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Copywriting Checklist
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The Top-Secret Sales Letter Checklist
You won't believe what I have in store for you...
I am about to give you one of my most valuable copywriting
tools and I am NOT exaggerating
I use this Copy Master's Master Checklist day in and day out.
It's been years in the making, and like a fine wine
it's
gotten better and better with age.
Having this "cheat sheet" on your side is like exactly
"sneaking" in the backdoor of one of the best copywriters in the world!
You'll feel like you have your own personal advisor, someone to critique
your sales pitch, correct any mistakes you have, and help you skyrocket the
pulling-power of your marketing piece!
Here's a bonus: the Copy Master's Master Checklist is "one
size fits all." You'll be able to use it on every single stitch of copy
you ever write whatever your selling and whomever you're targeting.
Don't even think about running an ad or sales letter until
you put your copy through the "litmus test" of the Copy Master's Master
Checklist.
Anyway, I'm absolutely positive you'll love it and very soon you
too will consider it one of the most valuable tools in your bag of copywriting
tricks.
Enjoy!
1) Does your headline hit your prospect right between the eyes
with the most outstanding benefit of your product or service, to immediately
answer the question "What's in it for me?"
2) Is your headline an attention-grabber? Will it "stand
out in a crowd" of ads, mail, and other messages fighting for consumer
attention and dollars?
3) Is the wording of the benefit so appealing, so alluring, so
magnetic that it's impossible to ignore?
4) Have you put a hook in the headline to help you reel
in the "big fish"?
5) Did you use quotations in the headline to personalize the "voice"
of your offer?
6) Have you crafted an appealing and interesting pre-headline
to ease readers into your copy and a strong sub-headline to make readers eager
to read more?
7) Is your first paragraph the "Charles Atlas" off copy,
so strong that readers will be sucked in and unable to resist reading
the rest of the copy?
8) Are you using a story to paint word pictures that change
what you're saying from "an intellectual offer" into "an emotionally
appeal idea"
an idea to buy?
9) Have you positioned your product or service as a horse of a
different color by telling your prospects how what you're offering is unique
and unlike anything else on the market?
10) Do you re-energize the readers' interest by placing
compelling sub-headlines through out the copy?
11) Have you gotten to the heart of your prospect in addition
to his/her mind with an emotional appeal that can't be resisted?
12) Have you spoken to the "hidden desires" of
your reader? Does your copy talk about living large, living long, or living
easy
depending on your target audience?
13) Does you copy positively jump with a contagious enthusiasm
that will "infect" your prospect with the "Gotta Have It"
virus?
14) Is your writing dramatic
building from a big
start to an even bigger finish?
15) Are you letting your prospects in on your secret and letting
them know the reason why you're making the mouth-watering, seemingly
too-good-to-be-true offer that you are.
16) Have you stomped out resistance by offering a no-risk
guarantee?
17) Have you crushed any shred of concern by offering multiple
guarantees? ("If you don't like it
return it. If it doesn't produce
the results you want
return it. If you've had it for a year and decide
you don't want to keep it
return it.")
18) Have you annihilated even the whisper of worry with
a better than money-back guarantee? (For example: "If you find this product
sold anywhere for less, we'll refund your purchase price
plus 10%)
19) Does offer present big ideas, big promises, big news,
big pictures, big results and other eye-popping pictures that make it clear
that any other offer is just small potatoes?
20) Have you explained to the reader that your solution will work
faster and better, give the reader more free time, and can be ordered right
now, immediately, today for "instant" results?
21) Is your offer "ripped from the headlines," and linked
to timely news story or discovery?
22) Do you successfully answer the question "What's in
it for me?" so effectively and so quickly that the reader never has
a chance to ask, "Why are you bugging me?"
23) Have you demonstrated to the reader that you understand and
empathize with their problems, making you a logical person to offer solutions?
24) Does the reader understand that your product/service is unique,
and your offer is different that others (read: better than others) because it's
easier, quicker, more beneficial, and has a risk-free guarantee?
25) Have you included case studies and success stories
to build credibility and help readers visualize "people like me" benefiting
from the product/service that you're offering?
26) Have you cashed in on the "cult of celebrity"
and used celebrity endorsements to give your product/service credibility
via its association with a well-loved athlete, a respected industry "superstar,"
etc?
27) Having you nipped every objection in the bud by acknowledging
resistance and overcoming it with a Q&A?
28) Are you offering the "magic pill"? Do you offer
an all-in-one solution that makes it easier for readers to achieve the results
they desire?
29) Have you turned up the volume of your copy until the
needle is in the "red zone" with power words like amazing, revolutionary,
outrageous, miraculous
etc?
30) Does your pitch include testimonials to convince your client
that your offer is honest and the results proven?
31) Do you have before and after pictures, testimonials, clinical
trials and other information that will demonstrate results beyond a shadow
of a doubt?
32) Will your reader be mesmerized by a list of benefit-rich
"you'll feel better fast" bullet points that say, "Only a fool
would pass up this offer."
33) Have you used bonuses, to give "added value"
to your offer?
34) Are you offering free bonuses and free gifts, which
will make your customers feel smart, appreciated
and eager to buy from
you?
35) Have you made every number in your offer an eye-magnet by
using specific non-round amounts? ("One man earned $5437 in just
one month" vs. "One man earned more than $5,000...)
36) Is there a sense of urgency to your offer? Is it clear
to the prospect that delaying will mean losing out
and that will feel
just awful?
