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February 2004 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: Thank
You for The Book Recommendations =============================================== Greetings, In the last issue's survey I asked you to send in the titles of any good business books you had read recently. The response was amazing. Not only did I get a long list of titles and authors, but also some great comments about the books. As a result, I have added a new page to the Excess Voice site... http://www.excessvoice.com/business_books.htm I haven't had the time to get all the titles up there yet, but it's a start. And if you have some books to recommend, but didn't get around to responding last time, please send in your contributions. Title, author and comments on what you found most valuable in the book. Separately, we have a great 'Readers Write Back' section in this issue. Just one contribution, from Yvette Nielsen. But it's a good one. As for this issue's survey, I thought I'd build on the success of the 'book' survey and see if we could compile and share a list of those sites that we find most valuable as sources of information and advice for our work. If we get a strong enough response, I might add another page to the site. I hope you enjoy this issue. Please feel free to write to me with any comments or suggestions for future issues. Until next time. Nick >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== >> UIE Roadshow Hosted by the good folks at UIE.com, I'm giving four full-day seminars early this year. The cities and dates are: Minneapolis, MN --
February 23 If you decide to attend one of these events, be sure to enter this code - NU01 - in the promotional code box and you'll get a fat discount on the regular price - up to $90 off. If 5 or more people register from an attendee's organization, they automatically qualify for the group discount: Group Price: $334 for one seminar, $668 for two seminars, $897 for all three seminars in the series (From now until 7 days before the seminar for groups of 5 or more). You can find full details on their site at: http://www.uieroadshow.com =============================================== REVIEW: The Permission Emailer's Guide to Avoiding Filters, from Marketing Sherpa. Did you know...every time you send an email newsletter or marketing campaign, on average, one out of every six people who asked to be on your list won't get your mailing because a spam filter blocks it by mistake? This is a scary, but ultimately very helpful report. I didn't realize quite how ignorant I was when it came to the size of the problem. Nor did I understand the many reasons why one's email might not get delivered. For myself, I figured that so long as the content didn't raise any red flags, I'd be OK. Not so. The challenge is much bigger than that. As well as explaining the full scope of the problem for permission emailers, this report also lists 10 specific tactics to avoid filters: through proper list building and hygiene, using the right email service to send mail, best practices in creative and copy, how to get whitelisted, and how to get off blacklists. You can read my review
here:
- WordTracker: - Site Build It!:
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Set Yourself Apart From The Ordinary And I think it is all good advice. When visitors arrive at your site for the first time, the best outcome you can hope for is that they think, “Excellent, I’m in exactly the right place. I can find what I’m looking for right here.” The problem is, the more you write the page to suit the needs of the reader, the less character it has. There is a danger that you will become like that person at a party who roams from group to group, agreeing with everyone and simply reflecting back everyone’s opinions and views. People like that are boring and ultimately very irritating. They never risk expressing opinions of their own. The same thing can happen with a website. The more you try to please people, the thinner the character of your company or organization becomes. The web has always been a place where strong views and opinions are highly valued. Think about the newsletters you subscribe to and the discussion lists you take part in. The most valuable contributions are those that express real character, where people take a strong position and are not afraid to express it and stand by it. So there is a balance here. Yes, write your homepage to appeal to the reader, but also let some of the character of your organization shine through. This doesn’t mean adding the mission statement, or shoveling the latest corporate sound bites onto your site. Heaven forbid. But you can express some character. You can say what you believe. You can take a position and let people know what you stand for, and what you stand against. The benefit? You’ll differentiate your site from others in the same space. You’ll stand out from the crowd. You’ll be recognized. You’ll earn respect for taking a position. You’ll catch people’s attention. You’ll make them want to tell their friends and colleagues about your site. You don’t have to take it to extremes. You simply need to write in a recognizable voice. Enough to set you apart from the ordinary.
** The archives of
all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here: >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== READERS WRITE BACK: Content is Queen "Content is king? What a load of rot. In new media at least, content has been a second-class citizen with boring print material shoveled online like so much manure. New content management solutions only increase the amount of manure unless your content creators are skilled and committed to engaging with their audience in two-way dialogue. Content has been the missing link in the web development process. For too long the focus has been on the tools, technology and looks rather than the substance. Judging by the predominance of females studying and working in corporate communication, marketing and media, I'd suggest it’s time to pronounce content as queen, not king. Most of the people who attend my web writing and e-newsletter workshops are women. Most journalism students are women. Most marketing and PR practitioners are women. Most of their well-paid bosses are men. See a familiar pattern? I don't have the stats but I have a hunch that women are natural communicators so naturally drawn to the field. It might also explain why content creation is under-valued along with other female-dominated professions such as nursing, teaching and librarianship. Women, young and old, are turning on to the Net - the mother lode of information - in ever-growing numbers. Just as women realised before men the potential of the telephone as a communication tool, we are taking to email, SMS and chat. Women are natural networkers and embrace technology as a tool - to share knowledge and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. Few of us care less about the "bells and whistles". To add value to our already busy lives, the information must be relevant and enhance our home or work life in some way. Content is integral to any communication project - whoever controls the content controls the message. Information is not content - it's the raw material at the start of the content creation process. Content is purpose-made information presented in an easy-to-absorb format and delivered to the right person in the right place at the right time. In other words, useful content is information you want where and when you want it. You don't need to be a "techie" to materialise the magic of new media. The medium is not the message. Many wealthy web consultants and their hapless clients have missed that point, wasting time and money on flashy looks, nonsensical documentation and gratuitous gimmicks. Content is queen - and long may she rule." Yvette Nielsen >> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com =============================================== SURVEY: The Sites You Turn to For Help and Information During the course of a typical week at work, which sites do you turn to for information, advice or some other kind of help? Take a peek at your favorites list and share the sites you find most helpful and informative. List: ====================================================== 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!: Small business Web hosting, Web design and SEO. MarketingSherpa
Report: WordTracker: Robin Good: Most Popular eBook
Attend my full-day Workshop on Copywriting Online
Bethesda,
MD - March 12, 2004 If you can get to any of these locations on those days, you're invited to join me for a full day, interactive workshop on copywriting for the Web, emails and newsletters. For
a discount on the regular fee, be sure to NU01
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© 2003 Nick Usborne. All rights reserved. |
