I'm Murray - co-founder of Heroic, and also a professional copywriter. I love writing words that get people to take action. Words that sizzle. And today I wanted to talk about how to write words that compel people to lean in, nod their heads, sign up, pull out their credit cards and hit the buy button.

And those words? They're called "copy". And copy is everywhere.

Online, "copy" is the "bones" of your website. It's the core text that guides people through your site and tells them what they need to know. It's what's on your landing page, your about page, your products and services pages and every other page of your site. It's also the words you write in your emails.

Offline, copy is used on billboards & signs to get your attention. In magazines and newspapers. Direct mail and brochures.

These are the words that drive your business.

Words are one of the things on your site that will help give people an instant impression of what you're all about (we always say that your words MUST get the main point across within 3 seconds or you'll lose them).

And once you've hooked them, then it's your words that COMPEL them to stick around and read more, and DO some of the things that will build YOUR business. Like:

• Sign up for your list or opt-in to get a free gift
• Request a discovery call
• Purchase a product or service

As a kid, I remember being absolutely fascinated by the idea that your choice of words could mean the difference between a queue of people in the middle of the night, or going out of business.

When you know WHY and HOW people buy, you've got more power than you know. As long as you NEVER lose focus on the buyer.

Copywriting ISN'T that mysterious.

We've got over 100 years of data on tried and tested tactics that ALWAYS work when you want to get more people to buy... or take some form of action.

Headlines that worked in the 1920s still work just as well as they do today.

If every business on the planet actually used these basic copywriting tactics to focus on the buyer and what they need instead of on their own needs, sales would increase across the board, lifting the world out of global recession, saving the whales and decreasing road rage by 37%.

When you use the right words on your pages, you'll catch your visitor's attention, inspire them to engage with you, and to compel them to invest either time, money or energy in you.

And I said the "right" words for a very important reason...

And that reason is ... not all words are created equal and too many people make the number 1 biggest mistake of writing copy, which is this:

... Whatever their subject, topic, niche, platform or message, they assume that visitors are naturally going to see the value, want to work with them, want to sign up, want to register, want to pay money, etc. etc..

Here's an example -- Let's say my mission is to help the world by giving poor children ukuleles to wear on their feet... An OBVIOUSLY VITAL CAUSE right??? But the shocking and sad fact is that a cause this important isn't going to sell itself. No siree bob.

No matter what your message for the world, you still gotta work hard to figure out what it means to your tribe. You need to understand that NOBODY is going to land on your site, instantly "get it" and take the right action. It's not enough to simply have an amazing cause, or an amazing message.

Listen, I don't care what you're selling ... If you want people to care, you absolutely need use the right words that bring home to your readers WHY they should care, HOW they should engage with you, and HOW it will benefit them when they do.

The right words land in the right way... they're understood, and they inspire people to take action. In some cases, HUGE action.

But the wrong words will land flat. Your visitors will be confused about what it is that you do, who you help, how you help, why to engage with you, and how they should go about doing that.

Let me give you a quick & unrelated example of the power of choosing your words carefully.

For example -- how do you feel when I say words such as: Nice, Best, Miscellaneous, Essay, Summary, Textbook, Work, Subscribe?

I already feel kind of deflated just reading them aloud.

Now, let's take a second and contrast them with words such as: Urgent, Elite, Ingenious, Powerful, Jumpstart, Quickly, Limited, Discover, Engage.

Those are all examples of what I call "power" words. Power words are words that contain more punch. More juice. More fuel. The kind of words where your pulse fires up a bit when you hear them. The kind of words that inspire excitement, enthusiasm, and action. When you make the choice to use more powerful words, then it's like you suddenly have the ability to reach through your prospect's screen and grab them by the neck. Or take them by the hand. Whichever's more your style.

It's amazing how tweaking little things can have big outcomes... And in this article, we're going to talk about how to tweak your words for big results.

But I'm not going to talk in general about writing.

I'm going to talk about the top 4 places in your business you need to improve your words right away... They're the words with the biggest bottom line result potential.

And those areas are: