Entries from October 2007 ↓

Ever wonder what the difference is between copy that compels you to buy and copy that compels you to leave a website? 

Here are 5 tools you can use right now to write copy that  compels your visitors to buy or at least stay on your website longer:

1.  Use conversational copy.  Talk to your readers.  How do you talk?  When you speak do  you use contractions?  Do you use colloquialisms?  Write like you talk and you’ll make a  better connection with your readers.
 
2.  Use active words.  Do you want to compel your readers to act or command them to  act?  Do you want your readers to benefit from your product or do you want it to change  their life?  Words have power.  Find specific active verbs to paint your copy, to make it exciting and lively. 
 
3.  Make your copy benefit oriented.  Honestly, your readers don’t care if your lawnmower  has a push button start.  What they care about is that the lawnmower starts easily.  They don’t care if your lawnmower has a tight turning radius.  They want to know that  mowing around their rose bush is easy and doesn’t require a 30-point turn.  Sell benefits not features.
 
4.  Use common language.  Make sure that you use words that people know.  Absolutely  do not, even if you’re writing for rocket scientists, use tech speach or jargon.  Not only is  jargon boring but also you’ll lose your audience if they don’t know what you’re talking  about.  Do use words that people are familiar with and can connect to.
 
5.  Use emotions.  We all want to feel smarter, richer, happier, thinner, more respected  and so on.  Use these emotions and emotional needs to connect with your reader.  For  example, “Do you feel paralyzed every time you have to go shopping?  Do you hate trying on clothes?  Does stepping in front of that three way mirror strike fear inside you?”

_______________________

P.S. - Grab  Your Copywriting Guide - The essential guide to producing more sales through your web copy and ad copies.

How to Turn Your Wordpress Blog into a Simple Content Management System:

Many people love using wordpress so much that they now have started using the software to create their websites (as I have done for Mommy Revenue).  The problem is that it still looks simply like a blog. 

Kirtok owner of Small Business Arena has shared his step-by-step instructions for converting a wordpress blog into a CMS.  One main benefit of converting the traditional wordpress blog into CMS and eliminating the categories is that “wordpress categories only pull the summaries of blog posts, and it is not very useful for SEO and usability purposes.”

Check out Kirtok’s step-by-step instructions to converting your blog here: http://www.smallbusinessarena.com/2007/08/24/turning-a-wordpress-blog-into-a-cms/#more-67

Two opportunities to make money writing from home:

Life Tips will pay you up to $10 for each tip you create, according to quality and substance of your tip.  They currently have 300+ clients in their network, thus able to provide many assignments.

Life Tips also offers FREE Book Publishing.  Here’s the deal:  You create 101 tips on a topic that you’re an expert in.  They will publish a 5 x 8 paperback book showcasing your tips, free of charge. Your book will be available in every major bookstore in the world, printed and shipped on demand. You will earn $2 for each book sold at LifeTips, and $3 for books sold on your website. As a bonus, they will also promote you to their clients as a published author giving you an opportunity for other well-paid assignments.