Issue 140 of the Excess Voice newsletter for online copywriters

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Excess Voice Newsletter
October 2007, Issue # 140

In this issue:

>> Intro: Our level of productivity
>> Review: Recent favorites
>> Article: Give people a reason to read your content
>> Survey: At which time of day do you work best?
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Greetings,

In the last issue I asked how productive you considered yourself to be. One or two fortunate souls said they were super-productive all of the time. But for the rest of us, our productivity fluctuates, sometimes dramatically. The biggest factor influencing our productivity appears to be the nature of the projects we are working on.

Which leads me to offer a piece of advice: Whenever possible, select projects you are going to enjoy. It seems to make a big difference. The more you enjoy your work, the more productive you will be. And the more productive you are, the more profitably your time will be spent.

This week’s survey asks a follow-up question: What is your most productive time of day?

But before you answer, be sure to check out this issue’s reviews, and an article on the subject of writing web content.

Until next time,

Nick

Nick Usborne

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com

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REVIEWS:

#1. Desktop Marketing

A course for freelancers who want to increase their income by offering writing AND design services.

Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/desktop-marketing.htm

#2. 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

#3. Productivity Engineering - a hypnosis CD program to help you improve your work performance.

An excellent program I tried myself with considerable success.

Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/productivity.htm

#4. 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: Give people a reason to read your content.

On larger web sites, many pages are simply content, or information pages.

As an example, I am currently working on a site for an insurance and financial services company.

There are various categories on the site and, of course, plenty of pages which contain content about insurance and investing.

One page I wrote recently is basically a list of auto insurance coverage options. Along with their competitors, this company offers quite a variety of coverage options, each of which needs to be explained.

Does this make for compelling content? Not really. When we buy auto insurance, many of us take the route of least resistance. We just want to get it done.

So how can you encourage people to actually read through a dozen descriptions of insurance coverage options? It’s not terribly compelling content. It’s just information.

Start each page by giving people a reason to keep reading.

Whether it’s a page about insurance, software, home repair or anything else, I always try to start the page in a way that relates to the life of the reader.

There are numerous ways to do this.

One simple way is to ask a question or two. The advantage of asking a question is that it stimulates the reader to think of an answer. And as soon as that happens, the rest of the page will fall into the personal context of the reader’s own life and experiences.

For instance, in the case of auto insurance coverage, I might ask a question like:

“Do you know if you are covered in the event of a collision with a driver who is either underinsured or has no insurance at all?”

What am I trying to do? First, I’m trying to paint a picture, something the reader can visualize.

Second, I’m trying to provoke a moment of thought. In the case of the question above, I’m hoping the reader will think something like, “Hmmm, I had never even thought about that. I wonder if I am covered.”

Do the same thing with every page of passive or informational content.

Plenty of sites contain pages that are largely devoted to the presentation of informational content.

These are often important pages. But if they are too dry, and the reader cannot connect the content to his or her own life in some way, it’s all too easy to lose the reader’s attention and, sometimes, lose them from the site altogether.

Which pages does this apply to?

As I said, pages that need this kind of attention tend to be content pages, not sales pages.

If you want a hint as to where to find them...think of all those pages on your site where the content was more or less cut and pasted from existing print materials.

These pages often sit on your site, linked to, but disconnected from the surrounding pages.

And disconnected from the user experience.

These are the pages to address first.

** 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/article140.htm

>> 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: At which time of day do you work best?

[ ] Early morning

[ ] Middle of the day

[ ] End of the day

[ ] Evening

[ ] Any time

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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