People buy for a number of reasons. We buy because we like the personality behind a product or company. We buy because the product or service taps into an emotional need and we buy because experts tell us to – credibility and authority.

Customer testimonials can help tap into all of these buying behaviors and they’re much more effective than sales copy because they’re coming from an outside, presumably unbiased, source. Testimonials are worth their weight in gold! Here’s how and where to use them to their fullest.

Website real estate. One of the popular locations to place your most powerful testimonials is right on your home page. Many website owners situate them in a sidebar so they stand out from the rest of the content on the page or they place them in the midst of the content in a call out box. Your most powerful testimonials will be the ones:

Provided from notable personalities or names in your industry. For example, if you’re a commercial real estate agent then a testimonial from Donald Trump would certainly warrant prime website real estate. Anyone who is highly thought of in your industry would definitely capture the attention of prospects and customers.

Glowing endorsements. Let’s face it, while all testimonials are good some testimonials are better than others. Place the extra powerful, glowing endorsements right where your prospects can see them, on your home page.

Sales Copy. Any good sales letter will include testimonials from happy and enthusiastic customers. It’s often the extra umph that people need to make a purchase. In fact, quite often people skip reading the body of a sales letter and read the offer, the postscript and the testimonials.

Autoresponders and enewsletters. Email is a positive way to stay connected with your clients and prospects. It makes good business sense to include testimonials in these communications. It’s not bragging, it’s sharing your good fortune with others and encouraging them to become part of your community. Of course, it’s still important to stick to 80% information, 20% promotion.

A separate website testimonial page. When you collect enough testimonials, you may want to create a separate page on your website to share them. You can call it your “Testimonials” page or “Success Stories,” whatever feels relevant for your website and your industry.

Testimonials are a strong motivator. They help prospects see the power and benefit of doing business with you. Because they’re provided by an outside source, they’re perceived as unbiased and therefore carry more weight than sales copy. Encourage testimonials from your customers, reward them for their success stories, and share them with the world.

Vera Raposo has been an entrepreneur since age 22, owning 5 retail store locations. In 2003, she closed and sold all locations to pursue her online business. Now she’s living out an entrepreneurs dream having successfully turned business into a venture that’s completely online.

http://www.smallbusinessbranding.com/1247/customer-testimonials-how-to-use-them-to-benefit-your-business/

Small Business Branding

by ePublicist

It’s sad to see people set themselves up for SEO copywriting failure.
Every day, I talk to folks who literally hobble their own SEO success. It’s not that they don’t have the resources for a robust SEO copywriting campaign. Heck, sometimes, these folks are swimming in budget (really!), have talented in-house copywriters and a solid site design. Where they get stuck is that they’re making the same dumbass SEO copywriting mistakes over and over…yet expecting different results.
If this sounds like you, please, please, consider this a wake-up call. It is possible to do lots of cool things with your content - capture leads, encourage downloads and even make sales.
But the first step is admitting you have a problem. Once you do, you can pinpoint the dumbass mistake you’re making and see some positive changes. For once.

Here are ten dumbass SEO copywriting mistakes to watch for:

1. You’re writing articles for SEO purposes only. OK, I know that articles are “linkbait” and drive traffic. I get that. What I don’t get are folks who churn out crappy, keyphrase-stuffed articles about, say, “digital cameras” and expect that the search engine floodgates will open. Just because your drivel drives traffic (maybe), doesn’t mean it will help you make money.
2. You’re creating content without measuring your results. I spoke to someone who submitted scads of articles to free article syndication sites. When I asked if he was gaining traffic from his efforts, he said he “didn’t know.” Yet, he was spending $1,000 a month for an unproven strategy that I can almost guarantee brought in zero cash. Folks, if you’re spending money, you should always, always know if you’re seeing some ROI.
3. You’re keeping the writing in-house when you have no idea what you’re doing. Hey, I’m the first person to admit that folks can easily bypass outsourced SEO copywriting services and write compelling copy in-house. But if you throw someone into the SEO copywriting waters without a little guidance, you’re setting them up (and your site) for failure. There are scads of low-cost SEO copywriting training options out there, including books, seminars and online training. For sites with complex needs, a customized SEO copywritiing training can help you set strategy and give your team a step-by-step roadmap. The investment will be worth it.
4. You’re paying bottom-dollar for SEO copywriting services. I’ve ranted on this many times before. No, you don’t have to pay someone $1,500 to write a good Web page. And yes, there are many firms that offer good-to-excellent SEO copywriting services for less. But if you’re paying $10 a page, do you really think you’re going to see quality? Really?
5. You aren’t tracking your keyphrase usage. The key to a successful SEO copywriting campaign is more than choosing targeted keyphrases. It’s knowing how those keyphrases should appear and overlap throughout your site. If you’re uploading content without making sure that your keyphrase choices mesh with your overall campaign, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
6. You’re working with too many providers and no-one is setting strategy. I’ve worked with clients who have three SEO copywriters and one SEO firm - but no main strategy. As a result, everyone did their own thing to make themselves look good, but no-one was looking out for #1 (the client.) So, let me be clear: Without an overarching SEO content strategy, you are going to hemmorage cash and pay for SEO copywriting services that don’t help you. Don’t make this mistake.
7. You’re ignoring the direct response aspect of SEO copywriting. Sticking keyphrases into your copy is the easy part. The hard part is making what you have to offer so compelling that people need to buy from you. Blow this step off at your conversion peril.You want people to immediately take action when they visit your site - not immediately back out and visit your competition.
8. Your pages are benefit-statement free. Do you tell people why they should buy from you? On every page? I don’t know how many times clients tell me about the cool things their company offers - but the information is nowhere on their site.
9. You pushed all your content to the bottom of the page, figuring that “people don’t read.” It’s not that people don’t read online. People read differently online - and you have to account for those differences when you’re writing and structuring your content. Besides, why waste an opportunity to show off your benefits and connect with your customer?
10. You ignore the low-hanging SEO copywriting fruit. For goodness sake, it’s not that hard to do some keyphrase research, edit some pages and change some Titles. If you can’t do it, find a firm that offers SEO copywriting services and have them help you. Yes, there will be an investment of time, money or both. But it’s all worth it if it gets more targeted folks through your virtual doors.

Described as a fast-talking, fiery redhead, Heather Lloyd-Martin is a 20-year marketing veteran, a recognized author and considered the pioneer of SEO copywriting. Recognized worldwide as a first-generation search marketing expert, her life is split between watching the search engines dance and pinpointing the exact direct response copywriting strategies that make people buy.

http://www.seocopywriting.com/

http://www.seocopywriting.com/

by ePublicist

Or "10 Twitter Tools to Organize Your Tweeps"

As Twitter surges toward an estimated 12 million registered users by year’s end (though some new stats may disagree), some of us are starting to deal with what we recently dubbed “followholism.” You’ve followed so many people, it’s hard to keep up, and it’s probably time to do a little housekeeping.

But where do you begin? Twitter’s own tools for managing followers are subpar. It’s nearly impossible to figure out who among your followers are following you back, and the interface for paging through followers is clumsy and difficult to use. Fortunately, Twitter’s API has given rise to a vast universe of amazing third party apps. So we’ve assembled a toolkit below of 10 services that can help you take control of Twitter and organize your followers. If you know any other tools that would be helpful for organizing tweeps, add them in the comments.

Find Out Who You’re Following

Find Your Friends

Get Rid of Inactives

Manage it All

Josh works as a product evangelist for a small startup based in Rhode Island, USA. He is also the co-founder of the web's largest community dedicated to Ruby on Rails development.

Image via Chris Spooner.

http://mashable.com/2009/06/09/organize-twitter/

http://mashable.com/

by ePublicist

The most important part of your copy is not your headline, not your offer and certainly not your benefits. The most important part is your customer.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been critiquing some pretty good copy. Very well-written and compelling. But if the conversion rate is low (hence, the reason why I was hired to conduct a critique consultation), it’s because these salesletters do not target the right audience for the offer, or the author and the copy fail to connect with their readers.

Researching your customer in depth is vital to the success of your copy. It’s not only an important component of targeting and qualifying the best prospect for your offer, but also an effective way to discover new ideas, different angles, captivating storylines, unsought benefits, and appropriate length and language of your copy that will convert more.

If you have done enough research to know your product is viable, then targeting and connecting with your market as much as possible should be the obvious next step. However, this is where many marketers fail, for they are trying to be “all things to all people” and attempt to market their product to everyone.
Instead, try to discover the qualities, characteristics and behavioral patterns of your specific (or greatest) market. Your niche. Then market to that audience more than any other and as often as possible. These usually fall into four main categories.

The best copywriters in the world who have written multi-million dollar salesletters and ads are usually those who have spent a great many hours interviewing clients, spending time learning about them (maybe even to be with them), asking a lot of questions, and spending a lot of time learning about:

• Geographics
• Demographics
• Psychographics
• Technographics

Empathy Starts With Discovery

It was Ken Blanchard, in the One-Minute Sales Manager, who said: “Before I walk a mile in your shoes, I must first take off my own.” Brian Keith Voiles, in an interview I gave him regarding the power of empathy in copy, said it best:

“The first thing I do is try to live a “day in the life” of my prospect. What keeps him up at night? What are his biggest concerns or his biggest joys? What’s the first thing he does in the morning as he wakes up? Does he read the paper? What kind of paper? What sections? Does he hurt? Is he frustrated? About what? In all, I try to put myself in my prospect’s shoes as much as possible and really try to see what he sees, thinks what he thinks, feels what he feels. The more I do, the more empathetic I am in my copy?—?and the more I sell.”

Demographics are the basic qualities and characteristics of your market. They include age, gender, culture, employment, industry, income level, marital status, and so on. Does your product cater uniquely to women? Is it more appealing to a specific industry? Does your product complement another type of product?

Geographics are the countries, locations and establishments in which your target market resides or works, or those it frequents or to which it travels. Is your market made up of French Canadians? Does your product cater to a market from a certain state that is predominantly of a certain religious or political persuasion? Are they urbanites or rural folk?

On the other hand, psychographics are made up of the emotional and behavioral qualities of your market. They include the emotions, buying patterns, purchase histories, and even thought processes behind people’s decision to buy your product.

For example, they include events they attend, interests and hobbies in which they’re engaged, associations to which they belong, previous purchases made, other related products your market has consumed, and length of time they remained with a particular company.

Finally, a new category, recently defined by Forrester Research, includes people’s affection or aversion towards technology. Are they early adopters? Do they use gadgets such as Blackberries and cellphones? Or at least do they own a computer? Do they surf the web and buy online? Or do they prefer to consummate the sale offline?

Bottom line, who buys from you specifically?

If you were to say “everyone,” then you are falling in the trap mentioned earlier. Avoid it as much as you can. Try to be as specific as possible. But if you do cater to a diverse market, find out who buys from you the most or the most often.

Intelligence Gathering

The two most important elements are, of course, demographics and psychographics. In other words, demographics include the segment of the population that needs your product, while psychographics are those within your demographics that want your product.

If you don’t know this, you can easily conduct a survey as part of a marketing research campaign among your current clients, potential clients and clients of other similar products or companies. Don’t underestimate your greatest source for marketing research?—?clients!

For example, here’s a list of questions you should ask:

• Who, exactly, is your perfect customer?
• What’s a day in the life of your perfect customer like?
• Why did they buy your product? If not, why not?
• Why did they buy from you or your competitor specifically?
• Why did they not buy from you or the competition?
• Why did they buy from you at that specific point in time?
• Why did they buy right away (on impulse) or took their time?
• If they shopped around, why did they? Where did they go?
• What do they like the most and the least about the product?
• Would they refer you to others? Why? If not, why not?
• What specific benefits do they see in your product?
• What specific benefits do they see in your competitor’s product?
• And so on.

These are immensely important questions that can help you, guide you, or even cause you to change your approach altogether. Don’t discount the power of doing marketing research, especially within your own backyard. You want to know not only who buys from you but, more important, why they do. In other words, think psychographics and not just demographics.

To illustrate the difference between demographics and psychographics, here’s an example pulled from my own experience as a copywriter in the cosmetic surgery field.

Hair transplant doctors cater mainly to men who have experienced hair loss and are able to afford such an operation?—?i.e., men and bald men specifically are potential patients because they may need of more hair. Psychographics, on the other hand, go a little further. In this example, they are comprised of men who not only need but also want more hair?—?since not all of them do. (It’s a matter of priorities, just as the type of clothing one chooses to wear).

Therefore, in order to target this market as precisely as possible and thus generate better leads, doctors must take the psychographic element into account, such as their patients’ lifestyle, their interests, the type of industry in which they work (since certain industries are image-related), as well as their previous buying habits (such as men who have already invested in other forms of hair replacement solutions)?—?the more information the better.

