Attract More Clients And Get More Sales By Improving Your Writing (part 2 - The Undefeated BAR test)

In the last article we made sure that your content doesn’t scare off your ideal prospect. If you haven’t checked it out, it’s here: Attract More Clients And Get More Sales By Improving Your Writing 01 (blueoceanmedia.es)

Alright, now your content looks the part. It’s time we make it actually easy to breeze through for a reader. 

Once we’ve lured them in it’s our job to keep them reading whatever we wrote. ⠀ 

So how do we do that?

The same way you’d do it in a bar. Use The BAR Test To Fix Your Writing.

The best way to show you what this means is (who would have thought that) by actually showing it. This is from an article I recently stumbled upon:

“As a business owner your job is to solve problems. Someone having electrical issues? It’s a good thing you're a certified electrician with your own business to solve that customer's problem. This is the basic principle of running your own business most business owners already know, but what happens when no one knows you even exist? How are we supposed to solve problems if Larry from across the street doesn’t even know who you are as a business? We Market, but we market in a very specific and strategic way that actually allows us to attract clients and make sales.”

Now, if you’ve made it through reading that without your eyes hurting and dying inside…

You’re a braver man than I am.

Let me  tell you…

This does not pass the bar test at all.

“Ok, so what is this so-called BAR TEST?”

The bar test has worked for centuries and will work for the next ones too.

Even if there wouldn’t be any bars anymore… As long as humans walk the earth, you can use nothing better than this test to immediately improve your writing.

Now the bar test is all about making your writing sound like a human to human conversation.

Just like you would talk to someone in a bar.

You look at a piece of text (we call this ‘copy’ in the biz) and you ask yourself: ‘would I say this to an actual human being in conversation?’ ⠀

It’s super simple and it works every single time. 

Now, take a look at this sentence: 

“As a business owner your job is to solve problems. This is the basic principle of running your own business most business owners already know, but what happens when no one knows you even exist?”

Now ask yourself if you would say that to someone you’re taking a drink with in a bar.

If you’re not an alien trying to sound like a human being, you surely wouldn’t say that right? 

But if we apply the bar test and change this paragraph into something that you’d say to someone in a bar we get this:

“Most business owners already know they solve problems for a living. But that’s hard to do if people don’t even know you exist, right?”

See how that makes more sense? And how it’s much easier to read? 

Here’s The Quickest And Easiest Way To Fix Your Writing: ⠀ 

Here’s a trick that works every time. It’s going to sound simple and almost childish… but if you give this a try I promise you that you’ll be hooked.

Read your copy out loud.

Pretend like you’re talking to a friend.

See if it flows. Where do you stumble? Where does it sound weird? Are you using unnecessary words or sentences?

Would you actually say that to another person?

By doing this little test you’ll soon find out where and what you need to improve on your copy to make the reader keep reading.

Here’s another example that I read recently: ⠀ 

“But, most of the people running businesses nowadays barely even think about what problem their product is even solving, let alone whether or not their most likely buyer is male or female, what their age range is, what their interests are, or even what haircut they have.”

This is a 47 word sentence. If you read this sentence out loud you’ll probably notice it’s a run-on sentence. 

It needs a period in there somewhere. Because in real life we rarely talk in 47 word sentences. 

The point is your writing needs to sound like a coneration you have with another human being. Avoid unnecessary words. It needs to flow. Like this one. Only three words. ⠀ 

Get into this habit. It’s going to change your writing for the better. I guarantee it. ⠀ 

Apply this advice to your content and see how much more response you get to whatever you write.

Talk soon,

Maurice 

P.S. Want me to check, rewrite and improve your materials using the BAR test and other principles we’ll be talking about? ⠀ 

Get in touch with me today. If we’re a good fit I will personally take a look at your company and your marketing, come up with a strategy of what I’d do differently and discuss it with you in depth on a call. ⠀ 

No cost, no obligation. If you want to work together I’ll tell you exactly how that works, if you don’t want to work together that’s fine too. 

No hard selling, no pressure, no annoying sales tactics. ⠀ 

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