When it comes to writing copy that actually sells, reading is only half the battle. At the end of the day, there’s just one way to get great at it: you have to write, put your words in front of real people, and see how they react. The reaction you’re looking for, of course, is when they decide to buy.
Every year, just as he seemed to be wrapping up his big presentation, Steve Jobs would pause and say, “Oh yeah, one more thing...” That was the moment everyone was waiting for. It was when he’d reveal the iPod, the iPhone, or some other game-changing product. It was the perfect ending to his annual story, and it’s a masterclass in how to launch a product.
An irresistible offer, as the marketing guru Ray Edwards put it, is one that sells itself. People don’t need to be persuaded to buy; they ask you if they can. At the heart of any great sales page or pitch is the offer. It’s a combination of the transformation you’re promising, the product or service that delivers it, and the price.
There's an old saying in sales: "Timid salesmen have skinny kids." While writing copy for an online business isn't exactly the same as a face-to-face pitch, the core principle holds true. You have to be willing to ask for the sale. This is the single most important part of your copy, yet it's where so many people freeze up, especially when they're just getting their off the ground.
You’ve done all the work. You’ve studied your audience, figured out their biggest fears and frustrations, and learned the exact language they use to describe their problems. You know your product inside and out, you’ve pinpointed the benefits that truly matter, and you’ve even come up with a big idea that ties it all together.
Bullet points are one of the most powerful, yet strangely overlooked, tools you have in your writing toolkit. In any successful , mastering them is non-negotiable. They seem so simple, but almost nobody uses them to their full potential.
The internet has completely changed the game for commerce. You can launch a business from your kitchen table and reach customers in Boston, Barcelona, and Borneo all at once. It seems easier than ever to build something that provides a comfortable living, maybe even an extravagant one.
"Selling is essentially a transfer of feelings." That classic line from Zig Ziglar gets to the heart of a major challenge. If you can master the art of sales copy, you can effectively write your own paycheck. A good copywriter should never be broke; they can literally create money from thin air.
Pricing is the moment of truth. As marketing expert E. Raymond Corey once said, it’s the single point where every bit of your marketing effort comes into focus. Think of it like a farmer at harvest time. An entire year of labor hinges on that final act of gathering the crops. For a business, pricing is how you harvest the value you’ve painstakingly created. It’s the only way to bring in the revenue that keeps the lights on.