This will be the first in a series of 6 articles about copywriting. But (and here comes the disclaimer) these articles won’t make you an effective copywriter over night. To become an expert freelance copywriter takes time and practice (and a bit of natural talent).

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

Copywriting, or sales writing, is worth its weigh in gold when done properly. If you have been reading my other blogs you would already have learned how to identify your reader, learned how to plan effectively, sell the benefits of your product and how to implement AIDA.

Now though, I want to take a look at the actual writing. The persuasiveness of your copywriting all comes down to your ability to convey a convincing tone of voice, your choice of words and your ability to produce punchy sentences.

In this blog I want to concentrate on staying focused.

Here is a list of what you must focus on when writing:

• YOUR READER

Not a long list so it should be easy to remember. Everything you write must mean something to your reader. Let me use a fishing analogy here – if your line of words is taut, your fish (reader) will remain hooked, let it go slack and they will swim off towards one of your competitors.

It all starts at the beginning

The most important part of your writing is the initial sentence – this is your opportunity to hook your reader:

• Address them directly
• Create empathy to get their attention
• Talk to them

When you are writing, imagine you are holding a conversation with your reader. Engage them and keep their interest. If you don’t you will run the risk of them gazing out of the window, seeing one of your competitors’ posters and then they will be lost forever. So keep in interesting and avoid clichés.

Next time, I will address the brevity vs long copy debate.

The author, Sally Ormond (Briar Copywriting) provides a comprehensive range of expert copywriting services to companies locally, nationally and internationally.

As any copywriter knows, just because you have managed to create a desire for your product, doesn’t necessarily mean that your reader is going to buy. The best way to get your reader to take action is through the use of testimonials.

These are a great motivator and a tool that every freelance copywriter should have in their writing arsenal. People love to hear about the experiences of others.

Another copywriter’s trick to get your readers buying is by offering free samples, statistics, a free trial or money-back guarantee. If you have these available why not use them all or a combination plus testimonials – just do whatever you feel necessary to get your reader to take action.

The call to action

If this is weak, the rest of your hard work would have been wasted.

They don’t have to be saved for the final paragraph. Sprinkle them throughout the sales letter or, if using email, use hyperlinks so once the decision to buy has been made your reader can act immediately.

Here are a few things to avoid when writing your CTA:

• Ambiguity is bad – don’t confuse your reader
• Watch your wordiness – you’ve made your pitch now get straight to the point
• Don’t be vague – leave them in no doubt as to what they need to do

Put simply, your CTA should be short, simple, direct and clear:

• Give them different ways to get in touch/place their order (e.g. email, fax, phone)
• Give them a clear and simple-to-complete order form
• Make it a command – ‘order now’ ‘order by 1^st February’

These techniques aren’t exclusively for sales letters. No matter what you are writing always remember: AIDA – Attention – Interest – Desire – Action and you can’t go wrong.

If you want a permanent reference to these ideas why not visit my website and download my eBook detailing the 5 Simple Steps to Sensational Marketing. It is a great read highlighting the issues that you have read about here with further tips to make your writing even more persuasive and powerful.

The author, Sally Ormond (Briar Copywriting) is a freelance copywriter providing a comprehensive range of copywriting services for businesses locally, nationally and internationally.

If you have been following this series of articles, you would have learnt how to write a killer headline to get the attention of your readers, how to sell the benefits of your product to get their interest, so now all you have to do is create a desire.

Getting someone interested in something is one thing, but to get them to want it is entirely different.

Why? Because what we actually want is only a small percentage of the things we are interested in.

As a freelance copywriter I always keep one thought in mind whenever writing for clients – when someone wants something they’ll convince themselves that they really need it.

Bring the product to life

Use words to create a picture – make them ’see’ what their lives would be like with your product. Play on their emotions. Will it give them kudos? Will they appear more successful, more attractive to the opposite sex…?

Restrict the supply

This is guaranteed to increase the ‘want factor’. You can limit it by time by having a cut-off date after which it won’t be available (or a special offer price for a limited period). Or restrict the supply in numbers e.g. attendance is limited to just 50 people.

Desire drivers

Try one of these:

• Your reader has been specially selected
• They are among the first to get the offer
• People they respect have bought the offer
• Only your offer can give them the benefits they want
• How easy you’ve made it for them to act

Wow, we’re really cooking now. Your reader is on the verge of buying your product. There is just one final hurdle that has to be cleared – you have to get them to take action.

The author, Sally Ormond (Briar Copywriting) is a freelance copywriter. For more of her tips on copywriting and marketing visit her Freelance Copywriters Blog.

Once you have grabbed your readers’ attention with you stunning headling, you have to arouse their interest in what you’re selling.

How do you do that?

Well, let’s suppose your reader has a problem – they could be feeling stressed, bored or unfulfilled. What you hve to do is find a way to tie your product to their problem as the solution.

A metaphorical arm around their shoulder

Freelance copywriters could be seen as counsellors. We have to show our readers that we understand how they feel and then promise to take the problem away. What do they have to do? Simply buy your product.

The golden rule here is to ensure you write about the solution not the problem – negativity will result in your letter being folded into an aeroplane.

Try to answer this:

‘How will my reader’s life be improved if they do what I want them to do?’

Answer it in the first sentence or paragraph – they’ll want the answer immediately. If you’re not sure what your reader really wants bring in as many benefits as possible and be specific.

Sell the benefits

Remember benefits are anything your reader perceives as valuable or worthwhile – something that will help them make/save money, save time, get them promoted, make friends etc.

Make sure it is the benefits that you are selling and not the features – yes, the product might be recyclable but that is a feature. The benefit would be that it helps preserve natural resources. Get the idea?

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, it will take practice to master this but it will be worth it. So now you can get your reader interested in your product because you have identified why your product will be of benefit to them. Brilliant!

But it doesn’t stop there. Just because they are interested doesn’t mean they’ll simply hand their credit card over. You still have a bit more work to do before that happens.

The next stage is to learn how to create a desire for your product. See you in a day or so.

The author, Sally Ormond (Briar Copywriting) provides expert copywriting services for businesses locally, nationall and internationally.

First things first, if you are writing a sales letter, your attention grabber is an effective headline. If you are writing an email then it is the subject line.

For the purpose of this article I shall be looking at writing a sales letter. Your headline will be at the top of your letter but, to create instant impact, it can also be on your envelope as this will be your first opportunity to grab the attention of your reader.

So what type of headline works best?

• One giving news?
• One promising a benefit?
• One that arouses curiosity?

One that sells or promises benefit will always be a winner, but the most powerful one is the one that is a combination of all three.

If you are stuck for ideas try starting it with ‘How’ or ‘Now’:

‘How this copywriter will increase your sales conversion rate’

‘Now, even better quality, even lower prices’

One tip is to come up with several headlines and then pick the best one. You may find that different ideas occur to you at different times in the writing process.

Forget the full stop

Never, never, never end your headline with a full stop.

Why? Well, what does a full stop tell your reader to do? That’s right, stop reading – that is last thing that you want to happen.

How long should it be?

Quite simply, as long as is necessary to get your message across. But be sensible. A headline that goes on forever will be a complete turn-off.

So that about wraps up how to grab your readers’ attention. If you have any other ideas why not post a comment? It would be great to hear someone else’s take on this.

Sally Ormond

As a professional website copywriter, SEO copywriter and advertising copywriter, Sally Ormond has extensive experience in B2B and B2C copywriting markets. She can be contacted at +44(0)1449 779605 or at sally@briarcopywriting.com for any copywriting project you may have.