The Golden Thread – The Week in Review
November 4–9, 2007
Welcome to The Golden Thread Online, your free e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every Saturday, you will receive this recap of all the strategies, insights and opportunities we send to you and your fellow AWAIers each week. Whether it’s a message from a fellow writer about how he landed a new client … a technique from a Master copywriter for writing a control … an insight into how to succeed in a new market … news of a brand new writing job or business opportunity for you … you’ll find it here in this easy-to-access and always available “Week in Review.”
In This Issue:
- 4 Tips for Mining Golden Copy Nuggets with a Good Interview
AWAI member, Heather Robson gives you four ways to get more out of an interview. - “Don’t Quit”
A note of encouragement from AWAI member Clyde McDade - Editing the Easy Way
Will Newman provides tips on making the editing process easier. - Industry Spotlight: Health Supplements
Find out about trends and statistics in the health supplements market. - Jeff McGeary on the Challenges and Rewards of Writing Great Copy for Supplements
In an interview, Jeff McGreary shares secrets for successful copywriting in the supplement industry. - Alan Serinsky on Writing Great Copy for Supplements
Alan Serinsky shares his tips for writing great copy to sell supplements in the alternative health market. - 3 Powerful Ways to Get Your Prospect Ready to Listen
Heather Robson reveals three tips for establishing trust with your audience when writing a health supplement promotion.
4 Tips for Mining Golden Copy Nuggets with a Good Interview
The success of your sales letters – and, ultimately, the success of your career – can get a huge boost from the power of well-conducted interviews.
By interviewing both the people who've created the product you're writing about and the people who have used it happily, you'll be tapping into a rich source of great quotes and testimonials that will add credibility and strength to your copy.
You'll gain insight into who your prospect truly is … and, often, you'll discover a unique angle, theme, or Big Idea for your promotion
Plus, you'll also discover some good stories for your letter, which can make an important difference, too.
But beware: Conducting an interview isn't always as easy as it sounds. You’re goal is to come away with more great information than you ever dreamed possible. Here are four tips I’ve used that will give you your best chance of succeeding.
BE PREPARED
It sounds obvious, but being well prepared for the interview is critical. If you skip this step, your interview is sure to bomb. There are three steps to preparing for an interview.
First, do a little research. You don't want to spend your time asking a bunch of questions that you could just look up on the product website. Second, set some goals. Ask yourself what kind of information you are hoping to come away with. Third, use the answer to that question to come up with a list of questions for your interviewee.
BE FLEXIBLE
Okay, you're WELL prepared. You have a list of great questions to ask. But if you plan on sticking doggedly to those questions to the exclusion of anything else, you'll miss out on some of the best stuff your interviewee has to offer.
Copywriting genius Jim Rutz told me a story about a fellow copywriter who was having trouble finding the USP for a piano company. Then, during their interview, the manufacturer made a quick point about the piano's stabilizing bar, and the copywriter recognized that there might be something interesting in that comment. He hadn't expected to hear anything about a "stabilizing bar," but he was flexible, followed up on it – and found a great USP.
The point is, your prepared questions are an outline of what you want to achieve during the interview. But an interview is an organic thing – so sometimes it's a good idea to explore digressions that pop up. You might unearth gold.
BE A GOOD LISTENER
Being a good listener goes hand in hand with being flexible. Going into the interview, you won't know half the questions you should be asking. Things you hadn't thought of before will come up as you listen to what the interviewee is saying. Listen carefully, and you'll find valuable ideas that you'll want to pursue as the interview progresses.
Respond to what your interviewee has to say. Encourage his comments. But if you find yourself doing more than a quarter of the talking, you're doing too much talking and not enough listening.
BE APPRECIATIVE
Be grateful … and say so. The people you are speaking with have taken time out of their busy schedules to help you. Let them know that you recognize they've done you a favor. Say it at the end of the interview and follow up with a thank-you email.
The follow-up email can result in gold, too. I once interviewed copywriting pro Bill Hebden. In response to my thank-you email, he sent two pages worth of notes expanding on some of what he'd told me during the interview. There was a lot of good stuff in those pages that I would have missed if I hadn't sent him that thank-you.
