The Ultimate Skills of Copywriting

It's called AIDCA.

Each of the letters stands for something, and Iwill now explain each one of them shortly. Butbefore I do, you need to realize that this is aformula that you can use to help you create apowerful structure whenever you need to quicklycreate persuasive and compelling copy - especiallywhen you want to sell something.Let's get into it:

"A" stands for ATTENTION
The first thing you need to do for any kind ofpersuasive copywriting, is to grab people'sATTENTION.And in the world of copywriting, there is nobetter way of doing this, than to write a reallypowerful, benefit driven headline.That's the big "scary" lines of red text you sooften see at the top of long form sales pages.They are big and bold because their main purposeis to grab your attention, and to get you to readwhatever is next on the page.In fact, here's a tip...The purpose of every single sentence you everwrite for persuasive copy is to get people to readthe next sentence. That's it.That tip right there is a HUGE tip. Think aboutit.But how do you create big and bold and powerfulheadlines?Once again, you can use a formula. There arehundreds of incredibly powerful formulas around,and Jo Han Mok offers close to 600 of them thatyou can use straight away. To see what I mean,just go here:Get The Ultimate Web Copywriting Desktop

"I" stands for INTEREST
Immediately after you've grabbed people'sattention with your powerful headline, the nextthing you need to do, is to create a deep level ofinterest inside your reader's mind.In other words, you need to find a way to drawyour reader in and to make them realize that theysimply HAVE to read the rest of your information.This is a bit of an art, but the best way I'vefound of doing this fast and easily is to tell astory.Now, this is no ordinary story. The point of thestory is threefold:- first, to emotionally draw people into yourcopy...- second, to tell people about the problem orissue that you are trying to solve...- and third, to offer a hint of a solution thatyou've "stumbled" upon...If you're good at storytelling, you may find thisstep a little easier to do.Of course, this is only one of MANY methods aroundfor generating interest, and Jo Han talks aboutmany other strategies inside his course here:Get The Ultimate Web Copywriting Desktop

"D" stands for DESIRE
Next, once you've peaked your reader's interest,you need to figure out a way to get them to desirethe product/service/cause that you are talkingabout.And the best way of doing this, is to write aseries of bullet points, where you list all thebenefits of the solution that you are offering.Here, it's EXTREMELY important that you do notjust talk about the "features" of your product orservice or whatever you are offering. You alsohave to talk about and FOCUS on the benefits ofeach of these "features". Especially the*emotional* benefits as perceived by your readers.For example, say I'm writing a sales letter abouta new mp3 player. One feature is that the devicehas a super cool USB connection.But the benefit to the user is that they can plugthe mp3 player straight into their computer, anddownload music onto it instantly without anyhassle and thus saving them lots of time andeffort.A really good acid test for knowing if you're onthe right track with your bullet points, is to seeif you can ask the question "So what?". If youcan, you're still dealing with a feature.For example, using the mp3 player again... thefeature is that the mp3 player has a USBconnection. I can then ask the question "So what?"But if I then say something like... "It comes witha USB connection that allows you to download yourfavorite mp3 songs instantly without any fuss andsaving you time..." then that talks much moreabout the benefit to the reader of that particularfeature.So, a really easy way to do this, is to list allthe features of your product or service, and tothen write down the benefits that each of thesefeatures offer your readers. That then becomesyour bullet points!Once you've done that, you've already done a lotto persuade your audience into taking action intoa certain direction... for example purchasing yourproduct!Once again, you can use specific formulas forthese bullet points where you only have to fill inthe blanks and you end up with a really powerfularray of benefit filled bullets.Jo Han lists close to 1,000 "formulas" that youcan use. In fact, this is the first time I've everseen someone create formulas for bullet points.

C" stands for CONVICTION
Ok, at this stage, if you've followed all thesteps correctly, your readers will now be at astage where they want to see some proof about whatyou are saying.Proof that you know what you're talking about, andproof that your product or service actually doeswhat you say it will do.And how do you do this?Easy.Just use testimonials and case studies from yourcurrent customers and clients.This is one of the most powerful forms ofconviction around. If your readers can see thatother people have used your products or servicessuccessfully, and that they loved it, they aremuch more likely to "jump on the bandwagon" aswell, and pull out their credit cards ready tomake you a wealthy person really fast.Just make sure you check the latest rulings of theFTC about using testimonials on your site - it's apretty big discussion, but the FTC has recentlychanged a few things on what exactly is allowed tobe inside a testimonial and what is not.Another way of creating conviction is to provide arefund policy. In other words, offer a guaranteethat you will refund people's money if they arenot happy with your product or service.There's a lot of psychology behind doing this, fartoo much that I can explain here. But my advice issimply to JUST DO IT! Definitely make sure youalways talk about your refund policy in your salescopy.Inside Jo Han's course, he lists 119 "fill in theblank" guarantees for you.

"A" stands for ACTION
Finally, it's time to take action.And this is where you simply call your readers totake some kind of specific action.It only has to be one or two sentences, but youhave to be very specific as to what you would likeyour readers to do.Again, you can make use of powerful and testedformulas here. Last time I looked, Jo Han had 197formulas for what he calls "closers". So, all youhave to do, is pick one, and fill in the blanksfor your particular situation and you're done! Youcan see more about what I'm talking about here:Get The Ultimate Web Copywriting DesktopAnd that's the AIDCA formula for creating powerfulcopy!Of course, there is A LOT more to it than that forbecoming a master copywriter. But honestly, in myview, this is THE MOST important skill you willever need to develop if you want to be supersuccessful online.Words are powerful. More powerful than the sword.And if you know how to use them wisely, you cancreate some seriously big online opportunities foryourself.