Hi there–my name is Serge Saint-Prix, and I’m a freelance copywriter who specializes in emails and autoresponders for the internet marketing niche. My unique writing style and talent for building a “bridge of trust” with prospects quickly established me as an in-demand specialty copywriter in the business. Follow me on Google+
Email Marketing has become a very efficient method of advertisement. Two decades ago, before the age of the web, one of the principle mode of advertisement was through the post office. Marketers would be sending sales letters through the mail and expect a returned reply. This is still true, even today. In fact the Internet has not brought direct mail into obsolescence.
Print direct response is still very big. But in addition to this tool, the web has brought another tool, email marketing. For anyone who is on the web and who have mail account can see in their inbox a great number of messages. Beside the personal ones, there will be a wide range of advertisements from your favorite retailers or service providers. This is a way for marketers to keep in touch with you, the customers.
Email marketing strategies
Email marketing has become very popular specially with some small business owners. But the big ones are also using email marketing to promote their products. One can thing of Amazon.com or Staples. The fact is, that such kind of advertisement can be very targeted and can be done at a low cost. Very efficient split testing can be run to see what trigger prospect.
In the course of an email marketing, you need to keep in mind that people do not want to read long emails. We are in a world of rush, few people have time to read even long articles. Therefore, you have to choose your topic carefully. Your subject must be meaningful to your audience. Then write your topic as concisely as possible.
In writing your email marketing campaign, make sure your come across your point quickly and keep the attention of your audience on your topic. Meaning, don’t be boring. Give value to your prospect. And he will not delete your email.
Like a lot of professions, copywriting can be specialized. A B2B copywriter is a specialist. B2B means business to business. Therefore a B2B copywriter is someone who writes for business to business industries. What do we mean by business to business? It simple means companies that deals only with other businesses in the supply of goods and services.
One cannot be a jack of all trade. Some people specialize as a B2B copywriter. Some body else may specialize as a business to consumer copywriter. Both industries are quiet different. A consumer searching to buy the latest iPad will be completely motivated in a different way from the VP of a mid size company wanting to buy an additional truck for their delivery system.
B2B copywriter specializes in an industry
The B2B copywriter addresses a very specific market. Most of them furthermore specializes in industries, for example the software industry or the oil industry, aircraft industry. Each of those industries have their own markets, technologies, and lingo. Understanding the software industry is not the same thing as understanding the oil industries.
A B2B copywriter has a tremendous challenge ahead of him or her as far as writing good sales letter or lead generation content. Being able to communicate with marketing directors is an essential part of the work. There are many steps involved in the process of persuading him to spend a couple of million dollars on a product. Very different goal than in the consumer world.
Obviously the prerequisite to the B2B copywriter is to be able to write. There is a certain training necessary to be a copywriter. One needs to know the industry. One has to know the different marketing pieces that would be needed to be done in a B2B copywriting. In a nutshell a certain real world experience is important. This is not a trade you will acquire by reading some books.
There are many people who want to learn about copywriting and others who want to launch into this career. I will be giving here some copywriting tips. First of all, I want to say that writing copy can be a lot of fun. Many of us may have experience writing in school as a “drag” and feel discourage of doing so either for themselves or professionally.
But among all the copywriting tips that I can give you, I will also say that writing copy can be very lucrative. The most important part of doing copywriting is surprisingly about knowing your product. When you write a sales letter for a product, you’re trying to convince someone to buy that item. So you need to do some research on it. You have to known the product in order to write about.
Copywriting Tips and Techniques
Knowing about the product is not sufficient, you need to know the market. All of these are important copywriting tips. Who are the people using this product? The answer of that question will tell you who you audience is. For instance, if your product reduces blood pressure, who will be using it? Obviously, people who have high blood pressure.
Another word used for copywriting, is direct response writing. There are many authors who will give you significant copywriting tips to write persuasively. The first part of your writing will have to be the headline. It is the sentence or phrase that will draw your reader to reader the rest of your letter. In fact your header should be unique.
Your header has to be unique otherwise it’ll be something that people see all the time and they will not be interested. The kind of copywriting tips that many professionals give, is the need to market yourself all the time. If people don’t know that you exist, they can’t hire you.
A junior copywriter is first of all someone who knows how to use words in order to communicate a message. The copywriter uses words to sell a product or service to either the public or to businesses. Often he works for an advertising agency or a publishing company. This a field that requires creativity. Therefore the junior copywriter will have to develop ideas to sell products.
The life of a junior copywriter in an agency is usually fast pace. He has to develop concepts for what he’s trying to sell. It is often required of him to have excellent writing skills, good grammar and be a good speller. You may find the junior copywriter working in the field of radio advertisement or writing copy for billboards. Experience in this field is obtain through practice.
Junior Copywriter in Marketing
The junior copywriter will be writing sales letters offline and online, direct mail advertisements, booklets and even brochures. This is not a career for which you need a specific degree. It is really open for anyone. A university degree in English will not help you in copywriting. In fact it may even hamper you. The reason is that colleges are academic institutions who pursue goals totally different from those who are doing direct selling.
