With more than 350 million copies of his stories sold, it’s hard to deny that Stephen King knows the secret to writing that sells.  In his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, he discusses the beginnings of his career, his ups and downs, and his advice to other writers hoping to make a living by selling their work.

Even though King’s writes fiction, his tips easily apply to copywriting, since they encourage being clear and concise with your storytelling techniques. When you write copy, you’re also telling a story – the story of how the business you’re writing about can solve the problems of its potential customers.

Here are some of King’s main pieces of advice for writers that especially apply to good copywriting.

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Website visitors don’t buy products or services; they invest in what the products or services will do for them.

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To write persuasive web copy, copywriters need to think like customers. It makes it easier to figure out what benefits and features the targeted audience cares about, and build key messages to motivate them to take desired actions.

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The article Web copy motivators notes fear is a powerful influential factor on and off the Web. But, as Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive notes, it can also be counter-productive.

Research has demonstrated that fear-arousing communications usually stimulate the audience to take action to reduce the threat. However, Author Robert Cialdini explained, “When the fear producing message describes danger but the audience is not told a clear, specific, effective means of reducing the danger, they may deal with the fear by ‘blocking out’ the message or denying it applies to them.”

As a result, they may be paralyzed into taking no action at all.

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Marketing intelligence is important, but so is practical intelligence.

Marketing intelligence comes from gathering information on business and competition. This intelligence helps businesses understand a market, so it can develop sound strategies and develop customer relationships.

You’ve gained valuable knowledge. You’ve got a high IQ. Fantastic! But what you do with it relies on practical intelligence.

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Different visitors invest in products and services for different reasons. Hitting these ‘trigger points’ translates to higher conversion rates.

It’s integral to consider who you are communicating to, and why you’re communicating to them.

To sell effectively, you need to pinpoint why visitors buy things. Here are a few possible motivators.

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Good web copy layers details via links to help visitors easily access information relevant to their needs.

Links help visitors scan pages. Properly developed links stand out from normal text, and provide strong cues as to what the page is about.

When naming links, the more specific, the more useful. Don’t just give visitors a hint — give them the necessary information they require to act, right then and there.

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