You don’t need to be a copywriter to run a business.
Actually, you only need to be a copywriter if you run a copywriting business.
But it can teach you three things you must know to run a successful business.
Copywriters can (and usually should) do the actual writing for you. But knowing these basics will give you a better understanding of your business and how to make it successful.
So, here are the core questions of effective copywriting.
And there’s a five-minute “exercise” at the end that puts all of this together and makes a real difference to your success, I promise :)
1. Who are Your Potential Buyers?
I have yet to meet a business owner who’d know the full answer to this question, myself included.
Sure, you have some ideas. But there are always more answers that can make a huge difference to your business.
Can you reach new audiences who have the same problems your existing customers have?
Does your product solve a problem you haven’t used in your marketing before?
Can you frame your product in a new way to speak to new people?
Just one new answer may make a huge difference to your business because it may lead to new audiences.
2. What Makes Your Prospects Tick?
You can have the best product in the world and you may know exactly who would benefit from buying it.
But if you don’t know how your prospects think, you can’t sell it.
You need to understand how to grab their attention and get them interested in what you have to offer.
What do they admire? (people, values, skills, habits…)
What are they afraid of? (embarrassment, IRS, their child using drugs, their business losing customers…)
What do they desire? (health, money, status, success, world peace…)
And most importantly, How does your product solve these problems?
3. What is it that You Sell?
In the end you alway sell results; even if you sell the most uncomfortable and expensive high-heels that your customers will only use once.
But you don’t always knowingly buy results.
You buy results when you hire me to help you set up your marketing; you want to increase your sales.
You may buy results when you go to a hairdresser; you want to get rid of excess hair or you want the experience a good hairdresser can offer.
You don’t buy results when you get a dog; they can make you happy, better your health, and teach you a lot about yourself, but usually you get one because you like the idea of having a dog.
Sure, you might get a dog because you want to be more healthy (results), or you might hire me to evaluate your landing page just to get to work with me (not results) ;) but that’s unlikely.
What do your customers believe they buy from you?
Do they buy the results or something else?
If you don’t know what they’re buying from you, how can you advertise it?
Reach New Customers
Okay, lets put all that into use in a very simple exercise.
In case you thought you’ll just read through and imagine this exercise, don’t. Sure, you can do that if you can’t believe this could actually make any difference to your business, but if for some reason you choose to believe I might have something to offer, then just do the simple exercise as it should be done ;)
- Get a large piece of paper and a pen.
- Write your product’s name in the middle (like in a mind map).
- Write the names of your three most important customers (specific customers or customer profiles like “young women”) on top of the product (leave some space around the names).
- Think of at least three new customers (or customer profiles), next to each previous customer, who could use your product for similar reasons why the original customers use it (that’s at least nine new potential customers). And write these names under the product (again leave space around each name).
- Write at least five characteristics of each new potential customer around them. At least one from each category: what they admire, fear, and desire.
- Finally write what each new potential customer believes to buy when they buy your product. Do they want the actual result, the experience of buying, or something else?
Now all you need to do, is get those new potential customers to buy your product :)
