Name
1.1 Hunt Your Prey 🐺
You’ve probably heard Abraham Lincoln’s famous line:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
With copy, it’s somewhat similar. Even the best writers perform poorly if they don’t understand who they’re writing to. Remember our key lesson? Focus on our reader, not our offer.
So in this case…
If we don’t understand our reader how can we ever write proper copy?
In this section, we will cover how you can truly understand your reader. Who they are, what they need, what they struggle with, and how you can connect the dots using words to receive the outcome you desire.
Believe me, everyone has a problem they need solved.
Consumers, coaches, c-level executives, and even billion-dollar companies have a hole in their ship you can fix.
Our job?
Enter their minds, businesses, and dreams, to discover what they truly need (and how we can fix it.)
When identifying our audience, there are 2 main points we should uncover:
Their pain points
Their desires
By revealing these BEFORE we write copy, we will have the most accurate impression of our audience, allowing our copy to be very direct & relatable.
Let’s dive in!
Pain Points
Negativity is a powerful tool to control the human mind. Everybody has issues, and when they’re uncovered, it leaves people feeling uncomfortable & vulnerable.
That’s when they buy.
Some people do not like this topic surrounding copywriting. They feel as if it’s “unethical” do use the reader’s pain against them.
That being said…
The pain is there for a reason. There is a real tangible issue that needs fixing, and it’s our job to uncover it to help them solve it. We aren’t triggering these feelings out of thin air, simply agitating them & igniting them.
Think of it as therapy: When you first begin, the therapist will guide you back into your traumas. “Think of the time so and so did this to you” as you close your eyes and envision it. “How does it make you feel?”
It’s like holding onto our emotions. In doing so, we achieve nothing, and often they’ll bottle up & become even worse. We are, like a therapist, guiding them through their pain points, not rubbing them without reason. To work through something, it must be felt - not avoided.
So, what are pain points?
In basic form,
These are the issues the reader is currently facing… That whatever you’re offering can solve.
In many cases, it’s not tangible physical pain someone is feeling, but the emotions that are being brought up FROM that pain. They’ll live without getting their pain points solved, so we need to make them think the opposite.
How do we find these?
There are two main principles you can follow when uncovering pain points in your audience:
A. Labeling Reality
B. Painting Scenarios
A prime way to tag someone’s pain point is simply labelling the not-so-great portion of their reality. When doing this, we are reminding them of the things that need to be changed in order for them to be happier.
Remember - they can live without our offer. We need to label their reality in a way that seems unenjoyable if they don’t make a shift.
Let’s use some examples:
Let’s say you own an agency, and the #1 problem with agencies is getting clients.
In this case, most people would look at this as the pain point: Not getting enough clients.
Not quite.
In copywriting, your pain points scratch deeper than the service. As we discussed before, it’s not the pain itself… but the emotions they cause.
What happens when they can’t get more clients?
A. They’re constantly devoting time to finding more clients.
B. They’re uncertain because there isn’t a steady flow of leads.
C. They’re worried about losing clients because they have no secure way to get more.
D. They’re hopeless on how to hit their revenue goals without the volume of clients required.
Notice the emotions they’re facing in their current reality: Losing time, uncertainty, worry, hopelessness.
Now they can live without fixing the issue… But now it doesn’t sound very enjoyable that you’ve reminded them how they’re feeling at times.
THESE are pain points.
When you’re approaching your ideal reader, ask yourself: “What external issue are they facing?”
Then, dive deeper: “And how does this make them feel?”
This is where we find their soft spot, the things they’re uncomfortable to say that we have to say for them.
Desires
As much as people hate staying the same…
They hate knowing there’s something out there they don’t have yet. This is where we uncover our reader’s “Desires.”
In the lesson above, we discuss having someone take action to leave their current reality by making it feel uncomfortable.
By using desires, we are pushing people by reminding them what they do NOT have yet. We are reminding them that there is a better life waiting for them. Their current life is cool, but this life is everything they’ve ever wanted.
Same with pain points, desires go deeper than the tangible outcome.
