MindValley Labs Internet Marketing Blog

Here are three more ways to spice up your body copy, and, being a writer, I couldn’t help but make them all start with the letter “S” -to help you remember better.

After you’ve written your body copy, bullet point and/or headlines, there are three tips in this evaluation process for your bullets or headlines.

Start With ‘S’

1. Specify

Make everything as specific and as targeted as humanly possible.

If you’re talking about a benefit such as boosting sales or increasing effectiveness, give exact figures. Is it a 232% boost in sales? Does it double your sales? If it’s a 433% boost in employee morale, then spell it out.

Be as specific as possible because everything that is vague will lose your readers’ attention.

In your body copy, wherever you find a vague statement, “this will make any employee happy” or this particular technique boosts employee morale, specify how it boosts morale.

Think to yourself, for example, in what specific way does it boost morale? Whether it’s numbers, techniques or mindsets, everything must be specific. As long as your messages vague, they won’t hit as sharply.

2. Spice-up

It has been said that the job of copywriter, or any writer, for that matter, is to make interesting the uninteresting.

There are several ways you can spice up your copy. Put in a power word, like…

• Astonishing
• Amazing
• Astounding
• Announcing
• Revealing
• Powerful
• Vital
• Confidential
• Genuine
• Successful
• Breakthrough
• Humiliate

Another way is to make it a secret. Matt Furey does this very well.

Or, you can also find a buzzword to use,the “hamster wheel approach to increasing productivity”, for example. It may be something that’s not really in the copy, but you can suddenly pack it in, making it attention-grabbing and more interesting not just for your readers but for yourself as well.

You can also spice up your copy by adding a lot of emotion by using 75 of the most powerful words in the English language. I’ve started compiling and using them liberally in my copy.

Can you guess what the spiciest word is in the English language? It’s Y-O-U.

In all the copy you write, in every bullet and in every headline, include this word as much as you can. If you have read any sales copy, it’s always more about the prospect than it is about the products.

It’s about their wants, their fears, their worries –it’s not about your product at all. When you use the word “you”, you transform a product’s benefit into a benefit that your prospects can bring to life in their minds.

3. Story

Be it a process, mindset or technique, turn everything into a story. Stories draw people in and make you human.

You can tell the story of how you met a certain person who taught you something, and when you practiced and implemented it, your life changed. Squeeze in as many mini-stories as possible into your headlines and body copy.

Use these three techniques – all beginning with the letter “S” –to strengthen your copy and make it more compelling.

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About the Author

Kenneth Yu is a tormented artist, but he was determined not to be a starving one. This is the primary reason why this D&AD award-winning advertising creative has plunged into the world of Internet entrepreneurship, and the rest -- as they say -- is history. Straddling both the creative and business realm, Kenneth combines bullet-fast ideation and his vast experience working with the big brands to alchemize marketing gold as the Head Copywriter and Marketing Strategist in MindValley. He shares more out-of-the-box marketing and copywriting tips (plus cool irreverent stuff) on his Twitter

Check out other posts by Kenneth

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