The Path to a Legendary Copywriting Career

Posted on 24. Feb, 2012 by in Blog, Copywriting, Featured, Radio, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio Logo

John Carlton is a force of nature.

He’s that rare breed who can write fascinating copy, and is just as fascinating to listen to. Every story ends up a great story.

Through the lens of his remarkable journey to and through the copywriting trade, John delivers practical business tips and killer copywriting advice in this first half of a two-part interview I did with him.

Whether you’re a veteran writer, or just starting to learn your craft, the next 30 minutes with this outspoken ad man is a worthwhile spend …

In this episode we discuss:

  • How to go from slacker to pro
  • Why writer’s block is a myth, and how to get your work done
  • 4 books that will change your career (and you should read every year)
  • The dirty little secret most copywriters don’t want you to know
  • The mental attitude that made John’s career
  • 2 secrets of John’s success
  • A vital lesson on the nature of opportunity

Hit the flash player below to listen now:

Other listening options:

The Show Notes:

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s copywriter and resident recluse.

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How to Grow Your Freelance Writing Business by Working Less

Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by in Blog, Copywriting, Featured, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

image of broom

Freelance writers make lots of mistakes, especially when they’re starting out online.

Mistakes are useful. They’re fertilizer for entrepreneurial growth. They keep you learning and moving forward.

However, if you fail to make the right mistakes — and to learn from them — you may as well just keep your writing as a weekend hobby.

You want to make the mistakes that teach you how to build a better writing business or show you things you only learned because you were reaching.

What’s one of the biggest mistakes a freelance writer can make?

Let’s find out …

Do not ignore your most important client

One of the biggest mistakes a freelance writer can make — and one most writers constantly fall into — is ignoring their most important client.

Oh sure, most writers take care of the person they think is their best client. The client who pays them the most per word and gives them the most notice between projects, or the most glowing referrals.

And you might be right. That might be your best client, but it isn’t your most important. Not by a long shot.

Your most important client is the one who will stay with you forever. The client who will help ensure you make more each year than you did the year before. Your most important client will help you do all of that, but only if you promise to never ignore them.

Who is your best client?

Your best client is you.

And are you taking care of yourself? Do you make sure your needs are met?

Do you set aside at least an hour every day to tend your projects and build your assets — the same assets that will accumulate over time and help you build streams of steady, passive income?

Probably not, most working writers don’t.

It’s bad enough when you’re freelancing, tearing through so many hours that you don’t have the time to write for your muse or build your assets, whether that means publishing fiction to Kindle or creating eCourses you can sell to your list.

But at least busy freelancers are paying the bills.

They’re growing their businesses and building their reputations.

While busy freelancers who spend all their time cranking out copy are ignoring their permanent assets, at least they have an excuse.

They’re working hard.

A case study in “working hard”

I used to run a small chain of flower shops in Long Beach, California.

There were often times when I felt I had to do everything myself, from stripping roses to answering phones, even sweeping up the shop.

But if I wasn’t booking a wedding, negotiating a better price for international roses, or helping a hapless husband build the perfect bouquet for his beautiful wife, I was costing myself and the business money.

Of course I’d learned all this before I started my writing career. Yet for some reason it took me a couple of years to figure out that the same principles held true online.

For the first year, I couldn’t justify the expense in my head.

My writing business wasn’t generating enough money to outsource, or so I thought. I quickly fell into the same trap I’d fallen into many years before in the flower business.

One excuse followed another until I finally realized that the more I wrote for myself, the more I could ultimately make in the long run.

Yet, that would never happen if I spent all my time inside my WordPress dashboard instead of building my future.

There is never any good reason to spend needless minutes mired in menial tasks that keep you busy and fenced from your future, drowning in tedium and leaving you with a finished product that probably isn’t as good as what you could have paid for.

Do any of the tasks below look familiar?

Are you needlessly spending time on any (or all) of these, because you think you should?

  • Coding your website
  • Audio or video transcription
  • Blog design
  • Accounting
  • Cover art design
  • Editing

You might be decent at accomplishing the items on that list.

But if you’re a writer, none are your specialty.

By outsourcing that kind of work and paying a specialist a reasonable rate, you will be buying yourself more time for the work you can charge top dollar for.

Outsourcing also gives you time to write and create the bigger assets that will make you money over time, rather than just once.

Top-notch content for your own site. Superb client education material. The kind of great marketing you create for your clients, but never write for your own business.

To truly grow as a writer, you must be willing to hand off any menial tasks that strip your time away from what you’re best at –- writing.

The less you write, the further you’ll be from realizing your goals and dreams.

It’s time to work smart

You must be willing to eliminate from your workday any mindless tasks that cannot make you money or help you grow your business.

