Are You Breaking the Cardinal Rule of Copywriting?
Recently I reviewed some copy from a copywriter who’s been writing for a while. It wasn’t bad. But it didn’t rise above the vast heap of promotions clamoring for attention.
So – as it stood – I knew it wouldn’t get read. And the product wouldn’t get sold.
The problem? Simply this: The copywriter was trying too hard to sell the product – by focusing too much on the product itself.
It’s a common mistake novice and B-level copywriters make. They put too much effort into describing the product … what it is … and how it works.
That’s not your job as a copywriter. It breaks the cardinal rule of copywriting: Keep the product invisible.
Michael Masterson calls this the “Secret of Transparency.” Your goal is to make your product transparent, or invisible, by focusing on the benefits and the ways the product improves your prospect’s life.
This is a VERY important copywriting rule.
Your reader doesn’t want another book, manual, or gadget. What he wants is to be successful … or wealthy … or healthy … or beautiful. Your job is to get to that “Aha!” moment where he’ll suddenly realize that what you’re selling will help him get there.
Let’s look at a concrete example. Imagine you’re selling a new personal success program written by a self-help guru. The basic promise of the program: “You can be successful without really trying, simply by switching on an internal mental switch.”
If you focus on the product from the beginning, you run a very real risk. First, your product will sound very ordinary – like so many programs out there. Second, your prospect – spurred by your copy – can easily go onto Amazon and buy a book making a similar promise. You made a sale. But the wrong one.
You Always Want Something Much Bigger and Much Better
You’re selling the secret to automatic success … in anything your prospect sets out to accomplish. You’re selling a “secret” that’s used by some of the world’s happiest and wealthiest people … something they learned very easily that transformed their lives.
Focus on your underlying big promise, which, in this example, might be simply “automatic success.” You do it by revealing just a little bit of the program here and there – and focusing on the benefits and the resulting impact these simple little secrets can have on your prospect’s life: wealth, success in business, better personal relationships – and that magnificent feeling of knowing that he can accomplish anything. All because he alters his thinking in a very small but profound way.
What you don’t want to write is a long-winded dissertation on the history of the program and how it works. This sort of approach gives the prospect too many chances to opt out. It’s boring to him because it isn’t about his needs, wants, desires, fears, or passions.
The bottom line is this. Your prospect needs to leave your letter convinced he’s found the “missing key” to his success. Your job as a copywriter is to make that happen. Finally he’s discovered what makes successful people successful. This is his lucky day. Had he not read this letter, he might not otherwise have ever known about it.
And now he wants more.
Don’t Forget About the Golden Thread
One more thing:
When you use the Secret of Transparency by keeping the product invisible and focusing on benefits, be sure to keep the golden thread – that central and main promise – taut throughout the copy. Always keep in mind that once you slip into explaining what the product is, it loses its luster. It becomes ordinary. And you risk having your prospect lose sight of the “big idea.”
And how do you find your product’s “big idea”? After doing all your research, step back and ask yourself “What’s the most exciting thing this product can do for me? What can it do for my prospect?” Then get excited about the product’s benefits – and share your enthusiasm with your prospect … in a very upbeat and conversational tone.
Adopting the Secret of Transparency may seem counter-intuitive. But when you apply it to your writing – while less-informed copywriters continue to focus on the product – your copy will be successful when your competitors’ copy fails.
And you will rise from B-level to A-level copywriter.
How to Land Clients in 21 Days with Just Your Computer
How do I land my first client? It’s a question every aspiring freelancer asks eventually. Now, there’s a proven system for landing clients that removes the guesswork. Best of all? No cold calling. Learn More »
“That first paycheck told me I could do this. Recent paychecks and referrals are confirming that I’m on my way to living the dream.”
If yes, you could be in big demand, earning big money, writing just a few hours a day from anywhere in the world you choose to be.
Get Nick Usborne’s step-by-step system for creating money-making information websites.
In just 6 hours and 35 minutes, you can be in business earning $60 – $150 an hour writing simple resumes.
Learn the secrets behind succeeding in this in-demand career.
The work is plentiful … the pay scales are generous and the competition is scarce!
Get the answers to the hundreds of questions and concerns commonly asked in specific, step-by-step details.
Use this eight-step plan to make the leap from aspiring copywriter to professional copywriter this year.
Let your fellow AWAI members show you firsthand the easiest, most powerful way to land your first client … BEFORE you finish the program.
Writing for the web is a huge opportunity for copywriters. Let web expert Nick Usborne show you how to write blockbuster web copy in record time … even if you're a complete internet “rookie”!
It’s an opportunity to make $50,000, $75,000, $100,000 a year or more … working just a few hours a day.
A once complicated profession is now something you can do on a standard computer – even if you have little or no “artistic” ability.
It’s one thing to have a website. But if your website can’t be found by the search engines, it may as well not exist.
The Internet creates new income possibilities every day. The biggest among them: online video marketing.
Get the very techniques top-performing copywriters use to rattle off one groundbreaking control after another.
In his new book, Michael Masterson teaches you his very own formula for powerful persuasion and how to apply it to direct mail sales letters as well as online promotions.
Guest, Leave a Reply
Please Note: Your comments will be visible by everyone.