Article Writing is Copywriting

However, depending on the purpose of the articles you are writing and submitting, you will most likely need some level of copywriting knowledge in order to be successful. Remember the two triggers: Desire for Gain and Fear of Loss. These should be used in your titles, sub headlines, in the body, in the conclusion, and even in your author’s resource box.

Taking a copywriting course will be beneficial. Not only will it help you to write better articles, it will also help you in working up your other promotional materials, including the content that you use on your website.

The first rule of copywriting is to write just like you talk. This makes you seem more ‘human’ and that comes across in our writing. Rule number two is that people really hate to be sold to. They want to buy, they just don’t want you to sell. Rule number three is that people buy or take action for emotional reasons (desire for gain, fear of loss).

Copywriting really comes down to what you say, how you say it, and what emotional buttons you push while doing it. But aside from emotional triggers, there are also motivators that include: anger, annoyance, beauty, helping, boredom, confusion, confidence, curiosity, desperation, disgust, jealousy, embarrassment, fear, exhaustion, guilt, happiness, greed, laziness, insecurity, love, loneliness, lust, patriotism, passion, pleasure, hesitation, revenge, sadness, security, shyness, surprise, sympathy, vanity, and more.

Along with emotional triggers, these motivators also determine whether or not you can get someone to take the action that you want them to take. You have to hit the right trigger, and the right motivators to make it happen.

I’ve mentioned the word ‘compel’ and ‘compelling’ quite a bit. These motivators and triggers are what compel your audience to take the action that you want them to take – whether that action is signing up for your newsletter, visiting your site, or buying your product.

When writing, you really must keep your purpose in mind, but at the same time, you must give the people that you are writing for a great deal of consideration. What are their problems? What do they fear? What do they want? What makes them want what they want?

For instance, in the weight loss industry, marketers know that the people in question have a problem: being overweight. They fear either gaining more weight, or never losing the weight that they have already gained. They have additional problems, in that their weight makes it impossible to do many things. They want to lose weight. They want to lose weight for numerous reasons, including being more beautiful or sexy, being able to do the things that they can’t do while being overweight, and/or to become more healthy.

In the healthcare field, diabetics have a problem as well. There is nothing they can change to become un-diabetic, but diabetes itself has multiple problems within the main problem. For instance, they may have problems controlling their blood sugar. They may have issues when eating out. What they want is to be able to control their blood sugar levels and to eat out like anyone else.

You can’t write effective copy if you don’t know what the group you are writing for wants or needs, or what their problems and fears are. It is as simple as that, so you must consider your audience when writing – even if you are just writing articles. If you need to, make a list of problems, fears, needs, and desires associated with your audience to work from when writing.

Learning how to use motivators and triggers effectively takes practice. A good way to learn is to look at other copy, and identify the triggers and motivators. Get your favorite magazine and a highlighter. Start reading through, and highlight the motivators and triggers. When you learn to recognize them, you will be better able to create them in your own writing.

Many marketers keep swap files. These are files of really advertisements that contain top of the line copywriting. You should keep your own swap file. You can collect advertisements online and offline. You can keep a folder on your desktop, and also keep a folder in your file cabinet as well. The important thing is that you do in fact start your own swap file or files.

When you need to write copy, simply find something similar to what you are trying to do, and use it. Just be careful not to copy it word for word or anything like that – sales copy is also copyrighted. Don’t copy someone else’s work! This will not only ruin your reputation, but it’s also against the law.

There are numerous courses out there that range from free to the thousands of dollars that will teach you everything you want and need to know about copywriting. Ideally, you should start with one of the free courses, and then work your way up into the more advanced material.