More Clients - the Online Marketing Newsletter
for Independent Professionals
from Action Plan Marketing
and Robert MiddletonIn This Week's Issue: You're finally writing some more - but how do you make sure people read what you're written?
Since I'm on vacation and leading a workshop in London this week I asked a few of my most active members of the InfoGuru Support Forum to contribute articles this month. This one is by Sean D'Souza who resides in New Zealand. Sean emphasizes the psychological angle to marketing as you'll read in today's More Clients eZine...
The Connectors in Copywriting
You've started reading an eZine. And before you know it, you're at 500 words. Then at 750 words. And hurtling past 1000 words. How on earth did you end up reading so much, when all you wanted to do was skim through the article? The answer is in the connectors in copywriting.
So what are the connectors in copywriting?
You may have not realised it, but you just read a connector. Look closely. What was the last line of the last paragraph?. The line said: The answer is in the connectors in copywriting. And then the very next line said, What are the connectors in copywriting?
Do you see what's happening?
The reason you slid from one paragraph to another so easily is because you have a connection.
A connection is like a bridge
See? I did it again. I took the last word and connected it in the next paragraph. And yes, connectors are like bridges. All you have to do is take the last thought of the last line, and somehow re-create that thought in the first line of the next paragraph. And you have a live connection that keeps customers reading, and almost slip-sliding down the paragraphs.
Why is this slip-sliding so very important?
Umm...think about it. The purpose of this line is to get you to read the next line. And then the next line and the next line, till the copy comes to a logical conclusion. By connecting lines to the next line and paragraphs to the next paragraph, I keep the connection always alive.
Example, Example:
Here's a piece from a recent article: See the connectors?
Been to Santa's website recently?
Before you decide to go clickety, click -- Santa doesn't have a website. You knew that didn't you? But what if Santa came to you and said, "Hey, I'd like to create a website. Can you help me?
So let's go about creating a brand for ol' chubster.
You'd have navigation. You'd have graphics. You'd have content. And Santa's website would be like any website. Or would it? What would differentiate Santa's website from any other website on the planet?
Santa's website would rock, wouldn't it?
You'd put in stories of Rudolph. Of Dasher, Vixen, Prancer and all the reindeer. Santa's personality would bubble through. You'd feel happy and generous and full of good cheer once you stopped over at Santa's website, wouldn't you? His personality and giving nature would shine through and you'd really like this fat, cheerful chap who brings so much cheer to the world.
And so on....
My Personal Experience with connectors:
1) In most of my copy I use connectors. They're very powerful and it gets the reader to really slip-slide away. However, in some cases I also use a concept that's disorienting. I do this on purpose, to snap the reader out of a reverie.
2) If you noticed, the content in this piece didn't have enormous style. It lacked stories. It lacked metaphors. And yet it made a distinct point. It taught you something very powerful. Of course, the biggest reason you continued to read, was because of the connectors.
3) Every movie, article or sales letter that's brilliant, always has a connection. And that's because stories have connections. As a child when we listened to stories we always wanted to know what came next. Your connector is a bridge to what comes next.
Use Connectors. They...um...connect! :)
Sean D'Souza
PsychoTactics
The InfoGuru Support Forum
Sean D'Souza purchased the InfoGuru Manual in early 2003 and jumped into the Support Forum a few months later. A big contributor to the Forum, Sean has more than 500 posts under his name.
When Sean first contacted me he specialized in drawing business cartoons. Wanting to expand more into the arena of marketing, he launched PsychoTactics.com. The intro to his web site reads:
"Do you really understand how the marketing brain works? Are you harnessing its immense potential to make your business generate greater revenues? Wouldn't your strategy and tactics be vastly different, if you understood these?"Since then, Sean has launched the "5000bc.com membership site." Sean is a thinker, an entrepreneur and a contributor. And those who ask questions on the InfoGuru Support Forum are often lucky enough to receive his brilliant insights.
Listen to this quick audio clip of Sean talking about the many benefits of the Forum (2 min, 40 sec.).
http://www.actionplan.com/mp3files/SDForum.mp3The only way to join the Forum is by owning the InfoGuru Marketing Manual. Check it out below!
http://www.actionplan.com/infoguru.html
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When I developed the Web Site ToolKit, my aim was to create an online product that was so easy to use that you didn't have to think. All you need to do is follow the directions and you'll emerge with the complete content of an InfoGuru-style web site.
You'll also be directed to all the resources you need to get your site designed, posted and attracting new clients. And the price is less than a dinner out for two. (or if you're in London like I am today, a whole LOT less!)
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Until next week, all the best,
Robert Middleton
ACTION PLAN MARKETING
Cracking the Marketing Code for Independent Professionals~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
210 Riverside Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
831-338-7790© 2005 Robert Middleton, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the More Clients eZine in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:
"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at http://www.actionplan.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses."
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