Journalism might be related to junior copywriter, but is not the same thing. If you decide to work for an agency, you should know how agencies run. You should acquire a certain familiarity with the different positions, titles and responsibilities of the various departments. Be aware that all agencies are not the same.
As a junior copywriter, you will have to write headlines for your copy. You will need to develop a concept. It usually have to be unique. Your piece will not only have a body but also a call to action. Meaning, persuade your reader to do something such as buyer the product.
Today we will explore the subject of copywriter job description. Obviously we all know that there are people out there who are copywriters. But what do they do? First of all, I want to say that people making a living out of that have fun. Sometimes we think that writing is hard. We all confronted the situation when we are assigned, perhaps in school, to write. And the first thing in our mind is, “What am I going to write?”
Well, copywriter job description can be said to be exiting. Really, there are many types of jobs that copywriters can do. And they can make a handsome living at it. You will need to think about what you like to do. For instance, what industry would you like to be involved with. Many copywriters specialize in industries. And often they may work for an agency.
Copywriter job description is often misunderstood
When we talk about copywriter job description, we need to keep in mind that many times people doing writing are not in fact copywriters. In this case, it’s just a job description that has to do with writing. A writer can for example write books or instructional manuals. Actually a copywriter is specifically someone who writes sales letters offline or online.
Copywriter job description is often vague. Since writing is a function that has many, many branches, often a company may think that looking for a copywriter whereas in reality they looking for a writer. Two different things. In offline marketing, you receive mail envelops containing letters, brochures, presenting a product. There is an order form.
This material would have been writing by a copywriter. That’s a very good example of copywriter job description. The writer communicates to a specific market the existence of a product or service that would solve their problems. The letter is written persuasively and invite the prospect to make an order.
Increasingly there are many people wanting to know what is copywriting. It is the art of selling through print. It has nothing to do with just putting content into your website or blog. This article is not copywriting. First of all, your starting point is having a product of service that you offer to a particular market.
Hopefully that market has a particular need or they have a problem. And your product or service fulfills that need. Communicating to that market is what copywriting will be about. You will try to sell that product to your market. There are many people who are involved in the noble profession of selling, as salesperson. This is one way to reach to your customers.
For those who are good at selling, there is certain the possibility of making a tremendous amount of money . But selling is a tough activity. You have to work long hours and face the possibility of rejection. This is why people want to know what is copywriting. Because it’s an activity that allows to sell without necessarily the drawback of live selling.
Many people want to know what is copywriting
To find out what is copywriting, you need to start by the beginning which is your headline. It should reach out to your prospect. The headline is the first sentence of your copy and it should grab your reader and bring him to continue to read. This is why selling with the written word is something entirely different from live salesman.
In finding out what is copywriting, you learn that fact that your headline should have four critical rules called the 4 U’s. Use them, and you will write a great headline. Don’t use them, and your headline will problematic. However, keep in mind that practice makes perfect and so you will get better over time.
One of the U’s that your headline should have as an expression of your desire to know what is copywriting is, usefulness. Your headline needs to give a reason to your prospect to keep on reading.
Freelance copywriter has become an expression that is nearly meaningless. Many use the word copywriting to mean anything that has to do with writing. This demonstrates a lack of understanding between writing and copywriting, which are two different activities, albeit close to each other. This is very evident on the Internet, where this lack of correct understanding has cheapened this very noble profession.
Could anyone call the legendary David Ogilvy, a freelance copywriter who would just create content on demand? What a debasement of the value of this great genius! Who is this man? Why talk about him? Was he one of those graduates from an elite school of journalism? No. He was a Scottish-born French Chef. Yes, you heard me, a chef.
Yet, David Ogilvy was among the greatest freelance copywriters in the industry. A simple man, he was Amish and a door-to-door salesman. He found a job in his brother’s advertising agency. He revolutionized the advertising philosophy.
Interestingly enough the expression “freelance copywriter” is composed of two distinct expressions with different meanings. A freelancer is someone who sells their work or services rather than working for a salary. In another word, he is an independent contractor.
The freelance copywriter is the marketing mouth of the product
The work of a copywriter is to sell print. Whether the print is offline or online, it has to do with marketing communication. As, Ogilvy is so famous to have said, “If it doesn’t sell it isn’t creative.” This was a revolutionary idea. The world of writing encompasses many specialties. For instance, a journalist writes news, but may not be able to do copywriting. Editorial writing is another activity very much different from the above two. The characteristic of a copywriter is someone who writes to persuade a reader to take action.
Copywriting motivates someone to purchase a product or opt-in into a mailing list. But what distinguishes such writers from content copy, is the action. His or her work is measurable. It can be tested. He may write a brochure, a website or an email in order to ultimately bring a sale.
It is rather amusing to observe many companies who are looking for copywriters with qualifications like a master in journalism or whatever lofty eligibility they may conjure. The reality is that there is no such thing. Journalism is not copywriting. Someone with a degree may not be able to write persuasively to close a sale. It is interesting to note that the world’s highest-paid copywriter says that his education is the School of Experience.
