Every freelance copywriter will know that every new project brings with it a whole new set of challenges.

Which is why it is vital that, before you start anything, you clearly understand the goals of your project. If you know where you need to end up, it will be a lot easier to get there.

One of the first questions you should ask your client is what is the purpose of the project?

For example, if you are writing a sales letter it is important to remember that what you are writing is going to replace a personal visit or face to face conversation.

Whereas face to face a salesman can make eye contact, gain clues from the customer’s body language and counter objections as they arise, your letter can’t do that so the copy within it has to satisfy any potential objections, engage with the reader, and convince them to buy. A salesman can run after a customer who’s about to walk and have another go – your sales letter can’t, so you have to get it right first time.

Therefore setting out your goals before you begin is vital. They could be anything, including:

• Making a sale
• Getting opt-ins for your email list
• Getting someone to open an account with you
• Increase a customer’s spending with you
• Renewing a contract
• Agreeing to a meeting

Whatever it is, make sure it is the goal that drives your writing and not your creativity.

Copywriters, like all writers, are creatives at heart so it can be very easy to allow your alter ego get the better of you.

How do you know if you’ve gone over the top? Simple, if you read it and it makes you smile; if you want to show it to everyone with a big grin on your face shouting from the roof tops ‘look how clever I am’, ditch it because you’ve most probably over done it.

Copy is there to sell – pure and simple. The writing should be almost invisible. I don’t mean so they are looking at a blank page but rather that when they’ve read it they think “Wow, what a great product I must buy it” rather than “that’s a great bit of writing, now where’s the bin.”

Staying focused is the key – never lose sight of your goals.

As a copywriter I am frequently asked by my clients to write direct mail sales letters.

These are quite an art form in themselves and can be quite complex to write.

But the work begins long before you actually put pen to paper or finger to keyboard.

In fact this is true for just about any form of copywriting. If you launch in without a lot of thought, you are very unlikely to produce something that will be strong enough to sell. There’s a lot of ground work to get through before you should even consider writing.

The first stage is to know your market. How can you convince someone to buy something if you don’t know what they want? But not only do you need to understand who you are writing to, you also need to identity why you are writing to them in the first place.

Yes, I know you are writing to them because you want them to buy from you, but unless you are 100% clear about the reaction you want to evoke, you may not get the response you are looking for.

Basically you are looking to identify:

What you want your reader to know

The key here is to ensure your writing is benefit-led and not feature-led. Obviously you’ll need to tell your reader some facts about what you are selling so that they can then justify their buying decision, but the benefits must come first. Also resist the temptation to tell them all about your company, they are really not interested. All they want to know is what you are going to do for them.

How you want them to feel

Getting an emotional response is the best way to get them to buy. Make sure your sales letter makes them feel they’ll be missing out if they don’t buy. You are offering them a fantastic opportunity and they must act NOW!

What you want them to commit to

Even if you write a really strong sales letter, omitting your call to action will make the whole exercise a complete waste of time. It can be as simple as ‘buy now’, ‘recommend a friend’ or perhaps ‘book an appointment with an advisor’. Just make sure it is specific and direct. You must leave them in no doubt whatsoever about what they should do, how they should do it and when.

These three simple rules will help you write stronger, sales orientated copy that will get your readers taking notice.

Everyone is feeling the pinch right now, but there are some things that really shouldn’t be cut back on – especially if you are running a business.

You are in business to sell, right? And the most powerful tool in your sales armoury is marketing. Marketing needs words; words that sell. So unless you happen to be a freelance copywriter as well as a business owner, why are you trying to do it yourself?

If you car breaks down you take it to a mechanic, if you are unwell you go to the doctors, if your pet needs some TLC you take it to the vets. You wouldn’t try to do any of those things yourself, so don’t try and write your own sales copy.

No one knows your business like you do

I’m not going to argue about that because it’s true – no one knows your business like you. You know your product inside out and back to front. But that doesn’t mean you know how to sell it in writing.

It’s quite easy to spot a piece of copywriting that’s been written by the company. It’s all about the company, it lists the product’s features and it crammed with ‘we’ with very little ‘you’ – basically it doesn’t talk to the reader; it doesn’t engage with them.

Because you know your product so well, your writing becomes descriptive rather than powerful sales writing. For example if you were selling shoes, as a business owner you’d mention their quality and range of colours – but that won’t make someone sit up, pay attention and buy.

