Sales Copy Striptease
If you're a savvy business professional preparing for a promotion: writing your sales letter, website copy or display ad can often twist you into more knots than a pretzel.
After staring at a blank page for hours--you begin to realize maybe you are mortal after all.
What's the answer? Hit your swipe files for inspiration as many gurus recommend? Take some R & R time, indulge in a Jacuzzi, and return relaxed, rested and refreshed? Start writing whatever comes to mind hoping to magically come up with a jugular-grabbing hook? Yes, those may work...
But another simple, yet effective formula you could try is returning to the roots of copywriting: Getting inside your prospect's head.
And heart.
Because if you can do that--you will lower their force field.
When writing to your prospects, you'd want to model the Borg (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and declare, "Resistance is futile.
" And without a doubt--one of the most colorful professionals who knows the inside secrets to reducing prospect resistance is the striptease artist.
From start to finish she has mastered the art of owning eyeballs and raising heartbeats.
We can apply her secrets into writing copy that lead our prospects to say, "Yes, please take my money.
" Her crafty secrets revealed...
1) She begins with the right audience.
If the audience were members of the Vice Squad, the PTA, or little old ladies from the Christian Women's Association--she will probably get booed off the stage.
And not make any new friends.
To create positive response for your sales copy--get your message in front of the right audience.
Even if you are a world-class copywriter.
Otherwise, you'll go hungry.
2) She grabs instant attention.
The lights dim, the music begins and the curtain is drawn.
She shows a leg.
All of a sudden, it gets really quiet and all eyes zero in on her.
You've only got a few seconds.
Your promotion must grab attention quickly.
This is your headline's job.
Your headline must be so compelling--all eyes are riveted upon it.
There's no room for hesitation.
If you fail here, you could lose your campaign.
3) She creates want.
She works her audience with seductive eyes, patiently removing an article of clothing one by one, and effortlessly manipulating her twirling tassels.
She's methodically building anticipation.
She tempts.
You must keep your readers glued to your message.
Not only that, but you must keep their jaw dropping with want.
But not only that, you've got to keep them salivating.
Stating benefit after prospect benefit will keep them focused on your marketing copy.
One tactic I use is to include benefits in bullet form, and then include additional benefits littered throughout the body copy.
This creates and reinforces anticipation throughout your sales promotion.
4) She's a pro.
One sin our artist doesn't commit is admiring her own performance.
She doesn't marvel at her own abilities.
That's what amateurs do.
She may lose her audience that way.
And critically important in your sales copy is not to have your audience focus on your words.
You want them to read it through non-stop.
Using clichés, unnecessary verbiage and fancy word play can cause them to pause--and discontinue.
If your copy confuses, piques questions or causes your reader to ponder--that will work against you.
People don't have time to decipher coded messages.
You must be clear.
It's up to you to lead them by the hand.
This is what separates the amateurs from the pros.
5) She says, "Wait.
" That's the secret wild card power of our artist.
She seduces.
Her biggest asset is not in revealing, but in concealing.
In your marketing piece, don't let the cat out of the bag too quickly.
(Unless that's the copy platform you've chosen).
Conceal your offer until you've given them enough information to make an educated decision.
This tug and pull effect further shrinks your prospect's force field.
Just when they think you're about to reveal your offer, pull back to build more anticipation.
This is a perfect time to introduce another big benefit or a special bonus they'll get if they take advantage of your offer.
You can vary this method by introducing your offer, and then increasing their want by adding one premium bonus after another.
A classic example is the Ginsu Knives infomercial.
They masterfully dissolved their prospect's force field and kept them salivating by repeating, "But wait...
there's more!" Like our colorful artist, you too can increase sales without appearing pushy.
You can reduce your prospect's resistance one step at a time.
Become creative like our artist and you'll have your audience salivating at your offer.
Tommy Yan helps business owners and entrepreneurs make more money through direct response marketing.
He publishes Tommy's Tease weekly e-zine to inspire people to succeed in business and personal growth.
