nick usborne's guide to online copywriting
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Excess Voice Newsletter
Sept 2008, Issue # 164
In this issue:
>> Intro: Income up and down
>> Review: The favorites...
>> Article: Buy from me because you know me.
>> Survey: Where Does Your Future Lie?
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Find out about my COACHING service for freelance writers and copywriters.
“Nick has an uncanny ability to listen to all the angles while still cutting through to the heart of the matter. I hired him as a writing coach, but his extensive knowledge of e-commerce, content site development, and affiliate marketing have been an unexpected but marvelous bonus. In terms of return on investment, Nick “paid for himself” in the very first month." Cari Haus
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Greetings,
In the last issue I asked if your income had gone up or down recently. The response was pretty balanced, but I didn't receive enough replies to draw any reliable conclusions either way.
In this issue the article takes a brief look at ecommerce preparations for the holiday buying season, and wonders how much companies are investing in building relationships with their customers and prospects.
And, as always, please take a moment to peruse this issue's reviews, and reply to the survey.
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Usborne
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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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.
Learn more :
http://www.thewriterslife.com/bb/nuf4/
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ARTICLE: Buy from me because you know me.
If you sell goods or services online, and the Christmas buying season is important to your business, you'll be in the thick of preparations right now.
You'll be figuring out which products to feature, what promotions to run, what discounts to offer, which pages to optimize, which ad campaigns to run...and so on and so on.
But how much attention are you paying to the relationships you have with your prospects and customers?
Because of the technological wizardry of the web, we tend to lean heavily on "tools" to get our marketing work done and finely tuned.
We also learn the best practices when it comes to crafting our sales messages and maximizing conversion rates.
That's all well and good. And it's important. But none of it really contributes to the quality of the relationships you create.
With the Christmas season on the way (or at any other time of year) what steps have you taken to improve the quality of the relationships you have with your customers?
Do they trust you more than they did this time last year?
Do they feel they know you better than they did this time last year?
Do they feel more confident that you will take care of them than they did this time past year?
I'm guessing not.
We tend to spend too much time applying tools and systems, and too little time getting to know the people who buy from us.
And that's a shame. Because I would always bet on the site that's a little uglier, is a little less sophisticated, is not quite as well optimized...but has an excellent and authentic relationship with its visitors.
It's easy to apply tools. It's not so easy to build relationships.
But I think it's worth the trouble.
You and I, as individuals, like to buy from people we know and trust.
It's not so very different online.
You'll be more likely to buy from me if you know me.
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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SURVEY: Where Does Your Future Lie?
What do you see yourself doing next year and the year after? Check the boxes that relate to what you would like to do more of in the future.
[ ] Online copywriting
[ ] Offline copywriting
[ ] Web content writing
[ ] SEO writing
[ ] Self Publishing
[ ] Online marketing
[ ] Search Engine Marketing
[ ] Web Master
[ ] Other (please give details)....
(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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