nick usborne's guide to online copywriting
For information on my coaching service for freelancers copywriters, visit:
March 2004
Issue # 49
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: Don't
Miss The Resource Review
>> Announcements: See You in Seattle or Bethesda?
>> Review: MarketingExperiments.com
>> Article: Your Readers are Publishers Too
>> Survey: For How Long Have You Been Writing?
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Greetings,
Thank you to everyone who responded to the last issue's survey on useful sites for writers. There wasn't a huge response, but some interesting links nevertheless. What I have done is add most of the suggestions to the existing Excess Voice Resources page.
This issue's survey is a little simpler. I thought it might be interesting to find out how long we have been writing for a living. When you get to the end of the newsletter, just check one of the boxes and cut, past and email the result back to me.
Once again, there is a service review in this issue. If you tend to quickly scroll through the reviews, you may want to check this one out a little more carefully. Of all the services, reports and books I have reviewed so far, this one, for me, is the one service I know I will be going back to time and time again.
Finally, if you have any comments or feedback on the article or anything else in this issue, it would be great to hear back from you.
Until next time.
Nick
>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com
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ANNOUNCEMENTS: See You in Seattle or Bethesda?
>> UIE Roadshow
Hosted by the good folks at UIE.com, I'm giving a number of full-day seminars early this year.
The cities and dates
are:
Seattle, WA -- March 10
Bethesda, MD -- March 12
Chicago, IL -- March 24
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
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REVIEW: MarketingExperiments.com
Here's a site I will go back to numerous times. There are plenty of sites and services that give us a broad view of the various marketing strategies we use online. But this is the only one where I have found objective data on what works best at the tactical level.
It answers questions like: Which pay-per-click engines deliver the best ROI?
How do you find the right price point for your products or services? Which ezine directories actually deliver new subscribers, and at what cost? If pop-ups work, which way of using them causes the least reader irritation?
There are dozens of questions answered. And this is all about hard, objective data, not opinions or individual case histories. You'll find dozens of experiments and their results on the site, with new ones being added on a weekly basis.
If you're involved in driving results for your own sites, or for your clients, I'd strongly recommend you check this out.
You can read my review
here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/marketing-experiments.htm
>> The Most Popular Reviews from Previous Issues:
- MarketingSherpa:
The Permission Emailer's Guide to Avoiding Filters
http://www.excessvoice.com/marketingsherpa_email_filters.htm
- WordTracker:
Improve your search engine ranking with the most profitable keywords.
http://www.excessvoice.com/wordtracker.htm
- Site Build It!:
Small business Web hosting, Web design and SEO.
http://www.excessvoice.com/sitebuildit.htm
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ARTICLE: Your Readers are Publishers Too
Too often we charge ahead and treat the web as if it were just like any other medium. We know it isn’t, but somehow we just can’t resist retaining complete control of the creation and publication of our website and newsletter content.
Meanwhile, our readers are writing blogs, participating in discussion lists, writing book and video reviews, adding their opinions on shopping comparison sites, completing online surveys and so on.
Our readers are also online publishers. They are creating valuable, interesting content every day.
There are two opportunities here.
First, you can have your readers contribute content for your site and your newsletters. Take a look at Amazon.com. They have thousands of pages of content written by their customers. Imagine the cost saving of having their customers write all those reviews.
And it’s not just about saving money. It’s also about recognizing that the aggregate knowledge of all your customers is a great deal larger than that of any individual writer. When you invite your readers to participate in the creation of content, you are tapping into an extraordinarily broad base of knowledge and experience.
Also, when you get your customers and subscribers involved in writing, you are building content that is directly relevant to the interests of your readers.
As editors and marketers it is sometimes tempting to create the content that *we* think is best. Invite your readers to contribute, and all of a sudden you’ll start building content that is much better attuned to the interests of the people who come to your site.
In addition, you increase the credibility of all your content. You are no longer perceived as just another publisher who pushes their views and marketing messages. Slowly, that perception will shift. You will be seen as a company or organization that has the courage to open the doors and publish outside views and opinions. Even contrary views and opinions.
And there’s more. This is where the second opportunity lies. When you include reader-created content to your site and newsletters, you are transforming the nature of the relationship between yourself and your customers or subscribers.
Your site and newsletters cease to be *your* places, they become a shared space. When your readers become participants in the creation of content, they take on a small element of ownership. And when your site or newsletter becomes a shared place, the perceptions of all your readers will begin to shift.
Those who have made contributions will want to come back more often, will want to contribute more often. And word of mouth will spread faster too. If someone has found their review, question, interview or opinions posted on your site or in your newsletters, you can be sure that they will be more likely to tell their friends and colleagues.
Word of mouth is a primary driver in the growth of community and network sites and lists.
Include your readers in the creation of your content. Share the burden of writing. Invite your readers to become participants in the growth of your business. Increase the credibility of all of your content. And watch the power of word of mouth increase your site traffic and newsletter subscriber base.
** 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
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SURVEY: For How Long Have You Been Writing?
More specifically, for how long have you been writing professionally, generating all or a significant part of your income?
[ ] Under 1 year
[ ] 1 - 5 years
[ ] 6 - 10 years
[ ] 11 - 15 years
[ ] 16 - 20 years
[ ] Over 20 years
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