T. Harv Eker explains his core principle for writing compelling marketing copy: compassion — genuinely understanding and describing the customer’s problem, then speaking sincerely from the heart about how your product or service solves it. The piece emphasizes walking in the customer’s shoes, describing their feelings and experience, and writing truthfully and empathetically rather than self-focused promotional language.
So another big question I get constantly is about writing. And people know me for two things that I write, books and courses and things like that, information. And I also write copy for marketing. And some people seem to like my copy. So they wonder, you know, how do you write strong, great copy, what we call compelling copy if you're not a professional copywriter? And that's a great question because I would say this right now, that if you can put some of your attention and you can learn one skill, it will be the skill of marketing. And of that skill of marketing, I would say that copywriting to me is, is the number one skill you can have. Now I want to go through, I can't give you like, I'm not going to say, oh, here's this, the 18 principles of copywriting. Because A, we don't have the time for it and B, you're not going to remember it. And C, that's not what's important. What's important is the overarching understanding of how to write strong copy. What's the key to it? What's the people say all the time? What's the secret to writing great copy? I'm going to give you my secret, all right? There's probably other secrets out there that you'll have. This is what I believe. This is what I teach my son Jesse, who's now a very, very strong copywriter himself. All right? And now the more he does this, the more he feels strongly about the copy and the more compelling it is. Here it is. Here's the word. Ready? Compassion.
Compassion.
Copywriting, sales, copy.
You know, what's the goal of it?
The goal is to have people purchase what you've got or at least come to your place of business or come to your site, etc. Etc. Yes or yes. And how do you do that? Well, most people, when they write copy, they're writing about themselves. Oh, I'm great, my product's great. Here's the benefits of my product, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like all the standard stuff. But what they don't do is they don't show the person reading or listening.
Or watching that they understand them, that.
They really understand what they're going through. You see, Again, what are people giving you their money for? Why would someone give you their money? Because you are, what, solving a what? A problem.
A big or little problem for them.
And so that's why you get paid as an entrepreneur. You're nothing but a problem solver. And so that's why they give you their hard earned money. That's why you give other people their hard earned money, because you're solving a problem. And if you cannot have people understand that you understand their problem, they're not.
Going to buy from you.
So that's the key thing.
Compassion, understanding.
Walk a mile in their shoes. So what I think about and when I'm teaching copywriting is okay, who is your customer?
Try to picture that customer and what is their life like and what are they going through? Why are they even interested in what you have? Why they might be interested, what problem do they have that you or your.
Product or service can help solve?
Show them, tell them that you show.
Them you understand that, that problem.
And when you, when you truly understand, when you can sit in their, in their seat, walk in their shoes and say, I understand how you feel and I've had this situation or we've had many, many clients in that situation and describe the situation that they're in. Show them that you know the problem. Describe that problem. How, what's it feel like, what's it look like, what's their experience of it? You know like when I was, I mean I was broke for 10 years.
Very, very long years.
They seemed overly, they seemed like centuries because I was broke all the time. And so that's why one of the reasons I teach what I'm teaching now. But you know, I can totally relate to people who have, have money issues even and they're somebody don't even know why. It's like I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. It's not working and it's, it's frustrating. It's frustrating as hell. And I'll tell you what, I was embarrassed. I didn't want to even go out because I was single time.
What if a girl asked me what do I do?
You know, and they see my jalopy car and I don't have money to take them out for a date. And I was like, I didn't want to go out. It was like I was lonely. And so, you know, I can relate to people who are in that position and so can you. Whether you're in that position or you can understand the position. And then what you do, you don't have to write perfect, beautiful words. Just write the truth, be sincere, come from your heart, be real. If you can really help people, just simply let them know that you understand their problem and you have a solution for it and to give you a call or go to your website to check it out and if it resonates for you, then wonderful. Let's work together. And if not, I wish you the best. And that's how you write copy from the heart. Compelling copy comes from the heart, comes from emotion, comes from feeling. And to have that, you have to understand what your client is going through and then just write to them as.
If you would talk to them.
And that's how you do.
