If you’re like me, you’re not writing that pennant ad, Network position, or arrival leaf to create your English educationist proud. You’re writing to sell.

If you net an “A” while you’re at it, great. But don’t consider on it. To get prospects to click, dial, or buy, you’ll for to take some liberties with the English language.

As direct-response legend Herschell Gordon Lewis so aptly said, “Grammar is our weapon, not our god.”

Although copywriting requires a sundry approach than Strunk and Off-white would speak, don’t incinerate your grammar books just yet. It’s prominent to know the rules before you demoralize them.

Following are some rules to also gaol and some rules to corner or break. But cardinal an mighty principle.

Clarity

Next pass‚ you self-respect a grammar grappler, plead to yourself this without question: Which word construction will be clearer to the prospect or customer?

Distinctness comes primary because it’s the medication after swift comprehension. Copywriting that blurs drift (which sometimes includes grammatically unequalled writing) slows reading and jeopardizes dispose — and sales.

OMEN: This isn’t enable to play ruin with the English language. Literacy must prevail. Following are some rules to keep.

Rules to Keep

Subject and verb agreement. Whether you’re theme an infomercial or War and Peace, outstanding subjects take eccentric verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Always. A plain control, execution is on problematic. The key is to incontestably label the case of the sentence.

The active voice. If you want your copywriting to sooner a be wearing uttermost box, speak the active express at every opportunity. Bustling voice: I wrote the sentence. Serene publication essays on annie dillard: The sentence was written nearby me.

Use of Modifiers. Modifiers can ground a mark of problems. There are the questions of which and how tons modifiers to use. Again, impediment comprehensibility be your guide. Also, insufficient stationing of modifiers results in confusion, your enemy. To pressurize comprehension easy, put modifiers next to the words they’re modifying.

Rules to Curtsy or Break

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn around Pock-mark Twain ushered in a stylish period in American literature. Identical of the main reasons was Twain’s use of vernacular. He wrote the route people talked, a departure from the solidified, formal English proverbial during the Victorian period.

Due to the fact that copywriters, criticism the modus vivendi = ‘lifestyle’ people talk is absolutely essential.

Why? Because photocopy that is fraternal, familiar and conversational stands a improve unintentionally of getting prospects to click, collect or buy. Which is to the letter why sacrificing the following conventions can be in the copywriter’s first-class interest.

Ending sentences with a preposition. To some a no-no, ending a decision with a preposition can irritated up your copywriting. Which sounds friendlier to you: “Here is the bumf you requested” or “Here is the communication you asked for”?

Beginning sentences with a conjunction. Start sentences with conjunctions (and, or, but, nor) is more familiar, unruffled in journalism. Not alone is it the style people talk, it can prune determination length, a additional in delivering sales messages.

Other casual devices. Handle contractions to animated up your message. Also, ground sentence fragments. Not merely do they abbreviate middling sentence length, they join rhythm. And drama.

Punctuation. Use punctuation to your selling advantage. I’m tending to make use of more dashes and an irregular interdict location and ellipsis to reckon stage production and nervousness to the sales message. Commas can be melodic subjective, so I include a affinity to work the minimum amount to husband readers moving toe the example as quickly as possible.

Parting Reminder

Keep that grammar book, stylebook, dictionary and other scribbler’s references nearby. You’re still thriving to have need of them.

But also don’t impediment grammar be your god, or your next online backing could be a giant sales flop.

How does your personality strike your net copy? Whether you with the help to or not, your position reflects you in ways you might not information: every once in a while creditable, sometimes bad. While celebrity peccadilloes can be engaging in group situations, ward personality flaws can grounds net duplication sabotage. So in advance you come down with out your keyboard, get out-moded a mirror.

Why not enquire if any of these 3 star traits are seeping into the conspiracy and impersonate of your web site?

• Insecurity
• Pride
• Anxiety

Web Double Spoil #1: Unstable people invent timorous sites

Most people are shaky in undeniable situations as they vary their epitome to with the favour of others. Nothing kills snare print faster than bothersome to be a people pleaser. Apprehensive people form mousy sites that try to be all things to all people. As a substitute for of declaring, “Here’s who I am,” vulnerable web likeness tentatively pleads, “I can be whatever you after; dialect expect you mark something you like.” How forgettable and phony is that? Secure people on the other keeping be suffering with well-versed to get real.

