*Aaron asks some great questions. In my last post, I reply to his question on how to 'stretch the limits of believability'... ethically (is that a hook?). See the post "Boy Eats Own Head" for a discussion of direct marketing vs. Madison Avenue style brand building, again in response to one of Aaron's questions.
Headlines are vital to your success in any sales letter. They are worth the time and effort it takes to get them right. To master them.
On the other hand, you don't want to get stuck anywhere in the writing process. So for a break, let's look at how we can find broader use of the skills we've gained.
If you want to be successful at marketing online, you are probably already aware of the value of creating content. And we need a lot of it. If you are email marketing, you may want to send as many as one per day (I know one sending more than that – to the same list!). More if you have multiple lists. Then you should be blogging. As many as time allows. Then articles for your website. And for submission. And nothing should duplicate.
Let's dive in. Remember, when developing a sales letter we were looking for one big promise for one mass desire. Almost like a persuasive thesis (who said you can't use anything from English class for copywriting?). Same for an article. One idea that you need to communicate to your market, or audience (that English class again) should get you 3-500 words without much problem. The way people scan articles, more than one idea will be lost.
Where to find the idea? You should be getting replies to your email marketing that tells you what your market wants to know. What they're passionate about. Same with blog comments. So the first source can be your market: let them tell you. A second source could be the competition. Write what they are writing about, but do it better. And if you can find a gap, by all means, be the first to write to fill it. That should be enough to generate ideas for several of articles.
How to fill out the 300+ words? After you have some writing under your belt, you will find your voice. If you're not there yet, don't worry. Read articles, find some you like, and model yours after them. Support your ideas with a personality/brand building story. You can list your points or main ideas (that English class again) by paragraph and support each with 'reasons why' (keep this phrase in mind for when we start writing copy for our sales letter).
Now that you have a few ideas, get started. Writing articles will help you find your voice, focus your writing, and help you write faster. It will give you a great start on advertorials. And advantage for writing good, old-fashioned sales letters.
To Your Copywriting Mastery,
P.S. This post ran longer than intended. But if I were to try to teach a second point, it would be to discuss how to tie blogs, emails, and articles together, along with info products. Perhaps in a few days. For now, back to headlines. But be sure try your hand at writing articles as we move toward writing body copy.
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