How this A-list copywriter writes her highest-converting headlines, bullets, and VSL copy
Published: Sun, 03/10/19
Here are her answers, in all their blazing glory…
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elBENBO: What’s your approach to writing bullets and fascinations, and what tips do you have for people who struggle with writing them?
KIM KRAUSE SCHWALM: I just recently did a whole training on this for my copywriting mentees. It really all starts with your source material for the bullet. You need to find the things that jump out of you, that make you say, “What???”, that strike you as weird or surprising. You also want to focus on just ONE thing rather a whole list of things—i.e,, “The simple trick that stops indigestion in just seconds” vs. “Nine ways to relieve indigestion naturally”.
And this may seem fairly obvious, but a lot of people screw it up. DON’T give away the answer to whatever it is you’re teasing about in your bullet. The whole idea is to hit them with a whole list of intriguing bullets. All you need is ONE of them to be so irresistible and make the prospect feel like he can’t sleep until he knows the answer to get them to take the desired action.
Also, while in your body copy you may want to have some similar/parallel sentence structures to get a certain rhythm and emphasize a point (i.e., They LIE to you about X, They LIE to you about Y, and They LIE to you about Z), you DON’T want to do this with your list of bullets. Instead you want to mix up your bullets’ structure. I’ve identified at least 25 or 26 bullet formulas you can use to vary the structure and emphasis that I recently shared with my mentees.
elBENBO: What is the #1 tip you have for writing headlines you don’t hear other copywriters talk about?
KIM KRAUSE SCHWALM: Put something unusual or unexpected in your main headline if you can. Use some kind of different word, as long as it resonates. It’ll stand out and grab your prospect by the eyeballs and make him or her want to read the next sentence (which is the job of your headline).
I once got an idea for a headline to test for my long-running Advanced Memory Formula control for Soundview/Advanced Bionutritionals. I had been talking with a female friend who’s my avatar for the product. She told me that she and her friends referred to their memory lapses as being “spacey”.
It’s not the typical word I had seen in memory promo headlines, so I worked it into a test headline that at first my client pushed back on, but I convinced him to try it. It beat the existing control headline and ran successfully for years after that.
Like I said earlier, I also refuse to commit to a main headline until I’ve written the entire promo, and even then, in a subsequent draft or when taking another look I often come up with more headline options, some of which are often better. Many times you get your best ideas as you’re deep into flushing out the promo, or you find a “buried” headline or subhead that’s hidden gold.
elBENBO: Do you have any advice for people for when it comes to writing video vs text?
KIM KRAUSE SCHWALM: While you should always be conversational in your copy, you should be even more so when writing video scripts. Write the way people talk, or how you’d explain something to a friend.
Keep your paragraphs SHORT…maybe one sentence if need be. And break those long sentences up into two or three. Remember, in many cases the words of your script will be shown in a simple PowerPoint presentation or as text or captions. Even more important, remember SOMEONE ACTUALLY HAD TO READ YOUR SCRIPT OUT LOUD.
In fact, a good tip is to actually read your copy out loud and see if there are any spots that leave you breathless, gasping for air. That means you need to shorten some sentences and/or add some commas or ellipses to break things up.
elBENBO: What’s the story behind your new offer for copywriters and anyone else who wants to get great at writing sales copy, and what’s in there, exactly?
KIM KRAUSE SCHWALM: It’s called the Ultimate KKS Bundle and it gives you all of the following:
My Virtual LA Boot Camp Intensive Complete Virtual Program—You get the videos and transcript of my 3+ hour presentation from an exclusive one-day event I did outside Los Angeles in 2017, along with a downloadable 60-page Guidebook that’s the same each attendee received, packed with promo examples and tactics you’ll refer to again and again. (A $249 value)
The 3 R's: Retainers, Royalties, and Recurring Revenue Complete Virtual Program I did with copywriter Chris Orzechowski. This instantly downloadable program includes recordings, slides, and transcripts of 3 live calls, plus a recording of 3-hour "ask us anything" bonus call and invaluable "Tool Kit" with scripts, proposal and contract templates and much more that’s worth 10 times the cost just on its own (A $397 value)
The Buy 'em All Complete KKS Swipe File--includes all of the successful control promos I’ve made available so far (some with multiple versions); This master swipe file includes 33 different direct mail, online sales pages, and VSL control promotions written by me, some with multiple versions. It gives you a fantastic variety of winning controls to study and learn from for a wide range of nutritional supplements, health and financial newsletters, health books, skin care, exercise equipment and programs, and more! As an extra bonus, whenever I make more promos available as swipes, you'll get an automatic update for free. (All together a $1,338.35 value)
And last but not least you’ll get my new e-book 2018 Copy Insiders The Complete Collection. It’s the only place you'll find all of my 46 value-packed issues of Copy Insiders from 2018, all organized in a 260-page e-book and packed with copy analysis and critiques, insights on what’s working, specific copy techniques, and even access to an interview I did with David Garfinkel where I broke down one my successful controls. (A $79 value)
All of this together is worth $2,063.35 (actually it’s probably worth MUCH more in terms of the profitable insights you’ll gain from all of it). But you can get the complete Ultimate KKS Bundle right now for just $997…a savings of more than HALF.
elBENBO: And, to make to make it even easier to grab her offer:
I have also made a deal with Kim this weekend for anyone wanting to get well over $2,000 worth of her products, swipe file ads, and other material at a gigantic discount. Plus, if you take advantage of it before the tonight (3/10) at midnight (EST) deadline, I will also send the following to your door step:
1. “Copy Slacker 2.0” book:
This 800+ page physical book is my newly updated and “augmented” Copy Slacker system I will be re-launching (it is not for sale yet) to the public in May. After it is launched, it will retail for $724.00.
But, it’s yours free, if you buy Kim’s offer tonight with my affiliate link below.
2. “Email Client Horde” book:
And this is the newly updated and augmented version of my “Email Client Machine” product, slimmed down into a 293-page book that shows how even new copywriters can get a horde of hungry clients descending upon you, demanding to hire you.
It won’t launch until probably June to the public.
And, after it does, it will retail for $610.00.
But, like Copy Slacker, you can get it free by hopping on the offer at my affiliate link below before tonight’s midnight EST deadline.
That’s $1,334.00 worth of "for real" retail value shipped to your doorstep.
(NOTE: These bonuses are *physical* books, no digital components exist.)
For buying well over $2,000.00 worth of one of the top A-list copywriter on the planet’s best teachings at over half off that price.
Here’s my affiliate link where you can get all this lovin’:
http://www.EmailPlayers.com/kim
Ben Settle
P.S. If your shipping address is different than your billing address (Kim's shopping cart only asks for billing, since it's a digital product), let Kim know after you buy so she can get me the correct info to get the bonus books to you.
Simply reply to her "thank you" email what your shipping is.