Valuable AF Post# 1 of 7
Why copywriting is one of the most useful skills to level up on NOW
As you are probably aware – content consumption is through the roof right now, with people reading and watching more than ever
Thats why this week?
Im going to (as of tomorrow) bring in some of my team to ‘guest expert’ on the emails to share with you how you can (ethically) capitalise on this by giving people what they want
Because if not you, it WILL be someone else
With that in mind, being able to convey your message effectively is going to be more important than ever
Hence todays email is all about one of the most valuable skills you can ever have.
A skill that can boost your success during the highs & keep you afloat during the lows – A.K.A. right now.
Transfers to any business you run.
& even help you land a date.
And that skill is – probably fairly obvious right now – copywriting
There’s an old saying:
‘A good copywriter never goes hungry’
Because if you can write persuasive copy?
You can sell.
And if you can sell?
You can make yourself money – either by selling someone else’s product or your own
If you can:
– Cut through the noise and capture attention
– Inspire strong emotions that lead people to action
– Present your offers in a powerful way that persuades
You’re always going to be able to create income and opportunities in your life right?
If you know how to write or speak in a way that is more influential, connects with people deeper, captivates their attention (and thats fucking hard nowadays) AND helps them bond with you on a deeper level – why wouldn’t you learn this?
In fact when I polled the group last year on what people wanted to learn – Copywriting came up again and again and again
So here’s my balls deep blitz on the key things you need to tap in to so you can elevate your copy immediately and create more impact and sales with your words.
(And for those of you who want to skip the wait entirely and rapidly transform your copywriting skills, theres something you can get your hands on at the end)
But for now – let’s kick things off with 7 universal principles of copy you must get right every time.
1 – Why the fuck do they want to read this?
Your copy could be absolutely banging but if it’s of no interest to them, it ain’t getting read.
Simple as that.
The job of your headline is to get them to start reading
And the job of the hook is to get them to keep on reading.
Do it well and you’re in with a chance.
Otherwise you’ve lost people before you’ve even really begun
You always want to be thinking about what’s in it for them
Why do they want to read this?
How can I capture their attention.
And most importantly, how can I keep it?
Getting stuck on headlines?
Here’s a few winning formula’s for inspiration:
Result Focus: How To Get [Result] [Quickly] [Without Risk]
Pain Focus: How To [Eliminate Specific Pain] [Without More Pain]
Situation Focus: If [Specific Emotional Hot Button Situation ls Happening] Then [Worst Fear Might Be True]
Action Focus: What To Do If [Specific Hot Button Situation]
Approach Focus: Why [Common-Sense Approach] Doesn’t Work And What To Do About It
Customer Focus: 10 Mistakes Most [Customer Description] Make [In Situation] And How To Avoid Them
Magic: How To[Turn Problem][Into Benefit]
Use them to get you started and remember – nothing is set in stone.
Get cracking write your copy and then swing back around to the headline and the hook.
Sometimes once you’ve got the rest out of your head and onto paper – that perfect headline and hook leap out at you and instantly create much more impact.
2 – If you try to speak to everyone, you speak to no-one
The #1 way to guarantee yourself a piece of wishy washy copy that doesn’t sell is to try and write it for everyone.
It creates bland vagueness that doesn’t draw anyone in.
It rolls back to point number 1 – why the fuck do they want to read this?
If you don’t know who “they” is then how can you expect to write something they want to read.
And please for the love of God don’t make your audience “Women over 18” or something so equally wide because then you might as well have not bothered picking anyone.
Think of your ideal person and get into their head.
What do they love?
What do they hate?
What is the most important thing in their world right now?
How does solving the problem you solve impact their lives?
What happens if they don’t solve it?
What could put them off from taking action?
What are they scared of?
Why could they fail to get results?
When you know this, you can make your copy relevant to them and their lives.
They can put themselves into the picture and take a test drive in their mind of what it’s like to buy what you have on offer
And
You answer the questions they have before they even come up – these q’s are conversion killers if you leave them lingering.
