• By Cathy Goodwin
• Published 11/19/2008
• Copywriting

Copywriting for independent professionals comes with a special challenge. Their clients are afraid of paying too much for services and information products. So when you study landing pages of independent professionals, scroll down to the place where the rubber meets the road: the call to action. Often you see the question, “How much is your investment?” followed by a reference to a totally different product or service. Some copywriters call this technique “apples to oranges.” I call it “The Latte Factor.” Here’s why it works. (1) Readers recognize the amount is pretty small. You sell a Special Report about promoting your services on the Internet. You give readers 7 tips that will bring about massive increases in revenue. You write, “Just $97.” And you know readers are thinking, “Ninety-seven dollars? Ouch. That’s almost $14 a tip.” But you know that’s not the way to think about your Report. So you write, “That’s less than two weeks of mocha lattes at your favorite coffee shop.”

You don’t come right out and say, “You’re spending it on drinks that deliver caffeine and calories. Why not spend the same

amount on a product that will make a difference to your business…and then you can buy more lattes.” But you make your point. (2) Readers need help recovering from sticker shock. For example, some time ago a business magazine reported a range of career counselor fees from $75 to $150 an hour. Today it’s more like $150 – $250 an hour. Yet every so often a career changer will gasp, “I expected to pay maybe $35 an hour.” You’re writing copy for a career counselor. You can’t come right out and say, “It’s not 1975 any more. Not even 1995.” So you apply the Latte Factor You say, “That’s $150 an hour…about what you’d pay for dinner at a nice restaurant.” You reminded readers that $150 today is more like one dinner than a month or groceries. And you shouldn’t have to compare the benefits of a consulting hour with a single calorie-loaded dinner. (3) Everybody secretly wants a free lunch. So you can apply the Latte Factor to say, “You are getting a free lunch.”

For example, I was doing some copywriting for one of my own $37 Special Reports. I wrote, “If you took me out for a Power Lunch, you’d pay a lot more. And even if I talked non-stop for an hour, I couldn’t cover everything you get in this Report.”