Sure, anyone wants a million dollars. But what for?
Sure, anyone wants their business to be successful. But why?
A. Do they want to retire early?
B. Do they want more time to spend with family?
C. Do they want to be recognized for their achievements?
D. Do they want to make an impact on the people around them?
More often than not, people’s desires span much farther than just monetary achievements. The scenario we want to paint is their “dream life.”
We don’t tell someone they’ll have 1 million dollars working with us.
We tell them they’ll be so rich that they won’t need to work anymore → and they can sip coconuts on the beaches of Bali for the rest of their life.
Simply put, we want to paint a dream (and ensure our offer can actually help them hit it)
When we are analyzing our reader, we can line up what we discover & link it together. We do this research so we understand all aspects of who we are talking to. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Copywriting is never a one-sided approach to anything - it’s a methodical blend of words that subtlety produce various emotions, working together to drive our reader over the edge to take action.
Pain point A. for agencies was “They’re constantly devoting time to finding more clients.”
This could pair with desire B. “They want more time to spend with family.”
In the same way…
Pain Point D. “They’re hopeless on how to hit their revenue goals without the volume of clients required.”
Could match with Desire C. “They want to be recognized for their achievements,” which cannot happen if they don’t hit those goals.
By learning both, they can co-exist in our writing, creating a spectrum of vulnerability & hope.
1.1 Hunt Your Prey 🐺
You’ve probably heard Abraham Lincoln’s famous line:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
With copy, it’s somewhat similar. Even the best writers perform poorly if they don’t understand who they’re writing to. Remember our key lesson? Focus on our reader, not our offer.
So in this case…
If we don’t understand our reader how can we ever write proper copy?
In this section, we will cover how you can truly understand your reader. Who they are, what they need, what they struggle with, and how you can connect the dots using words to receive the outcome you desire.
Believe me, everyone has a problem they need solved.
Consumers, coaches, c-level executives, and even billion-dollar companies have a hole in their ship you can fix.
Our job?
Enter their minds, businesses, and dreams, to discover what they truly need (and how we can fix it.)
When identifying our audience, there are 2 main points we should uncover:
Their pain points
Their desires
By revealing these BEFORE we write copy, we will have the most accurate impression of our audience, allowing our copy to be very direct & relatable.
Let’s dive in!
Pain Points
Negativity is a powerful tool to control the human mind. Everybody has issues, and when they’re uncovered, it leaves people feeling uncomfortable & vulnerable.
That’s when they buy.
Some people do not like this topic surrounding copywriting. They feel as if it’s “unethical” do use the reader’s pain against them.
That being said…
The pain is there for a reason. There is a real tangible issue that needs fixing, and it’s our job to uncover it to help them solve it. We aren’t triggering these feelings out of thin air, simply agitating them & igniting them.
Think of it as therapy: When you first begin, the therapist will guide you back into your traumas. “Think of the time so and so did this to you” as you close your eyes and envision it. “How does it make you feel?”
It’s like holding onto our emotions. In doing so, we achieve nothing, and often they’ll bottle up & become even worse. We are, like a therapist, guiding them through their pain points, not rubbing them without reason. To work through something, it must be felt - not avoided.
So, what are pain points?
In basic form,
These are the issues the reader is currently facing… That whatever you’re offering can solve.
In many cases, it’s not tangible physical pain someone is feeling, but the emotions that are being brought up FROM that pain. They’ll live without getting their pain points solved, so we need to make them think the opposite.
How do we find these?
There are two main principles you can follow when uncovering pain points in your audience:
A. Labeling Reality
B. Painting Scenarios
A prime way to tag someone’s pain point is simply labelling the not-so-great portion of their reality. When doing this, we are reminding them of the things that need to be changed in order for them to be happier.
Remember - they can live without our offer. We need to label their reality in a way that seems unenjoyable if they don’t make a shift.
Let’s use some examples:
Let’s say you own an agency, and the #1 problem with agencies is getting clients.
In this case, most people would look at this as the pain point: Not getting enough clients.