But a copywriter would look at your product and produce compelling copy that would tell your reader your shoes are the latest must-have item for the savvy woman about town – they’ll make heads turn. This kind of copy reaches the emotional side of buying – the side that will make them want your product.

At the end of the day your readers are only interested in what your product is going to do for them:

• Is it going to save me money?
• Will it save me time?
• Is it going to make me look successful?
• Will it make me feel like a million dollars?
• Is it going to make me the envy of my friends?

So invest in the services of a good copywriter and make your sales copy work harder for you.

I think I probably need to clarify the title of this post before I receive a barrage of complaints and insults from fellow copywriters.

By saying we are ‘plain and simple’ is not a reference to looks or intelligence. Rather that we are adept in the subtle art of plain speaking.

When people discover I am a copywriter they are sometimes disappointed with my every day vocabulary levels. They assume that because I work with words, I will speak in a way that would suggest I eat a dictionary every morning for breakfast. They sit in awe waiting for me to deliver a rhetoric so complicated they will be left open-mouthed as they try to fathom what I said.

Simple wins every time

Being a copywriter has nothing to do with the number of syllables you can squeeze into a sentence; it’s about using simple, every day language that is accessible to all.

Every day you are subjected to a vast swathe of marketing messages. They are everywhere:

• TV
• Radio
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• On the sides of buses
• At the railway station
• On your cereal packet
• On the internet
• In your daily post

I could go on but that would lead to a rather boring post. The point is people are subjected to vast quantities of marketing messages so if you want yours to cut through the crowd, it has to be eye-catching, benefits driven and simple to understand.

No one is going to be impressed with a witty little number that involves having to reach for the dictionary just to work out what’s being said. Your message shouldn’t need to be translated into simple language – it should already be simple.

But what about b2b copywriting?

If you are producing sales copy that is for the b2b market don’t be led to believe it should be complicated.

Many argue that it is going to an educated audience because you are aiming at director level, therefore the language you use should reflect that. But there is one thing everyone has in common whether they are an MD or a house wife – not enough time.

We all lead busy lives these days so we don’t have time to try and work out what a piece of marketing is telling us. Be clear, be straight and be simple if you want your message to get through. Just because your copy is for the b2b market doesn’t make any difference. If anything your audience probably has less time and therefore will want to see at a glance if your product is right for them. If they can read a few lines which give the benefits and a strong call to action, you are much more likely to make a sale than if you send through a complex document.

Make a connection

The important thing to remember in your sales writing is to make a connection with your reader. The best way to start is by using simple, clear language that gets your message across quickly and clearly.

Here are a few examples of words to avoid and their simple counterparts:

Why do you need to know this?

Too many companies make the mistake of writing complex, jargon filled copy. But that isn’t what your readers want. Keep your writing simple so that anyone can understand it. If you find it difficult to step back and write simply, hire a freelance copywriter who will be able to bring a fresh approach to your marketing.

If you are a copywriter, you have to be an extrovert. That doesn’t mean to say you have to get off your trolley constantly – well you could, might it play havoc with your writing.

Your gregarious nature means you have to be personable so you can build rapport with your clients.

You also need to be a great listener – that way you’ll understand exactly what they are looking for.

And you have to understand your reader – you have to get to know everything about them.

The first two things are reasonably straight forward to achieve, but the last one is a wee bit tricky. Getting inside your readers’ heads can seem an impossible task. I mean, half the time I don’t even know what’s going on inside my own head!

But taking the time to truly understand their inner most thoughts, you’ll discover what it is that makes them buy. Which, of course, makes your task of selling to them a lot easier.

Pay attention to the little things

Although collectively known as the human race, we are all different. We have our own personalities just as we have our own dress sizes – so the ‘one size fits all’ approach to marketing isn’t going to work.

Treat people as individuals. If you’re sending out a newsletter or sales letter, take a bit of time to work out how to use the mail merge feature and make sure they are all personally addressed. Dear Mr Gerard will go down a lot better than a generic Dear Sir, or God forbid, To whom it may concern.

By using their name it will at least appear as though you know who they are. You’re not treating them as some faceless wallet you are hoping to open.

People are real

I do like to state the obvious.

Market research, data and reports are all well and good, but how well do they represent your market? If you want to know what your customers are thinking, ask them. Either face to face or survey them – offer a free gift to encourage them to take part. Just think how powerful that kind of research is.

