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Author: Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero Article source: http://www.red-hot-copy.com/. Used with author's permission.
Here's another drill ripped out of the Field Guide for my Red Hot Copywriting Bootcamp. There are 20 drills total which take 15 minutes per day (my "recruits" get weekends off). Each drill stands on its own but put them all together and the impact on your salesmanship is phenomenal! So here is another one for you…
Copywriting is a team sport. There is you (the writer) and the reader. But the reader has all the power. She gets to decide when the game's over. As soon as the reader is gone, no one is there to read the copy! So anticipate what's going to keep her interested and intrigued ahead of time. Here's how it's done.
Pick a primary target market. (Yes you can have more than one, but the more specific you make your target market, the easier it will be to sell to them. So let's go with ONE.) Now let's narrow it even further. I coined a term called "tarket" which is a combination of Target + Market = Tarket.
See, "tarket" is a singular way to look at writing to one person rather than a mob. Get this one concept down and your copy will bond effortlessly with the reader. Because it's just you and her in the room. (Oops - I let out another of my secrets. We're limited in the English language when it comes to identifying rather than "he" I suggest if you use the pronoun "she" instead. Your copy will go through a subtle filter that you may find is more palatable to more of your audience than you imagined. Of course, it depends on who your target market or "tarket" is.)
Here's a million dollar tip for your copy. In general, even educated people don't mind reading simple words. Simple means clear. If you use high falutin language, you risk pulling the reader out of the reading experience…maybe fast enough to click away forever. But there's a fine line between talking down to your market. Don't go there. For the most part, Americans read between the 11th and 12th grade levels. Did you know that best-selling books are written for the 8th to 10th grade level? "Reader's Digest" aims for the 10th grade level, while "Time" and "The Wall Street Journal" reach for the 11th. So Keep It Simple, Sweetheart!
Prepare a Fact Sheet for your target market. Write down all the facts and demographic information you know about them. Here are a few categories to get you started;
- Age
- Gender
- Education
- Family status
- Socioeconomic status
- Profession/occupation
- Hobbies
- Geographic location
- Media they consume (including Web sites, blogs, magazines, television shows)
Next find a picture of your newly born "tarket". Make him or her as real as possible. I have a picture of my tarket I got from clip art. (In fact, he or she can BE real. If you would like to focus on a client or friend that fits the bill, that's fine too. Just do the brain work.)
Finally give your tarket a name. That helps solidify EXACTLY who it is youre speaking to in your writing.
Putting yourself in the shoes of your client is the best thing you can ever do. When you start thinking and anticipating what's going on in their minds, that's when your copy's going to start connecting. And that's what we do as copywriters and business folks.
So where do you grab this Field Guide for more copywriting exercises? Sorry. Only recruits of my Bootcamp can get it for now. So sign up today for the next session. It will be one of the best business decisions you've ever made. www.red-hot-copy.com/rhcbootcamp.htm ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
World class copywriter, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero is the author of the award winning home study course, Red Hot Copy to Woo Your Target Market and founder of the online copywriting school Red Hot Copywriting Bootcamp, ( http://www.red-hot-copy.com/rhcbootcamp.htm). Learn insider secrets to great copywriting from a pro whos been in the trenches with Lorries f^ree ezine, Copywriting TNT. Sign up at http://www.red-hot-copy.com.
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