For example, you have a headline that said, “Are you losing your hair?” That appeals to your demographics. People who have hairloss will probably read the ad. Problem is, they may not care about it. But if your headline said, “Suffering from hairloss?” now your ad is targeting someone who not only has hairloss but also cares about it enough to want to do something about it.

Aim For The Bull’s-Eye

Nevertheless, arm yourself with as much of this type of information beforehand and your chances of achieving greater success with your product will be virtually guaranteed. While you can’t be everything to everyone, you shouldn’t be targeting everyone for everything.

The following represents the Success Doctor’s Market Targeting Model (a format to follow when targeting an audience, or while engaged in any targeting activity). It’s in the form of three concentric circles, like a bull’s-eye, as follows:

Applying the targeting model is simple. Each circle represents a different level in the targeting process?—?the center being the first and so on. As the adage goes, “fish where the fish swim.” Find places, events or publications that meet any of the three.

The bull’s-eye, the center, which are things that directly and specifically involve your “perfect customer,” should be your main aim at all times. The second level are things that are related to them. The third level, while not related, are things that are oriented towards your perfect customer. Here’s a quick description of each circle:

The Center (Bull’s-Eye): It’s what pertains directly to your target market. In other words, it’s anything that meets your perfect customer profile (and does so immediately and as specifically as possible). Things like demographics, psychographics and geographics are included.

The Second Tier (Middle Layer): It’s what pertains indirectly to your target market. Stated differently, it’s anything that relates to or logically fits in your perfect customer profile. This includes things such as direct competitors, complementary products, related industries, etc.

The Third Tier (Outside Layer): It’s what does not pertain at all to your target market but somehow matches or is oriented towards any of its areas. Examples are unrelated industries with which your customer is associated, other businesses patronized by your customer, other unrelated products they consume (products that do not complement, replace or supersede yours, but are consumed by them), common threads among your audience (even if they have nothing to do with your product), etc.

Here’s An Example

Here’s a real-life example. Let’s say you’re in the computer sales business. Your perfect customer is a person aged between 20 and 35, earning around $30,000, living in the eastern part of the United States and working in the high-tech field.

The center or bull’s-eye would include computer-related magazines, shows, websites, tradeshows, ezines and directories, among other types of media?—?wherever your perfect customer is targeted, based on the qualities and characteristics of your product or customer, should be your first goal.

The second tier are areas that are indirectly related to your perfect customer. Your goal would then be to target markets that are similar to your own or somehow logically fit into your target market as well?—?in short, other related publications, businesses or areas that target your perfect customer, too.

Areas include software magazines, trade publications, technology websites, industry associations, non-competing businesses, etc. An example would be other websites selling computer peripherals or software your perfect customer would need or enjoy, such as an accounting software package.

The third and final tier consist of totally unrelated areas your perfect customer frequents, without anything to do with your industry. You want to be in front of as many of their eyeballs as possible, even if where you appear has anything to do with your product, industry or niche.

Let’s say, through some research, you found that a large percentage of your target market are coffee drinkers. Then areas you would seek are, for example, coffee-related websites, specialty coffee magazines, coffee product stores (e.g., coffee maker companies, mugs, espresso machines, etc), restaurants, books on coffee and so on.

It means that, as long as the audiences of such websites and publications logically fit into your target market somehow, even if, in this case, they have nothing to do with computers at all, then you’ve got it made. In essence, you’re still within your “bullseye,” in other words.

The bottom line is, in order to convert at a much higher rate, you need to be in front of the right people as often as possible. You not only need to know who your perfect customer is, but you also need to understand her, connect with her and empathize with her.

As Robert Collier said in his book, The Robert Collier Letter Book, you need to continue the conversation already going on in their minds. Or as Dan Kennedy often says, above all pay close attention to “message-to-market match.”

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker, and consultant. Visit his blog and signup free to get tested conversion strategies and response-boosting tips by email, along with blog updates, news, and more!

www.michelfortin.com/how-to-target-your-perfect-customer/

http://www.michelfortin.com

by ePublicist

Bob Stone has been called one of the founders of modern direct marketing. He had the ability to understand both the big picture of marketing and the finer details of selling tactics. Here are 30 timeless direct marketing principles he discovered over the course of his long career:

1. All customers are not created equal. Give or take a few percentage points, 80 percent of repeat business for goods and services will come from 20 percent of your customer base.
2. The most important order you ever get from a customer is the second order. Why? Because a two-time buyer is at least twice as likely to buy again as a one-time buyer.
3. Maximizing direct mail success depends first upon the lists you use, second upon the offers you make, and third upon the copy and graphics you create.
4. If, on a given list, “hotline” names don’t work, the other list categories offer little opportunity for success.
5. Merge/purge names — those that appear on two or more lists — will outpull any single list from which these names have been extracted.
6. Direct response lists will almost always outpull compiled lists.
7. Overlays on lists (enhancements), such as lifestyle characteristics, income, education, age, marital status, and propensity to respond by mail or phone will always improve response.
8. A follow-up to the same list within 30 days will pull 40 to 50 percent of the first mailing.
9. “Yes/No” offers consistently produce more orders than offers that don’t request “No” responses.
10. The “take rate” for negative option offers will always outpull positive option offers at least two to one.
11. Credit card privileges will out-perform cash with order at least two to one.
12. Credit card privileges will increase the size of the average catalog order by 20 percent, or more.
13. Time limit offers, particularly those which give a specific date, outpull offers with no time limit practically every time.
14. Free gift offers, particularly where the gift appeals to self-interest, outpull discount offers consistently.
15. Sweepstakes, particularly in conjunction with impulse purchases, will increase order volume 35 percent, or more.
16. You will collect far more money in a fund-raising effort if you ask for a specific amount from a purchaser. Likewise, you will collect more money if the appeal is tied to a specific project.
17. People buy benefits, not features.
18. The longer you can keep someone reading your copy, the better your chances of success.
19. The timing and frequency of renewal letters is vital. But I can report nothing but failure over a period of 40 years in attempts to hype renewals with “improved copy.” I’ve concluded that the “product” — the magazine, for example — is the factor in making a renewal decision.
20. Self-mailers are cheaper to produce, but they practically never outpull envelope enclosed letter mailings.
21. A pre-print of a forthcoming ad, accompanied by a letter and response form, will outpull a post-print mailing package by 50 percent, or more.
22. It is easier to increase the average dollar amount of an order than it is to increase percentage of response.
23. You will get far more new catalog customers if you put your proven winners in the front pages of your catalog.
24. Assuming items of similar appeal, you will always get a higher response rate from a 32-page catalog than from a 24-page catalog.
25. A new catalog to a catalog customer base will outpull cold lists by 400 to 800 percent.
26. A print ad with a bind-in card will outpull the same ad without a bind-in up to 600 percent.
27. A direct response, direct sale TV commercial of 120-seconds will outpull a 60-second direct response commercial better than two to one.
28. A TV support commercial will increase response from a newspaper insert up to 50 percent.
29. The closure rate from qualified leads can be two to four times as effective as cold calls.
30. Telephone-generated leads are likely to close four to six times greater than mail-generated leads.

As a freelance copywriter, I've been delivering results for serious direct response advertisers for years, including QuickBooks, Rodale, Sprint, American Express, and more than 200 others. My specialties include direct mail, B2B, sales lead generation, sales letters, e-mail and online marketing, and radio advertising.

http://www.directcreative.com/bob-stone-30-timeless-direct-marketing-principles.html

http://www.directcreative.com

by ePublicist

Recently I was asked in an interview to imagine that I was starting all over again, and as a newbie, how I would fill my business in 60 days. Things have changed tremendously since I began my online business in 1999, mostly for the better. Most of the steps, however remain the same. Best of all, the strategies I recommend to fill your business are the same ones that can be applied to any business, and then applied again and again to other online ventures. Here are 8 secrets to filling the prospect funnel in your business in 60 days:

Success mind set.

Don't gloss over this strategy — it may be the most important of all. If you truly want to succeed in your business and are passionate about what you do, nothing will hold you back. This often means that you have to step out in faith that you'll succeed, and most importantly, believe in yourself as a success. Sure, you may stumble, or even fall, but you must be willing to pick yourself back up and persevere — even without a safety net hanging under you.

Target market.

The biggest mistake that business owners make is wanting to sell to everyone. If you've tried this, you have no doubt discovered that casting your net around everyone is a very difficult task. Narrowing that group to a more manageable number will actually serve you much better, believe it or not. If you can identify a smaller group of hungry prospects who are willing to pay for the solutions to the problems that keep them awake at night (or those who are willing to pay for more information about a hobby or interest that occupies much of their free time) AND who are reachable in groups (associations, membership sites, magazines, newsletters, discussion forums or lists, social networking groups, etc.), then you have made a key discovery that will catapult your business forward.

Client Attraction Device.

You've heard it said time and time again that "the money is in the list." This still holds true today, as well. Without a list of interested prospects to whom you can market, you don't have a business. The quickest way to begin to develop a list is to give something away. Yes, you heard me correctly. If you have content you have already created, dig through that to see if you have something appropriate for your chosen target market.

If not, identify a problem of your target market, and create some content that answers one of those problems. Perhaps it's a checklist, a Top 10 list, an ebook or special report, an audio interview, a pod cast, a video — do whatever is easiest for you. Just ensure that it is in a plug and play format , i.e. don't make your prospect download some weird software that's not commonplace to read and view this material.

Make sure that your Client Attraction Device has some valuable content in it. Nothing is more frustrating to me than to read a free giveway that only serves to remind me that I have a problem and offers no solution unless I pay for it. Don't be afraid to demonstrate your expertise by giving "how to" information away. Trust me, if you are truly good at what you do, there's no way that you can share everything you know on a topic in one short information product. Your Client Attraction Device starts your prospects on the like, know, and trust road that is imperative for them to travel before they will decide to buy something from you.

Email marketing system.

You must have some way to collect your prospect's information and a system by which you can stay in contact with them. The best way to do this is by purchasing email marketing services. Do not use a free service for this, nor try to send emails out of your Outlook program. If you want to be a serous online business owner, invest in the most important asset in your business — your email marketing system.

Blogsite.

A blogsite, which is a web site/blog hybrid, is the quickest way to build an online presence. The two most popular blogging platforms, the fee-based Typepad and open source software Wordpress, can be used to create a blogsite very quickly. If you want either of them customized with a particular look or feel, that may take a bit longer and require a greater investment. However, either will work well to get you started, and both will permit you to enter your email marketing system's signup code onto a page so that you can immediately begin to collect contact information from prospects who have requested your Client Attraction Device.

Stay in touch.

Whether you do this by submitting regular blog posts or publishing an email newsletter (or both), you need to reach out and touch your prospects at least weekly (or several times a week if you are blogging). Give them some insights about what's happening with you personally as well as sharing some aspect of your expertise with them by creating a content-rich article or answering their questions. And, don't forget to sell — offer some product or service in each email newsletter, or submit regular blog posts that remind your readers about what you are selling.

Social networking.

Never before have we had the opportunity to connect with others online easily and inexpensively as we do now with social networking. Create profiles on the social networks) used by your target market, do research to add friends/followers in your target market, and use the status updates to be useful to your followers, i.e. by sharing resources, asking questions, and updating them about how you help clients/customers.

Drive traffic to your site.

There are a number of ways to accomplish this, but my favorite starts with writing an article. Once it's written, I publish it in my ezine, my blog, and to my web site and syndicate it on article directories all over the Web. Then I have the option of making a pod cast with the content; creating a screencast video or "talking head" video from it; writing and submitting a press release; creating a teleclass; create a Q&A radio show interview opportunity; breaking up the points as separate Twitter posts, or Tweets, and tweeting them to my followers; or sharing it on my Squidoo lens or other information-sharing portals. The point here is to work once and profit, profit, profit. Repurpose one article as many ways as you can to drive traffic back to your blogsite and thus get more and more prospects to sign up on your list and ultimately convert them to customers.

The advent of the Internet makes it easier than every to create and promote a business online with very little startup capital. And, if done correctly, the strategies will results in you filling your business in 60 days with eager and willing prospects ready to buy what you are offering

Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. Visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizU.com . Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at http://www.AskDonnaGunter.com

http://www.onlinebizcoachingcompany.com/

http://www.onlinebizcoachingcompany.com/

by ePublicist

I mentioned yesterday how powerful customer testimonials can be as a method of establishing Web site trust and credibility. But how do you ask for them without sounding needy, annoying or flat out driving people away? The truth is, it’s really not that hard. Happy people like sharing their experiences. They like being part of something exciting and cool. Sometimes they just need to be reminded to say something. We’re the ones that typically make it awkward.

Customer testimonials help establish trust because they come from someone who has direct experience with your product. Thanks to the heavy hands of marketers, consumers place more trust in testimonials than they do in most other marketing messages. They believe that the average person is “like them” and isn’t offering the recommendation with an ulterior motive, which is what makes them incredibly powerful. Asking your customers to submit a testimonial to your Web site doesn’t have to be a painful process. In fact, you should be working several natural ways into everyday business.

