TOC #215: Only dumbasses assume
(February 4, 2025) How To Make Your Copy More Specific
I have never felt more betrayed by my own brain than the time I tried to sell my Target Audience Development Workbook and pretty much no one gave a single shit.
I had made a bomb ass workbook as a bonus for my website copywriting course students.
I knew it was the missing puzzle piece for so many business owners — it was a collection of questions I ask my own copy clients all the time, so I knew firsthand just how helpful it was.
So, I decided to sell it.
I shared about it on social, sent emails about it, and…
Nothing.
A few sales trickled in, maybe. But that's it.
And I was over here, pissed about it, like:
“Guess the workbook isn't my next get rich quick???? Where the hell are my Stripe notifications?? Rude???”
Don't these people know how important it is to be clear on who their audience is?
Don't they know this workbook will help them figure it out faster?
Don't they know how much more specific their marketing will be after they fill this out?
Like… hello?
Weeks go by. I keep linking the workbook. And people keep… not giving a single shit.
I give up.
I move on with my life.
I (successfully) sell many other things.
And then one day, while going through my Thrivecart links, cleaning up all the old and outdated products, I see her there, in the graveyard.
My cute baby helpful workbook that no one wanted.
& I realized something important:
WHY THEY DIDN'T WANT IT.
The checkout page was vague as hell.
The sales page was vague as hell.
What kind of copywriter am I??? HELLO?? I legit get paid to both write AND teach “words that sell things” as a job??? The fuck?
And I have the audacity to be over here 😱 shocked 😱 that people didn’t immediately pull out their credit cards? Be so for real.
I immediately recognized the mistake I made, though:
ASSUMPTION.
And despite knowingggg what they say about people who assume — makes an ASS out of U and ME, duh! — I fell victim to one of the most dangerous copy mistakes ever:
Assuming people knew how great the thing was, just because *I* knew how great the thing was.
Sara knew how it would help them.
Sara knew that without this, they were basically just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping customers would show up.
But instead of spelling that out, Sara was living in her own little world, writing copy as if everyone else also conveniently happened to be in her brain.
I had written the copy assuming they’d just… ✨ get it. ✨
And they didn't.
They literally DIDN'T GET IT — they didn't understand the value, AND they didn't buy it.
Because I was an ass.
A dumbass.
And an ASSumer.
And I won't let YOU make the same mistake, so… let's fix it.
How To Make Your Copy More Specific
BTL PRESENTS… ✨THE FIX IT SERIES!✨
As Website Girl, it is both my duty and my honor to ensure YOU have the best possible website — specifically website copy — ever.
So, over the next few weeks, I'll be addressing the most common website conversion problems, starting with…
You’re not being specific enough.
Confusion is the enemy of conversion.
If someone is confused about what to do next, or what you can do for them, or who your services are for, obviously they’re not going to reach out.
Instead, they’re going to “X” out.
…andddd move on to the next site in their Google search, hoping to find a site that makes it easy for them to understand what to do after they get there.
HERE'S HOW TO FIX THAT 😏
#1 — Make it stupid-simple.
Your copy should be so specific and so simple, you almost feel stupid writing it out, because it seems that obvious to you.
But I promise you: it’s not always that obvious to your reader.
Err on the side of too specific as opposed to not enough information.
#2 — Use CTAs early and often.
Don’t wait ’til the bottom of the page to add a call-to-action button.
There’s no promise your readers will last that long. Nudge them toward the next step (whether that’s to view your services, or learn more about you, or download your lead magnet, or book a call, or fill out your contact form…) early and often.
On a recent kickoff call, one of my clients specifically requested that I include “lots of calls to action” because, after looking at my website, she liked that she had the option to either keep reading, or not.
She told me that she appreciated that I made it apparent, through my many CTA buttons, that it would be okay for my reader to click a button early on and exit the page, even though it was only the first section above the fold.
I’d never thought about this sense of permission and empowerment having multiple CTA buttons (early and often!) on my site would give my readers, but ever since she made that comment, I’ve noticed on other sites I’ve browsed how nice it is to not have to scroll all the way to the bottom to get to the next step.
(It’s all about user experience, baby.)
#3 — Don’t send them in a bunch of different directions.
Giving your readers too many options often does more harm than good.
On important pages like Services and About — the ones that people visit when they’re considering working with you — make sure you’re including only one call-to-action.
Feel free to use the same call-to-action multiple times on the page, but make sure the CTA itself takes them to the same place.
#4 — Keep it at an EASY reading level.
This not only increases the readability of the site, but also the retention rate of your readers. Overcomplicating things (or using other, fancier words to try to dance around what you're really trying to say) is never gonna work.
Just say what you wanna say. Be even MORE clear than you think you need to be.
#5 — Use visual hierarchy.
We all know that everyone skim-reads when they first land on a new site.
Make it easy for the skimmers to get all of the info they need to know by using headings, subheads, and different colors and fonts throughout your pages.
Avoid big blocks of text at all costs.
REMINDER: here’s what your readers want when they land on your site:
Who you are and what you do
Why you’re a qualified person to outsource to (aka evidence that you know your shit, that you do good work that people like, and that people trust you with their projects)
How you can help them (again — the specifics! the benefits!)
Validation that you fully understand them and their current situation
To know whether or not they can afford your services
And, most importantly, they always want to know what the next step is.
Your website copy (and your website design!) should always make it exponentially clear what you want the user to do.
They should never be left wondering where to go next once they’ve read through a certain page or section.
(Notice how I repeated that same point several times already? That was intentional. I’m making it stupid-simple.)
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO WRITE THE BEST WEBSITE COPY? I'M YOUR GUUUURL, obviously.
You can save $100 on my website copywriting course with the code “MILLIONAIRE” throughout the entirety of this “FIX IT” series — because Lord knows the longer you wait to fix it, the longer you wait to work with your dream clients.
If we haven’t had the chance to *virtually* meet yet, hi! I’m Sara Noel—website copywriter and marketing mentor for creatives, copywriters, and all-around cool people. If you like my content and you want even more BTL in your life, here are a few ways you can connect with me:
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