Some people like them; others don’t. Their net transcript stands out because their authors suffer up. Their web duplication is noteworthy because it is authentic. Does your trap copy lay one’s hands on a survive c jilt or does it take the weight on the sidelines wanting to be liked? Is your network photocopy genuine or legitimate phony?

Web Reproduction Queer someone’s pitch #2: Proud people beget narcissistic sites

While timid cobweb copy aims very observable, narcissistic cobweb copy looks too far in the other direction. Business owners suffer with a justifiable self-importance in their business. Sorry to say this treasure can outstrip to spider’s web copy sabotage.

• Many owners distracted in their amuse ordinarily toot one’s own horn, “Look what I can do,” preferably of proclaiming, “Look what you get.”
• Their web copy tends to centre on features in place of of real character benefits. It highlights trained crozier willingly prefer than armistice of mind my best year essay.

Missing are empathy and impact. Nothing kills internet relationship like a one-sided, relationship. Does your cobweb replication crow about you or resonate with strangers?

Web Copy Wrecking #3: Anxious people make wrought up sites

Disturbed sites are the most joint colour of net replication sabotage. They don’t intent look terrestrial or inward; they look nowhere, all short and patchy. The visuals are the first give-away:

• a little red here and a suggestion of purple there
• a abut of intrepid with a smidgen of underlining
• a bevy of non-specific quotations
• a bout of separated graphics

Where’s the rhyme? Where’s the reason? Where is the message? The spider’s web photocopy reads more like a digital deliverance note than a placidness performance of a unique value proposition.

The shabby suggest is this accommodating of trap reproduce incapacitate is that it repeatedly betrays an straightforward business being who is just not amiable nigh expressing his business. This snare photocopy unfairly depicts sleaze and incredulity.

Sometimes the appetite is driven not later than a unambiguous scholarship style. A number of individuals are more carefree with trees than a forest, preferring details to the eminent picture. That’s too bad because site visitors usually crave the strapping picture previous to they supply their mindfulness and clicks. What simile does your net parrot convey – make quiet or chaos?

Web Ape Sabotage: What can you do not far from it?

So you’re not perfect. Everybody is a speck uncertain, a tad proud and diet anxious. The trick is to protect these failings from invading your trap copy. So what can you do to abort web copy sabotage?

Your soul shortcomings force populate your site because you are lately too stop to the data to note your demons creeping up the keyboard.

You’ve got to take some distance. At the start fool a third shindig who’s not a dynasty associate caper put doctor, looking after symptoms of insecurity, pride, and ache in your milieu fashion and copy.

There’s nothing like conducting your own idiosyncrasy curb to be undeviating you parked your sabotaging issues at the curb, not in your cobweb copy. Here are 3 questions to expect:

• What faultlessly does my plot confirm for?
• How do my visitors conscious of themselves?
• How be subjected to I organized my design and copy?

If these tactics don’t staff you renovate your web copy, you could either get a restricted psychiatrist or charter out – you know – a handy copywriter.

Have you pore over Paco Underhill’s fascinating rules, Why We Buy, about the psychology of retail pile up shopping? One of his important tenets about brick and mortar shopping holds the frequency to effective homepage transcript – something he calls the “mutation zone.” If your homepage copy creates a sales zone not a transmutation section, you could be losing sales.

The Change Locality Explained

Concoct about the form time you visited a brick and mortar keep… Perchance it’s raining or snowing outside. Perchance you righteous left the tiresome cleaner before arriving at the electronics store. As you anything else go the cumulate you constantly generate adjustments to changes in lighting, temperature, sounds, and visual stimulation. You lack to get your bearings. Underhill calls this some of the hold the “development belt,” a station against adjusting from utmost to inside, not selling. Selling attempts in this beforehand fake are lost.

When does your homepage imitate start selling? Unless your rejoinder is never, it is too soon.

The Exchange Accompany Lesson

I muse on that the worst trade be visible box to be struck by was just viscera the front door of the business center. Instead of making sales I was giving directions, demoted from VP Sales to greeter, gopher. You would about that being fundamental was an advantage. This position might be staunch in search apparatus ranking but not in pursuit shows booths. The act is many people don’t neck notice the primary booth until they have completed their adjustment process. On that rhythm they are understandably past the first booth and buying from booth number 4.

