In this copywriting class, you’ll learn:

• What empty phrases to avoid

• How to be inspired by others without copying them

• The process of finding your Unique Selling Proposition

• How to make your brand voice unique and original

• How to project authority even if you are just starting out with your business

• The trick to keeping your creativity alive and kicking

When I give copywriting workshops, some students tell me they’re tired of reading the same empty phrases on websites, emails and posts.

It’s as if they don’t believe anything anymore and think that copywriting is all about the same boring tricks.

A free webinar and an email sequence using templates with exactly the same words as hundreds of other brands, maybe just changing the name of the course they want to sell you.

Or online shops that copy other people’s product descriptions and end up sounding too similar.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

The best emails, ads, posts, websites, etc., sell you something without you even noticing. Because they are genuine, interesting and new.

And I’m not saying that selling is a bad thing. Not at all.

What I mean is that if you want to sell more with your business you need to learn how to do it properly, without boring people to death and certainly sounding different from your competition.

And that’s what we’ll look at in today’s copywriting class.

Here we go.

Avoid empty phrases everybody use

These are all those empty promises that your competitors make without any solid arguments behind them.

“Market leaders”.

“The best customer service”.

“We get you results”

“The best X you will find on the internet”.

These phrases mean nothing. They’re used left and right without any qualms and they’ve got zero solid arguments behind them.

Don’t use them.

Instead, focus on studying your buyer persona closely to find out what are their most pressing problems and how you can solve them with your product or service.

You avoid empty promises by being ultra-specific.

Gain your prospects’ full attention and trust by adding details about how your solution works and how it will help them achieve their goals.

The more details you add, the more real your product or service will seem and the truer the promise you make to your prospects.

“We have already helped 95 clients to increase their productivity by 10-20%”.

Adding numbers and concrete results will give you more credibility and make your copy more real.

Look for the concrete, for example, talk about that special material you use to make your product and why it’s better than others.

Or explain the steps of your service in detail so your prospects can see themselves enjoying every benefit of the process.

Don’t skimp on the details.

Find out what your prospects really want and give them concrete examples of how you’re going to help them.

How Hey.com does it:

On their How does it work page they give you the option to watch a 37-minute product walkthrough by their CEO.

But in case you don’t want to watch the video they give you several key details about how it works and why it’s a better system than your current email platform.

There are plenty of examples with features and benefits.

Remember, displaying a feature without its associated benefit won’t sell as well.

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Be inspired by others without copying them

It’s tempting.

When you come across a killer website you’d love to copy it word by word.

But this won’t make your business stand out, you’ll be just a mere copycat.

Studying your competition will help you find out what they’re doing right and wrong, and to draw out your difference or Unique Selling Proposition, which is essential and we’re going to see in the next section.

But, how can you get inspired without copying?

The first thing you need to do is to analyse why you like that website or Instagram account.

Is it because they’re funny?

Or because they explain things in a super clear way?

Or maybe because their copy is so convincing?

Study which techniques they use and try to see how you can adapt them to your business without copying them exactly.

You can also take inspiration from businesses that have nothing to do with your niche but you like the way they do things.

For example, if you like the subject line of an email you’ve just received, take it as a starting point from which to create your own.

Imagine you’ve received this email from a bedding shop:

“Do these 3 things before you go to bed and you’ll sleep soundly”.

First analyse why you like the subject.

Probably because it has piqued your curiosity to find out what those 3 things are (hyper-specific subject) and because it promises to solve your problem (useful).

And now imagine you’re a web designer, you could adapt that subject to your business in this way:

“These 5 easy tweaks will make your website look more modern (no coding required)”

You’ve followed the same technique of the previous email subject but you’ve adapted it to your business and even improved it since you’ve eliminated an objection that many people will have when reading your subject line – not knowing how to write code.

So take inspiration from headlines, email subjects or expressions you overhear on the bus and use them with your own touch.

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The process of finding your Unique Selling Proposition

To differentiate yourself from your competition you should find what you do differently.

It might be something that at first glance seems insignificant but that can be exploited.

For example a detail in the production process that is different from all the rest – a better material or a longer and more careful manufacturing process.

Or maybe the difference lies in your excellent support service – you call the customer to check how the process of adapting to the new software/workflow is going, and not the other way around: the customer has to call when something goes wrong.

Anything will do as long as it’s something your prospects want because it’s useful to them, or any detail that proves the higher value of your product.

To find this difference you need to study your competitors from top to bottom and get to know every detail of how they work so you can compare them with your business. 

If your competition doesn’t talk about or promote a certain positive detail or benefit then it’s as if it didn’t exist, so that can be your difference.

For example, if your competitor also manufactures its products in Europe but they don’t mention it anywhere, you can exploit that difference.