37) Did you use your post-script, the one copy block a
prospect is almost sure to read, to restate the main benefit, re-phrase the
offer, emphasize the guarantee, or underscore a sense of urgency?
38) Are your "how to order" and "how to pay"
instructions stated clearly? Don't forget to restate this information
several more times so that there are no ifs, ands or buts
and certainly
no obstacles to keep a hot prospect from calling NOW!
39) Are you specific rather than general about "how
to"? Say, "Dial 1-800-XXXXXXX and say XXXX to the operator
"
rather than "Call me."
40) Is the copy that you've written concise, and so simple
that Al Bundy and his brood would be able to understand it?
41) Is your message crystal clear? A consumer can't get
excited about what a consumer can't understand.
42) Did you remember to use "copy connectors" to ease
your reader through your sales letter and ensure a smooth (and uninterrupted)
journey from start to finish
or should we say "start to sale"?
43) Is your copy like a spotlight that illuminates your offer
and shows the prospect without any confusion precisely how they'll benefit and
exactly what they'll receive?
44) Does your copy sound like salesmanship in print -- as though
you were speaking with your reader in person with a warm, conversational
and non-threatening tone?
45) Does you copy say, "Let's talk friend-to-friend"
rather than "Let's talk salesman-to-mark"?
46) Will your reader's eyes immediately be drawn to a long
(or highly focused) list of "just for you," "this is what you've
been looking for," "who knew it could be this easy" benefit-oriented
bullet points?
47) Do you have a distinctive and psychologically appealing price
that will capture reader's attention because you've selected an odd-ending
number? ($19.97, $39.97, $297, etc.)
48) Are your strong words and phrases highlighted, bolded,
underlined or italicized to draw your readers' attention and keep
him/her stuck to your copy like Krazy Glue?
49) Are you taking advantage of consumers' fondness for "free
stuff" by offering premiums to sweeten the pot?
50) Have you selected premium and bonus offers that reflect
back on your and make MORE sales possible? (A FREE T-shirt means FREE advertising
for you.)
51) Have you listed all the most compelling reasons why
the reader should act now -- stop the pain fast, be ahead of the competition,
don't miss out, etc?
52) Is your page filled with the "short 'n' sweet" paragraphs
that "go down easy" and make the reader feel smart for understanding
your offer?
53) Will your reader eagerly turn from page to page because
at the bottom of every one you've included a tantalizing cliff-hanger?
54) Does your letter tell the complete story about your
product, filling in every gap and answering any question a reader might have?
55) Is there a caption under each photo so readers will
"get the picture"
and hopefully put themselves in it? (And if
you're offering multiple products, services, or "bundles," you want
to very clearly differentiate one from another.)
56) Does the copy help the reader justify the purchase by providing
logical reasons for an emotional decision? Have you talked about better value,
better service, and faster service?
57) Have you made it clear that "this product pays for
itself so it's like getting it for free"?
58) Have you explained that the reader will save more if
they buy now, pay more if they buy later, and probably miss out on this opportunity
if they don't act immediately?
59) Is your copy filled with words like "immediate,"
"right away," "overnight," "before you very eyes"
and other phrases that spell "instant gratification" to today's
I-Want-It-NOW consumer?
60) Have you leveraged your message and maximized money-making
abilities by including an upsell that cleverly promotes additional products,
a "gold package," etc?
61) Do you point out your prospect's most nagging problem,
"pour salt on the wound" by listing all the negative consequences
of having that problem, and then step in to "save the day" with your
product or service?
62) Does you copy speak in an active voice, rather than a passive
style? Have you used lots of high-energy action words and created motivational
"verb phrases" that start with those action words?
63) Is your letter filled with "buzz words," the key
words and phrases that tell your target audience, "I speak your language"?
(Buzz words demonstrate your empathy and changes you from a suspicious-looking
outsider to "one of us.")
64) Have you created a killer order form? Does it help you close
the deal by re-stating the key points of the guarantee, headline, benefits,
and offer again in the order form?
65) Have you done everything you can to make it easy to order?
Orders by fax, telephone, online, mail?
66) Have you done everything you can to make it easy to pay? Have
you included multiple options of payments? A choice of Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, Discover Card, check, money order
or maybe dropping
by your house with cash in hand?
67) Can you include the thing that makes it the easiest thing
in the world for someone to say, "I can afford that NOW": multiple
credit cards for big-ticket items or installment payments?
68) Did you remember to include a response device key coded
for tracking so that you can analyze the effectiveness of what you're doing
keep the good stuff
and "86 the bad?
69) Have you borrowed from Burger King's "have it your way"
attitude by offering multiple shipping options? Air? Overnight?
70) Is your overall message "easy on the eyes," with
lots of white space, broad margins, and vision-friendly fonts, etc. so that
your prospect will reach for a credit card, not a bottle of eye-drops?
71) Have you created a message that fits its environment?
Does your website sales letter have margins that are too wide? Too narrow? Have
you selected colors and fonts that will read clearly on everyone's monitor?
72) Is your message the centerpiece of what the reader sees? Have
you "cleaned up the environment" on a website so that there are a
minimum of distractions (links, banner ads, etc.)?
Okay, there you have it, a Master Checklist that will turn you
into a copywriting master yourself.
But here's a little secret: this list is just the beginning. My
list is "fluid"
I'm always adding to it. And in the weeks and
months to come, you should add to your list, too.
Work diligently on your checklist. Always be on the lookout
for new list items based on your own personal and unique experience.
Use your checklist to whip your sales letter into shape.and your
sales letter will whip your customers into a buying frenzy.
Now that's MY idea of "cool whip."
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