My name is Steven Wagenheim. I’ve been a writer for over 30 years of my life.
But so what? Why should you even bother listening to what I have to say here?
After all, if I’m going to have any credibility here, I better be able to show it.
Actually, my claim to fame has NOT been as a copywriter. I am an Internet marketer, and a very successful one. I’ve created several best selling products that continue to make me a steady six figure income each year.
So what does this have to do with copywriting?
In order to understand what this has to do with copywriting, you need to know a little bit about me personally.
I’m a real cheap marketer. I hate spending money. And when I learned that hiring somebody to do my sales copy for me for my first product was going to cost me $2,500, I said “Thanks, but no thanks.”
There was no way I was going to dish out that kind of loot for a product that I wasn’t even sure would sell. So I decided that if I wasn’t going to hire a copywriter then I better learn how to write copy – and FAST!
Now remember, I’d been writing for many years already, so all I needed was some quick tips to writing copy that draws in the reader. What I found were the most complicated and confusing books on the subject that I had ever read.
I even studied with one of the top copywriters on the planet. Yet, I couldn’t help but think that this whole process could be made a whole lot simpler to understand.
I mean, if I was having so much trouble understanding some of the concepts then what about somebody who’d never written a thing in his life?
There HAD to be a better way.
So, I took every piece of information that I had run across and then studied every piece of sales copy that I could.
I was determined to REALLY understand what it was that made sales copy tick and then put it into plain English so that I could understand it. I made notes that even my daughter could understand.
I then put what I had come up with to the test. Leaving out all the fancy mumbo jumbo, I wrote my first piece of sales copy and handed it to my top affiliate.
He turned around and made 100 plus sales of my first product in his FIRST month of promoting it, and he didn’t have a big list to promote to. He simply used the same advertising methods that your common Internet marketer uses.
If you’re wondering what this product is, it’s my Honest Income Program, which, as of this writing, is going on 18 months of solid sales with no sign of slowing down.
As a matter of fact, we’re going to be using that sales copy as a blueprint for this document, so you can learn, not just through some dry facts, but also through a real world example of a product that converts very well.
But my really big breakthrough as a copywriter didn’t really come until after I met Andrew Cavanagh.
After getting a solid education from this man, who just happens to be a master at opening lines and creating powerful story for your sales copy, I had everything I needed to write sales copy for myself that I knew beyond doubt would convert into consistent sales.
When you see the bonuses that I have included with this book, directly from Andrew Cavanagh, you will understand why he is the master.
Andrew does a lot of things with his copy that I don’t do...which will make your copy even more powerful. That is why I’m so glad that he allowed me to include his bonuses with this book.
I have no doubt that after reading this document; you will be able to write sales copy that converts. You’ll be able to do it without having to strain your brain to the point of exhaustion. I will spell everything out in easy to understand, plain English. I will explain what to do and why you are doing it.
This way, you will not just be doing things by rote. You will understand WHY you are doing these things.
Since my first copywriting success, I have gone on to write other pieces of sales copy that have also converted very well.
Am I an Andrew Cavanagh or a Michel Fortin? No, but I also don’t charge $15,000 for sales copy either. However, I have no doubt that by following the basics of this document, you will be able to write sales copy good enough to bring in consistent sales for whatever it is you’re promoting.
If you decide to do this for a living, you’ll have no trouble charging $1,500 to $2,000 to start. As you gain experience and as you prove your salt as a copywriter, you’ll be able to command higher fees.
The key is starting off with a solid, basic foundation. And that is what this book will give you, without having to shell out thousands of dollars in consulting fees and without having to read books on the subject that you’d need a team of hieroglyphic experts to decipher.
So without further ado, let’s get on to the topic of writing sales copy that converts.
Where To Begin
Believe it or not, this is the hardest part. Most people when they set out to write copy don’t know where to begin.
The task in front of them is massive at best and impossible at worst. So what I am going to do in this chapter is give you a simple blueprint, or checklist, of where to begin and what steps to follow when writing your copy.
I strongly suggest writing this down or printing this out, because this is going to be the process you will follow when writing any piece of copy, regardless of what the product is.
Step 1 – Read the product
Step 2 – Research the market
Step 3 – Compile a list of bullet points for the product
Step 4 – Think of a headline
Step 5 – Think of an opening paragraph
Step 6 – Create sub heads in continuing the copy
Step 7 – Gather proof and credibility documents
Step 8 – Gather testimonials
Step 9 – The Guarantee
Step 10 – Bonuses
Step 11 – The Price
Step 12 – Summarize what the customer is getting
Step 13 – Construct your call to action
Step 14 – Construct your PS
This is basically what all sales copy comes down to. Now obviously I’ll be covering each of these items in great detail.
Once you understand each item, all you’ll need in the future is this checklist by your side and you’ll be able to write copy for just about any product you can think of.
If you look at just about any top converting sales copy on the Internet today, you will find that they all have this structure in common. There is a reason for it.
It works. Studies have been made to show that it works. So there is no reason to reinvent the wheel here. Simply do what everybody else is doing and you’ll have sales copy that will do the job. Ultimately, that is the bottom line.
Let’s move on to the first step in our process.