Company Emailings

Chances are you have some kind of an email list developed. You may have a monthly newsletter that you send out, you require an email address for purchases, or you simply offer customers an opportunity to sign up for site alerts via email. However you are using those email addresses, create a natural way to solicit customer testimonials from inside company emailings. You never want to spam your customers, but if you’re sending a newsletter to someone who opted in to it, ask them to rate your company. Ask them what they like about you. Ask how their latest purchase went. Create a snippet at the bottom of your mailing that encourages and makes it easy for a customer to comment on your company. People want to talk to the companies they love. Give them that chance.

Order Confirmations/Follow Ups

When a customer purchases something from your Web site, you probably send them an order confirmation to let them know it’s been processed and that you appreciate their business. Seven to 14 days after that confirmation goes out, send them another email to follow up (there are auto responders that can help with this). Ask them how their experience was and whether or not they’d tell their friends about you. If the information they provide is valuable, ask them for permission to use it on your site to encourage other customers to make the same purchasing decision they did. Maybe even ask for a photo so that you can use to make their testimonial seem more real and credible.
++++Create an Event Around It
Not so long ago, Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch had the idea to create an entire event around gathering testimonials. The idea was to invite your best or most enthused customers in for a networking happy hour and, while they are there, to take photos, videos and gather feedback that you can use later. It’s a fun, easy way to bring happy people into your store and get them talking to you and about you. It’s even easier to put together now thanks to the frequency of tweetups and meetups. Often, people are already meeting up on their own. Invite them to do it with you and throw a party!

Offer incentives at checkout

We’ve all been there – you purchased a shirt you’re really jazzed about and the sales girl tells you if you call this number and answer a few questions, you’ll be submitted into a drawing. Only you never call. No one does. Those don’t work because as soon as you leave the store, you’ve already moved on and forgot about the offer. Instead, hand them the comment card right at checkout. Have it pre-populated with questions to guide good, specific testimonials, and tell them they’ll receive a discount or special gift if they fill it out before leaving today. It’s a lot harder for someone to say no when you’re staring them in the face and their endorphins are flowing from a recent buying spree.

Challenge them to create their own

We’re living in the era of user-generated content, right? Hold a contest asking your customers to submit the best company testimonial they can — challenging them to use video, images, audio, whatever they can think of. Not only will you get some incredible testimonials to use on your site, you’re also engaging the people who already love you and showing new customers how beloved you are in the community. ++++ You’re creating buzz around your brand.
When someone leaves a testimonial, thank them. Let them know how much it means to you that they’re open to helping your business grow. And always get their permission before using it on your site or in your company literature. Just because they said it to you, doesn’t mean they’re okay with having their name tied to your site. It’s always better to ask than assume.

When you get the testimonials, edit them if necessary, but don’t rewrite them. People can tell when testimonials are using real language or if they’ve been tweaked and manufactured by a marketing executive. Let customers use their own language…even if they’re not always the most eloquent when they do so.

Remember, asking for a customer testimonial doesn’t have to be taboo or a burden to them. People like talking about the companies they love. Make getting feedback part of your daily business life and encourage your customers to speak up about you. Chances are they’re already talking about you in places like Twitter and in blogs, anyway. Attract new customers by showing them how happy you’re current ones already are. Who wouldn’t want to join that party?

Lisa Barone is Co-Founder and Chief Branding Officer at Outspoken Media, Inc., an Internet marketing company that specializes in providing clients with online reputation management, social media services and other Internet services.

Lisa has been a constant voice in the search world since 2006 and is as known for her brutally honest search observations as her liveblogging of various internet marketing conferences. When she’s not blogging daily over at the Outspoken Media blog, you can find her guestposting on popular blogs like Search Engine Land, BlogWorldExpo, Sugarrae and a host of others.
She recently moved to Troy, NY where she lives with her two cats, Swat and Jack Jack. After suffering through a long five years on the West Coast, she has been very happy to rediscover the magic of seasons and superior sports teams. You can catch Lisa getting outspoken on Twitter at @lisabarone.

http://outspokenmedia.com

http://outspokenmedia.com

by ePublicist

How useful can communication limited to 140 characters be for serious journalism? It turns out that the short messages you find on Twitter have proven wildly useful for some writers penning larger pieces.

Here at ReadWriteWeb we've been leveraging Twitter heavily for some of our most important news writing. While cynics dismiss twitter as frivolous, we've got stories to share that should make anyone reconsider their doubts about the microblogging medium.

Josh Catone wrote here in January about the rise of Twitter as a platform for serious discourse and discussed the way that a handful of mainstream journalists are using the tool. Charles Cooper did an informal survey earlier this month that found a definite majority of journalists old and new to be absent from Twitter.

I did an interview on the BBC last week with some traditional journalists about Twitter and they scoffed at the idea that it could be useful. "Well," one said after I talked about how we've used it, "I certainly won't be checking it out." Hmph!

The scoffers can scoff all they want, but here at RWW our use of Twitter so far has included:

• the discovery of breaking stories,
• performing interviews,
• quality assurance
• and promotion of our work.

Breaking News

One of the defining characteristics of Twitter is its ease of use. While getting engaged enough to find value in the service does require some initial investment of time and energy - on a day to day and minute by minute basis, Twitter is remarkably easy to post to. As a result, people often post things they discover to Twitter before or instead of posting it to a blog.

Whether it's natural disasters, political developments or breaking tech news - it's common to discover items of interest first on Twitter.

Robert Scoble wrote a year ago about how Twitter users reported a major earthquake in Mexico City several minutes before the USGS did. Zolie Erdos chronicled last month how Twitter users beat government agencies and the world's (formerly) leading news organizations in reporting on March earthquakes in both China and Japan.

We discover tech news tips on Twitter first on a regular basis. When Google bought Twitter competitor Jaiku, for example, we learned about it on Twitter. That early news tip lead to our covering the news before any one else and getting our story on the front page of Digg - good in this case for tens of thousands of pageviews.

Interviews

When we got to interview Mark Zuckerberg at SXSW this year, we solicited interview questions via Twitter. If was quickly evident that many people wanted to read his thoughts about data portability, but we got some other good question suggestions as well. That's becoming an increasingly common tactic for us and other writers, as it's so easy to supplement our own questions with those of a larger network.

Below: Richard masters the Twinterview (ha!), requests questions he should ask Sun's Jonathan Schwartz. Interview forthcoming.

We've also found lately though that Twitter itself is very useful for performing public interviews. By putting out single or multiple questions into our Twitter networks in a call-and-response fashion, we've gathered piles of rich research in far less time than it would have taken to try and call people on the phone.

Some Twitter users reply to our questions with single line answers, others with a few tweets in a row and still others send us paragraphs by email when they see we've asked an interesting question.

The questions we asked for our post titled "APIs and Developer Platforms: A Discussion of the Pros and Cons', for example, recieved answers via Twitter from people like Esther Schindler, senior online editor at CIO.com, Ray Valdes, Research Director of Web Services at Gartner Inc, Chris Saad, co-founder and chairman of the Data Portability Workgroup and Raju Vegesna, of web office suite Zoho. In addition to people of such stature that we'd have to take a deep breath before being so presumptuous as to call them on the phone - our questions get interesting replies from a diverse group of people we would never have thought to ask personally.

We recognize that people using and replying on Twitter may not be generally representative of the population at large, but for qualitative interviews it's a tool that's hard to beat.

When Sarah Perez wrote a post here titled "Real People Don't Have Time for Social Media" she found a wide range of respondents for her questions. Some were hardcore early adopters and others reported that they just dabbled in tools like Twitter.

As Kevin Anderson wrote about Sarah's post at Corante, "No, it's not a random sample. But since when are 'man on the street' interviews?"

Quality Assurance

I'm not ashamed to admit that I do QA via Twitter. We often get feedback on misspellings, missed links and other publishing faux pas very quickly via Twitter. It's an easy way for readers to offer quick feedback.

Twitter can work really well for tech support or for finding quick answers to small tech questions. That makes it great for filling in details you can't quite remember. "What is that technology that does the toast-like popups on Mac desktop?" I asked when writing an article last week. Within minutes several people reminded me it's GROWL. Thanks!

There's a general sentiment of giving on Twitter, but a journalist's opportunity to perhaps provide later coverage can't help but further incentivize people to provide help.

Promotion

Promoting your online articles over Twitter is probably the crassest way a journalist can use the medium. Some people like getting an RSS feed through their Twitter account, but not very many. Here in Portland, Oregon our local daily paper feeds headlines through Twitter and that works real well. When bloggers post links to their posts, or post pleas for votes on Digg, it can feel a little dirty. We try to post either particularly interesting articles or to add a little extra value to each link to our own content we send out. We also try to make sure that the clear majority of our Tweets aren't about our own content.

That said, Twitter is a remarkably good traffic driver to our posts. A healthy little group of people click through our links on Twitter, some more via FriendFeed and they often give us great early feedback.

If we're working on something we think will be of interest, sometimes we'll prime the pump a bit and let people know what's coming up. So far, we've heard almost entirely positive feedback on these practices. That's probably based largely on the relationships we've got with our readers, many of which were developed using Twitter. If you had 20 to 50 people that consistently offered feedback on your articles, wouldn't that be great? That's what it feels like we get on Twitter.

Conclusion

When I first saw Twitter I thought it was the stupidest thing ever. Now, despite the length of this post, I find 140 characters plenty of space to communicate about almost anything. You can scoff all you want, we're using the hell out of this tool here at RWW and it's treating us very well. Others are starting to do similar things and it will likely be downright common very soon.

You can add RWW Editor Richard MacManus, Josh Catone, Sarah Perez and myself as friends on Twitter to join in the reporting fun! Thanks to Scott Macdonald for the reporter birdy pic.

Marshall Kirkpatrick is Vice President of Content Development at ReadWriteWeb, and also the Lead Writer. He hails from Portland, Oregon, USA. Prior to joining R/WW in Sept 2007, Marshall was Director of Content at SplashCast Media. During 2006 he was Lead Blogger at TechCrunch. You can contact Marshall at moc.bewetirwdaer|llahsram#moc.bewetirwdaer|llahsram.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_for_journalists.php

http://www.readwriteweb.com

http://www.emarketing4dummies.info/article:twitter-for-journalists

by ePublicist

Yesterday, I had a tweet burp.

(If you’ve been living under a rock in the past year, a “tweet” is a brief, text message on micro-blogging platform Twitter.)

I call it a “tweet burp” because it’s something like a brain fart. But I prefer “brain burp” because, unlike a brain fart where one forgets something basic or says something meaningless, what I thought, and subsequently tweeted about, was surprisingly meaningful.

And for some, even profound.

They are tips on how to Twitter better. (Try to say that 10 times in a row really fast!) Let me share it with you by posting some of the highlights here.

Some of these tips are not extraordinary, of course. Most of them are common sense. But they are things I do in my own social media involvement that has proven to work well for me. I recommend you do the same…

Keywords & Twitter

It all started when Amrit Hallan asked the following question on Twitter: “Wondering what keywords should a content writer or online copywriter must target. Any ideas?”
I began tweeting back-and-forth with him, in an effort to help him about his keyword selection for his niche.

He told me that his keywords are pulling in very little traffic. A conversation and a series of tips ensued, where, in short, I told him to target better keywords?—?because the ones he chose may not be on his target market’s radar.

The problem, I gathered, is that he was betting on words revolving around his services.

My thinking is, people don’t look for solutions by typing them into search engines. They are likely looking for solutions by typing in the problem, or symptom, instead.

To prove my theory in Amrit’s case, I used a couple of keyword tools. And sure enough, search volume for terms related to the problem people experienced was much larger than those with keywords that included the solution.

True, traffic levels may still not be extravagant. But the chances are high they will bring in more traffic because seekers will have an affinity with the more targeted search results, as well as bring in more targeted traffic to boot.

This reminded me of something brilliant my friend and top copywriter David Garfinkel once said. He said to write copy (or in this case, to write keyword-rich content), you need to know three critical things:

• Who is my client,
• What is their problem, and
• How are they talking about it?

Knowing the first one is crucial. A lot of people do market research only to gauge demand, without ever knowing who their client really is, much less how they perceive, talk about, and seek out solutions for, their problem.

The third question in particular is the kicker!

People looking for your services may be typing something completely different in the search engines, and if you ignore this you’re going to miss out on a ton of traffic.

Back to my point.

The keen thing about this interaction was, a couple of other people got involved in the conversation. It was awesome. It also gave me a chance to help others who were on the sidelines, lurking and learning what was being said.

I know, because a lot of people either replied or direct-messaged me to thank me. Plus, at the end it gave me an opportunity to talk about our own keyword research course, which resulted in a few sales let alone a few extra followers.

