1. Give Reasons Why.

Great copy proposes a series of benefits that the prospect will enjoy once they respond. But this is the area most people struggle with. What makes a good benefit? Heck, what makes a benefit in the first place?

A feature is what the product has. An advantage is what that features does. But a benefit is what that advantage means to the reader specifically. It's the specific motive to which that feature caters. In other words, a benefit is the reason why the feature exists and why it's important to the reader.

Look at it this way: a benefit is what a person intimately gains from a specific feature -- not what YOU think the customer will gain from it.

Granted, trying to figure this out can be a little challenging.

So here's a tip: whenever you describe a feature (or what you may think may be a benefit), say this: "What this means to you is this," followed by a more personal benefit your reader gets from the feature.

Keep asking until there are no further reasons to give. Here's an example (and keep in mind that I'm repeating myself, here, for the sake of illustration only):

"This stereo has a 14-band equalizer. What this means to you is, you can adjust the frequencies of the sound to your liking. What this means to you is, you can add depth and dimension to your music. What this means to you is, you can make your music sound as rich and lively as if you were at the concert listening to your favorite band. What this means to you is..."

Tell readers why they must read, why the product is important and why they must buy (and buy now). The more reasons you give, and the more specific and personal those reasons are, the more compelling your copy will be.

2. Tell a Good Story.

Good copy makes a good case. But great copy tells a good story. Keep this in mind: a great copywriter is also a great salesperson. However, all great copywriters AND all great salespeople also have one thing in common...

... They are also great storytellers.

I just returned from Ken McCarthy's System Seminar in San Francisco. And one of the surprise speakers was Gary Halbert. Now Gary, on a topic that at the time seemed totally unrelated to copy, sales or Internet marketing, began to talk about this newfangled anti-wrinkle cream he came across.

He went on to talk about how the product came about, how it was made and even how the product worked. While all these things seemed irrelevant, he did make a great point: he told a great story that captivated the audience.

He translated features into benefits, such as the fact that the cream contained special hydroxies formed during the crystallization process. The analogy was that these hydroxies were like millions of microscopic prisms that reflect light.

He went on to describe that it was those "prisms" that helped to make your wrinkles invisible. It was a terrific story -- and while some people missed it, Gary indirectly provided the greatest lesson of the entire seminar.

Because in his story, Gary provided several powerful lessons.

A key component of telling great stories is to relate them to the reader. Often, this can accomplished with the help of analogies, examples, metaphors and case studies. Why? Because the mind thinks in relative terms.

Here's an example (of both stories and analogies). When people object to long copy, I often argue that long copy is like a good Stephen King novel. If you were a diehard Stephen Kind fanatic, and if his latest book was, say, over 600 pages, would you stop reading it because it was too long? No.

In fact, most Stephen King lovers I know often read his books in one sitting. They tell me they simply can't seem to put the book down.

Dan Kennedy calls this "message-to-market match." Like a Stephen King fanatic, when your copy is targeted and your audience is interested in your offer, they will read it. All of it. No matter how long it may seem to you.

3. Think For The Reader.

Sales are largely based on faith. Faith in the company, faith in the product and faith in the delivery of the promised benefits. And sales trainers often tell you that, like a good fiction story, you must temporarily suspend all disbelief.

And belief requires the suspension of critical thinking.

It is important to understand that people first buy on emotion and then justify their decisions with logic. Even the most analytical types buy on emotion, whether they express (or are aware) of their emotions or not.

Conversely, critical thinking causes the suspension of feelings. If your reader starts to think too much, then fundamental fears, doubts and concerns take over, eventually leading to the greatest killer of sales: procrastination.

Why? Because if we focus on logic first, we tend to think about other needs, concerns and preoccupations at that time. And more important, we may think about other, more important things we can do with our money.

YOU must do the thinking for your prospect. Don't stop short of describing the benefits, offering reasons why and telling stories simply because you're afraid of insulting your audience's intelligence. You're not.

Clients often say, "My clients are not idiots," "the benefits are obvious," "they can think for themselves" or "they can figure it out on their own."

Technically, that's true. But leaving the copy to the reader's own devices will also open up a can of worms, since they will also think of all the other things that may be irrelevant, untrue or unnecessary, which will negate the sale.

And unlike a face-to-face sales presentation, you're not there to answer any questions or objections. So your copy must do that for them. In fact, my friend and copywriter David Garfinkel says it best:

"You must do the thinking for your reader and tell them why your offer is so valuable. Of course, they may 'get it' in the abstract. But going from the abstract to the reader's specific situation requires thinking on their part. A prospect considering your offer wouldn't dare do that thinking. You have to do it for them."

So here's a tip: use the "so-what" acid test. If at any point in your copy your reader asks "so what," then that part needs to be more personal. It needs to be more specific to the reader. And it needs to give more reasons why.

Otherwise, delete it because it's irrelevant.

I could go on and on about this. It's my particular fascination.

Time is merely the idea that everything around you will keep on existing. Change happens, but that's only a by-product of time. It has to exist before it can change. And it has to keep on existing before it can change.

Actually, you create time for anything that's important enough to you. Quite frankly, I don't have the time to be typing this out for you. I've made it because you're important to me. I don't have the time to get my car fixed. I make it because it will save me time getting into town and working.

And you really don't have the time to be reading this. You've got a thousand and three other things that you could and should be doing, but this is important to you. Learning about all this. So you're making the time.

It boils down to the future. What do you want in the future. What are your goals. You know, how well do you want to be surviving in the future, and with what? Well, your prospect is in the same position. She's got two thousand two things she should be doing.

But she wants more. Why in hell should she make the time to read what you have to say? After all, you're trying to get some money from her in exchange for your product or service.

Well, she wants more. So you must tell her, right off the line, what's in it for her. If that aligns with what she wants, she'll make some time and read or listen to you.

If what you have will take some more time, you'd better darn well show her that some great results will happen. Period. They WILL happen if she does...

And it's never money. If you have a product that sells for $200,000 and you've got a qualified prospect reading... Hold on. I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Okay, money is an idea backed with confidence. If you want that person's or business' money, your job is to build more than enough confidence in that entity about your product or service to make it more than worth parting with the money. Read that sentence again.

So if someone tells you "I don't have the money," then you have not built up enough confidence in that person about your product or service. Period. You must continue to build up value until it's easily worth three to ten times what they must pay.

And the result must be guaranteed. (Another confidence builder.)

An "easy" way to build confidence is to give market information, trends that are affecting them in a very negative, painful way. Put your readers in pain. Scare 'em with problems they're facing and never realized. That will raise their necessity level to where they have to have your product if it solves those problems.

I could go on and on about this whole time and money thing, but the basics are here. Any more might just put you on information overload.

So these have been the basics about the fine art of copywriting. When you look at it, Any letter without these factors is useless.

Copywriting is about using these basics, about how to use these basics specifically, to get your prospect to take the action that you want her to take. See, you and me and anyone reading your copy will not be bored in print. So be passionate. Be informative. Tell them "What's in it for me?" Know who you're writing to. Know your product. Add YOU into the letter (almost always). Build confidence in your product or service. Know and incorporate the three rules of selling.

Great copywriters do these things without even thinking about it. And they also follow the rules about the specifics, which are covered in other sections of this free tutorial on writing your own great copy.

If you just master these basics, you will be far, far better qualified to write your own copy than any copywriter you could get for a mere $3,000. And that is the truth.

If you continue to study and master the rest of the sections, you'll actually be qualified to write for a living. And product excellent results. You won't know it all, but you'll know more effective tips and techniques than 50% of working copywriters.