It was just a matter of time before I finally revealed the biggest mistake that new copywriters make. With all the important things there are to writing copy, you would think that coming up with one big mistake that trumps them all would be hard to do. Well, guess what? It was. I had to think long and hard before finally deciding on what one thing was going to do you in no matter how great your copy was. And believe it or not, this one mistake has NOTHING to do with writing even ONE WORD OF COPY. Want to know what it is? I can tell you in one word.

Research.

Oh how we blow the whole deal from the minute we fail to research exactly what it is that our target market wants. See, like it or not, people do not buy things based on logic. They buy things based on emotion. The DVD player that I just bought I got simply because I knew that it would allow me to play my DVDs that I spent thousands of dollars on and get the best quality from them. I could care less about the cool features. I just want a DVD player that is reliable and reproduces the picture as cleanly as possible so I can enjoy my TV shows and movies.

In the IM make money niche, a lot of beginning copywriters think that all you have to do is tell the prospect how much money they’re going to make with their product. What they fail to point out in the copy is how this money is going to give them the lifestyle that they want, the cars, boats, trips, whatever. Money in itself means nothing. So some fancy headline like, “Make $30,000 In 30 Days” by itself isn’t going to do it. You need to tell the prospect why this money is going to make them feel so good.

In non IM niches, it’s the same thing. The person who is looking for an acne cure doesn’t really care about curing his acne. What he cares about is losing that date with the hot girl in his chemistry class because his face looks like it just came out of a train wreck. He would do anything to get rid of that face so he can date that girl. How do I know these things? Because I took the time to research these niches and find out what the hot buttons of these people are.

If you don’t do your research, how can you possibly know what to write in your sales letter? Anything you come up with is purely speculation based on your own biased beliefs. You MUST take the time to find out what your target market wants and WHY they want it.

Otherwise, you’re just groping in the dark.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.