Every task you keep for yourself is adding distance between yourself, your passion, and the true future you could be building around your writing career.

Outsourcing travels in every direction.

When you write copy for a client who doesn’t want to do it themselves, they are outsourcing their work to you. For you, writing is easy. For them, it isn’t.

Some of the things you don’t want to do, aren’t especially good at, or take you far too long, are tasks other people are exceptional at and enjoy doing: coding, WordPress development, blog design, research, and all the other stuff your writing business needs to grow.

Let others handle the heavy lifting of your business so you can spend your time writing a better tomorrow for yourself instead.

Don’t spend your time sweeping the floor with your future.

About the Author: Sean Platt is a content marketer and cofounder of outstandingSETUP. Get his free report 9 Website Building Mistakes You Should Avoid.

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Introducing The Lede: A Copywriting and Online Marketing Sheet

Posted on 29. Oct, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, content marketing, conversion, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Headlines, Keyword Research, Landing Pages, List Building, Metrics, persuasion, productivity, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media marketing, Traditional Media, Traffic

The Lede | copyblogger.com

Welcome to The Lede.

Every week I’ll be digging up and linking to stories, news, and opinion relevant to online marketing and copywriting.

Email, social media, innovation, SEO, productivity, mobile, conversion, publishing, and everything in between.

No commentary, just a fast, single page of headlines that you can grab, scan, and squeeze for all they may (or may not) be worth.

All right then, on with it …

The ROI of Email Marketing

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“The easiest thing in the world for a reader to do is stop reading”

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Steve Jobs’ “Seven Rules of Success” Applied to Email Marketing

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Twitter looking for full-time Copywriter

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How the Kindle Transforms the Marketplace

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Is Mobile SEO a Myth?

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How to Write a Popular Blog Post

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The 6 + 1 Copywriting Formula

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The Ultimate Measure of Marketing Success

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The Strange Art of Achieving More by Doing Less

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Better Marketing Through Social Media Optimization

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5 Advanced Keyword Research Tips

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Copywriting as Online Reputation Management

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Great Content Needs to Transcend Platforms

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“‘Social sharing buttons’ are one of the least

effective tactics you can use to build your list …”

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Finding the Value of Email Marketing Through Metrics

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Building a Landing Page Using “The Backward” Tactic

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Is Rational or Emotional Copy Better for the Bottom Line?

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The Art of the Simple Content Strategy

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Marketing Advice for #occupywallstreet

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An Email Marketing Cheat Sheet

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6 Steps to Selling More

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Mobile Marketing Industry Sets Privacy Guidelines

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Why You No Longer Need a Blog

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5 Mobile Marketing Mistakes

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An SEO Copywriting Cheat Sheet

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How to Diagnose and Heal a Sick Landing Page

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Even Hollywood Needs Good Landing Pages

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It’s About What They Do, Not What They Say

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An SEO Copywriter Walks into a Bar …

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Is the New Facebook Design Killing Your Traffic?

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In Praise of Slow Copywriting

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What Movies and Comic Books Can

Teach You About Writing Powerful Scenes

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The Importance of Daring

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What SEOs Must Learn From Adwords Pros

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65 Ways to Get Traffic to Your Blog

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Why Social Media Research is so Valuable

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3 Big Email Marketing Myths

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How Apple Changed the World

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s copywriter and resident recluse.

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The Art of Finding Ideas

Posted on 18. Oct, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, Collaboration, content marketing, Copywriting, editing, Email Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Featured, Headlines, Landing Pages, persuasion, productivity, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media marketing

image of humphrey bogart and maltese falcon

Every writer who has ever lived has lusted after ideas.

Where are they, how do I get them, and how do I keep them coming?

If you’ve been writing long enough, you know that — like Solomon — there is nothing new under the sun.

Try as you might to sweat them out of your head or pull them gently from the stars above, there are no new ideas.

So, relax.

But the page is not going to write itself, is it? Where then do we turn for ideas that work, ideas that move, ideas that persuade?

In short, we steal them.

The moment you free yourself from The Cult of Originality, you realize that “original” ideas do not come from within.

They are given to us, from without.

A writer should not look inside, but outside, at external sources, stories, events, and emotions.

If you’re offended that I’d suggest you “steal” ideas, please get over it. You’re already a thief, you just don’t know it yet.

Here are two of the most significant idea repositories on earth …

1. The modern media is a torrent of ideas

In this information age, you have absolutely no reason to “draw a blank”.

Ever.

What took our writing ancestors days and weeks to research and learn, takes us mere moments.

In fact, the only problem we have now is one of finding trusted curators. We need to develop self-discipline and discernment in seeking out correct information from reliable sources.

There is no drought of ideas.

Brian Clark recently wrote:

You have more computing power in your pocket than it took to send men to the moon. What are you doing with it?

