When I saw the 250 DDS replies I was scared.
“Can I really make awesome bullets out of this?”
I’ve done it before, and as a copywriter, I do stuff like this all day.
But that initial fear is always there.
Anyway, I learned a few things doing this that can help you turn your Deep Dive Survey replies into solid sales bullets faster.
(If you don’t know what a deep dive survey (DDS) is, it’s basically you asking your audience what their biggest challenge is in getting something they want. It helps you nail your messaging and create products people want.)
Plus, help you overcome the “Oh crap, I actually have to do this now” fear that creeps in once you sit down to write.
So:
5 tips to turn DDS replies into sales-generating bullets:
#1. Different ways to start your bullets
The first few bullets I wrote all began: “how to.”
It felt boring. So I dug around for other ways to start.
Here’s a list I put together of different phrases for starting your bullets.
Using them (instead of repeating “how to” forever) can help keep things interesting for the reader.
Instantly…
The one thing…
Why…
Discover the
11 simple…
Skip years of frustration…
The [INTERESTING NAME/WORD] technique…
Are you…?
The [PROPRIETARY NAME] secret…
The mysterious force behind…
A very simple tactic…
The [NAME OF A PROPRIETARY THING] that…
What [NAME OF GROUP] knows about..
7 examples of how to
Exactly what to…
The best way to…
The #1 easiest way to..
Why it’s a big mistake to
Warning…
We can now reveal…
The key to..
The 7-step formula (even an idiot can use…)
The REAL reason…
You will (benefit)
The best defense against…
Which __ are REALLY (the cause of..)
Sure way to…
Dangerous…
The one mistake…
2) Define the problem
When you give the problem a name, it helps your reader grasp their issue more clearly. (Which means they’ll be more interested in your solution.)
Plus, when you present and define a problem people will often assume you’ve got the answer.
Here are some examples of how this can work.
A lot of parents were talking about their struggles with defiant behavior and saying “no.” So that led to:
“How to break the “Defiant Behavior Cycle” — If you’re fed up hearing “NO!” all the time, use these simple tricks to calm and avoid defiant outbursts.”
And comments about kids having meltdowns when making simple decision led to:
“The secret to stopping “Decision Meltdown” — so your child can make small choices (like what shoes to wear) without losing it.”
3) Create proprietary solutions
This gets your customers to see you have a unique solution they can’t get anywhere else.
Plus it’s fun.
Here’s some stuff that came out:
“The “negotiator” technique to quickly calm a child who is breaking class, putting holes in walls and lashing out to anyone who comes close.”
“How to adopt the Voice of God, so your child listens and responds positively to your requests (without having to yell or argue.)”
“My “Consequence Catalog” so you have logical, natural consequences to use — and don’t have to resort to unrelated punishments that don’t sit well with you.”
This is also a great exercise to come up with cool new stuff.
You focus on the perfect solution, write about it, then go make it 🙂
4) Paint pleasing pictures in their mind
This is a lovely way to create desire for what you’re selling.
Use language that puts a picture in their head and gets them to see/feel what life will be like when they have your glorious product.
Here’s an example.
This comment:
“I struggle with food. She doesn’t want to eat alone, she doesn’t want to open her mouth, she started throwing up at the end of a meal or in the middle of it.”
Became this:
Does your child refuse to eat? Discover an easy meal-time practice that’ll have her licking the plate clean.
5) Have fun.
Trying too hard tends to make the copy bad and your life miserable (at least until you do something else.)
The more you relax and have fun the more your copy is going to come alive.
Pretty sure they proved this on Mythbusters.
So when I started, I didn’t set out to write good bullets. I let myself write a bunch of CRAPPY BULLETS (then polished them in editing.)
When you give yourself permission to write poorly you often end up writing something pretty darn good.
After getting a few not-so-great bullets out of my system, things started flowing. I ended up with ~8 pages of bullets. Many didn’t need much tweaking.
And some popped out that were pretty fun.
For example, the reply:
“I take time out to give her undivided attention…she still does things like try to climb over the back of the couch.”
Became:
“Simple ways to keep “Spider-man” (or Spider-woman) from climbing on gates and chairs, so he can stay safe.”
So, do what you need to relax — play music, get coffee…
And remember, the future of human race does NOT depend on what you write 🙂
There’s more we could talk about but that’s plenty for now.
Happy DDSing.