You don’t need to be a great copywriter to write good copy (but it helps!). If you don’t have years to study the skills of writing sales copy that sells here are my five favourite tips for improving your copywriting:

Mistake 1. Writing for the crowd …. not the individual.

Yes, hundreds or thousands of people might be reading your ad. at the end of the day – well at least you hope they will – but your copy will only be read by ONE person at a time.

Your copy will read so much better if your reader feels you are writing just for them. ‘You’ and ‘yours’ are some of the most powerful words in copywriting.

Mistake 2. Not having a headline.

There might be some kinds of copy that don’t benefit from having a headline, but I’m hard pressed to think what they are. Headlines are the number one reason a reader will start reading your ad. in the first place. And they help focus the mind on the content too … your readers and yours alike.

Don’t be afraid to have two bites of the cherry and use a sub head under the main heading too.

Mistake 3. Making your copy hard to read.

Most readers are in a hurry and don’t want or have time to wade through pages and pages of material with dense blocks of text to find the information they want. So use lots of paragraphs. And group paragraphs under sub headings to act as a sign post through the content.

Long copy has it’s place but, increasingly today, short copy is more appropriate.

Mistake 4. Not pushing the benefits.

It’s always best to assume your reader is self centred (they might not be, but chances they are!). So you need to tell them what’s in it for them. And not only the benefits of buying your product or service itself …. but of actually reading your copy in the first place.

Talking about your business and how good you are (or whatever) seems a good way of impressing and attracting customers but it really can be a flaw.

Mistake 5. Not telling the reader what to do next.

Even the most fabulous sales copy is flawed if it doesn’t tell the reader what to do next in clear and uncertain terms. Never risk that the reader will know or work it out for themselves.

Decide what it is you want the reader to do when they reach the end of your ad. – whether it’s to place their order now, fill in the coupon or visit your website – and spell it out.

Never forget to end your copy with a call to action.

If you’d like an opinion on where you might be going wrong with your copy and some ideas for improving it to make it sell more then get in touch with me at mark@markhempshell.com