Writing Copy That Converts

The word “Copy” just means the words you use to entice someone to take action. This action could be to join a mailing list, to purchase, to Like your post or page, etc.

The main thing to remember is that it’s not about you it’s about your customers’ feelings.

You must tap into emotionally why they need to take action.

Pastor acronym or framework for copy, which I learned from Ray Edwards, a top copywrite expert.

Pastor means shepherd and a shepherd’s job is to take care of the flock. So we shepherd buyers into making a good decision that is in their best interest. Not to twist their arm or manipulate them.  You will not be for everyone. I’m not for everyone. The quicker you understand that sometimes people just don’t like and be okay with it, the quicker you can move on to serving those who love you.

P-A-S-T-O-R

P starts with the Person, the Problem, and the Pain.

The person is all about knowing your customer really well inside out. This will take some work, it takes getting to know them.  How do you get to know your customers? Just like you get to know anybody. You spend time with them, you talk to them, you listen to them more importantly.  Really pay attention. Pay attention to their comments, their questions, what they post about, what they like to read, their ages, if they are male and female, what their daily lives are, ask them, talk to them if you can.  Then the problem that you’re helping solve. You need to understand the nature of that, and it needs to be the problem as they perceive it, and the pain as they perceive it.

For example, if you’re selling a quilting diy video, you may think the problem for the buyer is that they are unknowledgeable and just want to learn a new technique or a pattern. But that’s not what they’re feeling. What they’re feeling could be, they’re unhappy because their kids are all grown and gone and they are now lonely and need something to fill their day. Or they could be feeling their daughter is getting ready to have their first grandchild and and wants to make a keepsake quilt for the new baby who will be able to one day grow up and take with her to college and have fond memories of her grandparent.

Tap into what the buyer is feeling, their emotions are what helps them to take action.

Ways to learn who your audience is: take a survey (google forms, survey monkey)

A – Amplifying the consequences of not solving the problem. What’s going to happen if you don’t take care of this or you don’t learn to make that quilt? Then tell them what the future is going to look like. You walk them through what that will feel like. When you can get a buyer to a place where they really see their future, having not solved their problem, most people are ready to buy at that point.

S – Story. Now we need to tell them the story of how we arrived at the solution we have for them.  Often, there’s a story of a struggle, and finding the solution, then systemizing the knowledge. The story you have on how you came to learn the knowledge you want to teach is a great place to start.

For example, here’s mine:

“My kids were young, we were on a single income and money was very tight. But I wanted expensive high end decorations for my home. No way could I justify buying them because money was tight.  I taught myself how to make wreaths myself. Through trial and error and lots of practice I got good. Really good. I taught myself how to start selling them to make money to help pay cash for the extras my family wanted; like vacations, Christmas presents for the kids, etc. How to market them, how to grow an Etsy shop business.  Before I knew it, I was making 6 figures.  Now that I know how to sell online, I can teach it to you. If me a stay at home mom with no college degree can do it, anyone can.”  That’s my personal story.

It’s what they call the heroes journey. All stories are the heroes journey.

T – Testimony and Transformation.

A testimony is when people talk about how they’ve used your product or services and how they’ve benefited from it. They’re giving their testimonial saying, “That was the best video. I mean, I’m a seasoned quilter but Rebecca taught me techniques I’ve not heard before and the short cuts she suggested really save me a lot of time and money.” These are testimonials.

O – Offer

Then, there’s the Offer and it’s not about the box of stuff or the video that costs $47.  That’s not the offer. That’s a description of the cost of the offer. The offer is really about the transformation in peoples lives.  Like, the peace of mind you’re going to get from having a solid foundation for your wreath making business. Or, the peace of mind you’re going to get from having passive income rolling in, and you don’t have to worry about starting at zero every month. You’ve got income starting before the month even begins that you can count on.

R – Requesting your response. That’s the buy button. It’s asking people to buy saying, “This is what you do now to get the thing I just told you about.”

That’s PASTOR.