Susan M. Gunelius - Kickass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps

Jere L. Calmes, Publisher

Cover Design: Beth Hansen-Winter

Composition and Production: Lesley Rock for SquareOne Publishing Partners

2008 by Entrepreneur Press

All rights reserved.

Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the Business Products Division, Entrepreneur Media Inc.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gunelius, Susan M.

Kick-ass copywriting in 10 easy steps / by Susan M. Gunelius.

p. cm.

1. Advertising copyHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.

HF5825.G86 2008

659.132dc22

2008015791

ebook ISBN: 978-1-61308-190-7

11 10 09 08

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

DEDICATION

To Mom and Dad for your never-ending encouragement and support.

To Scott for picking up the slack while I wrote.

To Brynn, Daniel, and Ryan for the love and laughter you give.

Contents

by Brian Clark

T HERE ARE THREE QUICK AND VALUABLE POINTS ID LIKE TO MAKE BEFORE you read this book.

1. The first point you might not believe at first.

2. The second point provides real-world proof that the first point is true.

3. And the third point is self evident thanks to the first twoyou need to devour this book front to back, backward and forward, to take your business to the next level.

COPYWRITING IS A SUBJECT EVERY SMALL OR MEDIUM-SIZE BUSINESS OWNER MUST MASTER

I can already hear the objections.

How can writing be that important to business?

Dont worry... I know theres a lot involved with starting and running a business. Ive started over half-a-dozen successful businesses in the last eight years (more about that in a minute).

But heres the thing...

Copywriting isnt about writing. Copywriting is about selling.

And sales are the most important thing to a small or medium-size business, right?

Effective selling is all about getting the right message to prospects and customers at the right time. And copywriting is all about crafting timely messages that sell.

Effective copywriting shifts your messages away from what you want to say toward what people want to hear, and it can be a magical thing. It can take your business from ordinary to legendary.

As a business owner, its your job to create the optimal selling strategy for your products or services. Its not something you should outsource or delegate... its up to you.

Those who understand the principles of copywriting know how to craft an effective selling strategy. Even if they never personally write a word of copy themselves.

Thats why copywriting is a subject every small or medium-size business owner must master. And youre well on your way thanks to the book youre holding right now.

This brings us to point two.

COPYWRITING LANDED ME ON THIS BEACH IN MEXICO

I have a confession to make.

Im a bit late getting this foreword done because I am goofing off with buddies down in Mexico. Copywriting combined with technology allows me to run my businesses from anywhere in the world, and I try to take advantage of that as much as possible (even in the middle of the week).

It wasnt always this way. Back in 1994, I graduated from law school sure of only one thing... I didnt want to be an attorney. It took me four years to break free from the law, determined to be an entrepreneur.

And for the two years that followed, I floundered around. I had some limited success but nothing close to what I was hoping for.

Then I became a student of copywriting and everything changed.

Acting on what I learned, I quickly entered the highly competitive real estate brokerage field and within three months began generating a higher profit than most of my competitors. In 2005, I cashed out before the market went south.

The secret of my success?

I simply used effective sales copy to speak to prospective clients in the way they wanted to be spoken to. I delivered a message that was about them, not me.

And that made all the difference.

Nowadays, each new business I start is Internet-based and copy-driven, which allows me the freedom to goof off in Mexico in the middle of the week. Freedom (and enough money to enjoy it) is what success means to me.

This book can bring exceptional success to you, too.

THIS COPYWRITING BOOK IS THE KEY TO ACCELERATED BUSINESS SUCCESS

There are plenty of copywriting books around but none that so clearly addresses the real-life realities the business owner faces. Susan Gunelius understands copywriting, but more importantly, she understands business.

Susan lays out for youin 10 easy and crystal-clear stepsthe path to greater growth, profit, and wealth for people who conduct business in the real world. No theory or speculation, just time-tested tactics and strategies that work for small to middle-size business.

So dont hesitate... dive right in today. If you apply what youre about to discover to your business, I have no doubt that youll be enjoying greater success and prosperity in no time.

See you on the beach.

Brian Clark

Copyblogger.com

April 23, 2008

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

I THINK MY LOVE OF COPYWRITING BEGAN WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. I always enjoyed writing, but it was when I was a teenager that I realized I enjoyed persuasive writing. I was probably the only 15-year-old in the world to have a large collection of print ads. I always believed that my mother thought I was crazy for collecting the ads because many of them were for alcohol. Im sure she thought I had some kind of addictive personality. Ironically, years later, it turns out thats true. Im addicted to chocolate and Diet Coke, but I digress. The point is that I loved print ads. From the design to the words, I loved everything about them, and I still do.

During my junior year of high school, my French teacher told me I had an uncanny ability to say a lot in very few words. To this day, I dont know if that was a compliment, but I took it as one. Theres an old saying that everyone has some hidden talent, you just have to find out what it is. Well, mine was marketing and copywriting, and it kind of found me.

While I really wanted to study graphic design, I chose to pursue a degree in marketingthinking it would make me more marketable once I graduated from college. From there, I started at the bottom working in a marketing support role for a division of AT&T. Luckily, the powers that be noticed that I had a knack for writing, and I was promoted to a position specifically created for me that allowed me to focus on marketing communications. Thats where the pieces of my career started to fall into place. I realized that what I truly loved was the creative side of marketing, including copywriting, design, and production.