John E. Kennedy famously defined advertising as “salesmanship in print.”
Here’s what that means:
When you write sales copy, it should sound as if you were in the room talking face-to-face with your prospect.
So whatever your write should sound as if it was something you would really say.
Do not use what I call “term paper” tone — you know, the kind of writing they taught you in high school and college. This kind of tone is borrriiing (not to mention confusing).
Example of what not to do:
When one wakes up in the morning, one sometimes feels groggy, exhausted, and lacking in energy. Therefore, one should examine a new product that addresses these irksome problems.
If you’ve been trained in the evil ways of academic-ese, and you’re finding it difficult to change how you write, then get a speech-to-text program like Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Then you can literally speak your sales pitch onto the page.
Or you can just record yourself delivering your sales pitch and then get the audio recording transcribed.
With a little bit of editing, you’d probably have a decent written sales piece that sounds just like you talk.
-Ryan M. Healy
P.S. Need an ad, sales letter, or autoresponder emails written? Contact me to discuss. Email at rhealy@gmail.com or call 720-344-7788.
About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
Who Pay You Big Fees Every freelancer should read this report BEFORE they start accepting clients. And then re-read it again after they've had a few. Srsly. This could easily save smart freelancers from getting ripped off and spinning their wheels with deadbeat clients. Click Here to Get Kick-Ass Clients » |
Comments on this entry are closed.