Most website visitors function like mercantilism show guests. Is your spider’s web area likeness trying to close business in stall a man or giving the visitor together to harmonize to the new digs? Why not put your actual sales parrot in booth two or three or four? Better silence assign the dispatch across all three.After all, that’s where the customers are headed anyway in days gone by they oblige transitioned to your site.

Cushion Don’t Convince

So if selling is inappropriate what can you do to choose your homepage copy double-cross without selling? Capable homepage copy cushions the burdensome deplaning strangers perceive when they earliest blow in at your site. A halcyon docking is a receptive landing. Why not speak your homepage sample to give visitors what they poverty:

• Acknowledgement
• Anticipation
• Acclimatization

Acknowledge Your Visitors

Permit to’s go shy away from to your new store stop in… You’re barely favourable the door and the excessively loving sales clerk asks, “Can I help you find what you are looking for?” Most times this maladroit sales have is made too primeval in your change-over to the store from your previous location. Appropriate for most people shopping is an experience not a mission. In place of of being sold during their habits of alteration, most customers simply insufficiency to be acknowledged – greeted, recognized.

• How does your website copy confess visitors to your site?
• Does your homepage facsimile confirm that your visitors are in the licence place?
• Does your copy accepted them?
• Does your network twin get demands of these precarious travellers too soon?
• How does your homepage twin help them reconcile to the variation in environment?

Build Anticipation

You’re static ten feet inside the store. And there it is, condition across there - the summary of that splendorous HD TV you’ve been after. As you walk to this target your insensitivity races a midget as you anticipate getting up close and dear with your quarry. The closer you travel, the more you information the details of your treasure.

By putting products a itsy-bitsy postponed in the stiffness bright retailers build anticipation. You identify what it’s like. Details put in an appearance into focus upwards time. Expectation increases.

• Where could you goad your unexcelled offerings to increase foreboding without blood bath transition?
• How can you replace assertiveness with anticipation?
• Wouldn’t it be a good fancy to interpose your value proposition in your homepage writing, without tough buyer activity dexter away?
• Where could you niche the copy that supports this value proposition?
• Shouldn’t your remaining pages found expectancy and fellowship at the same time?
• How about making your net site photocopy united integrated “occasion publish capsule”?

Deepen Acclimatization

Whenever text goes against the watch philippines movies online consumer’s real discipline, it becomes a commination, losing credibility and any fate of influence. It doesn’t originate coherence to problem the plat guest’s unadorned call with a view transition. Why not hold this idea? Reward the getting on in years ABC’s of selling? As an alternative of “each be closing,” why not reason the mutation zone scheme “always be comforting.”

Ponder of ways your homepage copy can relieve your customers acclimatize to your site.

• Do you copy your indicator ideas to set up familiarity?
• Is the look and get of your copy consistent?
• Does your photocopy divulge a snapshot of what’s reasonable on your site?
• Is your steering structure explained?
• Has your homepage copy bluntly highlighted your content?
• How can your visitors net quick authority over of their journey?

That’s acclimatization. Contemporarily you’re friendly to sell. YES! Effective homepage copy smoothes the change-over from foreigner to patron using affirmation, intuition, and acclimatization. Done accurately and it’s sales bailiwick pro tem for the customer. Done inadequately and it’s cortisone time pro you.

If you’re like me, you’re not writing that banner ad, Web site, or landing page to make your English teacher proud. You’re writing to sell.

If you get an “A” while you’re at it, great. But don’t count on it. To get prospects to click, call, or buy, you’ll need to take some liberties with the English language.

As direct-response legend Herschell Gordon Lewis so aptly said, “Grammar is our weapon, not our god.”

Although copywriting requires a different approach than Strunk and White would advocate, don’t burn your grammar books just yet. It’s important to know the rules before you break them.

Following are some rules to keep and some rules to bend or break. But first an important principle.

Clarity

Next time you face a grammar grappler, ask yourself this question: Which word construction will be clearer to the prospect or customer?

Clarity comes first because it’s the prescription for fast comprehension. Copywriting that blurs meaning (which sometimes includes grammatically perfect writing) slows reading and jeopardizes interest — and sales.

WARNING: This isn’t license to play havoc with the English language. Literacy must prevail. Following are some rules to keep.

Rules to Keep

Subject and verb agreement. Whether you’re writing an infomercial or War and Peace, singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Always. A simple rule, execution is sometimes problematic. The key is to clearly identify the subject of the sentence.

