One of the key things that anybody looking to market online needs to have an understanding of, or the ability to write, is good copy. In fact you can easily make a good living doing nothing but writing copy that sells.

One of the best tips I have heard about ensuring you are writing good copy, or if you don’t write it yourself being able to recognise good copy, is to apply the ‘So What?’ test as you are reviewing it.

So, what’s the ‘So What?’ test you ask?

In a nutshell as you are reading through the copy, each time a statement is made or you reach the end of a key sentence, just ask yourself ‘So What?’.

Essentially what you are trying to do is ensure that everything on the page is actually useful or relevant to what you are trying to convey to the reader, and is not simply ‘fluff’ designed to pad out the page (in order to turn a short salesletter into a long one).

Afterall if you are going to keep a prospect interested in what you have to say the last thing you need is for them to get bogged down in information that, at the end of the day, is not relevant to them or the product you are trying to sell.

And you’ll probably be surprised at how many of the people who are reading your copy are subconsciously doing the same thing as they read through the page.

In fact the ‘So What?’ test is only part of the equation, but combine it with ‘Who Cares?’ and ‘What’s In It For Me?’ and you can really get into the mindset of your readers as they make their way through your copy.

The ‘Who Cares’ test allows you to determine if the wonderful statistics or fantastic income claims are likely to entice or impress the reader. Imagine if you go to all the trouble to pull together wonderful testimonials about the $millions made by other product users when the average reader will struggle to relate to them.

If your prospect is thinking ‘Who Cares’ as they read through each of your well articulated point about the brilliance of your product or system it’s unlikey they are going to get their wallet out.

However…

If you can succeed in answering the ‘What’s In It For Me?’ question convincingly then you will be one step closer to closing the sale.

At the end of the day when a prospect is reading your sales letter they want to know that by purchasing your product they will achieve something for themselves, and if they don’t believe this is possible it won’t matter how good the testimonials or income proof is.

By simply ensuring that you put yourself in the shoes of your prospect and articulating ‘What’s In It For Them?’, rather than ‘How Great Is This Product!’ you might find that you totally rewrite key sections of your copy to hit the sweet spot in the eyes of the reader.

So take some time to review your copy, apply these quick tests as you read through it and see if you spot any areas where you can make improvements.

Fingers crossed you’ll see the fruit of your labour as your conversion rates increase.

Internal related posts:

1. The More You Tell, The More You Sell

Tagged as: affiliate marketing, in my opinion, internet marketing