Here's A Little-Known Secret To Writing Copy, For Serious
Copywriters Only
Have you ever wondered how your copy sounds to your prospects
when they're reading it?
If you have, here's a little-known trick to making your copy
sound as clear as a bell, and feel as comforting as a warm
fireplace in the winter.
The very best way to figure out how your copy sounds to your
prospects, is NOT to read it, but to read it out loud. And
actually, if you can have someone read it to you, preferably a
child, that's even better.
When I first started writing copy, my 2 sons were in elementary
and middle school. They were excited about my new career and
were more than happy to read back my copy out loud to me.
Fortunately, my career progressed pretty rapidly, and it wasn't
long before I was writing 13-page long-form sales letters.
Well, needless to say (and understandably so), my kids weren't
as excited about reading their dad's 17-page "FREE Reports" and
long-form sales letters, as they were about reading half-page
newspaper display ads.
But luckily, I found a little tool that comes in handy, exactly
for situations like this.
And, the price is right -- it won't even cost you a penny!
There's a software company out there called Read Please
(www.readplease.com), located in Ontario, Canada, that's come up
with the perfect tool for writers.
Not surprisingly, the program is also called "Read Please" and
here's what it does: You copy the text from your document and
paste it into the Read Please program.
Then, in any one of a number of different voices, the program
reads back your text out loud over your computer's speakers,
word-for-word.
You get to choose the voice you like, and you can even
slow-down or speed up the pace of the voice.
So what happens is, you have your copy in front of you while
the Read Please program is reading your text back to you out
loud, and then you start making all the corrections you need to,
whenever you hear a mistake. All you do is "pause" the program
using your mouse, when you have to do this.
You'll be able to see exactly where your errors are as you go
along, and it'll be crystal clear whether or not your copy is
flowing smoothly, and whether or not you're communicating
clearly and saying what you need to.
Using this tool makes your copy much more effective.
If you want, there's even an upgraded version of the software
you can buy for a few bucks, that has some nice bells and
whistles added.
Consistently using Read Please helps me discover loads of
errors I never would have ferreted out on my own -- at least not
without a 12-year old reading the piece back to me.
Remember, the number one error you'll find yourself making, is
not speaking clearly enough to your prospects. Remember, your
prospect isn't "inside" your head -- they really don't
understand what you're trying to sell them. So be crystal clear
in what you're saying -- no one ever lost a sale for speaking
too clearly!