If you’re like so many conscious/heart-centered entrepreneurs, a lot of traditional copywriting probably makes you pretty uncomfortable. (Copywriting is writing promotional materials, nothing to do with protecting your intellectual property.)
But everyone tells you that you need that “type of copy” if you want to make money.
So what do you do? Make money and feel slime-y and sales-y with the copy you’re using — or don’t make money, but feel like your copy is at least aligned with your core values?
Well, I’m here today to say it IS possible to do both — write copy that attracts, inspires and invites so you make money AND feel good doing it.
And I’m going to share 3 keys to get you started.
1. Know your ideal clients. I’m a big fan of ideal clients. Because unlike target markets or niche markets, your ideal clients are the heart and soul of who you’re meant to serve.
You see, target markets and niches are more about the external — their demographics. Ideal clients are about the internal — what drives them, what gets them up in the morning, what keeps them awake at night… what their core values are.
And if you base your business and your marketing around that, you’re going to attract the perfect clients into your business — the ones who you love to work with and who love working with you. (Doesn’t that feel fabulous?)
Now if you haven’t done this before, I really encourage you to do this exercise — I want you to create your ideal client avatar. Spend some time getting to know your ideal client. It doesn’t matter if he/she is real or in your head; either way it’s a big help to do this.
Start by writing out a detailed description of that person. Be as complete as possible. Then I want you to post it, so every time you sit down to write copy, you see your ideal client.
You may want to add a picture as well so you can really “see” your ideal client as you write.
Now once you have your ideal client set, then you can move to the second key.
2. Pretend you’re writing a letter to a friend, NOT writing marketing copy. If your friend came to you and told you about a problem she had, and you KNEW you had the perfect solution and wanted to help, how would you craft that letter? You would be passionate, right? And you would probably also be very comfortable asking her to take action, because you know in your heart if she does, her life will change.
Well I want you to bring that same passion into writing your marketing copy. You care about your ideal client, right? So you ARE writing to a friend — a friend who has a problem you can solve. And you know how wonderful your friend’s life will be once she’s solved the problem.
That’s the place to come from when you write. And when you do, all the hype-y and sales-y stuff melts away.
3. Focus on their transformation. Now you’ve probably heard “write benefits and not features,” and that’s true — I want you to do that. But even more than that, I want you to focus on the transformation: how much your ideal clients’ lives will be transformed once they’ve bought your products and services.
If you focus your copy on that — writing “you” instead of “I” (in fact, you should have a 2:1 or even a 3:1 ratio of “you” to “I”) and how your product or service will transform your ideal client, they’ll be that much more excited to work with you.