3 Ingredients To Add Zest To Your Content
Each month the Focused Business Action program offers a teleseminar in which you learn about one aspect of marketing and begin work on the material presented as part of the call. The next Marketing Action Seminar is this Tuesday and our guest expert will be Cathy Goodwin from Copy Cat Copywriting speaking on Copywriting to Hook Your Clients Online. For more information and to register for this free conference call, click here.
Guest post by Cathy Goodwin
Recently a reader asked me: “Do I use the same copywriting for ebooks, websites and sales letters?”
At first, it’s tempting to say, “No way.” After all, when you buy an ebook, you don’t want to read sales copy.
But you can use copywriting ingredients to add spark and zest to just about anything you write for clients and prospects.
Think of adding spices to different dishes as you cook. You might have a dozen spices on your rack, but you can use them in hundreds of dishes.
Here are a few ways to use copywriting tools:
- Assemble your benefits and features before starting to write.
Good cooks assemble ingredients before they begin to fix a meal. (At least that’s what I’m told. Cooking has never been my talent.) You can assemble a big list of benefits and features.
What will your prospects gain from what you write? Will they achieve a measurable outcome that’s important to them? What features in your writing will help them achieve this outcome?
- Sprinkle bullets liberally in your content.
Bullet points are the heart of copywriting. They’re short phrases like, “How 3 easy copywriting techniques will increase your conversion ratios.” Actually, copywriters use several dozen forms of bullets and seek variety.
Bullet points also can add life to your article or blog post. As you write paragraphs, you begin to ask, “Would these points be easier to comprehend in bullet format? Would readers be more likely to read them?” You can also use bullets to create chapter headings and sub-headings.
- Top with a hook that grabs the reader and finish with a powerful call to action.
Whether you write an ebook, post, article or sales letter, you have to grab the reader at the outset. And you want to leave the reader with an answer to the question, “What next?”
When you include a strong, motivating call to action in an ebook, your readers may be more likely to implement your ideas instead of just reading passively. They’ll be more satisfied and, hopefully, closer to finding solutions to their problems.
Of course, you have to be careful with spices. Hopefully, even I suspect that you don’t use cinnamon in a meat loaf (although I’ve been advised to use brown sugar with salmon). However, a more advanced cook knows whether it’s okay to add oregano and bay leaf to omelets, fish and/or hamburger.
Don’t ask me. I just throw things in and hope for the best. Sometimes the result is…interesting. Next time you read website, landing page or ebook content that doesn’t quite work, you might notice that the writer got a list of techniques but wasn’t quite sure how to combine them so the effect is “creatively delicious” instead of “well intentioned but not inviting.”
January 16th, 2010 at 11:23 AM
I used to write educational brochures on topics that my clients were interested in —3 page fold-outs. Information was given “bullet-style.” I always included check-lists so that they were interactional with its readers. Not only were they give-aways at my office but many affiliates also allowed me to put a rack of them in their offices. The collection of brochures was copyrighted and my business name and contact info was on the back. It was a great marketing tool, as well as a challenge for me to do.