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HOW TO WRITE BULLET POINTS THAT VIRTUALLY FORCE YOUR PROSPECTS TO BUY

Bullet points are crucial to the success of your online sales copy. They are one of the most under-used, yet most powerful, persuasion weapons in your copywriting arsenal. It seems almost no one understands their full value.

Just today, I had a telephone review with a potential client. We were looking through the sales copy for his product. I immediately identified one of the major problems with that particular copy: no bullet points.

Bullet points make your copy easier to read. They make your benefits easier for your readers to digest and personalize. Therein lies the magic of copywriting—getting your readers to imagine themselves enjoying the benefits. That’s 90 percent of the work.

I really like the quote at the beginning of this chapter, because in many ways, when we’re writing copy, it feels like that’s what we’re doing. We’re taking something—this idea, this copy we’re working on—and we just do something to it, and then do something else to it, and pretty soon we’ve actually got something.

One of the first “somethings” you can do, especially if you are at a loss as to where to start writing, is to just write ... something! I’ve gone on record as saying I don’t believe in writer’s block. It’s true; I don’t believe in it, and I don’t suffer from it.

It’s because when I’m stuck, I pick things I can write. If I sit down in front of my computer (or with a legal pad, which is sometimes how I write), and I can’t think of anything to write and I start feeling that resistance to writing, I just write things I know I can write.

It might be as simple as writing out the guarantee. It might be writing out the website URL, the mailing address, or phone number—anything that gets your pen moving or your keyboard clicking. Bullet points are a great place to start writing when you’re in that “stuck place,” when that resistance-to-writing feeling sneaks up on you.

Let me give you three things you can do right away to get you started creating great bullet points, even if you feel as though you don’t have anything to write at this particular moment.

1) Start a bullet swipe file

I encourage you to start swipe files whenever you find good copy that you respond to. Start saving the e-mails you receive that catch your interest and make you want to read them. Notice the commonalities of those e-mails that make that happen.

Start saving your snail mail. I’m not talking about the coupons you get from the pizza parlor down the street. I’m talking about promotions you get for magazine and newsletter subscriptions, information on products, bigger ticket items that really catch your attention and make you want to open the envelope.

This is good direct-response copy, so every facet of copy deserves its own swipe file. Bullet points are no different. You’ll want to start building a swipe file of great headlines, of great sales letters, and of great e-mails. Likewise, I urge you to start a swipe file that focuses specifically on copy that features great bullet points, because it’s some of the most important copy you will write.

2) Write at least 105 bullets of your own

Now, I’m going to make this easy for you, because in this chapter, I’m going to give you twenty-one templates to help you write bullets. All you have to do is write five of each type from the checklist, and you’ll have your 105 bullets.

3) Select your best bullets

Pick thirty-five—the top one-third—of those bullets. Choose the ones that really “sing,” the ones that have that kind of poetry that you feel makes a good bullet. After this chapter, you should know what makes a good bullet, so you’ll be able to make that judgment intelligently.

Let’s talk about the function of bullet points. What are bullet points? What do they do for your copy, and why is it important for you to include them? You’ve seen bullet points in copy, I’m sure. Especially if you’ve ever read any of my material. I use a lot of bullet points in my copy.

A bullet point is simply a one or two-line sentence that’s defined by a bullet, a round circle, a checkmark, or perhaps a little box next to it, that sets it apart from the rest of the text. The reason for using bullets in our copy is very simple.

Earlier, we discussed the fact that there are three things people never do when first reading your copy. They never read anything at first; they never believe anything at first; and they never do or buy anything at first.

We know they don’t read your copy. They skim the copy. They scan through it. They scroll through it. To get them to start reading, we use devices to capture their attention. One of those devices is the headline. That’s what gets their attention initially to get them to read the rest of the ad, copy, or sales page.

The next devices are the subheads, the smaller headlines throughout the copy that telegraph the message of your sales copy.

The third device we use to get people to stop skimming, scanning, and scrolling—and start reading—are bullet points.

When they’re scanning copy, especially online, readers’ eyes are drawn to text surrounded by white space or that text looks different from the surrounding copy – for instance, text set apart by bullet points. Write your bullet points carefully so they’re not too wordy, just one or two lines in most cases, so they are quickly digestible.

People can take that in, almost at a glance, and that’s where you have the opportunity to start the process of getting your readers to imagine or picture themselves enjoying the benefits that your product or service offers them.

