The dreaded blank-page anxiety syndrome. 

It’s the curse of every writer — whether they write copy, novels or poems. 

Mustering up the first few lines feels like climbing the Nanga Parbat in Winter.

Suddenly any other activity takes on greater importance,  so that after 30 minutes, you’ve blasted the content of your fridge twice, checked all your social media feeds and have made it to the bathroom (even though you might have waited just as well) 

But the page is still blank and it looks like a meadow during snowy winter.

Isn’t that freaking intimidating?

Good copywriters know that the most important part of every piece of copy (be it a sales page, email, FB ad, a landing page) is the Headline and the so-called Lead.  

If you screw that, the party is over. 

The rest of your copy could be a copywriting masterpiece but you can be sure no one will even get that far.

You might want to ask now: 

• “But how do I really know how to start my copy with a bang?
• “Do I write about how good my product is?”
• “Do I talk about a problem and  solution in general?”
• “Do I talk about my clients’ problems?”
• “Do I tell a story?”

The entire list of classics self-doubts.

How do I know? Well, I’ve been there for quite a long time. 

And I take responsibility for whatever I do in my life but you know…this was not my fault. 

Neither is it yours. Why?

Because there’s too much free content and must-read classics but few of them give you the understanding of how to structure your copy. 

Well… at least I remember having read quite a lot and still being clueless about how it all works. 

I don’t want to say it was time wasted but…you know what I mean.

(I want to say that it became clear in a fancy way, there must be some metaphors with light)

The light was shed/ the light entered/  when I came into possession of one game-changing book.

The book is called “The Great Leads” and is written by Michael Masterson and John Forde.  It immediately lights the lightbulb in your labored/shagged head full of different concepts. 

What’s so special about this book? 

In does a great job of explaining the fundamentals of writing copy in a way that most books don’t do. 

There are many books that talk about different principles and give you ‘pro tips’. 

But when it comes to writing the first sentence, you’re as clueless as you were before. 

The classics, on the other hand, are often difficult to digest and to some degree out-dated. 

They are set in the realm of mail marketing.  

Masterson and Forde make it very easy for us by introducing the 5-step “scale of awareness” which sets your copy-ship/vessel on the right course before you nip your copy in the bud. 

The steps range from the audience that’s fully aware of what you’re offering to those who don’t know that they have a problem. 

Here are the 5 stages of awareness that Masterson and Forde distinguished: 

1.Aware – Those guys may already know like, and trust you so selling them should be no challenge. Think Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike. Do you need special encouragement to buy their stuff? Exactly. 

2.Product Aware – They know that that the type of product/service you offer is a solution to their pain but you’re not their first choice. They’re on the fence and they need an extra nudge. 

3.Solution Aware – Those guys know the result they want to get but they don’t (yet) know that your product/service is a remedy to all their pains and troubles. Well, almost…

Here’s where empathy and a deep understanding of your audiences’ problem comes in. 

4.Problem Aware- Whilst the common thing the other three stages had was hope —  this one has only worry.  This audience knows that there’s something wrong but they don’t yet know that there’s a solution for their problem. This is where the great potential for growing your business is.

5.Unaware (the ones you don’t want to write for) – Here’s where savvy marketers make their biggest fortunes.  These are the uncharted territories, the undiscovered gold mines waiting to be explored. 

If you want to ‘awaken’ these people and make them realize they sort of have a problem, you’ll need an attention-grabbing lead that doesn’t give away the offer right off the bat —

something that will hook them in and not let go until the ‘aha moment’.

It could sound more or less like ‘Oh shit, it’s me’. The best way to do it? Tell a story. People sniff a sales pitch like a bear smells its prey from dozens of miles.  

They will ignore you and move on withing seconds if you show your cards to early. But who would resist reading a compelling story instead? This is your foot in the door. 

In my opinion, this simple approach lets you deal with ideas overload (or lack thereof). It shows you how to do something by first telling you what not to do (i.e if your audience is green, you don’t sell them in the headline, for that matter).

I dabbled with copywriting for a long time before it became clear to me that you always need to meet the person where they are right now. If you start your copy bearing this in mind, your chances of succeeding increase dramatically. 

After all, it’s a bit like dating. You (well…normally) don’t marry someone you just met at the bar counter. Neither do you beat around the bush with your regular partner if you feel this weird tingling in the area between your legs.

Well, I’ll leave dating vs marketing for the next time. Those parallels are just too cool to not be called up. 

If you feel like your marketing needs to be resuscitated or brought to the next level, and it feels like you had better have a pro do that – book a free 20-minute consultation here: