Tricks of the Trade Part 2:
Copywriting

The science of advertising falls under the banner of Copywriting. This practise can be used in a scam or a legitimate work at home opportunity. It can be difficult to tell one from the other.

Copywriting is briefly described here and used in practically all websites, adverts, mail shots, billboards and TV commercials.

This has been devised and tested by entrepreneurs and psychologists over the last hundred years. There have been notable names such as Claude Hopkins, Haldeman-Julius, Elmer Wheeler and more recently Ted Nicholas, Gary Halbert and Dr R. Cialdini.

There are hundreds of different psychological and behavioural stimuli that are employed… being aware of these will help you save your money by not spending it unprofitably or on unsuitable tools.

All salespeople know that we buy primarily on emotional response not logic (though logic is often used to back up an emotional decision), they are able to sell more effectively by manipulating this flaw.

Potentials are carefully reeled in by continuous emotive targeting, playing on weak spots or hotspots, words and ideas that make people take action and buy.

Copywriting has been summed up accurately as... 'salesmanship in print'.

This concept is used in most home business adverts, WebPages and direct mail. They are influencing you primarily for their gain rather than your well-being.

Does it really work?

In a standard 1000 word advert Mr Nicholas is paid ½ a million pounds ($1M), a tidy sum. He wouldn’t be paid that much unless the advert turned an even bigger profit.

For most items this wouldn't really matter, but with home businesses people are often looking from financial pressure, thus copywriting used here is really kicking people when they are down.

As will be explained more in the 'Entrepreneur' section there is a section of the population that is particularly susceptible to this and other strategies.

Copywriting is used for one reason only, to make you buy.

It Grabs Your Attention!
It is reckoned 80% of the success of any advert is in the headline.

• How To Build a £10 Million Property Portfolio
• Who Else Wants £11,000 A Week Trading The FTSE?
• Buy Property With No Money Down
• The Lazy Bloke’s Way to Riches
• Make £300 a Day Spread Betting
• I Make £18,000 a Week and I’ll Show You How To Do It Too!!

These employ attention-getting words and ideas. For most people they are offering or seeming to offer exactly what they want, I mean who doesn’t want to make £11,000 a week?

Long Copy Sells
You will notice in direct mail pieces or home business websites there are always a lot of pages that seem to go on and on, the reason for this is that ‘long Copy sells’.

This is done by moving people in an emotional direction and in essence mimicking a salesman, selling the sizzle and then bringing up and answering all the normal questions and queries.

Contrast
£18,000/week & I will show you how, compared to £200 for the ‘system’ or software etc that produces it... and which makes it sound like a bargain.

This effect is further increased with the ‘bonuses’ that come after the price, and continue to add to the perceived value and contrast of the pain to gain equation.

Liking
This is the mirror and match technique that all sales people use. People like others who are like themselves and who share their outlooks, beliefs and circumstances.

“I was just an ordinary guy, struggling to pay the bills, until………”


“I was tired of being scammed, nothing seeming to work until…”

Joe Girard described as ‘the worlds most successful car salesman’ put his success down to offering a fair price and getting people to like him.

Authority
Most people follow a leader… they want a figure of authority to show them how to solve a problem, be it a doctor, lawyer or specialist and of course there is a lot to be said for this strategy.

However with home businesses this behaviour pattern is used carefully by people who make a perception of themselves as a figure of authority.

Although it is a good idea to listen to people who have achieved business success rather than just talked about it, the crucial question is: will the formula that worked for them, work for you?

As will become clear later, their success or income level impressive as it may sound, probably has no relevance to you at all.

The Testimonial
Testimonials are included in every piece of advertising, why? If we think about it they are hardly likely to put a bad one in so there is no quantification: 95 bad ones and 5 good, they put a good one in.

Qualification... who is it? Is it a friend, colleague, paid, genuine or induced testimonial?

A further distraction is that this can be a form of promotion. If there is a hyperlink at the bottom, then the author of the testimonial is using it as a marketing tool. Profit has a habit of biasing people’s views.

Yet our minds still record and act according to the positive testimonial of another. Mankind is a social creature and in many cases we take note and copy the actions of others.

Third party validation: Many of us are naturally suspicious of salesmen and sales copy, to give extra credence to a presentation a testimonial by a supposed disinterested party adds much strength.

They also often raise and answer the frequently asked questions or concerns you are probably thinking about as you read the advert.

“I thought it sounded too good to be true but now………”
"I had no experience or money but now………”
“I was sceptical about buying but now…”

This third party confirmation can give instant credibility to both the product and the author. Trust and credibility are major reasons why people buy.

Testimonials are there purely to help make the sale.

Imbedded Suggestions
‘I made it so can you’. Any case history or headline if indeed they are true, involves a) that individual and b) a “system or technique” that is being sold.

However that person has a unique set of contacts, experiences etc, we do not know if they had an existing client database or a decade of trading experience.

E.g. “I made £7,000 in 24 hours with this simple trick"

They managed this because they had an existing database of 35,000 customers which took ten years to build. This was emailed an 'offer' and achieved a 2% response rate: 700 x £100 unit cost = £7,000. The headline and various claims have no value or use to you.

Imbedded suggestion: Rags-to-riches is possible through this system.

Cascade Effect
It already sounds a good deal, lists of why it is so good are constantly repeated. Then even more bonuses with their ‘values’ are added along with the Copy to make your emotional circuitry start to go into overdrive.

You were already keen, these are designed to put you into a very excited state which is what makes a sale. The only thing left is the final punch: the guarantee.

The Guarantee
Its main purpose is to remove your last buying indecision.

85% of people never remember to follow up on a guarantee, and there are numerous tricks that can be used to negate the validity of a guarantee.

25% of the guarantees I tested were not honoured.

By the time people get to the bottom of a piece of sales copy they are generally very emotionally fired up, but there is always a feeling of doubt and worry and it is the job of the guarantee to ease that worry………and clinch the sale.

Review and other 'comparison' sites use copywriting in a more subtle way. Click here to see how...

It is used for a reason, it works.

Make it a practise if you are keen on buying something which is using copywriting to leave the purchase for 48 hours. Note all the tricks and then ask the all important questions why are they selling it and why do they need to use copywriting?

People use copywriting to make a profit for themselves, not you.