And that was when I had a brain burp.

What happened was a powerful example of how to effectively market on Twitter, even without marketing directly on it at all. Plus, the conversation indirectly lead to a few epiphanies. So I decided to tweet some tips in light of what had just occurred.

Don't Be Afraid to Block!

However, before I tell them to you, let me share something else that happened. Something, well, not as positive. (There is a method to my madness, so bear with me.)

During the conversation, someone replied to me, complaining that I was “clogging up their tweetsream” and told me, in essence, to shut up.

I found that disturbing and fascinating at the same time.

The reason is, if a person feels I’m clogging up their tweet stream, then why are they following me? Whatever his purpose in following me was, it certainly wasn’t because he found what I tweeted was of any value. In other words, he wasn’t “qualified.”

So I decided to block him.

And blocking is such an unused feature on Twitter, but it’s one I highly recommend. It’s really easy. Go to a person’s profile, and on the right there’s a link that says “block” underneath their bio. By blocking someone, they can’t follow you or see your tweets.

Blocking is not just for whiners and stalkers, either. Use it to block spammers, spambots, and people who use scripts?—?scripts are not real people but software that seek out followers for the purpose of building their own list.

(Alice Seba wrote an interesting article on the subject, by the way, in which she compared “followbots” to those infamous spammers’ safelists. And I agree.)

Now, don’t worry. I don’t block autofollowers outright?—?people who automatically follow those who follow them. But I do try to block those that autofollow then auto-unfollow when the script realizes you don’t follow back. These are mostly spambots, not real people.

Nevertheless, here’s the series of tips I gleaned from these exchanges.

Twitter Marketing Epiphany

Want to spread your social authority?

Search Twitter for questions people in your niche are asking, and respond using a reply. Even try to engage them in a conversation. You don’t need to follow them. Just be helpful. Use the “@reply” to introduce yourself and answer their question.

Be careful, however. I don’t mean to say you should do this as a way to get clients or sales, much less followers. Your goal is not to seek out people you can easily spam to.

It’s about increasing your visibility about you and your expertise, which will inevitably increase your Twitter followers. Genuine followers. Real people with real problems or concerns, who listen and care, and value what you say.

This will subsequently increase your leads and your sales, too.

That’s what being social is all about. But being social doesn’t mean just being among others, it also means doing among others. That is, engage, converse, interact. Answer questions, offer advice, tweet brief tips, etc.

It’s amazing how many people ask questions on Twitter.

Do a Twitter search for the kinds of questions people ask, or using keywords in your niche people typically use when they have a need or a problem, and you’ll be amazed by the results. Twitter is filled with potential prospects. People you can serve, not sell to.

Also, don’t forget people use Twitter search, too. If they have a question, a challenge, or an idea, they sometimes search for answers on Twitter as well. Not just the search engines. So you want to be in front of them, too.

In fact, people are constantly looking for worthy people to follow. One great way is to look at people you are following, and see who they are following. It’s a great start. Check out their profiles. Check out their tweetstreams.

And many of them are also looking for worthy people to follow by conducting searches on Twitter. They tend to search for keywords in their niche. (For example, I often conduct searches using the terms “copywriting,” “marketing,” and “blogging.”)

So ensure to include those keywords in your tweets.

In fact, here’s a great tip:

Just like the easiest SEO strategy is to publish a lot of fresh content, because by doing so you naturally increase the number of indexed pages on the search engines as well as the number of keywords and keyword combinations, the easiest “TEO” (or “Twitter Engine Optimization”) is tweeting a lot of keyword-rich tweets.

However, in your TEO efforts, don’t forget spambots, scripts, and spammers. There are as many scripts conducting searches as there are people. Often, for nefarious reasons. So don’t be afraid to block, block, block!

If you want to be a bit more strategic about it, look for people with large, authentic followings in your niche, people whose opinions their followers value. And try to interact with them.

They will converse with you. Their people will follow you not because your name is mentioned on the conversations, but because your opinions matter to them, too.

After all, you are like them.
And people like people who are like them.
It’s all about affinity.

If there’s a genuine relationship developed as a result, believe me, they will talk about you. They will mention you as a person worthy of being followed on those famous “follow friday” tweets. They will link to your blog. They will retweet your valuable tweets. They will endorse you.

So be sincere. Be helpful. And be generous.

Don’t just look for people with large followings, either. Interacting with people with a large number of followers only because they are popular, with the hope you will access their “list,” won’t score you any brownie points.

Look for people with whom you have an affinity and whose opinions their followers value.

Often known as “thought leaders,” they have large followings for a reason. Unless they’re a celebrity with a huge fanbase, these thought leaders often tend to tweet valuable information, helpful advice, and interesting tweets. So why not do the same?

So don’t just follow others. Be a leader and build your own following.

Educate. Encourage. Engage.

Your authenticity will shine through. Equally, any insincerity will shine through just as well. The worst thing that can happen is, if you’re only looking for followers, they will see through it and speak out against you?—?or simply ignore you altogether.

My point is, don’t go trawling for followers.

Look for people you can serve.

Look at it this way: in marketing, they say you want to be in front of qualified eyeballs. But just trying to be in front of qualified people doesn’t mean you deserve their attention and respect, much less their follow. Quality is something you attract, not extract.

So post quality tweets, especially keyword-rich tweets?—?i.e., be helpful, genuine, and real. And you will attract quality followers, almost as a natural byproduct.

And don’t be afraid to praise people on Twitter. Genuinely and generously. People want to know you care. And people want to know what and who you care about, too.

They say “praise publicly, but criticize privately.” Right? Similarly, praise others on Twitter. Praise often. But if you have a beef with someone, don’t do what the complainer did earlier, when he told me to shut up. Send them a direct message instead.

Above all, don’t be afraid to…

… Tweet fearlessly and block ruthlessly.

Michel Fortin has an uncanny knack for writing persuasively. A direct response copywriter and consultant for close to 20 years, he knows how to use words to "grab readers by the eyeballs," boost response to record rates and transform floundering businesses into mega-moneymaking machines.

Michel's company, SuccessDoctor.com, is a copywriting and direct response consultancy that can take your marketing and your business to the next level — and beyond — with clearer, more compelling and more cash-generating copy that sells.

http://www.michelfortin.com/tweet-fearlessly-block-ruthlessly/

http://www.michelfortin.com/

by ePublicist

With so much information - and misinformation - available on the topic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) it can be tricky trying to separate fact from fiction.

Coupled with the fact that SEO changes only slightly less rapidly than the weather, it can be downright overwhelming to know where to start.

So, if you're an SEO newbie looking for a place to start, here's a look at some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) basics. What Is SEO?

Even the most beautifully-designed site won't do you much good if potential customers can't find it. That's where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in: SEO helps ensure your site is more visible in the search engines, drive qualified traffic to your website, and convert that traffic into actual customers.

In short, SEO increases your website's rankings in the search engines by making the pages within your site more attractive to the search engines. The more attractive your site is to Google, the higher its rankings in the search engine results pages. And the higher your rankings, the more likely users will visit your site. Obviously, a site with a result on Page 1 of Google is going to get more traffic than a site buried on Page 14.

If your site is missing from the top search results, then you may not be maximizing your ability to generate new business and add revenue to your bottom line. Let's take a look at some stats:

• 1.3 billion Internet users
• Over 85% start at a search engine
• Less than 25% will go beyond the top 10 search engine results
• Top 10 results get 80% more traffic than those ranked in the 11-30 spots

Besides gaining better rankings in the search engines, SEO is effective in several other areas as well:

• Branding/establishment as an authority
• Pre-qualified lead generation
• Easily tracked ROI
• Cost savings compared to other mediums such as glossy brochures and yellow pages ads (average cost per lead is $0.29!)

Breaking SEO Down

SEO consists of several key elements that work together to generate increases in a website's rankings, traffic and conversions: Keyword Selection, Copywriting, Link Building, HTML Optimization and Analytics. Let's take a look at each element in more detail:

Keyword Selection

The foundation of any SEO campaign is good keyword research. That's because targeting the right keywords is essential to getting your SEO on the right track. If your sell silver ladies watches, then you're going to want to rank in the search engines for the phrase "silver ladies watches" and other similar phrases. If your keyword research is off and you target the wrong keywords, then you may not get visitors who want what your site has to offer. That's why you need to make sure that your site is properly optimized for the most-searched-for keywords related to your business.

Copywriting

Getting potential customers to your site is only half the battle; you've got to convince them to buy. That's where persuasive copywriting comes in. Be sure to tell people why they need your products or services and include conversion points throughout the site. The search engines like content, so you also need to optimize your copy to include your keywords. This includes things like descriptive product pages, built-out content like biographies, news sections, etc. One important point to remember is to keep your most critical content "above the fold" - that's the area that's visible to your users before they have to scroll down.

Link Building

Think popularity contests ended in high school? Think again; you're not so lucky. Link building is like one big online popularity contest, and the search engines like the popular kids. Your success in the search engines depends, in part, on the amount of relevant incoming links to your site. Of course, having lots of good links also drives customers to your site, which is a good thing, too. Links can come in various sources, including directories, business partners, organizations, social media sites, and much, much more.

HTML Optimization

Title tags, header tags, Alt tags, Meta-descriptions — the search engines want your site's HTML to be descriptive and clean. Search engines want to know exactly what your page is about; they don't want to sort through a bunch of extraneous code to figure it out. That's why you'll hear SEO types talk about the importance of having clean code and how to use CSS to make that happen.

Measuring Success

No SEO campaign is complete without analytics. After all, if you aren't measuring things like traffic, link popularity, and conversions, then how do you know if your SEO strategies are working? Programs like ClickTracks and Google Analytics help make the number-crunching a little easier. When analyzing an SEO campaign, it's important to only make one change at a time so that you know which changes are effective.

If you want to have an effective SEO campaign, you need to include each of the five SEO elements listed above. Keep in mind the information here just scratches the surface of these topics, and there are certainly other more advanced SEO strategies that can benefit your site as well. These building blocks, however, are the perfect way to get your SEO campaign started on the right track.

Check out our SEO case studies or get a free SEO analysis of your site now!

Collyn Floyd is a marketing and public relations specialist with The Karcher Group, a web development and search engine marketing firm based in North Canton, OH. She is passionate about helping The Karcher Group's clients achieve greater online traffic, leads and sales through search engine optimization and marketing.

http://www.tkg.com/

The Karcher Group

by ePublicist

One of the first thing people ask me when they want to figure out how to advertise or market on-line is:

• What are “keywords”?
• Why are they important?

In a real way you can say that advertising and marketing on-line start with keywords; keywords are integral to the process of managing ongoing campaigns; and ultimately one of the many by-products of any campaign is yet more keywords.

In traditional language¹, keywords are the words which are pivotal in making an argument or telling a story. More recently, in that esoteric science of the analysis of language², a keyword is a word that shows up more often that expected. In fact both explanations and neither describe our “keywords”. Ultimately in eMarketing “keywords” are the words or phrases people use when looking up information in a search engine. Our task is to provide these same search engines with words they will happily list at the top of the first page of search results!

Search Engine Friendly

It just so happens that if these same words are an integral part of the text ('are pivotal in telling the story') and perhaps reoccur in the same document a little more often than we would expect to see them in just any document, those same search engines are more likely to choose these words or phrases as the “keywords” associated with our document. It stands to reason that we should be interested in learning which words or phrases people are likely to use when looking for products or services like the ones we are interested in promoting on-line. By identifying these phrases and ensuring that our documents use them appropriately³ search engines are more likely to list our site higher up on its search results, although ultimately there are several other factors that affect such ranking. Also each Search Engine provider keeps the actual identity of these factors and how they are calculated a deep dark trade secret, from us and all their competitors.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

The on-line advertising issue is similar, but a bit more complex. Most ad providers, like the Google Adwords people who act as brokers between the advertisers and the publishers, decide which advertisement will be posted on which document based upon their analysis of the content of that document before it is displayed to the viewer. As a result the “keywords” associated with that document directly affect which advertisement is posted. Why? The advertiser was required to select a list of “keywords” to associate with their advertisement when they posted it with the broker. Obviously some sort of co-relation must exist between the two for the broker to decide to post that advertisement on that document. Again there are other factors at work, but the similarity between the two sets of keywords is perhaps the most critical.

Another factor that Google takes into consideration is where people who click on your advertisement end up! Its what we call the “Landing Page”. Again thanks to our Search Engine's analysis, if the keywords associated that page reflect the content (and keywords) of the advertisement, Google Adwords gives us “brownie points”. That not only places our advertisement higher on the list of ads, but more often than not Google will charge us less for that click! Yes, you heard me! Google calls this the “Quality Score” (See the short video from the Seminar for Success)

In The Beginning

I think you can begin to understand why keywords are so important and why you have to get them correct, right up front:

• All those pages of content you are going to write for your site should reflect the keywords potential visitors are going to use to search for a website they need.
• The advertisements you write, and the keywords you choose to associate with them should reflect the keywords people use to look for your product or service
• The “Landing Page” your advertisement forwards your prospective customer to must also closely reflect the keywords that brought them there to begin with

Have I convinced you that you should spend some time and effort researching keywords? I hope so. The better prepared you are, the more effective your overall initiative will be.

