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Copywriting Makeover: Know Where Your Customers Are In The Buying Process Part 2 of 2
by Karon Thackston 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com In part one of this article series, I introduced a client of mine (AEwebworks) who suffered from some copywriting traumas. The basic diagnosis was a lack of synergy within the copy,...
Ghostwriting - Making Money by Being Invisible
My bookcase takes up one whole wall in the family room, from floor to ceiling. It shows my eclectic reading tastes... fiction, non-fiction, Harry Potter next to murder mysteries and metaphysical literature. Also there are books I've written for the...
Have You Plotted Your Story Before Writing It?
Creative Writing Tips The writer, who doesnt have the time to plot, always finds the time to rewrite. Sound familiar? Ive been guilty of this too, back in the early days of my writing apprenticeship. I was so eager to get stuck into...
Script MechanicsSuggestions for Writing Effective Voiceover Copy
As with any of the performing arts, an effective voiceover begins with a well-crafted script. You dont have to have many years of writing experience to create copy that is both effective and a pleasure for the voice actor to perform. Here are...
What a C.I.A. Black Ops Officer Taught Me About Copywriting
When I was in the Air Force, I had the opportunity to attend a
very "special" training course taught by very "special"
instructors.
One of my instructors was a former Navy S.E.A.L. who had left the
Navy to join the C.I.A. as a special...
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Heres A Little-Known Secret To Writing Copy, For Serious Copywriters Only
Have you ever wondered how your copy sounds to your prospects when they're reading it?
If you have, here's a little-known trick to making your copy sound as clear as a bell, and feel as comforting as a warm fireplace in the winter.
The very best way to figure out how your copy sounds to your prospects, is NOT to read it, but to read it out loud. And actually, if you can have someone read it to you, preferably a child, that's even better.
When I first started writing copy, my 2 sons were in elementary and middle school. They were excited about my new career and were more than happy to read back my copy out loud to me.
Fortunately, my career progressed pretty rapidly, and it wasn't long before I was writing 13-page long-form sales letters.
Well, needless to say (and understandably so), my kids weren't as excited about reading their dad's 17-page "FREE Reports" and long-form sales letters, as they were about reading half-page newspaper display ads.
But luckily, I found a little tool that comes in handy, exactly for situations like this.
And, the price is right -- it won't even cost you a penny!
There's a software company out there called Read Please (www.readplease.com), located in Ontario, Canada, that's come up with the perfect tool for writers.
Not surprisingly, the program is also called "Read Please" and here's what it does: You copy the text from your document and paste it into the Read Please program.
Then, in any one of a number of different voices, the program reads back your text out loud over
your computer's speakers, word-for-word.
You get to choose the voice you like, and you can even slow-down or speed up the pace of the voice.
So what happens is, you have your copy in front of you while the Read Please program is reading your text back to you out loud, and then you start making all the corrections you need to, whenever you hear a mistake. All you do is "pause" the program using your mouse, when you have to do this.
You'll be able to see exactly where your errors are as you go along, and it'll be crystal clear whether or not your copy is flowing smoothly, and whether or not you're communicating clearly and saying what you need to.
Using this tool makes your copy much more effective.
If you want, there's even an upgraded version of the software you can buy for a few bucks, that has some nice bells and whistles added.
Consistently using Read Please helps me discover loads of errors I never would have ferreted out on my own -- at least not without a 12-year old reading the piece back to me.
Remember, the number one error you'll find yourself making, is not speaking clearly enough to your prospects. Remember, your prospect isn't "inside" your head -- they really don't understand what you're trying to sell them. So be crystal clear in what you're saying -- no one ever lost a sale for speaking too clearly!
About the Author
Craig Garber is one of America's Top Direct-Response Copywriters and Direct-Marketing Consultants. For more copywriting tips, go to www.kingofcopy.com
Copyright 2005 www.kingofcopy.com
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