Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Are You Losing Money By Failing To Do This

By: Charles Brown
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:25
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher |

Rating:

 

If you are not using the copywriting technique we are about to discuss, you are costing yourself at least 50% of your potential sales.

Not only are you losing potential sales, but if even one of your competitors is using this copywriting technique, he is taking money right out of your pocket, stealing your customers and could put you out of business before you even know what is going wrong.

What is this technique? Go back and look at the previous two paragraphs, because I just used it on you. This technique is the fear of loss. The fear of loss is easily 100 times more powerful than the hope of gain as a selling tool.

Tell your readers what they will lose, what they already have been losing and what the future consequences will be if they turn down your offer.

Everything you sell has consequences if you say “no.” Look for that consequence and shout it from the rooftops. If you sell a car safety device such as a child’s car seat of tires that get extra traction in bad weather, sell death and injury. You can do this without resorting to “hard sell” tactics, look at how Mercedes and Volvo show crash test dummies getting smashed in car accidents involving vehicles not made by one of these two auto makers.

How can you craft a message based upon the losses people will incur if they turn your offer down? If you are a bankruptcy attorney, your copy might read, “stop creditors from seizing your house, your car and your assets!”

If you sell a water filter, you might say, “Every time you drink out of your tap, you are filling your body with dirt, toxins and deadly chemicals that, over time, build up in your system, weaken your immune system and cause your organs to breakdown.”

If you sell a weight loss system, you could say, “Every diet you have ever been on has left you fatter, demoralized and convinced you will never look attractive again. Each diet does nothing but make you miserable and convinced you lack the willpower to be fit and healthy. But there is a better way.”

If you sell financial planning services, your message might be along these lines, “Failure to plan for your own future will leave you dependent on the government and family, will rob you of the travel and fun you had hoped for, will prevent you from receiving the best medical care available and will leave you with nothing to do in your retirement but watch Oprah every afternoon.”

Now I have purposely made all these examples stronger than most of us would actually use. But such a negative message should find its way somewhere in your copy. If you leave out the consequences of not buying from you, you have failed your customer, and yourself.

freelance copywriter, writing web content, copywriting tips, ghost writer

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Article source: Expert Articles