Sunday, June 25, 2006
[Web Site Maketing] From Browsers to Buyers: Lessons from a Bakery
| When I write copy for websites, clients often ask, "What about optimizing for search engines?" Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) can be critical because we need a certain critical mass of traffic to be successful. But first I recommend investing in copy and strategy to convert browsers to buyers. (1) Appeal to the senses. As I walk my dog Gracie, we often have to pass a small neighborhood bakery. We inhale aromas of freshly-baked buttery treats, made the old-fashioned way. Attractive web design can hook visitors, but headlines and bullet points create mouth-watering offers. That's why copywriters say, "Reach for emotion." (2) Offer a sample. I successfully resisted temptation for many months. And I rarely carry a wallet while dog-walking. Then one day I ran into a friend on a muffin mission. "I will treat you," she offered. Not wanting to be rude, I took home one half of a small pastry...which turned out to be far more delicious than I anticipated. The website equivalent: a mouth-watering sample - a Report or audio product with a promise that will hit your readers' hot buttons: tips, secrets, how-tos. If you've identified the right target and you deliver on your promise, readers will be surprised by value. They'll also tell their friends. (3) Follow up. As I walk past the bakery, I am reminded, "Next time I need a quick thank you gift, I can come here. It's right around the corner." Prospective clients need to run into your website when they least expect it. They won't walk by so you have to stand in front of them. For example, you can send subscribers a single thank you or a series of autoresponders, each asking a question or offering value. My autoresponders are integrated through my shopping cart (4) Look for signs of success. Alas, I've become a customer of the bakery. That was easy. And ideally, you'll see orders, unsolicited testimonials, and requests for service. Recently, one Copy-Cat Ezine reader wrote, "I've created a special folder to save your ezines." Soon you get a sense of what works. For example, I'm amazed at how many buyers and subscribers come from my online book reviews. See (5) Make it easy. My neighborhood bakery welcomes well-behaved dogs and even offers biscuits. So when I'm out with my dog Gracie, I can make an impulse purchase. I've been to many websites where I can't find a form to order an ezine, let alone an order form. And I usually give up when I'm asked to complete credit card forms for a zero-balance product. After all, this contact may be the first step on the path to a long and mutually profitable relationship. Ready to turn your lazy, good-for-nothing website into a powerhouse profit center that works 24/7? You've come to the right place. Download your valuable 10-page fr*e Report: 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Client Attracting Websites. and enjoy weekly tips to energize your website marketing. Click here. |
Monday, June 19, 2006
[Internet Marketing Solutions] From Passion to Practice
Hermione was absolutely, positively passionate about creativity. Doing it. Teaching it. Admiring it. So naturally she wanted to create a business around delivering creativity via ebooks, workshops, teleclasses and consulting. “Everyone needs creativity in their lives!” she exclaimed, well, passionately. “I want to be the next Julia Cameron!” But Hermione soon came up against a very uncreative truth. Clients in her target market were reluctant to pay good money to become more creative. They wanted money, love, status, health and relationships...and maybe some other stuff that can’t get passed your mail filters. Like many of my own clients, Hermione urgently needed to combine passion with practice. (1) Discover what benefits are truly marketable. Research your target market. What are they reading? Where do they invest money? What is their greatest pain? (2) Adapt your passion to the market. Hermione could focus on building a business, improving relationships with family, finding a dream job, becoming healthier or enhancing productivity. She can still teach creativity. But she’ll sneak in (legally and ethically) under a marketing umbrella. (3) Create a compelling headline. Hermione could try, “Add two hours to your day by doing what you love.” Naturally, doing what you love means creativity, at least for Hermione! With this headline, she creates success stories for article marketing and (if she’s really daring!) a how-to ebook. And as long as Hermione can deliver solid content and consulting on that topic, she can enjoy her passion and her practice. Ready to turn your lazy, good-for-nothing website into a powerhouse profit center that works 24/7? Visit http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com Download your valuable 10-page fr*e Report: 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Client Attracting Websites. http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com/subscribe.html |
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
[Copywriting Tips] Add beef to your benefits
