The cost of fixing the worsened problem when the previous two options fail. There are hundreds more - they all further the argument for the sale.

Some more things to contrast your offer against. Competing offers that aren’t as valuable. The option of ignoring their problem and doing nothing. The option of buying no help and trying the DIY route.

If the messenger is someone the reader has given authority to, then everything in the message will be received as truth and fact. Putting influence into play removes doubt and skepticism and resistance to the content.

A message that issues from no specific person is hard to take seriously or believe in. Who is going to make these statements come true? Who is going to make it right if they don’t?

We don’t want cold words on the page or screen, or a disembodied voice making various promises and guarantees. We want these claims to be issuing from someone that seems normal and reasonable - even trustworthy if possible.

Boredom is one of the most pervasive and costly problems there is. It doesn’t bleed, but it will steal unlimited amounts of time by flatlining excitement and motivation.

Provide the cure, and you can name your price.

And note, this scales to the level of sophistication of your client. Sometimes the only problem they have left is that they’ve solved all the small struggles and pain points in their lives and they simply don’t know what to do next to grow more.

What makes your offer different? How are you unique? What is special about this deal you’re making? How is THIS choice right for their own self-identity vs. any others?

Don’t avoid mentioning the existence of competitors because they provide the easiest way to make your offering stand apart.

Who is the prospect? What do they want? How is WHATEVER you’re selling somehow a NEEDED stepping stone on the path they are already on? Giving them a leg up, or a shortcut? Answer that, and you’ve made a sale.

Copywriters are creating the connection between what is being offered for sale to absolutely everyone with money - and what the individual reader finds personally relevant to them as an individual.

People might accept a “free take one” item but they won’t value it. However, people will line up around the block and wait hours if you’re like “free iPhone.”

It’s about establishing a real world value for the item BEFORE you give it as a gift. Otherwise the recipient can’t attach any value to it.

If you’re willing to do that, then you can pitch on a level competitors can’t, because they are simply unwilling to put that amount of faith into their work.

Promise the best possible result you can deliver, commit to working until the customer is satisfied, and guarantee their money back if it doesn’t work like you said.

If you like these tips, you can grab the whole set in ebook form at cultofcopy.com/copytipsbook.

What’s in it?

372 pages. 366 entries. Almost 35,000 words! But you can just read one day at a time, apply the advice, and write better copy!

I would go so far as to say that 3 iffy supporting statements provide more justification than one good one. The quantity is key. 3 is a magic number. A Goldilocks-appeasing measurement.