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December 2003 Top reviews: 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: Happy
Holidays to Everyone =============================================== Greetings, Fist things first. This will be the last issue before the Christmas break. In two weeks it will be December 23, and I'm not sure that any of us will be that focused on work by then. I'll be sending out the next issue on January 6th. In the last issue I asked how many of you were using Content Management Systems. I won't give you any percentages on this, as it was the kind of question that left those who don't use any of these systems feeling that there was little point in even sending in a 'No' answer. What I have done is include feedback from those who have used CMS in the 'Readers Write Back' section. In this issue's survey, I'm looking for your votes on what you consider to be the best written sites of 2003. I really hope you will take part in this survey. I would love to be able to create a list of well-written sites - and maybe create a page for them on the ExcessVoice site. I hope you have a wonderful break over the Christmas period and that, like me, you will perhaps take a little time to think about your plans and ambitions for 2004. In the January issue I'll be building a theme around our plans for the new year. See you next year! Nick >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== REVIEW: Robin Good's Official Online Guide to SOHO Web Conferencing Tools You'll be amazed by the number of affordable web conferencing, video conferencing and online training tools that are available - at about a tenth of the price of the well known enterprise systems like WebEx and Placeware. This 510 page report goes into incredible detail and shows you which tools do what, and at what price. The best part, I think, is the area devoted to comparison tables. These tables make it simple to find the best solution to your own, specific needs. For myself, I have often thought of how I could use a web conferencing tool for seminars, workshops, meetings and more. After reading this report, I am now in a position to choose a tool that does exactly what I want, and at a price that actually makes sense. Highly recommended. ** Read my full review
here:
- MarketingSherpa
Report: - WordTracker: - Site
Build It!: =============================================== ARTICLE: Writing Online In Two Syllables or Less About once a month I fly off somewhere to give a one-day workshop on writing for the web. For part of the day, I invite the group to take part in a series of short tasks. In one of these I ask people to write or rewrite a web page headline, using words of two syllables or less. What's the point? Well, the idea is to make people think. It's often tempting to write with long, complex words. Perhaps it has to do with how we were taught at school. And sometimes we use long words simply to sound clever. Before you know it, you end up with something like this, which I found on a CRM site: "Our Internet support infrastructure automatically collects information from the user's system, facilitates effective communication between support personnel and users, and enables self-healing and automated problem resolution." Do you know what they are trying to say? I don't. Two things happen here. First, the use of long words makes it harder for the reader to process the meaning of what you are saying. This is an issue with all writing, but even more so online, because we have to read on a screen. Beyond that, I think the use of long words is a symptom. It's a symptom of a writer being lazy. It's a symptom of someone in a rush, someone who won't take the time to sit back and think through what it is they are really trying to say. Once you are clear in your own mind, and really know what you want to say, it becomes a great deal simpler to express yourself in short, simple words. And when you do that, you'll write in a way that people can grasp very quickly. Should you always write with short words? Of course not. But try it from time to time. Above all, try it when you find yourself writing in a way that goes on and one, with one long word tripping over the next. And yes, in case you haven't noticed, except for the word 'syllables', I wrote this entire piece in words of two syllables or less. (The purpose was not show that it's a simple thing to do, or that I'm so very clever. The idea is to show how easy it is to read a block of text when the words are short and simple.)
** If you found value in the article, please forward this newsletter to colleagues and friends who might be interested. ** The archives of all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here: http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== READERS WRITE BACK: Content Management Systems "We're using Commonspot at work (product of PaperThin). Some good elements for being able age items off the site (or post with a go-live date later in the week); pretty simple to use. There are probably 25 people on our 80 person staff trained to use it. Down side: drives our techies wild when they're trying to include other Coldfusion components on to the page. Since a version upgrade, and taking over control of the server, up-time has improved quite a bit. Six months ago it was a different story." Tim Johnson "Two quick pieces of advice to anyone considering a CMS purchase: Look for the simplest system you can find (most Web sites don't need workflow functionality or any of the other bells and whistles), and find a developer who KNOWS and HAS EXPERIENCE with the software, or at least the language underlying the software. You'll be much happier with cheap software and an expensive implementation than the other way around." Jon Hanke "I have been using FogCreek Citydesk and like that I can teach a client in an hour or two how to make changes, add/remove pages, and manage their site. Pro - easy to use for someone that knows how to code, and for clients, but only for simple content. Cost is low. Con - html it generates is not pretty, and sometimes unpredictable. Overall - I like it, but am on a constant search for a better tool." Don Rathbun "TeamSite -- we have customized it dramatically, which makes my experience difficult to generalize from. Generally, though, it is elegant, complete, and effective. Back-end software at the editor level is unnecessarily ugly, but it gets the job done on a very complex data-base-driven site." Garrison Cox "Post Nuke -- It is perfectly suited for making an online community with many valuable options, including RSS feeds, wireless format (AvantGo), polls, web directory links, reviews and sections. One great feature was the banner ad management that allows you to easily upload banners and your advertisers to login and see their stats. However, it didn’t suit my purposes in the end, since it was missing some features I needed for static content, like being able to upload pictures with the articles. I am going to try Plone next and also it seemed like Bricolage would be a winner." Russ Martin >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== SURVEY: Your Votes for The Best Written Sites Which sites have you seen this year that jump out as being really well written? List one or more sites, under one or more of the categories you see listed below. (And no, don't list your own site!)
B2C............. Government............. Non-profit............. Comments:... Don't miss out on future issues of the Excess Voice newsletter for copywriters. Sign up now: (Your email address will be used only for the purpose of sending you this newsletter, and you'll be free to unsubscribe at any time.) |
Web Tools, Reports and Services I recommend. My reviews here... Site Build It!:
MarketingSherpa
Report: WordTracker: Robin Good: Brainbench: Become more productive with improved software skills.
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© 2003 Nick Usborne. All rights reserved. |