Writing for content has its place in the marketing strategy of any business. Presentations, explanations and so on, are necessary. Having a blog is important from both an SEO perspective and a social approach. But the sales letter online or offline is what drives your business and brings it to financial success.
Having a freelance copywriter working for you means not being burdened by salaries, tax, and legal obligations. By contracting someone to work for you, you simplify your marketing staff and you get copy that guides your leads to the sale button. Keeping in mind that nothing happens in business, until a sale takes place.
A copywriter will be able to write, for instance, two difference copies for the same product. The purpose is to test which copy is better. Both will run simultaneously, but competitively. This is called an A/B split test. This can also be applied for two versions of a web page. As a business owner or corporate executive, you want your visitors to convert.
You can see that the freelance copywriter has a definitive role in the marketing strategy of a business. One that is different from the content marketer or the press release writer.
First of all, I want to define what is met by web copywriting. Many people use this word without knowing its meaning and therefore mislead others. Web copywriting is copywriting for the web. This is as apposed as copywriting in the offline world such as in post office mail order.
Having said that, web copywriting has nothing to do with content writing. These are two different animals. Once upon the time, before the internet, the activity of copywriting was not much known except in advertisement agencies. Usually a copywriter would work for an agency or if he was a freelancer, he would have to be excellent.
Much has been written about copywriting. And there has been a growth in the professional development of that industry. With the Internet, we have seen the advent of what has been called web copywriting. Yet, whether copywriting is done online or offline, it is both a science and an art.
Web copywriting is a science
The science of copywriting is brought forth by the social sciences. Here we are talking about psychology, sociology, economics and marketing. The art aspect is characterized by human creativity, the ability to communicate and touch the sensitivity of others. People buy from those they like and trust. This apply as well in web copywriting.
Not everyone who has a website or a blog and writes some content is a web copywriter. What would that person be? A content writer. Not less important than the copywriter but yet the writing has different purpose. A journalist is a writer, but not a copywriter. As a web copywriter, you have a website, but next you need to have a product or service to offer.
The web copywriting is a communication piece to your reader that explores his pains or challenges and presents a solution to them. It ends up with a call to action, that is, an order, a signature, since it is a letter and a P.S.
When we speak about copywriting, what are we talking about? This seems to be an almost ridiculous question, but it isn’t. There are many kinds of writing. For example, novel writing is one of them. However, copywriting has nothing in common with novels. Those are totally different things.
Copywriting would be considered more likely as some form of commercial writing. Now, advertising is commercial writing, but is not copywriting. Writing advertisement requires different skills than copywriting. Writing an article is not copywriting. Many people are confused on that point and think that because they post an article in their blogs, they do copywriting, not so.
What is Copywriting?
The essential question is about intent. The question is why are you writing? The purpose of copywriting is to bring the reader to an action. And so this style of writing is not only commercial, but it is a tool of marketing, more specifically sales. In copywriting, you introduce a product and strive to convince the reader to take an action.
Whether you do copywriting in print, as on a mailed sales letter, or on a flyer or whether you do it on the web, the steps are identical. It’s not about the product. It’s not about the media. It’s about the person on the front of your communication piece. It’s about his or her needs and desires.
It is a human being who buys the product or service. There are some who are infatuated with the Internet and want to convince themselves that writing for the web is different from writing on print. I believe that this is not an accurate perspective. In fact, online marketing is complementary to offline marketing.
People have needs and desires. There are products and services out there that would offer a solution to them. In order to communicate the existence of these product, copywriting is done. Features and benefits of the product are presented.
Copywrite is a matter of practice. First let me say that you don’t need to be a genius or somebody like Ernest Hemingway. You don’t need to be a scholar or a PhD in literature. In fact that might hamper your accomplishment of great writing. The fact is that anyone can learn to copywrite.
Masters in the field were not born knowing how to copywrite. There are certain tools and principles to apply. If you know them, then you will know what makes a good copywriter. Next you will have to practice writing. It is all about how you learn, and what you use that makes the learning process effective.
You copywrite in order to persuade someone to own a product or service that you provide. There are numerous places where you can get information that will help you to start an effective marketing campaign. Practicing the art of copywrite is what will help you make good copy. And there are many good methods available.
Copywrite – The expression of copywriting
Understand that in the field of copywrite, there are different styles of writing. When we talk in terms of copywriting it is directly related to marketing. Another way to say it, is about commercial copywrite. This kind is totally different from writing a novel or writing poetry.
Copywrite is not a skill that you will be able to develop over the weekend. This is not something where you can surf the web, read a few articles and blog posts and think that “you’ve got it”. Learning this skill requires hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
A master copywriter like Dan Kennedy is a multi-multi millionaire. He’s been at it since the 1970’s. Excellent copywrite pieces are the result of studying, practice and blood (figuratively). The kind of study is not what you do in college. It’s not even what you learn in a school of journalism.
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