nick usborne's guide to online copywriting
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Excess Voice Newsletter
June 2007, Issue # 158
In this issue:
>> Intro: Do we have enough time?
>> Review: Writing E-Books for Fun and Profit
>> Article: How page design can change your copy
>> Survey: Do you have a book inside you?
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Find out about my COACHING service for freelance writers and copywriters.
And get your free copy of the Freelance Business Growth Checklist.
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Greetings,
In the last issue's survey I asked whether you felt you were given enough time to do your best writing work. Here are the results.
Yes – 42%
No – 58%
Not a terribly exciting or shocking survey result.
This issue's article is about how the layout of a web page can have a big impact on how you write it. And the review is about using your knowledge to write and publish information in the form of e-books.
And, 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: Writing E-Books for Fun and Profit, by Bob Bly
As commercial writers and copywriters we are always learning something new. And if we focus on a particular niche, we are building up a huge body of knowledge in that area.
For instance, if you write on the topic of gardening year after year you'll become quite the expert.
Your growing level of expertise will serve you well in your writing work for your employer or your clients. But you can also use that knowledge to create some additional income for yourself.
You can repurpose what you learn at work into information products of your own. And the simplest of all information products is the e-book.
If you know a lot about a particular topic, and like the idea of making some extra income from that knowledge, get yourself a copy of Bob Bly's guide to writing and marketing e-books.
It teaches you all you need to know, and costs less than twenty bucks.
Learn more about Writing E-Books for Fun and Profit
http://www.ctcpublishing.net/
POPULAR PRODUCTS AND REVIEWS:
#1. Nick Usborne's Million Dollar Secrets to Online Copywriting
This is a "professional-grade" course written to address the full complexity of writing online. It is a strictly how-to course in which I go through the process of writing all kinds of web pages, emails and newsletters. Take this course and you'll know everything I know about writing for the web.
More details here:
http://www.awaionline.com/onlinecopywriting/index.php
#2. Writing Rituals
My productivity guide for marketing writers and copywriters. This set of 5 rituals will help you stay focused on your writing tasks, avoiding the perils of procrastination and writer's block.
Learn more...
http://www.writingrituals.com/
#3. Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting
Other than my own, 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: How page design can change your copy.
I have been working on a sales page for a new client. Traditionally, in this particular niche, the most successful pages have always been designed in two columns.
I want to challenge the control page with a one-column sales page.
All my experience to date tells me that when it comes to sales pages, one column will always do better than two columns.
That said, you never know. In this particular niche I may find myself being surprised. I look forward to seeing the results.
Anyone, once I had written the singe-column version I was asked to create a two-column version, so they could be tested side by side.
No problem.
But now we get to the tricky part. As soon as I started to rearrange the one-column copy into two columns, I ran into trouble.
I moved things around as best I could, but it soon became clear that I couldn't simply take the same copy and rearrange it.
First of all, the two-column format meant that I had to make changes to some of the headings and subheads. For instance, I had to add a new heading to introduce the second column.
Beyond that, I then found that the body copy itself was no longer working as well.
In the single-column version I wrote the headline and body text in a simple, vertical sequence that led directly to an application form.
But in the two-column version the application form is on the right.
Suddenly my sequence was no longer vertical.
In my left side column I had to communicate the same sales message…but I also had to make sure that when people finished reading the sales copy they would move their eyes over to the right side and complete the form.
(Yes, I really do prefer a single column. It makes the process a lot simpler both for the writer and the reader.)
Anyway, by the time I was done I had made quite a few changes to the copy.
And guess what…it's no longer a valid A/B split test between one column and two. The layout is no longer the only variable. Some of the copy has changed too.
As and when I get the test results, I'll let you know what happened.
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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SURVEY: Do you have a book inside you?
I know commercial writers and copywriters who write fiction in their spare time. I know others who write non-fiction. How about you? Do you have a book inside you?
[ ] No
[ ] Yes, and I am already published
[ ] Yes, but I haven't finished it yet
[ ] Yes, but I haven't started yet
(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 give a training seminar or webinar for your writers or web team.
http://www.nickusborne.com/speaking.htm
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
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