If you are going to be highly successful in business or whatever endeavor you decide to put your mind to, chances are you will need to write something, and if it is an advertisement you will need to know how to copywrite.

Copywriting is a huge topic for online marketing, SEO, and anything to do with direct selling, MLM, Online selling, etc. The problem is that Copywriting encompasses both writing, psychology, selling, visualization, and probably a dozen other things. The reason is simple, Copywriting is selling in print, and selling is a complex interaction between those same things. Grammar rules you were forced to follow religiously in school can be thrown out the window, while other things you might say or write naturally, are things to avoid in copywriting.

Bad Mistake 1: A Crappy Headline. There is nothing you can do more devastating to your copy that create a crappy headline. As much as 80% of you sales can be attributed directly to this alone. If eighty percent of your business comes from the headline, you better get that right or you will soon be out of business. Weak headlines give the impression that you don’t have confidence in your product. Confusing headlines send people off to sites where things make more sense. Dull headlines give the impression that your product is boring and not as useful. Ridiculous headlines give the impression you are a snake-oil scammer. All of these mistakes will rob you of sales.

Hot Tip 1: You need to agonize over your headline, create multiple alternatives, find the best ones through testing, and constantly look for ways to improve it.

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Bad Mistake 2: Telling your prospects to buy, instead of them begging you to buy. Your copy exists to entice and ultimately get your prospects begging you to allow them to buy your product, not the other way around. Nobody likes a beggar, and a beggar online is a virtual no-win situation with your prospects flying off to other sites. Don’t do it. Do not have big “Buy Now” buttons, in fact don’t ever mention anything about the actual purchase until you get to the landing page. The landing page is a whole topic in itself and very large reports and e-books have been written just about that topic, but suffice to say, you want the user experience to proceed in such a manner that the prospect cannot wait to finally get to the landing page because all they want is your product right now!

Hot Tip 2: Every line in your copy, every sub-heading, every bullet list should exist to move the prospect to the next line, and the next conclusion which must ultimately move them to the place where they are convinced that they must have what you are selling. This is something that takes practice and study, and the very best way to do this is to get examples of some of the greatest copy ever written and copy it yourself, in long hand, with a pencil. As you do so, ask yourself, “why does this text convince me?” Do that and you will soon be writing compelling copy that will move product!

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Bad Mistake 3: Not Knowing your Product or Your Audience. So you have avoided the dreaded pushy “Buy Now” copy, and you have polished your copy until it virtually gleams off the page. All of that is for nothing if you do not understand your product or your potential audience! If you have not done your research on the product it will show with glaring obviousness, and if you do not know the potential audience that you are writing to, you will again miss the mark. This takes due diligence and research. Nothing sends a prospect away faster than them feeling you either have no idea what you are writing about, or who you are writing to.

Hot Tip 3: There is no way around it, you must know your product, and you must know your potential audience. Now, in most cases your audience my be an average buyer, but not always. If you are writing to engineers in particular, you had better sound like you are at least familiar with engineering “talk”, that means acronyms, and perhaps even some “nerd slang”. And…you had better know your product inside and out. That does not mean you have to be an expert and be able to assemble the product in your own home, but you had better know all the features, the benefits, and why this product is better than the competition (So you need to know the competitions products as well). That takes research. Don’t skimp here.

That is it, the Top 3 Copywriting Mistakes, and the Tips to avoid them. If you can avoid these three mistakes and utilize the three tips, you will be far ahead of the Copywriting pack.

David T. McKee

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The Post below is a what is known as a “Public Domain” rewrite.  I have taken the Public Domain Essay by Herbert Kaufman which was originally copyrighted in 1908 and 1912.  The copyright has since expired and so now the work may be used in any way, including making derivative works and calling them your own.  This is perfectly legal, however I am not one to take the work of another man and call it my own, these words were in their original form, penned by Mr. Kaufman.  All I did was take his ideas and transform them into twenty first century concepts.  The Basic Truths are still the same.  Enjoy.

The Clock that Had no Hands, By Herbert Kaufman

Rewritten by David T. McKee

Internet advertising is to business, what hands are to a clock. It is a direct and certain means of letting the public know what you are doing. In these days of intense and vigilant commercial contest, a dealer who does not advertise is like a clock that has no hands. He has no way of recording his movements. He can no more expect a twentieth century success with nineteenth century methods, than he can wear the same sized shoes as a man, which fitted him in his boyhood.

His father and mother were content with the shopping malls or local shops; nothing better could be had in their day. The were accustomed to print or direct marketing over the radio or television, or perhaps they shopped around the corner in local stores which depended upon the immediate friends of the dealer for support.

So long as everything was within driving distance or could be mailed without too much expense using catalogs or mail-order it was possible for the proprietors of these establishments to exist and make a profit. Local Radio or TV ads informed the public of a multitude of products.

But as technology moved forward things changed, as they always do.

As in the past when transit facilities spread, sections of the city became specialized. Block after block was entirely devoted to stores, and mile after mile became solely occupied by homes. The purchaser and the storekeeper grew farther and farther apart. It was necessary for the merchant to find a substitute for his direct personality, which no longer served to draw customers to his door. He had to have a bond between the commercial center and the home center.

In the same way the Internet has connected customers and merchants around the world and provided this bond in a global way. And the connection is made through Direct Marketing.

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While interconnected computers eliminated distance, advertising was still necessary to inform people where he was located and what he had to sell. It was a natural outgrowth of changed conditions–the beginning of a new era in trade which no longer relied upon personal acquaintance, or newspapers, or radio and TV for success.

Something more wonderful than the fabled philosopher’s stone came into being, and the beginnings of fortunes which would pass the billion dollar mark and place tradesmen’s daughters upon Oriental thrones grew from this new force.

Within twenty years it has become as vital to industry as communications is to commerce.

Advertising is not a luxury nor a debatable policy. It has proven its case. Its record is traced in the skylines of cities where a hundred towering buildings stand as a lesson of reproach to the men who had the opportunity but not the foresight, and furnish a constant inspiration to the young merchant at the threshold of his career.

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Writing Copy and creating Ads for your products and services is one of the most essential part of your business.

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