Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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“Copywriting 101” Free Articles by Robert Plank
“…I've compiled free articles that Robert Plank is giving away through his site or from
article directories.
Long on content, short on sales, but he is hoping that you like his free stuff enough to
someday buy something he's selling, of course, and if you do, I might or might not get a
commission out of the deal.
Regardless, you can learn a lot from reading the following articles, just like I do…”
Compiled by Syamsul Alam
http://www.SyamsulAlam.com
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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Table of Contents
Specific Headlines And Bullet Points To Place On Your Opt-In Page .............................................. 3
The Real Difference Between Copywriting and Article Writing ...................................................... 5
The Basics of a Sales Letter ............................................................................................................. 7
How To Begin Your Sales Letter ...................................................................................................... 9
Avoid These Very Common Mistakes On Webpage Sales Letters ................................................ 11
How Long Or Short To Make Your Sales Letter ............................................................................. 13
Other Resources by Robert Plank ................................................................................................. 15
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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Specific Headlines And Bullet Points To Place On Your
Opt-In Page
An opt-in page is very simple. Just have a web page, add a headline to it, list three bullet points
under it, and place your opt-in form under those to make a very simple offer that people can
understand in a short amount of time that is also detailed enough so that your new email
subscribers know exactly what they are getting into. But if you have not seen many good
examples of opt-in pages or you have not set up very many opt-in pages of your own, you might
be confused about what kind of headline and what kind of bullet points you should be placing
on this opt-in page. We'll talk about that today.
For your headline, just keep it simple. We are not going for any silly phrases or clever words.
We're just saying exactly what people are getting. For example, "Free Video Shows You How To
Learn To Swim In 5 Minutes Or Less." Very simple. They know exactly what outcome they will
be at as soon as they're done watching the video and at the same time they know what the
video is about. Probably showing how to swim the proper way.
One extra bonus you could add on this headline is state the dollar value of it. For example, if
the video is worth $97 for someone. So learning how to swim in 5 minutes, instead of paying a
swim instructor, then it's worth that amount but it's free. So the headline might say, "How To
Learn To Swim In 5 Minutes With This Easy Video, $97 Value, Yours Free." That will grab
attention and state the value of this free gift they are about to get. Because we don't want
them to think that just because this gift is free, then it's worthless. It has a value, but they are
getting it for free in exchange for signing up to your list.
Now, below that headline, we want to list some specific bullet points so people will know what
it's about. And if you haven't done this, it's easy to get stuck. But I just want you to tell me what
I can do with this video. Do you talk about the front stroke and backstroke? Then one of your
bullet points might be, "Master both the front stroke and the backstroke." Another bullet point
might be that anyone at any age can use this training and a final bullet point might be that it
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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works in ocean, in a swimming pool, no matter what. So, three bullet points saying what I can
do with it. I can do it right away in any environment.
And if you're still kind of stuck, tell me what results I can see from it and why I should get it
right now. Obviously, if your video shows me how to swim in 5 minutes, the results are I can go
from nothing to being a basic swimmer in just a few minutes from your video. And why get it
now is the urgency. So, the urgency might be that you will be taking the page down later. Or
that if they don't learn this information right now, then a week or a month will go by and they
still won't know how to swim but if they had just given you 5 minutes, then they could have
gotten that issue out of the way.
Watch as I set up an opt-in page step by step using a template you can place on your site at
http://www.newbiecrusher.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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The Real Difference Between Copywriting and Article
Writing
What exactly is the difference between copywriting and regular article writing? Simply put,
copywriting is one of the highest paid professions, and article writing is one of the lowest paid
professions. When you write sales copy, you are trying to get readers to take a specific action,
whereas when you write an article, you are more often than not trying to take up space.
The first reason to choose copywriting over article writing is that article writing is chump
change. Because the process of writing articles is so unskilled... almost anyone with a
knowledge of the written English language can do it... the job is open to high school graduates,
middle school students, and even younger children in countries anywhere in the world. Did you
know that only 375 million people, about 5 percent of the world's population, speaks English as
a first language, yet the number of non-native English speakers outnumber native English
speakers three-to-one.
On the other hand, to hit the right emotional hot buttons that sales copy requires, English
needs to be your first language. That eliminates over one billion of the Earth's population on
that fact alone. Add onto that the fact that many people simply do not understand the process
of selling, persuasion, and emotional selling. That is a big gap in the details of standard writing
and copy writing. It is easy to write an article about shampoo, but another process entirely to
convince someone to buy a brand of shampoo over another.
