Spring Clean Your Business Bonus Week: Improve Your Copy

Spring Clean: Creative Copy Writing Tips to Convert Customers

We’ve been spring cleaning together here the past few weeks getting our businesses refreshed and learning some effective tips, and bonus, we have even more for you! Thanks to my frient (client turned friend) Lisa Pierson, she’s helping us to improve our copy writing whether it’s online, in proposals, or in any of your marketing materials. Her business, The Conversion Copywriter, is all about just that, writing fantastic and powerful copy that will help to convert your potential prospects into actual paying customers. I know we all want to learn more, so let’s get to it. And thank you, Lisa, for sharing this great info with us!!

Be sure to read right to the end as Lisa has a special Optimizing Your Copy offer just for you!

3 Easy Ways to Immediately Improve Your Copy

Humans are weird, y’all. You’re weird, I’m weird. There’s no avoiding it.

For instance. I have a calm demeanor. People even comment on how unflappable I am. But a few weeks ago, my lovely cat Nala presented me with a living, wriggling mouse in her mouth. 

And I can tell you I was not calm, nor unflappable. I was, in fact, very, very flappable. I screamed, ran away and asked my brave 14-year-old daughter to take care of the situation* while I hid in my bedroom with a bottle of bourbon.

What I’m trying to say is that we’re not rational beings. Things that scare us, shouldn’t. Or we justify behaviour in ourselves that we wouldn’t accept from someone else…

So, what does this have to do with copywriting?

Good question. The answer is: EVERYTHING.

Copywriting is not only a creative exercise. It’s also a science based on human behavior expressed in a creative way.

So, when it comes time to write copy for your business, you should be aware that simply presenting information about yourself is not usually enough to compel people to do business with you. It’s also not enough to be creative, to be clever or to be punchy in your language. 

Those are all important too, but there’s some copy principles you should be aware of that will really help you sell. And if you’re uncomfortable with the word sell, swap it with serve instead – they mean the same thing, but we can argue about that another time.

In the meantime, here’s 3 Copywriting Tips you can use now to Improve Your Copy:

Tip #1 – Be Specific (aka don’t make people think)

Remember when I said people are weird? Well, we’re lazy too. But not in the way you might be thinking. 

Your brain is single-mindedly focused on keeping you alive, so it will avoid anything that it doesn’t see as important for your survival. 

Rational you might be thinking: I should go for a run or to the gym. But your lizard brain is thinking: Nope, I’m just gonna sit here and save my energy in case there’s a famine or if I need to escape danger.

When it comes to writing copy, think about your reader’s lizard brain. You don’t want to leave things vague or general, because it requires more work for them to figure out what you mean, and why it might be important.

For example, instead of writing high-quality ingredients, write ingredients you feel good about putting in your body.

Here’s another example courtesy of the Saddleback Leather company (see image below). Their tagline is: They’ll fight over it when they’re dead.
They could have easily written: Long-lasting, high-quality leather products. They mean the same thing, but their version is so much more specific, plus they get bonus points for the added personality.

This is a great example of specificity (plus personality too!)

So, the next time you need to write copy for your business, avoid being vague or general because it doesn’t give your reader a clear picture of what you mean. And you don’t want to put that burden on them. It results in confusion… and confused people leave.

Tip #2 – Prove It (show that you can do what you say you do)

How many websites do you go to that say their business is only ok at what they do? Never. Most business websites will say things like “best Vancouver photographer” or “we have the best customer service” or “get results with us.”

And, if you’re like most people, you think: yeah, right or big whoop.

When it comes to our money or our time, we want to feel certain that a particular business can truly give us what we’re looking for. This is why it’s so crucial to prove our claims.

Here’s 3 ways we can do this:

One way is to have your customer or client give a testimonial (or be the subject of a case study) so they can show your reader that it worked for them.

Another way is to prove the good results you’re claiming. 

For example, if you’re a business coach, you could say that your clients experience at least a 10% increase in income after working with you (and you have the data to back it up). 

