Web Copy That Sells - do you really need this book?

Do you know the secrets behind writing web copy that sells thousands of dollars of product every week? Would you like to increase your hub related incomes by an order of magnitude? Of course you would. I'm reviewing the book Web copy that sells – the Revolutionary formula for creating killer copy that grabs their attention and compels them to buy by Maria Veloso. It's a hot book on Amazon and other websites and claims to help everyone write irresistible copy to compell people to buy whatever you're selling on the web.

A large portion of this book is devoted to e-mail marketing which very few people do today it's unless they're retired diplomats from Nigeria so the information in these chapters be nothing more fill. There are a few people for whom the book really is worthwhile - if you are doing legitimate mass email marketing, or if you are marketing an eBook about marketing or other money making products, then yes, Veloso can help you sell more. But for all her examples, she gives no examples of how to increase the sales of the widgets most of us are selling on the web. Also, if your product doesn't cost $100 - $1000 then she does little to help you.

The book IS worth reading by everyone though, because it exposes in clear language, the psychological tricks that copy writers use to get you to buy products you otherwise wouldn't consider.

 

 

how to become a great web copywriter in five hours or less

here's the big secret she reveals find a good piece of and copy it by hand write it out by hand two or three times right now then two or three times over the next week this will take roughly 5 hours. Now a brilliant copywriter because she says you will quote start internalizing the wording the phraseology the rivet rhythm even the mindset of the person who wrote the copy. Your brain assimilates it, and you practically step into the mind of the writer. This is by far the best modeling exercise I found for accelerating Web copywriting skills." I was underwhelmed.

Trifecta Neuro affective principle

this principle eliminates the need for you to make decisions about which points your sales proposition to include or exclude because the principal triggers are predetermined for you proper inflammation of the sensible virtually guarantees successful results from the use of the formula and also dramatically shortens the need for superfluous words and long scrolling copy

the principal turns out to be:

·         to support, prove, and defend their respective propositions reason interest research (redefinition)

·         to destroy the opponent's arguments ( resistance )

·         to appeal to the audience's emotions (resonance)

In fact this principle is nothing more than the idea of repeating things in threes and explaining things in multiple ways.    She  spends many pages making it seemed more complex than this but that's what it boils down to

 

 

using psychology to motivate aspects to become purchasers

halfway through the book veloso presents several chapters of material that actually make this book worth purchasing. She's describing how to overcome your buyer's resistance but in fact gives useful information on how we as consumers can resist some of these hard and soft sells. For example " in selling a product or service, always tell your readers why they need to do what you're asking. Something as simple as ' you must act now because this offer expires on December 31, after which we can no longer accept orders' is sufficient . "

she talks about the Zeigarnik effect, named after a Russian psychologist who showed that people have a tendency to remember things that are unfinished or incomplete. For example waiters could not tell you about orders that are already served, but can tell you but could tell you exactly what the orders were that were yet to be served. it's a state of mental tension and imbalance caused by uncompleted tasks.

Many of her techniques seem to take advantage or actually create this mental tension and unbalancing such as creating cognitive dissonance in your readers/buyers. She also recommends adhering to a linear path so that buyer remains along the path that you have created for her . This means no distractions " if you're ever tempted to include advertising banners on your website, or Google AdSense ads, or reciprocal links with other websites, or links to other unrelated pages in your website that don't contribute to the sales process, remember that you are violating the linear path concept allowing the Zeigarnik effect to kick in." Of course this also eliminates many of the other techniques that might also be useful in increasing sales on your website. The website and corresponding web copy that she envisions has one purpose only and that is to drive buyers to the selling fields where the final sale is made. if you are selling products that need that rely on manipulation and heat of the moment decuisions [think infomercials] then her techniques may be useful. But if you are trying to both give information, entertainment, and sell, her information will be of little value.

She really likes to include jargon like neurolinguistic programming and other coinings to represent simple psychological manipulation, for example, using embedded commands to push your reader where you want them to go. For example the sentence "'I wonder how quickly you are going to buy this product' seems harmless and the reader might consciously take it as a hypothetical comment. Notice the embedded commands, is quite an hypnotic effect: you are going to buy this product. " As you read this book you realize that the book itself has been organized and written using exactly these methods to blindside the reader and make them accept concepts and actions that they would otherwise challenge. They would otherwise challenge. It's filled with embedded commands, bullet lists, emotional triggers and other method she describes in the art of changing your prospects mind's

Veloso includes many examples of successful copywriting, and guides you step by step in creating your very own web copy. unfortunately, most of her examples are of high cost products that are already guaranteed to get high readership and response, or of products that most of us should be embarrassed to be associated with. Before presenting these examples which range from manipulative to downright sleazy she's always uses a disclaimer saying use your powers only for good. There's the one-day seminar in Chicago introducing a breakthrough weight loss program this person developed to lose 25 pounds in less than two weeks and keep the weight off. It turns out the miracle is in fact one nutrient that " the government won't allow him to sell" but that this discovery is so "powerful, safe, and effective that it makes people lose the unwanted pounds so fast that they need a new wardrobe just a few weeks after starting the program." For some reason the only way this information could be conveyed is in one day 12 hours seminar that cost $1000 However for those who couldn't attend the live seminar reservations were allowed to buy audio CDs of the seminar for $250

on the basis of this e-mail ,hundreds of people forked over a thousand dollars to attend this seminar. None of the buyers asked why a simple 'nutrient' solution to weight loss would require a 12 hours seminar as the only means of disclosure when at the same time audio's were being sold with exactly the same information. Obviously this information could easily have been put in book form and presented for less than $100. But the purpose of the techniques being recommended here was to get people to buy something they would not buy if they thought it through rationally. Do you really want to be writing web copy for these purposes?