5 Copywriting Tips For Beginners
These copywriting tips for beginners are not only for beginners, but also to help re-establish the basics even in the minds of more advanced copywriters.
It will be a quick one, since I’ve been extremely busy writing copy for various clients.
So to make it short and sweet, here we go:
5 Copywriting Tips For Beginners To Help You INSTANTLY Write More Persuasive Copy
1) Features vs. Benefits - This is one of the most important aspects you need to know as a copywriter. If you’re writing about features instead of benefits, your copy is going to be pathetic - no matter what else you write about. Take something ordinary, such as a pencil, and try to write out 10 benefits of it on the right hand side of a paper - and 10 features on the left hand side. Here are 2 just to get you started.
Feature - Made of wood and lead.
Benefit - The wood helps you create a sharp tip for easier writing and the lead prevents breaking of the point.
Feature - 12 inches long
Benefit - You can use it multiple times without needing to replace it so you save money.
2) Write A Benefit Driven Headline - Most headlines suck. They really do. As a beginner, you should focus on trying to state a benefit in your headline. Don’t worry about coming up with a grand-slam until you understand the thought process of your customer and can afford to break the rules a bit.
3) Write In Short, Concise Sentences - Another copywriting tip for beginners is to write sentences that are short, punchy, and to the point. If you see a lot of commas in your sentences, see if you can break them up into shorter ones.
4) Include a P.S. in EVERYTHING - P.S.’s are probably the third most important part of a piece of copywriting (behind both the offer and the headline). Everybody reads them, so it’s essential that you drive home the main benefit of the product you’re selling again. In offline print, NEVER include the price. You can sometimes get away with it online, but I still wouldn’t recommend it. People love to scan right to the bottom and if they don’t like the price - they’re gone.
5) Write In A Conversational Tone - This one is very important. Don’t pretend you’re writing to a group, pretend you’re writing to an individual person. After all, you are! Only 1 person reads you copy at a time…they don’t gather a bunch of people in a group and have 1 person read it outloud to everybody, right? Picture a specific person you’re writing to…and start writing.
These copywriting tips for beginners should at least get you started on writing better copy. If you want more tips, just look around the blog for other posts and I’m sure you’ll find some gems in there that will make you a better copywriter.
Mastering the basics is essential if you want to become a better copywriter. If you truly want to be a great copywriter, I would highly suggest studying copywriting tips for beginners until you get so sick of them you can’t stand to read them anymore. Then it’s time to move into more advanced copywriting tips and propel your writing to the next level.
How Much Does A Copywriter Earn?
How much does a copywriter earn - what a great question.
It’s also one of the most popular questions asked by people getting interested in copywriting.
Fortunately, it’s a question with many answers.
You see, your earnings with copywriting can range anywhere from around $20,000 per year to literally tens of millions per year.
And here’s the difference…
If you work for another company as a copywriter, you’re likely to earn anywhere from $20-$30 per hour and about $25,000 - $50,000 per year full-time.
But, what happens when you become a freelance copywriter?
Then the roof comes off and you’re left to decide how much you make. At the beginning obviously you won’t make too much because you can’t charge as much as you’d like.
But then, as you become more well-known and can raise your prices…you start increasing how much you make per project. Do that and you increase how much you make per year.
Then you become more advanced, adding royalties to your paychecks.
Boom - another pay raise.
Then you start going on straight commissions like Clayton Makepeace and guess what? If you’re really good, you can start making 7 figures or even 8 figures if you become a world-class copywriter.
So how much does a copywriter earn?
However much you want, really.
Hard work will make you a lot of money in the copywriting business.
SMART work will make you rich.
What would you rather do?
Jeremy
A Psychology Trick Used To Dive Into Your Prospects Mind
In my last post, http://controlbeatingcopy.com/breaking-down-a-next-level-headline, I told you about how you need to “dig a little deeper” into the psyche of your prospect to figure out what they’re REALLY thinking.
Not what it appears they’re thinking, or even what they say…but what’s hidden deep-down beneath the surface of their mind.
I told you in the last post how I was going to give you an example using my fiancee, so here it is:
One day I was asking my fiancee what body part she liked on guys - whether it was abs, chest, shoulders, arms, etc.
She told me she liked muscular arms, so I decided to act like a little kid and ask “why”?
After about 30 seconds, I ended up asking her exactly what part of arms she liked…and she said she didn’t really know, just that she liked them.
So, knowing that she really did know and just couldn’t put her finger on it, I rolled up my sleeve and asked her to show me exactly what she liked the best.
She ended up pointing to the part of my arm where my shoulder comes down into the middle of my arm to form the “V”.
But guess what - that’s not even your arms…that’s your shoulder!
So she in fact didn’t like nice arms, she likes nice shoulders…
Now, do you see where the psychological trick came into play? I know I’m talking about body parts and nothing with marketing, copywriting or advertising, but it’s nevertheless a great psychological trick.
At first, she didn’t know exactly what she liked…just that she did.
But I knew that deep-down she knew so I kept prodding…I kept asking questions.
Just like a 4 year old kid asks “why” repeatedly until they’re satisfied.
This is what you need to be doing when researching your ideal client.
You need to be going into forums, reading the same magazines as them, asking people you know personally who fit the description, actually calling them up on the phone…and asking “why, why, why”!
And not only why, but all you need to do is simply keep digging a little deeper. Make them think. In fact, when you’re interviewing the person - make them think so much their head starts to hurt!
Amazing things can happen when you just push a little harder…
Jeremy