Andy Maslen - Write to Sell: The Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting

Writing clearly in Englishthe standard language of the Internet, not to mention businesshas never been more important.

Just think of all the times you put fingers to keyboard. Letters, reports, proposals, publicity and marketing materials, emails the list is long. If you can write well, you are more likely than the next person to get what you want.

As a professional copywriter and writing coach, I see a lot of copywriting. And much of it is mediocre at best.

Too often, copywriters achieve their goals not because of what they write but despite it. With this in mind, I set out to write a simple guide to good copywriting.

My aims are to:

• Help you write better sales copy, faster.
• Inspire and entertain you along the waywriting should be fun, too.
• Share with you some of the professional secrets I've learned over the past 20 years.
• Show you that it's not as hard as you might think to write well (though it does take practice).
• Give you a copywriter's toolkit stuffed with practical hints, tips and techniques for better copywriting.

Overall, to:

• Help you get results using the written word.

I know you're busy. And I know that you don't want to have to plough through a dense textbook. That's why this book is short. But don't be misled by its size. I've packed enough ideas between its covers to transform the way you write. I'll help you answer the really big questions facing every copywriter:

How do I persuade someone to buy from me using nothing but the written word?

What does good copywriting look likeand sound like?

How can someone who isn't a professional writer still write compelling, persuasive, believable sales copy?

How do design and layout affect the impact of my writing?

Four things you MUST remember about copywriting

1 Copywriting is about selling

There are lots of people out there who need to write sales copy but who aren't equipped or trained to do it well. They are doing it badly because they have never been shown how to do it properly.

Yes, people are taught to write at school (sometimes even quite well). But there is a deep chasm between academic writing and effective copywriting.

Why? Because copywriting is primarily about selling and only secondarily about writing. And that distinction calls for an understanding of people and what makes them tick. Yes, of course you need to be able to write well and correctly, but that alone will not take you all the way.

I'm often asked whether my degree is in English. It's not: I read psychology. If you are going to influence people using the written word, it helps if you understand a little about how their minds work.

2 We must focus on the reader

Most copywriting underperforms because it is all about the writer and not about the reader.

Business owners are in love with the company. Managers are in love with the product. Agency copywriters, frequently, are in love with themselves (bound by their artistic aspirations and their desire to win creative awards doled out by their peers).

But who's in love with the reader? Who's trying to figure out what they want to hear? What their needs and wants are? What will motivate them to pay attention to a sales message, believe it and act upon it?

3 Beautiful things come in small packages

Most business copywriters, especially in-house copywriters, assume that bigger is better. Long words are better than short words. Long sentences are better than short sentences.

But readerseven CEOsdo not engage with this style of writing. It's all head, no heart. To engage our reader, we must use wheelbarrow language: the earthy, flinty words we can almost pick up in our hands and smell.

4 Most people lack the necessary skills and experience to do it well

Most copywriters have never done any selling. If they have, they've often missed the connection between the two activities. That means they don't see how their writing works as a sales process. They lack the relevant experience.

Most sales people have never done any serious writing, so they lack the relevant skills.

This book:

1. Gives you insights into how to gain your reader's attention, respect and trust.

2. Gives you the confidence to try a new approach to copywriting.

3. Helps you understand the relationship between selling skills and copywriting skills.

4. Saves you time, effort and heartache when you next want to write sales copy.

5. Means you won't waste money on doomed sales and marketing communications.