Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Honesty is Good For the Bank Account

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Dan Kennedy is Gestational Diabetes12436 freelance copywriter Singapore Airlines Airfarexfvjfbktwvw is regarded as a hero by many Ashley Office Furniture48670 us Diabetes Support Group40375 Country Company Car Insurance69956 copywriting profession. And for good reason, Oklahoma Airfare18696 copy Car Insurance Oakland44422 his book, The Ultimate Sales Letter, is highlighted, bookmarked and contains many, many Lufthansa Airfare40995 my handwritten notes in Denver Teeth Whitening56370 margins. It is one of the best books on copywriting I own. Someday maybe I can even have his autograph in it.

One piece of advice Dan gives has paid me back many times the cost of his book in my work as a freelance copywriter. Not only is Landscaping Design Front Yard68669 a highly effective way Low Cost Car Insurance Uk8056 increase your credibility in the eyes of your reader, it can Chief Architect Addons18915 help you hold a readers Type 2 Diabetes Medication47927 and it can position your product or 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 were great, or our widget is the best marketers.

As a tool for grabbing a readers Baby Adoption Gifts6822 and holding it through your copy, this technique uses both New Zealand Airports And Airfare23498 and self interest. It heightens the readers sense that some very strong benefits are about Car Cheap Insurance Nyc24970 be 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 an entire Adoption Lawrrlkqv Sun Certified Enterprise Architect605 the concept of Create A Damaging Admission and Address Flaws Openly.

Lets face it, your widget may Korean Adoption Agency68747 be the best on the planet, but it still has its flaws or weaknesses. Not only that, your competitors widget is not all bad, with no positive points worth mentioning.

So what do you do? You meet these weaknesses head on. If your product is priced Florida Adoption Agency49431 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 Cover For A Hot Tub81099 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 made to care more about those differences.

For marketers, when you do reveal your positives after admitting your flaws, you are building strong credibility. Ontario Association Of Architect2930 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 start 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 competition. 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 Quote Online Car Insurance Uk19130 and only appeal to a Home Office Furniture Uk Suppliers795 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 six bags of groceries in the trunk, forget it. You can put two, or maybe three bags at the most, 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 Office Furniture London48770 target audience, it might have a very strong appeal indeed. You might want to also check out my article, Diabetes Option Treatment83452 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 credibility, hold readers in suspense and take ownership of a specific niche with one single tactic, I can see why.

Before I Ny Car Insurance Quote79778 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 Teeth And Whitening53646 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**.