BONUS TIPS
It's tempting to just email a bunch of questions to the person you want to interview and let him respond with his answers in a return email. If that's the only way you can arrange to do the interview, that's okay.
But whenever possible, speak with the person. That way, you can really delve into something he says that catches your interest. And whether you're speaking in person or over the phone, record the interview (making sure you get your interviewee's permission first). That's the best way to make sure that your copy is completely accurate – and that you don't miss anything.
Interviews are a great way to add authenticity and interest to your sales letters. Use these tips to get the most out of each and every one.
“Don’t Quit”
I received this note from AWAIer Clyde McDade last week. It’s a story I hear fairly often. Someone starts the program … has some set backs … but preserves. I hope you find Clyde’s story as inspirational as I do – Katie
"I just finished my course assignment for the Six-Figure Program. I started it in 2004. I didn't complete it until this year because of a divorce and death in my immediate family.
"A few times I wondered if I'd ever finish.
"During a rough time in December of 2005, I received a shot at my first promotion. It failed because I was working long hours at work, going through a divorce, and couldn't put all I needed to in the package.
"That nearly killed me as a writer on the inside. But the Marketing Director told me to keep writing and not to quit.
"Now, three years after starting the program, I'm a full-time copywriter working from my home. Just yesterday, I watched my 4-year-old son play while I was working on a promotion with a pad and pen.
"I have four national clients. I've been through the ups and down and, although I'm not at the Clayton Makepeace level, I'm on my way.
"My clients started me off slow but are steadily giving me more work with bigger projects. I've even started work on my own reports to sell.
"The client I originally lost in 2005 gave me another shot in August of this year. They said if I wrote an email the way they wanted it I could be assigned future promotions. The same Marketing Director who 'killed' my first package gave me the green light to be one of their writers again!
"Please tell your new writers to remember two words. DON'T QUIT.
"If it can happen to a guy like me it can happen for anyone.
"Thanks again – and I look forward to completing the Master's Program!
Sincerely,
Clyde McDade
Financial Copywriter
Editing the Easy Way
You can edit your copy more effectively with the following 5 strategies. Your writing will be stronger and your copy more successful … leading to more controls and more profits.
ALLOT TIME FOR EDITING
When setting a deadline with your client, allow 5 days for editing. If you don't have the luxury of 5 days, give yourself 3 extra days at the very least.
This schedule allows you to put your copy away for 1 or 2 days – giving you a "break" from it before tackling the editing.
EDIT HARD COPY ONLY
Print out the copy for editing. You cannot see errors or copy problems on the monitor as easily as you can on the printed page.
ONE TYPE OF EDITING AT A TIME
You have to do two distinct types of editing: copyediting and line editing.
The copyediting makes sure you said what you wanted to say … in the strongest way possible.
The line editing makes sure you've used the right words ("there/their/they're," for example) … that you haven't left out important words (such as "not," a mistake I make) … and that you haven't mixed up word order. This is also a good time to spell-check.
I do both types of editing twice, in this order: copyediting – line editing – copyediting – line editing.
GET OUTSIDE HELP
My wife reads my copy out loud while I follow on another printout. If she stumbles or has problems with a word or phrase, that's a sure indicator that something is wrong and needs to be fixed.
"CUB" THE COPY
Master copywriter Mike Palmer recommended another valuable strategy at this year's Bootcamp. He gives his copy to several people and asks them to read it and identify any CUB spots: places where the copy is Confusing, Unbelievable, or Boring.
(I mentioned this idea in Issue #299 of The Golden Thread, but misidentified the "U" in CUB as "Unclear.")
Industry Spotlight: Health Supplements
Americans are big on natural health, which means the supplement industry is huge. Just take a look at these facts:
- Americans spend billions annually on vitamin, herbal, and mineral supplements. Depending on whether or not you include weight-loss products, spending estimates range from $11 billion a year to more than $45 billion.
- Fifty-three percent of Americans buy supplements – a market that’s well over one hundred million people strong.
- The industry grows an estimated 10% each year.
