As I progress on my copywriting journey I am venturing into the video and more technologically advanced arenas. Today I am posting my first ever video presentation about copywriting using techniques of persuasion. There are a few bugs, but I suspect that as I do more of this that the videos will get better.

So join me on this adventure as I explore copywriting and all it ha to offer through the various forms of advanced media. And if there is some subject you’d care to learn more about let me know and we can explore that toghter.

The first trick is to identify sales letters that spark an interest or an emotional response and thus are income producing. Take the letter of your choice and first copy it in your own handwriting, line by line. You want to pay special attention to the rhythm of the letter. Notice the words that are used and how the writer puts those words together. Pay attention to the style and flow. Examine each sentence for it’s structure and how it relates to the overall message of the sales letter. Also pay attention to how the letter makes you feel. What sort of emotional response comes up for you.

Now go back and do it again. You can use the same letter or find others that are good sales copy letters.

Another method for learning the best copy techniques is something that I first used  long ago when I was in college. What you want to do is read some of these great sales letters aloud while you are listening to baroque music. I believe you want music that maintains 60 beats per minute. Try a piece you like from Bach, Mozart or Vivaldi.

The next step is to record yourself reading the copy along with the music. Later you will listen to the recordings while studying the flow of the copy, paying attention to the use of words and how the author uses those words to evoke an emotional response, usually a call to action.

What educators have found is that there is an association between the music and the item being studied. The baroque music helps to maximizes the learning of new material and our ability to retain that new information.It has a lot to do with engaging both the right and left brains simultaneously. Evidently the human mind works better when listening to this sort of music. Try listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Piano’s in D Major

What happens later when you go to write copy of your own is that through an association with the baroque music you are able to better recall the copy patterns that sell.

What’s in it for me?

The very first thing you want to do is grab the attention of your prospect. You will want to spend a considerable amount of dedicated time  creating the ideal headline. A common mistake amongst copywriters is that they write just one headline. But they’re missing out. Just as creating optimal copy takes time and many re-writes, so too does your headline. Take your time and create some great headlines. You’ll be glad you did.

After you identify your target market and your Unique Selling Point (USP) you will want to write at least a couple hundred headlines. Yes, that’s what I said, you want to write a couple hunderd headlines for just this one assignment. In the end you will use several of those headlines. One will be that great attention grabber at the beginning of your copy. The others may serve as sub-headlines in the body of your copy.

For your headlines you want to be using words such as:

* Announcing
* Breakthrough
* Now
* New
* Free
* Discover How
* You
* How to

You then want to capitalize on the benefits that your product or service offers. And make sure that you are talking benefits and not features. This will help you to awnser the question that your prospect has on his mind.

What’s in it for ME ?

Nevertheless, I took that information and arranged it by category and subject matter. They also provided a link to the site so that I could see exactly waht it was that they were  providing through their web pages.

My next step was to engage in the investigation process. I spent some time at their site familiarizing myself with their content, features and benefits and any special selling points that I could find. I did some other investigation about their ideal customer and what it is that that person might be looking for from this web site. It’s improtant to know your customers so that you can address your copy to a specific audience.

Then I spent some time perusing other relevant web sites with similar information to really get a better understanding of the industry as well as to get a better handle on unique selling points (USP) for my customer. And again, customer interest and demographics play an important role.

Then I had some questions and so I contacted the customer to go over my progress. As we spoke it became clear that she was thinking more along the lines of just one single page of the website. So the copy needed to address just a single service provided by a site that provides a myriad of services.

Given this much better understanding of the job intention and  specific intention I was better able to  pinpoint the focus of my efforts and provide the copy the customer was seeking.

When you are embarking on your copywriting endeavors it’s always a good idea to do all of your homework which should ultimately include a question and answer session with your customer, ideally before you spend a great deal of time putting anything together. You really want to make sure that you thoroughly understand what the assignment’s focus might be.

My initial information was vague. But in all fairness the customer always knows what she wants. It’s our job to help her articulate the specifics of that assignment so that we too have substantial knowledge of the assignment.

However, there is an often overlooked area which is not often discussed, and that is how to influence your prospect with keywords. This method, in all actuality takes precedence over all the others, as the keywords which are relevant to the product you are delivering is what ultimately interested the prospect to consider reading your copy to begin with. When you learn how to influence your prospect with keywords, your keywords can serve as a reference point to the prospect, and remind them why they are reading your sales letter in the first place.

Copywriters often get too caught up in the “calls to action,” “the buzz words,” and the fancy adjectives, not realizing that after they proofread their ad copy, they completely left out the product, and must begin again. Such things as product names, competitor’s names, company slogans, logos, etc., all qualify as keywords that must be repeated often to a prospect.

In learning how to influence your prospect with keywords, you will be bringing them back to what they were seeking, and not distracting them by overusing literary devices, which can turn off a prospect.

If you diligently learn how to influence your prospect with keywords effectively and concentrate on this area, you will unlock one of the best-kept secrets in copywriting, and be on the road to becoming a successful copywriter in no time.