3 – A confused mind never buys
You want people to take action and buy.
That means you need them to make a decision and be able to act upon it.
ANY confusion about what you have to offer and how to get hold of it means they need answers before they can take action.
A few will ask the question.
Respond quickly and clearly and you may save the sale.
Delay or further confusion and it’s game over.
But that’s the tiny tiny fraction who actually ask you.
The rest?
They’re out of there.
Don’t have the time to ask you.
Not interested enough to bother asking.
Don’t know how or where to ask you.
And more often than not…
Don’t want to look foolish by needing to ask the question.
All those people are lost because you didn’t make the offer clear and easy to buy.
You know exactly how things are and how they work.
Your reader doesn’t.
Any places of confusion…they’re gone.
Giving it the once over yourself is great.
Getting an outside pair of eyes is even better
Sure, for certain things in certain industries there’s a level of sophistication and in-speak that an outsider wouldn’t understand.
For most you, you need anyone to be able to understand what you’re saying, what’s on offer and how to get it.
4 – Irresistible offer or meh, whatever?
I don’t care who you are
You can’t out-write a shitty offer.
You can however out-offer shitty copy.
If your offer is good enough, it can speak for itself and sell at least a little even with the weakest copy in the world.
Improving your copy then ups your conversion rate so you can sell more with less effortAnd
If you’re paying for ads
You’ll spend less to get each sale upping your profit margin.
An irresistible offer is all about value
And it’s NOT about dropping your pants and reducing your prices down to nothing.
Especially when you do the IM bullshit of “This is valued at $9,995 but for today only you can have it for $97”
Complete with a fake ass countdown timer that rests every fucking day.
Want to make an irresistible offer?
Demonstrate the value.
If you’re going to add bonuses – make them relevant!
Deadlines? Sure if they are real
Above all else you need to be showing the RESULTS they will achieve and the PAIN they will endure if they don’t take action.
That’s where the value lies.
That’s the difference between the guys out there who can come out the gate and confidently charge the same rates as seasoned pros.
Which is exactly what I did when I launched i am the fitness copywriter.
Your value.
Know it.
Show it.
5 – Use stories to make an impact
Stories are powerful things.
They are the #1 way to retain attention and deliver information.
We live in a fast paced world where no-one has any attention span…apparently
Yet we’ll sit and watch films and binge watch series on Netflix
The reason?
Stories
In the social age storytellers are kings.
Problem is, the moment the topic of story’s comes up self doubt creeps in for so many of you.
You don’t have stories
You don’t know how to tell them
You’re no good at them
…and other lies you tell yourself
How did you get into doing what you do?
How did you discover your method?
How did someone else make a discovery that you use e.g. scientific research, a method you learned from elsewhere, a unique ingredient.
You can tell the story of the experience of working with you and what their life will be like on the other side.
You can tell the story of your past clients the challenges they faced and the results they achieved.
All you have to do is say what happened and the more you tell your stories, the stronger that “storytelling muscle” gets.
The stories place your reader into the experience.
It encourages them to keep on reading.
Transforming your offer from a cool thong to have into something they can see transforming their life.
It builds credibility and social proof which does a lot of heavy lifting for you.
Start using stories now.
6 – Limp dick CTA’s sell fuck all
Some of you are scared of making sales.
It shows the moment your reader reaches the close
You’ve been big and bold.
You’ve talked about all the wonderful things your product can do.
The fabulous results people have had.
How awesome you are and what the experience is like.
And just at the moment when they’re about to reach out and grab their credit card
They come to your soft-sausage (dry clam?) CTA.
All the confidence has vanished.
You fail to perform at that crucial moment.
All that effort winning them over comes to nothing
Do you not believe in what you have to offer?
If so you have no business offering it.
If you do actual deliver value then why aren’t you making sure they know about it and leading them across the line with full enthusiasm?
If you’ve got a meek ass “if you might possibly think that you may like to get access then click buy now…or don’t. I don’t want to pressure you”
Drop that shit NOW
If what you sell can change lives, or make someones pain go away ETHICALLY?
