Copywriters: Be a prospect before you become an expert

   One reason smart business owners hire good copywriters is to get a fresh view of their product or service. They understand that living their industry every day causes them to lose focus on the prospect’s perspective. They begin to speak the jargon as if everyone knows their language.

   This disconnect can be a real conversion killer, especially with tech related products. The ability to bridge this gap between industry and customer is what makes a copywriter like Bob Bly such an asset to his clients.

   As a chemical engineer, Bly was tossed into a marketing role by an early employer and immediately recognized the need for an ad writer who knew how to cut through industry jargon and speak directly to prospects.

   But, what if you’re not an expert in your client’s field? How do you balance the need to present the technical aspects of the product you are writing for, without losing touch with the prospect who knows little or less about the product?

   This is actually a great advantage. Especially if you enjoy the research stage of copywriting like I do. Here are some tips on how to capture a cold audience’s mindset before you dive headfirst into your ultimate role of “expert”.

1. Before you study a thing, get a blank sheet of paper and write down everything you think you know about the product. Include all the stuff that sits in your brain’s gray area of loose understanding or assumption (this is key). Then write out every question you have about the product. Ask friends and family to do the same. Sometimes just starting a conversation about “this product you heard about” is enough to get the questions rolling.
2. Take it to the boards. Google your product or service, find any industry related message boards or user groups and register. Start asking the questions you have about the product/service. People are sure to offer opinions, so document what’s on their minds. This could tip you off to some perceptions your copy needs to be overcome. (The most common questions make great subheads!)
3. Create a character that embodies all of these questions and skepticism. Give him or her a name if you want, we’ll call ours Dave. Now, imagine how you would start a conversation with Dave to get him excited about your product/service.

   Once you’ve done that, and you know who you’re writing to, you can safely check out of prospect mode and get to work becoming the expert your client is paying you to be.

   Developing the ability to “stand on both sides of the counter” and making your copy appeal to your prospect both emotionally AND logically is what separates the real pros from the posers and swipers. If you desire a fruitful career full of happy clients…

   Be a pro. 

Your Fighting Chance In This Economy

   “Everyone’s feeling it.”

   I hear that comment daily on the topic of this fledgling economy. It’s a psychological defence against the fear of an uncertain future. Assuring yourself that you’re not alone. The discussion then  trails into heartbreaking scenarios of friends, and friends of friends who have it worse than the storyteller.

   Countless tales of nurses and firemen whose overtime hours were a standard of their budgets, now have to fight for every hour of it. Then onto the layoffs and foreclosures. Lots of headshaking and ultimately the big question, “Whose gonna fix it? None of these clowns running for president.”

   What I’ve yet to hear anyone say when about the economy dragon is, “Here’s my plan to beat it.”

   Inevitably, that moment comes just before some drastic realization like, “We may have to give up cable!”

   “No, no, no… there’s got otbe some way to earn more money…”

   There are lot’s of ways to earn more money. Problem is, people tend to look at how they can do more of what they were already getting paid for. It’s a natural instinct. If you own a lawn service, you want more yards to mow. That’s what pays the bills.

   But, in “times like this” the real challenge of any struggling business owner is raising their awareness about new and different ways to offer their skills, services, and knowledge. 

   The first instinct is often to lower prices. They figure, I’d rather make half of what I used to rather than nothing at all. That’s understandable. It’s also very dangerous to the future of your business.  

   Tell people “pay me what you can,” and you’re guaranteed to get handed just about half that amount.

   There’s better ways. Most of them just a click away. But, the first step is opening your mind. You don’t have to work twice as hard just to earn half as much. You just have to be ready to learn, and then ask one golden question, “Who will pay for what I know?”

   More Wednesday.

10 Solutions for Every Problem

 

I woke up knowing it was time to start my blog. Not think more about starting my blog. But, leave bed, grab my lap top, and begin typing. That was 6 minutes ago.

 

          Now I have a blog.

 

          Of course, I have no idea which blogging application I’ll use to get it in front of people. I’ve heard loose facts about what makes some better than others. But, the important thing is the content. Just start typing.

 

          That was the only way to battle the decision demon. See, in our business – the information marketing business, we are buried under the new best way… all day, every day. If we have an idea and we aren’t sure how to get it to the page, there are always 10 choices from 10 companies touting a “better solution.”

 

          If you follow your instinct to start with researching the best method –  chances are you’re idea will never see the page at all.

 

I met with an amazing group of people yesterday. 7 doers. We’d never met, except on a message forum. Brought together by nothing more than a similar interest and location on Earth.

 

We ranged in age from 18 – 62. All excited about what we do. And glad to spend a few hours around people who speak our language for a change. (Ever been to a cocktail party where anyone knew of Eben Pagan… or had an opinion about his recent pre-launch email campaign?)

 

          The coolest part was, everyone there had taken a different path, both physically and technically, to get to a similar place.

 

          One self-development marketer hates writing, but loves video. So, when he needs to communicate an idea, he records it and sends it off to be transcribed. Problem solved.

 

          One woman was a celebrity newspaper writer in her town, but had no presence on the Internet. So, she started writing, and sharing, and list building long before it was a marketing tactic. Now she’s an Internet celebrity in her niche. Problem solved.

 

          The youngest person among us was only 18. The next youngest person there was twice his age, yet the 18 year-old fielded the most questions. He got started in IM when he was only 12. He was good at fixing computers. So, he wrote a manual on how to do it. His sales page was an amateur swipe of other amateur swipes. He sold 12,000 copies of his book. No problem.

 

          Having the chance to meet these people, who before yesterday were just random names posting on a message board, was fulfilling in a lot of ways. But the best lesson I took away from the day is that there is a solution to every problem. In fact, there’s sure to be 10 solutions if you ask around enough…

 

The important thing is to do just get the idea to the page. Then let the better way find you. It always will.

 

If you do it the other way around, chances are you’ll never do anything.

 

The universe is bloated with abandoned ideas – some with the potential move mountains and change history to be sure. But I’ve never heard of a great one dying because it was delivered in the wrong format.

 

          This blog is about big ideas and getting them to the page.

 

Now, I’m off to find the best blogging application. Or the worst. Who cares. We’re here and that’s a good start.