Jennifer Hudye is a marketer, copywriter, entrepreneur, and the Founder and CEO of Conscious Copy & Co., one of the top copywriting companies in the digital marketing world where they help entrepreneurs communicate their vision and message in a way that inspires people to take action.  Today, she is going to share with us 5 secrets to writing copy that gets the right people to click, open, and buy.

Learn More Earn More Business Growth Podcast

Host: Brian Webb

Guests: Jennifer Hudye

Episode 42: 5 Secrets To Writing Copy That Gets The Right People To Click, Open, & Buy

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RESOURCES & HELPFUL LINKS

Whatbox Digital

Conscious Copy & Co.

Jennifer Hudye Website

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TRANSCRIPT 

Brian Webb:

Well, Jennifer, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast. I've been thinking about this for quite some time, because we've been planning this for quite some time, as you know, but welcome to the show today.

Jennifer Hudye:

Thank you for having me.

Brian Webb:

So, I've already told the audience who you are and what you do and what you're about, but I'd love to hear you share your story a little bit. How did you go about becoming a copywriter and where did that all start for you?

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah, I really stumbled into copywriting, to be honest. I was not a writer growing up. Didn't really enjoy writing.

Brian Webb:

Yeah?

Jennifer Hudye:

And I was partially dyslexic, so I can't spell, or anything like that, worth anything.

Brian Webb:

Really? Okay.

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. So it's funny, but when I was in college, I was determined to really come up with a business idea that I could turn into a business so that I could be full-time building a business at the end of college and tdhen full-time after college. And so I think it was a couple years in, I went to my first ever online marketing event. It was actually a Brendon Burchard event, so it was like personal development meets online marketing, and my world was blasted wide open with this world that I knew nothing about. And I saw so much possibility because I saw that I could really bootstrap a business with just an idea alone.

And so after attending the event, I was a group fitness instructor and personal trainer at the time, in college. And so I first decided to create an online program for millennial women, which were the women that were coming to my fitness classes every day, and started to take some of the processes that I was learning about the online marketing world and built my first ever online product, which I called the Strong Mind, Sexy Body Blueprint.

Brian Webb:

Okay.

Jennifer Hudye:

And when I launched it, I spent months and months on creating the best videos and logos and perfecting the course. And my marketing was a total afterthought. And I just figured, well, that's saying build it and they will come.

Brian Webb:

Right.

Jennifer Hudye:

So I created this course and then launched it and it was like crickets.

Brian Webb:

Wow.

Jennifer Hudye:

Nobody... Well, there was a couple sales that trickled in throughout the week, but my goal was to have 30 people in my first launch.

Brian Webb:

Sure. Yeah.

Jennifer Hudye:

And so after that happened, I was super bummed and I was at the point of thinking, well maybe I got to scrap the course, maybe it's the course, or maybe it's the logo.

Brian Webb:

Sure.

Jennifer Hudye:

And I actually, before doing that, I went on a walk and I found this podcast similar to this one, and the two hosts were talking, and they talked about this concept called direct response copywriting.

Brian Webb:

Yeah.

Jennifer Hudye:

Which I knew nothing about.

Brian Webb:

Okay.

Jennifer Hudye:

And one of the hosts said, if you want to build a business online, you need to master the art and science of copywriting, which is written words that sell, or persuasion in print.

Brian Webb:

Sure.

Jennifer Hudye:

And it was like this light bulb moment went off for me where I was like, oh my gosh, this is the missing piece. I didn't even consider. Although I had a sales page for my site, it was, when I looked at it through the lens of some of what I had learned about direct response copyrighting, I realized that I was doing so much of it wrong, where I was making all of the copy and everything about me and the product, versus what is the problem that I'm solving for the client. So I dove right in, and fast forward, started to get my hands on any sort of copywriting book training I could, launch my course again, a couple months later, sold out within 48 hours.

Brian Webb:

Fascinating. Awesome.

Jennifer Hudye:

And that was just like the piece that I needed to really double down on the skill.

