3-Step Killer Copywriting System Plus 10 Immutable Copywriting Rules For Success

By Eric Ruth

There are two skills you MUST develop in order to really excel as a small businessperson.

1. Copywriting – the science and art of “wordsmithing” to compel people to take action on your behalf.

2. Selling – the science and art of asking great questions, building rapport and closing the deal.

These two skills go hand-in-hand, particularly for fitness professionals.

It’s rare that you will be able to sell your services directly from your copy, but you will be able to magnetically attract highly qualified prospects to you by producing compelling marketing messages.

The better your copy is, the less emphasis you will have to place on selling, as prospects will come to you 95% pre-sold.

I say that these skills are “sciences and arts” because they combine elements of both.

There are scientifically proven formats and rules for both, but these skills become even more powerful when you incorporate your own personality and intuitive abilities.

If I was forced to develop only one of these skills, it would certainly be copywriting.

Great copywriting enables you to locate, qualify and pre-sell (sometimes completely sell) prospects for your business.

If you have done this part well, the only real sales “skill” that is absolutely necessary is the discipline and courage to ask for the order – to close.

Developing your understanding of, and ability to create good copy will put you light years ahead of your competition.

With that said, let me share with you my 3-Step Killer Copywriting System.

Unless you’ve been with me for a while, I would guess that most of your advertising is probably all about you.

It’s about your services, your credentials, your company, your this, your that.

It’s probably very “professional” with nice pictures and a sexy logo.  Your business name is very prominent – maybe the headline for your brochures.

And that probably makes you feel good.  It’s your name in lights!

Except… it doesn’t feel good when no prospects are generated from it – when no cash goes into your pocket because of it.

I see this time and again – even from folks I’d think should know better.

I got a call from my friends Matt and Kim a few months ago.  They own a beautiful restaurant in upstate New York and were planning their spring promotions.  Their restaurant is right by a lake and surrounded by towering Adirondack Pines.  It’s very picturesque.  They called me because they were laying out a brochure that would be placed in many of the hotels in their area to drive business to them.  They faxed me a copy of the lay-out.  The entire front page was a picture of their restaurant nestled among the trees with the lake in the background.  The headline was the name of their restaurant.

Now, I’ve been counseling them for years on how to market, but they still didn’t get it.  They are so in love with the beauty of their restaurant and their business name that they were convinced others would love it too.

The have a great slogan, “Two can dine very fine for $24.99.”  They wanted to know where they should put this slogan – this OFFER – on their brochure.

Can you guess what I told them?

That’s right – the OFFER should go right at the top of the front page – it should be their headline.

Why?

Well, let’s noodle this through so you understand.

How are brochures generally displayed?  In those little metal racks, right?

How much of the brochure can you see when it’s in the rack, surrounded by other brochures?

Usually just the top half of the front page.

Which makes that the MOST important real estate on the brochure.  If you don’t GRAB attention with that real estate, you will probably not grab it at all.

Say you’re visiting a resort location with your spouse and you’re looking for a nice restaurant to go to for dinner.  You’re looking at the brochures near the front desk of your hotel.  Every one of them has a picture and a name on the top front page.  All the pictures look nice, and the names are meaningless to you because you’re from out of town and don’t know the reputations of these restaurants.

But on one brochure, instead of a restaurant name, you see, “Two Can Dine Very Fine For $24.99.”

Aren’t you at least likely to pick it up and read more?

Doesn’t it DIFFERENTIATE itself from the other brochures with their meaningless (to you) restaurant names?

THIS IS THE SECRET TO SUCCESS.  You have to get people to READ your stuff.  Otherwise it’s worthless.

I told them to keep the picture, because it is beautiful, but CHANGE THE HEADLINE.

They did.  Business is booming!  They’ve tracked a 22% increase in sales over the same period last year as a result of their brochures.

This stuff works, my friend.

It works because prospects are simply NOT concerned about YOU… until you have convinced them you’re concerned about THEM.

Matt and Kim were focusing the advertising spotlight on themselves with their business name as the headline.

