Get a Grip on Who You're Talking To!
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great week.
I’d like to start getting into the nitty-gritty of why we’re all here, namely, to find ways to make money writing for the Internet.
So I started thinking about where we should begin our “journey”…
Yikes! Where to begin indeed!
As we all know, there’s a ton of lucrative opportunities out there for qualified Internet copywriters. (And I’ll assume that if you didn’t know that, you wouldn’t be here!)
Websites … sales pages … subscription pages … information pages … landing pages … e-mail campaigns … e-newsletters … podcasts … audio/video scripts … forums … information pages … SEO techniques … and the list goes on and on.
And for each one of these (and a ton of other…) opportunities there’s a mountain of books written by the world’s foremost copywriting gurus that explain in intimate detail the “do’s” and “don’ts” and “why’s” and “wherefore’s” with greater clarity and depth than I could ever hope to achieve.
Sure…I can (and will!) talk about my experience in making money as an online copywriter, but really…I won’t try and kid you. While I think I’m pretty good at what I do, my experience as it relates to all the opportunities out there is akin to the Hubble space telescope seeing only a fraction of the vast universe it surveys.
Hey…one man’s galaxy is another man’s…something or other, right?
Anyway, galactic implications aside, I decided we would start with something that all copywriting has in common. In fact, it’s the basic necessity of any moneymaking endeavor ... online or otherwise ... and that's understanding the prospect!
This important task begins with figuring out who your target market is, and the type of personality that populates it.
Sounds reasonable, right? But you’d be surprised how many writers fail to address this critical point. It will affect how your structure your sales message, the language you use, and virtually any and all motivating factors that you incorporate into your work. It's also the straightest path to entering the "running conversation" in their mind that we've often heard tell about.
Some companies offer data cards that supply this type of information, but more often than not it’ll be up to you to verify and research it yourself.
You need to know who your prospects are, where they live and work, and their average age. How much money do they make and what kind of publications do they read? Where do they “hang out” online?
Are you speaking to primarily men or women, or does the product or service appeal to both sexes? What problems do they face and how can your product or service help solve them?
Remember, the more detailed a picture you can build of your prospect the better chance you have of writing a high-conversion-rate sales message, and the better chance you have of naming your own price for doing so!
The Four Primary Types of Buyers
Back in 1928, Harvard graduate William Moulton Marston Ph.D. (1893 - 1947), known as the “Father of Behavioral Science,” devised a four-quadrant behavioral model that he labeled, “DISC,” which stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance.
It would be worth your while to do further research on this topic. Get to know these groups intimately, for they are as timeless today as they were when Dr. Marston first identified them, and indeed, they comprise your buying audience!
Basically, they're defined as follows:
- Dominance:
They love power and authority. They view themselves as high-ego problem solvers and look for direct answers and no B.S. Think CEOs, power brokers, and military. Words that influence them include power, success, now, bottom line, and challenge. - Influence:
They’re optimistic and like to be socially and verbally aggressive. Very people-oriented. They’re normally referred to as the “movers and shakers.” They’ll likely want to get to know you as well as your product. Think car salesmen. Words that influence them include good job, fun, recognition, popular, and exciting. - Steadiness:
By far the biggest buying group, the steadiness group is loyal, patient, and a good listener. They need to see a logical approach to your product or service. They’re very family-oriented and motivated toward tradition and benefits. Think homeowners and counselors. Words that influence them include guarantee, promise, value, and warranty. - Compliance:
The compliant group is made up of well-disciplined, critical thinkers. They’re motivated by the right way to proceed with any task. They’re usually numbers-oriented and always quality driven. Think scientists, bankers, and accountants. Words that influence them include facts, proven, analyze, data, and results.
Take a look at the work you’re doing these days. Can you identify the group that you’re targeting in your sales messages? Based on the information above, how would you change your approach? Or…is it possible that your audience is comprised of segments from all four groups? (Yes, it’s possible!) How do you account for that in your marketing strategy?
Understanding your target market on this level will go a long way toward making you a wealthy web writer. I’ll look forward to hearing your comments.
Until next week…
Good health and good writing!
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It does make good sense to employ what we know about psychology to write good copy. I have read that the first commercial use of psychology was by Behaviorist James Watson for advertising purposes.
How are we supposed to tell which personality style we are dealing with, though, short of testing them?
Chris – July 24, 2009 at 11:55 am
I can see how this segmentation could work in B2B where you're actually targeting CEOs or engineers where personalities gravitate to different types of jobs.
But how would you use this in a situation such as selling beauty products in an online catalog?
online sales architect – July 25, 2009 at 11:37 am
Hello Chris and "online sales architect"...
Thanks for replying to the post. You both pose great questions that I'm going to address in this week's Wealthy Web Writer blog post. And for everyone else out there, don't forget ... these questions are as much for you as they are for me, so let us hear from you!
John Torre – July 28, 2009 at 11:34 am