| When I first heard about the benefits vs. features distinction, I was frustrated. At the time I just had my career consulting website. What, I asked, are the benefits I can offer? I couldn’t promise anyone would get a job, let alone a dream job. I asked an experienced marketer for help. She shrugged off the question: “More, better, faster, cheaper,” I escaped, vowing I’d never utter the words “sales letter” ever again. But later, after taking copywriting classes and after clients write their own copy, I realized benefits should be credible, realistic and beefy. (1) Focus on the reader’s real pain. Lance wants to teach coaching techniques to dog trainers so they can work with their clients more effectively. What’s the benefit? Well, the whole world benefits when dogs behave nicely in public. But each trainer wants to attract and retain clients. So Lance needs to set up a sales page that emphasizes sales and profits. (2) Present benefits that are unique to you and your target market. “Helps attract clients” will seem too general and frankly a bit sales-y. Ironically, as you focus on specifics, you’ll come across as communicating rather than selling. So one of Lance’s benefits might be, “Attract dog-loving clients who are motivated to create the best dog companions in the world.” Okay, it’s a first effort. To get good benefits, you need to write out at least twenty-five. (3) Add some emotion. For beefy benefits, imagine your favorite target reader reacting to the benefit. Will she feel relieved? joyful? purposeful? Or will he say, “I had a good night’s sleep for the first time in months.” Lance’s clients can feel all sorts of emotion as they discover they can develop stronger bonds with their dogs. And they’re relieved: no more coming home to a chewed-up living room. Finally, certain buyers make choices based on features, not benefits. Famous copywriter Bob Bly has observed that engineers and other techie types already know the benefits. They want to know, “What’s different about this model?” For other markets, what works is confronting skepticism head on. Lance might try, “Don’t Train Your Dog With Treats” or even “Why Dog Treats Won’t Train Your Dog,” if he really believes they don’t and has evidence to support his claim. (Don’t ask me: I’m just creating an example here.) And when hiring a consultant or coach, buyers often are extremely interested in expertise and background of the potential resource. I’ve been hired as a consultant because a specific buyer liked the title of a single article I wrote. But when writing a sales letter or home page, most businesses need to spell out the benefits. Keep them beefy and readers will dig in for a feast. P.S. As noted, I had no idea who to ask for help. As I became familiar with Internet gurus and guidance, I realized that choosing a guide was often more scary than facing the jungle. So I wrote a Special Report, How to Choose an Internet Marketing Mentor, designed to save readers hundreds and even thousands of dollars as they made their choices. Click here and start making wise choices today. Ready to turn your lazy, good-for-nothing website into a powerhouse profit center that works 24/7? You've come to the right place. Download your valuable 10-page fr*e Report: 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Client Attracting Websites. and enjoy weekly tips to energize your website marketing. Click here. |
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
[Internet Marketing Solutions] How to choose your internet marketing mentor
We’ve all been there. Our business has begun to feel more like an albatross than an escape from cubicle-land. We entertain fantasies of life with a paycheck and benefits...and someone else paying for the paper clips. The phone has grown cobwebs and we find ourselves opening a piece of junk mail, hoping it’s just an overzealous client who really needs our help. “Ah,” says our rich and successful friend Hermione. (She’s really a Good Witch in disguise.) “You need a mentor.” “Great! You can be my mentor,” we say innocently. “Hee-hee,” cackles Hermione. “Where did you get that bizarre idea? These days you have to pay dearly for mentors. “Business is now a two step process," she continues. "First, bank a cool million dollars. Then get your next five million by telling everyone else how you did it, and why they can too.” “But Hermione,” we say, “we know you’re a Good Witch. We see lots of people out there who look like wizards, angels and our favorite camp counselor, all rolled into one. How do we know they’re the Real Deal?” “Oops,” says Hermione, “it’s time for me to say good-by. My own guru – er, mentor – told me to spend 99% of my time with people richer than I am. So unless you have an inside connection to Donald Trump, we are so over.” We start to realize Hermione isn’t such a Good Witch after all. So here are a few of Cathy Goodwin’s hard-won tips to choosing your own marketing mentor (and scaring away the witches and wannabes). (1) Decide what you need from a mentor. Most mentors fall into one of two categories: motivation and information. If you need inspiration and accountability, you may get frustrated with someone who gives you information, and vice versa. (2) Choose a mentor who screens her followers. I’m biased, but I’ve been far more satisfied with mentors who wanted to know more about me than, “Will your Visa credit line cover my fees?” An experienced mentor won’t be afraid to turn away clients who don’t fit their Ideal Client Profile. Who needs more grief? (3) Ask who will be mentoring you. You’re heard “Victoria’s” voice on countless teleseminars. You’ve