SEO Copywriting Tip

In the early 2000’s I started selling laptops on eBay. I became a Gold level Powerseller. In the 2002 – 2005 era people were purchasing their first laptop. Back then it wasn’t about having the best price or the latest product; in fact the best sellers were laptops that I had rebuilt that were around 3yrs old. Towards the end of my eBay venture I was shipping out around 350 units per month.

Describe the benefits of your product or service

I was also in the very beginning stages of starting a new business. I had quit my job and had little money. I had decided my venture on eBay would be temporary but that it WOULD work. I learned very quickly that people want to know what they would do with this laptop. They didn’t care that it had a fresh battery, or a clean operating system install. They didn’t care how much RAM it had. They didn’t care that the unit had a new processor fan in it, in fact, stating such things usually scared people away. They certainly didn’t care that I needed the money- I could have been sending 100% of the proceeds to an organization that was 99% of the way to a cure for cancer. Nope, none of that mattered.

What would they do with this product? How would this product benefit them? How fast are they going to get it? Where would they use this product? Would this product help them work faster? Would it entertain them? Could their children use it? Could they take it camping? Would it work on an airplane? How could they justify this purchase? Does it come with a bag? Can it be used in the car? Will it do my laundry?

People don’t read

Sometimes here on my own site I create giant walls of text. Don’t do that. When I am putting together content for a client the very first sentence tells the reader what the product is, how it benefits them, and how they can buy it. Sometimes, there is a bulleted list of reasons they need the product.

Deceptive eBay sellers know people don’t read. They would create good sales copy and take good pictures and then at the bottom of the screen they would say “Oh by the way, we only ship once a week, there will be no power cord included, you need to supply your own operating system, and the battery is probably shot”.

Charge whatever you want

I had selling laptops down to a science. Typically, I sold the most around 2PM and had around 10 seconds to capture people’s attention and under a minute for them to make their decision. I sold my laptops for more than other eBay sellers. In fact, eBay is where I purchased them to begin with. Profit margins weren’t great but my prices were typically on the high end. Someone has to be the most expensive, right? I did nothing deceptive; in fact I maintained a 100% feedback score for the entire 3-4 years involving millions of dollars and thousands of transactions, and people weren’t getting ripped off (not that that would ever happen on eBay).

It isn’t just laptops

Who knew my eBay experiences would help me create epic content. I went on to create content for my own website which led to 37,000 clients before I sold the company. I now work with some very successful personal injury law firms, medical professionals, real estate agents, and a few other niches. I have a genuine desire to learn everything about their products and services, so that is always a bonus. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you’re selling; people want to know how it is going to help them before they reach into their pocket. Business owners can become oblivious to this- of course, a personal injury attorney is going to get you money, right? No. People want to hear it, and if they land on your website, it had better tell them. Of course, getting that content to rank is another story.

Here’s an example

If you are a business owner that would like content that shows up in search results and delivers sales feel free to hire me for SEO Copywriting services or contact me here.

Len
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On December 20, 2014   /   Content Creation   /   Leave a comment

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