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Copywriting That Sells
By Amrit Hallan
The first thing I learned after writing my first copy was - it all boils down to
how much your copy sells. No matter how good it is, no matter if it beats
Hemingway and Dickens in the efficient employment of language, if it does not
sell, it is worthless.
Whenever you sit down to work on a new copy or edit an old one, just keep one
thing in mind: how you can deliver "the message" in minimum words.
Remember that literature written for the sake of promoting a product or a
service needs to be succinct and direct, and above all, understandable. The
average reader of your literature is a person who is in a hurry. He/she is
bombarded with similar messages already (and he/she might be cynical).
Keep the end result in mind and create the copy around that. Relinquish your
inherent proclivities and biases, and just focus on the message. Present the
copy in a way that it is highly informative, convincing, and compelling. Before
sitting down to write, think of your target readership. Are they children? Are
they housewives? Are they teenagers? Are they hardcore technocrats and
scientists? Formulate your language and presentation according to that.
A method I find useful is to make a list of all the words that can be associated
with the current copywriting project. It is fun, and it helps you create
supersets, sets and subsets of your project.
I have seen many pieces of copy where the creative writers lose focus, get
carried away with their "creativity," and end up creating a message
that can win accolades as a piece of art, but makes no sale for the client. The
way you present your message should not dominate the actual message. Your
writing style should not impede the actual message and end up creating a
distraction.
I am a writer. It is often extremely hard to resist the temptation of sprinkling
the powder of my style on the copy, but I have to resist it for the sake of the
message (and my income). I have learned to become detached. I keep telling
myself: it's just a copy for my client for which I'm getting paid, and it is not
a piece of literature that I'm creating to further the cause of my art.
This is the age of information. I have heard it used to take an entire life-time
in the eighteenth century to process the amount of information we process in a
single day. With so much information (most of it is junk, by the way) around, it
becomes difficult both for the reader and the writer to pinpoint the right tone
and pitch. With so much fraud around, it becomes difficult to establish
credibility.
That's what differentiates you from the others. Project your message in a way
that it immediately grabs attention.
In the morning I was watching "Meet Joe Black" on HBO, and there was
one scene in the movie when Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt were walking down a
busy street. There were scores of people around them; still, they both were
prominently visible even from a distance. I noticed that only they were wearing
dark clothes. Everybody in the crowd wore light shaded clothes. I found the
scene very fascinating. This is how a focus should be created. Your message
should be different from the rest of the crowd.
It should hit the right nerve instantly, from the first sentence. Your first
sentence should make the reader think, "Okay, this is something worth
taking note of."
Without sounding melodramatic, make your message as moving as you can afford to.
Don't be too personal if you are not a known personality and the majority of
your target audience is a stranger to you. Still, messages that address to
individual readers are more appealing.
Try to start with a "You" or "Your" or "Yours."
Messages starting with a highlighted question also incite a response. Keep your
sentences short, with lesser commas and semi-colons. If you have abundant space,
use bullets to highlight major points - they are easy to read and are generally
to the point. There are no strict rules for the sort of words you should use.
Particular words should appeal to the particular target-segment. Mainly,
keep things simple and to the point. Use dabs of humor wherever possible. Once I
wrote a short story around the service of my client - they are a detective
agency.
Copywriting is all about sincerity. You'll sound monotonous and clichéd if you
are not sure of the motive of your copy. To sound credible, you should believe
in the authentic intentions of your client. Never write for a product/service
that is intended to cause harm to your readers.
In the end, practice and study. After all, copywriting is a profession, so it
has its "nos" and "yeses." Be observant. Study everything
around you, and read the copies of other writers carefully. Always keep notes of
things you can use. And... write a lot.
Copyright ©2002 Amrit Hallan
Amrit Hallan is a freelance copywriter, copy editor and a writer. He also
optimizes web page content for higher search engine ranking. Read his weekly
essays and articles by subscribing to amritscolumn-subscribe@topica.com.
For copywriting and copy editing services, visit: http://www.amrithallan.com.
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