Its (as Dan Kennedy liked to say) your duty to offer it to them.
7 – Your head plays tricks on you – so do this.
Ever read something that just felt clunky?
The words don’t quite flow right.
As you read it you stumble over the words wondering why they wrote it that way.
Truth is – they don’t write it that way.
Not in their head at least.
When we write, we speak in our heads and our brains automatically fill in the gaps because we know what we’re saying.
To us, it sounds fine.
It’s only when you go back and read it out loud, those clunky parts rear their heads.
What seemed to flow brilliantly in your head fumbles when it comes out of your mouth.
And this happens to everyone.
When your readers come across it, they will stumble over those parts.
It distracts and breaks the flow of the copy.
Because they don’t know what’s coming next so their heads can’t fill the gaps yours did.
A simple run through helps you catch these parts so you can quickly edit them before publishing your copy.
It also helps you spot any bits that don’t really make sense or feel a little weak.
Only takes minutes to do but has a tremendous impact on your copy.
And there ya have it
Those seven things are key to writing words that sell AND they make up a quick and dirty check list to run your future copy through before you hit send.
You can use what’s been posted above and INSTANTLY go off now and use it to write better copy.
In fact, I challenge you to do that
Is it everything you need to know?
Fuck no.
That can’t be crammed into an email lol
But it’s exactly what you need to give yourself an edge and make your next piece of copy just that little bit punchier and nudge a few more sales across the line
The more you practice, the better you’ll get.
Looking to go a little deeper but pennies are tight?
Here’s a list of books is what I class as a perfect starter pack for copywriting
1 – Ben Settles Big Book Of Business
2 – Doberman Dan’s ‘Rookie Copywriters Survival Guide – Make 6 Figures With Little Or No Experience
3. The Boron Letters
4. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook
5. Words That Sell
Those five ^^^ will give you a solid foundation so you can boost your income.
Want to bypass baby-steps and go all in?
Then the Copy Course is what you need to rapidly up your game.
This is for anyone who wants to take fast action and start selling more right away.
As with everything I do – it’s all about giving you guys the simplest actionable advice so you can get what you need and go do.
If you’ve invested the time reading this post, you know that upleveling your copywriting is a key step you need to take to grow your income and impact.
The above?
Useful AF!
Wanna get there quicker?
This is what we cover
-Writing a Headline (and getting attention)
-Understanding People’s Wants, Desires, And Needs (Once You Get Humans Life Becomes A Lot More Fun)
-How To Tell A Story Which Moves To ACTION
-Crafting An Irresistible Offer (Which People You To Take Your Money)
-Getting Good FAST
-How To Make Money As A Copywriter (If You Actually Use This & Don’t Get Paid… You’re Dumb lol)
And, so much more…
I also invited some of my good friends and some of the best in the game to give you a few lessons as guest experts
We’ve got everything covered…
Whether you’re looking to improve your own copy, or start offering copywriting as a service, the copywriting course has all you need to get up to speed fast.
If ya want it? Its £495 (or 3 x £195 split pay)
www.coffeewithdan.com/copycourse
If not
DO ME A FAVOUR
Print the above out, save it – wherever – but ACTION it first and foremost
Its useful stuff AND IT WORKS
Anyways thats it from me today, hope y’all doing well
Lockdown is kinda the new norm eh?
(NOT forever, but you know what I mean)
You’ll see post from the rest of the team (via me) that will cover:
– podcasts
– FB ads
– sales
– content/video creation
– systems/hidden cash
PLUS
I’ll be announcing the training that I have planned for you in CWD tomorrow
Y’all having a good week so far!
D
P.S. I have two peeps who have been ‘in the shadow’ that I have been mentoring in copy for quite some time
If you have any copy work (sales pages, email marketing or launches), critique or strategy needed
Let me know, I can hook you up
Plus I’ve got those who are epic with paid traffic if you need more eyeballs
Occasionally I do some copy projects too so if you have something extra tasty for me to get my teeth into I might have a play myself 😉