Copywriting Shortcuts from Jay Abraham

This video gives a priceless copywriting tip from the legendary marketer Jay Abraham.  Many of us in the marketing, copywriting and adversiting business know there’s a goldmine of information in ads, sales letters and other media written by other copywriters.

We have massive swipe files (c0llections of ads) stored away to use when we work on a project. For me, my swipe file is often gives me the mental boost I need to get through writer’s block and crank out a great letter or ad.  In this video,jay shares a great strategy and a free resource for copy help.  You GOTTA see this one!  Enjoy…

Small Business Marketing Tips for Increasing Profits in a Down Economy

When I watch TV, listen to the radio or happen to flip through a magazine, I like to pay attention to the ads to try to see if they make any sense. I’m one of the weird marketers who thinks the primary purpose of an ad is to increase sales.  If brand awarness is also heightened, that’s a plus.

I’ve had a lot of high paid marketers tell me I’m full of it and that I don’t realize the value of a brand.  To me, the value of a brand is in the sales and profits it generates, not in how many people recognize the name.  I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, which is home to the largest advertiser in the world, Procter and Gamble.

I’ve heard the CEO, A.G. Lafley speak and have read several quotes of his.  When he speaks, he talks about company profitability and sales.  He mentions brands as they contribute to profitability, not how they increase the awareness of the P&G name.  I pay a lot attention to P&G ads.  Every one of them highlights the benefits of using the brand.  Whether it’s whiter teeth, cleaner clothing or cleaner floors, the ads promote what the brand will do for the consumer.  The brand is built and strengthened and more people buy it because it works, not because they’ve heard about it!

The lesson for you, the small business owner/marketer is to realize your ads have one purpose and that is to  generate sales, not awareness.  When the creditors are at your door, you’re paying them with money, not a brand name.  Next time an agency or media rep tells you about brand-building, say “Great!  How will I track sales results from the ad?”

In a slow economy, it’s not time to cut back on marketing or advertising, it’s time to make sure you’re getting a good return on it.  Market smart.  Write good sales copy.  Make your marketing work for you.  Let your competitors build their brands. You can say hello when you are at the bank making deposits resulting from your marketing while they are making withdrawals to pay for theirs.

What are you talking about?

Are you writing copy for a newsletter, blog, web site or sales letters?  Do you write your own brochures or business letters?  Do you ever wonder if your message is getting through?  When you proofread your materials, do you stop to wonder if it is even interesting?

What’s my point?  Okay, bear with me and I’ll share a small business marketing tip that can make a huge difference in response rates in the response rate to everything that you send out.  It is a secret of top copywriters and has meant a big difference in my income and that of my clients.

To quote Dan Kennedy, “Write like ya talk.”

That’s right, pretend you are having a conversation with your prospects and clients.  Forget that you are writing anything related to business.  Just pretend you are talking and let it flow like you would in a conversation.  Can’t think of what to write?  Then start talking into a recorder, play it back and take notes about what you’re saying.

Summarize your notes and begin writing.  When you’re done, pull out the recorder and read what you wrote and play it back.  Is it interesting?  Ask someone else to read it aloud to you.  What’s it sound like?  Is it interesting?  Does it catch your attention?  Does it compel you to learn more about your product or service?

If it’s not interesting to you, what makes you think someone else will want to read it?

What’s the lesson here?  If your intention is to communicate an idea to a stranger (which is what you are doing with a brochure, letter or web site) then you want to make it easy to read.  It’s often hard to be interesting when using formal business language.  Try to be conversational when you write and more people will read what you write.

I’ll be writing a lot more about this topic in different blog posts.  If you find what I am writing to be interesting, then you want to do a couple of things.  Learn from my style and try to see how you can weave it into what you are writing.

The other thing to do is to be sure you are signed up for my Marketing Moments e-zine so you get my e-course and the other great bonuses I send to my readers.  You can subscribe by completing the form below.  Have any comments or ideas about what I’m writing?  Then go ahead and comment on my posts. I’d like to get a community going here with input from a lot of great minds like yours!

Rock & Roll Marketing Lessons From The Who

See Me
……Feel Me
…………Touch Me
…………………Heal Me

• The place: London England
• The band: The Who
• The story: Tommy
• The year: 1969

In 1969, The Who released Tommy

The first rock opera. The story of a young deaf, dumb and blind boy named Tommy. It was banned by the BBC and several US radio stations because of its dark theme and references to religion, child abuse and drugs.

The album was a smash hit and the chorus “See Me, Feel Me, Touch, Me Heal Me” became part of our culture. Tommy was released to “My Generation” but continues to resonate with the generations that have followed me and my fellow baby boomers. When I saw The Who, chills ran up and down my spine. For me, it was not a concert but an emotional and almost spiritual experience.

Tommy was written by Pete Townsend, who poured his emotions and life story lives onto a sheet of paper and then expressed through his music. He and many other artists may say that they don’t write the music and songs, it just comes out of them. It’s as if they were simply storing something that HAD to be expressed through lyrics and music.

What does all this have to do with marketing?

When you’re writing ads, scripts, copy or sales letters, you want to connect emotionally with your prospect. Your prospect and client have a want or need and your product or service is what they will fill it for them.

See Me

It’s not about you. It’s about your prospect and their needs. You want to see them so you can be communicating with one person at a time.

Feel Me

You want to understand their needs so you can connect on an emotional level, one person at a time. Write to one person, not to “a niche.” A niche is not buying from you, a person is.

Touch Me

Use all the senses in your communications. Connect with your prospect. Reach out and touch them with your words and pictures.

Heal Me

Show how your product or service solves their problem and will heal the pain they have.

It’s a Boy Mrs. Walker, It’s a Boy

When you communicate to your prospects, do so in language and imagery that reaches out directly to you specific target market. Give them reasons why they will want to business with you.

There’s a Doctor I’ve Found Who Can Cure the Boy

Use testimonials and social proof to show your client that you are credible and your product does what you claim. If you are telling me I’m going to be healed or be able to live my dreams because of what you are offering, then prove it.

Go to the Mirror Boy

Before you put your message out to the world, read it aloud, show it to others and play it back to yourself. Does it make sense? Is your message clear? Are you talking about yourself or your prospect?

We’re not Gonna Take It!

Be emotional and use words carefully but don’t manipulate your prospect with a bunch of empty hype. Your words must ring true and your product must have the value and worth you claim it does. If you’re selling a dream and asking someone to part with their hard-earned money, then you owe it to them to be the real deal.

We Won’t Get Fooled Again (OK – Different album but a fit with my story)

In the age of the internet and social media, word gets around very quickly. If you are full of empty promises and hype, if you see others as money in your pocket instead of as individuals with lives, desires and needs you can fulfill, you will never connect and rarely have repeat business. You’ll be seen as an empty promise, forever doomed to the end of days wondering where your next customer is coming from. You may be living in Tommy’s Holiday Camp – but remember his disciples tore it down.

Tommy Can You Hear Me?

Great music and art are the emotions of an artist, often telling us epic tales with a few words or images that are forever burned into our psyche. The lesson of my story here is for you to take a moment to think of your marketing messages and materials. Are you moving your prospect using emotional triggers that connect, on a one-to-one level so they want to hear and listen to your message? Music, images, pictures, words all help you make the connection. Combined artistically, they are marketing gold.

Pinball Wizard… From afar you’ll see me, I’m a sensation…

Connect with your client. Provide phenomenal service and products and you can be the next marketing sensation, known near and far as someone we want to know and do business with. You’ll be the Pinball Wizard of your industry.

Long Live Rock!