ProofMEDIA

Tag: copywriting

  • Who Are You Writing For?

    Are you left handed or right handed? How does that shape your beliefs?

    Are you male or female, what about that?

    Are you black or white?

    Do you believe other people believe what you believe?

    A right handed Ancient Greek wrote how funny it was that on horseback he could wield his sword like a true warrior with his right hand, yet his apparently useless left hand could steer his horse like a professional (and he pointed out it was true of everyone else he knew too).

    Beliefs are often wrong. To assume otherwise is a mistake. But they’re real.

    And you’ll only convert people if you learn how to change them.

    This is why we search for people who are part of our culture. They’re the low hanging fruit.

    As a copywriter you have a choice. Try to convert people with a different set of beliefs, or only speak to those who already understand your offer.

    Join my Facebook private group for copywriters if you want to learn more about the most important business skill on the planet:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/scienceofcopywriting/

  • Just Listen Damn It!

    Just Listen, Damn It, Why Acting Like a Doctor Wins Clients

    If you want more clients, act like a doctor. I have said this many times, because it still works. Here is the simple reason, diagnosis comes before prescription. You cannot help anyone until you listen and get the problem in words.

    Why the Doctor Model Works

    • We trust doctors. Most people would rather see a doctor than ask a neighbour for medical advice. Authority and calm curiosity build confidence.
    • Doctors are not seen as money driven. In the UK, they are paid, but they do not feel like they are selling. That removes pressure, which makes honesty easier.
    • Years of training and constant learning. Standards matter, and patients know it. Expertise, plus humility to keep learning, creates credibility.
    • Doctors listen. Even in short appointments, they ask focused questions. They collect facts before they decide what to do.

    The Critical Bit, Listening First

    They do not know what is wrong with you until you say it, in words. That is the job, to surface the real problem and its impact. In business, the same rule applies, no diagnosis, no prescription.

    Diagnosis Before Prescription

    Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice in medicine. It is the same in sales and consulting. Pitching first feels like pressure, while diagnosing first feels like help.

    • Diagnose: Understand goals, symptoms, root causes, constraints, and impact.
    • Prescribe: Recommend options, explain trade offs, set expectations, agree next steps.

    How to Listen Like a Doctor

    1. Set the frame. Start with permission and purpose. For example, “Would it be useful if I ask a few questions first so I can give you the best advice?”
    2. Start broad. “What prompted this now?” “What would success look like three months from today?”
    3. Probe and clarify. “Can you give me an example?” “How often does this happen?” “Who else is affected?”
    4. Quantify impact. “What is this costing in time, revenue, or risk?” “What gets delayed when this flares up?”
    5. Surface constraints. “What has been tried already?” “What could stop this working?” “What is your timeline and budget range?”
    6. Summarize out loud. “Let me check I have this right,” then play back what you heard, and ask, “Did I miss anything?”
    7. Only then, prescribe. Offer options, trade offs, and next steps, not a pushy pitch.

    Quick Comparison, Doctor Style vs Pitch First

    ApproachWhat They DoHow It FeelsTypical Result
    Doctor styleAsks focused questions, listens, summarizes, then advisesSafe, respectful, expertHigh trust, clear fit, easier close
    Pitch firstLeads with features, resumes, and pricePushy, generic, riskyLow trust, price haggling, slow or lost deals
    Interrogation modeFires many questions with no context or empathyTiring, defensiveShallow answers, stalled momentum

    Example, What Listening Looks Like

    Case, The Freelance Designer

    Context: A prospect asked for a website redesign. The designer resisted pitching and asked questions first.

    • Discoveries: Leads were high, conversions were low, mobile load time was poor, and messaging was unclear.
    • Summary back: “You do not have a traffic problem. You have a conversion and clarity problem, worst on mobile.”
    • Prescription: Mobile performance, homepage messaging test, and a simple analytics dashboard with weekly review.
    • Outcome: Won the project at a higher fee, improved conversion by 31 percent in six weeks.

    Questions You Can Use

    Openers

    • What made you reach out now, not three months ago?
    • If this goes well, what changes for you or the team?

    Problem and Impact

    • What is the specific situation that is most painful?
    • How often does it happen, and what does it cost when it does?

    History and Constraints

    • What have you tried so far, and what happened?
    • What would stop this from working, if anything?

    Decision and Logistics

    • Who else needs to be involved, and how do you decide?
    • What is the timeline and budget range that makes sense?

    Close the Loop

    • Let me summarize, tell me what I missed.
    • Would you like me to outline one or two options with pros and cons?

    Small Habits That Improve Listening

    • Silence is a tool. After a hard question, pause for three beats. People fill the silence with useful detail.
    • Mirror and label. Repeat the last few words, or name the emotion you hear. “Sounds frustrating.”
    • Take notes by hand. It shows you care, and it slows you down enough to listen.
    • Signpost. “I have two more questions, then I will give you options.” This avoids interrogation fatigue.

