Copywriting is the one skill that all online business owners should master. As an online marketer you communicate with words, if those words aren’t conveying your message to your customer your business won’t succeed.

Here are a few copywriting tips to help you get started.

Who’s your target market? Good copywriters know exactly who they are writing for before they start writing. Their copy is written to speak directly to ONE person and they keep that person in mind at all times. If you try to reach too many people with your message you’ll end missing your target market altogether and not reach anyone at all. Before you start writing your copy, take the time to define the ONE person that makes up your target market. Here’s a tip; make up the person, give them a name, a personality, how do they look, where do they live, what are their hobbies, do they have children, how old are they, you get the picture, make up an imaginary friend and pretend you’re writing your copy to that friend.

Construct a riveting headline. Use intriguing headlines throughout your copy to guide the reader. Your main headline should be in bold, large letters to grab the reader’s attention. It’s often the headline that will make or break your copy. Use a benefit focused headline which explains in powerful detail how you’ll solve the customer’s problem. Use sub-headlines throughout the text to keep the reader intrigued so that they’ll keep reading.

Don’t use big words in your copy. Online writing is different than the writing you did in English class. Forget all the rules your teachers taught you, online writing is casual, it needs to convey emotion and has a clear purpose. When you write copy, write in a conversational style as if you’re sitting there talking with the person, stay away from big words or you’ll risk losing your prospects.

Be persuasive. Sure you love your product or service, but you’re biased. Your customers want to hear from other unbiased people that have used your product. Include customer testimonials. Include the person’s full name, city, state and web stie URL if available. Include a picture if possible, the more information your testimonial includes the more persuasive and believable it will be.

It’s not about you! Effective copywriting is concerned about the needs of your customer. The writer doesn’t matter. Of course you’ll need to add a little personal information about yourself to gain trust, but even then it’s all about what you can do for your customer. Read through your copy, if it contains a lot of “I’s”, it’s time to for a re-write. Go back and change the “I’s” to “You’s”. Your writing should always be about the customer.

Don’t forget to have a strong call to action. You must guide your visitors and tell them what you expect them to do. Be specific. If you want them to click over and purchase a product, then say so. Write the call to action in a clear way that promotes all the benefits of your product or service.

And one last tip, if you want to learn to write good copy, find a really good copywriter. Take some of their material and write it out by hand several times. You’ll start to get a “feel” for how to write copy.

In order to be the best copywriter you can be, definitely check out Maria Veloso’s book on copywriting; Web Copy That Sells, Maria provides lots of tips and techniques to write copy that sells!

So educate yourself and pick up all the tips and tricks you can to become the best copywriter you can be!