This post is based on Episode 105 of the ProBlogger podcast.
This week I want to talk about writing sales copies.
Now, you’d probably rather write a blog post than sell something. You may even have become a blogger just so you can avoid Write a sales copy.
However, this is an important skill, especially if you want to monetize your blog by selling products or services. And I’m going to go over a little exercise to get you in the mood to write it.
Sell without the rot
If you feel bad about the idea of selling, you are not alone. At one point I was working in sales in an office supply store, and that job made me feel bad too. I was embarrassed about getting people to buy something they might not need or even want.
Selling is something I’ve always struggled with, even as a full-time blogger. Fortunately, as a blogger, I heard Ed Dale speak at a SuperFastBusiness conference. And in his presentation, Ed said something that really impressed me. He said, “Selling shouldn’t be about getting people to buy something they don’t really need. Selling should be about pain relief and creation. “
Pain and gain
Okay, let’s start with the exercise. It should only take about five minutes, and all you need is a pen and paper (or a keyboard and computer if you prefer to type rather than write).
Here is the first part of the exercise: think about your readers, and over the next two minutes, write down as much of their pains, problems, fears, needs, etc., as you can imagine, related to your product or service .
It could be deep pain. It could be a little pain. It can be pain that is justified. It could be pain that is a little bit selfish. They could be tangible or a little more personal. It could be something like “I don’t know how to do something and it’s painful”. Or it could be something more personal like “I feel lonely” or “I feel like a failure”. It does not matter. Just write it down.
Hopefully by now you have a long list of your readers’ pain. Now it is time to repeat the exercise. Just this time, write down all the things your readers want to attract.
What results do you want? What results do you want? What are your dreams? What do you want? What profits are they looking for that your product or service could offer? Just write them all down without censoring yourself.
Now is the time to write your sales copy, using the pain and gains you noted to “sell” your product or service. Because instead of telling your readers what it can, now you can tell them how it can ease their pain and give them what they want to gain.
Chalk and cheese
Two days after the conference, I was back at my desk finishing a sales email for an e-book we were promoting at the Digital Photography School. (The person who usually wrote our sales emails finished just before the conference.) I started writing the pre-conference email, but I got stuck writing all about product features and price . So I left it until I got back from the conference.
And I’m so glad I did.
I set the timer on my iPhone and spent the next two minutes writing down as much pain from my readers about the e-book as I could imagine. Then I started the timer again and wrote down all the wins I could think of.
By the end, I had written down about 25 pains and gains. I then highlighted the key issues and gains on each list and circled a few that I believed this particular e-book might help to relieve or provide.
And then I started to write. Only this time I didn’t write about why the product was good. I haven’t written about its features or its price. I didn’t even write about the offer. Instead, I wrote about the pain I knew they were feeling and the dreams I knew they had. And then I introduced them to the product that I knew would help bridge the gap between that pain and that gain.
I looked at what I had written and compared it to my previous attempt. It was like chalk and cheese. My first draft was about the product, the second about my reader. In my first draft, I tried to convince people to buy something. But the second step was to offer a solution to something I knew my readers were already looking for.
Those five minutes of worrying about the pain and gain for my readers not only changed the email itself, but changed the energy with which I wrote it.
Later this week, we ran a two-email campaign about the same product. This time I wrote about a couple of different pains that I knew this product would solve. The email converted very well. However, I also received emails from my readers in which I thanked them for selling the e-book. And when people thank you for convincing them to buy your product, a dream will come true.
Beyond the sales pitch
This exercise really helped me write a better sales copy. And I am sure it will do the same for you. But it can also be useful in other ways.
It can help you decide which product or service to offer in the first place. Think about the pain your readers want relief from and the things they have or want to achieve. Could you come up with a product or service that will give them what they want?
If you are thinking of starting a new blog or refining your niche, think about what you could write about to ease their pain or fulfill their desires. You can even use this exercise to create new topics or categories for your current blog.
If you want to create an opt-in to encourage people to sign up for your newsletter, this may be the perfect way to help you decide what to offer as an incentive.
Set your timers
Whether you’re selling a product or service, developing ideas for one, or just trying to figure out what your readers might be interested in, I recommend you try this exercise. It could be the best path you’ve ever spent five minutes of your time.
Photo by Justin Lim on Unsplash