    Common Mistakes To Avoid

    • Pitching too early. You feel productive, they feel sold to.
    • Assuming the problem. Similar symptoms do not mean the same cause.
    • Fishing for budget first. Earn the right by understanding the problem first.
    • Not summarizing. If you cannot play it back, you did not hear it.

    How to Wrap Up Like a Pro

    1. Confirm the diagnosis. “We agree the core issue is X, which causes Y and costs Z.”
    2. Offer options. Good, better, best, with trade offs and timelines.
    3. Gain consent. “Which option fits best, and what do you need to say yes?”
    4. Outline next step.</-li>

    Measure Your Listening

    • Talk time. Aim for the client to speak 60 to 80 percent of the time in discovery.
    • Depth. Count at least three layers of why or how on the core issue.
    • Clarity. Can you write the problem in one sentence, in their words?
    • Follow up. Send a summary email within 24 hours, and check you got it right.

    Before Your Next Prospect Call, A Short Checklist

    • Purpose and agenda set, with permission to ask questions
    • Five starter questions ready, not a script
    • Notebook open, phone silent, camera on if remote
    • Plan to summarize and propose next steps at the end

    The Bottom Line

    If you want more clients, be the professional who listens, then advises. Think questions, not a pitch. Get the problem in words, then prescribe with confidence.

  • Copywriters: How To Get Attention, Delight Your Clients, And Win More Business

    The next most valuable thing after time is attention. No attention = no sale. No attention means every word you wrote fails (not necessarily because of the words, just that no one read them).

    So it has nothing to do with the copy, and everything to do with the wrong audience. They weren’t ready to buy. They were quite happy with what they’d already got.

    They weren’t interested in what you had. They failed to notice you have anything anyway.

    It’s the biggest mistake any copywriter (or person hiring a copywriter can make) – audience identification.

    So you can make the most outlandish claim on the planet and it will still fail because no one who saw it was bothered.

    Which brings us to the problem of marketing vs copywriting. If you’ve been hired by a firm with a marketing department, their brief should be stacked full of demographic audience stats.

    But unfortunately, it happens all the time. And you’re going to get the blame for it when your sales copy fails.

    So you owe it to yourself (and your clients) to spell out the expectations of any copy. And that in a nutshell is to let them know that ALL copy is an experiment. That until you get data back from trials, no is going to be any the wiser.

    That if it fails the first time, that’s good, because it rules out at least one set of things that were wrong before you came on the scene.

    And it also means that you’re going to need an agreement in place that it’s going to take time to get the pitch right for the audience, and then to tweak it into making a decent return on their investment.

    And finally, that if they don’t agree to that, then there’s no way you’ll be working for them.

    Do that, and I guarantee you’ll be taken seriously (or thrown out, which, if that happens, will be a good thing).

    This is part of what positioning means. Unless you’re willing to position yourself as the Master and Expert you know you are, you will be taken advantage of, blamed, and dumped (and who can blame them?).

  • Here’s How To Open A Loop…

    What’s the simplest way to force a reader to read on? Open a loop.

    For example. Which of these sentences opens a loop?

    1. “Officers save man from burning car”

    2. “Officers battled to save man from burning car”

    In the first sentence, the action is all over (man saved). In the second, we want to know if the officers won the battle. It’s written in the past tense, so we know there’s more to come (and there’s also a strong implication the man didn’t survive – but we don’t know, and that’s the point of a loop, it leaves us hanging on).

    We might have written:

    3. “Officers battle to save man from burning car”.

    But that fails too. It’s a statement. It’s written in the present tense.

    We already know we’re not going to get an answer – at least not right now. Game over.

    Here’s another: “Freddie Smith, a homeless man from Oxford who lost his entire family in a tragic car accident, hit the jackpot yesterday.”. Now we’re rocking. What jackpot did he hit?

    Was it the lottery? And what happened in that car accident?

    Or we could have written: “Freddie Smith, a homeless man from Oxford who lost his entire family in a tragic car accident, won the lottery yesterday.”. Great. He won the lottery.

    Game over. And because we ended on the lottery, we might well have forgotten all about the car accident.

    Words are subtle. Slight changes will keep us hanging on, or leaving in droves.

    This is very different from A/B split-testing. With loops we know if we’ve opened one. With split-testing we haven’t got a clue until the readers vote with their wallets.

    And just to hammer that home, changing the colour of a button on a shopping cart may affect the conversion rate. But changing the tense of a sentence with intent WILL change the conversion rate.

    To find out more about improving your copy so you make more sales, join me, Quentin Pain, at the Science of Copywriting.