Its Now Over Till …

In fact, in order to avoid having you royally peeved with me later, let me clue you into one more important fact. The entire process of choosing keywords, using them in the various vehicles (content, advertisements, landing pages etc.) is only the very beginning. In reality, every step of the eMarketing or eAdvertising process you will be glued to your daily, weekly and monthly statistical analysis. One of the critical pieces of information this analysis should provide you is: which keyword brought visitors to your site. Of course, if people arrived at your site because of a keyword you did not originally add to your list … I can be pretty certain that you are going to add it now! If that same word starts showing up often enough, I'd suggest you review your content, advertisements and landing pages to ensure they reflect that keyword's growing importance.

That's it! Now its up to you to do your homework and select a list of “keywords” to get your initial campaign going.

Wishing you every success!
Yoel Ben-Avraham
ePublicist.ca

Yoel Ben-Avraham is a Semi-Retired IT Professional with over twenty five years of direct involvement with the application of Information Technology to business and non-profit institutions. Since September 1994 he has been intimately involved with the adaptation of new technologies over the Internet, and in seeking ways to exploit these technologies to assist his employers/customers in diriving measureable benefit from them.

To this end he established ePublicist.ca in 2004 to provide consulting and project management assistance to Small Businesses and Non-Profit Organizations looking to exploit the potential of the Internet to advance their marketing, public relations, publicity or fund raising objectives.

http://www.ePublicist.ca

http://www.ePublicist.ca

by ePublicist

It is no real secret that a well written topical blog can significantly help out your website - so why aren't you doing it?

The most common reasons I hear for not starting a blog involve a lack of time to write posts, and limited ideas to write about, but taking that extra time to get some useful content out there can do wonders for your search rankings among other things.

An established blog that is updated regularly gets spidered by Google often, and increases the chances of new search rankings considerably. I have seen multiple situations where regularly updated blogs wind up ranking #1 in Google for relevant phrases literally within a couple hours of posting. It usually takes a well established website and blog to make this happen, but there is big potential if you do things the right way.
Improve Your Monthly Google AdSense Payment!

While blogs work best if updated multiple times per week, even those with a new post every week or two have advantages. Blogs don't have to be a major undertaking, spending only an hour or so a week on posting can have you seeing results in no time.

There are many advantages to adding a blog to your website. Here are a few.

Increased Rankings

By boosting your topical content, you increase the value and relevance of your site. The more new stuff you add, the more of an authority you make your site, and this helps to improve your overall search rankings. It can also help you obtain rankings for "long tailed search phrases".

Long tailed search phrases are those that are less commonly searched, and usually exceed 3 or 4 words in length - they are also very targeted to your product or service. Blogs are great for getting rankings on long tailed search phrases. If you see a long tailed search phrase you want to rank for, use the phrase as the post title (if it makes sense to do so) and write a good, content rich post about it and your ranking potential for this phrase will rise.

By writing blog posts with your target phrases in mind, you can often help improve your overall rankings by increasing the relevance of the site to that search phrase. Consider also linking to other relevant pages within your site from the post.

Increased Traffic

Blogs are great for increasing traffic. Aside from the added traffic you may see from search ranking improvements, if your blog is interesting and topical, you will get some repeat visitors to your site as readers check back for new posts. If people really like your blog, they will spread the word, resulting in even more visitors. Just think, have you ever emailed or instant messaged a friend with a link to an article you have read? Don't you want your link to be the one passed around?

Credibility

By blogging regularly about your industry you will help to establish yourself as an expert. Many of your potential customers will see your blog and notice that you know what you're talking about and be more likely to utilize your services. By sharing your knowledge it can help to instill trust onto your visitors which can actually result in increased conversions. There are a lot of faceless, anonymous websites out there - an active blog can help people relate to you and trust you.

Links

A good, well written blog can result in free one way links to your site. Sometimes it is as simple as a fan adding your link to their blog roll, and other times it may be RSS working its magic. Try to squeeze in a link or two into your posts and direct them to other internal pages on your website. If anyone then republishes or syndicates your posts on their sites, you will also end up with a relevant back link. (If you would like some other ideas on link building be sure to check out Ways to Increase Link Density & Building Links with Directory Submissions )

A blog is not a magic bullet used to skyrocket your inbound link counts, but it can certainly help.

What Platform To Use

I am a firm believer in the power of WordPress and the seemingly unlimited plug-ins available to help you. That said, just about any blog platform will work. It is probably best to stick with the main stream providers as they tend to have more options available and better support forums in case you get stuck with customization issues. In the end however, any search friendly blog platform will ultimately do the trick.

Blog Post Ideas

If after reading this you are sitting there thinking, "What should I write about?" here are some ideas to help you get going:

• New product launches
• Press releases
• Industry relevant news
• How to's related to your product or service
• Answers to reader comments
• Posts revolving around relevant long tailed phrases
• In depth product descriptions or tutorials
• Company history or interesting stories
• Reviews of related products, services or online tools

Blogs are relevant for pretty much all industries, and they don't have to take a lot of your time. A little creativity can help you come up with ideas for posts, just try to think outside the proverbial box.

If you've been putting off the blogging idea for some time, consider getting started now. There is much to gain and very little to lose.

Scott Van Achte is the Senior SEO at StepForth Web Marketing Inc.; based in Victoria, BC, Canada and founded in 1997.

http://news.stepforth.com

www.stepforth.com

by ePublicist

A while ago, I wrote a blog post on the power of names. I won’t repeat it here, except for the fact that, while branding may not be a priority for you, choosing a name for your business or product (even your domain name) is often the single, most important business decision you will ever make.

In this blog post I submit five characteristics of great brand names, which I call the five “S’s.” They are characteristics I encourage you to follow when coming up with a solid, long-lasting, and highly profitable name. For starters, let me point out that the best names are names that are short, easy to pronounce, and easy to remember. They have considerable mnemonic value, which often translates into financial value.

A mnemonic is a device - such as a word, symbol, or sound - intended to assist in recall. If a name carries some mnemonic value, it will increase traffic, sales, and value to your business on its own. The more mnemonic a name is, the more valuable it is. There are various reasons for this.

First, due to the growing overload of information on the web, people no longer have the time to search the Internet let alone pages upon pages of search engine results in order to find exactly what they want.
Sure, search engines will always have a place. But more and more people would love to skip irrelevant search engine results. Many will in fact attempt to reach websites directly by guessing and typing plausible domains into their browsers.
(How often have you done this? I do all the time.) Either that or, when do they use the search engines, they will search for specific names, especially those they remember or deduce, first - and do so before they try to search for something too generic or general, which might force them to wade through pages of search engine results to no avail.

Think about it. How easier would it be if they knew of a name beforehand and typed it into a search engine? How much more relevant would search engine results be?

You guessed it, a lot more.

Take, for instance, search engine trends, even trends that appear on the front page of social networking sites.
When a current news item, hot topic, major event, or popular controversy crops up, the Internet becomes inundated with people looking those terms up. Search trends often include brand names, too.

Your objective, therefore, is to choose not only a good brand name but also one that burns itself into the mind of the marketplace. The brains of the people in your market. That’s the power of being “hooked on mnemonics.”
Nevertheless, while the availability of good brand names is shrinking, here are five basic guidelines to follow. Try to follow these as much as you can. I call them the “5 S’s of Naming” (and yes, using the letter “S” is a mnemonic), which are:

1. Suggestiveness
2. Spelling
3. Size
4. Singsong
5. Scalability

1. Suggestiveness

First, choose a suggestive name, one that communicates the main benefit if not at least the nature of the product, business, or website. Benefit-based names have a multitude of advantages beyond ease-of-recall, including credibility.
Studies show suggestive names that instantly communicate what the product or business is all about, what’s their purpose or benefit, in one fell swoop, can rapidly increase desirability, believability, sales, and of course, brand equity.
Look at some of the strongest brand names out there. You will notice that most of them tend to have a name in which the main purpose or benefit is suggested.

For example, “Jiffy Lube” means a fast oil change. “Band-Aid” means a bandage that comes to your aid. “Duracell” means a battery cell that’s durable and longlasting. Benefit-based suggestiveness applies particularly well to domain names. Why? Because if a brand name is already taken, you can resort to its core benefit or purpose instead. For example, if you sought a financial planner and were given a bunch of URLs, would you choose nafep.com (which is an actual name, by the way)? Or InvestRight.com?

2. Spelling

Second, make it easy to pronounce and hard to misspell. If you must spell it, then scrap it. The moment you’re forced to spell your business, product, or domain name when asking people to look you up, you’ve lost them already. Think of the people trying to find your business, your product, or your website - whether they use a search engine or not. Make it easy for them to do so and avoid anything that impedes the proper spelling of the brand name.

For instance, avoid numbers, hard-to-pronounce words, or acronyms. Unless you are IBM, AOL, CNN, BMW, or some other, already well-known brand, avoid acronyms or initials at all costs - they are probably the worst of the bunch.
In short, make the name intuitive. I’m not just talking about unique names, either. Avoid generic words that are easily or commonly misspelled, which may impede traffic.

For example, if you have a wedding planner site, would you call your business “Marriages Made Easy”? Or “Weddings Well Done”? The two are good, but “marriage” can often be misspelled with one “R” instead of two. (If you already have one and it’s too late, hopefully it’s not too late to register the misspelled domain to capture additional traffic - lest they go to a competitor, much less a site that might be less favorable, like some adult site.)
On the other hand, if an acronym makes a name easy to pronounce, easy to remember, and shorter, then go for it. In fact, this is the third guideline.

3. Size

The shorter it is, the better it will be. For example, which one would you remember the most and have the least amount of trouble (or potential for error) in typing into your browser: YetAnotherHierarchicallyOrganizedOracle.com? Or Yahoo.com? Long names can be counterproductive as it diminishes its mnemonic value. “Federal Express” is now FedEx. “FedEx” means a courier that express-ships your packages, federally. But since they now ship around the world, FedEx makes better sense.

Or take a look at “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” which is now KFC. I don’t know why exactly they changed the name, but I surmise that it’s because of the word “fried,” which tends to communicate unhealthiness in a now health-conscious society.
But be careful, if you’re brand-new and decide to use an acronym, make sure to avoid confusion. It’s best to choose an acronym that’s memorable or easily pronounceable. Take the aforementioned Yahoo!, for instance. Or SHIELD, which means “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.” (Sorry. Couldn’t resist. My love for comic-book heroes slipped through.)

Or better yet, start with a regular name first, build your brand, and then shorten it, if appropriate - although that may be an expensive proposition. Remember, IBM wasn’t always IBM, but “International Business Machines.” AOL, America Online. Etc.

4. Singsong

The fourth guideline is to use repetition. Repetitious sounds are pleasing to the ear and add a singsong quality. As the adage goes, “Repetition is the parent of learning.”

By making the pronunciation simpler, repetition, such as with rhymes and alliteration, helps to turn names into mental “hooks.” And by making the name esthetically pleasing, studies show you also increase credibility, too. If you can make your name rhyme, you’re going to create a name that will almost instantly create an indelible mark on people’s minds. When the need for your solution arises, people will naturally think of your name first. Which is the whole point of a good, memorable brand name.

Don’t forget alliteration, also known as “head rhymes,” too. It’s all about repetition. For example, NoBrainerBlinds.com, Coca-Cola, SiteSell.com, Krispy Kreme, Google, and so on have that pleasing, singsong quality. Also, strong-sounding or “choppy” consonants (like the sound of “P,” “D,” “T,” and “K”), used particularly at the beginning, help recall by adding emphasis. They are called plosives. And according to naming expert Steve Rivkin, “It makes linguistic sense to start a brand name with a strong-sounding consonant or a plosive.”

5. Scalability

One thing to be careful of is to choose a name that’s not too specific, limited, or constrained. Otherwise, it can literally paint your product or business into a corner. Remember the names I mentioned earlier that were later changed to their abbreviated versions in order to shorten them? Rebranding is often a very costly exercise, and you want to avoid that as much as possible. But this also applies to names that, while they may be relevant today, could become irrelevant, incompatible, or impractical in the future.

In other words, don’t choose a name that’s time-sensitive, situational, inflexible, or linked to something else - such as a current event, another brand, or some fad or trend. If things change (and they will), will the name still apply? Will it still be relevant? Can it lose its commercial value? Will you be forced to change if you decided to expand?

