Can’t Write Your Next Sales Letter? Dictate It Out Of Thin Air!
Writing anything is pretty tough, whether it is writing articles, putting together a report, writing a blog post - but especially creating sales copy. Let's figure out what your options are...
Hiring A Copywriter
Finding someone to write your sales letter for you sounds good, right? You just pay somebody some money, and out pops a brand-spanking-new sales letter.
But it's not great, because the copywriter doesn't necessarily know you. He doesn't know your voice. He hasn't seen your product. He doesn't understand what your customers' problems are.
And the worst part is you paid money to get something that is worse than if you had made it yourself!
Writing It Yourself
There is a free option: that is that you try to write the sales letter yourself. However, unless you have been trained in writing sales copy, it is not going to be that great. It is also going to take you for ever, and you might not even finish it. If you are not a writer, let alone a copywriter, your skills might be better put to use creating videos or marketing your solution.
Also, many people who have not written on a regular basis don't write the way they sound - which means your sales letter is going to seem completely different than the way you come off in person or in audios.
What is the solution then?
Put together a list of problems your customers have, and a list of benefits that you have that will solve the problem, and...
Dictate Your Sales Copy!
You are going to use the same exact elements as a sales letter: like a headline, sub-headline, body copy, your story, a problem, and so on. So you might need to consult for one hour with a copywriter, especially to help you flesh out the headline and organize the copy.
But if you know your niche and you know your product, and you are passionate about it, you can dictate out an audio file, get someone else to type it up for you. And now you have a complete sales letter that sounds exactly like it came from you - because it did!
Also keep in mind that once you have the sales letter dictated, transcribed and properly formatted, you can send it to the same copywriter again to get it critiqued.
This will probably take only about an hour, and critiques where the copywriter gets on a phone call with you - or preferably a webinar - work the best because you are not waiting around for him to finish.
The next time you need a sales letter done, dictate it! Meet with the copywriter for one hour to flesh out the plan of the copy. Dictate it, transcribe it, format it. Then meet back with the copywriter again, to make it shine.
Have you dictated sales copy yourself? What kinds of things are you dictating? Are they articles / reports / sales letters? Or something I hadn't even thought of?
Leave me a blog comment below with your response.
Filed in: Copywriting • Writing
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No, I haven’t dictated a sales letter, yet. I’ll probably try it, but I’m a writer at heart, so I always prefer writing over talking.
But I’ll never know if it works better to dictate something, if I don’t try it, so I’ll give it a try.
I prefer writing it myself, but I’m glad it works for you, and applaud your contribution to fellow workers who benefit from your outsourcing. 🙂
I cannot imagine talking and not writing.
I love to talk – and do a good job on presentations.
But writing is for writing; talking is for talking.
But that’s just me — for you, obviously talking instead of writing is working well. Just another example that there are surely different strokes for different folks.
I might try it someday, but I guarantee you, I’d do it with written notes.
Jeanne
I love the “Voice Memo” feature on my iPhone and use it to dictate ideas for book chapters, articles, blog posts while I’m driving. Yes, I have it on hands-free mode. I start a new recording when the car is at a standstill and then start talking — since it is voice activated, I don’t have to fuss with it until the next time I come to a stop. I find dictating is useful for capturing the ideas that seem to flow as soon as I’m away from my keyboard! Dictating can really help you get out of that self-conscious mode that can make you freeze in front of a blank page.
Evelyn
I have tried to dictate and record my sales letter, but I cannot keep as focused as when I write them on paper. I guess I could do a mind map really quick and talk about each point. I’ll try it. Talking without thinking much about it makes it more fun and it might help me get it done faster!
Andreea
But Robert, I purchased Fast Food Copywriting when it was first released…
What else could I possibly I need?
😛
That sounds great but what about a niche that you don’t know that much about? Like when you use plr. Writing is NOT my strength. I have enough problem writing a blog post.
Rob
The recording isn’t ever the issue, it’s getting it from the recorded state to some other form — whether that’s to upload a podcast or get it transcribed for some kind of print media.
The way I see it, recording my voice is only an alternate way to offer content — not a replacement for writing. I think there are places for both, especially since some people prefer one over the other. Choice is good — so long as there aren’t so many it becomes overwhelming.
And for sure if it’s a sales letter I may deliver the message in more than one way, but they will only have one choice at the end: buy or leave 🙂
Nancy
I haven’t yet recorded a sales letter. I have started building several mind maps to serve as outlines for articles. I am planning on recording these next week.
I have spent way too much time writing the “perfect” letter or article in the past.
I am looking forward to getting more out faster.
Thanks for the tips.
Warren
That’s hard for me to do. I’m a writer, so once I start writing my emotions pour into it as well. With 30 years of sales I can direct that emotion to a close, but I don’t believe I can get the same emotional feeling dictating
Rick
Ever since I realized you were dictating your blog posts for the 30-day blogging challenge, I’ve been enamored with the notion. I love speaking (been in front of audiences for 25+ years!) so I think dictation would feel pretty natural to me. Haven’t tried it yet but I’d like to give it a whirl.
I believe you said you employ help from oDesk to get your transcriptions done? I’ve heard good reviews about their service. What type of device do you use for dictation? Just a standard mini tape recorder or some fancy schmancy high tech device?
Melanie
#blog30
I think the thing that makes your courses worth every penny is that they always push me out of my comfort zone.
This article seems to be doing that for a lot of people.
Although I can’t say I’ve gotten dictation to work for me…yet, I love the idea of creating so much content so quickly and easily.
Thanks to your courses, I’ve at least significantly increased the number of articles I write and drastically reduced the time it takes to publish them.