The best example of the power of writing copy that solicits an emotional response is found in brand marketing. When a soft drink consumer enjoys a Coca Cola, they aren’t  necessarily thinking about carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup. They are more identifying with all of the positive experiences they either have had or anticipate having in association with the product. There is an emotional response associated with people enjoying things like summer fun, quenching thirst after a sporting activity, a hot day at the beach engaged in a rigorous game of volleyball and frolicking in the water. These are the sorts of messages that good copy writers create in their advertising copy that aims for the heart and ultimately that emotional response.

The most important thing to learn in writing such dynamic content is also one of the most basic fundamentals in sales: believing in your product. In this case, your product is your message, the reason that you’re writing copy. Ultimately if you don’t believe in your message, then your customers will sense that.

Consider starting off the way professional advertisers do. Before ever getting started do some brainstorming on why it is that a prospect would be inspired about that product. Really take the time to get into their shoes as it were and find that same inspiration in yourself. Really getting fired up about the product and what it can do for YOU the customer will help you to confidently inspire others to take action. You will have touched them at their very core. You will be aiming for their heart and subsequently touching their desires with an emotional response.

Once you have your drive and inspiration, take a break, go for a walk, put some distance between you and your focus. Then return later to make sure that that fire and inspiration is still there. Whatever resonates with you the most, that’s the heart of your copy. Take those images and craft them into copy that explains how your message is so integral to the basic emotional center and inspiration of your work. Do this, and you know that you’ll be writing copy that aims for the heart.

Perhaps the most important aspect of copywriting, exhibited by some of the best copywriters in the industry, is you as the writer must become the potential customer. In other words, the copywriting process depends on you to put yourself in the potential customers’ shoes and write accordingly.

Whatever you would like to write copy for, your thought process must be centered around the mental buying process. What is it that will make the customer buy? What are the hot buttons? What are the most relevant, catchy headlines I can use convincingly?

These are all questions which will help you determine the best way to fit into your customers’ shoes. In this aspect, brainstorming is the best practice in infiltrating the copywriting process.

Also very effective in the copywriting process are literary devices, such as alliteration, repetition, and creating the sense of need. With alliteration, you repeat words which start with the same letter such as “sizzling sales.” With repetition, you would repeat the same type of phrase, all the while weaving it in with a sense of need.

Using these guidelines by simply brainstorming on these issues should give you a launchpad. Enhancing your creativity often will make this come alive – easily, quickly, and effectively.

The subject of the copywriting assignment, without a doubt, is the number one factor in copywriter rates. This is the reason why some copywriter rates are higher than others. If the topic is vague or withdrawn from the mainstream topic, the copywriter rates may be higher. On the flip side of that coin, if the subject of the page is something that can easily be researched, the copywriter rates may be lower.

Some copywriters prefer to writer shorter articles over longer articles. For this reason, the copywriter rates for some authors will be directly related to the total number of words required per page. Shorter articles may bring one price while longer articles may bring another set of copywriter rates.

The final aspect of determining copywriter rates is the lack of pre-existing information on the topic. If a computer programmer is hired to write for a software firm, the rates may be lower than those suggested from a person with no previous knowledge of the subject.

If one thing is for certain, the World Wide Web is not finished growing and that means plenty of new websites in need of content and plenty of older websites in need of newer content. While there is no clear cut way to quote copywriter rates, every copywriter will eventually find their niche and run with copywriter rates reflecting that excitement.

The copywriter enjoys taking basic information and making it understandable to a wide audience, and working the information into copy that will create interest. That copy should create interest strong enough to either generate a sales call, inform, or help create an image. It helps to have a very broad background of experiences upon which to draw, and an excellent knowledge of language and grammar. Spelling and proofreading are also very important to a copywriter.

As a career, the copywriter usually will start with an entry type job, and with experience may move to better paying positions. Like much creative work, making a living as a copywriter is not easy, but with determination and drive, a person can enjoy a good income from this career. A college education is helpful, but not always necessary. The thing education can do for a copywriter is provide much general information, and open doors to opportunity.

The most important thing for a copywriter to have would be the ability to use language, create sales messages, and make their work of interest to the reader. Copywriting is an art form, and the wordsmith copywriter can truly enjoy creating their art.

There is ample opportunity for work as a copywriter, and there can also be good money at the top jobs. Many copywriters start at entry jobs in newspaper, radio or television. To define the job of a copywriter is fairly simple: a copywriter is a person who composes text, usually for advertising purposes. The copywriter is given information, facts, and figures and is expected to digest and recompose those items into a coherent, concise sales message. There are other types of copy, such as informational, and descriptive, but most copywriting is aimed at generating interest in a product, company, or service. The copy produced should create desire in the reader for more information, resulting in a call or visit to a store that sells said item.

Once the prospective customer is in the store, in front of a salesperson, the sales job becomes that of the sales person. The written or visual message created by the copywriter can only be expected to prompt interest, not finish the sale. Mail order is one of the most visible examples of copywriting that is written as sales material to generate interest, and to prompt further inquiry by the reader.

Rates for copywriting vary from a few dollars to thousands, but money is not always the copywriter’s number one interest in this career. There is a lot of self satisfaction to seeing the end result of one’s work, and there is plenty of opportunity for the accomplished copywriter to enjoy reading and viewing their work.