A scalable name is a name that’s evergreen, extensible, easily modifiable (without any costly overhaul to the brand or depreciation in brand equity), and compatible with future changes, additions, partners, or markets. That’s why it’s important that, while the name may be suggestive, don’t make it too generic. Some unique names may not be as suggestive, but they can certainly become some of the most memorable - and profitable - brands. A few good online examples are Google, Twitter, Hulu, etc.

Or in some cases, and for the lack of a better word, some names can be “uniquified,” either by:
A combination of suggestive words, such as WordPress, FaceBook, ClickBank, PhotoShop, MicroSoft, etc;
A generic, suggestive name made unique, like Kleenex (cleanliness), Windex (washes windows), Sensodyne (toothpaste for sensitive teeth), Natrel (naturally filtered milk), iPhone (self-explanatory), etc;
Or a completely different name that may not be related but is indirectly associated with its core benefit, idea, or purpose, such as Ivory (white soap that’s luxurious), Godiva (specialty chocolates that’s “sinful” to eat), Raid (insecticide that’s as efficient as a military raid), etc.

Bottom line, make sure you stay away from names that are unattractive, confusing, easy to misspell, obscure, too long, inflexible, and can be easily forgotten or ignored. Bad names not only can impede your business’ growth, but it can also kill your credibility, cost you in lost sales, and become counterproductive.

In essence, make it easy for people to find you and do business with you. Like a brand that burns an owner’s indicia on its livestock, choose an easily recognizable brand that burns itself into the brains of your market. For the more you do, and the more memorable you are, then the more profitable you will become.

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, marketing strategy consultant, and instrumental in some of the most lucrative online businesses and wildly successful marketing campaigns to ever hit the web. For more articles like this one, please visit his blog at  and subscribe to his RSS feed

http://www.michelfortin.com/

http://www.michelfortin.com/

by ePublicist

Your online business is not a wild crazy idea, but a source of income. Trust the right people to design your website. Your 17 year old nephew may be able to create your website or you can get a free one from several services…they might even be kind of pretty. In my research and experience, less than 2% of businesses that have websites have planted the seeds to online success. Many of them are your competitors.

The problem is web designers' focus on the technical aspects of the site. They don't have a clue how to build a website that makes you a ton of money, drives floods of traffic, and gets you top placement on search engines.

Why Do You Have a Website?

The reason you have a website for your business, no matter what business you are in, is you want to rake in bundles of cash. Maybe not now, but definitely later, it should be bringing returns on your investment.
Forget Expensive PPC Advertising - There is an Alternative!

Your Website is Like Your Business

Make sure that your web designer owns a successful online business and knows how to run it.

Your sole purpose in having a website should be to use it as a marketing and communications tool. It is not there to be pretty. It should not be there to win awards. It is there to make you money. Even if you have a better product or service than your competitor, the one who attracts more prospects and customers - wins! Being the best at marketing is all that matters.

Marketing Online Is Completely Different

All of the tools, techniques, communication, etc. in the online world are different than those offline. A very common mistake is to think because it works offline you can just put it on your website! It's important to realize the reader of offline copy thinks and processes information in a different way than someone reading online copy. What works offline may be a complete flop online.

They are two different worlds. For example, online marketing requires you to know how to get your site ranked high, very high, in the search engines like Google and Yahoo….so you routinely appear on the first page for the optimal search terms for your business.

Of course, this assumes you know how to find the optimal words for your business, your marketplace, your niche, etc. Just so you know, the "include all words" strategy has proven to be a total failure.

And, most designers and businesses do not know that SEO (search engine optimization) is not SEM (search engine marketing). If you do one and not the other, you will probably be very discouraged with your results.

Studies have shown that you need to be on the first page of search engine results to get enough people coming to your site. SEO and SEM are not optional for online success - they are mandatory!

Improve your ROI

Only Work with People Who Know Website and Online Marketing

When you are planning your financial future, you hire a financial planner or an attorney who specializes in that area of law. When you want plastic surgery you don't go to a podiatrist, unless you want to end up with your nose looking like a foot.

Did you know that 99% of web design companies don't know how to create online sites that actually market your products or services?

You need people who can help you with how to create "hot" products or services that your customers really want.

You need people who make it possible for you to have a "money tree" business. People who can produce money like it grows on trees. People who have the communication skills to capture the attention of, and "cash the order" with, your customers. Online or offline. (That means using multiple marketing channels and starting with the lowest cost which is online!)

You need people with real world experience as well as online experience that can combine the two for the benefit of…YOU. No one has the time to learn everything about their business, the internet, marketing, copywriting, finances and so on. That is why…

"The price of ignorance is paid forever!"

Successful entrepreneurs value all the real-world experience they can get. Where do they get it? By surrounding themselves with a team of experts, who can provide the knowledge, guidance and successful experience for a wide variety of businesses.

Your Website is your Marketing Machine

It is all about driving people to your website. This is more than "being found" for the right search terms. This is about having a comprehensive strategy that links your offline and online market?ng together to create leverage for your business and to get maximum results.

You need to be sure your online partner can:

• Create a site that entices visitors to convert from information seekers to paying customers
• Generate a stream of online and offline leads
• Show you what functions of your business can be automated to save you dollars…and put those sav?ngs to good use…getting more customers
• Show you the secrets of capturing information and how to utilize it for easy access and follow up
• Show you how to make more sales with your existing customers
• Help you set up marketing campaigns that get real results and build customer loyalty
• Help you use marketing with email ethically and effectively

Seriously, if your web designer/dungeon master/graphic Zulu cannot do ALL of these things and more, fire them now. You are wasting time and money. And time is often worth more than money.

Test, Test, and Test Some More

If you really want online success, or even offline success, then you must understand the importance of successful marketing testing. It is Crucial.

Businesses that are wildly successful with their offline and online strategies are always rabid about testing and knowing how and what to test.

Track and Measure… Correctly

You want to know everything that is happening on your website, or not happening. All of that testing will do you no good if you are not measuring and tracking all of the data associated with it.

Here are some of the tracking measures you should be talking to your web designer/builder about. In fact, they should be talking to you about these things. If you have to bring them up, you are already in trouble, with a capital T.

• How many visitors are coming to the site
• How many of the visitors aren't visitors (i.e. spiders, crawlers, etc. from search engines)
• How many visitors are new vs. old
• How long does each visitor stay on your site
• What does each visitor look at
• What graphics, words, pictures, etc. are generating the most responses
• Which search engines are getting you the best prospects
• Where else are your customers coming from
• How many pages does the visitor look at
• What are your website rankings
• How much money have you made from the average visitor
• Who are your biggest money-making customers
• If you use PPC, is it working and paying for itself
• Which links are bringing your visitors and are they converting to customers
• And so on

This is not a comprehensive listing, rather, it gives you an idea of how many things you could or should be tracking when it comes to your marketing online.

If you are like most people, you are thinking "there is no way I could remember all of that, much less do it." You would be right. Remember, that is why we all need a team of experts around us to do the things we either don't know or don't have time for.

But, if you use these kinds of tools and tracking you will join the 1-2% of successful online businesses. You do want to make money with your website, right?

It is simple; your website should bring in more money than it costs to maintain it!

Some Final Thoughts

Today, you must be on-line with a website to be successful. Research has shown that people are abandoning the yellow pages and many other 'traditional' forms of advertising. The internet is the #1 source for information on virtually every topic or subject you can imagine… and still growing rapidly.

It is as it has always been - survival of the fittest. Those businesses which combine their offline and online strategies to maximize their effectiveness are going to survive and thrive. The others will die. And in these times there will be more deaths than usual. You see it, the 'for lease' signs appearing everywhere, the 'announcement' each week of another big business failure, the empty spaces in office buildings.

The key to lasting success is to create lasting value. Turn transactions into relationships. In fact, the last sentence may be the most important and valuable one you read.

Ajay Prasad is founder of Global Marketing Resources LLC, a co. that runs a number of ecommerce websites under it's umbrella. Ajay's functional expertise includes website strategy, marketing management, business development, consumer research, market analysis and strategic planning. GMRWebTeam is an Orange County Website Design company that aims to develop an overall website strategy for your site

http://www.gmrwebteam.com/

Orange County Website Design

by ePublicist

Whether you are an agency providing Pay Per Click (PPC) services, or an in-house PPC manager, there are a number of questions you can ask that will lead to some great ad copy ideas.

Here are some questions that you can ask when preparing to write PPC ad copy:

(and, thank you Joe for your ideas!)

General Questions

Awards - Has your company or any of your products received awards? Google AdWords allows you to mention that you have an “award-winning” product if there is supporting copy on the landing page.

Trust & Longevity - How many years has the company been in business? Sometimes it is beneficial to separate yourself from the competition with a quick mention of how long you have been in business.

Customer Base - How many customers do you have? Or, how many people have purchased your product/service? This may be a source of competitive intelligence, so you would likely only mention this if it is somewhere else in your marketing messaging.

Discounts - Do you offer discounts, and are there discount codes that can be used in the purchase process (online or offline)? You might try putting a discount code or special offer code directly in the ad copy. Of course, if the code can only be used for a limited time, this might not be advisable. However, if you can keep the discount code live indefinitely, this is a fantastic way to track the success of the ad (in addition to conversion tracking tools).

Value Statements - What are the top 3 benefits that customers see when they do business with you or purchase your products? Try testing ad copy versions that play off of what the customer will see in terms of benefits. This is an excellent way to see which benefits are resonating with your audience. Remember, you cannot use superlatives in ad copy (e.g. cheapest, best, etc.).

Comparisons - Do you have data that will show how your products are superior? Create a landing page that lists information about how your products/services stacks up vs. the competition (and you can support your claims), create a product comparison grid on your landing page and point your ad there, along with something like “View our competition comparisons.” (33 characters)

B2B General Questions

Objections - What objections do sales people hear frequently from prospects? If you anticipate the most-common objections that sales people hear in the field, you can address these both in the ad copy and on the landing page. For this purpose, make sure to ask for any objections that are made, outside of “price”!

Differentiation - What separates you from the rest of the market? Tell searchers what makes you better than the competition. Because you cannot use superlatives, you will have to craft messaging carefully to indicate what makes you special.

Full Service - Do you offer services to help with implementation, installation, support, etc.? Sometimes people just want to know that you can take care of everything for them. You can try incorporating something like “Full service provider.” into one of your ad copy lines. Or, “Install, support & consulting.” (30 characters)

Leads - Do you support your customers with a partner program or lead generation offering? Everyone wants leads! If you have a program that provides leads to partners/customers, try something like “Partner lead program available.” (31 characters)

Financing - Do you offer financing? Leasing or rent-to-own? Do you have lenders that already know your products and will work with your customers? Whether it’s a terrible economic climate or not, telling searchers that you have a way for them to finance their purchase is always a winner!

Stay Away - Are there people out there that might be looking for something similar to what you offer, but they are not the right fit for you? You can save some of your PPC budget by saying something in your ad copy that will only appeal to your target audience. For example, if you want to keep bargain-hunters away, you might try words like “High-end”, “Commercial”, “Commercial-grade”, “Enterprise”, etc. Or, put your pricing right in the ad - that will keep away the faint-of-heart for sure.

Pedigree - Do you work with a significant portion of the leading companies in your market space? You can show your standing in the market with copy like Line 1: “30 of the Fortune 50 trust us” Line 2: “every day to grow their business.” Or, “20 years serving market leaders.” (32 characters)

For Software & Technology Marketers

Customization - Can your product/s be customized? How easy is customization? Telling technology buyers that they are not locked into out-of-box functionality can often be a nice selling point.

Applications & Platforms - How many applications/platforms are supported by the product? Telling potential buyers that your product supports “50+ applications & 10 platforms” can be a compelling story to tell in just that little bit of ad text. (31 characters)

Daily Headaches - What headaches does the product solve for IT people? If you can connect with someone who will be a frequent user of the product by telling them their life will be easier, you will catch their attention. Even if the searcher is not the purchasing decision-maker, they can certainly influence the purchasing decision.

Fast Roll Out - How long does it take to get the solution in place and running? Speak to their need-for-speed.

Benchmarks - Do you have benchmarking data that will show prospects that your product is superior? Create a landing page that lists product benchmarks, and then tell the searcher “View benchmark data.“ Even better, if you can benchmark your product against the competition (and you can support your claims), create a product comparison grid on your landing page and point your ad there, along with something like “View competitive benchmarks.” (28 characters), or on two lines - Line 1: “See how our benchmarks” Line 2: “stack up against the competition.”

SLA’s - Do you offer any Service Level Agreements? Any performance guarantees? If you do have SLA language/terms associated with your product, try something like “SLA terms available.”

Trials - Do you offer trial versions of your software, or a free testing period for your products? For the most part I have kept away from the concept of “free” in this article. But, “free” almost always works in getting visitors. You just want to make sure that you are getting enough value from “free.” As a technology company, you may offer trial versions of your software or free trial periods with the technology installed. If you offer this, and you know that you generate high-quality leads, go ahead and say it.

