November 2003
Issue # 43

Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting Originally I had some reservations, based on a lot of hype I had read online. But having gone through a copy of the course in detail, I'm happy to say I think it is really excellent. Read my review of Michael Masterson's course.

Make Your Content PRE Sell This e-book by Ken Evoy covers a lot of ground, but is essentially about writing great content that makes your web site visitors WANT to buy. Highly recommended. Read my review of MYCPS.

Monthly Copywriting Genius One of the best ways to improve your copywriting skills is to study direct mail letters that have performed incredibly well. This is how you learn to write copy that drives action - offline or online. Read my review of Monthly Copywriting Genius

In this issue:

>> Intro: Where We Trained. Or Not.
>> Review: Best Practices in Marketing with Email Newsletters
>> Article: Guerilla Upgrades: Start with Your Newsletter
>> Readers Write Back: About Training for Copywriters
>> Survey: In Which Client or Server Do You Read Your Email?

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Greetings,

In the last issue the survey was focused on finding out how many of us received formal training in copywriting (btw - I didn't). In addition, I asked those who had received some training to let me know how and where they took it.

The results are kind of scary. Not that people didn't respond, they did. And not that you can't be a great copywriter if you have no training. It can happen. What surprised me was that there appear to be so few opportunities and resources for those people who DO want some education and training in the craft of copywriting.

Anyway, here are the results:

In answer to the question, "Have you had any formal copywriting training?"

Yes - 52%

No - 48%

Of those who said yes, and also provided information on their training, here is a list of where they learned...

University courses:

- Media Writing in the Communications Dept. at University of Missouri
- Master of Arts in English with a concentration in rhetoric at UNC Wilmington.
- B.A. in Advertising from Penn State.
- Copywriting from the University of Florida School of Journalism.
- Writing for Professionals at Auckland University of Technology, NZ.
- Graphic Design and Linguistics at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Other courses:

- Copywriting courses given through the Direct Marketing Assn of Washington.
- Michael Masterson's Accelerated Six Figure Copywriting Course.
- Copywriting Masters Course from the Web Copywriting University, hosted by Maria Veloso

As you can see, the list isn't very long, and there don't seem to be many courses devoted specifically to copywriting.

This week we have a much simpler survey. Just check one box. Please take part! (Why? I think and hope that with each issue we all learn a little from the previous issue's survey results. But if you think the whole survey thing is a waste of time, please let me know!)

Until the next issue.

Nick

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com

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REVIEW: Best Practices in Marketing with Email Newsletters

A MarketingSherpa Report.

What I like about this report on marketing with newsletters is that it is packed with details and specifics. No hype, no magic formulas. Just proven tactics, solid statistics and plenty of case histories. I am a strong believer in the power of a good newsletter, for any company or organization -- and this report delivers dozens of smart, actionable tips that will help you avoid numerous pitfalls and maximize your readership, open rates and conversion rates.

Whether you are an expert, or just starting out, you'll find plenty of useful, actionable information here. Highly recommended.

>> Click here for the full review...
http://www.excessvoice.com/marketingsherpa_newsletter.htm

>> The Most Popular Reviews from Other Issues:

- WordTracker:
Improve your search engine ranking with the most profitable keywords.

- Site Build It!:
Small business Web hosting, Web design and SEO.

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ARTICLE: Guerilla Upgrades: Start with Your Newsletter

One of the most frequent questions I am asked when speaking at conferences goes something like this...

“I’d like to change the copy on our Website, and make it more personal and relevant to our readers. But my manager doesn’t share my views. What can I do?”

My quick answer to that is not to try changing the site, which involves a lot of work, expense and ‘buy-ins’ from up above – but instead to make incremental, or 'guerilla' changes to your newsletter.

It’s much easier to put together a newsletter that carries a personal voice. Not with some bogus ‘company’ voice, but with the voices of the editor and other contributors.

It may not be easy, but persuading your managers to allow some testing in the tone and voice of a newsletter isn’t going to be half as hard as persuading them to make changes to your site’s homepage.

Besides which, a newsletter is a far more natural environment in which to communicate on a more personal level. A site is more formal, carefully designed and constructed -- so it’s often hard to find a natural, credible fit for the voice of an individual.

But with a newsletter, you can. You can open with an introduction from the editor. You can brief your writers to write in a way that is a little more conversational. And it fits. It works. Because you are talking to people one at a time within their email inbox.

If you don’t have a newsletter, I think you should. Without one you are cutting yourself off from the opportunity to connect with people in a more personal way, with timely, relevant information.

Newsletters are a key element in reaching your readers one-on-one.

If you enjoyed this article, check out 'The Best From Over 200 Articles by Nick Usborne' - an edited compilation of the best of Nick's articles for Clickz.com, between 1998 and 2003.

** The archives of all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm

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READERS WRITE BACK: About Training for Copywriters

"Well you hit the nail on the head-- twice. I'm a marketing writer with a degree in English Literature and a second one in Journalism. I worked for various Canadian newspapers for a few years, and wrote business advertorials for a small community newspaper. When I started writing for a company I barely knew anything about marketing. It's been two years now, and I have since attended marketing seminars, copywriting workshops and read my buns off to get all the marketing scoop.

I don't know if English majors disdain the world of business as much as they probably feel, like I did, that there's no place for them there, or that there is, but the president of the company probably doesn't recognize that need. I definitely don't agree with what you had to say about Journalism majors. We're quick learners, us journalists, and we can often find our way around difficult subjects by asking good questions and simplifying gobbledygook and jargon. When I went off to write for the National Post in the Financial Post section, I didn't know the first thing about business. But I found that I could still write good articles by finding knowledgeable sources to fill me in on various subjects.

People often say to me that I ended up far, far away from where I thought I'd be, working for newspapers, but I don't agree. I spend my days writing, editing, communicating, and making sure our company has some kick ass marketing. I'm pretty psyched about my job... and I think if Marketing Writer were a more well known profession that many journalists and indeed English majors would be very interested in landing this calling."

Janice Scrim

"I lecture in Marketing at Sunderland University in the UK and since 1997 have been actively involved in 'e-commerce' [though back then that we use that term].

As part of my remit I have taught internet 'design' students practical applications of e-marketing. Or should I say I have tried to teach them. Only a very small percentage accept that web sites are an element of an organisation's marketing effort. Virtually none accept that it is the information contained in the web site that visitors seek, and not their 'glamour' designs. A 'wordsmith' is an anathema to them.

I carry on my crusade, mainly to deaf ears [mixing my metaphors; there are none so blind as those who will not see], but smile inwardly because my consultancy work assessing business web sites will continue for years to come as 'designers' continue to hold sway in web site content decisions.

Footnote: Like many UK Higher Educational establishments, at Sunderland University 'e-commerce' is taught in the computing school and not the business school ... but that's another [not totally unassociated] rant."

Alan Charlesworth

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com

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SURVEY: In Which Client or Server Do You Read Your Email?

Through which client or server do you receive your copy of the Excess Voice newsletter?

[ ] Outlook Express
[ ] AOL
[ ] Hotmail
[ ] Yahoo Mail
[ ] Outlook
[ ] Netscape
[ ] Eudora
[ ] Lotus
[ ] Other

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