And then fast forward a couple of years after that, and I had really started to dial in a few of my funnels and I had business owners reaching out to me in my space saying, hey, can you help me with my copy? Can you help me with the strategy for some of my funnels, similar to what you're doing? So I just started doing it on the side here and there, because I thought it was really fun and I loved helping them. And then back in 2015, it got to the point where I was partially running these two businesses. And I was like, I got to choose one and double down. And I loved the helping business owners and entrepreneurs so much with really their message and their copy. So I doubled down on that.

From there, honestly, in 2015 it just took off. And since then we've worked with a lot of pretty well known people, everyone from Brendon Burchard, Joe Polish, Eben Pegan, Bulletproof Coffee, JJ Virgin, pretty much the the who's who-

Brian Webb:

The who's who-

Jennifer Hudye:

... In the industry. Yeah. And it has been helped thousands of entrepreneurs through our conscious copy method, built a team, et cetera. And it's been just continuing to expand from there.

Brian Webb:

So I know that you draw a distinction between what copy is, as opposed to what content is. Explain that for the audience today, if you would.

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. So I believe that the goal of content is for people to understand you. If you think about education, information, you're trying to get someone to understand your world. Where the goal of copy, is for people to feel understood. And the spotlight is shining on your target audience, who is it that you want to help? And it's a completely different... It's a not completely, but it's a very different hat that you're wearing for either one. I remember speaking at an event once and this New York time bestselling author, like multiple New York Time best selling author, came up to the mic and he said, I'm great at writing, my track record shows it, he actually has a book company, and he's like, but I suck at copy and I don't know why, I don't know what I'm missing. And I shared that distinction and was like this huge light bulb moment went off where he's like, that's it, I'm not really entering the conversation that's going on in the prospect's mind.

Brian Webb:

Interesting. So I know that today you're going to share five secrets to writing copy that gets the right people to click and open and buy. What is the first secret that you would share to achieve that?

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. So I look at copy, like there's tools that you want in your marketing toolbox. And just like if you were to build a house, you need the five core tools, right? The hammer, the nails saw the screwdriver, et cetera, to be able to build whether it's a house, or a chair, or whatever, it may be.

Brian Webb:

Sure.

Jennifer Hudye:

Same thing goes in marketing. So the five tools when it comes to running copy, the very first one is knowing how to capture attention. If you don't have attention, nothing else matters. And I believe the human attention span now is like less than six seconds or [crosstalk 00:07:28] feel like that.

Brian Webb:

Like a goldfish. Right?

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. And so it's so important to... Before trying to sell your product or service or get someone to click it, it's first getting their attention. So that's the first step.

Brian Webb:

So when you say getting their attention, that's what we need to do, but what would be an example, or a small example or two, that you'd use or leverage, that you've seen work time and time again?

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. So in the viewpoint of copy, it's really asking what's the headline? So what is the headline that's going to capture someone's attention. A couple of my favorite ways to craft attention-grabbing headlines. One is by starting with a question. So it may be as simple as like, hey, do you want to learn how to write copy that converts? Or say, are you ready to finally lose that 10lbs? Really calling out the direct question of the specific person that you want to help.

Brian Webb:

So would you say addressing pain in that question.

Jennifer Hudye:

Addressing pain is a great way to do it. I believe that there is a stat that shows that as humans, we were 50% more to driven to avoid pain, than gain pleasure.

Brian Webb:

Right.

Jennifer Hudye:

So both work, but if you look at it from the viewpoint of pain, it can definitely be a driver.

Brian Webb:

Yeah. Okay. So getting their attention, knowing how to effectively achieve that. What's the secret or tool number two?

Jennifer Hudye:

Number two is creating interest. Yeah. So once you've captured their attention, the next question that they're going to be asking consciously or unconsciously is, should I keep my attention here? And whether you are writing an email, whether it's a social media post, a sales page, a YouTube video. A lot of people say, really the first six seconds, but then the first 30 seconds, it's the make or break it of whether people are going to continue on.