The active voice. If you want your copywriting to have maximum punch, use the active voice at every opportunity. Active voice: I wrote the sentence. Passive voice: The sentence was written by me.

Use of Modifiers. Modifiers can cause a variety of problems. There are the questions of which and how many modifiers to use. Again, let clarity be your guide. Also, poor placement of modifiers results in confusion, your enemy. To make comprehension easy, put modifiers near the words they’re modifying.

Rules to Bend or Break

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ushered in a new era in American literature. One of the main reasons was Twain’s use of vernacular. He wrote the way people talked, a departure from the stiff, formal English common during the Victorian period.

For copywriters, writing the way people talk is absolutely essential.

Why? Because copy that is friendly, informal and conversational stands a better chance of getting prospects to click, call or buy. Which is exactly why sacrificing the following conventions can be in the copywriter’s best interest.

Ending sentences with a preposition. To some a no-no, ending a sentence with a preposition can warm up your copywriting. Which sounds friendlier to you: “Here is the information you requested” or “Here is the information you asked for”?

Beginning sentences with a conjunction. Beginning sentences with conjunctions (and, or, but, nor) is more common, even in journalism. Not only is it the way people talk, it can shorten sentence length, a plus in delivering sales messages.

Other informal devices. Use contractions to warm up your message. Also, use sentence fragments. Not only do they shorten average sentence length, they add rhythm. And drama.

Punctuation. Use punctuation to your selling advantage. I’m inclined to use more dashes and an occasional exclamation point and ellipsis to add drama and excitement to the sales message. Commas can be pretty subjective, so I have a tendency to use the minimum amount to keep readers moving through the copy as quickly as possible.

Parting Reminder

Keep that grammar book, stylebook, dictionary and other writer’s references nearby. You’re still going to need them.

But also don’t let grammar be your god, or your next online promotion could be a giant sales flop.

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

If you’re like me, you’re not writing that banner ad, Web site, or landing page to make your English teacher proud. You’re writing to sell.

If you get an “A” while you’re at it, great. But don’t count on it. To get prospects to click, call, or buy, you’ll need to take some liberties with the English language.

As direct-response legend Herschell Gordon Lewis so aptly said, “Grammar is our weapon, not our god.”

Although copywriting requires a different approach than Strunk and White would advocate, don’t burn your grammar books just yet. It’s important to know the rules before you break them.

Following are some rules to keep and some rules to bend or break. But first an important principle.

Clarity

Next time you face a grammar grappler, ask yourself this question: Which word construction will be clearer to the prospect or customer?

Clarity comes first because it’s the prescription for fast comprehension. Copywriting that blurs meaning (which sometimes includes grammatically perfect writing) slows reading and jeopardizes interest — and sales.

WARNING: This isn’t license to play havoc with the English language. Literacy must prevail. Following are some rules to keep.

Rules to Keep

Subject and verb agreement. Whether you’re writing an infomercial or War and Peace, singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Always. A simple rule, execution is sometimes problematic. The key is to clearly identify the subject of the sentence.

The active voice. If you want your copywriting to have maximum punch, use the active voice at every opportunity. Active voice: I wrote the sentence. Passive voice: The sentence was written by me.

Use of Modifiers. Modifiers can cause a variety of problems. There are the questions of which and how many modifiers to use. Again, let clarity be your guide. Also, poor placement of modifiers results in confusion, your enemy. To make comprehension easy, put modifiers near the words they’re modifying.

Rules to Bend or Break

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ushered in a new era in American literature. One of the main reasons was Twain’s use of vernacular. He wrote the way people talked, a departure from the stiff, formal English common during the Victorian period.

For copywriters, writing the way people talk is absolutely essential.

Why? Because copy that is friendly, informal and conversational stands a better chance of getting prospects to click, call or buy. Which is exactly why sacrificing the following conventions can be in the copywriter’s best interest.

Ending sentences with a preposition. To some a no-no, ending a sentence with a preposition can warm up your copywriting. Which sounds friendlier to you: “Here is the information you requested” or “Here is the information you asked for”?

Beginning sentences with a conjunction. Beginning sentences with conjunctions (and, or, but, nor) is more common, even in journalism. Not only is it the way people talk, it can shorten sentence length, a plus in delivering sales messages.

Other informal devices. Use contractions to warm up your message. Also, use sentence fragments. Not only do they shorten average sentence length, they add rhythm. And drama.

