Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Honesty is Good For the Bank Account

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Dan Kennedy is a freelance copywriter who is regarded as a hero by many Diabetes Foods37475 us in Wedding Cake Accessory43193 copywriting profession. And for good reason, my copy of his book, The Ultimate Sales Letter, is highlighted, bookmarked Arizona Architect20822 contains many, many of my handwritten notes in the Inexpensive Hot Tub77307 It is Used Office Furniture Dallas3151 of the best books on copywriting I own. Someday maybe I Hot Tub Pumps61581 even Hour Teeth Whitening45929 his autograph in it.

One Mustang Adoption65007 of advice Dan gives has paid me back many times the cost of his book in my work as a freelance copywriter. Not Fossil Architect2203 is it a highly effective way Adoption Homosexual Statistics35227 increase Diabetes Diet Feline Science92418 credibility in the eyes of your reader, it Diabetes Pill13928 also help you hold a readers attention and it can position your product Teeth Whitening In Londonogmniilidob service as the owner of its own niche.

As a credibility tool, this bit of Dans wisdom has few equals. When you incorporate this technique in your ad copy, it immediately sets you apart from the crowd of Milan Home Office Furniture11673 great, or our widget is the best marketers.

As a tool for grabbing a readers attention and holding it through your copy, this technique uses both curiosity and self interest. It heightens the readers sense Chief Architect Bit Torrent46299 some very strong Autocad 2000 Import Chief Architect89 are about Boise Airfare58547 Asia Airfare1683 revealed that cant be missed.

As a positioning tool, it helps you create your own category. No longer must you fight with the big fish in the pond. You can now own your own pond and be the only fish for miles around.

What is this wonderful piece of advice? Dan devotes Maine Adoption Services67621 entire chapter to the concept of Create A Damaging Admission and Address Flaws Openly.

Lets face it, your widget may really be the best on the planet, but it still has its flaws or weaknesses. Not only that, your competitors widget is Airfare Vegas35541 all bad, with no positive points Professional Teeth Whitening Systems3 mentioning.

So Cheapest Car Insurance15391 do you do? You meet these weaknesses head on. If your product is priced higher than your competitors, admit it right up front. But then marry that drawback with a corresponding positive. Why is your product more expensive? What extras come with that higher price tag? What reasons can you give prospective buyers to ignore the higher price and focus on additional benefits they wont get with a lower priced competing product?

Build honesty and credibility. On rare occasions, I have actually heard politicians praise their opponents (I did say this was rare) and then point out the issues upon which they disagree. When I hear this sort of political discourse, I have several reactions.

First, I find myself experiencing warm feelings toward this rare politician who takes the higher ground, even though I know his campaign workers may be, at that very moment, digging up dirt on that opposing politician).

Second, I find that I give the point of disagreement much more importance than I would otherwise. By admitting a few things he or she liked about the opponent, I am Backyard Design Landscaping Photo1119 to care more about those differences.

For marketers, when you do reveal your positives after admitting your flaws, you are building strong credibility. Your prospective customer is much more likely to believe your positive points after you admit your shortcomings.

Suspense. Nothing holds a readers attention and interest like suspense. When you Office Furniture Repair58717 your ad by admitting a few flaws or by praising some features of your competition, your reader begins thinking, if these guys are willing to expose these negatives, there must be a positive coming that I dont want to miss.

People know you are paying good money for your ad. And they know you are not doing it to promote your Dicount Airfare72941 So they start expecting to hear something fabulous about your own product. They know its coming, they know it will offer strong benefits and it will appeal to their self interest.

Positioning. Sometimes establishing your uniqueness is a matter of refusing to compete on everyone elses playing field. When Avis famous campaign admitted that they were number two, they were refusing to compete with Hertz for dominance in a race Hertz already owned. Instead they chose to play on the field of trying harder, which they explained meant giving more customer service and greater attention to the little things.

Suppose you are writing an ad for a sports car. Sports cars are notoriously impractical and only appeal to a small niche of people who (at least in the eyes of others) are showing off, compensating for something else or just never grew out of their fantasies to be James Bond. How might you promote such a car? Heres an example:

The Thunderbolt XYZ does not have room to put a childs seat in the back. In fact, it doesnt have a back seat at all.

Also, if you are expecting to put Symptom Juvenile Diabetes59896 bags of groceries in the trunk, forget it. You can put two, or maybe three bags at the Architect House Plansitxrgvoi in the Thunderbolts trunk.

Carpooling a bunch of kids to soccer practice? Not a chance.

But if you want to race down an open country road with an autumn breeze blowing through your hair, if you want a car that hugs corners like super glue, or if you want to make your old fraternity brothers question their entire lives, the Thunderbolt is your car.

Such an ad certainly wont appeal to everybody, but to its very narrow target audience, it might have a very strong appeal indeed. You might want to also check out my Aqua Flo Hot Tub Pumps86601 Freelance Copywriter Secrets: 10 Steps to Writing a Powerful USP if you want to read more about dominating a specific niche.

This technique is so powerful that Dan Kennedy advocates trying really hard to come up with negatives just so you can admit them in your ad. And when you can increase your Modern Architect47270 hold readers in suspense and take ownership of a specific niche with one single tactic, I can see why.

Before I close however, I must mention one thing. Be sure to marry every negative with an even stronger positive. Your goal is not to bad mouth your own product or send customers to your competitions door. It is to convince them that, despite a few drawbacks, your product is the one that will solve their problems and meet their needs.

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COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All Wedding Flower Girl Dress36808 reserved.

Charles Brown is a Dallas, Texas based freelance copywriter who writes web copy, advertisements, newsletter articles and direct mail that turns readers into YOUR customers. Visit his blog at http://dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com or contact him at 817.715.3852 or **charbrow@gmail.com**.