- There are over 6,000 different vitamins, herbal supplements, minerals, and supplement formulas being sold in the market today – and that only accounts for well-known brands. Include smaller brands, and the number increases significantly.
The vitamin and supplement industry has an ongoing need for good copywriting, making it a great niche for any copywriter to find projects.
Jeff McGeary on the Challenges and Rewards of Writing Copy for Supplements
Copywriter Jeff McGeary works full-time for Dr. Al Sears. Jeff’s copywriting experience runs the gambit when it comes to health products. He has written promotions, books, newsletters, and more. He has written for information products, supplements, and exercise programs. Today, Jeff has generously offered to share his experience and advice with copywriters who want to write for the supplement industry.
CI: How did you decide to become a copywriter – and what led you to the health industry?
Jeff: I originally started copywriting as a part-time career, and then moved into full-time work when I recognized its true potential. The health industry was a natural choice for me as I’ve had an interest in alternative medicine for most of my adult life.
CI: What do you find to be most challenging about writing for supplements?
Jeff: Finding a unique take for common products can be tough. When the reader has seen countless pieces of copy for the same type of supplement, coming up with a “big idea” that creates a compelling need to buy is a big challenge.
CI: How does writing about a supplement differ from writing about other health-related items like books, newsletters, or exercise programs?
Jeff: Writing for information products gives you more freedom in terms of what you can say or claim about the product. With a supplement, the legal restrictions make it more challenging to reveal their real potential.
When you write for supplements, you can’t make claims that they will cure disease. What you can do is focus on structure and function. It’s the difference between saying “Heal your arthritis instantly” and “Enjoy pain-free movement.” The first will get you in trouble, but the second is okay.
CI: What process do you go through to identify the main themes of a letter promoting a supplement?
Jeff: I try and find a single, appealing idea that links the reader’s desire and need for a solution to the performance of the supplement. Everything else flows out of that core idea.
CI: How do you go about getting in tune with the needs and desires of your audience?
Jeff: I read all the major newspapers, including USA Today and The New York Times, to look for current trends. This often reveals what people in a certain age group are looking for. We also send questionnaires to our customers – and this is a great source of feedback.
CI: When writing about supplements, a copywriter can easily call upon either negative or positive emotions to connect with and motivate the reader. Do you find one approach works better over the other?
Jeff: Tapping into positive emotions is more effective in the long run. I think people are far more interested in discovering ways to feel happy and healthy without being threatened by feelings of fear and helplessness. Of course, you have to define the problem and let them know you understand their suffering. But, in general, positive emotions will make them feel more comfortable about buying.
CI: What tips do you offer aspiring writers who would like to break into writing for supplements?
Jeff: Make an effort to know the basics of anti-aging medicine and the unique opportunities that are available to people who know how to use supplements. Magazines like Life Extension give you a lot of insight into the newest breakthroughs and how consumers can take advantage of them. For the writer, this gives you a real advantage when you need to come up with a USP for your product.
CI: Can you tell us a little bit about one of your favorite promotions – the elements you most enjoyed, and the factors drove the success of the effort?
Jeff: I recently wrote a piece for Dr. Sears about his new omega-3 product from Peru. At first, I wasn’t sure how to position it or how to distinguish it from similar products. But after talking with him, I realized that the story of his trek through the Amazon would make a great lead. So I went with the “adventure” approach, and the promo did remarkably well.
CI: What final thoughts would you like to share with our readers before we wrap up?
Jeff: Get regular feedback about your work and do your best to apply it. Keeping an open mind and a willingness to continually grow is the best way to succeed as a writer.
Alan Serinsky on Writing Great Copy for Supplements
Alan Serinsky has used his copywriting skills to build a successful supplement business, Vitalmax Vitamins. Today, he’s going to share his insider secrets on what propels supplement copy toward success.
CI: As I understand it, you write a lot of your own copy – and you basically consider yourself to be a copywriter who became a businessman.
Alan: That’s correct. Copy is my thing – the thing I enjoy doing the most.
CI: So if you have a control, whether you wrote it or someone that you hired wrote it, and you say, “Today I’m going to sit down and work on this product” – how do you go about it? What’s your thought process in looking at a promotion that’s doing well and coming up with a way to beat it?
