extra mile

can do with language. Like using special
terms or jargon used exclusively within a specific marketing niche.
Customers know immediately if you're "one of them." Jargon and
specialized knowledge help give them the clue for that.

There’s an awful lot you can do. And you’re really only limited
by that internal editor/critic. So the sooner you throw that
critic out the door, the better.

Also, when writing like you talk, you need to be able to keep a
warm tone. One way it’s put by sales professionals is to imagine
that you’re making “a referral to a friend” rather than making
“a sales pitch to a customer.” The examples you’ll usually hear
copywriting educators use for this are the kitchen table
conversation or the barstool conversation.

The best way to develop this warm tone is through identification.

Getting to really know your target market (or “tarket”, as
Lorrie Morgen-Ferrero calls it) allows you to identify
first-hand with their hopes, dreams, wants, and needs. This
comes from study and research, although a certain amount of
intuition comes in handy too.

You really do need to be able to put yourself into your
customer’s shoes in order to be a good salesperson, whether in
print or face-to-face. As the old saying goes, “Become your
customer.” They need to become real in your mind -- as real as
that person sitting across the kitchen table.

There are plenty of ways to identify with your customer or
prospect. Reading the trade journals or magazines they read is a
good place to start.

But what this skill really amounts to is empathy. Identification
and empathy are two peas in the pod.

In business, you develop empathy simply by putting your customer
first. By actually caring about your customer and making it your
avowed goal to help them. By going the extra mile to find out
what it is that keeps them awake at night. By becoming obsessed
(in a good way) with bringing them a product that will solve a
problem and make their life easier.

And by listening.

How do you listen to your customer when they're not there? The same
way you would if they were there. By asking a question. And then
listening for the answer. From inside you.

Whenever you write sales copy, you need to continually ask "So
what?" after every single sentence you write. The person sitting
across the kitchen table or next to you at the bar is a skeptic.
Which is normal and healthy!

By keeping your customer's possible objections in mind every
single minute you write, you establish a kind of dialogue. And
that's when your customer will really get pulled into your copy.
That's when they'll say, "Hey, she's talking to me!"

You'll be getting that empathy. And with it will come that warm,
familiar tone.

So practice writing like you talk, keeping in mind that you want
to be informal and familiar. Get to know your customer better so
you can identify better with them and build empathy.

Eventually you'll get "over the hump" and your "right" voice will
start to come naturally.

And that's when you'll start to see a steep rise in your sales
numbers!

About the Author

Bruce Carlson is a freelance writer and educator living in Finland. Visit his website at www.dynamic-copywriting.com and sign up for his fr.ee newsletter The Dynamic Copywriter!