Foundation + Principles, Part I

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2 Foundation + Principles, Part I Welcome, welcome, welcome! Here we are, section one of Brandgasm 101, kicking off the copywriting portion of the class. (The hardest, most reading-intensive part of the class, so brace yourself! But don t. Because it s going to be fun.) If you ll recall, as a part of the copywriting prep, I asked you to do two things: 1. Pick out a birthday present for a stranger. 1. Keep track of the things you found yourself buying, and more importantly, why you bought that particular brand instead of the competitor s. So naturally, we re going to start there. (After all, you ve probably been wondering why I asked you to do these things, and how they related to copywriting, right?) We ll start with the first task of picking out a birthday present for a stranger, and we ll discuss the second task a little later on. If you recall, the information you were given about this stranger was limited, and included only the following: Gender: Female Age: 33 Ethnicity: Caucasian Native Language: English Marital Status: Single Lives In: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania For Work She: Is a reporter for the local newspaper

3 Her Annual Income Is: $45,000 Homeowner? No - She Rents Children? No. Car: Yes Make + Model: 2010 Honda Accord Color: Silver Votes: Yes You were probably left thinking, How am I suppose to pick out the ideal birthday present only knowing that? But you went ahead and gave it a shot anyway, as did your fellow Brandgasm classmates. And, as could be expected, the types of birthday presents picked out varied GREATLY. The most popular picks, however, were: Messenger bags (by far) ipads (she must be a good friend!) Books Moleskines Some other favorite picks: Hair dryer Vintage world map A bicycle A newspaper-patterned umbrella A kitchen mixer A Roomba vacuum cleaner Speech recognition software An espresso maker A gold watch

4 Photo studio in a box Wall decals 50 Shades of Grey Gift cards (and more gift cards) Perfume Kate Spade sunglasses And, of course, two people suggested vibrators (I guess journalists are stressed?) In sum, pretty much anything that the typical woman should like. And while all were good guesses, there s no possible way you could tell if our reporter friend would actually SWOON over your gift. You just had to sort of...blindly guess, and hope for the best. And that s precisely the problem. Because that s exactly what most people do when they set out to write their copy, too: Blindly guess, and hope for the best. Why? Because most people, when they sit down to write copy, either don t think in terms of what would most appeal to their target market, or if they are thinking about their target market, they re thinking in terms of basic demographics--gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, location, income, marital status, and things like whether or not they re parents. Because that seems to make sense, right? And in many cases, you might think that s all you have to go on. But guess what? If, using that information, you can t even pick out a birthday present that they re going to swoon over? There s no way in hell you can write copy they re going to swoon over.

5 And swooning is THE GOAL. Because swooning means you ve got their attention. And that? Is the very first step in writing copy that compels and sells. This class is going to teach you how to do just that. That s also why I asked you to do that exercise; so you could see how hard such a simple task was, let alone writing earthmoving copy. Swoon. Compel....And sell. That s the name of the game. Let s get to it.

6 First of all: What is copywriting and why is it important? Copywriting in short, is writing with the intent to sell. Whether you re selling a product, a service, a book, a concept, an idea or a message, everyone s got something to sell. And in an increasingly digital world, that selling? Depends largely on words. Words that appear on your website. Words that appear in your tagline. Words that appear on your homepage. Words that appear in your opt-in. Words that appear in your write-ups. Words that ask people to do something. Words that ask people to buy something. Even if that something? Is YOU. And that being the case, that means that everything you write, in one way or another, is a form of copywriting. You just never realized it. Bottom line: Selling doesn t happen with a hopeful glance, a prayer, or a wish from afar. Selling happens with words. So selling with words becomes really, really important. Because if you can t sell? You re going to be working for somebody else for a really long time.

7 Getting started We re going to be learning basic copywriting principles to give you a solid foundation to work from, so that way when we move onto the remainder of the class, we ll be able to apply each principle to specific things like teaser copy, or an opt-in, or a tagline...and more. That said, the first thing I want to teach you about copywriting goes back to the birthday present exercise, once more. The reason is because the birthday exercise doesn t just demonstrate the importance of knowing more than basic demographics; it demonstrates the importance of knowing who the hell you re writing for. This, more than anything, is the single most important part of copywriting you will ever learn. And that s why we re going to unpack this first, because it s going to underline everything else you write. So that said, who the hell are you writing for? That s the #1, do-or-die, must-be-answered question. And it s the first thing that needs to be addressed when you sit down to write anything. Before you start writing, before you start editing, and before you start taking 30 pee breaks to procrastinate the entire process. (We all do that. I ve peed at least 4 times writing this alone.) You might be thinking that s obvious, but you d be surprised at how many people sit down to write sales copy, for example, and only think about what they re selling. What s interesting about it, what it contains, what the price is, how they can make it sound sexy, etc. But--that s actually the last thing you need to think about. If you re thinking about that already? You re prematurely writing. And nobody likes a premature writer.

