Welcome to lesson 11 on blogging.
I know you are facing the problem of having a great content but yet no one appreciates it. You tried to make your articles as compelling as possible but there are no readers who leave even a single comment.
These are the difficulties that I have faced earlier on but have improved since the day I started applying copywriting skills. I realized my mistakes leading me to the negative results - similar to your situation.
I began researching on copywriting books and there was one which captured my attention. Heard about this book “The Adweek Copywriting Handbook” by Joseph Sugarman? He is a well known copywriter in America and has many fantastic works under his pen.
He reveals techniques he has been using to achieve the results. I simply sink into the copy the moment I start reading the first sentence. It was addictive. This struck me on the impact of copywriting and I must learn.
I will be writing on a series of basic copywriting skills to help you get started. Some concepts will be extracted from the book “The Adweek Copywriting Handbook” by Joseph Sugarman as teaching material for this series. In part 1 of copywriting, I will show you the basic elements to write a good article. Subsequent articles will be zooming into each element for detailed explanation.
What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting is a process using words to reflect your experiences and knowledge to promote a product or service. It is a key factor to successful marketing. You will fail even with the most unique product or service if you are unable to communicate to your readers.
Importance Of Copywriting
You always want readers to read your content and leave comments on it. And times when you sell affiliate products, you want them to exchange their cash for your product or service. A article will motivate your readers to take the appropriate action.
Elements Of An Article
All the elements in an article are designed to do one thing and one thing only: get you to read the first sentence of the copy. This concept is presented by Sugarman and I truly agree. Keep this in mind when writing an article and you will not go wrong.
1) Headline
Since headline is most prominent in blog, a good headline will capture your readers’ attention and get them to read your next sentence. Color, font size and choice of words are the factors that determine a good headline.
2) Introduction
To further explain on your choice of headline. You need to make the introduction interesting to get your readers to continue reading. This often determines if your reader will move on to the first sentence of the copy. I will share the techniques thought by Sugarman in the later part of the series to create a more compelling introduction.
3) Photo
Use to attract attention. There is a saying “A picture paints a thousand words”. Photos are incorporated to highlight the content – making your copy easy to understand.
4) Copy
The main content to get across to your readers. It contains the educational information for your readers. You need to practice more on writing to improve on this element. Every writer has their own unique style and you need to find one that you feel comfortable with.
5) Paragraph heading
To break up large chunk of text into smaller ones, thereby making it easy for your readers to extract the information. At the same time, the layout of your blog will look more presentable and organized.
6) Ending
Getting your readers to subscribe to your feed or adding in their comments are the possible motivations you may want to achieve. Reiterate on the action you want your readers to take at the end of each article.
To reinforce on the first concept of copywriting:
All elements in an article are primarily designed to do one thing and one thing only: get you to read the first sentence of the copy.
Joseph Sugarman
Develop the copywriting skills over time and it will definitely help you a lot in your blogging journey. Remember to keep practicing to improve as a copywriter.
Additional Resources
1) Copyblogger
2) Melissadata
Tasks for lesson 11
1) Write an article with the 6 elements present on it. Remember to apply the first concept of copywriting.
2) Construct another headline on 10 newspaper articles which you think will be compelling to read.
Subscribed to my blog now to get updates for every of my coaching lesson. Next lesson will be introducing to you on copywriting skills – writing a good headline.
Wei Liang
ABloggerBlog.com
October 11th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I help on a copywriting course and it gives me a smile when people realize the importance of writing in a blog.
One important point you left out is the benefit. If you want people to take an action you have to both tell them to do something, and to tell them the benefit they they will have by taking the action. Don’t list features, or if you really need to list features tell the reader how they will benefit from the feature.
Richard McLaughin´s last blog post..The Treasury Department Plans To Outsource Management Of $700 Billion
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
October 11th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Hi Richard,
Thanks for filling in the gap. I agree that bringing out the benefit will lead to the desired action being taken by readers. This is often neglected in most blogs that I see.
It is from one of my experience that I start to believe the power of copywriting. I will definitely share with the rest on this experience and hope this article could at least bring out a little interest in bloggers to start learning.
Thanks for the visit.
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]
October 11th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Great post!
All important points to remember, with Richard’s additional comment about the benefits. I’ll have to take it to heart…
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
October 11th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hi BC Doan,
Glad that you accepted copywriting as an important process in blogging. All the best to your blogging success. Thanks for your visit.
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]
October 11th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
[...] Liang has a very helpfull post on writing to bring readers back “Copywriting Skills-Elements of a good article” I suggest you read it and some of his other [...]
October 11th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Great tips there on copywriting! Definitely important to keep a look out on our writing. Content is still one major factor in blogs and recurring traffic from readers.
Daniel Richard´s last blog post..Wordle I’m Writing In This Blog?
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
October 12th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Hi Daniel Richard,
You are very right about this. I am also learning to improve my writing whenever I have the chance. Feel free to drop in other writing tips you have.
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]
October 12th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Another great post, Wei - you’re providing an excellent series here.
One thing I would add is finding your niche and becoming an expert copywriter in that field. Knowledge is easier to learn when you’re passionate about something; passion leads to a stronger sales voice.
Find a niche you’re passionate about and write about it and you should see your traffic (and profit where applicable) begin to fall into place.
Danny Brown´s last blog post..It’s Thursday, Better Write a Blog Post
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
October 12th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Hi Danny Brown,
Great input. Passion is one factor that will improve copywriting. But it is pretty much being neglected because people are just rushing into the niche where they thought it is easier to make money.
I could see the passion you are putting on your blog. Great work. Continue to prosper on your blog.
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]
October 13th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Copywriting - Elements Of A Good Article…
Copywriting is a process using words to reflect your experiences and knowledge to promote a product or service. It is a key factor to successful marketing. You will fail even with the most unique product or service if you are unable to communicate to y…
October 13th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Great post indeed
However, some bulleted points can make the article look even more attractive and easy to read. Needless to say, points are the easiest thing to remember and retain.
Thank you for your valuable post. Hope to see more soon.
Cheers!
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
October 13th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hi Sunita Biddu,
Thanks for the compliment. I will try to put in bulleted points on my next post instead. Hope to see more input from you.
Cheers to you too!
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]
October 13th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
A good post on copywriting mate. I love reading all your posts because they are very simple and easy to read and understand. I would say thats one of the strenghts with your blog. Keep it up. Here’s to your blogging success!!
Cheers
Krish
Krish´s last blog post..Free Blog Hosting Websites
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
October 13th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Hi Krish,
Thanks for the compliment. Since this blog is catered towards the newer bloggers, I am glad that my contents are easy to read and understand. Thanks for that input. Cheers to your blogging success as well!
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]
November 12th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Nice post. All the points are given are really helpful for good quality of article writing. But can somebody help me out to know that i have also heard about automatic softwares which can create an unique articles, but are they really trust worthy ?
[Reply to this comment]
Wei Liang Reply:
November 15th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Hi Cars for sale,
I have not really used automatic article generator as yet because I don’t believe it is the way to go. You are unable to express what you want to share with your readers with this software.
My advice would be to write your own articles. It need not be a very long article. Just 400-600 words to share your experience would be enough. As long as there is value on the article you have written.
Wei Liang
[Reply to this comment]