The Copywriting Side of Selling

As Entrepreneur and leader of your company, you must take on the responsibility for the copywriting side of selling. That doesn't mean you are required to write all of the copy yourself but you are required to know the difference between good copy and bad copy. You must be able to explain what you expect your copy to accomplish so the copywriter that you hire can have the direction to produce acceptable copy for you.

In his book, Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson, you soon become aware that Mr. Masterson writes after spending many years in the trenches. He lists 4 key concepts every marketing genius should know to create good copy and work intelligently with great copywriters.

1. The difference between wants and needs
2. The difference between features and benefits
3. How to establish you unique selling proposition (USP)
4. How to sell the unique selling proposition (USP)

The first concept relates to "wants" and "needs". A want is something you can live without. A need is something that is vital to your survival such as food, water, shelter, etc. You must recognize that wants is the emotional side of the equation and is something you want to focus on. You need to create wants in your advertising material to grab the attention of your buyer and get him or her to buy.

The second concept deals with features and benefits. Features are not likely to cause a person to buy but benefits will. Try always to spend time on the benefits portion of your ad copy. Dig deep into your psyche make a list of all of the benefits you can think of. Continue until you are truly satisfied that you have listed enough benefits that seem important and true to you.

The third concept relates to the Unique Selling Proposition. This may seem difficult to you. Working with your list of product benefits, work to develop a single product benefit that fits your product. When you can describe your product as unique and beneficial, you will have a USP that could last for a very long time.

Proceeding with the discussion, Mr. Masterson outlines three characteristics of a solid USP.

The Appearance of Uniqueness: The characteristic that you decide to promote in your USP does not have to be unique to your product but it is important that it seems like it is.

Usefulness: The appearance of uniqueness is not enough. If the distinguishing characteristic of the product is not desirable, no one will want it. It is better to select some feature that isn't entirely original and make it seem unique than it is to select a feature that is unique but useless.

Simplicity: If your products USP is trendy, it is almost certainly simple too. It is good to remember that you have to sell the USP and nothing sells well that is difficult to explain.

How to Sell the USP: After you have established a USP for your product, you need to sell it. All effective sales efforts have four components:

1. The Big Idea: The Big Idea is the same idea used to sell your product. The Big Idea must come from your USP, but it is not the same thing as the USP.

The USP applies to your product. The Big Idea applies to the marketing promotion. Big ideas need to excite you so begin and trust your own feelings.

1. The Big Promise: Now that you have the USP and the Big Idea, you are ready to work with a professional copywriter to create a headline and a strong promotion. The Big Promise must now go forward to show and tell your customers how it is going to improve their lives.
2. Specific Claims: You now must put on your thinking cap and come up with possible claims that you can make in your ads. Claims that are based on the Big Idea. How about, "increase your income from $50,000 to $175,000 ".
3. Proof of Those Claims: Now is the time to look for proof of the claims you have made. Testimonials are often used. Wherever they come from, be certain that you have reasonable proof to back up the claims made.

After completing the above procedures; namely, the copywriting side of selling, you now look to your copywriter to create a breakthrough advertising campaign. The platform is now developed for the copywriter to proceed with a good understanding of what is required for a good and lasting campaign.