I’m going to be discussing a simple yet extremely powerful writing system taught to me by inarguably one of the top copywriters in the country. My articles will be continuous throughout the up coming months so prepare yourself for explosive and powerful information in regards to the art of copywriting.

Being a successful copywriter has nothing to do with “good” writing. In fact most authors who write novels, books and poetry can not produce a successful sales letter. Some copywriters don’t know the difference between a compound sentence and a compound fracture – but they earn six figures writing sales letters.

Copywriters want to create a desire. We want the readers to act. We write to sell. That’s why we write “conversationally”, we write as we talk. If you can write as you talk – simply, directly – you can write well enough to be a copywriter. To be a great copywriter you need to follow the many steps needed to ensure your success.

When we have gone through all the steps and secrets you will be completely prepared to sit down and write anything that has all the persuasive tools of killer salesmanship on your side. You will know exactly what to write and how to write it. Since there are many steps to take and much information to go over, I will break it down in steps per article.

Of course, you’ll need to do a little research and background work. You have to know who you are writing to, the psychology of your prospects. You have to have a clear understanding of what you are offering and why it’s the best option compared to the many competitors. So let’s talk about the first three steps ; Market Research, Defining Your Customers, and Your USP (unique selling proposition).

Market Research
Before anything you must research, so absolutely do not skip this step! Research the market you are selling in, know more about what’s going on in the market and your prospects life.

Always gain an advantage over your competitors, the more you know the better. You have to position yourself against the competition. Everything else you do to generate sales flows from this step. You need to research the competition. You want to understand the size of the market, if there even is a market at all. Do your prospects have money and are they willing to part with it? If there is no one in that market, or no one making money in that market, that’s a big hint.

You have to analyze yourself. You have to describe to someone who you are and what you do in a matter of minutes, and if you can’t then you have made things too complex. Who are you? As far as credibility in your market, what do you bring to the table? What are you selling? Why are you selling? What brings you in to this market? Is it the family business? Passion? What do you do for your customers? And how will you sell to your customers? (You’re not selling the drill, your selling the hole).

It’s extremely important to ask yourself these questions, get a clear understanding of your mission and what you intend to accomplish. So sit down and take some time to really think about these questions and have them answered before you begin your writing.

Defining Your Customers
Know your audience; know who you are selling to. If you don’t, your websites, advertising and other marketing efforts are futile. Here is the best way to get into the mindset of your potential customers, so you can talk directly to their needs when you reach out to them: know the character, the persona of your prospects. Their age, race, gender, location, etc. or it might not be any of these – it might just be “where does it hurt.”

You need to answer these simple questions, so dig deep here. Who are you trying to sell to? What are their needs and deepest desires? What pains them? Most always they will have some sort of pain, physical pain, mental pain, anguish, something is bothering them. Define the real problem and solve it for them. What do they need to hear from you to feel good about buying?

You have to appeal to your prospect’s feelings and desires. Here are seven very important ones:

• Fear
• Greed
• Vanity
• Lust
• Pride
• Envy
• Laziness

Remember, people buy things for emotional, not rational reasons. Once a prospect is emotionally sold, he needs to justify his irrational decision with rational reasons.

Unique Selling Proposition.
Position yourself uniquely in your market in order to sell. It’s not what you sell but what your product or service does for your customer.

Is it faster? Easier? Simpler? A better bargain? An unfair advantage? Privilege and luxury? What is so unique about your product compared to the competition? You
will need to prove everything immediately to a very SKEPTICAL reader. Do not deepen the mystery, solve it with specifics.

Do not fall in love with your USP; it will not sell on its own. It is a way to set up interest and get your foot in the door. It also can be a great foundation for headlines. You will convince the prospect that your product is the best and only answer to his needs.

Ok, well, there you have 3 steps to get you started on your path to strong copywriting. We have so much more to go over and again I will be going over these steps in more detail once we get through all the steps. I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in future articles.

===========
This article is one of the “Featured Articles” in our Print Newsletter, “MDC Monthly.” This article was written by Rich Chille, one of the many expert marketers (like Stephen Pierce, Anik Singal, George Brown, and Omar Martin) that write for our newsletter along with Mike Filsaime. You can get a free trial copy shipped to your door by clicking here.

Mike Filsaime’s Official Blog, News, and Reviews

Technorati Tags: Copywriting, Jump, Level, Next