|
|
|
Checklist for Writing Articles That Get Read
When writing articles for publication, it is important that you bear certain matters in mind. If you want to write a good article that stands a good chance of publication you need to take the following into consideration before, when you are in...
Getting Started in Column Writing
You’ve written many articles for Websites, newsletters and now you’ve even conquered the territory of getting published in a magazine. What’s the next step, you ask? How to I make the editor ask for my work weekly or monthly? Enter: the column. ...
Have You Plotted Your Story Before Writing It?
Creative Writing Tips – The writer, who doesn’t have the time to plot, always finds the time to rewrite. Sound familiar? I’ve been guilty of this too, back in the early days of my writing apprenticeship. I was so eager to get stuck into...
Why Copywriting Is The Secret To Your Online Success
Over the last decade, the number of companies selling their products and services on the Web or sharing information online with their target market has exploded. It's no longer frowned upon to conduct your business on the Web, and huge numbers of...
Writing Good Dialogue.
There’s nothing that kills a scene like hackneyed dialogue. Just stop and think about the average B-Grade Hollywood Movie. Sure, at times the plot is bad and the characterisation woeful but most of the time, what stops it from being a good...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 Keys to Better Online Copywriting
© 2005 by Bruce Carlson
Doing the copywriting for your own website without the proper
knowledge and tools is pretty much like flying blind in a
snowstorm without piloting experience or instruments.
It doesn't work too well.
A very basic knowledge of copywriting and direct marketing
principles will take you a long ways on the Web.
Here are three simple keys to writing better online copy. Armed
just with these, you'll have a jump on 90% of the folks out
there doing the copywriting for their own sites. And you'll
increase the pulling quality of your site's copy today -- even
if you've never written a word of copy in your life.
1) Wake up your prospect
In today's overkill ad world most people have become numb to
standard sales messages. Television, newspapers, magazines,
Internet, radio, etc. all blast us non-stop with advertising.
After a while we just naturally tune most of it out.
Copywriting great John Carlton says to imagine that your
prospect is a giant blob sitting there on the couch or in a
chair. Now what would you need to do to get that blob to take
action to buy?
Getting someone to stop... actually read your website copy...
AND click through (or fill out a form) is serious heavy-duty
action on the click-and-run Web. Your prospect has a million
things on his or her mind.
Reading your copy isn't exactly Priority One...
So how do you wake your prospects up and get 'em to read your
copy?
The secret is right here in this headline:
"ARE YOU TOO BUSY EARNING A LIVING TO MAKE ANY REAL MONEY?"
This is from Joe Karbo's sales letter for his "The Lazy Man's
Way to Riches" book. The letter was probably responsible for
over a million dollars worth of sales for Joe.
Joe's secret here, and one which you can use too, is based on a
simple principle for getting a prospect's attention.
You need to...
2) Enter the conversation going on in your prospect's mind
You should know enough about your target market to know what
keeps them awake at night. If you don't yet, then you'll need
to find out right away.
In the example above from Joe Karbo, it's about working like a
dog and barely making enough to pay the bills. Marketers like
Joe who target opportunity seekers understand that frustrations
about money cause a lot of people pain.
But what concerns does your target market have? What problem(s)
do they need solved? What itch(es) do they need scratched?
You can find the answers to these questions fairly easily. Lurk
on the forums where your prospects hang out... Read the online
and offline newsletters, magazines and journals they
read...
Or better yet, just ask them!
Set up a survey page on your website or else survey them
through your newsletter or blog. Or use a Web tool like
AskDatabase.
Once you know what your prospects are thinking about most of the
time your copywriting job becomes a heckuva lot easier. You'll
be on a more intimate basis with your market. Which is never a
bad thing...
Good copywriting is wooing your customers in print, after all.
Just like you would woo a prospective mate. And the more you
know about them the more you'll be able to say the right things!
So now that you know what bothers your prospects you'll need
to...
3) Make a compelling offer
This is an area where most website copy really falls short.
Ask yourself this question:
What exactly is it that I want my prospects to do?
You want them to buy! Right? Or at least opt-in to your
newsletter... or get your free report... or sign up for your
autoresponder series...
In other words, you want them to take an action! You don't want
them to browse around, look at your pretty graphics and then
click out. The Web is just too too big. And your site is just
one tiny place in that giant Web ocean. Once they leave, their
chances of coming back are one in a billion. Or worse...
So you need to use your copywriting skills to build an offer
that forces them to make a clear decision.
Make it irresistible. "Make them an offer they can't refuse,"
said the old godfather.
He would've made a good marketer.
By making your offer as seductive as possible, you force action.
You force that clear decision. With pure lead generation sites
this means they give you their contact info. With direct sales
sites it means a sale. Or if it's a combination of the two they
buy and/or give you their contact info so you can follow up.
If your offer is good enough, then a good percentage of your
prospects will be energized.
Your copy will be like a jolt of electricity...Zap!
That blob on the couch might actually get up and do something...
So make your offer hot. Load it up with perceived value. Tell
'em how your product is going to make their life better. And
give 'em a good deal!
To summarize...
Wake 'em up by entering the conversation already in their minds,
and then make 'em an offer they can't refuse. If you do this,
you'll instantly increase the power of your online copywriting.
I guarantee it!
Veteran educator and freelance
writer Bruce Carlson would like
to help you improve your online
copywriting. Sign up for his free
Dynamic Copywriter newsletter at
http://www.dynamic-copywriting.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction ... |
| An online community dedicated to fostering writing skills. With a free membership anyone may read, write, rate, and review works. |
| www.writing.com |
|
| Welcome to Writing-World.com! |
| Writing articles and resources. Tips about how to become a better writer, get published and find writing markets. From Moira Allen. |
| www.writing-world.com |
|
| Guide to Grammar and Writing |
| The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on ... |
| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
|
| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts |
| This page contains important links to the writing: planning/writing/revising aspects of the OWL website. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| Writing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The original Mesopotamian writing system was initially derived from a system of ... If it is deemed to be a written language, writing in China will predate ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Writing.org - Advice for Freelance Writers |
| Articles to help you launch a freelance writing career, from a former literary agent and PLAYBOY editor. |
| www.writing.org |
|
| Writing HTML |
| More than just an HTML reference, this is a structured approach for learning how to create web pages, designed by specialists in learning at the Maricopa ... |
| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
|
| National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month |
| NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. |
| www.nanowrimo.org |
|
| Poynter Online |
| Apply by Dec. 11 Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories Apply by Dec. 11 ... Reporting & Writing for Multi-Platform Newsrooms. Apply by Jan. 10 ... |
| www.poynter.org |
|
| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
| This short online course provides a practical introduction to writing fiction. During the course you will be expected to write two short pieces for ... |
| del.icio.us |
|
| BBC Get Writing |
| The BBC's online resource for writing drama and comedy for television, radio and film. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
|
| 11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar ... |
| A concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
| www.junketstudies.com |
|
| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
| NAEP assesses student performance in writing periodically in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation, and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. |
| nces.ed.gov |
|
| Writing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with writing on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
|
| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
| Includes step-by-step instructions on researching and writing, how to find information online and offline, as well as links to useful resources. |
| www.ipl.org |
|
| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
|
| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
|
| Advice on Academic Writing |
| Includes articles on critical reading, planning, researching, style and editing, grammar and punctuation. |
| www.utoronto.ca |
|
|