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Excess Voice Newsletter
June 2007, Issue # 132
In this issue:
>> Intro: A little moonlighting on the side...
>> Review: 7 Ways to Optimize The Performance of your Home Page
>> Article: Why copywriting “systems” fall short of excellence
>> Survey: Do You have a Portfolio of your Work online?
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Greetings,
In the last issue I asked whether or not you did a little moonlighting on the side. The results are probably a little skewed. Why? Because those for whom the answer was “No” were, I think, less likely to respond at all.
So I got a lot of responses from people saying “Yes”.
And why not? With a skill as flexible and portable as writing, it makes sense to use it to do some extra writing on the side, whether it be for money, pleasure or for your favorite non-profit.
This issue’s review isn’t really a review at all. It’s for a short report of my own.
So I would have to describe it not as a review, but as a description and mild sales pitch.
As for the article, it’s about copywriting. While I talk about “copywriting systems” a little, the article is really about the difference between ordinary copywriting and really good copywriting.
Finally, as always, please take a moment to respond to this issue’s survey.
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Usborne
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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REVIEW: 7 Ways to Optimize the Performance of your Home Page
This is a short report...and one of my own.
It is one of a series of Conversion Rate Checklist Reports I am writing.
Another one I have done is on email subject lines.
What I am aiming to do with all these reports is zero in on a particular aspect of online marketing, and create a checklist of ways in which you can increase your conversion rates.
Each point I include is based on my own experience to date and, more often than not, has been verified by testing in which I have been involved, or by test data I have found elsewhere.
In other words, although these reports are short and inexpensive, I believe that every checklist point I include has to the potential to significantly increase your conversion rates.
The Home Page and Subject Line reports are both here:
http://www.conversioninsights.com/conversion-rate-checklists.html
Or, for all of my "non-article" content, visit my page at FreeIQ:
http://www.freeiq.com/nickusborne1
Previous Reviews:
#1. The Freelance Copywriter Fee & Compensation Survey, Volume 2
This is the second volume of this survey, fully up to date, and with a lot more information on what to charge for 40 different types of freelance copywriting work, how to find new assignments, and more.
Read my review...
http://www.excessvoice.com/copywriting-fees-survey.htm
#2. Landing Page Handbook - How to Raise Conversions
This report from MarketingSherpa is the first I have seen that provides solid data on what does and doesn't make a difference to landing page conversion rates. Tons of data on copy and design strategies. Dozens of before and after examples and the improvements achieved.
Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/landing-page.htm
#3. Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting
This is the only copywriting course I wholeheartedly recommend to any copywriter who wants to write copy that drives results.
Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/michael-masterson.htm
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ARTICLE: Why copywriting “systems” fall short of excellence.
We don’t like it when we see the process behind the sales message.
When we listen to a telemarketer our attention snaps closed.
When a salesperson comes to the door and starts talking, we instantly lose our sense of hearing.
When a car dealer tries to sell us a car, our brain just disengages.
Of course, none of these three statements are true 100% of the time.
Occasionally a telemarketer will engage your attention successfully.
However, salespeople get through to you and make you focus on their messages only when their message deviates from what you expect to hear.
You don’t close your mind to all salespeople simply because they are trying to sell you something. You close your mind because of a weary familiarity with the structure and presentation of their message.
The same goes for copywriting.
If your page design and opening headline and paragraphs are grindingly familiar in their structure and direction...you won’t capture your readers’ attention.
>> The skeleton of your sales message belongs on the inside, not the outside.
It’s the visibility of the underlying structure of your sales message that turns people off.
This is a problem for unsophisticated salespeople, and for copywriters who depend too much on “copywriting systems”.
When you write copy according to a strict system or process, the final result has all the appeal and life of a picture painted by numbers.
At first glance it looks OK. But on closer inspection, you find that both the copy...and the painting...are without any genuine life, inspiration or appeal.
>> Good copywriters are hardly even aware of the skeleton or structure behind their sales message
It’s the same as with a painter. Successful painters learned the rules many, many years ago. But the rules are not what they have at front of mind when they start to paint.
Good copywriters know the “rules” of structuring a strong sales message as well as anyone. But they don’t build each sales letter or web page according to those rules.
That knowledge of how to sell...the supporting skeleton... stays where it belongs. Inside and out of sight.
On the outside, in the words they use and the flow of copy they create, good copywriters create something that is new, fresh, lively and compelling.
In fact, you would have to be a very good copywriter yourself to even see the underlying structure. And often, when you find it, it’s not exactly as it is “meant to be”.
Good copywriters know the rules well enough, intuitively and unconsciously, to be able to bend and break them sometimes.
That’s what makes people read their copy.
>> Back to copywriting systems
There are plenty of copywriting “systems” available. They will break a sales letter down, block by block. You then write according to the system, and bingo...you have a sales letter.
But you don’t have a really good sales letter.
Its failing, as I have mentioned, is not the fault of the underlying structure.
The problem lies in the fact that you have “written by numbers”...and your copy has its skeleton on the outside and not on the inside.
What happens when someone reads it?
They experience the same “sudden loss of hearing” as they do when a telemarketer starts reading from a prepared script.
However structurally sound your copy may be, it won’t work as well as it could unless you clothe it with life, genuine energy and at least a flicker of the unexpected.
** If you would prefer to read this article on the web, or would like to forward the url to a colleague or friend, you'll find it here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/article132.htm
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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SURVEY: Do You have a Portfolio of your Work online?
If you a freelancer or do some moonlighting, do you have your portfolio of work online? If so, has it helped you get more business?
[ ] No, I don't have a portfolio of my work online
[ ] Yes, I do
If Yes, do you believe it has helped you get more clients?.........................
(NOTE: Any comments and your name may be published in the next issue, or on the Excess Voice web site.)
Cut and paste your replies to me at mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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NICK USBORNE'S SERVICES:
Yes, I do more than write articles and publish newsletters.
Ask me to write for your site, emails and newsletters.
http://www.nickusborne.com/copywriting.htm
Ask me to optimize your key offer pages...
http://www.nickusborne.com/consulting.htm
Check out my online marketing advice in audio and other downloadable media.
http://www.conversioninsights.com
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