If you can think of additional questions to ask, just add them to the comment section below!

Andy Komack is founder and president of KoMarketing Associates, LLC. Andy has been building online marketing strategies for clients since 1999. He began focusing on search marketing in 2002, when he "caught the bug" after tripling the organic search engine traffic for a large, Fortune 100 client.

Working in both the discipline of Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Advertising, Andy's search engine marketing strategies are built upon his distinctive and profound knowledge of business and marketing strategy, and knowledge of search engine technologies.
Prior to founding KoMarketing Associates, Andy was the lead online marketing strategist for Banta Interactive. Andy holds a B.A. in Economics from Connecticut College and an M.B.A. from Babson College.

http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/

http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/

by ePublicist

Managing paid advertising on the search engines can be tricky. The little boxes of ads seem innocuous, but many advertisers don't effectively capitalize on SEM (Search Engine Marketing) opportunities. One way to make a big difference in paid search campaigns is with ad copy. Here are several pointers to get your ad copy right!

1. Write Specific Ads for Specific Keywords

Gear ad copy to the specific terms in your paid search accounts. Statistics tell us that visitors are more likely to convert to a sale, sign-up or other type of conversion when they see queries they've keyed into the search engines in your actual ad copy.

For example, for a term like "Dyson animal vacuum," an effective ad would look something like this:

Get Dyson Animal Vacuums
Bagless, upright vacuums in many
colors. Free shipping. Order today
www.vacuum.com/animal_vac

Try to avoid broader ads, as they are unfocused and generally tend to lead to fewer conversions. Here's an example of an ineffective broad ad:

Dyson Vacuums
We offer 3000+ vacuum cleaners.
Deals on Dyson vacuums.
www.vacuum.com/animal_vac

2. Cater Ad Copy to Different Buyer Needs

As we all know, buyers are motivated by different factors. Try different buyer needs in ad copy to see where you get the most bang for your buck.

For the price-sensitive, try ads with prices. Note: For the sake of comparison, it may also be worth trying ads without prices. For buyers looking for reassurances, try ads mentioning 24/7 support or "official site" status (if applicable). For buyers looking for deals, try special offers in ad copy. Try time-limited offers (among others) to encourage buyers to make a purchase more quickly than they would have without an offer.

3. Ad Copy Should Be Appropriate In "Feel" To the Industry Category

Use the appropriate ad tone for your audience. For example, if you're selling children's toys, ad copy can be lighter and more playful in tone than if you're trying to sell to business executives. Take a look at the following examples:

Children's Math Software
Get math up to speed with fun &
easy to use software. Order today!
www.mathsoftware.com/kids

Get Thermal Oxidizers
Thermal, catalytic oxidizers and more.
New and used. Get more info today.
www.intellishare-environmental.com

4. Consider the Buy Cycle

With many products and services there are several buying stages. At the beginning of the buy cycle, searchers may be looking for general information and product reviews, while at the end of the cycle they may be looking for return policy information or where to make a secure purchase.

For effective ad copy, segment keywords and write ad copy that's appropriate to the buy stage of the keyword(s). Take a look at the following example (related to financial planning). For terms that typically appear at the beginning of the buy cycle like "financial planning" and "financial planner," try an ad like the one below. At this stage, the purpose of the ad is to give visitors more information and to move them to the next buying stage.

Financial Planning Services
Long-term growth with a margin
of safety. Try this quiz.
www.bank.com

For terms that appear later in the buy cycle like "buy IRA" or "get IRA," try an ad like the one below. It speaks more to someone who is interested in buying rather than someone looking for product information.

Need to Invest in an IRA?
Growth, income & balanced funds for
160+ years. No commissions.
www.bank.com

5. Analyze Paid Search Results

In the PPC game, CTRs (Click Through Rates) and conversion figures are key (if your focus is to generate sales). With higher CTRs, advertisers generally get lower PPC prices and this can obviously have a significant impact on ROI (Return On Investment).

Take a look at the following two ad examples from a company selling shoes. Note: The data in the two examples is identical except for CPC (Cost Per Click), CTR and ROI figures. Ad A had a lower CTR resulting in a higher cost per click and a lower ROI. In the example, ad B is the clear winner with a higher CTR resulting in a lower CPC and ultimately a higher ROI (ad B converted 50% better than ad A).

Ad A
Clicks: 1000
CTR: 1.5
CPC: 0.75
Total cost: $750
Conversion rate: 5%
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): $15

Ad B
Clicks: 1000
CTR: 3.5
CPC: 0.50
Total cost: $500
Conversion rate: 5%
Number of shoes sold: 50
CPA: $10

6. Ensure PPC Data is Statistically Significant

Related to CTRs and ROI, sometimes advertisers can get conflicting data. For example, sometimes ads will show a high CTR and low conversion rate, or a low CTR and a high conversion rate (you generally want high CTRs and high conversion rates). Generally speaking, inconclusive data means ad tests haven't been running long enough, and I'll continue to run tests until results become conclusive. In many instances, "weird" data stems from insufficient PPC traffic.

7. Carry Over Ad Copy Keywords to Landing Pages

If possible, try to have the keywords in your ad copy appear on your landing pages (the pages that people go to when they click on your ads). The keyword continuity between the search query, the ad copy and the words on a landing page helps the searcher feel he or she reached the right place and that search "needs" have been met.

When ad copy and landing pages are related, conversion figures tend to be higher than when there is no such relationship. Don't be afraid to design specific PPC landing pages if appropriate pages don't currently exist on your site.

8. Keep Testing Ad Copy

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to test. I like using A/B testing to get a feel for ad tone and overall market positioning. In general, I like to test at least 3 ads at a time per ad group.

If you feel you've done enough A/B testing, look into multivariate testing. A cool gratis tool to use to multivariate test ad copy is http://www.adcomparator.com. With the tool, you can designate if you want to test 3, 5 or 7 ad elements. Try testing the following ad variables in your ad copy:

• Ad headlines
• Different offers
• Different USPs (Unique Selling Propositions)
• "Buy" words like try, get, etc.

Never stop testing PPC ad copy! I've seen tremendous growth in PPC accounts (over years) with continuous and consistent testing.

9. Spend Time Creating Killer Ad Copy

Killer copy doesn't come out of thin air. It takes time to generate good ad copy, so give copywriting the time it deserves. I like to break up the task of generating ad copy. Try the following steps:

Determine differences between you and your competitors. Or, in other words, get clear on your company's USPs.
Brainstorm copy segments like various USPs, product or service descriptions, etc. Try to keep them short, as the space you have to work with in paid search ad copy is very limited. At this point, the goal is to list as many ad copy segments as you can.
String copy together in various combinations.
Write ads with different tones.
Generally, I'll brainstorm over a couple of days (it's amazing what comes to me when I'm actually doing other tasks!) and then I'll start writing ads. Once written, I like to put ads away for a day or so and revisit with fresh eyes. I find the good ads tend to jump out after a period of "rest."

10. Think Outside the Box

Don't write bland copy! Think of a way to make your ad copy "spicy." Take a look at the following examples. Which do you think is more appealing?

Children's Math Software
Tons of math, educ games
& software. Good for all ages.
www.mathsoftware.com/kids

Children's Math Software
Get math up to speed with fun &
easy to use software. Order today!
www.mathsoftware.com/kids

Good luck and happy PPC ad copy writing

President of Chase Online Marketing Strategies, a consultancy and publishing firm founded in 1993. He publishes the popular Web Digest For Marketers, the first email newsletter about marketing on the Internet. This newsletter currently serves over 45,000 subscribers weekly.

Mr. Chase's best-selling book, "Essential Business Tactics for the Net," (published by John Wiley & Sons) has been translated into three languages and is now in its second edition. Because of his decade-long experience in the Internet business, he is a favored source for media outlets: Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, DM News, The New York Times, CBS, and ABC. Scores of corporations and associations worldwide have invited him to speak at their events and strategy sessions.
Mr. Chase came to Internet Marketing from Madison Avenue where he was an award-winning copywriter. IBM, Xerox, AT&T, Volkswagen, and Chivas Regal were some of his favorite assignments.

http://www.larrychase.com

www.larrychase.com

by ePublicist

For just about any search query you will see dozens of different variations of punctuation, abbreviations, and capitalization featured among the paid ad variations. Data varies from account to account, within industries, campaigns, and even within ad groups so it’s hard to really narrow down any type of punctuation or capitalization as a “best practice” when generating ad copy, but I came across some interesting data today.

I was testing some Ad Copy for one of our clients in the online retail space.

We featured two ads that had the exact same ad message, the only difference between the two ads was how and which letters we chose to capitalize.

One ad featured title case (all of the major keywords were capitalized except for articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and forms of to be), and the other ad was in sentence case (only the initial word in the ad was capitalized).

The following data was generated over the past few days:

The ad that was in title case exhibited the following benefits when compared directly to the ad that was in sentence case:

• CTR improved by almost 1 full percentage point.
• Conversion rate was twice as high as the CVR for the ad version in sentence case.
• There were 3 times as many conversions in the title case ad.
• More revenue per conversion was generated via the title case ad.

I still can’t make any blanket statements as far as ad copy and best practices, but for this particular advertiser we will be using title case until further notice. It has proven to be more effective in generating interest and revenue.
[[size small]]
Originally published on : http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/a-case-for-title-case/

Joseph Vivolo manages paid search strategies for clients of KoMarketing Associates. Joe helps improve clients’ entire online marketing campaigns using Google AdWords, Yahoo Sponsored Search, MSN adCenter and other online search tools. Joe has extensive knowledge and training using a host of third-party applications.

He understands clients’ unique PPC needs from implementation to increasing exposure on first and second-tier search platforms. Joe is also adept at fine tuning existing campaigns to improve results.
Joe’s extensive background in paid search and Website strategy includes more than 3 years experience as an account manager at a major search engine. He has a track record of success creating and managing paid-search campaigns for national accounts with large advertising budgets and robust ROI requirements.
Joe is a Boston University graduate with experience as a financial analyst and expertise in strategic thinking and search engine marketing.

http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/

http://www.KomarketingAssociates.com

by ePublicist

You're a marketer who's hip to the idea of social media: You have a blog for your company or client, you know Facebook inside and out, and you can Tweet with the best of them. So you've got the communicating part down pat.

But the big question is, Are you listening? If you have customers, chances are they're talking about you to their friends, to their coworkers, and to anyone else who will listen.

Here are some of the top tools for listening to and monitoring the online chatter about your brand:

Free Apps

1. Google Alerts

Google Alerts is the steady rock in the sometimes white-water world of monitoring. You can easily target keywords that are important to your brand and receive streaming or batched reports—choose your own adventure.

2. Technorati

Billing itself as "the leading blog search engine," Technorati has been helping bloggers and those with their fingers on the blog pulse stay informed for years.

3. Jodange

Tracking your brand or a product is one thing, but turning that tracking into a measure of consumer sentiment about your brand or product is something completely different. For that, Jodange has TOM (Top of Mind), which tracks consumer sentiment about your brand or product across the Web.

4. Trendrr

Want to know how your brand or product is trending compared with others? Trendrr uses comparison graphing to show relationships and discover trends in real time. Use the free account, or bump it up to the Enterprise level for more functionality.

5. Lexicon

What are people talking about on Facebook? Lexicon searches Facebook walls for keywords and provides a snapshot of the chatter volume around those terms.

6. Monitter

Everyone is talking about Twitter, but what are people talking about on Twitter? Beyond the integrated search of Twitter apps like Twhirl and TweetDeck, Monitter provides real-time monitoring of the Twittersphere.

7. Tweetburner

In the world of Twitter, URL shortening is the Obi-Wan (it's your only hope) for effectively connecting with the public. Tweetburner also lets you track the clicks on those magically shortened links, giving you some hard numbers.

8. Twendz

Public relations shop Waggener Edstrom recently launched its Twitter-monitoring tool, Twendz. The tool piggybacks off Twitter Search to monitor and provide user sentiment for the real-time Twitterstream—70 tweets at a time.

Paid Apps

9. TruCast

TruCast by Visible Technologies provides in-depth, keyword-based monitoring of the social Web with an emphasis on blogs and forums. Its dashboard applications provide visual representations of sentiment and trends for your brands online.

10. and 11. Radian6 and Cision

Radian6 pulls information from the social Web, and analyzes and provides consumer sentiment ratings for your brand. When paired with CisionPoint from Cision, the evolved Bacon's of today, Radian6's dashboard can provide a wealth of information.

12. Techrigy

Techrigy's SM2 is a social-media monitoring and analysis solution for PR and marketing folks. With a focus on complete analysis and comparison, the SM2 experience draws information from all major social-media channels.

