Ten Killer Copywriting Mistakes That Suck Money Out Of Your Sites

By Ewen Chia
Posted Saturday, September 25, 2004

Are you sick, tired and downright angry at the lousy profits you’re making online from your websites?

Listen, if you’re in need of quick and easy ways to blast your sales sky high, then this may be the most important article you'll ever read…

Fact is, the absence of powerful cash-churning copy is the single most critical attribute to poor sales. It is the master culprit that is leaking profits from your sites faster than an uncontrollable dam bursting at the seams…

…meaning, you need to fix these leaks immediately!

I’ve narrowed down 10 common copywriting mistakes to avoid like the plague, mistakes sucking money out of your websites right now. So my advise is to fix them before they fix you…

Mistake #1: Not Talking To Your Market

Customers want to know one thing - what they can get from buying and using your products. The “what’s in it for me?” mentality rules.

In all seriousness, they don’t give a hoot about you nor your products, only the benefits they will receive.

So use more ‘you’ to address your prospects directly in your copy while reducing ‘I’ words…you’re selling to your market, not to yourself here.

Similarly, research your target market to understand it’s buying psychology, what you want to find are the hot buttons that make them pull out their credit cards fast.

Mistake #2: Not Grabbing Immediate Attention

I still see direct response websites without an obvious opening headline that hits home fast. Big big mistake.

You’ve just a few crucial seconds to grab attention and interest in what you offer, so make use of this opportunity
to qualify and capture your prospects immediately.

State your ultimate benefits in the headline upfront, and make it short, sweet and direct. Ted Nicholas once said that a headline should contain only 17 words or less before it becomes ineffective.

Mistake #3: Missing Sub-Headlines

Use sub-headlines liberally, it’s a very powerful method for adding more fire into your sales copy. At the same time, it breaks down long sales letters for easier reading and strengthens benefits.

Sub-headlines can be applied after every 3-4 paragraphs as a tool to reinforce major points and to summarize your ideas.

Mistake #4: Draggy Sentence And Paragraph Formats

It’s advisable to write in shorter sentences and to divide copy into many different paragraphs. As a guideline a paragraph should have only 4-5 sentences focusing on one central point.

This enhances absorption rate and similarly enables easier reading and understanding.

Mistake #5: Not Having Enough Testimonials

Testimonials are proven selling tools so have more of them in support of your products. Psychologically people will be influenced positively if others, especially recognized experts in your market, endorse your products openly. This is known commonly as the “Law Of Association" .

The trick is to use testimonials as another vehicle to support your major benefits. To do that testimonials should be descriptive, detailed and facts-oriented.

Mistake #6: Not Firing Your Bullets

Do use lots of bullets in your copy, and then use some more.

Bullets are excellent sales converters which can often decide if you make or break the sale. People read bullets like crazy, so list down your most powerful and detailed benefit statements in them for maximum impact to your bottomline.

Mistake #7: Using Negative Words

Reduce usage of words with negative emotions as much a as possible.

Turn negative adjectives into positive experiences. For example don’t say 'complicated' and 'wrong', say 'easy' and 'sure-fire'.

While Gary Halbert mentioned how certain negative adjectives in your headline can produce great results, the focus should be only in using them to create outrageous or shocking statements to incite interest, curiosity, anger or fear. An example would be something like :"Do You Make These *Fatal Mistakes* In Your Marketing?"

Mistake #8: Lack Of Irresistible Offers

An irresistible offer can contribute at least 25% to the success of your sales copy, and it’s the one thing you may be presently ignoring.

For example, create killer offers by piling up the bonuses. Increase the total perceive value of your package by adding audio recordings, video trainings or transcripts. Another technique to try is to position bonuses such that they appear more valuable than the actual product. This is because many times customers will end up buying for the bonuses alone!

Mistake #9: Not Asking For The Order!

This is so serious it’s not even funny anymore. I’ve seen sites with confusing order instructions after getting everything else right…this is outright criminal and certain profits down the drain.

You don’t want to anger or frustrate your customers into leaving your site just when the money’s on the table.

State the price clearly and INSTRUCT customers to ‘click here to order now’. Have plenty of order instructions throughout your copy, and make them obvious for goodness sake. You need to tell your customers what to do next, you need to state definite and clear calls to the action you want.

Mistake #10: Forgetting To P.S.

Have at least two P.S. (post scripts) as they’re often the next most read part of your sales copy after the headline. You wouldn’t want to lose any chance of capturing potential sales here.

As a guide, you can use P.S. (1) as a repetition and reinforcement of your headline, and P.S. (2) as a total summary of the package and time-sensitive extra bonuses if any. Just remember to use them.

That’s it, what you do now is scan through your web copy and check if you’re making any of these 10 profit-losing mistakes right now.

Make changes where you can and I guarantee your response rates will shoot through the roof.

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About the author:
Ewen Chia is co-creator of “Underground Sales Letters” which contains rare and hidden million dollar sales copy you can swipe without lifting a finger! Grab the world’s greatest swipe file here: (http://www.UndergroundSalesLetters.com)