This is the reason we use bullet points in our copy. If you look at successful promotions, off-line or online, almost without fail you’ll find that the most successful pieces of copy use lots of bullet points. That is not an accident.

As copywriters, we take note of the clues that are left behind by successful marketing campaigns. Here’s a clue: successful promotions use lots of bullet points, and so should we.

For any one piece of sales copy, you should use a minimum of three to five different kinds of bullet points. This is another of the more common rookie mistakes I see—having the same kinds of bullet points stacked up on top of one another.

That becomes monotonous and defeats the purpose of having bullet points in your copy to begin with. If we use the same language to spell out each bullet point, they all start to sound alike. The redundancy reduces the impact. Mix up the kinds of bullet points; break up the monotony with a variety of different approaches.

Always write at least three times as many bullets as you think you will need. That way, you can choose only the best ones for your final copy. Many top copywriters will write many more times that number of bullets. In fact, I was having dinner with copywriting pro Parris Lampropoulos recently and he told me the first thing he does for any copy package he’s working on is write 500-700 bullets! Then he circulates that list to a half dozen people and asks them to pick their favorite 25-50. Paris told me some people end up choosing 75-100 “favorites,” and it’s easy for him to then select the top 75-150 bullet points to use in his first draft.

Think about that. A lot of work? Yes, but does it yield the very best, most response-getting bullets? You bet it does.

So, how many different types of bullet points are there? Well, there are probably hundreds, but my list for you here consists of twenty-one. This list should be comprehensive enough to serve the needs of most entrepreneurial copywriters. At least it will get you started, and give you time to start building your own swipe file and templates.

There’s a “master bullet type” that most of these bullets will fall under, called the “blind” bullet. What is a blind bullet? A blind bullet is a bullet that tantalizes your reader with a curiosity-inducing statement, yet does not reveal the actual secret behind it, in effect setting up an “open loop” that the mind longs to complete. A void of curiosity that leaves the reader thinking, “I want to know the answer behind that particular bullet.” That is one of the things that make bullets so incredibly effective. The only way to know the answer for sure is to buy the product!

There are bullets that are not blind, and I’ll refer to those as “naked” bullets. It’s not anything saucy; it’s simply that we’re revealing information in naked bullets, whereas blind bullets are concealing information but hinting in specific ways about that information.

21 WINNING BULLET POINT TEMPLATES

1) The “Wrong” Bullet.

What do I mean by the “wrong” bullet? The wrong bullet is simply a case where you can contradict a common assumption. You get the reader to state a belief that he or she has, then you tell them, “Wrong!”

For instance, if you’re writing copy for health products, perhaps a nutritional supplement that is designed to reduce high blood pressure, then you might write a bullet that says something like this:

You can see why contradicting a commonly held assumption captures the attention of the reader and makes him or her want to know the secret behind the bullet. Of course you need to have some factual basis to back up the claim you’re making. You can’t make a claim that’s controversial simply for the sake of controversy, unless you can back the claim up. Assuming that you can, this is a very effective bullet type to use.

2) The “Themed Sequence” bullet.

This is a case where you are going to spell out, for instance, the “seven deadly diet sins,” or the “three humiliating secrets men don’t want women to know.”

How might you employ themed sequence bullets in your copy? You might have a section that reads like this:

One quick note: just because they are bullet points doesn’t mean you have to use actual bullets. Numbers work well, too. If you’re spelling out the “three humiliating secrets men don’t want women to know,” then those bullets should be “1-2-3,” instead of black circular dots or checkmarks.

3) The Two-step Bullet.

A two-step bullet offers a parenthetical elaboration on the main benefit statement. Let me explain. This parenthetical statement is the real magnet in the bullet.

When you have a blind bullet in your copy and you want to heighten the amount of curiosity that is aroused by it, after your initial bullet statement, in parentheses, make another statement that really makes people think about what it is you’re trying to tell them.

For instance, if you’re writing a sales letter about a product on networking, one of your bullets might say...

That’s a parenthetical statement that heightens the curiosity and enhances or elaborates on the main benefit statement. The implied benefit behind this, of course, is, if you know these myths, you’ll be able to avoid these mistakes, and therefore, people will remember you and will call you back.

This is an important point to remember: even when you are talking about mistakes people make, you’re talking about benefits—because it’s beneficial to learn to avoid them.

4) The Giveaway Bullet.

This one I don’t see used very often, especially by new, inexperienced copywriters or marketers, because they don’t want to give away their information.

