One of the most fascinating subjects for copywriters is the subject of hype in a sales letter. Everybody has their own definition of what hype is, which is what makes the subject so fascinating and creates so many discussions on it. We had just one of these discussions recently at the Warrior Forum, started by one of the great copywriters in the business…Paul Myers. Well, I’m going to add my two cents to this discussion in this article. It is my hope that you get something out of it.

The most difficult thing about hype is defining it. One man’s hype is another man’s reason for buying something. We all react differently to different phrases in salescopy. For example, if I see a line in a sales letter that says something like, “Earn $300 a day on autopilot” I’m going to think hype. The copywriter is making it seem like all you have to do is push a button and the money will start pouring in. However, somebody else might read a line like that and think it’s not only perfectly possible but also exciting as heck that they’ll be able to do this themselves.

So how do you know when something is going to be perceived as hype when you’re writing your sales letter? After all, just because you may think it is doesn’t mean your reader is going to think so. That’s the first thing a good copywriter has to do…keep his own feelings out of the mix. He has to base his writing on what his target market responds to. And the only way he’s going to know is by testing. The simplest way to do this is with two sales letters. The first one would include lines like I mentioned above and the second one would leave them out. Then you simply check to see which sales letter converts better.

Everybody is going to react to hype differently and in a sales letter, it can be the X factor. Too much and you’ll drive your prospect away, not enough and you don’t get them excited enough about your product.

That’s what makes copywriting so exciting…at least for me.

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.