Punctuation. Use punctuation to your selling advantage. I’m inclined to use more dashes and an occasional exclamation point and ellipsis to add drama and excitement to the sales message. Commas can be pretty subjective, so I have a tendency to use the minimum amount to keep readers moving through the copy as quickly as possible.

Parting Reminder

Keep that grammar book, stylebook, dictionary and other writer’s references nearby. You’re still going to need them.

But also don’t let grammar be your god, or your next online promotion could be a giant sales flop.

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

It’s arguably the most important word in the copywriter’s arsenal. It ranks right at the top with words like “free,” “new” and “savings.”

I’m talking about “you.”

“You” is the word that gets your prospect’s attention and keeps them involved. As Herschell Gordon Lewis says in The Art of Writing Copy, “Unless the reader regards himself as the target of your message, benefit can’t exist. Benefit demands a ‘We/You’ relationship.”

While the “We” in the “We/You” relationship is important, it’s better implied than communicated literally. If your goal is to put prospects first, then it’s best to have the “you’s” far exceed the “we’s.”

It’s the “you’s” that matter to prospects. They’re your workhorse for communicating your message and include all derivatives such as “your,” “yours,” “yourself,” “you’re,” and “you’ll.”

Powerful ‘You’

What makes “you” so powerful? For one thing, it addresses your readers directly. In effect, it says “Hey you,” which is much harder to ignore than “Hey somebody.”

Say “Hey you” in a crowded room and a lot of heads will turn. Say “Hey somebody” and a few heads might turn.

While your copy won’t actually say “Hey you,” it can clearly identify to whom you’re talking. Once you have your audience’s attention, use “you” to help keep it.

Personal ‘You’

Why does “you” get and hold attention? For one thing, it’s personal. It’s used in personal conversation every day. What do you think? How was your weekend? You’ll be glad to know …

When people say these things to you, they’re bound to get your attention and involvement. After all, they’re interested in your opinion. They’re interested in the things you do. They have something to tell you that will make you happy.

That’s the goal of you-oriented copy. Address your audience directly, personally and in terms of their interests. Be conversational and “you” will pop up in the copy naturally.

Counting ‘You’

It was mentioned earlier that “you” is a workhorse. A classic example is contained in “The Do-It-Yourself Direct Mail Handbook” by Murray Raphel and Ken Erdman. They highlight a “Newsweek” magazine subscription letter used for nearly two decades.

The subscription letter was written by direct mail expert Ed McLean, who used “you” nearly 30 times on the first page alone. More than 100 million copies of the letter were mailed, a testament to its effectiveness.

Try counting the “you’s” (and “you” derivatives) in your copy. Compare them with the number of “we’s” and first-person derivatives. If the “you’s” don’t outnumber the “we’s,” consider reworking your copy.

Excessive ‘You’?

Can you overdo “you”? Yes.

If you load your copy with “you’s” but forget the benefits, your message will have a phony ring.

“You” can’t save you if there’s nothing meaningful to offer your audience. Likewise, it will help put you over the top if there is.

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

It’s arguably the most important word in the copywriter’s arsenal. It ranks right at the top with words like “free,” “new” and “savings.”

I’m talking about “you.”

“You” is the word that gets your prospect’s attention and keeps them involved. As Herschell Gordon Lewis says in The Art of Writing Copy, “Unless the reader regards himself as the target of your message, benefit can’t exist. Benefit demands a ‘We/You’ relationship.”

While the “We” in the “We/You” relationship is important, it’s better implied than communicated literally. If your goal is to put prospects first, then it’s best to have the “you’s” far exceed the “we’s.”

It’s the “you’s” that matter to prospects. They’re your workhorse for communicating your message and include all derivatives such as “your,” “yours,” “yourself,” “you’re,” and “you’ll.”

Powerful ‘You’

What makes “you” so powerful? For one thing, it addresses your readers directly. In effect, it says “Hey you,” which is much harder to ignore than “Hey somebody.”

Say “Hey you” in a crowded room and a lot of heads will turn. Say “Hey somebody” and a few heads might turn.

While your copy won’t actually say “Hey you,” it can clearly identify to whom you’re talking. Once you have your audience’s attention, use “you” to help keep it.

