It’s Easy to Spot Amateur Copy—by Lewis Bassett
August 13th, 2014It’s easy to spot amateur copy.
Amateurs don’t know how to express anything other than excitement. So it’ll be high energy, full of hype, exaggeration and exclamation marks.
“Our new mouth-watering deserts are guaranteed to light your valentine’s fire! You’re in for a fun night! Hurry up and book now!”
Great copy should be conversational.
You should be speaking to your prospects the same way a friend might, if they were discussing the topic over a quiet drink after work.
There’s place for excitement. But there are so many other emotions you can – and should – express. (E.g., fear, shame, intrigue, suspense, tenderness, anger, sadness, surprise, benevolence, optimism, etc.)
We tend to do this naturally in conversation. And great copywriters know this.
But what if you’re not a great copywriter? Does this mean you can’t write great copy?
Probably. But it doesn’t mean you can’t write good copy.
There’s a simple and easy way to write compelling copy. And if you follow it, your work will be better than 90% of all the other rubbish that pollutes the Internet.
You don’t need any training. And you don’t need any specialist techniques.
Here’s what you do.
Go out and pitch your offering to as many people as you can. These must be people that are in a position to buy it.
Make sure you record every pitch you make. (There are plenty of iPhone apps for this.)
What you now have is compelling, conversational and natural copy.
You might need to clean it up a little. And you might want to add or remove a few points.
But what you have is proven to work, because it already won you the sale. Put it on your website, and it’ll almost certainly outperform what is on there right now.
Carpe diem.
Lewis Bassett
Director, Bassett Providentia Ltd
Copyright © 2012, Bassett Providentia Ltd
Lewis Bassett is an online marketing consultant and speaker, and helps companies to increase their revenue. Bassett Providentia Ltd is his consulting practice. For more information and to subscribe to his email list visit www.bassettprovidentia.com.
