Visual Space

It happens fast. Less than a second. In a micro-second, your customer’s eyes land on your website and send a message to their brain, which then decides how it feels about you before even a single word is read. The famous copywriter Joseph Sugarman says that when trying to gain a new customer, first you need to create the right environment. You need to give your visitor the visual space they need to focus on your product, whether that is in an actual physical space, or purely online. After you have introduced yourself visually, if your potential customer feels good and they like what they see, the next part is easy. Well, o.k., I fibbed, it does take a bit of work, but not as much effort as it took to dream of, invent and refine your product! Don’t stop until you have completed this final important step of your product’s life span. As the creator of your product, you will need to write your own sales copy, until you don’t. Now, let’s start talking about how to write effective copy.

What special aspect of your product sets it apart from all others?

It isn’t a feature, or a detail, it is something almost like magic…an intangible aspect that makes your customer not just want the product, but want to get it from you, and you alone, and immediately.  A purchase is an emotional decision backed up by logic, Sugarman says.  Once you have discovered the “magic”, and have brought it to your customer’s attention, then you can start talking about the next very important step (justifying with logic). But first you need to go through a creative and sometimes agonizing process of finding that magic.

It Is There Somewhere

“The first job of an ad agency is to look at your product in every imaginable way:  frontwards, backwards, sideways, upside down, inside out.  Because somewhere, right there in the product itself, lies the drama that will sell it to people who want it.” ~Sugarman

If your audience has made it this far in your presentation, they are likely very curious, and something about you has resonated with them. If the environment that you created didn’t suit them and they have left, it is possible that they are not your ideal customer. It is also possible that your copy just needs reworking. I am running a heat map on this page. I can’t identify individual users, but I get a visual report that shows me how many visitors like you are reading just part of the article, or are scrolling down to the bottom where there is free access to some of the tools I use. By the time you are reading this, I have tweaked this copy many times in an effort to refine it and encourage you to read the entire article because it is full of information that will help you even in the last paragraph. You may have to try different wording to see if you get a better response. Of course most web pages you write will have just a few phrases with a simple call to action, and will not be a longer informative article like this one is. With the right wording, your ideal customer will recognize that you see certain things in the same way that they do, are offering something that is meaningful to them, and will want to continue on to learn more.

Your Unbeatable Solution

It is a bit of a no-no to talk about yourself in your copy, but I want to illustrate for you the thinking that led to what I feel is Future Bright’s magic so that it can inspire your own discovery. Please forgive me for a moment as I turn your attention to Future Bright. There are literally tens of thousands of web design and development shops around the world. Each has its own specialty and style. They all produce the same thing…websites. What is different about us?

My style of service includes empowerment, beauty, and function. I have always had the goal of making sure that my clients feel more confident about their web presence than they ever have before, and that they have at least a surface understanding of how the amazing, gorgeous lead generating system that we have built for them works so that it becomes an engine for their sales. I want them to feel like it is easy.

We don’t just build websites, we build the entire social structure around the website. We put in place beautiful social media profiles and ads that lead visitors to our client’s website, where the visitor becomes engrossed in their brand, opts-in to continue learning more, and then makes a purchase or reaches out to begin the relationship. If the customer needs time to think about it and leaves without an engagement, no worries, we can remind them to come back later with targeted ads that appear on their social feeds. We build robust lead generating systems that incorporate touchpoints from across the entire social media and web based landscape.

Websites are often pretty but not very functional, or functional but not very pretty. Because I have a Master of Science degree in Tech Management, and an undergraduate degree that combines fine arts, computer science, and business, what we can offer our clients that other shops can’t is both beauty and function. We create absolutely gorgeous websites that have powerful systems behind them. That combination is our magic, what Sugarman calls the “drama”, our superpower.  As Sugarman says, you need to look at your product or service from every direction and identify what is truly unique about it. This helps you further identify who your target audience is, so that you can write directly to them.
O.k. now, on to discuss that next important thing! Logical reasoning.

Justify With Logic

Once your customer is confident that you are laser focused on solving their problem because you created an environment that put them at ease and have shown the magic of your product or service, they may really want to do business with you but still need to justify the purchase in their mind with some logical reasoning. What are logical reasons to buy your product or offering?