Not quite.
In copywriting, your pain points scratch deeper than the service. As we discussed before, it’s not the pain itself… but the emotions they cause.
What happens when they can’t get more clients?
A. They’re constantly devoting time to finding more clients.
B. They’re uncertain because there isn’t a steady flow of leads.
C. They’re worried about losing clients because they have no secure way to get more.
D. They’re hopeless on how to hit their revenue goals without the volume of clients required.
Notice the emotions they’re facing in their current reality: Losing time, uncertainty, worry, hopelessness.
Now they can live without fixing the issue… But now it doesn’t sound very enjoyable that you’ve reminded them how they’re feeling at times.
THESE are pain points.
When you’re approaching your ideal reader, ask yourself: “What external issue are they facing?”
Then, dive deeper: “And how does this make them feel?”
This is where we find their soft spot, the things they’re uncomfortable to say that we have to say for them.
Desires
As much as people hate staying the same…
They hate knowing there’s something out there they don’t have yet. This is where we uncover our reader’s “Desires.”
In the lesson above, we discuss having someone take action to leave their current reality by making it feel uncomfortable.
By using desires, we are pushing people by reminding them what they do NOT have yet. We are reminding them that there is a better life waiting for them. Their current life is cool, but this life is everything they’ve ever wanted.
Same with pain points, desires go deeper than the tangible outcome.
Sure, anyone wants a million dollars. But what for?
Sure, anyone wants their business to be successful. But why?
A. Do they want to retire early?
B. Do they want more time to spend with family?
C. Do they want to be recognized for their achievements?
D. Do they want to make an impact on the people around them?
More often than not, people’s desires span much farther than just monetary achievements. The scenario we want to paint is their “dream life.”
We don’t tell someone they’ll have 1 million dollars working with us.
We tell them they’ll be so rich that they won’t need to work anymore → and they can sip coconuts on the beaches of Bali for the rest of their life.
Simply put, we want to paint a dream (and ensure our offer can actually help them hit it)
When we are analyzing our reader, we can line up what we discover & link it together. We do this research so we understand all aspects of who we are talking to. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Copywriting is never a one-sided approach to anything - it’s a methodical blend of words that subtlety produce various emotions, working together to drive our reader over the edge to take action.
Pain point A. for agencies was “They’re constantly devoting time to finding more clients.”
This could pair with desire B. “They want more time to spend with family.”
In the same way…
Pain Point D. “They’re hopeless on how to hit their revenue goals without the volume of clients required.”
Could match with Desire C. “They want to be recognized for their achievements,” which cannot happen if they don’t hit those goals.
By learning both, they can co-exist in our writing, creating a spectrum of vulnerability & hope.
1.1 Hunt Your Prey 🐺
You’ve probably heard Abraham Lincoln’s famous line:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
With copy, it’s somewhat similar. Even the best writers perform poorly if they don’t understand who they’re writing to. Remember our key lesson? Focus on our reader, not our offer.
So in this case…
If we don’t understand our reader how can we ever write proper copy?
In this section, we will cover how you can truly understand your reader. Who they are, what they need, what they struggle with, and how you can connect the dots using words to receive the outcome you desire.
Believe me, everyone has a problem they need solved.
Consumers, coaches, c-level executives, and even billion-dollar companies have a hole in their ship you can fix.
Our job?
Enter their minds, businesses, and dreams, to discover what they truly need (and how we can fix it.)
When identifying our audience, there are 2 main points we should uncover:
Their pain points
Their desires
By revealing these BEFORE we write copy, we will have the most accurate impression of our audience, allowing our copy to be very direct & relatable.
Let’s dive in!
Pain Points
Negativity is a powerful tool to control the human mind. Everybody has issues, and when they’re uncovered, it leaves people feeling uncomfortable & vulnerable.
That’s when they buy.
Some people do not like this topic surrounding copywriting. They feel as if it’s “unethical” do use the reader’s pain against them.
That being said…
The pain is there for a reason. There is a real tangible issue that needs fixing, and it’s our job to uncover it to help them solve it. We aren’t triggering these feelings out of thin air, simply agitating them & igniting them.
