Best Copywriting Lessons I’ve Learned From Jim Edwards
Copywriting is writing content that makes people do what you want them to do. It's the most valuable thing you can learn.
Why?
Because it will cost you a lot to outsource it and it will take forever until you get your copy. And even if a copy doesn't work you'll still have to pay for it because you can't know is it working or not until you run it. Ability to create copy helps with content creation, webinars, speeches, and Facebook Live and without a great copy, you won't succeed no matter how good is your product or your funnel.
Becoming good at copywriting
To become good at copywriting you have to establish a copywriting mindset and understand that nobody is born with copywriting skills, that is something you learn. And mastering copywriting is a lifetime process. It will be easier if you learn to Copywrite at stages. First become great with headlines. Then become good at writing bullets. And lastly, become good at creating calls to action and creating your offer.
Like I said before, you need a copywriting mindset. Here are 4 steps to follow to establish that mindset and become good at copywriting:
1. Focus and commit
2. Practice every single day
3. Pay attention to results, what's working and what is not
4. Keep doing what works and stop doing what doesn't work
Understanding the audience in your niche
When you are writing a copy you are writing for a specific group of people. It's important to know who they are and what is important to them. You need to understand their hopes, fears, and dreams. Answer these questions to make this brainstorming process easier:
1. Who they are?
2. What are they thinking?
3. What problems they have?
4. What are their goals?
5. What is their demographic information?
Finding your targeted persona
You need to create that personas avatar so you can write your copy like you are talking to that specific person.
1. First, you have to get the idea of your niche
2. Then you narrow it down in a sub-niche, which is a smaller part of a niche
3. You go even deeper into microniche, which is a narrower part of sub-niche. This is where your ideal persona is.
When you find out who, you have to find out what they want. Every single individual from your audience has their problems, questions concerning those problems. They need your copy to get them over their roadblock and get results. So your job is to know their problems and answer their question through your copy so they can pass the roadblock and get to results.
Writing a great copy
When it comes to your copy keep in mind that people don't care about you. So look for I, me, we, ours, my, and change the perspective. Keep in mind 5 most important reasons why people will buy from you:
To make money
To save money
To save time
To avoid effort
To escape pain
You need to know they're why, and then frame your message to tie your product with their why. The key is to tie multiple reasons why they might buy, not just one. When practicing writing your copy, ask yourself these questions about your product:
- What are 5 ways my product will help them to make money?
- How can my product help them to save money?
How much time can I save them and what else they can do with that time? - What they don’t need to do anymore if they get my product?
- What physical pain does my product solves for them?
- How does my product eliminate worry for them?
The ultimate bullet formula
You should use bullets to grab people's attention and to deliver important information quickly. Good bullets don't include features, they include benefits. Because people don't buy features, they buy benefits. If you don't write good bullets you won't be able to create curiosity you need to get people to move forward. The ideal formula for creating bullets:
It ___ so you can ___.
Always include meaning in your bullets because that will make them better.
What to do if you don't have testimonials
You might think this is a big problem because all others have testimonials and feedbacks. Testimonials can help you to get momentum and there will be a point where they will think why should they believe you, will this work for them, and do they really need that. You can hook them with your headline and quickly deliver important information through bullets but now they need to know why should they trust you. You need proof that your offer works. There are a couple of things you can use as proof if no one has used your product yet:
Ask someone who knows you to review your product and use it as proof.
Ask people you don't know to review your product. Most of them will say no but you only need one or two to say yes. Don't be afraid to ask for the testimonial, it will inspire other people to trust you.
Find quotes that apply to what you're trying to get them to do and use it to get trust and reinforce your idea.
Find statistics that support what you are saying. Google your keyword + statistics or study and then leverage statistics to get the proof for your claims.
Creating a great sales copy fast
To do this you have to build your sales copy in 11 parts. This way you won't feel the pressure because doing 11 small steps is much easier than doing one giant step. Each step has its purpose to take the reader to the next step.
Headline package. This contains your pre headline, headline, and subheadline and the purpose of a headline package is to attract attention from the right people, to identify yourself, and to let them know what to expect.
Shocking statement. The purpose of a shocking statement is to stop them from doing whatever they are doing and pay complete attention to what you are saying. The shocking statement can be something that goes against something they believe is true, or to expose something they suspect is true. Use "Did you know the statement" to do this. And if you did your research from the testimonial section you have already stumbled upon some information you can use in your Did you know statement.
Define the problem. The purpose of this is to tell them about the exact problem they are facing. You can start with these exact words: Here’s the problem you face.. and fill in the blanks.
Agitate. This is the part used to create negative feelings. You want them to think Oh no, I don’t want to be like that. You can start with: Which means you...and fill in the blanks.
Present the solution. This is where you present your product as a solution to their problem you just made worst in the previous step. You can start with: Luckily for you, there is now a solution. Let me introduce you to...and fill in the blanks.
Proof. This is where you provide credibility and answer their question why should they trust you. Use studies, quotes, testimonials, statistics, or whatever you got. You can start with: Don’t just take my word for it, take a look at this...and fill in the blanks.
Sum up the offer and give a price. This is where you tell them exactly what are they going to get, when they are going to get it, how they are going to get it, and sets its price.
Bonuses. In this section tell them about your bonuses to add more value to your offer. If you want to make your offer really stands out take your competitor’s unique selling proposition and offer it as your free bonus.
Guarantee. This is a section where you take away all the risk. You can simply say 30-day money-back no question ask guarantee, or you can rephrase every single benefit you mentioned before.
Call to action. This can be just a buy button that takes them to check out.
P.S. or Post Scriptum. Here you rephrase your main benefits and reason why should they act now and give them a button to buy it.
If you start implementing this knowledge you'll be much successful in convincing to do actions you want them to do. That's it. If you want to learn more copywriting secrets from Jim Edwards my best advice is to go and get this book. His simple and easy to follow procedures will help you to get more leads, subscribers, fans, and sales even without prior copywriting experience.
