The P.A.S.T.O.R. Formula: Effective Copywriting Made Easy

To many people, copywriting is a mysterious art (if they're being honest, most people have no idea what copywriting actually is).

The first time I heard of copywriting, I assumed this was the practice of filing legal paperwork to claim an idea. Like the “Copyright” on a website or in a book.

It turns out that “Copywriting” and “Copyright” are nowhere near the same thing.

According to Quick Sprout, copywriting is defined as:

[T]he art and science of writing copy (words used on web pages, ads, promotional materials, etc.) that sells your product or service and convinces prospective customers to take action.

Okay, so copywriting is about writing content that sells a product or service.

Even with that, how can you know where to begin?

This is where copywriting expert Ray Edwards comes in, who teaches a six-part copywriting framework: To Sell More, P.A.S.T.O.R. Your Customers.

What does a pastor do? His job is to care for (or “shepherd”) and guide those who are in his care.

When it comes to your audience, your responsibility is the same.

“You're selling the solution to someone else's problem. Let them know you're proud of that!”

The P.A.S.T.O.R. Formula

1. Problem: Identify the problem that your product or service is intended to solve.
2. Amplify: Stress the consequences of what will happen if that problem isn't solved.
3. Story and Solution: Tell the story of someone who has solved that problem, using a solution like yours.
4. Transformation and Testimony: Articulate the results that your product or service will bring, providing real-life testimonials to strengthen your case.
5. Offer: Describe exactly what you are offering for sale.
6. Response: Ask the customer to buy, with step-by-step instructions about what to do next.

Case Study: The Get Noticed!™ Theme Unlocked

I used the P.A.S.T.O.R. formula to write the landing page for The Get Noticed!™ Theme Unlocked, and it worked—generating over $10,000 in sales within the first nine days.

1. Identify the Problem

You have a message that you want to share with the world—so you started a personal blog.

You want a rich, beautiful site that will help you build a personal brand online—so you purchased the Get Noticed!™ Theme.

You might even plan to start making money from your blog—as soon as you have enough traffic.

There's only one problem.

The Get Noticed!™ Theme is so packed with features, settings, and customization options that you don’t know where to begin.

2. Amplify the Problem

You spend more time working on your site than writing, and you still aren’t satisfied with the results.

Up until now, your options consisted of:

1. Spend gobs of money having developers play with your site,
2. Accept that your website is as good as it’s gonna get, or
3. Invest a year’s worth of time learning how to customize your site by yourself

….I went with option #3.

3. Solve the Problem with a Story

After a full year of breaking things, exploring every update, and examining dozens of other Get Noticed!™ Theme sites, I learned how to design a blog that finally felt like me.

Since I redesigned my blog in November of 2014…

➤ My email list has nearly doubled,

➤ I saw my blog’s first four-figure revenue month, and

➤ My regular traffic has tripled to over 10,000 pageviews a month.

I then spent the next six months coaching users how to get the most out of the Get Noticed!™ Theme.

The results were phenomenal. My clients kept coming back with comments like this:

John showed me exactly which features were most important, and now I’m back to getting work done instead of staring at my screen. — Shawn Lemon

Because of time constraints, I was limited on what I could cover in each coaching session.

After all, every client started with the basics, and we rarely got much further than that.

There are countless Get Noticed!™ Theme features going to waste because nobody knows how they work.

I wanted to teach so much more—so I created The Get Noticed!™ Theme Unlocked.

4. Articulate the Transformation with Testimony

This video course is designed to save you hours of time and effort by providing quick reference guides for features all over the Get Noticed!™ Theme for WordPress.

Right now, the course contains over 50 confusion-crushing video tutorials—with more on the way.

I’ve already opened the video course up to a handful of users, and the responses have been phenomenal.

I'm doing in a few hours what would've taken me days or weeks to learn on my own. — Chrissie Carl

I think what you've done so far is amazing and well worth my money.  I can tell you've spent many, many hours preparing and recording. — Ray Huff

5. Make the Offer

The video course has three access levels, depending on the scope of your needs.

Each level has a one-time membership fee that will grant you lifetime access to the course.

The most value-packed membership level is VIP, which gets you access to all the videos plus a private group and exclusive affiliate program.

6. Call for the Response

At this point, the decision is yours.

You can either maintain the status quo—the endless process of spending time and money on every minor change on your site—or you can choose this new option (one that I never had).

If you do nothing, your results will remain the same.

But if you’re ready for something different—if you want to take your platform to a new, higher level—you have to make a decision today.

Registration closes at midnight on Tuesday, June 9th.

There won’t be another opportunity to join until late in the year.

Scroll down, and look at the three membership options below.

Find the one that’s right for you, and click the blue button to join. You’ll immediately get lifetime access to the course. I’ll see you on the inside!

The Results

This formula works.

First of all, did I mention my sales?

I'm not kidding, my promotion strategy was to throw targeted traffic at this landing page so from there the formula could do the work.

And after thousands of page views, this landing page still has a 100% average read.

Ray Edwards is a copywriting genius—I've only borrowed his work.

Now I'm encouraging you to follow my example, and do the same.

Question: Why do you think this copywriting formula works?