How would you write a copy as a newbie

[unhills]

Hello warriors,

I'm Kay and I need your help.

I am new in business and I am in the phase of writing sales letter. As I rewrite copies hand-by-hand of famous copywriters I stumbled across some problems.

I do not have any social proof, no testimonials, etc ...

How should I write the copy in the beginning? What can I include in the copy?

Thank you for your help and time to reply,
K

[jann]

Hi fellow warrior,

The best testimonial to use is owning a blog.
Do you have one?

[unhills]

I don't have a blog. Website will be an e-shop ...

[Mark Andrews]

A link to your site will help Kay. Just post it up as widgets(dot)com below and I'll make it live.

Then others here might be able to advise you better rather than just giving you blind advice.

Best,


Pete Walker...

[Elle Davies]

Wow, well where to begin? Plan, plan, plan is my advice! Starting from scratch can be tricky but here are some VERY basic tips that I would say are vital:

Gather all the information you can about your product
Organise data
Prioritise your benefits (do this my listing your features then saying what benefit come with this)
Check that you have all the information there before you start writing


Then ask yourself...
What are my goals/objectives?
Who is my target market?
Who are my competitors and what can I offer that blows them out of the water?
How well do I know this product?
What's your best selling point?
Have I got an amazing offer?
Have I got a solid guarantee?

This is when I would suggest collecting testemonials, try sending your product to others in the industry and ask for feedback maybe...

An order form that is clearly laid out for your prospect chould follow this. But for now I would work on the earlier stages of creating an absolutely AMAZING headline and then going from there.

Hope this helps, even if it is just a little!
Elle

[RickDuris]

This should give you a leg up. It was originally posted by Malcolm Lambe (The Copy Nazi)


21 Step Salesletter Formula

by Perry Belcher on March 8, 2011

A few years ago I read an article by David Frey called the 12 step foolproof sales letter formula. This formula has literally made me millions of dollars over the last few years.
Many thanks go to David, a brilliant marketer from San Antonio Texas.
Over the past few years I’ve added a few points today this formula, and I like to share this with you now.
I kind of feel like I’m painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa by doing this, everybody asked how you write sales letters, and video sales letter so well. This is the exact formula to follow.
I’m working on a new book on the subject and would love all your feedback questions and comments. I’ll be answering all these personally to please fire away.
Here goes.
21 part sales letter formula
1. Call out to your audience
2. Get their attention
3. Backup the big promise headline with an quick explanation (SUB)
4. Identify the problem
5. Provide the solution
6. Show pain of and cost of development
7. Explain ease-of-use
8. Show speed to results
9. Future cast
10. Show your credentials
11. Detail the benefits
12. Get social proof
13. Make your offer
14. Add bonuses
15. Build up your value
16. Reveal your price (pop by button)
17. Inject scarcity (if any)
18. Give guarantee
19. Call to action
20. Give a warning
21. Close with a reminder
I also added my part copy test that I asked myself when I finished any new sales piece. You really should do this the day after you finish your sales letter or video sales letter, after you have had a chance to read or reread it out loud.
By the way that one tip is really important. You should always read every completed sales piece you ever write including e-mails out loud preferably to another human being. It will probably improve your copy at least 100%
Eight-part copy test
1. Did you grab your readers by the throat your readers with your headline?
2. Did you clearly explain that you understand the problem?
3. Did you show them so much proof that they can’t possibly doubt what
you had to say?
4. Did you show features and benefits to your offer that included the word
so in each line?
5. Did you ensure your prospects that your product will be very very easy
to use?
6. Did you ensure to your prospects that your product would work very
quickly to solve the problem?
7. Did you clearly explain the pain of the experience by not accepting your
offer?
8. Did you demonstrate incredible value in your offer so much so that your
prospect would feel stupid by not buying your product?

[OutOfThisWord]

You can borrow credibility by citing studies or reports that relate to your subject.

For example, I recently wrote a sales letter for a probiotics offer, and cited the 'founder' of probiotics over a hundred years ago and what his research uncovered and how those finding lead the industry to where it is today.

[unhills]

this is something I've been looking for!!!

thank you all!

[Homer Lasa Hood]

Research more about your product. This is the best I can think of when copy writing -especially when you are a newbie, it is the best practice. Other tips have already been stated on the previous posts.

[RHert]

These people have some great tips for you. I hope you're using them. About the blog you could start one, give the people ways in which you can use your product even unconventionally, and send links to your site.
As for testimonials here's a suggestion - Offer a few samples of your product to a select group with the understanding that all they need to give in return is a review. If your product is good you'll get some testimonials in there.

[SEOtraveler]

perhaps a portfolio of the site copies you wrote for friends (even if that was for free) - surely can come up with something like that for starters

[BlairBarnes]

The best way to get some testimonials is to give some of your products away in exchange for them. You could even use friends/family/coworkers to get testimonials for your product. As far as a blog, you could do a wordpress site or if you want an even easier option you can just use blogger...totally free. Wordpress is free too but you will just have to pay for hosting/domain. A blog is a great way to connect with your market...you could have them leave testimonials in the comments to make it easy. Hope this helps.

[RefundHost]

If you are writing a SALES LETTER - HOPEFULLY you have a product.

Do you have a LIST to whom you will send this letter?

If not - that's where your focus needs to be.

GIVE HALF THE PRODUCT IDEAS AWAY FREE to get email addresses.

Ask for VIDEO testimonials about the product "so far" for the second half/more.

VOILA - next round ... you got testimonials.
You give away 10% of the product this time
and everyone new pays for the rest.

[Jake Gray]

Copywriting is not an overnight skill. If you are wanting to be decent with copywriting,
you need to become a full-time student of copywriting. You need to study, study, and
study some more. Read any and every classic swipe file that you are able to get your
hands on.