Interview with a Copywriter

Hi,

This opportunity came about recently and this to me was just a

goldmine of information, below are the direct answers given to

the questions I sent him……i’ve changed nothing.

As part of building an internet business you need good

copywriting skills and I have no doubt in my mind where i’m

going to get help in that department Stephen Dean.

Thank you Stephen for giving me the opportunity to learn more

about the skills needed in copywriting.

********************************

Hi David, here you go. Thanks for sending in the questions.

And let me know when you post them to your blog.

Thanks again for giving me this opportunity.

1. Would you there were key words that you would
recommend to use in a sales pitch?
like………Amazing or Guaranteed or Recommended?

I don’t think I’d break it down like that. With Glyphius there
are words that score very well: share, surprising and the
words you mentioned. But again James doesn’t recommend
using Glyphius to judge individual words, but to judge
sentences.

In general, ideas are more important than words anyway.
Why does the word guaranteed rank high? I have no idea,
but a guarantee is obviously a very powerful sales tool.

Why does “recommended” rank well? Again, the data
doesn’t tell you that. But testimonials and other
recommendations are very powerful sales tools.

So if you want to start your headline with “Discover A
Simple Solution For…” because it ranks well in Glyphius,
go for it. But remember to add urgency, uniqueness,
usefullness and ultra-specifics. Those are more important.
Then use Glyphius to optimize.

2. As a novice, which of your products would you
recommend I start with?

The 2 Hour Sales Letter (http://www.2hoursalesletter.com)
is my recommendation for a quick, comprehensive course
in copywriting. You get to watch me start with market
research and continue writing an entire sales letter in
one sitting.

7 Copy Sins (http://www.7copysins.com) is the follow up
and it helps to preempt mistakes beginners are likely to
make.

3. If I were to write a sales copy and didn’t get any
sales from it, would it be better to scrap it and
start over or would you try to tweak it?

I can’t answer that without seeing the copy. There’s not
one answer. Michel Fortin once told me that if his copy
fails to convert, it’s because he failed to connect with
the market and he goes back to market research. If you
did that, you’d likely find your answer.

You’d discover if your angle is appropriate or if you need
an entirely different angle. And if you need a new angle,
you might need to scrap it.

4. How many words would you use in a sales l
etter? I’ve read a few and some seem far too long!

I’ve never written a sales letter with a certain number
of words in mind. There are certain sections I plan to have:
deck copy, a lead in, bullets, a guarantee, etc. But copy
should be as long as it needs to be and no longer.

Sales letters that seem too long could indeed be, too
long… however if you’re not the target market it’s
difficult for you to judge. It can be very boring to read a
long sales letter if you’re not interested in the topic.
But if that headline hits you with something you’ve got
to know… then a long sales letter gets shorter a lot
quicker.

But also, there are skimmers out there. I’m one of them.
I read sales letters through subheads and I write copy
with that in mind. You can often get the main ideas from
my copy just by skimming the subheads.

5. Where do you get your inspiation from and in
what form?

For copy? I consult daily with Michel Fortin and he gives
me a ton of great advice. I seek out ads written by him,
Clayton Makepeace, Gary Halbert and others to try and
emulate them. I read the classic copywriting books (I’m
currently rereading Caples’ “Tested Advertising Methods,”
which is fantastic.)

And not to sound melodramatic, but life gives a lot of
inspiration as well. Having a well-rounded life with no
shortage of unique experiences makes it much easier
to write to different markets and in different ways…
because you’ve experience so much…

…At least that’s what I say to justify all my vacations!