How to Write Better Sales Copy Faster
- A high-ticket product …
- A complicated topic …
- A long-copy web page …
- A 72-hour deadline …
- Nearly $3 million in sales at stake …
Here’s my proprietary secret for cranking out multi-million-dollar sales copy in less time than most writers take to plan their strategy …
Dear Business Builder,
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
Since it’s a holiday weekend, I figure this would be a good time to give you a short issue.
But I am NOT going to “short” you.
In fact, I predict that if you put this idea to work, this will turn out to be one of the most helpful issues of The Total Package ever.
Why? Because if you write any kind sales copy, I’m going to show you how to get your first draft done in a fraction of the time it’s taking you now – so you can spend much, MUCH more time sharpening and polishing your prose before you show it to your client.
One of the questions we get asked a lot around here is, “Where do I start? I’ve got a copy of the control and the competition’s best promos. I’ve got reams of research – all these facts about the product and the problem it solves. And I’ve got tons more stuff I’m thinking about from copy courses I’ve taken, books I’ve read and actual experiences I’ve had writing copy.
“At this point, my brain’s a mess – teeming with hundreds of disconnected, even contradictory facts, figures, rules and ideas. I’ve got an unyielding deadline staring me in the face. And that blank screen is scaring me half to death!”
Well, the fact is, there are as many ways of getting started as there are copywriters. More, actually – because each copywriter may begin each project differently.
I offer one of my favorite ways to get a jackrabbit start in Beat the Blank Page Blues – with the process for organizing your research into a rough draft and even step-by-step outlines for everything from short print ads to long tabloid copy.
Since that strategy is fairly clinical, let’s call it “the left-brain approach.”
Recently, I used an entirely different approach. Since it requires a little imagination, we’ll call it (you guessed it!) “the right brain approach.”
Here’s the skinny on the prospect, product and offer …
Client: Weiss Research
Promotion: Web page – copy will be recycled in an e-mail campaign to customer file.
Copy length: No limits – typically 12 to 20 pages or 12 pt. Times New Roman single space in Word.
Prospect: 65-year-old male investor. Average net worth: $1.5 million. Politically and financially conservative. Subscribes to 2.5 investment newsletters on average. Twenty percent have purchased an investment product from my client. The balance are subscribers to his free-e-zine only.
Product: International ETF Trader. Issues “buy” and “sell” signals for ETFs that own foreign stock market indexes
Normal one-year price: $2,190
Discount: 55% off if they join before March 31
Net one-year price: $995
One-year savings: $1,195
Normal two-year price: $4,380
Discount: 59%
Net two-year price: $1,795
Two-year savings: $2,585
Premium: Global ETFs, Global Profits report
Value: $149
Risk relief: Full refund within 60 days, pro-rated refund for the rest of membership period
Testimonials: New product – none available
Order modes: Online and toll-free telephone
First Draft Deadline: 72 hours
So, to get started, I began by internalizing the research package the client sent me – storing it away in my subconscious (the “filing cabinet” of the human brain).
Then, I slept on it for a night.
Next morning, I did what I’ve recommended many times in these pages: I closed my eyes, leaned back in my chair, visualized my typical prospect, imagined myself bumping into him on the street, and proceeded to have an imaginary conversation with him.
Here’s how my side of that conversation went …
Hey, Fred – you old profit hound, you! How’s it going? Make any money last year?
Your portfolio’s up 15% in a year? Wow. The S&P 500 was only up 13%. Not many professional money managers ever beat the market averages – that’s great!
So your $100,000 portfolio is now worth $115,000? You made a 12-month, $15,000 gain? Congrats!
Me? Well, promise you won’t hate me, but I’m up 130%.
Yeah, I guess that’s right: About eight times more.
Yes, it was a $130,000 gain. Enough to turn my $100,000 portfolio into $230,000 in a year.
Yeah. I know. Lucky.
What? Leverage? NO WAY! No, you know me: I never mess around with anything risky. I didn’t invest on margin. No, no futures. No options. No leverage at all.
How did I do it?
Oh. Well, last year I noticed that the U.S. stock market was only the 56th most profitable in the world. And since 55 other world stock markets were leaving ours in the dust, I figured that riding the slowest horse in the race isn’t exactly the smartest way to win.