8 So, who the hell are you writing for? We ve already established that basic demographic information is not enough to truly answer this question. Because, once again, if you can t pick em out a birthday present they d swoon over using basic demographic information - you cannot write copy that they re going to swoon over, either. So what information do you need? And more importantly, how do you get it--particularly when you re writing for strangers that you ve never even met? You can t very well walk into their home in east bumble Kansas, sit down at the dinner table and ask, So, what would make you buy my widget? (Not to mention this method wouldn t even work anyway because people don t know what they want--which we ll talk more about soon.) So how do you get more information, and what does more information even look like? Glad you asked. Welcome to the world of Psychographics.

9 If you ve ever taken one of my copywriting workshops before, you know I m huge on this. And if you re new around these parts? You re in for a treat. Because psychographics make the world go round. Psychographics are everything that demographics aren t--the junk in the trunk, if you will. While demographics give you hard data, psychographics slice across the data and give you a look at the lifestyle, behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, interests, values, and opinions of the people you re trying to sell to. Where they vacation. Whether they re a beer guy or a wine guy. Are they optimists or pessimists? Were they the popular girl in school, or the nerd? How has it affected their worldview? Do they exercise? What kind of exercise? Someone who does yoga is likely to be very different from someone who does competitive boxing. Do they love all things the internet? Or are they scared to death of it? As you can imagine, since two people in the same demographic--say female, age 30--could have very different psychographic profiles, this is where the rubber meets the road. Why? Because only by intimately understanding who we re writing for, can we write anything that s going to make them swoon. And you know that. This is not revolutionary. But it s really, really important. Now, I d like to take a quick time out and make a disclaimer here. DON T CLAM UP AND GET SCARED BY ANY OF THIS. I see you shrinking away from your computer as we speak. Because this is already sounding complicated. And you re already thinking it s going to be too hard. And you re already ready to throw in the towel. DON T DO THAT. Because while this stuff is important, the most important thing will always be that you re

10 giving it your best shot - period. Okay? So sit up, and let s continue. Psychographics. In other words, understanding not just who the people you re writing for are, but what they re thinking. And we want to understand what they re thinking, because we want to be able to say just the thing that s going to make them think that - holy smokes - we GET them. We get them more than the next guy. We get them more than their mother. Hell, we get them more than they get themselves. The number one reason I m considered a great copywriter? Is because I make people blurt out loud: It s like she s reading my mind! And that s what we want for you, too. Because when you make someone feel like that? They ll do almost anything they can to get more of you--including pay you for stuff. Because everyone around the world, no matter who they are, wants one thing, and one thing only: To feel understood. However, that isn t the only reason psychographics are key. Beyond feeling understood, people also want to feel like whatever you re selling? Is going to help them enhance the view they have of their own identities, or the ones they re trying to obtain--which is a huge part of their lifestyle choices and psychographics. So in order to both make them feel understood, and help them reaffirm their own identities? We need to know what they re thinking in that head of theirs--so we can position our writing in line with their thoughts. Figuring out what your target market is thinking

11 AKA their psychographics There s a lot of ways you could go about this. There are a lot of ways you could research your target market s psychographics. If you had the money, you could even hire a research company. You could conduct focus groups. You could do surveys. You could do a lot of fancy stuff. But the reality of the matter is that you aren t going to do those things. You re probably not trying to become a professional copywriter; you just want to sell your stuff, and learn how to write some damn good copy that will accomplish just that. So what I m going to recommend is something a little different. Something that s a simple, but effective test that ll automatically help you glean the psychographic information you need-- without jumping through all the hoops. Ready? There is no math. No formulas. No numbers. No calculations. It s very simple, and I m convinced it s just as effective--it s my go-to when my clients don t have as much information as I d like. Simply answer the following three questions: What do they do on Sunday mornings? What do they do on Monday mornings? Why? If you can answer these three deceptively simple questions, you ll gain more psychographic