Anything that gives you an edge over other businesses is worth exploring and using.

Find out more about how to find your Unique Selling Proposition by reading this post where I explain it in more detail.

Without a clear and desirable USP it’ll be much more difficult to make your business stand out from the crowd.

How to make your brand voice unique and original

When working on their branding many businesses focus only on colours, templates, logos etc., and leave their brand voice aside.

However, when we believe someone has a strong personality that makes them stand out, it’s because of what they say, how they express themselves and how genuine they are as a person.

The same goes for brands.

If you want to create a personality for your brand that is quickly recognisable in any medium and that makes people feel attracted to it, give as much importance to your brand’s image as to its voice.

We all buy certain brands and not others because we feel reflected on them and want to be linked to them.

To create a voice with personality you first need to decide what kind of customers you want to attract and what expressions they use.

What they consume, who they follow and why, what makes them laugh, get fired up, feel annoyed, etc.

To find out about all this, you have social media, where prospects talk, comment and leave reviews.

Social media and customer reviews are inexhaustible sources of super useful information.

Once you’re very clear about who your customers are and how they behave, you can choose to be an elegant brand or a bit sassy, intellectual, snarky, etc.

You should be consistent and not change your voice and “attitude” abruptly.

Many people get the brand voice and tone of voice mixed up.

Your brand voice doesn’t change but evolves over the years.

The tone of voice is adapted to the situation and the type of message you want to convey, so it should change depending on the context.

Writing a payment error message isn’t the same as writing a funny post to increase interaction and followers.

You also change your tone depending on whether you’re explaining a problem to a client or telling a funny anecdote to your sister.

Your brand voice is part of the personality you’re creating so your prospects feel reflected on your brand.

Give it the importance it deserves!

In this post, you’ll find 4 exercises that will help you create your unique brand voice.

How to show authority even if you’re just starting out with your business

In the first section, we’ve seen that being ultra-specific and adding details of your product or solution will help you build credibility.

Authority is also very important.

It makes prospects trust your know-how even if you haven’t got 10 years of experience.

You don’t need to have thousands of positive reviews (although they help), nor do you need to be endorsed by a celebrity (that would be great but not all of us have that privilege), nor do you need to display 5 excellently written success stories.

You can show authority by being hyper-specific and adding as much detail as possible, but also by literally getting inside your prospects’ minds.

When studying your buyer persona, look closely at how they describe their problems or desires and use those same expressions.

If the reader feels that you understand them perfectly, they’ll be much more open to listening to you and doing whatever you ask them to do.

Writing good copy is about having a friendly conversation with prospects.

It should feel like when you call a friend to ask for advice.

And in order to succeed you first have to show empathy by literally describing what that person is going through and by agitating the problem. So put your finger on the problem and twist it a little.

Do this right at the beginning of the introduction so the reader is immediately hooked.

In this mini-class, you’ll find examples of how to write a great introduction and gain your prospects’ trust from the very beginning.

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The trick to keeping your creativity alive and kicking

I’m one of those who believe everyone can be creative.

I don’t believe creativity is a special gift given to only a few privileged geniuses.

What happens is that some people exercise their creativity every day and others don’t.

It’s like physical exercise.

The first time you go out for a run you feel like you’re going to have a heart attack, you think you’ll never manage to run for more than 10 minutes at a time and that you run like a dizzy duck.

However, if you go for a short run every day, you start enjoying it, you don’t feel ridiculous anymore and you challenge yourself to run a little bit further each time.

The same holds true for creativity.

If you dedicate a little time (almost) every day to writing, painting, drawing, sewing, decorating – whatever you have fun doing – you’ll get better and better at it and you’ll come up with great new ideas.

You might think, come on, there are people who are very witty by nature, who have a special ability to make a joke out of everything or geniuses who were already playing the piano at the age of 6.

True, but those are very few exceptions, all the rest of us who create something on a regular basis is because we sit down to work.

That’s the trick.

Sit down to write-paint-stitch-draw for a little while every day and enjoy it without the pressure of how the outcome will be. Do it for yourself.

It will also help you keep your creativity alive to enjoy the work of others. Read, see exhibitions, and talk to people who have good ideas.

All this information that you accumulate in your head and in your soul nourishes your ideas when it comes to creating.

Everything is a circle that feeds back on itself.

And above all, don’t compare yourself too much with others. It’ll only make you suffer and get you nowhere.

You are unique in the world, there is no one who moves, thinks, talks and laughs exactly like you.

To sum up

If you want your website to be different and to convince prospects of the value of your product or service, you have to say things differently and sound credible.

Avoid clichés, take inspiration from others without copying them, find your difference, create a brand voice that is uniquely yours and feed your creativity by CREATING.

Authority will come as a consequence of all that.

See you in another copy class!

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