So I sold most of my U.S. stocks and moved my money into some of those foreign stock markets.
Emerging countries, mostly. China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Brazil and a few others.
What? Difficult? Complicated? Used to be. Not now.
They’ve got these new things called exchange traded funds – ETFs for short. They’re like mutual funds but without all the fees and trading restrictions, and they own all of the stocks traded on a country’s stock market. They’re as easy to buy and sell as any U.S. stock.
Yeah. If you own the China ETF and the China stock market goes up 130%, you get a 130% gain.
I know – sounds too good to be true. Thing is, it is true – and it’s happening right now. Lots of world stock markets are jumping like crazy. The S&P only rose 13% last year – but Mexico’s stock market was up 48.6% … Indonesia was up 55.3% … Russia was up 71% … China was up 131% … and you won’t believe this, but Vietnam was actually up 144.5%.
That’s right – you could have more than doubled your money in a single year. You could have just bought the ETF on the Shanghai exchange and then sit on your hands for a year. You’d have raked in a 131% gain.
Why are these stock markets so hot? Simple: These countries’ economies are growing a heckuvalot faster than ours.
Our GDP only grew 3.4% last year – but Singapore’s economy exploded by a mind-blowing 7.7% — more than TWO TIMES FASTER.
And China’s economy has been growing about 10% per year for more than a decade — THREE TIMES FASTER than ours!
No, of course it won’t go on forever. But it doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon, either. See, so far, most of the gains in these foreign markets were caused by foreign investors like me buying into them. Now, though, there’s a “critical mass” thing happening.
Half the world’s population – three billion souls – live in these emerging countries. Now that they’re leaving the farm for jobs in the cities, they have money to save, invest and spend.
They’re entering the middle class and buying everything that moves. TVs, computers, cell phones, MP3 players, refrigerators, microwaves – all the stuff we take for granted. And as they do, they’re driving earnings at hundreds of domestic companies through the roof. And you know what happens when earnings skyrocket: Stock prices skyrocket, too!
Plus, all those new wage-earners are just now beginning to save and invest – bidding up the price of the stocks listed on their local stock exchanges.
So most analysts expect that investing in those exchanges will be even more profitable from here on out.
How do I know which of the one-hundred or so country ETFs out there are likely to make me the most money? Simple: I joined a service that does it for me.
International ETF Trader.
Yeah. They use a trading system that outperformed the S&P 500 by more than six to one for more than 16 years to find the markets that look like they’re going to lead the pack.
Then, they tell me what to buy, what to pay, even how to place my trade online or with a broker.
And when they figure it’s time to sell, I get an e-mail telling me to take my profits. Easy as pie.
Yeah, I know – there’s a lot of hype and hucksters out there. But the company behind IET has been around for 35 years. Heck. Even Hulbert has given this trading approach its top rating.
Expensive? Yeah, kind of. It’s $2,500 a year. But heck. I made ten times more than that on my very first trade. And besides – they’ve got this special available for new members who join before March 31 —it’s only $995 per year.
Right. That’s less than $2.73 a day – less than the price of a gallon of gas. You could easily make ten times that much on your very first trade – the rest is gravy.
Best part is, if you’re not happy with your profits, you can cancel and get your membership fee refunded.
No, joining is easy, too. Here’s the membership website. Or, if you’d rather join by phone, here’s the number to call.
Yep, you can do all this with the brokerage account you already have.
They guide you to the foreign stock markets that are beating U.S. stocks by up to ten to one.
The give you buy and sell signals for each trade so you can do it quick and easy either online or with your broker.
If you join now, you can save up to $2,585 off the regular membership fee.
It’s easy to earn more than your membership fee on your very first trade – after that, it’s all gravy.
And you’re in control – you can cancel anytime for a full refund.
You’re right: It really is a no-brainer. But if you’re serious about joining, you’d better do it quick. On April Fool’s Day, the membership fee goes back up to $2,500 a year.
Sure. The website is X and the phone number is y.
You’re welcome, Fred! Next time I see you, let me know what you think. I’ll bet you’ll be tickled pink.
Ok – see ya!
… And so, when I finished my little imaginary conversation, I had a sturdy skeleton to flesh out. I had my most compelling sales arguments down pat, and a tight, logical outline for presenting those facts.