Think of it as therapy: When you first begin, the therapist will guide you back into your traumas. “Think of the time so and so did this to you” as you close your eyes and envision it. “How does it make you feel?”
It’s like holding onto our emotions. In doing so, we achieve nothing, and often they’ll bottle up & become even worse. We are, like a therapist, guiding them through their pain points, not rubbing them without reason. To work through something, it must be felt - not avoided.
So, what are pain points?
In basic form,
These are the issues the reader is currently facing… That whatever you’re offering can solve.
In many cases, it’s not tangible physical pain someone is feeling, but the emotions that are being brought up FROM that pain. They’ll live without getting their pain points solved, so we need to make them think the opposite.
How do we find these?
There are two main principles you can follow when uncovering pain points in your audience:
A. Labeling Reality
B. Painting Scenarios
A prime way to tag someone’s pain point is simply labelling the not-so-great portion of their reality. When doing this, we are reminding them of the things that need to be changed in order for them to be happier.
Remember - they can live without our offer. We need to label their reality in a way that seems unenjoyable if they don’t make a shift.
Let’s use some examples:
Let’s say you own an agency, and the #1 problem with agencies is getting clients.
In this case, most people would look at this as the pain point: Not getting enough clients.
Not quite.
In copywriting, your pain points scratch deeper than the service. As we discussed before, it’s not the pain itself… but the emotions they cause.
What happens when they can’t get more clients?
A. They’re constantly devoting time to finding more clients.
B. They’re uncertain because there isn’t a steady flow of leads.
C. They’re worried about losing clients because they have no secure way to get more.
D. They’re hopeless on how to hit their revenue goals without the volume of clients required.
Notice the emotions they’re facing in their current reality: Losing time, uncertainty, worry, hopelessness.
Now they can live without fixing the issue… But now it doesn’t sound very enjoyable that you’ve reminded them how they’re feeling at times.
THESE are pain points.
When you’re approaching your ideal reader, ask yourself: “What external issue are they facing?”
Then, dive deeper: “And how does this make them feel?”
This is where we find their soft spot, the things they’re uncomfortable to say that we have to say for them.
Desires
As much as people hate staying the same…
They hate knowing there’s something out there they don’t have yet. This is where we uncover our reader’s “Desires.”
In the lesson above, we discuss having someone take action to leave their current reality by making it feel uncomfortable.
By using desires, we are pushing people by reminding them what they do NOT have yet. We are reminding them that there is a better life waiting for them. Their current life is cool, but this life is everything they’ve ever wanted.
Same with pain points, desires go deeper than the tangible outcome.
Sure, anyone wants a million dollars. But what for?
Sure, anyone wants their business to be successful. But why?
A. Do they want to retire early?
B. Do they want more time to spend with family?
C. Do they want to be recognized for their achievements?
D. Do they want to make an impact on the people around them?
More often than not, people’s desires span much farther than just monetary achievements. The scenario we want to paint is their “dream life.”
We don’t tell someone they’ll have 1 million dollars working with us.
We tell them they’ll be so rich that they won’t need to work anymore → and they can sip coconuts on the beaches of Bali for the rest of their life.
Simply put, we want to paint a dream (and ensure our offer can actually help them hit it)
When we are analyzing our reader, we can line up what we discover & link it together. We do this research so we understand all aspects of who we are talking to. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Copywriting is never a one-sided approach to anything - it’s a methodical blend of words that subtlety produce various emotions, working together to drive our reader over the edge to take action.
Pain point A. for agencies was “They’re constantly devoting time to finding more clients.”
This could pair with desire B. “They want more time to spend with family.”
In the same way…
Pain Point D. “They’re hopeless on how to hit their revenue goals without the volume of clients required.”
Could match with Desire C. “They want to be recognized for their achievements,” which cannot happen if they don’t hit those goals.
By learning both, they can co-exist in our writing, creating a spectrum of vulnerability & hope.
1-1-hunt-your-prey