Finally, the foundation of copywriting is minimizing words. When you can get the same
message across with fewer words, not only does it mean your offline ads are cheaper, but it
also means your words gain meaning. The average person does not have the attention span to
read a ton of content, especially on the Internet. They want answers right now. If you can get
the exact same sales message across in a single paragraph, and your competition cannot
explain the same thing in two pages, your ads will convert better than those other guys.
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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There you have it, the difference between copywriting and regular article writing. With
copywriting you are concerned with emotions and sales conversions, but when writing plain old
articles you are mostly concerned with filling up space. Specialize yourself and do not complete
for pennies. Instead, get paid in thousands of dollars by becoming a well paid copywriter.
Get paid ten times or even 100 times better than an article writer, by writing ad copy instead.
Dead easy proven formula gets you started right away: http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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The Basics of a Sales Letter
A direct response sales letter, which can be a web page, magazine ad, commercial, or some
other form of advertising, meant to lead the reader into some action and usually a sale, consists
of three main parts. Those three parts of a sales letter are: a star, a story, and a solution.
Every sales letter needs a star. Sometimes this is obvious and the ads you read will contain a
story. The ad will talk about Martha, the woman of three children who kept getting worse and
worse headaches which became painful to the point where she could no longer function at her
job. The star might also be the writer of the ad, telling you how easily he accomplished a task or
what struggles he overcame, and how he can teach it to you. The star might also be about you,
the reader, and the ad is sympathizing with whatever desires or needs you have at the
moment.
Once the sales letter establishes a star, it leads into a story. The story might be more detail
about our headache star Martha and how these migraines affected her life... how she wishes
there was some easy cure she could find to get her life back on track. Just like with the star, the
story might be about a fictitious character, be about the writer of the ad or about you in
particular.
Finally, you have the solution. There is not much wiggle room for this final section. Your star has
a story where they go through some sort of pain either from the existence of some problem or
the absence of a solution... and then you swoop in with the solution. If you apply this S.S.S.
(star, story, and solution) formula to everything you do... sales copy, presentations, and
arguments... you will be able to associate with your readers and listeners much more than if
you simply launched into a solution. Most importantly, remember the S.S.S. strategy for sales
letters and you will have a much easier time writing copy.
Create a professional sales letter to sell products in just five minutes, total hoax or feasible
reality? http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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How To Begin Your Sales Letter
A sales letter is a webpage that you have on your site that's explains a problem and introduces
a solution, and then it tells people why your solution is the best. But it's difficult to tell where
you should start on a sales letter and even if you look at your competitors, it's tough to see how
you can follow in their footsteps without actually copying what they do. And, the best way to
have at the top of your sales letter is to introduce a problem.
The reason for that is because if you come right out with your offer immediately, a report or a
video that's for sale. Then they can easily say "no" and leave the site forever. But if you start off
with your sales letter with a very common problem that is the same problem that took them to
your site, then they are somewhat in agreement with you and have a reason to continue
reading.
If you sold a membership site about how to improve your golf game and people came to that
site because they couldn't improve their golf swing. Then you begin with explaining the
problems they might be having with that golf swing but you don't come right out immediately
and say, "Buy this" because they can easily say, " I don't need this." Get them aware of the
problem first then that by the time you introduce your solution, they have a more difficult time
saying "no" to it because they already agreed about the problem.
And, on top of this problem-solution idea, the great way to pull them into to begin with is to
introduce a shocking statement to keep them reading. For example, if your membership site
shows you how to double the distance that they can shoot a golf ball, then talk about that in
the headline but then lead up to that. You'll say that you've discovered how to double the
distance. Anyone can hit a golf ball but then jump back to the problem and build up to your
solution which explains then how to solve this problem.
Open up your sales letter, figure out what's the big problem your problem is solving. Is it their
problem? Is it your problem? But don't come out right out with the offer. Have a shocking
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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statement at the very top with the promise of the outcome. Then bring in the problem, then
the solution, then what people can buy from you.
Set up your very simple webpage and have your paid button and your download page, and have
the ability to start collecting orders today at http://www.newbiecrusher.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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Avoid These Very Common Mistakes On Webpage Sales
Letters
When you have a sales letter which is a simple webpage that presents a single offer and has
one thing for people to buy. They're mistakes that I see over and over again, and if you avoid
these mistakes you can shortcut a lot of frustration, time and money, and start making sales
faster.
