Making Money Online - Copywriting - Cha Ching?

Copywriting is often a "least favorite" type of writing for business owners and entrepreneurs, but it shouldn't be. In fact, considering its purpose, copywriting should be the type of writing we love most. Why? Because that's where the money is. Effective copywriting is what gets you paid.

What exactly is copywriting? Copywriting is one of those terms you hear quite often if you're a marketer or entrepreneur, even if your enterprise is a small one. But, it's interesting that many people don't really have an understanding of exactly what copywriting is. Copywriting is simply promotional writing. It is defined as the process of writing words and text that promotes a person, business, opinion, or idea. (Source: Wikipedia)

If you've ever attempted to hire a copywriter, you know that copywriting services can be extremely expensive. The reason for this is because effective copywriting can literally be the difference between success and failure in terms of sales. Copywriting is that important, and that effective.

The whole basis of copywriting is to persuade the reader to take some form of action. In our line of work (small business/sales/online marketing), that usually means persuading a prospect to make a purchase or to subscribe to a list or idea. Let me give you an example. Let's say you are promoting a line of breakfast muffins. Take a look at these two copywriting examples:

Example 1: "Please buy Mrs. Baker's Muffins. They're really good and you'll really like them."

Example 2: "Try our new and scrumptious Mrs. Baker's Muffins. Choose from any one of our 12 delicious varieties of oooey-gooey goodness, made fresh every morning just for you!"

Now, I'm not the best at copywriting, but I think you can see the difference between the two examples. It's easy to see that given a choice, most people would be more persuaded to make a product purchase based on the second example.

So if you're not a natural born copywriter, how do you "pep up" your copy to make your product or service sound more appealing (without being dishonest)? The difference in writing effective copy is in the words you choose. Several different words can mean the same thing or be used to convey an identical meaning, however they way in which the words influence or affect people can be completely different.

Believe it or not, there have been a number psychological studies that test how words affect people, and they have proven that certain words influence people on a psychological level to motivate them.

Here is a short list of just a few influential words that can be used in your copywriting:

New – most everybody loves the idea of getting something new
You – The use of this word in your copy is exceptionally powerful. Readers want to feel that you are speaking directly to them, and using “you” allows to to make that one-to-one connection.
Guaranteed - People want security and reassurance. This word, backed by corresponding action, accomplishes that.
Free – Who doesn't love getting something for free, especially when the perceived value of the freebie is high.
Fast – Nobody has enough time these days, so fast is always good.
Discover – People love the idea of finding something new and wonderful.
Easy – Do you know anyone who doesn't want things in their lives to be easier?
Yes – This is a permissive word, and a word that also means right and good. People love it.
Benefit – What's in it for me is always a question your prospects have, and the use of this word tells them unmistakably that there is something in this for them.

Effective copywriting isn't the easiest thing in the world, but it doesn't have to be that difficult either. The most beneficial thing to remember is that you have to think about what you're writing. You can see from the examples presented above that there wasn't that much difference in terms of work to write the two different versions of copy. It was simply a matter of me thinking of words that provoked more emotion (goodness, just for you), appealed more to the senses of the reader (scrumptious, delicious), and directed the reader to action (try, choose) that made the difference.

Take a look at your website and promotional copy. See what adjustments you can make in writing better and more effective copy that can improve your site, make it more appealing and help to boost your promotions and sales.