Every now and then in your bullets you should give something away. Give them good information. In fact, I would go so far as to say, give away your best information. Give away your best tricks.

Don’t be afraid to give away information, especially information that’s self-explanatory in its value. Most marketers are afraid readers will know they’ve just received the best you have to offer and won’t buy anything from you.

Research shows this is not the case. If you can give people a tip or trick that’s stunningly good, they are more likely to think, “If that’s what they’re giving away in their sales promotion, what are they hiding behind the scenes? If the free stuff is this good, what kind of information do I get when I pay it?” You don’t want to give away all of your best information, but giveaway bullets, used sparingly, are very effective at credentializing the value of your information.

5) The Reverse Hook Bullet.

This is a bullet that presents, first, an interesting fact, and then presents an unexpected benefit that arises from that interesting fact.

For instance, let’s say you’re in the pay-per-click marketing space and you’re selling a pay-per-click marketing course that teaches people how to use Google AdWords to drive traffic to their site. One of the challenges in that marketplace is being able to select profitable keywords that generate enough traffic to yield measurable results.

So, you might be able to use a “reverse hook” bullet that’s based on real statistical information. It might say something like, “37.1% of the keywords in your Google AdWords account are not getting enough traffic to give you reliable test data.” Now, this is the parenthetical statement, “Here’s a simple trick you can use to eliminate these keywords from your ad campaigns forever and save yourself loads of money.”

That is a reverse hook bullet. It’s an interesting fact that brings an unexpected benefit if you know how to use the information correctly.

6) The Naked Benefit Bullet.

This bullet makes a direct benefit claim, but it has got to be supported by some additional facts, or what I call “intrigues” that deepen your reader’s interest. You may not be able to come up with a creative way to describe every single benefit you’re writing bullets for in your sales copy.

You may just need to go ahead and talk directly about the benefit.

For instance, if you are selling a product on how to generate lots of creative ideas, your bullet point—which spells out a naked benefit— might be “how to effortlessly generate dramatically different ideas and know instantly if they are worth pursuing.”

The benefit is being able to come up with good ideas.

7) The Transactional Bullet.

This is very similar to a headline template. It’s simply a proposition that says, “Give me (X), and I’ll give you (Y).” It might be something as simple as, “Give me one hour, and I’ll teach you how to write effective headlines,” or, “Give me three days, and I’ll teach you how to buy property with no money down.”

It’s a transaction. Whenever you’re using a transactional bullet, it’s often best if you can use it in a case where what you’re asking from your readers seems of small consequence in contrast to the benefit you’re offering to them.

Let’s say, for instance, you are writing copy for a product that offers training in how to use QuickBooks software, and this software teaches users of QuickBooks a simple way to automatically categorize their transactions. In fact, by using your method, they can do in five minutes what used to take them an hour each day to do.

Then you can say something like, “Give me 15 minutes, and I’ll teach you how to save 45–55 minutes every day from now on.” That’s a transactional bullet that makes the transaction seem like a no-brainer for your prospect.

8) The If-Then Bullet.

In this bullet type, you’re giving the prospect something easy for him or her to do or comply with, and you’re associating it to a more valuable benefit.

For example:

Even though we’re just going through twenty-one bullet types, I hope you can see that you can take each of these bullet types and mix them up and combine them in different ways. You really have hundreds of possible types of bullets you can use, so you’re never again stuck for creativity.

You can always come back to this list and ask yourself, “What ‘wrong’ bullets can I write? What themed sequence bullets could I write? What two-step bullets could I write? What giveaway? What reverse hook? How can I write a naked benefit bullet?”

Some of them may duplicate one another and cross over, but that’s okay, because you’re expressing the same ideas in different ways. Then you can whittle these down to fine-tune your copy.

So remember when you’re going through your bullet writing exercise, don’t edit while you’re writing—just write. If you sat down and wrote five bullets for each type, then you would have 105 bullets to choose from for your copy.

9) The “Truth About” Bullet.

This works especially well with any controversial question or issue that is hotly debated. Find an issue where the controversy is well-known in your market. For instance, in the weight loss market you could write about carbohydrates. As one of your bullet points in your weight loss product copy, you can say, “The truth about carbohydrates - and chances are, it’s not what you think it is.”

That’s a great example of a polarized topic: the role carbohydrates play and how you should manage them in your diet. You can polarize people and catch their interest, whichever side of the issue they may fall upon, simply by using the “truth about” bullet.