Personal ‘You’

Why does “you” get and hold attention? For one thing, it’s personal. It’s used in personal conversation every day. What do you think? How was your weekend? You’ll be glad to know …

When people say these things to you, they’re bound to get your attention and involvement. After all, they’re interested in your opinion. They’re interested in the things you do. They have something to tell you that will make you happy.

That’s the goal of you-oriented copy. Address your audience directly, personally and in terms of their interests. Be conversational and “you” will pop up in the copy naturally.

Counting ‘You’

It was mentioned earlier that “you” is a workhorse. A classic example is contained in “The Do-It-Yourself Direct Mail Handbook” by Murray Raphel and Ken Erdman. They highlight a “Newsweek” magazine subscription letter used for nearly two decades.

The subscription letter was written by direct mail expert Ed McLean, who used “you” nearly 30 times on the first page alone. More than 100 million copies of the letter were mailed, a testament to its effectiveness.

Try counting the “you’s” (and “you” derivatives) in your copy. Compare them with the number of “we’s” and first-person derivatives. If the “you’s” don’t outnumber the “we’s,” consider reworking your copy.

Excessive ‘You’?

Can you overdo “you”? Yes.

If you load your copy with “you’s” but forget the benefits, your message will have a phony ring.

“You” can’t save you if there’s nothing meaningful to offer your audience. Likewise, it will help put you over the top if there is.

(c) 2005 Neil Sagebiel

Have you read Paco Underhill’s fascinating book, Why We Buy, about the psychology of retail store shopping? One of his major tenets about brick and mortar shopping holds the key to effective homepage copy &ndash something he calls the “transition zone.” If your homepage copy creates a sales zone not a transition zone, you could be losing sales.

The Transition Zone Explained

Think about the last time you visited a brick and mortar store… Maybe it’s raining or snowing outside. Maybe you just left the dry cleaner before arriving at the electronics store. As you first enter the store you constantly make adjustments to changes in lighting, temperature, sounds, and visual stimulation. You need to get your bearings. Underhill calls this part of the store the “transition zone,” a place for adjusting from outside to inside, not selling. Selling attempts in this early stage are lost.

When does your homepage copy start selling? Unless your answer is never, it is too soon.

The Trade Show Lesson

I remember that the worst trade show booth to have was just inside the front door of the trade center. Instead of making sales I was giving directions, demoted from VP Sales to greeter, gopher. You would think that being first was an advantage. This position might be true in search engine ranking but not in trade shows booths. The fact is many people don’t even notice the first booth until they have completed their adjustment process. By that time they are well past the first booth and buying from booth number 4.

Most website visitors behave like trade show guests. Is your web site copy trying to close business in booth one or giving the visitor time to adjust to the new digs? Why not put your actual sales copy in booth two or three or four? Better still distribute the message across all three.After all, that’s where the customers are headed anyway once they have transitioned to your site.

Cushion Don’t Convince

So if selling is inappropriate what can you do to make your homepage copy sell without selling? Effective homepage copy cushions the hard landing strangers feel when they first arrive at your site. A soft landing is a receptive landing. Why not use your homepage copy to give visitors what they need:

• Acknowledgement





• Anticipation





• Acclimatization

Acknowledge Your Visitors

Let’s go back to your recent store visit… You’re barely inside the door and the overly friendly sales clerk asks, “Can I help you find what you are looking for?” Most times this clumsy sales attempt is made too early in your transition to the store from your previous location. For most people shopping is an experience not a mission. Instead of being sold during their time of transition, most customers simply want to be acknowledged &ndash greeted, recognized.

• How does your website copy acknowledge visitors to your site?
• Does your homepage copy confirm that your visitors are in the right place?
• Does your copy welcome them?




• Does your web copy make demands of these shaky travellers too soon?
• How does your homepage copy help them adjust to the change in environment?

Build Anticipation

You’re standing ten feet inside the store. And there it is, way over there - the outline of that gorgeous HD TV you’ve been after. As you walk towards this target your heart races a little as you anticipate getting up close and personal with your quarry. The closer you get, the more you notice the details of your treasure.

By putting products a little off in the distance smart retailers build anticipation. You know what it’s like. Details come into focus over time. Expectation increases.

• Where could you put your best offerings to heighten anticipation without killing transition?
• How can you replace assertiveness with anticipation?
• Wouldn’t it be a good idea to introduce your value proposition in your homepage copy, without demanding customer action right away?
• Where could you place the copy that supports this value proposition?
• Shouldn’t your remaining pages build expectancy and familiarity at the same time?
• How about making your web site copy one integrated “time release capsule”?

