Easy Peasy Templates: 4 Ways to be High, Wise, Successful and Happy in 2009

Tis the season. To review. And preview.

How can you readily prepare for more
ensured sales in the coming year?

Tia's Tact: It's in the copy. Writing that is.

So while you're etching out your resolutions, let's resolve
to ask questions that result in answers that get your cash
register registering.

Question #1 to be high in 2009:
Is there a set formula for writing [website] copy?

That’s like saying is there a formula for driving your car?
Why yes, Virginia, there is. There's one formula for driving
your own car in your neighbourhood. There’s another formula
for driving your car on the freeway. And another formula for
driving your car on the race track.

Try these tried and tested formulas for writing your copy
differently, yet writing copy that works. Everytime.

It all depends on: who’s coming to your website?
(Or using last season's lingo: who is my target audience?.)

Are you writing for people who know you, love you
and trust you? Or are you writing for people who
are coming to your website cold? (Say
from a Google words ad or an affiliate link.)

For people who know you and love you and trust you:

Step #1 – You want to start out with a with a very specific benefit or an advantage or a difference that, whatever you’re offering has.

This is an advanced audience that already has you in mind. So what they're looking for is a difference. Differences must be stated as a specific: software that generates visitors, dog collars only for puppies.

Somehow, you must start out with a level of sophistication – differentiation, something specific – talk about a very specific benefit or advantage of the difference that you’re offering in your product.

Step #2 – Tell them why they need this advantage.

Step #3 – Tell them why it’s different. You don’t expect people to figure out the obvious because when they’re reading copy, they don’t. You really have to spell things out for them.

Step #4 – Tell them why they can’t get it anywhere else.

Step #5 – Tell them about the value of what they’re getting and why it’s worth a lot more than what you're going to charge them for it.

Step #6 – Finally, tell them about your price, guarantee and call to action.

For someone who's found you from a search engine or pay per click ad – it’s an entirely different formula.

Step #1 – Begin by describing a problem that they are aware of and a new, unique solution that you offer.

Step #2 – Then, and this is the BIG difference...you have to tell them who you are and what qualifies you as a reliable vendor. How do you do that?

• Testimonials
• Talking about your own experience
• Credentials (i.e.: what the media says about you)
• How long you’ve been in business
• ...all these kinds of things.

Step #3 – Give them a promise. Tell them about the benefits that you offer (these should be bullet points), tell them how it works, how it’s different.

Step #4 – Now you talk about the value and this is important, for people who don’t know you, you need to give them a BIG reassuring guarantee. You might even want to tell them that you’re a member of the online BBB, whatever you can do to make them feel safe buying from you. (Remember our friends
at the FTC: Keep it accurate and true.)

Step #5 – Then you name the price and then,

Step #6 – your call to action.

So, these are 2 very different templates for 2 very different customer groups.

Question #2 to be wise in 2009:
Do we really need long copy in a landing page to make the sale?

Since it’s the holiday season, let’s pretend that we’re at a holiday party. Let’s say your lawyer’s there... a real drip. He basically talks about: the law. And he’s going off on the minimum tax and how 15 million people are going to be unfairly penalized by the minimum tax and if congress would get off their &*$&#@ butts…and pretty soon, all you want to do is: make like a banana and split.

True or true?

That’s long copy.

Another scenario. Next day you get a call from your accountant. And she's been going over your financial records. And it turns out your stock broker has been skimming a grand a month out of your retirement account.

And so you call your lawyer and your lawyer tells you to come on over. Upon
your lickety-split arrival he says, “Listen, we can get every penny of that back. And we can get some punitive damages too. And we can put your stock broker behind bars. But only if you listen to every single word I say.”

Now, all of a sudden long copy is veeerrryyy appealing to you.

How come? Beacause it’s relevant. And relevance makes all the difference. You’re motivated;this is information you want and you need and so, that’s the difference.

Today's attention spans are shorter and shorter. And people still choose
to spend hours glued to a computer or reading a book or whatever it is, whenever the information is relevant to them and they’re motivated by it.

The thing is, you (and all the other literates) will read long copy if it’s relevant to you. If it’s well-written. And if it covers the issues that concern you.

Relevant information is: meaningful, on purpose and brings about change. It's applicable, appropriate and creates connection.

The problem is, a lot of people writing long copy don’t know how to make it interesting, they don’t know how to make it exciting and they don’t know how to make it relevant to the person who is their target customer.

People don’t want to know what you find interesting about the product. They don’t want the copy to be about you and your company and your seminar and your event and your software; they want it to be about them. How it’s going to help them. That's your template.

And once you tell them, they will read very long copy.

Question #3 to be successful in 2009:
What's wrong with my sales letter that I can't get people to convert
once they've come to my site?

There are a number of reasons why people aren’t going to buy. The first one is even if you do everything right technically, if you don’t connect with prospects emotionally, if they don’t feel like you have any idea who they are, what they want or they don’t feel that you understand how they feel, that’s really going to hurt your conversions.

You can follow all the formulas, and if your words come across as:mechanical and not humanly connected, your sales page isn’t going to work.

Are you mentally focused and prepped to write the web page that’s going to convert?

A template of questions for you to go thru and ask yourself to write the kind of web page that’s going to convert:

#1) Who is the customer? What’s out: demographics (how old they are, where they live, what kind of car they drive).

What’s in: Pyschographics. Who are they personally? What’s on their mind? What’s important to them: What do they like? What don’t they like? What’s bugging them? What are they happy about? What do they want more of? What do they want less of?

You really need to get to know your target customer at that depth. Just like you would get to know a friend.

#2) What is their problem? If you don’t have something that’s going to solve a problem for them, then what you have is not called a saleable product.

It’s called: a nice idea.

Here’s how people respond to nice ideas:“That’s a nice idea.”

And the way they don’t respond? By forking over $$$ for your product.

#3) What’s your solution? If you don’t make a clear case for your product (how it’s going to solve the problem) the result is: no sale.

#4) Why is your solution unique? I can buy bottled water anywhere. But if you’re going to sell me some bottled water, you’re going to have some uniqueness
about it.

#5) What’s the comparable value of your solution? What would it take for me to do this myself? What would I have to go thru?

#6) What’s your price?

Question #4 to be happy in 2009:
Is your product and personality aligned with your soul?

Template: Study Santa.

Get good answers to these questions, watch your brand expand.

Peace & Profits.