10 copy tips to help you sell more

Copy that sells is closely related to talking. Not sloppy, everyday jabbering, but the kind you’d hear from a friend who is excited to tell you something. Here are some of the ways you can make your writing more compelling (and they also apply if you’re writing for a website instead of print media). Some of these are my ideas, some I learned from others. I’ve put my spin on all of them.

1. Start with a bang: People are short of time and have no patience for pre-ambles. So lead off your writing with your main offer, benefit or promise:

Don’t say: “It’s a new season, which means it’s time to change your tires. And, this week only, you can save $300 on a set of new summer radials.”
Say: "Hey Bob, this week only you can save $300 on a set of new summer radial tires."

Don’t say: “Looking your best means having your teeth their whitest. Now you can whiten your own teeth, at home….”
Say: “Guess what Dani, I got my teeth 5 shades whiter at home, in two weeks, for just $20.”

Don’t say: “Arthritis sufferers endure constant pain that just never seems to go away.”
Say: “Do you wonder if you’ll ever be free of arthritis pain?”

2. Keep sentences and paragraphs short: Most of your sentences should be no longer than 12 - 15 words. They should rarely exceed 20 - 25 words.

3. Use more white space: Make sure your paragraphs seldom exceed 5 lines and never more than 7 lines. Put an extra line between each paragraph. White space makes your text look less difficult and more inviting to read.

4. Make your text scannable: People don't like to read; they prefer to scan. You can help them do that by keeping your line width down to 65 or 70 characters. You can also make your text more scannable if you:

5. Use subheads every 3 or 4 paragraphs: Subheads let your readers know if they are going to find anything of interest in the text that follows. You can also use subheads to tell a mini version of your story:

We woke up to the sound of Sarah gasping for breath...

By the time we got to her she was unconscious...

The ambulance crew revived her -- this time...

But what about next time?

In a fund-raising letter, those subheads could separate extra details about what asthma sufferers go through and what's being done, with donations from the reader, to find a cure.

6. Use familiar words: Despite our high literacy rate, many people have difficulty reading. They may recognize a big word when it's spoken, but rarely bother to puzzle out its sound when they read it. For example, paraphernalia and accoutrements are harder words to read and understand than gear and baggage.

So leave those "intellectual" words behind. Choose speed up over accelerate; good looking over attractive; worried over concerned; use over utilize (when I teach, I offer my students $1,000 if they can compose a non-self-referential sentence (such as I define utilize as...) using utilize in such a way that I can't simply substitute use and have the sentence retain all its meaning.).

Exception: You can use more "intellectual" words when you are aiming at a more educated audience and want to subtly stroke their egos by using a loftier tone.

7. Use one or more of the 5 great motivators (Thank you, Herschell Gordon Lewis): All sales messages fall into one or more of these five categories: fear, greed, guilt, exclusivity, approval. Those are the basic emotions that drive people to want and buy things -- especially things they don't really need. Of these, fear is the most powerful, but take care how you use it: Don't scare people wihout also showing them how what you offer overcomes their dread.

8. Don't let people say "SO WHAT?!" Did you know 9 out of 10 teenagers have acne? So what! Who cares? Why are you telling me this? Any time you make a statement or claim, make sure people can't respond with indifference. Will your teen be scarred for life by acne? is much more powerful.

9. If you make a claim, can you prove it? You've tried the rest, now try the best is not only a cliche, it's a hollow, unprovable claim. In a taste test, three of New York's top chefs said our tomato sauce tasted most authentically Italian is a claim that is backed up. Don't believe it? Here are testimonials from the chefs!

10. Find your real beginning: Athletes warm up. So do musicians. And so do writers. When you've finished your piece, set it aside for an hour or so, then read it through. You may find your real starting point is 3, 4, or 5 paragraphs down -- after the throwaway lines you wrote as you warmed up to your topic. I've seen letters where the real beginning was 14 paragraphs down!

BONUS TIP: Know who your customers are and talk to them about things they want to know -- which aren't always the things you think you ought to tell them. Talk about them, not about you.

John Friesen has 25+ years writing successful direct response for all media, traditional and online. Want better marketing results? Call him at:

604-812-1332