate.

You can expect to pay about 50 cents per click. You can target by age, location, gender, interests, marital status, income and a lot more.

Let’s say you own a local consulting business, catered towards helping small business owners get off the ground. How might you use Facebook to get new customers?

First, you might start with individuals earning $30,000 or more. You might target people between 25 and 50, whose interests include business.

Then you’d write an attention-catching and informative headline and advert, along with a photo that really jumps off the page.

Customer Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs have traditionally been very successful for small businesses. For example, for every 10 slices of pizza someone buys, they get 1 slice free.

This creates the psychology of people who come back for more, especially as they get closer to getting their free slice. If there are three pizzerias with comparable pizzas in the area but only one has a loyalty program, they’re likely to go to that one instead.

These are just a few small business advertising ideas that can yield results quickly. Testing any of these ideas shouldn’t take more than a month or two and the results should be apparent almost immediately.

One advertising medium that it is very easy to overlook though is the advertising program run by Facebook. Advertising on Facebook gives companies the ability to target their advertising efforts with laser accuracy while staying within almost any budget.

While Facebook does offer larger, more expensive campaigns for companies willing to shell out the kind of big bucks necessary for a large campaign with such a popular site, in this article we’ll focus on the benefits of using Facebook’s user ad publishing system, which any Facebook user can utilize.

The types of ads produced by Facebook’s user ad manager are the ones you’ll see on the far right hand side of the page while you’re surfing Facebook profiles. They are simple box ads with a title/link, a short description and an optional image.

Targeting:

The real attraction with Facebook ads is the ability for the user to target their ads with exceptional precision. Facebook ads can be targeted using the following parameters.

Geographic: When creating a Facebook ad, you begin by targeting geographically by country, state/province or city, depending on how narrow you want your geographical focus to be.

Age and Sex: You can specify your audience to be male, female or both, within any age range between 13 to 65. If you want your ad to show only to 23 year old men, then your ads won’t be shown to anyone outside of that demographic.

Keywords: This optional field will narrow your audience based on trigger words that occur in their Facebook profiles. Using a lot of keywords will generally drastically narrow your audience.

Education: You can choose to target by education with options including college grad, in college and in high school. If you select a single option, you can further narrow your targeting down to specific schools and even specific majors.

Workplaces: While Facebook is populated mostly by students, many workplaces have their own Facebook groups where employees chat and post information. You can use this field to target specific workplaces.

Relationship Status and Sexual Orientation: Finally, you can target your audience using relationship status (single, in a relationship, engaged, married) and sexual orientation (interested in men or interested in women).

After choosing all of the targeting factors for your ad, the Facebook ad manager will display the approximate number of users your that make up your targeted group. For instance, targeting people in the United States of all ages and all sexes, with no limiting factors chosen gives an approximate audience size of just over 42 million people. Meanwhile, choosing to target single men between the ages of 18 and 25 in Providence, Rhode Island yields an approximate audience size of 12,480 people.

Payment:

When putting up a Facebook ad, you have a couple of options as to how you want to pay for your message to be distributed among your target audience. The first option is Pay Per Click or PPC for short. This is the same system as most Google Adwords users will be familiar with, in which you bid a certain price that is the maximum you’re willing to pay for someone to click on your link and come to your site, and you’re charged a certain price at or below that bid (depending on competition) every time your ad is clicked through. This model works very well for campaigns in which your goal is to bring traffic to your website or landing page. The real benefit is that you only pay when a viewer takes action by clicking on your ad.

The second option is the CPM option, in which you pay not for clicks, but for views. In this option you set a bid that is the highest price you are willing to spend for your ad to be viewed 1000 times. A view constitutes any time your ad is shown on a users screen and 1000 views normally goes by very quickly! This model works very well for ads that have been proven to have exceptionally high click through rates. If you know that your ad will receive a lot of clicks, choosing the PPC model could end up costing an arm and a leg, whereas choosing the CPM model may cost you significantly less.

Optimization:

Writing Facebook ads optimally is generally the same as writing most other small format ads for the internet, which is covered in other posts and as such will not be discussed in detail here. However, one unique aspect of Facebook ads in relation to many other ad services is the ability to include a picture with your ad. This is an often overlooked, but extremely valuable option. When making facebook ads, always opt to put in an image. The better the image matches your ad, the better it will do, but overall, leaving an image out is normally a good way to make sure your ad doesn’t get noticed.