I’m by no means a great copywriter, but I have been studying copywriting quite diligently for the past 8 months and have found 12 simple steps you can take to write sales copy (by the way, this would also apply to blogging to a certain extent).

So, what does it really take to turn your prospects into paying customers?

The most important thing when writing sales copy in my opinion is to move your visitor down your marketing / sales funnel and have them perform the desired action, whether it’s to purchase a product, download your free report or fill out a lead capture form.

Each section of your sales page ought to transition seamlessly from one section to another. And, if you’ve done your job, you will keep the visitor engaged and make them WANT to complete the transaction (whip out their credit card to buy!).

So, here are 12 simple steps to more effective copy:

1. CREATE AN IRRESISTABLE HEADLINE.
Express the main benefit of your product or service in a concise sentence or two. You need to grab your readers by the eyeballs with your headline and pique their interest. Make them want to read your story.

2. USE SUB-HEADLINE To CREATE EXCITEMENT.
In no more than two or three short sentences, expand on the benefits of your product and generate excitement in your reader. If what you’re offering is limited, this is a great place to specify that.

3. MENTION THE BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT.
Give the reader at least three solid reasons to buy your product. Your reasons should NOT be features of your product, but the ultimate benefits of it to your customer. For example, if you’re selling an ebook about curing acne, you might write:

“If you want to cure your acne so you can stop being embarrassed about your appearance, have more confidence and be more attractive to the opposite sex then this might be the most important letter you’ll ever read".

4. SUMMARIZE YOUR UNIQUE SELLING POSITION (USP).
Your USP is your specific benefit that separates your product from all of the other similar products out there. At this point in your sales letter it’s okay to just summarize your USP as you’ll be expanding on it later in your sales letter.

If there are other products out there that are similar to yours you’ll need to make it clear to your reader why your product is better than all the rest. If your product is not better than the competition then you either need to do something to add value to what you’re offering or you need to have a lower price than your competition.

5. ESTABLISH YOUR CREDIBILITY.
You need to prove to your reader that you are a credible source that they can believe and trust. Give a little background on yourself (or the creator of the product) and make them understand why you’re a trustworthy person and why what you’re offering is worth them paying their hard earned money for.

Testimonials from your past customers goes a long way towards building your credibility. If you don’t have any testimonials, you can give away your product to a few people with an agreement that they’ll write you a testimonial (assuming that they enjoy your product of course). Have them be specific in their testimonial and detail what they like most about your product rather than general statements like “Your product is really great,etc.”.

6. EXPLAIN FEATURES & BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT.
Detail not only what your product does, but how it’ll improve your reader’s life or solve their problem. Use Bullets! The more details you provide, the better your copy will be.

It’s incredibly important for you to build the value of your offer for your reader. They need to understand that when they get your product - their problem will be solved. If they don’t get your product - their problem will continue.

7. SUMMARIZE YOUR OFFER AND DISCLOSE THE PRICE OF YOUR PRODUCT.
Make sure your reader understands exactly what they’ll be getting from you when they place their order. Then you can mention what you could charge for the product or your regular price. Finally, present them with a lower price that they can get by ordering today.

8. GIVE BONUSES.
Add bonuses to your product to add to even more value to your offer. You can either offer only a limited number of bonuses, or make them available for a limited time to create a sense of urgency and encourage immediate action.

9. GIVE THEM A STRONG GUARANTEE.
It’s highly recommended that you offer a complete money back guarantee. The elimination of risk will help your readers that are on the fence about your product or don’t know for sure if it’s for them. The number of sales you’ll gain by offering a strong guarantee will greatly outweigh the amount of returns you’ll see.

Eliminate all elements of risk by ending your sales copy with something like this:

"Order a copy of XYZ completely at my risk. Watch the videos, read the report; and if you are not satisfied for any reason or no reason at all… you will receive a full and fast refund. No questions asked. No hassles."

10. CALL TO ACTION.
Provide your reader with exact instructions as to how to place their order.

11. SIGN YOUR SALES LETTER.
Use your full name. If you’d like you can scan an actual copy of your signature and upload it to your website or use a handwriting font.

12. CLOSE WITH A "P.S."
Use your P.S. to emphasize the most important points of your sales copy. A lot of readers tend to scroll through your copy to read your bullets and the P.S. before going back and reading it completely so the P.S. is often one of the first things your reader will see.

There you have it - A winning sales letter in 12 steps! Another thing to keep in mind is that your sales letter should be visually appealing to the eyes. Make use of BOLD, ITALICS and SUBHEADS so that it looks good to the reader even if they’re just quickly scanning it.

Tags: internet marketing, sales letter, copywriting, writing copy, affiliate marketing