10) The “Single Most” Bullet.

Use this type of bullet when you have a superior benefit that you can prove. Exercise a little bit of caution with this, because you want to make sure you truly do have the superior benefit and that you really can prove it.

If you have the fastest, easiest, and lowest risk way of lowering your blood pressure, then you should boldly say so: “The single fastest, easiest, and best way of lowering your blood pressure documented and approved by the American Medical Association.”

Of course I don’t know what that is; I’m making that copy up. (I wish I knew what it was; I could make a fortune!)

Just make sure you actually have the “single most” whatever-it-is you’re touting. This is an effective way to talk about it. I guarantee if your product is the superior product in its category, you’ll have the opportunity to use at least three or four “single most” bullets within your overall copy.

Give some very careful thought to this. It is a very powerful bullet technique if you don’t overuse it.

11) The “How-To” Bullet.

This is a simple and very direct approach to writing a bullet. It’s the most common type of bullet, and there’s a reason why. It’s easy to write, and it’s effective, as long as you’re a little more creative than the next copywriter is.

Here’s what I mean. If you are writing copy for a product that is all about how to grow bigger, better, and more beautiful roses in your garden, you don’t want to write a bullet that says, “How to grow better roses.” You want a bullet that uses specificity to dimensionalize the benefit you’re claiming.

What do I mean by “dimensionalize”? Make it three dimensional. Make it real. Saying “Grow more and better roses” isn’t a dimensional statement. However, saying “How to grow rose bushes that are literally bursting with mounds of fragrant, colorful, beautiful blooms, with less effort and in less time” dimensionalizes that particular benefit bullet.

Any time you use the how-to bullet, make sure you’re using a few more specifics and make it more real, more tangible to the reader.

12) The Number Bullet.

Use this when you have a specific number of techniques or multiple ways of doing a certain thing, multiple reasons why, or multiple reasons why not. Again, this is where you can combine a bullet with other kinds of bullets. You can combine the number bullet with the how-to bullet by simply saying, “Three ways to reduce your heating bill without making you or your family uncomfortable with the temperature of your house.”

You’re combining a number bullet with a how-to bullet. That’s a great way to dimensionalize the how-to bullet. Another way to combine the number bullet with a different type of bullet is to go one step back and look at the “single most” bullet. You could simply say, “The three ways to get 10% better gas mileage from any vehicle with a simple adjustment you can make with a screwdriver.”

13) The Sneaky Bullet.

You’ve seen this one. You want to use it when you can imply some kind of element of conspiracy. Be careful you don’t overuse it, though.

So, what does the sneaky bullet look? Well, it would be something as easy and simple as “The sneaky methods drug companies use to keep you hooked on their products,” “Three sneaky tricks used by furnace repairmen to drive up the cost of your maintenance,” or “The one sneaky trick almost every auto mechanic uses to inflate your bill and how to avoid being suckered.”

This is most effective when you can confirm a suspicion that your reader already has. If you can do so, he or she will immediately be inclined to side with you, because we all love it when other people throw rocks at our enemies and confirm our suspicions. We like being proven right.

14) The “Better Than” Bullet.

This is a great way to get your reader’s attention. You want to find something good that you can make better. For instance, if you discovered a way to lose weight that was better than the Atkins Diet, you could say, “Better than Atkins.”

Be ready to back that up, however. Especially in the health care field, you really have to be careful about complying with federal regulations when making any claims at all.

Consider this a word of caution about using this particular bullet with nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, exercise, and any other health-related products. Make sure you’re following the rules of compliance with the FTC, the FDA, and any of the other “alphabet agencies.”

Let’s use a different example. You have a method of doing follow-up marketing that is superior to using e-mail autoresponders. This method of yours nets 100 percent deliverability of your follow-up messages.

Now, each of us knows that e-mail is far from being 100 percent delivered. There are estimates ranging anywhere from 15 to over 50 percent of e-mails not delivered to their intended recipient. This isn’t spam we’re talking about; this is e-mail that people want to receive.

If you could guarantee 100 percent deliverability, you would be able to boldly claim, “Better than e-mail!” Often an effective way to use the “better than” bullet is to simply use a colon. So you might say something like, “Better than e-mail: 100% delivery of your follow-up messages guaranteed!”

15) The Simple Fact Bullet.

When you can’t use a blind bullet, use simple facts—but make them interesting. You want to present worst case scenarios to set these particular kinds of bullets up.

