The Value of Values
One of the toughest jobs a leader has to perform is to act as guardian of an organisation’s values.An organisation’s values are the things that are really important to it.In the early days of an enterprise, the values are sometimes the only thing that keeps the business going. When other factors make the chances of survival doubtful, such as funds, markets, and technology, it is the set of beliefs held by the original founders which pull the business through. The beliefs of the organization are almost always the beliefs of the original leaders.

They care not one whit about you, your family, your dog, your car, how much money you make or your likes and dislikes (unless you tell them a story that convinces them they can make as much money as you do – see below). When they click on your webpage or open your sales letter, you have about five seconds to grab their attention. In that short time you must convince them your product or service will solve a problem for them.

This article is not going to be a detailed discussion about all the ins and outs of copywriting – that would take an entire book. There have already been thousands of them written, many by very successful copywriters. I want to approach the subject from a different direction.

Do this:
Build yourself a collection of sales letters and sales copy from your market. Look at the copy written by your chosen guru (see above: Part Four – Your business Model), and look at the copy of other successful people in the same market.

Study each sales letter carefully. Look at the headline – that sentence at the very beginning of the letter. Look at:

• The font – the typeface
• The size of the text in relation to the body of the letter
• The colour of the text
• Is it centred or aligned left?
• Does it have quotation marks around it?
• Finally, how does it grab readers’ attention? What are the specific words and phrases the copywriter uses to arouse a feeling in readers they must read the rest of this letter? What has the copywriter done to make readers believe this product or service will solve their problem?

Next look at the images the copywriter has chosen to complement the text. Look at the subjects of the images, their size and position on the page. Ask yourself how they arouse readers’ interest.

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them written, many by very successful copywriters. I want to approach the subject from a different direction.

Do this:
Build yourself a collection of sales letters and sales copy from your market. Look at the copy written by your chosen guru (see above: Part Four – Your business Model), and look at the copy of other successful people in the same market.

Study each sales letter carefully. Look at the headline – that sentence at the very beginning of the letter. Look at:

• The font – the typeface
• The size of the text in relation to the body of the letter
• The colour of the text
• Is it centred or aligned left?
• Does it have quotation marks around it?
• Finally, how does it grab readers’ attention? What are the specific words and phrases the copywriter uses to arouse a feeling in readers they must read the rest of this letter? What has the copywriter done to make readers believe this product or service will solve their problem?

Next look at the images the copywriter has chosen to complement the text. Look at the subjects of the images, their size and position on the page. Ask yourself how they arouse readers’ interest.

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The colour of the text

Is it centred or aligned left?

Does it have quotation marks around it?

Finally, how does it grab readers’ attention? What are the specific words and phrases the copywriter uses to arouse a feeling in readers they must read the rest of this letter? What has the copywriter done to make readers believe this product or service will solve their problem?

Next look at the images the copywriter has chosen to complement the text. Look at the subjects of the images, their size and position on the page. Ask yourself how they arouse readers’ interest.

Look at the body of text. Notice that the paragraphs are short – most no more than four lines of text. The style is conversational, not formal. Sometimes phrases rather than complete sentences are used. Sometimes single words such as ‘yep’ are used rather than the ‘yes’ you would expect.

Whenever the writer asks a question, he or she answers it. The answer is not left to readers.

Notice that the first few paragraphs tell a story that engages readers – a story that will convince readers they can be as happy as the person in the story.

See how the text flows. See how early on it reminds readers they, in fact, have a problem (readers already knows this, of course, but the writer is reminding them of it).

Next the writer begins to tell readers a solution is at hand – read on! As the text flows, readers are told this particular product or service will solve the problem.

This seems to be a good point to stop for now. See you soon.

Next time we shall have more to say about your sales copy and how you need to ask the customer formally to buy your product. We shall also say a bit about classified advertising – the same principles apply but you need to do it in just a few words.

Thanks for listening :-)

Copyright © 2006 Mary Rice-Johnston & Golden Goose Direct. All rights reserved.