12 insight than you could ever imagine--and certainly much more than their basic demographic information. Let s start with the first question: What do they do on Sunday mornings? You can tell a lot about a person by what they do on a typical Sunday morning. Do they go to yoga class? Are they out running? (Often a big difference between those two groups.) Do they go to church? Do they sleep off a beer hangover? Or do they sleep off a wine hangover? (Big difference there alone.) Are they gardening alone? Fingerpainting with the kids? Writing a novel? Catching up on their favorite TV shows? On their way to a baseball game? Or perhaps on their way to NASCAR? (Again, big difference there alone.) Lighting candles to communicate with the dead? (No judging.) Sleeping in until noon? Taking a spontaneous road trip? Volunteering in their community? At the art museum? Practicing with their underground metal band? Getting a new tattoo? Getting a facial? Going to an AA meeting? Cooking a big lunch for their in-laws? Whatever they do on a Sunday morning says a lot about them. Someone who s religiously in

13 yoga class will respond to different copy than someone who s religiously hungover. Someone who s cooking a big lunch for their in-laws will respond to different copy than someone who s on their way back from a spontaneous weekend in New York City. Because they ve got different worldviews, and the activities they choose to engage in are a reflection of those worldviews. So who they hell are you writing for, and what do they do on Sunday mornings? Check. Now, ask the next question: What do they do on Monday mornings? Do they suit up and go to Wall Street? Do they put on sweat pants and go teach high school phys ed? Do they take their kids to school? Do they show up to work to serve other people all day? Or do they show up to work and sit quietly behind a desk all day? Do they spend their Monday mornings at the spa? Do they spend their Monday mornings sitting in lots of traffic? Do they bike to work? Do they carpool? Do they spend their days working from a laptop at home (like me?) Do they rush to the airport to catch yet another flight? Do they have the entire morning off because they work nights? Or do they stay in bed with their lovers? What your target audience does on a Monday morning says a lot about them, too, adding an extra dimension to what we already know about them, helping us get a clearer picture of what this person s lifestyle is like. It says a lot about what they re most likely dealing with on a regular basis, giving you a really good chance at guessing their daily frustrations, and being

14 able to position what you re selling in conjunction with those frustrations. It says a lot about how they view the world, too. Someone who s a stay at home mom may have different values than a woman who spends 12 hours in the office. And last but not least? The third and final question you want to take a look at is...why? Because it s the why behind behavior that s really going to be most useful to you. I could sit here and tell you that I get up every single morning and work out, but unless you know why, it doesn t give as complete of a picture. I might be getting up to work out because I ve got body issues and I m tired of being overweight. Or, I might be getting up to work out because I m battling depression. Or, I might be getting up to work out because I m in exceptional shape and I m training for a marathon. Or, I might be getting up to work out because my doctor told me I m going to die twenty years sooner if I don t. Or, I might be getting up and working out because it s the only time I can justify taking for myself, since I m a workaholic. Whatever that reason is? Will help you get inside my thoughts, and position yourself as someone who GETS ME. So--who the hell are you writing for, what do they do on Sunday mornings, what do they do on Monday mornings, and...why? Think about your past clients. Who are they? What are they doing on Sunday and Monday mornings and why? If you don t have any clients yet, envision your ideal client. What are they doing on Sunday and Monday mornings and why? Let s take a look at an example:

15 Let s say I m opening an online flower shop. (Just thinking of that makes me smile--can you imagine how good your home would smell all of the time, keeping all of the stock?) Let s say I m getting my website up, and I m trying to write product descriptions that are going to: a) Set me apart from all of my competitors (you re grimacing just thinking about flowers) b) Make people order from me. Period. Simple. So if I haven t taken Brandgasm, I m going to go about writing these product descriptions the old-fashioned way: By describing the product, inch by inch. Because, it s a product description, right? Wrong. (And by the way? We ll be talking a LOT more about product descriptions later on in the Brandgasm class - but to illustrate our current point about intimately knowing our customers and using that knowledge to craft compelling product descriptions handmade, with love, for them.) So here s an actual product and product description from who other than Flowers themselves:

16 In case you can t read that, it says: Serve up Spring with our beautiful blooming tulips! Sprouting from a charming, reusable white pitcher, our fresh gathering of vibrant yellow tulips is hand-designed by our expert florists to capture the sunny spirit of the season. Arrangement of yellow tulips are hand-designed by our florists in our exclusive food-safe white handled ceramic pitcher; measures 7.75 H Later, they can reuse the pitcher to serve beverages or to display more springtime bouquets Large arrangement of 20 tulips measures approximately 15 H x 14 L Medium arrangement of 15 tulips measures approximately 14 H x 13 L Small arrangement of 10 tulips measures approximately 13 H x 12 L Our florists hand-design each arrangement, so colors, varieties, and container may vary due to local availability Alright. Typical, right? Also typically boring. Is there anything in this product description that s making you want this bouquet of flowers more than any other bouquet of flowers you ve ever had? Probably not. And while you might be thinking that customers buy based on product images alone? You re wrong. (Again, we ll talk about this more when we learn how to write compelling product descriptions, but J. Peterman is my favorite example of this. Their copy is so compelling they don t even need product images--they sell their products using only a sketch of the product. And they do WELL.) Customers might be looking for a certain item like flowers, yes, but which item they choose,

17 and who they choose it from? Has everything to do with the copy--particularly when you re selling online. Which brings me to the reason why I asked you to do task #2 in the copywriting prep - to track which things you found yourself buying, and noting why you had selected that particular product instead of a competitor s. It was an exercise in awareness, and for this exact purpose. Perhaps you found yourself noting things like: Because this one seemed more like me Because this one had cuter packaging Because this one just seemed better Because it was cheaper However, I m willing to wager a bet with you and say that the things you bought because they were cheaper were most likely interchangeable commodities like toilet paper, dish soap, or bottled water. Weren t they? Because those things are, more or less, the same. So since they re the same, they can compete on price. But guess what? Whatever you re selling online? Isn t a commodity. And that s good news. Because it means that you can give people other reasons to buy from you other than price. Reasons like because it seemed more like me, or because it seemed better. Those reasons? Are perceptions. And those perceptions are made because you ve helped them formed those perceptions through your copy and your design. And that s precisely why we re here today--to learn how to fine tune that skill.

18 Now maybe you re thinking that, for all intents and purposes, your services are more or less the same as everybody else s. Life coaches. SEO writers. Marketing folks. English teachers. So maybe you re feeling a bit like a commodity, eh? Maybe you ve thought to yourself, How do I set myself apart in a sea of life coaches/seo writers/marketing folks/english teachers? Remember this: It isn t about what you sell. It s about how you sell it. So back to our flower example. Our friends at Flowers wrote up a typical product description that focuses mostly on the what. What the product is, what size it is, how many there are, and what it costs. As most people do when they sit down to write a product description. But the question is: Where, in that product description, do the words help me feel understood, or help me reaffirm my own identity? Nowhere. That s where. And that s a problem. Let me take another time out here and mention that I know this is sounding woo woo. I know this is sounding way too overboard for a simple vase of flowers. But when your business depends on selling that simple vase of flowers...over and over again? You better be thinking about this stuff. Because it isn t overboard. It s the stuff that sales are made of.

19 So what would it look like if, before the writer sat down to write this product description, they thought first about their target market? What if they thought first about what their target market was thinking? What if they thought first about how that target market is feeling? And what if they thought first about why that target market would be thinking and feeling those things, and how this damn vase of flowers is suppose to help them? (Remember--the target isn t the person receiving the flowers; it s the person buying them.) Do you think they d come up with a very different product description? You bet your ass they would. If I were the copywriter tasked with coming up with a product description for that vase of yellow flowers, the first thing I would do is think of who the hell we re trying to sell them to, first. (Again, remember--it s the buyer, not the receiver.) Which brings us to another important part of psychographics: What happens when you ve got more than one target market? What happens when it isn t all the same, like it probably isn t when you re selling flowers online? Unless you specialize in flowers only for nursing homes, this is likely the case. :) So...what do you do then? (I know you ve been thinking it.) What you do is this: First, you sit down and identify which principal target markets you do have. For our online flower business, lets imagine we ve got the following principal target markets: Get well soon Anniversaries Birthdays