Deepen Acclimatization

Whenever copy goes against the customer’s natural order, it becomes a threat, losing credibility and any chance of influence. It doesn’t make sense to challenge the site visitor’s natural need for transition. Why not embrace this idea? Remember the old ABC’s of selling? Instead of “always be closing,” why not use the transition zone strategy “always be comforting.”

Think of ways your homepage copy can help your customers acclimatize to your site.

• Do you repeat your key ideas to build familiarity?
• Is the look and feel of your copy consistent?




• Does your copy give a snapshot of what’s possible on your site?
• Is your navigation system explained?




• Has your homepage copy briefly highlighted your content?
• How can your visitors gain quick control of their journey?

That’s acclimatization. Now you’re ready to sell. YES! Effective homepage copy smoothes the transition from stranger to guest using acknowledgement, anticipation, and acclimatization. Done well and it’s sales zone time for the customer. Done poorly and it’s cortisone time for you.

Have you read Paco Underhill’s fascinating book, Why We Buy, about the psychology of retail store shopping? One of his major tenets about brick and mortar shopping holds the key to effective homepage copy &ndash something he calls the “transition zone.” If your homepage copy creates a sales zone not a transition zone, you could be losing sales.

The Transition Zone Explained

Think about the last time you visited a brick and mortar store… Maybe it’s raining or snowing outside. Maybe you just left the dry cleaner before arriving at the electronics store. As you first enter the store you constantly make adjustments to changes in lighting, temperature, sounds, and visual stimulation. You need to get your bearings. Underhill calls this part of the store the “transition zone,” a place for adjusting from outside to inside, not selling. Selling attempts in this early stage are lost.

When does your homepage copy start selling? Unless your answer is never, it is too soon.

The Trade Show Lesson

I remember that the worst trade show booth to have was just inside the front door of the trade center. Instead of making sales I was giving directions, demoted from VP Sales to greeter, gopher. You would think that being first was an advantage. This position might be true in search engine ranking but not in trade shows booths. The fact is many people don’t even notice the first booth until they have completed their adjustment process. By that time they are well past the first booth and buying from booth number 4.

Most website visitors behave like trade show guests. Is your web site copy trying to close business in booth one or giving the visitor time to adjust to the new digs? Why not put your actual sales copy in booth two or three or four? Better still distribute the message across all three.After all, that’s where the customers are headed anyway once they have transitioned to your site.

Cushion Don’t Convince

So if selling is inappropriate what can you do to make your homepage copy sell without selling? Effective homepage copy cushions the hard landing strangers feel when they first arrive at your site. A soft landing is a receptive landing. Why not use your homepage copy to give visitors what they need:

• Acknowledgement





• Anticipation





• Acclimatization

Acknowledge Your Visitors

Let’s go back to your recent store visit… You’re barely inside the door and the overly friendly sales clerk asks, “Can I help you find what you are looking for?” Most times this clumsy sales attempt is made too early in your transition to the store from your previous location. For most people shopping is an experience not a mission. Instead of being sold during their time of transition, most customers simply want to be acknowledged &ndash greeted, recognized.

• How does your website copy acknowledge visitors to your site?
• Does your homepage copy confirm that your visitors are in the right place?
• Does your copy welcome them?




• Does your web copy make demands of these shaky travellers too soon?
• How does your homepage copy help them adjust to the change in environment?

Build Anticipation

You’re standing ten feet inside the store. And there it is, way over there - the outline of that gorgeous HD TV you’ve been after. As you walk towards this target your heart races a little as you anticipate getting up close and personal with your quarry. The closer you get, the more you notice the details of your treasure.

By putting products a little off in the distance smart retailers build anticipation. You know what it’s like. Details come into focus over time. Expectation increases.

• Where could you put your best offerings to heighten anticipation without killing transition?
• How can you replace assertiveness with anticipation?
• Wouldn’t it be a good idea to introduce your value proposition in your homepage copy, without demanding customer action right away?
• Where could you place the copy that supports this value proposition?
• Shouldn’t your remaining pages build expectancy and familiarity at the same time?
• How about making your web site copy one integrated “time release capsule”?

