Don’t Need to be FANCY – Just Stick with copywriting BASICS!

Hiya CopyStar!

Want to know how to stay adaptable in this CRAZY copywriting climate?

You don’t need to be “FANCY like Applebees” – just stick to the BASICS!

Here’s an excerpt from a presentation I did at last month’s amazing AWAI Fast Track to Success 2021 Virtual Bootcamp:

Stick with the core principles of copywriting. And when in doubt – K.I.S.S!

Here are 5 basic principles to write your killer copy during and post pandemic:

Basic Principle #1: Create a powerful story! If you can capture your prospect with a powerful story – you can BOOST your chance of creating a killer promo! Why?

Because we’re hard wired for story telling!

If I said to you right now “Once upon a time…” – your brain cells have already kicked in and are expecting a STORY! That’s how we’re hardwired to work! As a copywriter – use that knowledge to your advantage!

Stories are gold!

For example – take a look at Valerie’s story…

Don’t you want to know what happened to Valerie?

Do you see how from the very start I tell you it’s Valerie’s story – but it could also be YOUR story? That way I don’t lose you!

Now let me ask you this:

Does it matter whether this promo mailed in a pandemic or not?

NO!

If you’ve got this problem – you want a solution NOW!

So focus on creating powerful stories that are relevant to your reader NOW– and you’ll NAIL THE SALE!

Basic Principle #2: When everyone zigs – you ZAG! Look for opportunities to NOT follow the crowd – so you can stand out!

I know if you’re a newbie – you’re taught to look at what’s working because it will give you a direction to follow. But doing that makes you a FOLLOWER.

Real breakthroughs come from the LEADERS who have the guts to try something NEW and DIFFERENT!

Now here’s a promo where the headline ZAGGED when others Zigged!

While everyone was talking about “Boosting your immune system by 70%!” – I said this…      

I’m still showing you how to stay healthy – but I took a totally different angle – and it worked like gangbusters!

Basic Principle #3: Recycle & Refresh! Many projects were postponed due to scarcity of products.

My clients were struggling to get the ingredients from India…South America…and even the U.S. manufacturing plants shut down. So a normal delivery of 30 days became 3 months…6 months or longer!

A lot of new launches got stuck in a holding pattern. And successful products were put on hold because we couldn’t fulfill orders.

So we had copy on hold because we couldn’t fulfill new orders!

So what did I do?

Went back to my promos that we could mail and came up with new copy to keep those promos alive! This gave me a chance to resurrect some old promos and give them a fresh new look!

Went back to the basics – and created different types of headlines I know can work! These included:

We just kept refreshing old promos and that kept us alive while we waited for the ingredients shipment for the other products! This was a life saver!

Basic Principle #4: It’s ALWAYS about YOU (Your prospect, that is!) Write YOU-centric copy to keep prospect engaged. Talk to ONE person – not a crowd. Have a conversation in print.

Keep words short. Sentences short. Thoughts short. Don’t try to impress your prospect with your knowledge of the English vocabulary.

Impress him with your ability to CONNECT with him!

Do your homework! Who are you talking to? Remember this: “A 50+ year old market” is still TOO general!

Ask your client this very important question:

Where’s the SWEET SPOT?

Where’s the sweet spot in your list? Who are the MAIN buyers? The MULTI-BUYERS? Let me tell you who I write to:

I go for that 70+ year old! Even though I’m writing for a 50+ market – I write my copy to appeal to 70-year olds! Why?

Because I’ve found they’re my REAL buyers! They’re my bread and butter!

If I can get them to buy – I will have a successful promo! Those younger whipper snappers will follow!

But if I go for a 50-year-old – and leave out my “Sweet Spot 70-year olds” – I may not get a winner!

Basic Principle #5: Test. Test. TEST! (And then TEST again!). Your market is not static! It’s always moving – and you gotta keep up with your market! And that’s hard!

But the best way to keep on the pulse of your market is NOT to assume you’re a smart marketer who knows your target audience.

Allow the market to tell you what it wants! Don’t assume you’re smarter than the market!

True story: I recently gave a client 2 covers to tests for his product. He decided to go with one test cover because he said the other one won’t work – it was too “BASIC”.

I said how do you know it won’t work? He said he’s been in this business for so long, he just knows it’s not going to work.

I said OK, well, I like this headline and if you don’t want it, I’m going to give it to another client. He said fine, OK – but it won’t work.

So I go to another client and they agree to test the headline and guess what?

It kicked butt! In fact – it’s kicking butt in the mail right now! 

Wanna see this BASIC cover idea?

By the way – I worked on this cover with one of my copy cubs in my C.R.A.Z.Y Copy System Live Mentoring Show. She won the Cover Test Challenge with this cover.

She got a writing sample… a paycheck… and my famous… “I’m on a roll, I beat Carline’s Control T-shirt!

And – she got a GREAT story to share with prospective clients!

And did you notice that cover has just 35 words on it?

BASIC? Oh You bet it is! And it’s a killer control too!

So remember CopyStar – no need to be FANCY like Applebee’s – just stick with the BASICS so you can write copy that ROCKS!

Yours for stellar results,