It’s critical that you focus the spotlight on your prospects’ needs and wants.

So here’s my 3-Step system for convincing your prospects you are concerned about them by focusing on their needs and wants.

Step One: Isolate the PROBLEM(s)
Step Two: Agitate the problem
Step Three: Solve the problem

In the case of Matt and Kim, their prospect’s problem is finding a nice restaurant for a good meal at a reasonable cost.

Two can dine very fine for $24.99 offers blessed relief in the form of a simple solution.

Step one: isolating the problem – requires that you understand WHO you are selling to.

Matt and Kim are selling to vacationers in a resort town who want a great meal in a beautiful location that isn’t going to cost them an arm and a leg.

Here are the RESEARCH questions you need to ask yourself BEFORE sitting down to write your copy:

1. WHO am I selling to?  Be specific.  Most people never really think this through.  Consider your ideal client.  How much do you know about him or her?

2. What is the PROBLEM in this person’s life that your services will resolve?  Go deep here.  Explore this question.  Maybe it’s a feeling of inadequacy that they are not caring for their “temple.”  Maybe it’s fear of disease or debilitating injury as they age.  Maybe it’s vanity.  Maybe it’s wanting to be a good role model for their children.  Maybe it’s wanting to be more attractive to their spouse.  Maybe it’s all of the above.  What’s truly instructive about this exercise is that you’ll notice the EMOTIONS that are tied to each of these feelings are VERY powerful.

3. How does this person EXPERIENCE their problem – their dissatisfaction?  They may experience this dissatisfaction as a sense of shame because their children are overweight just like them.  Or they may experience self-loathing because of their appearance.  Or possibly that they’re not being responsible by putting undue stress on their heart.  If you can figure out their PAIN and speak to them about it in your copy, you will be light years ahead of your competition. 

4. What am I selling?  This is where most people start when they are crafting a marketing message.  If you start here, you will have problems.  Because what you’re selling is about you.  First you have to talk about your prospect.  Once you understand your prospect’s pain, you can POSITION your services as the solution.

5. In what ways does what I’m selling SOLVE the prospect’s problem(s)?  Your answers to this question make up the “keys to the vault.”  This is the hard work you must do before you sit down to write your copy.  You’ve got to noodle this through first.  This is the BIG pay-off work that you have to do.

6. How can I PROVE what I’m selling will solve their problem?  There are lots of ways.  Testimonials, before/after pictures, case studies, facts, certifications, degrees, awards, reviews in the press, etc.  This is where you load up with a PREPONDERANCE OF PROOF that your services are the solution.

Now you’re ready to write.

Writing good copy is not easy.  But it will be much, much easier – and thousands times more fruitful and successful – if you’ve done the research we just talked about.

Here’s how you structure your copy:

1. Start with a big promise about your prospect’s problem – either that you will help solve the problem or help achieve a goal.

2. Offer convincing proof that you really can deliver on what you’ve promised.

3. Agitate the problem by illuminating the fallacies of the other “so-called” solutions and how they DO NOT WORK.

4. Solve the problem with your solution.  Make it clear that you offer the only LEGITIMATE solution to their problem.

5. Ask the prospect to take ACTION – to contact you or request more information or whatever you want them to do.

 

10 Immutable Copywriting Rules For Success

#1: Link your marketing message to the conversation that’s occurring in your prospect’s mind.  This refers to the emotional connection we talked about earlier.  If someone is looking for a weight loss/fitness solution, it’s because some form of frustration, pain, resentment, anger, hope, fear, desire or timely event is dominating their internal conversation right now.

#2: Tie your message to current events.  Pay attention to what’s going on in the news.  Be relevant.  Be controversial.  Be NEWSWORTHY.  This applies particularly to when you are writing press releases and articles/columns for publication.

#3:  Make your tone personal and conversational – never “professional” “text-book” or “institutional”.  Your readers (prospects) want a RELATIONSHIP with a PERSON who has a PERSONALITY – not a nameless, faceless business.

#4:  Don’t talk about “we” did this, or “we” do that.  “Our” solutions, “our” training system – who is “we” or “our”?  This will RUIN your copy.  All copy should be written in a first person format as if you’re writing a letter to a friend.  “I” can help “you”.