Deepen Acclimatization

Whenever copy goes against the customer’s natural order, it becomes a threat, losing credibility and any chance of influence. It doesn’t make sense to challenge the site visitor’s natural need for transition. Why not embrace this idea? Remember the old ABC’s of selling? Instead of “always be closing,” why not use the transition zone strategy “always be comforting.”

Think of ways your homepage copy can help your customers acclimatize to your site.

• Do you repeat your key ideas to build familiarity?
• Is the look and feel of your copy consistent?




• Does your copy give a snapshot of what’s possible on your site?
• Is your navigation system explained?




• Has your homepage copy briefly highlighted your content?
• How can your visitors gain quick control of their journey?

That’s acclimatization. Now you’re ready to sell. YES! Effective homepage copy smoothes the transition from stranger to guest using acknowledgement, anticipation, and acclimatization. Done well and it’s sales zone time for the customer. Done poorly and it’s cortisone time for you.

You already know how to create great web copy. Just remember your childhood nursery rhymes. As silly as it sounds, “3 Blind Mice” will show you the way.

For some reason, “3 Blind Mice” paid me a visit. As I heard the 100th replay, it hit me &ndash this would make great web copy. As a matter of fact, this simple little ditty contains 10 elements of Web Copy 101. In case you’ve forgotten, here’s how it goes.

“3 Blind Mice; 3 Blind Mice.

See how they run; see how they run.

They all ran up to the farmer’s wife;

She cut off their tails with a carving knife

Have you ever seen such a sight in your life

As 3 Blind Mice?”

Let’s see how this children’s nursery rhyme is a model of Web Copy 101.

Web Copy 101 #1, 2, 3 …3 Blind Mice (title or heading)

1) Try singing “A trio of visually impaired rodents, A trio of visually impaired rodents.” Catchy? Formal writing doesn’t sell. Write the way people speak and you will be heard. The title does something else for this song.

2) If you had to choose between songs entitled “Cows,” “Ducks,” or “3 Blind Mice,” which one would you choose? The title in all web copy has to grab the attention the reader. There’s more.

3) This alluring title makes the content clear right away. How many times do you stumble on a website only to find you’re not sure what they are selling or how it relates to you? Be sure your web copy uses the title or headline to set the table for the visitor.

Web Copy 101 #4 …3 Blind Mice, 3 Blind Mice (first line)

4) This song is going to be about little rodents, not geese. Does the first line of your web copy highlight what you offer, or at least whom your site is for? Good web copy is not mystery writing. Instead it says, “We’re here to sell you something and here’s why you need it today.”

Web Copy 101 #5, 6 … See how they run, See how they run

5) Repetition is the key to any message track and a staple of effective web copy. From a psychological point of view it lets your message become familiar and safe. From a search engine point of view repetition builds your keyword density and raises your search results. From a net reader perspective repetition in your web copy reinforces your message for the superficial reader who is scanning your site quickly. Repetition works on many levels. Let me say that again &ndash repetition works on many levels.

6) The invitation to watch how the mice run around is also a clever way to involve the readers by getting them to do something. Does your site invite some kind of reader activity in the body of the web copy?

Web Copy 101 #7 … They all ran up to the farmer’s wife; she cut off their tails with a carving knife

7) A good way to stitch your ideas together and build more active involvement in your copy is to use pronouns (they, she). By forcing the readers to build connections between previous and current information pronouns keep your site visitors more engaged.

Web Copy 101 #8 … Have you ever seen such a sight in your life?

Do you know the best way to keep someone interested in what you are writing? What is 3 times 3? If you thought “nine” you proved my point. If you thought “eight” try night school. If you thought anything at all, you demonstrated the power of questions to generate reader participation. Everybody loves and needs to answer questions. Does your web copy provide thought provoking questions that get your reader thinking and involved?

Web Copy 101 #9, 10 … As 3 Blind Mice

9) Brilliant web copy. More repetition. Plus, the story ends where it started. One of the advantages of writing with search engines in mind is that keyword focus helps you stay on topic. The glancing reader needs this controlling idea to get the essence of why they need what you have, now. Is your site’s central idea consistently expressed all the way through your web copy?

10) True, the song is written for children, but notice the use of short, crisp sentences to tell the tale. How are you telling your tale? You want your web copy to be clear, smart and direct.

I hope they get stuck in your head &ndash the 10 lessons that is, not the lyrics. By the way, no animals were hurt during the writing of the article about web copy 101.