bought each and every one of her wonderful tapes. But when you sign up for the big-bucks program, you’re assigned to work with “Arnie,” a staff coach the Big Name has trained. Give Arnie a chance. Arnie may be more dedicated and helpful than Victoria, who’s gotten bored with mentoring but can’t bring herself to walk away Some Big Names choose strong colleagues so they can keep learning. But if you google Arnie’s name and get a big fat zero, ask why he’s worth the big bucks you thought you were paying Victoria. (4) Ask yourself: Will you take your feet off the bottom? A marketing guru can give you ideas and inspiration. She can raise your thinking to a whole new level. He may give you one five-minute tip that more than pays for the cost of the entire program. But for real success, you need to be ready to step outside your comfort zone. Marketing consultants are like swimming instructors. At some point you have to jump into the water, take your feet off the bottom of the book and let go of the edge. In the swimming world, some people never let go. Me, for instance. I never did take my feet off the bottom for more than about three seconds. Who needs the beach? I take winter holidays and do the culture stuff. If you’re as happy in your comfort zone as I am on dry land, skip the mentor and let your business evolve at its own pace. (5) Ask your mentor the single most important question you can come up with: “How are you continuing to learn and grow?” Unless someone’s constantly taking proactive steps to growth, he’s moving backwards. One reason to hire a mentor: Your mentor keeps learning and paying for his or her own mentors. The best consultants, coaches and mentors I’ve seen are also the most proactive about their own learning. This article is based on my Special Report, How to Choose an Internet Marketing Guru. Learn more. Are you ready to turn your lazy, good-for-nothing website into a powerhouse profit center that works 24/7? Start here. |
Saturday, June 03, 2006
[Website Marketing] Say boo to the ghost writers
| You’re struggling to write an ezine, an e-book and a handful of articles. Even if you’re a good writer, it’s tempting to think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to hire someone to do this? A ghostwriter?! Then my To Do List will stop haunting my dreams.” Let’s consider 3 sources of help for the time-challenged (and it’s possible that some readers would rather scrub floors than write, too). (1) Ghostwriters complete the project from start to finish. You never see their names on the final product. Ideally, you created your contract to establish that your Ghost was writing “for hire,” i.e., you own all the rights to the finished product. Good ghostwriters don’t come cheap. For published books, they can get 50% of the advance and royalties – sometimes more. After all, they get no glory. Often they can’t list your project on their resumes and you won’t give them testimonials. That’s the whole idea: they’re invisible! So they must be compensated for the lack of track record. They’re known by word of mouth. You can hire low-cost ghostwriters at eLance. But you have to develop the assignment, write an ironclad contract, and hope your ghostwriter actually wrote what she submitted, rather than help herself to the Internet smorgasbord. Talk about being haunted. Needless to say, I rarely recommend hiring a ghostwriter. Instead, consider hiring a writing coach, preferably someone who also understands copywriting. That way you’ll learn how to create selling points along the way -- and your sales letter will practically write itself when you’re done. (2) Editors take your work and create good products. Ideally, you’ll write everything you need and your editor can check spelling, tighten the prose, repair grammar errors and polish. Good editors also don’t work cheap, but for straight spelling-and-grammar, you can easily find help. And often hiring an editor can be a wise investment. You may get lucky with a virtual assistant who can edit, proofread and produce your publication. (3) Copywriters create sales letters, web pages and sometimes press releases, ezines and e-books. Good copywriters will insist on obtaining strategic information so they can write to your target market, stressing your unique advantages. Like ghostwriters, copywriters actually create your message. But we’re usually more than a shadowy presence: most business owners are proud to tell the world they hired a copywriter. You may feel that you spend as much time working with your copywriter as you’d spend writing your own copy, although the result will (hopefully) be far more effective and professional. Actually, you’re using your time wisely. A copywriter forces you to assess your strategy and actually write out success stories, target market descriptions and a benefits-features list. Most of us (even copywriters!) tend to skip these steps when writing our own copy. We’re usually sorry afterwards. Best resource to create your own e-book: Jim Edwards: E-book Secrets Exposed. Click here. Ready to turn your lazy, good-for-nothing website into a powerhouse profit center that works 24/7? You've come to the right place. Download your valuable 10-page fr*e Report: 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Client Attracting Websites. and enjoy weekly tips to energize your website marketing. Click here. |