For instance, in the health care field there was a study that came out not too long ago that showed people with healthy arteries are susceptible to sudden death because of plaque within their arteries, even though they may not have hardening of the arteries, or arteriosclerosis.

Even without a blockage, inflammation within their arteries might cause little pieces of plaque to break off and suddenly block the artery and kill them.

A simple fact bullet, using that information, might say something like, “Healthy people are dying of sudden cardiac arrest,” quote the study, then follow up with a comma and say something to this effect: “There are steps you can take to prevent this from happening.”

That’s a simple fact bullet. It’s not much of a blind bullet, but by presenting that simple fact, you can help reinforce the value, and the curiosity factor.

16) The “What” Bullet.

I love these bullets because they’re the easiest to use. It’s a variation of the how-to bullet. The “what” bullet simply answers the question “What?” “What inoculations you need to travel abroad.” “What you should avoid touching when you check into a hotel room.” “What to do when you’re audited by the IRS.”

Can you see how easy it is to construct “what” bullets? These bullets are the easiest for you to write.

17) The “What NEVER” Bullet.

This is the negative form of the “what” bullet. Notice how it frequently plays on the fear factor.

You simply start by stating what one should never do, and then you follow that up with the possible consequences of the reader ignoring this brilliant “what never” advice.

18) The “Do You?” Bullet.

Use this particular kind of bullet when you believe your readers are doing something that is a mistake. Something that your product, service, or information will help them avoid.

“Do you make these mistakes when filling out your business tax returns?” Then you can use this as a two-step bullet by putting a parenthetical statement after that which says, “If you do, get ready to be audited — and you’d better have your records in order!”

19) The “Reason Why” Bullet.

It’s a simple version of “reason why” copy. “Reason why” copy is a concept that is not often used, but should be. It’s just explaining the reasons why they should buy your product or service. Why is your offer superior to another company’s offer? Why should they buy now? Why should they buy from you?

“Reason why” is powerful advertising copy, and the “reason why” bullet is copy that hides the reason why.

A good example of “reason why” bullet point copy would be:

That arouses my curiosity. What is the reason behind that?

20) The “Secrets Of” Bullet.

If you have an unusual solution, device, tactic, or method, then you can use this bullet to build curiosity. This is another bullet you need to use with care. Overuse can erode your credibility.

If you do know secrets, then using this kind of bullet sparingly helps fuel the fire of curiosity and can be a powerful addition to the bullets that you’re using in your copy.

21) The Probing Question Bullet.

Ask a question you are reasonably certain you know the answer to. This is somewhat similar to number eighteen, but eighteen is targeting the readers directly on something that you’re pretty sure you know about them personally—either that they’re making a certain mistake; that they’re engaging in a certain behavior; or they have a certain problem.

This bullet isn’t necessarily directed at a mistake they’re making or behavior they’re engaging in. It can simply be a question about whether, for instance, they have a specific kind of knowledge.

These are all probing question bullet points.

Now, how do you use this list of 21 Winning Bullet Point Templates when you’re writing copy? Try what I suggested earlier: sit down and write five or ten of each of these bullets for your product.

If you get stuck and you only get three of them, that’s okay—just move on. I would use a spiral-bound notebook or a legal pad and just move on to a different page. At the top of the page, write what kind of bullets you’re writing. Again, if you get stuck, don’t worry about it—just keep moving.

If you go through all twenty-one with this exercise, you’re going to have twenty-one pages: some with ten bullets, some with two, some with five or seven, but you’ll end up with many more than 100 bullets, and you can go back through and look at what you’ve written.

Pick out the ones that you think are outstanding and start migrating those to a different list. You will find you have a variety of bullets to choose from. I would suggest then you simply mix them up and group them on the page. I think it’s most effective to break up your bullets into segments of ten or fifteen in a section on your page.

Instead of having fifty bullets in a row, I would break that up into five different lists of ten bullets each, using different bullet types in each of those sections of your copy, breaking that up with different subsections of your copy and paragraphs so the flow stays even. You don’t want the flow of your copy to appear jagged.

By not appearing “jagged,” I mean you don’t want a section that has five big paragraphs followed by a section that is twenty bullets, followed by a section that’s one paragraph, followed by a section that’s another fifty bullets. You want a more even flow.

For example: two short paragraphs followed by a list of ten bullets, followed by another two short paragraphs, followed by a list of ten bullets. You want the rhythm of your copy to feel consistent.