All that was left to do was to hang a little meat on the bones – which I did, in about eight hours of writing time – and delivered a strong first draft long before my 72-hour deadline expired.
Now, I know how you love swipe files, so just point your browser HERE to see the final version of the copy.
Oh – and three more things you should know:
First, every fact, figure and claim in this copy is fully documented using reliable third-party data. No stretches, no exaggerations. The story itself is so compelling, it stands on its own.
Second, this page – and a dozen or so e-mails we carved out of it generated more than $2.8 million in sales in just a few weeks, and …
Third, the trades recommended by International ETF Trader are already making our customers more money than they could have made with the S&P index all last year – and it’s just getting started.
Now, that’s what I call a Win, win, WIN!!!
My client made millions … I made hundreds of thousands … and our customers are laughing all the way to the bank.
Don’t you just love it when a good plan comes together?
Yours for Bigger Winners, More Often,
Clayton Makepeace
Publisher & Editor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
P.S. Congratulations to Anthony Torres and Kerry Schwalger – winners of our laptop testimonial contest. And I want to send out a HUGE ‘Thank You’ to everyone else who shared their story with us. I genuinely appreciate the hundreds of incredible stories and kind words from our Total Package readers. You are what it is all about!
Looking for resources related to this article? Try some of these.
Looking for more of Clayton's articles? Check these out.
Looking for past issues of The Total Package? Click here for our archives.
Related posts
9 Comments »
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or ask us anything. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
– Clayton
Comment by Mike — May 28, 2007 @ 9:24 am
That Weiss sales letter site is very neat and loaded with information…not to mention how well sales were using that approach. Thanks for showing us.
Comment by Winnie Anderson — May 28, 2007 @ 10:40 am
Issue #136 is such an incredible gift to Total Package readers you\’d think today was Christmas instead of Memorial Day!
I continue to be amazed at the great information you give away free. Your newsletter is so valuable to my career and business I stop what I\’m doing and read it as soon as I see it in my inbox.
Thanks so much for the generous help you give.
Winnie Anderson
Comment by Ray Edwards — May 28, 2007 @ 10:54 am
Clayton,
I\’ve been using a very similar technique for quite some time now. I actually thought it was almost like cheating… now I can \”come out of the shadows\”.
This was my intuitive approach to writing copy fast – your article really helped make clear the \”fuzzy approach\” I\’ve been using.
Thanks a million!
Comment by John Gottshall — May 28, 2007 @ 3:37 pm
Clayton,
All I can say is \”wow\”!
I\’ve paid good money for
copywriting courses that
wasn\’t as good as this.
I love what you do when you
first site down to write the
first draft.
Why didn\’t I think of that?
That\’s obviously what\’s most
natural.
Thanks again,
John
Comment by Max Percy — May 28, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
Hi Clayton,
a superb article. You take copywriting to a whole new level and explain the implementation of it so well.
You make it sound so easy, like kissing your sister.
Thank you ever so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us, it is so much appreciated.
Best wishes
Max Percy
Comment by David Phillips — May 28, 2007 @ 6:47 pm
As usual with your writing the nuggets of gold you bestow on us are unvaluable. As I am learning the craft it means so much to me to have this resource available to learn from.
Comment by David Phillips — May 28, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
That should be invaluable instead of unvaluable. My thumbfingered typing got in the way again
Comment by Peter Hobday — May 29, 2007 @ 1:03 am
Great stuff. I love this kind of technique because there are various approaches to starting copy (depending on the product and prospect I suppose) and it\’s clear this is a great method for selling a financial product. Having a \’conversation\’ means you are likely to handle all the objections and questions a prospect will have in the order of importance..
That is not an easy thing to do and this article would be very useful. Can I reproduce it on my website with a link to yours?
If you won\’t give me permission, then I\’ll go and ask Wendy ..
Comment by Wendy — May 29, 2007 @ 6:29 am
David: you can definitely Steal our Article…we want to encourage everyone to feel free to republish any of our Total Package issues…all you have to do is give us attribution and include our link http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com. If you go to our Archive page, you\\\’ll see we just started including a promtion to Steal Our Articles and give you a attribution statement you can use…just to make it as simple as possible. So, STEAL AWAY!
Wendy
aka: The Redhead