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Excess Voice Newsletter
September 2007, Issue # 138
In this issue:
>> Intro: Social networks - love them or hate them
>> Review: The most popular...
>> Article: 3 Simple ways to add “personal power” to your emails
>> Survey: Best Blog for Online Writers
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Greetings,
In the last issue I asked whether or not you got any work through social networks. The responses were more or less evenly divided. Interestingly, opinions were quite strong.
Those who didn’t get work through sites like LinkedIn and Facebook said, “Forget it. It’s a waste of time.” Those who did were keen to sing the praises of the sites they used.
In this issue the article is about adding “personal power” to your emails, and although there is no new review, I have listed a few of those which consistently generate the most interest.
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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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. 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
#3. 7 Ways to Power Up Your Landing Page Headlines
If you ever find yourself having to write a landing page, you may want to get a copy of this guide. This is something I wrote, drawing on my own work over the last ten years, and also on a multitude of test results.
Listen to my introduction:
http://www.freeiq.com/7waystopowerupyourlandingpageheadlines1
#4. Keyword Discovery – a keyword research and analytics tool for SEO and PPC.
Filled with advanced search features, Keyword Discovery draws on search results from over 200 search engines. If you are serious about attracting organic search engine traffic, or optimizing PPC campaigns, you'll want to check this out.
Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/keyword-discovery.htm
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ARTICLE: 3 Simple ways to add “personal power” to your emails.
In the world of online business, email is the medium with the greatest potential for one-on-one communication.
The trouble is, this potential is rarely exploited.
All too often emails to our customers and prospects are written in a hurry, without much thought being given to making a personal connection with the reader and building a lasting relationship.
Why companies pay so little attention to email is a mystery to me.
Time and again the emails I receive from companies have clearly been written without any effort being made to connect with me as an individual.
This lost opportunity is most evident when I provide my email address to a company for the very first time. Maybe I sign up for a newsletter, maybe I register for some kind of service, maybe I buy a product.
Almost without exception, the automated emails I receive to confirm the action I have just taken are uniformly drab and impersonal.
This is craziness.
When a customer first gives you his or her email address, you have a small window of opportunity. Customers are expecting a confirmation email from you. They are waiting for it. And when it arrives, almost 100% of people will open it.
In other words, this is your first and best chance to make a great impression.
Do you or your company take full advantage of that opportunity?
Here are three things you can do to give some “personal power” to any email communication.
1. Declare your humanity…write as an individual, not as a corporation.
People don’t want to hear from your computer system. They want to hear from you.
So include some elements in your email that are one-on-one – from one human being to another.
That doesn’t mean that you should write in some insincere “you’re my new best buddy” tone or style. It’s just a matter of finding a way to connect in a way that is genuinely human.
Here’s an example of a single sentence used in a welcome email I received recently after I signed up for an e-newsletter.
“I am fully aware of how full your inbox can get some days... mine does too! So with that, I wanted to say Thank you for the compliment of your subscription.”
It’s not written very elegantly. But that doesn’t matter. It’s personal. It’s human. And it says, “I’m a person just like you.”
2. Add a real name at the end of each email.
Many emails are signed by, “The Domainname.com Team” or something like that.
Well, if the head of that team is called John Frost, sign the emails with the name “John Frost”.
Make it from a person. There is no power in sending an email and signing it as a corporation or a team. There is no connection there. When you do that, every opportunity to take advantage of this most personal of online media is lost.
Somebody in your company is responsible for the email, so use his or her name in the sign-off.
3. Add your real address and other contact information.
When I receive an email that closes with the complete mailing address of the sender, it immediately boosts my feelings of trust and confidence in that company.
When “John Frost” also adds his own email address and phone number, then the connection I feel with that company rises immeasurably.
When I get complete contact information, I know that I am being valued as an individual. And I know that the company is taking full and complete responsibility for its communications.
I have trusted them by providing my own email address. In turn, they trust me with their own, personal contact information.
It’s there that the magic of email lies.
Of course, most companies don’t dare do that.
Companies will give you a hundred “blah-blah” reasons why they can’t use the names of individuals at the end of their emails, let alone include their contact information.
That’s OK. That’s their problem.
But it doesn’t need to be yours.
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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JOB BOARD
>> Looking for an online copywriter or web content writer?
Post your job on the Excess Voice Job Board and reach over 20,000 copywriters a month.
http://excessvoice.jobcoin.com/
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SURVEY: Which is the best blog for online writers and copywriters?
Add your favorite here: ...............
Comments:
(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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