Avoid the confusing or hard to understand offer, avoid signing off before you hit the buy
button, and avoid multiple calls to action. Even though your sales letter is supposed to be
simple, even though it's supposed to be one thing to buy. I still see people make it super
complicated. If you're selling something for a $100 dollars, then state it's a $100 dollars. If it's
two payments of $20 dollars then state that but let's not get crazy and make it 15 payments or
a payment every day. Let's make the price of what it is exactly what it is.
And, be upfront about what thing people are paying for. Are they paying for reports, a physical
book, a CD? How is it delivered? That way when I buy from you, I know exactly what it is I'm
getting for my money. It's a very easy thing to fix is making sure that all the pieces are
presented in the right order. For example, you wouldn't want to put your guarantee above the
bonus area because everyone is used to seeing the guarantee near the very bottom of the sales
letter. It's almost a legal section. But if we see the guarantee and we're thinking it's the bottom
of the sales letter, we might miss some of the bonuses.
Likewise, if you sign your name and have a signature of your name at the bottom of the sales
letter but didn't have the buy button under that, less people will read to the bottom because
they see you signing your name and they're used to regular letters where you sign your name at
the bottom and then your done. By moving your buy button under your guarantee and before
your sign off, you can get more sales because they're used to the guarantee is winding down
but the sign off is where the sales header is completely done.
Basic Copywriting Technique - Copywriting 101
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And finally, an easy way to fix your sales letter is to remove extra order buttons. Remove links
off of your site. Your sales letter should have one single call to action, one single thing to do.
That means instead of having three or four order buttons, have one single order button.
Instead of having a order button and other links outside the website, narrow it down to one
single order button.
It's okay to have links that drop people down to the bottom of the page to that order button
but you want it to be one single thing people can buy on this webpage. Either they can buy or
they can leave. I know there are some very common mistakes that you can easily avoid on sales
letters. Have an easy to understand offer, sign off after your buy button and limit yourself to
one call to action.
Set up your webhost, offer page, autoresponder, membership, blog, traffic, and your sales
letter at http://www.newbiecrusher.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Plank
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How Long Or Short To Make Your Sales Letter
It doesn't matter too much about your niche, price point or audience. You have to decide how
long you're going to make your sales letter and adjust from there. But there is no magic number
about your webpage needing to be two-pages or ten-pages long. It has to be the right length.
When I write a sales page, I don't think ahead of time it's going to be one page long or ten
pages long. It ends up being however long it has to be to list all the details but also not be too
boring. We could easily go for 50 or 100-pages filling up the space and saying nothing but we
will lose readers. On the other hand, if you were trying to get someone to pay you a thousand
or $2,000 dollars and your sales letter was five bullet points, that probably is not enough
information.
If your sales page is on the short side, doesn't give me enough details to decide I need it. Are
you telling me if it's a book, video or a class? And, if it's a video what format is it in? How long is
it? What does it tell me? If it's a class, how long does the class go? What parts of it are
interactive and so on. Tell me what are the details, not only that. what is in every component
and why is each of those components important.
If you're only selling a 10-page report, you might not have as much to talk about and that's
when you need to worry about your sales letter being too long. If it's so boring that you have to
go through every single component in the table of contents or talk about everything else on
every single page that's obviously too much detail.
As your price point and the amount of value you deliver goes up, then your sales page needs to
be a little bit longer as well. But there's always that danger of going too long. It's important for
you to look at your own sales letter, ask people in your niche what they think, and split test to
see if your sales letter is too long or too short. But when you're looking about what
improvements to make, focus more on improving the headlines or focus on part of the sales
page where you might loose or discuss your readers instead of worrying about how long or
short it should be.
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Get your training right now at http://www.newbiecrusher.com to get your next website off the
ground faster than you've ever done it before.
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Other Resources by Robert Plank
Free Webinar - Double Your Products w/ the Same Amount of Time? »
Integrate GoToWebinar Registration to Any Email Autoresponder »
Free Plugins - Add Your Visitor to Your Membership Site in One Click »
Easily Double Your Subscribers, Products, Traffics, and Buyers »
“Point, Click, and Talk… and Your Digital Product is Done" »
Your Internet Business Setup in 48 Hours »
Free Webinar - Setup Your Blog as an Autoresponder with One Click! »
Build a Big and RESPONSIVE List of Buyers Ready and Eager to Read Your E-Mails! »
Free Webinar - Secrets of Successful Email Marketing… »
Final Step
Do you like this report? You can download full Copywriting Series (101 - 909) of Robert Plank
here (it’s FREE): http://www.syamsulalam.com/products/sq-rp-copywriting
How to Setup Squeeze Page, Low-Ticket Item Sales Letter, and more In One Minute or Less
Using Completely Free Software »