Alan: Well, I try to look for something that’s specifically unique to the formula that maybe somebody else hasn’t talked about. To do that, you need to be able to “seed” yourself with all your competitors so you can get their mailings and see what they’re saying.
I remember a long time ago … we were doing a prostate product and everybody was talking about saw palmetto berries. So we looked at our formula, and we had lycopene in it. We started researching lycopene, and found out that it is a very strong ingredient for helping prostate health, and we decided maybe that should be our big story. We took our control, which was focused completely on saw palmetto, and rewrote it. We made lycopene our big-picture focus, and we must have had over 20 percent increase in response rate. It just killed the control.
CI: Do you remember what your headline was?
Alan: I think it was something like “Your prostate’s a ticking time bomb,” and we talked about a new breakthrough, lycopene, that could restore your prostate and help your symptoms. That promotion really showed how picking something unique that no one else is talking about can make a big story – and when it comes to selling supplements, you need a big story.
You need some breaking news, something that everybody hasn’t heard about. Customers in the health product area receive a lot of mail. They get a lot of different types of promotions, and a lot of them are selling the same story for the same health problem. They want something different … because I can guarantee you that, after a period of time, they’re going to feel they’re not getting the full benefit of the product they’re currently using. When that happens, they are going to look for something that has a different promise, that has a different ingredient.
I keep looking around for something I can tell people that hasn’t been told before. I think that’s a very important marketing strategy in the health industry.
CI: So you look for the unique selling proposition or, really, the point of differentiation.
Alan: Yes, very important.
CI: Let’s talk for a moment about what the regulatory agencies allow you to say in healthcare copy (and what you should never say). What restrictions are you under?
Alan: Well, lately the FDA’s gotten very strong on direct-mail vitamin nutritional supplement promotions. So we’ve gone through a change. We now try to have all our copy be as much in compliance with the FDA as possible, which is a little bit different than what the FTC requires. The FTC is concerned with making false advertising claims – and that applies to all direct-mail marketing. But when the FDA steps in, they have a lot of different concerns.
We can’t make cancer claims, we can’t make prevention claims, and we sometimes even have trouble listing symptoms. The FDA has gotten very strict. It’s become quite a challenge to write good copy.
But I never give up, because there are always ways of saying the things you need to say without upsetting the FDA. I think the customer gets it. For example, it’s pretty widely known that once men get past their 40s, four out of five have prostate problems. You don’t have to hit them over the head with the word “cancer.” They know what you’re talking about. The trick is to figure out how to use different words that mean the same thing.
CI: How do you make sure your writers know the boundaries they have to work within?
Alan: I don’t tie their hands. I try to give them some guidance up front, and I say, “Listen. You know, you’ve got to substantiate everything.” That’s what seems to be the main thing. If you’re making a claim, you have to substantiate it. In other words, there’s got to be a study saying that this ingredient in your product is going to provide this benefit.
I tell them that if they see a study that’s going to add credibility to the piece, go ahead and use it. Pull the abstract out of PubMed (which you can find on the Internet). Just be cautious. If the study’s talking about 600 mg and your product only has 300 mg, you can’t use it.
CI: Let’s say you’re going to hire someone who’s a starting copywriter, maybe an AWAI graduate. It’s their first or their second assignment, or maybe their fifth assignment but their first with you. What kind of assignment would you start them out on? Would it be a direct-mail package? A headline test? An insert?
Alan: I wouldn’t want a beginner to go ahead and dive into a 16-pager or a magalog or something of that sort. So what I usually do is give them a small package, a four- or eight-page package – and I ask them to do the head and the lead first. In other words, give me a page or two. Let me make sure you’re on the right track, because there’s a lot you’ve got to be concerned about. Are you telling the story we want you to tell? Do you have a big promise upfront? Do you have the right voice? Health supplements often have doctors that endorse the product. Does your copy sounds like it’s coming from a doctor?
CI: Though you usually start beginners with something small – like a four- or eight-pager – is that a format that you typically use?