#5: Use the roundhouse haymaker as soon as you hear the bell.  Go for the knockout punch immediately.  Command attention with a strong, in-your-face statement – A BIG PROMISE.  Don’t start your stuff with pleasantries.  Be BOLD.  Your goal is to hit your target right on the nose with an instantly compelling message – A BOLD HEADLINE – that is benefit rich.  You want the reader to stop in their tracks and read what you have to say.  Don’t be weak, wimpy or polite.  SHOW YOUR PERSONALITY!  Find your voice.  Think about what you REALLY want to say to your clients/prospects who DOUBT the veracity or value of what you teach – SCREAM IT OUT!  If you think this is too “hyped” or “sensational” an approach, I can only tell you this: I’ve written over 1,000 unique direct sales letters.  I was a big-time political fund raising copywriter for a few years, raising many millions of dollars through direct mail.  The letters that pulled the best were the ones that incorporated three elements in the opening line: Issue, Enemy and Urgency.  I was never facile.  I screamed about the abuses of so and so.  I railed against this and that.  I was as biased and one-sided as I could be.  There is no room in good copy for understanding of the opposition.  You can never be a middle of the road person and expect killer results.  You MUST take a rock-solid approach and deliver WITHERING assaults against the enemy.  That’s what is compelling.  That’s what people respond to.  You are NOT trying to please everyone.  Your job is to SPEAK THE TRUTH AS YOU KNOW IT.  I can’t say that with enough emotion or emphasis.  If you are weak and conciliatory, your stuff will not pull well.  You must stand your ground and fight for what you believe in your heart.  Be an OUTSPOKEN LEADER and you WILL get results.

#6:  Good copy is “salesmanship in print.”  It is based on a specific strategy.  A “hook.”  It may be your guarantee.  It may be your specific “technology.”  You need to work from a single, bold sales strategy that will pull in those who are like minded, and those who are not – screw ‘em!

#7:  Your copy should be structured.  That’s what I talked about in the first part of this letter.  The Problem – Agitate – Solve strategy is one of the simplest and best that I know of.  State the problem, agitate it with emotional copy that the reader will relate to – speak to him/her with empathy – then solve his/her problem with your solution.  You want to try to overcome objections in your copy as well.  You want to invalidate the other so-called “solutions.”  Expose the fact that the emperor has no clothes.  Reveal the identity of the “wizard.”  Show that the potions, powders, diets and fitness gizmos are a scam to separate people from their money.  Be A POWERFUL ADVOCATE FOR THE ONLY LEGITIMATE SOLUTION – YOURS!

#8:  Work at being the best copywriter you can be.  I promise you this – if you develop this skill, you will never want for cash-flow again.  It’s a legal way to print money.  My father once told me that developing the skills of written and spoken communication are the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS I’LL EVER LEARN.  And he is right.  Being the best trainer will not make you rich.  Being the best communicator, motivator, success COACH and marketer will.  There’s no higher paid skill.

#9:  Close with everything you’ve got.  Unlike face-to-face selling, you cannot see the reactions of your prospect.  You do not have the luxury of time, of listening, of questioning.  You must give it everything you have right then and there.  End with a roar, not a wimper.  Be clear and straight forward exhorting, admonishing, even demanding your reader follow your instructions.  Tell your reader what he is to do next, how to do it, what will happen when he does, and WHY HE NEEDS TO DO IT IMMEDIATLEY.

#10:  The P.S. is gold.  Don’t EVER leave it out.  It is one of the most read parts of a sales letter (people generally read the headline, and if intrigued, skip to the last page to see who signed the letter where they will then read your P.S.).  You should always attempt to synthesize your offer and call to action in your P.S.  Leave it out at your own peril.

Okay, this has been a long newsletter this week.  But it is incredibly powerful and important.  I hope you will use this truly valuable information.  Be YOU!  That’s the best advice about writing I can give you.  Be who you are.  Let your personality shine through.  It WILL work for you.

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