Get your free subscription today at www.
TommyYan.
com
After staring at a blank page for hours--you begin to realize maybe you are mortal after all.
What's the answer? Hit your swipe files for inspiration as many gurus recommend? Take some R & R time, indulge in a Jacuzzi, and return relaxed, rested and refreshed? Start writing whatever comes to mind hoping to magically come up with a jugular-grabbing hook? Yes, those may work...
But another simple, yet effective formula you could try is returning to the roots of copywriting: Getting inside your prospect's head.
And heart.
Because if you can do that--you will lower their force field.
When writing to your prospects, you'd want to model the Borg (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and declare, "Resistance is futile.
" And without a doubt--one of the most colorful professionals who knows the inside secrets to reducing prospect resistance is the striptease artist.
From start to finish she has mastered the art of owning eyeballs and raising heartbeats.
We can apply her secrets into writing copy that lead our prospects to say, "Yes, please take my money.
" Her crafty secrets revealed...
1) She begins with the right audience.
If the audience were members of the Vice Squad, the PTA, or little old ladies from the Christian Women's Association--she will probably get booed off the stage.
And not make any new friends.
To create positive response for your sales copy--get your message in front of the right audience.
Even if you are a world-class copywriter.
Otherwise, you'll go hungry.
2) She grabs instant attention.
The lights dim, the music begins and the curtain is drawn.
She shows a leg.
All of a sudden, it gets really quiet and all eyes zero in on her.
You've only got a few seconds.
Your promotion must grab attention quickly.
This is your headline's job.
Your headline must be so compelling--all eyes are riveted upon it.
There's no room for hesitation.
If you fail here, you could lose your campaign.
3) She creates want.
She works her audience with seductive eyes, patiently removing an article of clothing one by one, and effortlessly manipulating her twirling tassels.
She's methodically building anticipation.
She tempts.
You must keep your readers glued to your message.
Not only that, but you must keep their jaw dropping with want.
But not only that, you've got to keep them salivating.
Stating benefit after prospect benefit will keep them focused on your marketing copy.
One tactic I use is to include benefits in bullet form, and then include additional benefits littered throughout the body copy.
This creates and reinforces anticipation throughout your sales promotion.
4) She's a pro.
One sin our artist doesn't commit is admiring her own performance.
She doesn't marvel at her own abilities.
That's what amateurs do.
She may lose her audience that way.
And critically important in your sales copy is not to have your audience focus on your words.
You want them to read it through non-stop.
Using clichés, unnecessary verbiage and fancy word play can cause them to pause--and discontinue.
If your copy confuses, piques questions or causes your reader to ponder--that will work against you.
People don't have time to decipher coded messages.
You must be clear.
It's up to you to lead them by the hand.
This is what separates the amateurs from the pros.
5) She says, "Wait.
" That's the secret wild card power of our artist.
She seduces.
Her biggest asset is not in revealing, but in concealing.
In your marketing piece, don't let the cat out of the bag too quickly.
(Unless that's the copy platform you've chosen).
Conceal your offer until you've given them enough information to make an educated decision.
This tug and pull effect further shrinks your prospect's force field.
Just when they think you're about to reveal your offer, pull back to build more anticipation.
This is a perfect time to introduce another big benefit or a special bonus they'll get if they take advantage of your offer.
You can vary this method by introducing your offer, and then increasing their want by adding one premium bonus after another.
A classic example is the Ginsu Knives infomercial.
They masterfully dissolved their prospect's force field and kept them salivating by repeating, "But wait...
there's more!" Like our colorful artist, you too can increase sales without appearing pushy.
You can reduce your prospect's resistance one step at a time.
Become creative like our artist and you'll have your audience salivating at your offer.
Tommy Yan helps business owners and entrepreneurs make more money through direct response marketing.
He publishes Tommy's Tease weekly e-zine to inspire people to succeed in business and personal growth.
Get your free subscription today at www.
TommyYan.
com