If I have to choose between a coach who says she gets good results for her clients with a coach who can prove she gets good results for her clients, the choice becomes more obvious.

The third way to prove you can do what you say you do is to provide a demonstration. 

Spanx Founder Sara Blakely says that it was a demonstration of her product that completely changed the trajectory of her business. 

After trying tirelessly to get her product in a high-end store, Sara was offered a dream meeting with a buyer at Neiman Marcus. 

Sara started her pitch about Spanx and how great they made you look when you’re wearing white or light coloured pants, but she could tell the buyer had lost interest.

So, Sara asked the buyer to follow her to the bathroom. And to that buyer’s credit, she did. 

Sara went into the bathroom stall, then proceeded to show the buyer the before Spanx, and the after.

The buyer’s reaction?

She said: “It’s brilliant, I get it and I’m going to try it in seven stores and see how it goes.”

If you can demonstrate that your product or service does what you say it does, it practically sells itself. On your website you can do this through a video, or a before and after (image + copy).

Tip #3 – Be Trustworthy (make authentic connections)

I’m sure you’re an honest person, but to the person visiting your website you’re just a stranger asking for money.

You need to show your reader why they can trust you.

There’s many ways you can do this, but here’s 3:

Don’t use big words when a small one will do. It’s not that your readers don’t understand big words, it’s that when we try to make something sound more impressive or fancy it comes off as fake.

Remember what I said about survival? If we set off someone’s BS detector with something fake, their lizard brain thinks: if I can’t trust you then you might be a threat to my survival. Buh, bye!

Offer a guarantee. This isn’t always possible, especially for service-based businesses. But you want to make buying your product or service as safe as possible for your customer. It shows them you have some skin in the game, and that they have a safety net. 

It could be a money-back guarantee, or it could be a credit for another service if they aren’t satisfied. Whatever it is, make sure it’s crystal clear in your copy. We want to reduce anxiety – and amplify trust – as much as possible.

Include a picture of yourself on your website. I’m not saying that just because this post is appearing on a photographer’s website. We are attracted to other people’s faces, we’re always looking for connections with other people. If we can’t see the person, we’re not as compelled to take an action such as booking a consultation or signing up for a newsletter.

Photos help the reader trust you. Especially fab photos by Michele 😉

Do you cringe at the idea of your photo on your website? Let me convince you that it can make a stronger connection with your reader with this:

There was an interesting study with doctors who reviewed X-rays to diagnose injuries. One set of X-rays given to the doctors only included the X-ray image, the other set also included a picture of the person’s face whose X-rays were taken.

The result? The X-rays that included the image of the person’s face had a higher rate of accurate diagnosis. The researchers determined it was because doctors were more motivated to help a real person (because they could see their face) compared to when they only saw the impersonal X-ray.  

So, show up on your website! Your visitors will be more motivated to trust you, and want to do business with you.

Optimizing Offer

Ok, so there you have it. If you have any questions about high-impact copy, reach me through my website: www.theconversioncopywriter.com. I can also help you with your on-demand copy needs at www.fastcopynow.com. 

And, as Michele mentioned at the top, I have a special Optimizing Your Copy offer for you. Perhaps you need a fresh take or you just want to improve on what you’ve already got. To see the offer details, just click here!

*No animals or teenagers were harmed. The only damage done was to the bottle of bourbon and Lisa’s pride.

This is all so interesting. Thank you again so much, Lisa, and thanks for including the part about including pics in your materials because I totally agree. Customers really want to relate to you and to trust you too. Doing a lifestyle Personal Branding Photoshoot is the best way to get photos that truly represent the real you. 

While you may think all you need are headshots, why not go beyond those and tell your story. Give your prospects a taste of who you are. As business owners, we need to build our K.L.T Factor (know, like, trust – learn more about that here) and branding sessions really help you do that. Customers want to feel like they know you and get an idea of what it would be like to work with you. So please reach out to me if you’re needing fresh photos!

Michele Mateus is an award winning Vancouver area Personal Branding Photographer & Portrait Photographer based in Coquitlam, BC. Hair & Makeup By Jenny Valla.