No matter who your target audience is, you’re bound to know someone who fits the profile. Whether it’s a friend, family member or neighbour, talk to them, ask their opinion, find out what they are looking for. Then when you sit down to write your copy, you’re writing from their heart.

You have more than one customer

When you’re writing a piece of sales copy (whether you are a copywriter or a business owner), you’ll always be writing for a multiple audience. Each and every person will have a different view on things but don’t let that put you off. Aim your copy at your typical reader – the person who has all the traits of your audience.

If you try and write for everyone, your copy will end up bland, long winded and most probably muddled so don’t even try.

At the end of the day, your reader is the most important person. Forget writing about your company, or if you’re a copywriter, the company paying your invoice. Customers don’t want to read about the company, they want to know how the product will help them; what benefit will it bring to their life?

If you answer that question, your writing will hit the spot – every time.

Can you write in such a way as to create an emotional bond with your reader?

Now there’s a question for you. You can probably guess that I am going to say “yes you can” otherwise this will be one of the shortest blog posts in history!

Building rapport with your customers is something that requires a bit of work and a lot of thought. I wasn’t born a copywriter, this was one of the many skills I have learned. It’s easy to connect with someone face to face, but when it comes to the written word things get a little trickier.

Show you care

“Hey. I’m hired to write sales copy not get emotionally involved with my readers.”

Well if that’s your attitude then perhaps copywriting isn’t the career for you. A copywriter is a sales person – they just sell through words rather than customer interaction. If your copy doesn’t sell, you’re not doing your job.

If you still don’t get it, think back to all the sales people you’ve come across over the years. Some would have been helpful and bent over backwards to help you; others would have been disinterested. I bet I know which one you bought from!

By showing you they understood your concerns they built rapport with you. You began to trust them because they could see where you were coming from. They weren’t pushy; they listened, they gave advice and they took your order when you were ready to sign on the dotted line.

Find out their concerns

Of course, before you can create sales copy that shows you understand their concerns, you have to work out what their concerns are.

Put yourself in their shoes – you don’t have the luxury of being able to ask every customer, but what you can do is research to discover the most common issues.

For example, if you are writing sales copy for a bouncy castle or soft play company you know you can tune into the concerns of parents – is the equipment safe? what tests have been done? does it come up to recognised industry standards?

It only takes three little words

The fastest way to build rapport within your copywriting is by using three small but very powerful words:

“As you know…”

For example:

Dear Mr Brown,

As you know, it takes more than a good grasp of politics to be an effective Prime Minister…

As with all aspects of sales writing, it will take practice to master this. It’s almost a conspiratorial way of writing – you are whispering to your reader, telling them that you both understand this, they are intelligent and have a good grasp of the requirements…

Flattery will get you every where – especially when you are trying to sell. Confide in them, make them believe that you understand their fears and that they know how to overcome them.

Try it out in your next sales letter – see how you get on.

How does asking questions strengthen your copywriting?

Humans are naturally curious creatures. From an early age we learn to questions – why? If you have children you’ll know what I’m talking about!

If you were in a sales position with your customer physically in front of you, it would be easy to keep their attention. You can maintain eye contact, you could take them to a side room to chat undisturbed, you can use body language and intonation.

But what happens when you’re not in front of your customer? What happens when you have to communicate to them via a brochure, website or sales letter?

Don’t panic – it can still be done. As a freelance copywriter I use a simple technique to stimulate a ‘conversation’ with reader even though you are not physically with them.

Question time

Asking questions is the best way to get a conversation going. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to write in this style before. If not it can seem a bit contrived but bear with it because the results will be worth it.

If you ask your reader a question they will come up with an answer – because it’s human nature.

There are all sorts of questions you can ask within your copy:

• Closed – these are the ones you are likely to answer yes or no to. The best time to use these is when you are trying to close a sale because they force the decision process.
• Open – these have no fixed answer. Once asked your customer has conversation control. People love to talk about themselves so asking this type of question can provide you with a lot of information.
• Limited – these engage people. A limited questions gives a choice e.g. do you prefer PVC or wooden doors and windows? They can be a good precursor to introducing more open question.

It can take a bit of practice writing in this ‘open’ style but it’s worth persevering.

If it helps, imagine your customer is sat in front of you while you are writing. What would you ask them to get them to reach a buying decision? Use your imagination – you might surprise yourself with the results.