20 Congratulations House warming I m sorry Love/romance Sympathy Baby Funerals Weddings Funny--that s looking a lot like something you ve seen before, isn t it? Could it be...the different site categories you d find on a site like flowers? Why yes, it is, indeed. And if I m a smart marketer, I will be directing my different market segments to different areas on my site...not just to help them find what they re looking for (though that s important), but SO I CAN SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THEM, and help them feel understood, and help reinforce their identity of a loving relative / thoughtful friend / romantic boyfriend / caring neighbor, etc Flowers doesn t do this. You can find the same product and product description listed under multiple categories. The categories exist merely for the ease of searching/finding. However, if I were in charge of the marketing and copywriting for Flowers, you better believe I d be segmenting my target market, driving them to the right area of the site, and then speaking directly to them--instead of in general, one-size-fits-all terms. Because one size does not fit all when you re trying to make one person feel important. Because one person isn t everybody. They re them. Get it? So, let s take this a step further. What would I write as a product description for this yellow

21 bouquet of tulips? Well, as I just mentioned, I wouldn t write one; I d write several. And for the sake of example, one in the get well category might look something like this: Yellow Daffodil Bouquet :: Get Well Soon Buyers Very important person in the hospital? Naturally, you want to be the good-hearted, loyal, caring guy (or gal) who shows up in a cape, never leaves their bedside, swats away the nurses, and saves them from too many reruns of Judge Judy. (This is what they re trying to demonstrate when they re sending flowers, right? So we put that in the product description to help reinforce their identity of the person they re trying to be by sending these flowers.) // But...you ve got a job. Meetings. That dentist appointment. Soccer practice. The dry cleaner. Housework. Oil changes. Laundry. And that Friday night PTA meeting. (Shows them that we understand their busy life--and why they need to send flowers, instead of showing up bedside.) // When life gets in the way of your best intentions? Package your best intentions with a

22 grin-inducing, canary-colored tulip bouquet--existing in mother nature almost solely for occasions like this. (Positioning these flowers as a representation of their best intentions.) // It s a dose of iridescent sunshine--and your love--in pure plant form. Plopped perfectly into a buttermilk pitcher they ll use forever--every time they use it, they ll remember it was you who took the time out to care. (Because people want credit for the good deeds they do, and if they think they re going to get more mileage out of a vase that they can get credit for giving over and over again? It s a selling point, believe it or not.) // The large arrangement, 20 tulips. The medium, 15. The small, 10. All hand-arranged. And all so bright, you might even need to send along some sunglasses, too. (Clincher, making them smile one last time, helping to seal the deal on the sale.) // Now, let s go back to the Flowers product description again:

23 Serve up Spring with our beautiful blooming tulips! Sprouting from a charming, reusable white pitcher, our fresh gathering of vibrant yellow tulips is hand-designed by our expert florists to capture the sunny spirit of the season. Arrangement of yellow tulips are hand-designed by our florists in our exclusive foodsafe white handled ceramic pitcher; measures 7.75 H Later, they can reuse the pitcher to serve beverages or to display more springtime bouquets Large arrangement of 20 tulips measures approximately 15 H x 14 L Medium arrangement of 15 tulips measures approximately 14 H x 13 L Small arrangement of 10 tulips measures approximately 13 H x 12 L Our florists hand-design each arrangement, so colors, varieties, and container may vary due to local availability Doesn t it seem even more bland? Typical? General? Average? You bet it does. Because it doesn t take their target market s thoughts, feelings, goals, and everything else into consideration. Just...the tulips. And instead of helping to raise their product into something that s a clear choice, by resonating with the buyer? They ve exaggerated how much of a commodity their flowers are, making their buyers feel comfortable price shopping them. Because with product descriptions like that? All yellow tulips are the same, right? Our yellow tulips, on the other hand, are anything but. Because we ve set them up to be perceived that way. And we used our target market s thoughts, feelings, and identities to guide us down the right

24 path, and help us shape the perceptions we want to give. And that, right there, is why your target market is the most important factor in your copywriting. And that, right there, wraps section one of copywriting principles. Next section, we ll be talking about more copywriting principles, but digging deeper into the psychology of human beings, and how we can use that knowledge to help us write exactly what they want (and need) to hear. Then, moving forward, we ll be looking at specific copy types, such as headlines, opt-ins, teaser copy and more, and showing you how to apply these very principles to those copy elements...so you can start writing like a pro. And more importantly, earning like one.