Only buy these books if you want to sell more stuff…

It is my duty to share with you two essential resources you need IF (AND ONLY IF) you want to start selling more of your product or improving the promotion of your business.

I have wrestled with my conscience with this one.

I don’t want to share these.

I want to buy all copies ever written, as well as kidnap the authors and stop them from writing such wickedly useful books again.

But I like you. With your maverick good looks and roguish charm. I’ve always been a sucker for your type so when you turn up at Harrisonamy looking for copywriting tips I have to help you.

Damn you.

Ready? Get a pen ready to write these down or bookmark them and if you’re serious about improving your copywriting techniques and selling more for your business go out and buy them.

These are not affiliate links and I get no cash or any free stuff by recommending these. What I get is the warm fuzzy feeling that you are going to like them and hopefully come back and see me sometime.

I’d like that a lot.

Warm and fuzzies aside, buckle up because here we go:

Maria Veloso – Web Copy That Sells – Second Edition.

“The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy That Grabs Their Attention and Compels Them to Buy”

That’s the tagline on the front of this book, and if I’m honest I put off reading it for a while because it’s umm…long.

At 300 pages it’s also the size of a school textbook, and so I kept it close but closed, hoping knowledge osmosis would occur.

This was dumb.

All I needed to do was open it up at any page and start reading. It’s accessible. Which is no surprise really, written by a copywriter, but it’s incredibly accessible. This does not mean it is simple. There’s a ton going on in these pages but it’s laid out very well and easy to read from start to finish or dip in and out as needed.

This book is perfect if you’re a beginner and you want to have a stab at writing your own sales copy for your website or email newsletter. It doesn’t dumb down any concepts however and is just as useful if you’re a more experienced copywriter and you’re looking to pick up some additional techniques, or perhaps understand the psychological reasons behind the methods you already employ (if you don’t already know.)

It’s split into the following 11 sections:

• Getting started: The dynamics of web selling
• A simple blueprint for writing killer copy
• Crafting your copy
• Email marketing: the internet’s killer application
• Using psychology to motivate prospects to become purchasers
• The art of changing your prospects’ minds
• Increasing sales through the use of involvement devices
• Online marketing communications: It’s what you do after people visit your website that counts
• The special rules for copywriting to the business-business (B2B) market
• Web copywriting in the age of Web 2.0
• Last but not least: Tying it all together

It’s the kind of book you can easily dip into when you’re crafting copy for inspiration and it’s easy to locate the relevant information.

I’m going to leave it there for now but trust me, bookmark this book then go and read about Maria Veloso and realise how this book can improve your sales copy.

Write To Sell – Andy Maslen

“The ultimate guide to great copywriting” is the tagline on the front of this book and it’s a more accessible form at 190 pages in the size of a small paperback book. Easy to sling into your bag for your commute or your lunch break.

Again, unsurprisingly, it’s well written and easy to read. Whilst is does touch upon the psychology of motivating people to buy your product or service, it focuses on the more practical application of this rather than delve too far into the theory.

What you get is a straight forward guide that is easy to digest, has plenty of exercises to practice your skills along the way and is easy to refer to for future writing projects.

The book contains 26 chapters over the following six sections:

• It’s not about you
• What do you mean you don’t have a plan?
• What works? And what doesn’t?
• OK, start writing
• Dressed to impress?
• What now?

The chapters are then broken down further into exercises, mini case studies and practical tips highlighted in the “Copywriter’s toolkit” sections throughout the book.  He also uses a number of mnemonics such as NIB, FAB and KFC to help you remember key elements that should be included in your copy as you’re writing it.

It covers how to find out who your audience is and what language and style of writing will appeal to them, through to how the design and layout of your copy can influence its effectiveness. Whilst it isn’t specifically geared towards web copy, Andy is emphatic that the skills for good copy are transferable whether it is direct mail, brochures or web copy and I agree.

The bite size information means you can whizz through this book from cover to cover in less than a day, but that would defeat the object. It may appear more simplistic than Maria Veloso’s lengthy text, but working your way slowly through the book, actually completing the exercises and practising writing your copy using the individual techniques will be incredibly beneficial to anyone’s writing style.

Both books are excellent in highlighting the importance of sales in your copy and how to improve your sales conversions, which is why businesses are hiring you as a copywriter in the first place.

As I mentioned before, I’m keeping these reviews brief as I would like to do a closer case study on each further down the line, but if they’ve whetted your appetite then seriously, start finding out more about these guys.