13. Collective Intellect

Collective Intellect (CI) is a real-time intelligence platform, based on advanced artificial intelligence. Its solution provides automatic categorization of conversations based on CI’s proprietary filtering technology. According to CI, its technologies provide credible groupings and reduce the "noise" seen in other keyword-based searches.

Listening and making sense of how your brand lives on the Web is only part of the equation. How you use that information to interact with the public is the next step.

To be added

http://www.marketingprofs.com/9/essential-social-media-listening-tools-mcdaniel.asp?sp=1

http://www.marketingprofs.com

by ePublicist

A critical aspect to the sucess of your Pay-Per-Click advertising is the quality of your landing page. A landing page is where your customer arrives after clicking on your advertisement. Google makes your landing page part of the "quality score" they give each PPC advertisement (see LINK).

"A landing page is communications, not advertising. Landing pages are where you communicate valuable information. Advertising gets people to click to your landing page, but once a prospect is there, the landing page should focus on communicating the value of your offering to the buyer." From David Meerman Scott’s blog, Web Landing Pages: Required for Search Engine Marketing.

One of the absolute best collection of articles exploring in a practical applied fashion everything you need to know about Landing Pages can be found on Brian Clark's CopyBlogger. Here is a window on the collection on that blog.

See Blog:CopyBlogger

http://www.copyblogger.com/landing-pages

CopyBlogger's "Landing-Pages" collection

by ePublicist

Throughout my research, I’m always surprised when I stumble onto websites that are professionally designed and seem to offer great products and services, but lack or fail in certain important elements.
Elements that, with just a few short changes, can help multiply the results almost instantaneously.
Generally, I have found that there are seven common mistakes. I call them the “Seven Deadly Sins.” Is your website committing any one of these?

They Fail to Connect

Traffic has been long touted to be the key to online success, but that’s not true. If your site is not pulling sales, inquiries or results, then why would it need more traffic?
The key is to turn curious browsers into serious buyers. Aside from the quality of the copy, the number one reason why a website doesn’t convert is that the copy is targeting the wrong audience or fails to connect with them.
First, create a “perfect prospect profile.” List all the attributes, characteristics and qualities of your most profitable and accessible market. Don’t just stick with things like demographics and psychographics. Try to get to know them.

Who are they, really? What are their most pressing problems? What keeps them up at night? How do they talk about their problems? Where do they hang out?

Then, target your market by centering on a major theme, benefit or outcome so that, when you generate pre-qualified traffic, your hit ratio and your sales will increase dramatically.

Finally, ensure that your copy connects with them. Intimately. It speaks their language, talks about their problems, and tells stories they can easily appreciate and relate to. Since this is the most common error that marketers and copywriters commit, and to help you, follow the following formulas.
The Oath Formula helps you to understand the stage of awareness your market is at. (How aware of the problem are they, really?)
The QUEST formula guides you in qualifying and empathizing with them. And the Upwords Formula teaches you how to choose the appropriate language your market can easily understand, appreciate and respond to.

They Lack a Compelling Offer

“Making an offer you can’t refuse” seems like an old clich?, but don’t discount its relevance and power. Especially in this day and age where most offers are so anemic, lifeless, and like every other offer out there.
Too many business believe that simply offering a product or service, and mentioning the price, are good enough. But what they fail to realize is that people need to intimately understand the full value (the real value and, more importantly, the perceived value) behind the offer.

Sometimes, all you need is to offer some premiums, incentives and bonuses to make the offer more palatable and hard to ignore. (Very often, people buy products and services for the premiums alone.)
Other times, you need to create what is called a “value buildup.”

(In fact, premiums are not mandatory in all cases, particularly when the offer itself is solid enough. But building value almost always is.) Essentially, you compare the price of your offer not with the price of some other competing offer or alternative, but with the ultimate cost of not buying?-?and enjoying?-?your product or service. This may include the price of an alternative. But “ultimate cost” goes far beyond price. Dan Kennedy calls this “apples to oranges” comparisons.

For example, let’s say you sell an ebook on how to grow better tomatoes. That might sound simple, and your initial inclination might be to compare it to other “tomatoe-growing” ebooks or viable alternatives.
But also look at the the time it took for you to learn the best ways to grow tomatoes. Look at the amount of money you invested in trying all the different fertilizers, seeds and techniques to finally determine which ones are the best.

Don’t forget the time, money and energy (including emotional energy) people save from not having to learn these by themselves. Add the cost of doing it wrong and buying solutions that are either more expensive or inappropriate.

That’s what makes an offer valuable. One people can’t refuse.

They Lack Reason Why

While some websites are well-designed and provide great content, and they might even have great copy, they fail because they don’t offer enough reasons for people to buy?-?or at least read the copy in the first place. Visitors are often left clueless. In other words, why should they buy? Why should they buy that particular product? Why should they buy that product from that particular site? And more important, why should they buy now?

What makes your product so unique, different and special? What’s in it for your customers that they can’t get anywhere else? Not answering those questions will deter clients and impede sales.
John E. Kennedy, a Canadian fireman and copywriter at the turn of the last century, talked a lot about the power of adding “reasons why.” His wisdom still rings true to this day, and we know this from experience.
Once, my wife had a client whose website offered natural supplements.

It offered a free bottle (i.e., 30-day supply). But response was abysmal. Aside from being in a highly competitive industry, the copy failed to allay the prospect’s fears. They thought it might be a scam or that there’s a catch.

So all she did was tell her client to add the following paragraph:

“Why are we offering this free bottle? Because we want you to try it. We’re so confident that you will see visible results within 30 days that you will come back and order more.”

Response more than tripled.
Similarly, add “reasons why” to your copy. To help you, make sure that it covers all the bases by answering the following “5 why’s:”

• Why me? (Why should they listen to you?)
• Why you? (Who is perfect for this offer?)
• Why this? (Why is this product perfect for them?)
• Why this price? (Why is this offer so valuable?)
• Why now? (Why must they not wait?)

They Lack Scarcity

Speaking of “why now,” this is probably the most important reason of all.
A quote from Jim Rohn says it all, and I force myself to think about it each time I craft an offer. He said,

“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.”

People fear making bad decisions. With spams, scams and snake oils being rampant on the Internet, people tend to procrastinate, and they do so even when the copy is good, the offer is perfect and they’re qualified for it. Most websites I review fail to effectively communicate a sense of urgency. If people are given the chance to wait or think it over, they will. Look at it this way: if you don’t add a sense of urgency, you’re inviting them to procrastinate. Use takeaway selling in order to stop people from procrastinating and get them to take action now. In other words, shape your offer?-?and not just your product or service?-?so that it is time-sensitive or quantity-bound. More important, give a reasonable, logical explanation to justify your urgency or else your sales tactic will be instantly discredited. Back it up with reasons as to why the need to take advantage of the offer is pressing.

Plus, a sense of urgency doesn’t need to be an actual limit or a deadline. It can be just a good, plausible and compelling explanation that emphasizes the importance of acting now?-?as well as the consequences of not doing so. For example, what would they lose out on if they wait? Don’t limit yourself to the offer. Think of all the negative side-effects of not going ahead right now.

They Lack Proof

Speaking of the fear of making bad decisions, today’s consumers are increasingly leery when contemplating offers on the Internet.
While many websites look professional, have an ethical sales approach, and offer proven products or services, the lack of any kind of tangible proof will still cause most visitors to at least question your offer.
The usual suspects, of course, are testimonials and guarantees. Guarantees and testimonials help to reduce the skepticism around the purchase of your product or service, and give it almost instant credibility. (I often refuse to critique any copy that doesn’t have any testimonials. It’s not just to save myself time and energy. I would be wasting my client’s money if the only recommendation they got from me was to add testimonials.)

Elements of proof is not just limited to guarantees and testimonials, either. They can include the story behind your product, your credentials, actual case studies, results of tests and trials, samples and tours, statistics and factoids, photos and multimedia, “seals of approval,” and, of course, reasons why.
Even the words you choose can make a difference. Because, in addition to a sense of urgency, your copy also needs a sense of credibility.

Today, people are understandably cynical and suspicious. If your offer is suspect and your copy, at any point, gives any hint that it can be fake, misleading, untrue, too good to be true, or too exaggerated to be true… … Then like it or not your response rate will take a nose dive. So, help remove the risk from the buyer’s mind and you will thus increase sales?-?and, paradoxically, reduce returns as well. Plus, don’t just stick with the truth. You also need to give your copy the ring of truth.

To help you, follow my Forcepts Formula.

They Lack A Clear Call to Action

Answer this million-dollar, skill-testing question: “What exactly do you want your visitors to do?” Simple, isn’t it? But it doesn’t seem that way with the many sites I’ve visited.
The KISS principle (to me, it means “keep it simple and straightforward”) is immensely important on the Internet. An effective website starts with a clear objective that will lead to a specific action or outcome.
If your site is not meant to, say, sell a product, gain a customer or obtain an inquiry for more information, then what exactly must it do? Work around the answer as specifically as possible.
Focus on the “power of one.” That is:

• One message
• One audience
• One outcome

If your copy tells too many irrelevant stories (irrelevant to the audience and to the advancement of the sale), you will lose your prospects’ attention and interest.
If it tries to be everything to everyone (and is therefore either too generic or too complex), you will lose your prospects completely. And if you ask your prospects to do too many things (other than “buy now” or whatever action you want them to take), you will lose sales.

Use one major theme. Make just one offer. (Sure, you can offer options, such as ordering options or different packages to choose from. But nonetheless, it’s still just one offer.)
Most important, provide clear instructions on where and how to order. Aside from the lack of a clear call to action, asking them to do too many things can be just as counterproductive. The mind hates confusion. If you try to get your visitors to do too many things, they will do nothing. Stated differently, if you give people too many choices, they won’t make one. So keep your message focused or else you will overwhelm the reader.

They Lack Good Copy

It may seem like this should be the number one mistake.
While it’s still one of the top seven mistakes, it’s last because the ones above take precedence. If you’re guilty of making any of the previous six mistakes, in the end your sales will falter no matter how good your copy is. Nevertheless, lackluster copy that fails to invoke emotions, tell compelling stories, create vivid mental imagery, and excite your prospects about your product or service is indeed one of the most common reasons websites fail.

Top sales trainer Zig Ziglar once said:

“Selling is the transference of enthusiasm you have for your product into the minds of your prospects.”

Copy is selling in print. Therefore, its job is no different. In fact, since there’s no human interaction that you normally get in a face-to-face sales encounter, your copy’s job, therefore, has an even greater responsibility. It must communicate that same enthusiasm that energizes your prospects, excites them about your offering and empowers them to buy. Aside from infusing emotion into your copy, give your prospects something they can understand, believe in and act upon. Like a trial lawyer, it must tell a persuasive story, make an airtight case and remove any reasonable doubt. Above all, it must serve your prospect.

Many sites fail to answer a person’s most important question: “What’s in it for me?” They get so engrossed in describing companies, products, features or advantages over competitors that they fail to appeal to the visitor specifically.

Tell the visitor what they are getting out of responding to your offer. To help you, first write down a series of bullets. Bullets are captivating, pleasing to the eye, clustered for greater impact and deliver important benefits. (They usually follow the words “you get,” such as “With this product, you get.”)
But don’t just resort to apparent or obvious benefits. Dig deeper. Think of the end-results your readers get from enjoying your product or service.

Do what my friend and copywriter Peter Stone calls the “so that” technique. Each time you state a benefit, add “so that” (or “which means”) at the end, and then complete the sentence to expand further.
Let’s say your copy sells Ginko Biloba, a natural supplement that increases memory function. (I’m not a Ginko expert, so I’m guessing, here. Also, I’m being repetious for the sake of illustration.) Here’s what you might get:

Ginko supports healthy brain and memory functions… so that you can be clear, sharp and focused… so that you can stay on top of everything and not miss a beat… so that you can be a lot more productive at work… so that you can advance in your career a lot faster… so that you can make more money, enjoy more freedom, and have more job security… so that (and so on).

That could have turned another way depending on the answer you give it, which is why it’s good to repeat this exercise. Here’s another example:

Ginko supports healthy brain and memory functions… so that you can decrease the risks of senility, Alzheimer’s disease, and other degenerative diseases of the brain… so that you won’t be placed in a nursing home… so that you won’t place the burden of your care on your loved ones… so that you can grow old with peace of mind… so that you can enjoy a higher quality of life, especially during those later years… so that (and so on)

.
Remember, these are just examples pulled off the top of my head. But if you want more help with your own copy, my FAB formula is a useful guide.Bottom line, check your copy to see if you’re committing any of these seven deadly sins. If you are, your prospects won’t forgive you. By not buying, that is.

About the Author

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, author, speaker, and consultant. Visit his blog and signup free to get tested conversion strategies and response-boosting tips by email, along with blog updates, news, and more! Go now to http://www.michelfortin.com. While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.

by ePublicist