When writing marketing, advertising and promotional copy, there are specific formulas to increase response and effectiveness. Since your copy truly is the secret to sales success it’s important to familiarize yourself with the formula even if you aren’t writing long copy. Here’s why: There is a psychological process that readers go through regardless of copy length and regardless of reading preference ie: analytical reader who dives into all the copy or scanner who glances at the key points and quickly makes a buying decisions.

Knowing the formula for creating a sales letter will help you connect with your ideal learner. Regardless of the length of your copy you can incorporate the basic formula to ensure you’re providing all the information your customers need to make a sound decision about investing in your products and services.

The reason understanding sales letter copy is extremely important is not only because it follows a specific formula for success – it also allows you to infuse your own voice into a proven method for authentically connecting with consumers.

The formula gives you a solid roadmap to success once you dig in and pay attention.

The basic elements follow:

• Attention grabbing headline that is customer centered
• An opening that includes interesting facts and stories to further connect you with your ideal customers/learners
• Features to explain what your product is all about
• Benefits to demonstrate how life will be better with your product or service
• Testimonials to provide social proof of your claims
• An offer that showcases everything your customer receives for their investment.
• A call to action so your ideal customer takes the next step towards doing business with you or investing in your product or service.
• Add a P.S. to pull it all together and reiterate your offer
• Include captions under your pictures when applicable

It’s a little more complicated than it sounds, especially if you’re not wild about writing copy in the first place, but you get the idea. And, when you wrap your mind around this formula it’s much easier to create copy that works.

There are also specific sections of copy that are the most read. The first thing the majority of readers absorb is your headline. So, you’ll want to make that punchy and customer-centric. The second most read portion of copy is your P.S. So, make sure you include the details of your offer to capture the scanners. Finally, the third most read portion of copy is the captions under pictures.

Now that you have the formula, this information allows you to craft compelling copy to truly connect with your ideal market.

Take a moment to review your marketing materials today.

Does your copy incorporate the formula for sales success?

What can you do to make your message more authentic?

P.S. Still not interested in writing your own copy? Post your questions and let me know what you need.

Copywriting Expert

Lisa Manyon is the President of Write On ~ Creative Writing Services, LLC. and a Professional Copywriter and Marketing Strategist specializing in POWERFULLY communicating your marketing message to increase results. She’s a published author and is a featured in the International Association of Web Entrepreneurs Official AWE Guide to Emerging Trends Every Online Entrepreneur Must Know and has written promotional, advertising and marketing copy for internet gurus and a wide variety of brick and mortar businesses. She's completed Glazer Kennedy’s Creating Copy that Sells certification and is a Copy Coach for Lorrie Morgan Ferrero’s She Factor Copywriting Bootcamp. Manyon offers a free Copywriting Action Plan with 7 Power-packed Insider Tricks of the Copywriting Trade to Dramatically Increase Sales of your Products & Services on her website

If you want to build a powerful presence to increase your visibility and your credibility for your group coaching program, you need to look beyond traditional media and add blogs to the list.

There are thousands of bloggers out there who already have access to the target market you want to reach. So you really need to connect with them.

Yet, few group coaches know how to pitch a blogger in a way to help ensure a connection is made. Some consistently break the first rule, wasting their time, as well as the blogger they are targeting.

So what is the first rule you need to know?

TRADITIONAL PRESS RELEASES ARE A WASTE OF TIME; THEY HATE IT!

Even though a press release is out, there are some basics that both the traditional and online media want.  Here's a quick list:

• Is it newsworthy? Bloggers are just as picky as journalists. They're going to disregard your pitch if it isn't relevant, interesting or worth telling their readers about.
• Leave the jargon for your peers. Just like in traditional media, the blogger is speaking to the general public to some extent. Most will not understand jargon, and the blogger might not either. Keep it uncomplicated, as always.

But there are some differences you need to know when pitching bloggers. Here are some things that should be done differently for the blogosphere:

• Keep it personal. It is useful to follow and be actively participating by leaving comments on their blog. This way when you pitch to them, you already know them. Get to know the blogger. Dig a little deeper showing them you've done your homework.
• Don't be pushy. Bloggers can do what they want with their blog, so don't tell them what they should do (like talk about your story) or that you can't believe they didn't cover something you pitched to them. Sure, they may give you some publicity for this, but in a negative way.
• It's about having a conversation. Blogging is a mainly personal activity. Most bloggers write as they chat more or less. Do the same. Make it short, sweet, to the point and more casual than a traditional pitch. You will be rewarded.
• Stop asking for a link or a link trade. Instead, ask them to take a look at your material, blog or product. If they like it, you will know about it if you are actively following the blog anyway, so there is no need to chase them.

Shannon Cherry, Publicity Expert

Shannon Cherry is the publicity/media expert for Group Coaching Mastery, and the founder of Be Heard Solutions.  Known as The Power Publicist, she helps coaches, entrepreneurs, consultants and solo professionals attract more clients and customers through the power of publicity.  For a free publicity power pack, visit Be Heard Solutions.

One of my newest connections on LinkedIn sent me an email, with a question as to how I manage my connections. For those of you who are building a network and are "afraid" of over-extending yourself, read on . . .

Here is my response:

Don't be overwhelmed, take it one step at a time and enjoy what you do! Most of all realize that not all connections will develop into strong business relationships, although our hope is that they will, reality is that they won't. Don't be disappointed. Do all you can to nurture your network in whatever time you have available to do it. Most of all, don't overextend yourself. Enjoy building these relationships - international, multi-cultural relationships really open your eyes to the possibilities! Do only what you can do - and you are the only person who knows what that answer is.

Enjoy and most of all - let me know how I can be of help to you!

Networking is all about personal interactions . . . pass it on! Take whatever time is necessary to build some strong connections and don't be concerned with having a large number of them. It doesn't really matter how high your numbers are - it's what you do with those numbers that is important!

There are so many social networks available today. Don't feel like you "have" to belong to all of them. Be selective and look at the people who are participating. Do they fit into your target market or do they share a special hobby with you? Do what fits best into your life - don't be bullied into joining up with everyone, everywhere. After all, how many places do you have to be seen in order to network with the same people all the time? All it takes is one network!

Tell me what you think - how many networks are YOU involved in . . . how do YOU handle YOUR connections?

As a final reminder, contacts are those you just met, connections are the next step in the relationship building process (the interactions) , relationship is the level you want to achieve. Work hard, help others and keep those contacts moving in the right direction. Decide what is best for YOU, whether it's 15 minutes a day or 5 hours a day - choose your networks wisely.

Carol Deckert, Netweaving Coach

Carol Deckert is a Networking Coach and the Netweaving Expert for Group Coaching Mastery. She's the founder of Referrals Unlimited Network, has more than 8,500 first-level connections in LinkedIn and approximately 1,000 "friends" on FaceBook and more than 4,000 followers on Twitter! Carol knows you do need the numbers before you can accumulate quality connections, because not every connection will be a good one for you. Through her netweaving work, she helps others learn to do what she did, save them lots of time and heartache, by teaching them how to network efficiently and effectively. Contact Carol on Skype: Deckert1116