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Web copywriting is a difficult art to master, yet it is at the center of all we bloggers do. We have to some how paint our message across the screen, but at the same time, try to keep the attention of our audience.
So in the spirit of blogger cooperation, I thought I would share my tips for the planning processes I use to write a compelling post.
“Before you even start writing you have to ask yourself these 10 questions…”
Always decide your strategy to get across your main message, which will put your audience in the picture you are going to paint for them. Learn every thing you can about your chosen topic, then plan your writing before you even think of going to your blog dashboard.
Planning is the key to an ordered and defined post. You want your writing to flow whilst explaining your topic to your audience.
What point of view, story, or product are you selling. Think, what is my target audience, what are their woes, what do they need to hear, and how will I be able to inform them. Incorporate proof and believability into your copy.
Decide what is my attention grabbing headline. It’s a fact that many people decide whether to read a post based on the headline alone. This is your calling card, your one chance to capture your target audience.
This is where you give your audience a reason to open your post. It doesn’t matter if your message has something of real value to share if your post is never opened! It therefore follows that your headline is the most important component of your post.
The structure of your post is also important. Don’t even think about writing until you have planned your opening statement, the body of your post, and your closing call to action. After the headline, someone who scan reads will next look at the P.S. and closing section.
They will then skim the whole post for the sub-headers and bolded text, so make sure these tell an abbreviated version of your story.
Here’s an acronym about article structuring I have borrowed from the greatest living copywriter, Gary Bencivenga…
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
…remember AIDA when you are planning.
Look through the other end of the telescope, know what your audience desires and aim to give it to them. This is the essence of good copywriting. Your audience will ask themselves, ‘is this of interest’, and ‘is it believable’.
Keep asking yourself ‘is my story believable’. What proof do I have to back up my story, this is where your earlier deep research into the topic pays off. You must be able to balance your claims with proof.
Remember that a believable promise to the right audience is the way to get your message across.
Focus on your audience, not yourself. Remember that people in general are motivated by their own self interest, so focusing on yourself will soon turn them off your post. Focus instead on their interests, remember the telescope.
Answer all questions and overcome all objections. This is how you make your copy believable and irresistible. If it’s a sale you are after, then by paying attention to this and re-iterating in your P.S. section, you will make your sale.
What you say is more important than how you say it. Good content will always win over good grammar. It doesn’t matter that you may not be qualified in language so long as you make your post interesting and emotive.
If you can raise your audiences emotions you will sell your story.
Start a swipe file. Every time you come across a killer headline, a compelling call to action, or any interesting phrase, copy and paste it into a swipe file. The only way to learn is to copy the masters who are already writing great copy.
So, whenever you need an amazing headline or a killer close, you go to your “swipe file” to find a hot piece of copy that’s already been proven to work, then re-model it to suit your topic and style.
If you found these tips of some interest, you will find my next instalment cranks it up a little. By speaking in generalities like this, I have attempted to appeal to a larger audience. You can use these tips in any kind of writing, be that personal, informative, instructional, or sales copy.
My next instalment will focus on sales copy, and how to write that killer sales page. This should appeal to anyone just starting out in the online marketing world. I hope to show you that it isn’t as scary a place as you may think. 
Sincerely,
P.S. It has occurred to me that some of you may be thinking it will take you ages to build up a comprehensive swipe file. You could follow the proven greats like Gary Bencivenga and Gary Halbert, but it would still take some time to build up a decent file.
The alternative is to cheat a little and to gain access to a ready-made file that includes all the great copy from the past. You can have the same instant swipe file I use by following the link. It’s great value for money and saves a whole heap of time. 
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