So in copy terms, that's really discovering, okay, what's the hook? How are you going to hook them in to keep reading? And there's a few different ways that you can do that. One of my favorite ways is through stories.

Brian Webb:

Yeah.

Jennifer Hudye:

Because as we know, as humans, we are story making machines, and so hooking in with a very intriguing story that sells, is a great way to do that. But you can also use fascinating statistics that may be relevant to the person. Did you know that 57% of people do X, or whatever it may be. So those are stories, statistics, researcher, a couple different ways that you can hook someone in to keep reading.

Brian Webb:

Fascinating. Okay. So attention, obviously getting their interest, and I love what you shared by the way. So what's tool or secret number three?

Jennifer Hudye:

Number three is to clarify benefits. So this is one of the biggest mistakes that I see entrepreneurs and business owners make when communicating in their marketing, is they're much more feature-focused, than benefit focused. So what that really means is how are you... My friend, Lisa Sasevich has an amazing quote, which is, "Sell the airplane, not the destination, or excuse me, "Sell the destination, not the airplane." Opposite. "Sell the destination, not the airplane."

Brian Webb:

Or sell the hole, not the drill. Right? But hers is better. Lisa's is better, yeah.

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. And what's the other one, "Sell the sizzle, not the stake."

Brian Webb:

There you go.

Jennifer Hudye:

Yeah. But the idea, it's really asking, okay, with whatever it is you're selling, like whether it's a product, a service, or software, how is your customer or your client's life going to be better as a result of that? And the more that you can paint the picture using the five senses, really evoking emotion in that, the more that people are going to truly believe that you can help them.

So an example I give sometimes is, say, you're in the health space and you help people with gut health. There is a very small percentage of people who know that they need help with gut health. And so if you just say, learn how to heal your gut, they may be like, cool, I don't know if I need to heal my gut. But if you say, do you struggle with low energy, feeling bloated, your skin's breaking out, your mood fluctuates, if, so you may have leaky gut, discover how you can gain back your energy, lose that final five pounds and have glowing skin with this simple process. It completely changes because then the person's going to filter through their experience, which is what we do already.

Brian Webb:

Fascinating. Okay. So one, obviously capturing their attention. So that could be the subject line of your email, it could be the title that you use for an ad online. Obviously we talked about keeping their interest. You talked about leveraging the power of story, which I certainly believe in, and clarifying the benefits. What's secret or tool number four?

Jennifer Hudye:

Number four is credibility and trust. Obviously the internet is a noisy, loud place. And when people are looking to follow a person or a brand, they're asking, can I trust this person or brand? And so it's really important when it comes to your copy, whether, again, it's a sales page or maybe you're sending people to an initial lead magnet page from a Facebook ad, or it's a Facebook ad. Your copy literally covers every everything, whatever platform you're on, whatever it is you're trying to sell, copy is what fills that up.

And so that next one is okay, how are you creating some credibility and trust in an authentic way? So that may include weaving in social proof throughout your copy, sharing client success stories, or case studies, testimonials of people that you've been able to help, before and afters are a great way. Sometimes people will share the credibility when it comes to do they have what stages that they've spoken on, or people that they've worked with, or certifications or degrees or whatever it maybe that they have. But it's really important to remember in marketing that the most important and powerful social proof is results.

Brian Webb:

Absolutely.

Jennifer Hudye:

So leaning into that one and making sure that you are highlighting that throughout your marketing is one of the best things that you can do to create that trust.

Brian Webb:

Social proof. For sure. So the last one, what's the fifth secret that you want to share with the audience today?

Jennifer Hudye:

The fifth one is strong call to action. One of the biggest questions that I'll hear from people is, how do I get people to take action? Whether it is opening up your emails, clicking in your emails, signing up to buy, whatever, engaging. One of the most important things to remember is you want to train people to be taking action each step of the way. So it's not just training someone to take action when you want them to buy something. It's training them to take action when it comes to clicking on a link in your emails or your landing page. So you always want the call to action to be clear, direct, benefit-driven, simple and short. Not saying a big button on your website, click here if you want to change your life. It's not super clear of what you want them to do.

