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 CLIP
& SAVE GUIDE: Top copywriting tips when you can't afford to hire a pro
By
Debbie Weil
Publisher & Editor, WordBiz Report Take
me to more reports under $10
I'm always taken aback when people label me a copywriter. Technically,
I'm not. I write about effective copywriting for the Web and email - e.g., copy
that prompts readers to become customers. But I'm not formally trained as a direct
response copywriter.
And like many of you, I can't afford to hire a
pricey professional copywriter when it comes to crafting persuasive copy for my
site. I write by trial and error. And rewrite a lot, especially on the product
pages in the WordBiz store.
Writing "sales copy" is a particular challenge for me. Perhaps because
I am formally schooled as a journalist, both reporter and editor. I'm wary
of hype. Professional
copywriter David Garfinkel
told me: "The more education you have, the less good a copywriter you will
be. Copywriting is really the everyday spoken language in written form."
Gulp... OK, so I have too
many degrees. I need help.
I decided to toss out the following question
to a bunch of my favorite copywriters:
| If you
don't have the budget to hire a professional copywriter, what are the top three
tips you'd offer a non-writer who's charged with developing results-oriented copy
for a Web site? |
The
answers I got are so good I've compiled them into an e-book report. Download instantly
as a PDF.
TOP TEN TAKEAWAYS Not
surprisingly, a number of the same points were emphasized by the following 14
experts (including Donna Baier Stein, Bob Bly, Don Hauptman, David Garfinkel
and Nick Usborne).
The top 10 keys to successful online "sales"
copy are:
1. Grab attention with a great headline
2. Write from
your customer's point of view
3. Write about benefits, not features.
4. Read your copy out loud.
5. Get a colleague or customer to review
your copy.
6. Write as if you're speaking to one person.
7. Be specific.
8. Be simple.
9. Include an offer (or link)
"above the fold."
10. Include testimonials.
Find
out more...
| About
Debbie Weil Debbie
is publisher of award-winning WordBiz Report. She's also a popular and
widely-read columnist who launched ClickZ.com's B2B Email Marketing
and E-newsletter Strategies columns. As
a former newspaper reporter and editor with an MBA and corporate marketing experience,
she brings the discipline of a reporter's eye and an editor's pen to marketing
with e-newsletters, Web site content and Weblogs.
Read her blogs at
www.debbieweil.com and www.BlogWriteForCEOs.com.
Subscribe free to WordBiz Report at www.wordbiz.com/signup.html.
Purchase e-books about marketing effectively with e-newsletters and blogs at www.wordbizstore.com.
She
has a B.A. in English from Harvard, a Masters in Journalism from the University
of Wisconsin and an MBA from Georgetown University. She lives and works in Washington
D.C.
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