Memorable Sales Copy -- How to Write it

Want to know the secret of creating MEMORABLE promotional copy? Sales copy that actually stays with your customers long after they've finished reading it?

Then master the art of using words to create pictures in your customers' heads.

If you can describe your products or services in such a way that it forms images in your customers' heads, well, then you've just created something that will last long after the marketing is over.

Why else do novels stay with us for so long? Those "pictures" we see draw us into the world of the novel, and those pictures stay with us long after we've closed the book. If you can create that kind of staying power with your marketing materials, think about how much ahead of your competition you'll be.

So, how do you get started? Below are three tips. (Note how all three tips have the word "specific" in common. Be specific whenever you can. We don't think in generalities, we think in details. The more specific you are, the stronger the pictures.)

1. Use specific nouns. Quick -- what springs to mind when I say the word "bird"? Now erase that image. What pops into your head when I say "cardinal"?

When I said bird, you could have pictured any number of bird species or maybe even some sort of generic bird (something brown with wings and feathers). When I said cardinal, I bet you saw a bright red bird with that distinctive triangle head.

See the difference? Cardinal is specific and it brings a specific picture to mind. Bird is generic, and it brings a generic picture to mind.

Whenever possible, use the most specific noun you can. (However, if the most specific noun is something most people wouldn't know, say some rare exotic insect only found in the Amazon jungle, then make sure you describe it as well.)

2. Use specific verbs. Verbs breathe life into your copy. They're the difference between words lying flat and comatose on the page or jumping up and dancing a jig.

Verbs bring movement to your copy. They tell your readers if someone is walking, jogging, sauntering, skipping or crawling. Or maybe that someone is exhausted and has decided to lie down for a bit.

Now, when I say verbs, what I'm NOT talking about are "to be" verbs -- am, is, are, was, were, etc. Those verbs don't paint a picture. Not like hug, skate, sail, run, fall, spin, flip, etc. See the difference?

While "to be" verbs are necessary, the idea is to use them as little as possible. In fact, I have a fiction-writing friend who has a "was/were" rule. Only three "wases/weres" per page.

Yep, you heard me right. Per page.

Yes, it can be done. I didn't think I could do it either in my novels. And let me tell you, when you start pruning those "wases/weres" out of your prose, it's amazing how strong your writing becomes.

3. Describe specific situations. Compare:

"Our bookkeeping service is the best in the area. We can take care of all your bookkeeping needs, from invoices to paying bills to reconciling your bank statements."

To this:

"Do your invoices go out late because you can't stand the idea of sitting down to do them? Does your cash flow suffer droughts each month because no checks arrive in the mail (because your invoices went out late)? How much hair have you pulled out over the years because of accounting mistakes? Never fear, those days are over when you hire us to do your bookkeeping."

The first example is generic (take care of bookkeeping needs). The second example shows you HOW the business does it. (In fiction we call it "show, don't tell." Good advice, even for copywriters.) You can actually "feel" those business problems -- late invoices, cash flow droughts, loss of hair. It's the difference between something cold and impersonal that really has nothing to do with you and something that wakes you up with a spark of recognition ("Hey, that's me. I need that.")

Creativity Exercises -- See what others are doing

Pick a piece of copy. Something with meat -- at least 300 words or so. No, it doesn't have to be something you wrote either. In fact, this exercise might be easier if it isn't yours.

Now analyze it. Look at the nouns. Are they specific? Or are they a bit too generic? What about the verbs? Could they be stronger? And does it describe a specific situation, something that you can actually feel and touch?

Try this with a variety of writings -- novels, nonfiction books, newspaper articles, Web sites, sales letters, etc. Look at both "good" and "bad" examples. (Although good and bad are somewhat subjective, follow your gut.) See what trends you discover.

By analyzing what others are doing, you're better able to see the strengths and weaknesses in your own writing.

Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.writingusa.com

---

Are Long Copy Salesletters Scams?

A passionate debate is currently raging in the Copywriters Forum... Read More

Freelance Writers: Double Your Income

Freelance writers are a strange group of people when it... Read More

How to Hold Peoples Interest throughout those Long Copy Sales Letters

People tend to read your ads and sales letters in... Read More

The Power of Saying You Can

If you have children, you will doubtless remember saying to... Read More

Health and Fitness: A Huge Industry in Need of Writers

Think about how much you read about and spend on... Read More

Impulse Writing for Better Ad Headings

Writing headlines for your ads is the most important part... Read More

Write Hard-Hitting Headlines With Magic Words That Sell

Writing a killer headline for your copy is simple! You... Read More

16 Golden Rules of Master Copywriting

You could spend thousands of dollars on advertisement and have... Read More

Is Your Web Copy Plain Talk?

It's true, we were all taught in school to express... Read More

How To Write Headlines That Grab Your Prospects Attention

It doesn't matter if you're writing an article, a newspaper... Read More

Hooks, Lines & Sinkers

Hands up if the title to this article made you... Read More

Top 8 Techniques - Secrets - Create Ad Copy For Your Business To Sky Rocket

Perhaps the most important benefit in the material that follows... Read More

Copywriting and Your Five Senses

In its most basic form, copywriting is, among other things,... Read More

What a Ghostwriter Can Do for You

Do you ever have brilliant ideas for articles, books or... Read More

Designing for a Non-English Audience

Having worked as a digital publishing specialist at a large... Read More

How Not to Write a Press Release

Several years ago, when I was working for an agency,... Read More

Copywriting 101: Exclamation Point, Friend or Foe?

My name is Ann and I'm a grammar geek. There,... Read More

Is Freelance Hiring Right For You?

Assume you were faced with the task of hiring a... Read More

7 Formulas for Articles That GET READ!

Many of us have been asked to write an article... Read More

Its Time To Start That Swipe File

Just as great fiction is an art, so is great... Read More

Professional Copywriting Services - How to Provide Your Own

Just because you're running a small business doesn't mean you... Read More

Five Tips for Writing Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines

If you made it this far, the headline for this... Read More

Is Your Content Provider Selling You Ripped Content?

Ripped content: well the term itself is self explanatory. Content... Read More

Ghostwriting: Your Questions Answered

Many people feel they have a story to tell or... Read More

Quotations as Expressions in Life

Quotations are expressions, usually in the spoken form or in... Read More

The Lead: Sinking The Hook Into Your Prospect

You only have an instant to capture your prospect's attention.... Read More

The Formulas Freelance Copywriters Employ When Creating Web Content

What is it exactly that copywriters DO when they produce... Read More

Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Web Copy

Sometimes learning what not to do is as important as... Read More

When Panic Attacks Writers

If you write for a living, you deal with deadlines.... Read More

3 Copywriting Tips - How To Edit For Mass Appeal!

Web copy that's intended to sell or generate leads needs... Read More

Copywriting for Astrology, Numerology, Tarot, and the Mystic Audience

These days, you don't have to traverse the dark forest... Read More

Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy

Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important... Read More

Tomorrow?s Clichés Today

I went to Google and entered a couple of different... Read More