Natural Objections

It helps to know at this point the objections a customer might have to buying your product and to make some assurances. Our brains are constantly telling us “no”. It could be cost, or timing, or they need to talk it over with their partner. Maybe they are afraid they will break your product as they are walking out the door. These are all completely valid concerns. Addressing those objections will further reassure them that you have carefully considered their needs with a great deal of integrity.

For example: our prices are not cheap. You can find many designers and developers who charge less. You can also find those who charge a lot more. Some of our clients are sensitive to cost. To balance cost with design and features, we offer custom packages for our clients. This fits my core belief that the future is bright, like my business name states (Future Bright), even if you are just taking baby steps.

Other clients are concerned about the handling of their visual brand and the complexities of managing a digital presence…they want their brand to look amazing, and they also want to offer their customers the best possible experience. When you are using the most current features on your web presence, you are showing that the experience of your customer matters to you. That you value being up to date, and are paying attention to modern trends. Managing a complex digital marketing system can feel overwhelming. When you look at our portfolio you see our style: clean, modern, engaged. We want our work to show that our clients absolutely love what they do and are creative problem solvers. We talk a lot with our clients about the systems behind the beauty, and we absolutely make it incredibly simple. A simpler system will result in clearer messaging, and lots of time (expense) saved.

Having an eye for style plus the experience (two decades) to look backwards and plan forwards with digital gives us a huge advantage. We reassure our clients that hiring us now will save them a great deal of expense and lost time in the long-run. We can move quickly through to a finish, and the designs we create last for years because the imagery can easily be changed as visual styles change. It is a good investment. Working with us means that our customer will save time, save money, and their brand will look amazing, so they will as a result feel amazing, happy, and confident, which can have a positive affect on all other areas of your life.

When you have addressed the objections of your audience and put reassurances in place, you have now paved the way for them to make the logical arguments with themselves to change their inner no to a “yes”. Now, how do you put all of this together for your own digital presence? Or put it all into one powerful headline?

Time Has Measurable Value

Most people believe that given the time and tools, they could learn how to create or do anything, and that is absolutely true. The world is full of products that could be made by anyone given the right circumstance. But time is fixed. We can’t squeeze another minute from a day, or month from a year, and no one has a garage big enough to hold all of the tools needed to make all of the gadgets they desire.

I made this for you!

Every single product or service has a message from its creator, “I made this for you so you can do other things that you enjoy or need to focus on”. The same is definitely true for building a digital brand and presence. It is also true of what you are doing for your own customers.

You can certainly take the information I have shared with you here and flush out a journey for your customer that includes visual space, your magic, logical reasoning and assurances.  You can read Joseph Sugarman and as many books on the subject as you can find. In fact, I highly recommend reading multiple books about copywriting, as each author will have a different style and perspective. One will resonate with your own voice. That is what I did, because I wanted to master words to go along with the beauty and tech that we build. I like Sugarman because he and I are similar people, with very diverse interests and skills. His voice is optimistic, he believes his customers are intelligent, and he gets excited about new ideas and technology. Rather than using trickery and manipulation to get a sale, he enjoys empowering his audience with the information they need to make an informed decision. I like to give you enough information to go off and do something yourself if you are so inclined.

You already know from reading above that I am systems oriented, so you probably can imagine that I have to come up with a system or method for writing copy. I tore through all of the copywriting books and marketing books and courses I could get my hands on, and have put together a process for writing great copy. I would love to share it with you.

Get Help! And Books!

If you would like to put your copywriting woes behind you, getting started is really easy!
It requires a bit of training, a process, and practice. Many people have been in the place where you are right now, realizing that you need to learn to write sales copy. I certainly was! It helps to have someone show you where to start, even if it is just baby steps.

Get My Tools!

It was very challenging to shorten this article, because there is so much more information to give you. Very importantly is creating that process that works for you. I have a worksheet that I created for myself that I print out and use for each article or campaign that I write for myself or a client. That worksheet represents thousands of dollars in training and courses, and dozens of hours of reading and testing. When you are ready, I would very much like to share that worksheet with you. First I would like to learn a bit more about you and your product or service! It costs absolutely nothing to click the button below and fill out a form to tell me about your business and product and copywriting journey. In exchange, I will send you links to three books that you MUST own and refer to continuously, plus a fun headline writing tool. I will be reading each submission carefully and responding with my thoughts. Your response will help me help you and other businesses in your shoes. Your responses are extremely valuable. I look forward very much to hearing from you, and sending you what you need to get started on your successful copywriting journey!

-Wendy Louise Nog, Founder