… when it’s a product… not funny? it shouldn’t be, let me explain:

A man walks into DIY Emporium, he looks at spades, he chooses one, buys it and leaves. A perfect sale, no problems …except that he didn’t want a spade…

What this man really wanted was a hole in the ground to plant some potatoes. He wanted to cultivate some easy vegetables to cook at next year’s BBQs. He wants to be able to tell his friends ‘I grew them myself’ and hear about how much better they tasted compared to store bought. He will feel proud and inspired to try tomatoes next year.

He is a little worried of course, what if he plants them in the wrong place? what if the ground is too wet/soggy/dry/cold/dark/light? What if it all goes wrong?

He has such a beautiful idea, but the spade doesn’t come into that dream anywhere. He didn’t really want it. He doesn’t care if it has a brown handle or a green one. He doesn’t care if it’s stainless steel or carbon fibre.

Are you selling spades or holes?
Do you show a picture of a spade or of big earthy potatoes?
Do you talk about the spade’s dimensions, colour, weight, portability, ergonomics or do you explain how much easier/quicker/better/deeper the resulting holes will be?
Do you package it with a trowel or rake? Or with planting instructions and yearly calendar? Shed building tips or even recipes?

No matter what we sell, we’re selling to people… REAL people and REAL people have REAL hopes, fears, dreams and desires. REAL emotions.

[spade photo courtesy of Lee Jordan]

Great Freelance Copywriting isn’t just about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. It involves far more skill than that – in fact you could call it an art. There may not be any paint involved but words are intricately woven together into something powerful and compelling. There is no magic formula as it isn’t an exact science.

Before you can even start writing you have to have ideas. Whether you are writing a sales letter, brochure or webcopy, what you produce has to break through all the other sales messages out there, grab your reader’s attention and cling on to them until they have got out their credit card and bought your product.

It sounds so simple, but creativity can be elusive. Everyone has their own way of stimulating their creative flow and here are a few of mine:

• Walking the dog
• Going to the gym
• Read a book, magazine or newspaper
• Write down anything and everything that comes into your head
• Read some websites
• Imagine yourself as the buyer
• Work somewhere else other than your usual place
• Brainstorm keywords

What are your favourite ways of stimulating creativity? Do you use the same methods as me or do you have some far more interesting ways? Come on, don’t be shy share them with us.

The author, Sally Ormond (Briar Copywriting), is a freelance copywriter who specialises in website copywriting

For your copywriting to be successful, you must make a connection with your reader. To do that you have to build rapport – create an emotional bond by tuning into their very thoughts and desires.

Sound scary?

Just think about it for a second. You would have come across numerous sales people over the years. Of all the sales people you have bought from, where they caring, thoughtful, did they take an interest in you? Or were they stand-offish, self-centred and uncaring? I think I can guess what your answer is.

If you can show your reader that you understand their concerns and fears they are far more likely to buy from you.

But for this approach to work, you have to know what your reader is concerned about. For example, if you are selling toys or games you can tune into parental concerns.

A quick tip to build rapport immediately is to use three small but powerful words “As you know” when mentioning a fact about their job or interests such as:

‘Dear Mr James,

As you know it takes more than just a good grasp of English to become a great sales writer.’

Admittedly this method takes a bit of practice. To get a similar effect you can always adopt the easier option of flattering your reader. Let’s face it, everyone likes to be flattered and made to feel more important than they actually are. Show your reader how clever, important or beautiful they are and they’ll listen to you until the cows come home.

The author, Sally Ormond provides seo website copywriting services to businesses looking to make the most out of their online presence.

Why?

Any of you reading this with children would have experienced the perpetual ‘but why?’ phase that all children go through. It is a question everyone learns ask from a very early age. Sadly, although my children are rapidly heading towards their teenage years, it is a question that is still being asked with annoying regularity.

When you talk to someone directly it is easy to keep their interest as you can hold their attention with eye contact, your body language, the intonation of your voice and of course dialogue. When you are communicating via the written word you can’t use any of these techniques.

But all is not lost; there is a very simple technique you can use to stimulate a ‘conversation’ with your reader.

Ask Questions

If you are not used to writing in this style it can sound a bit obvious. But it does work. If you ask your reader a question, I can guarantee that they will think of an answer.

Why?

Because its human nature.

They can be:

• Closed questions – those that have a yes or no answer. These are great for closing a sale. They force someone to make a decision to buy.

• Limited questions – those which offer a choice from a set of answers (e.g. which do you prefer, white wine or rosé?) to engage people.

• Open questions - those which have no fixed answers. By using these you hand over conversational control to your reader. They can take their time considering their answer. People love this type of question.

Granted, it will take a bit of practice writing like this as it isn’t a style that comes naturally to many people. But stick with it, it will work.

The author, Sally Ormond (Briar Copywriting), is a freelance copywriter who specialises in website copywriting

Freelance copywriters are great story tellers carrying on a tradition that is centuries old.

We have all grown up listening to stories – fiction as bedtime stories or fact from stories told to us about the ‘olden days’ by our Grandparents. The human race is preconditioned to listen to stories, which is why freelance copywriters exploit this fact in their sales writing?

I don’t mean ‘Once upon a time…’ stories – you wouldn’t be much of a copywriter if that was how you began every sales message (although I dare say there may be occasions when that could be very effective). But if you can incorporate a story within your copy, it will strike a chord with your reader who then will be unable to resist reading it.

How to incorporate a story

For a sales letter, you can easily don your storyteller’s hat in this way:

Dear Mrs Gregory,

Like you, Dorothy Jones found she was having difficulty in coming up with original material for her sales literature. She spent hours of her time trying to create something fresh and interesting. Then she came across Briar Copywriting. They were fantastic and, from her brief, produced a new and compelling brochure. Sales and enquiries have now increased…

If you are writing webcopy you can use a similar technique but your story would be in the form of a case study. By its very nature, it is already a story.

No matter what type of writing you are incorporating your story into, you must keep its content and subject matter relevant.

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