Brian Webb:

Right. Right.

Jennifer Hudye:

You want them to click here to go learn more about the program, click here to buy now. But there's a couple other things to consider too. When it comes to call to actions, is, if you can, creating time and quantity urgency. So this is something that oftentimes people will miss. And they'll wonder why aren't people taking action on my sales page? Is there a reason for them to take action now versus wait and do it later? And so the more that you can create that the time is now the higher, the motivation for them to decide.

Brian Webb:

Yeah. Jeff Walker talks about that in his book Launch, which he just basically launched a new addition of his book Launch. But he talks about different ways to create scarcity, being the price goes up, or the course closes. So that definitely makes a lot of sense. This is really a masterclass in copywriting. So thank you for being here today, Jennifer.

So let me ask you this. I know that when some people think about... When they're writing copy, when they're giving their elevator pitch, making that video, they're worried about coming across as overly pushy, or aggressive, or salesy, especially right now, what are some ways that they can avoid that?

Jennifer Hudye:

One of the best and simplest ways is to deliver value up front. And I know it seems so simple, but what I will sometimes see, and I've actually run into this myself too, is like, it feels awkward to make a request of someone when you haven't delivered value upfront. And so the more that you can be doing that and educating in your marketing, the better, and so that when you make that invite to whatever it is you want them to do next, there's that reciprocity there. So that is one of the biggest ways to not feel like you're coming across as pushy or salesy. Another belief that I have, especially in the distinction of just copy in general, versus conscious copy, is that with conscious copy, your commitment should be helping someone come to a decision, and the decision being the best decision for them.

Brian Webb:

Yeah.

Jennifer Hudye:

Not necessarily just a yes. Because when we come into anything, if we're writing a sales page and it's like, I just want to get as many yeses as possible, that energy and frequency can come from a place of scarcity, and can also sometimes feel a little manipulative. So it's important to shift to no, as I'm creating this, my commitment is for everyone who this is going to change their life. This is going to be beneficial. We're helping them come to that decision. And of course, we want to make sales and as many as possible, but also not at the expense of others, and not at the expense of bringing on wrong clients within our organizations as well.

Brian Webb:

That's fantastic and super powerful. The last data point that I saw, Jennifer said that it takes someone who's unfamiliar with your business, your brand, it takes them 21 to 24, so we'll call it a couple of dozen interactions, with your brand before they, one, even become aware of it for that matter, two you build trust through enlightenment, like what you're talking about, so giving value before you ask for it. Before they finally make that decision, whether that be to hop on the phone, sign the contract, buy the product, or what have you, so that definitely, what you just said, aligns with that day at a point. Wouldn't you say?

Jennifer Hudye:

Absolutely. Yeah. Building their relationship is one of the most powerful ways to create that trust in showing people in advance that we can help them.

Brian Webb:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, again, this is absolutely a masterclass in writing good copy, great copy that actually brings people to make decision. So thank you so much for being here today. I understand you have a special gift for our audience. Tell us about it.

Jennifer Hudye:

Yes. Those of you who you're listening to this and you're like, okay, this is really helpful I know what to do, but now how do I do it? One of the first steps is knowing how to capture attention. And so we do have free gift for you, and it is what I call the "high level client headlines." So it's 15 different templates of how to grab your reader's attention without coming across as clickbait or pushy. And so it shares exactly what the template is, an example, and then how you can pour who your ideal client is, your offer your message into it. And you can use this for subject lines, headlines on your sales pages, social media, et cetera. And so if you want to grab a copy of that for free, just go to H-L-C headlines.com, which stands for high level client headlines. So H-L-C headlines.com, and you can grab your free copy of that cheat sheet.

Brian Webb:

Awesome. I'm going to go get that myself, as a matter of fact. So again, thank you for being here. I know there's so much more you could have said, but it would be fun to have you on again in the future. But thanks so much for being here today, Jennifer.

Jennifer Hudye:

Thanks for having me, Brian.

 

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