Alan: Every nutritional supplement company has its own look. The formula that usually works for us is a self-mailer. Sometimes we have a picture of one of our doctors on the front, along with a big header and a promise. And it usually runs about 12 or 16 pages.
CI: What’s a reasonable fee for writing a direct mailing to sell a nutritional supplement? Can you give our readers a range?
Alan: It differs with the number of pages. At least, that’s how we do it. If you’re doing a four-page package, that’s an easy write. If you’re doing a 16 pager, it’s going to take some work. For someone new to the health field or just starting out as a copywriter, I would say anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000. Sometimes with royalties, sometimes not.
It’s very important for all new writers to do some work at very low cost or even at no cost. You want to get a successful piece in the mail, because that’s going to be your ace in the hole. If you get a successful piece, you’re going to be able to go to other clients and say, “Listen, I have a successful piece in the mail that’s making someone lots of money.” They’re going to want to see it … and that’s going to be your selling tool.
In the beginning, your priority is to get a piece that’s working in the mail, not the money you’re going to get for writing it. Think of it as an investment – one that’s going to pay off in the end.
So take jobs that you think you can handle. Even if it may not be what you’re most interested in at the moment, take the project anyway if you think it might lead to a good opportunity for you.
CI: Earlier, you talked about the importance of finding a USP for your product. But then what? What’s your secret for writing a strong package around that the USP?
Alan: There is a structure we use that works for us. So I tell my writers, stick to the structure. You have to have all the components in your piece. I also tell them to use subheads, because when you’re talking about nutritional supplements and ingredients, it can get very technical. Subheads help to keep pulling your reader back into the story.
Next, they need to find the voice. The voice is very important in writing health. We use a doctor to endorse our products, so our promotions have to sound like they’re coming from him.
Customers put a lot of trust into the doctors who are behind nutritional formulas. So not only does writing in a particular doctor’s voice help you build a loyal customer base, it also makes your customers feel like somebody with a lot of knowledge in his field is talking to them with authority.
CI: Not all supplement clients use doctors to endorse their products, but a lot of them do.
Alan: Right. And I tell my writers that they need to place themselves on the other side of the doctor’s desk. Imagine yourself in the doctor’s office. He’s sitting in his chair and leaning across his desk, talking to you like you’re one of his patients. You want to make your copy sound like it’s coming right out of his mouth, that he has an understanding of your problem and sympathy for what you’re going through.
On your first page, you have to state the problem and make a promise. Make your reader feel comfortable with the doctor. Make him feel that there’s a connection – that the doctor’s got solutions for the problem and that he’s going to explain why these solutions are better than anything you’ll find at the corner store.
If you build that story and you keep that pitch going through the whole promotion, by the time the reader is done, he’s going to feel compelled to buy the product.
CI: One last thing. What do you think works better in copy to sell health products? Fear or hope?
Alan: I work them together: problem/solution. I give them the fear of the problem and then I give them the hope of the solution. They go hand in hand.
3 Powerful Ways to Get Your Prospect Ready to Listen
When it comes to supplements, creating a feeling of trust between you and your audience is crucial. You need to do this right up front, in your headline and lead, or chances are your reader won’t stay with you. That said, here are three proven ways to build trust:
Build trust through authority.
Writing from the point of view of a doctor is one way to establish authority. But just any doctor won’t do. You need to create the feeling that this doctor is fighting for the reader against the medical establishment. People trust doctors, but they don’t trust the medical industry. Use this dichotomy to reach your audience. (Hint: Including a photo of the doctor in the layout also builds trust.)
Build empathy with the reader.
People with health concerns want other people to be concerned, too. Do your research and really understand the problems they are facing. Then build empathy by showing them you understand and you care. The best way to do this is with conversational writing. Imaging you are sitting next to someone, just talking to him about what’s worrying him. That’s the feeling you want to get across in your package.
Use customer anecdotes to establish a connection.
In the health industry, buyers respond to stories of people who have had a similar experiences. Use the information you find in testimonials to weave a story into your package that demonstrates the effectiveness of the supplement you are promoting. Personal stories can help you immediately connect with your reader. When you can show her that someone in her situation had success with your product, she is more likely to trust what you have to say.