Indeed.

Are you wasting it or harnessing it? You don’t need to go to the moon, the crossroads will do just fine for our purposes.

Research. Read. Steal.

Product manuals, literature, interviews, talk radio, magazines, newspapers, television, Twitter, Google Trends, movies, Wikipedia, and on and on and on …

It’s all there, right in your pocket.

And it’s actually more than you’ll ever need.

So use it. Don’t let it use you.

2. People will give you exactly what you’re looking for

Ideas are walking around everywhere out there.

Eugene Schwartz once told a story about a copywriting job he had.

He met with the client and asked him to start talking about the product. They ended up sitting together for four hours — the client talking, and Schwartz simply listening and taking notes.

Later that night, while he was waiting for his wife to get ready for a night out on Manhattan, Schwartz wrote the ad.

The entire ad.

He said about 70% of the finished copy was composed of his client’s own words.

The headline itself was a phrase the client had hit on, word for word.

He waited two weeks, mailed the ad to the client, and they both made a lot of money.

You might think this was some kind of dirty trick on Schwartz’ part, but you’d be wrong.

Schwartz knew how to write a powerful direct response ad. The client didn’t.

Schwartz was smart enough to know that the client knew (in this case) his own product better than he ever could, and simply translated that knowledge and passion onto paper.

The ideas were sitting in the client’s head and Schwartz knew exactly what to do with them.

It goes further …

For better or worse, a writer is working all the time.

Phone calls with friends, the plumber, your spouse, your child, your boss, your client, your neighbor — they are all constantly giving you ideas.

They are all constantly telling you what they — and the entire world — truly want.

It is all grist for the mill.

All you need to do is … listen.

Steal this post

Eugene Schwartz summed this up for me perfectly:

You don’t have to have great ideas if you can hear great ideas.

I stole this post from him, and he stole it from many others.

Listen more. Talk less.

Read less. Read better.

Steal.

The Art of Finding Ideas is then … to go out and find ideas.

Originality? That’ll come from using your own voice, and your voice develops from only one thing — writing more. And more. And more.

Where have you been getting your ideas?

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s copywriter and resident recluse.

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The Art of Finding Ideas

Posted on 18. Oct, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, Collaboration, content marketing, Copywriting, editing, Email Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Headlines, Landing Pages, persuasion, productivity, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media marketing

image of humphrey bogart and maltese falcon

Every writer who has ever lived has lusted after ideas.

Where are they, how do I get them, and how do I keep them coming?

If you’ve been writing long enough, you know that — like Solomon — there is nothing new under the sun.

Try as you might to sweat them out of your head or pull them gently from the stars above, there are no new ideas.

So, relax.

But that page is not going to write itself, is it? Where then do we turn for ideas that work, ideas that move, ideas that persuade?

In short, we steal them.

The moment you free yourself from The Cult of Originality, you realize that “original” ideas do not come from within.

They are given to us, from without.

A writer should not look inside, but outside, at external sources, stories, events, and emotions.

If you’re offended that I’d suggest you “steal” ideas, please get over it. You’re already a thief, you just don’t know it yet.

Here are two of the most significant idea repositories on earth …

1. The modern media is a torrent of ideas

In this information age, you have absolutely no reason to “draw a blank”.

Ever.

What took our writing ancestors days and weeks to research and learn, takes us mere moments.

In fact, the only problem we have now is one of finding trusted curators. We need to develop self-discipline and discernment in seeking out correct information from reliable sources.

There is no drought of ideas.

Brian Clark recently wrote:

You have more computing power in your pocket than it took to send men to the moon. What are you doing with it?

Indeed.

Are you wasting it or harnessing it? You don’t need to go to moon, the crossroads will do just fine for our purposes.

Research. Read. Steal.

Product manuals, literature, interviews, talk radio, magazines, newspapers, televsion, Twitter, Google Trends, movies, Wikipedia, and on and on and on …

It’s all there, right in your pocket.

And it’s actually more than you’ll ever need.

So use it. Don’t let it use you.

2. People will give you exactly what you’re looking for

Ideas are walking around everywhere out there.

Eugene Schwartz once told a story about a copywriting job he had.

He met with the client and asked him to start talking about the product. They ended up sitting together for four hours — the client talking, and Schwartz simply listening and taking notes.

Later that night, while he was waiting for his wife to get ready for a night out on Manhattan, Schwartz wrote the ad.

The entire ad.

He said about 70% of the finished copy was comprised of his client’s own words.

The headline itself was a phrase the client had hit on, word for word.

He waited two weeks, mailed the ad to the client, and they both made a lot of money.

You might think this was some kind of dirty trick on Schwartz’ part, but you’d be wrong.

Schwartz knew how to write a powerful direct response ad. The client didn’t.

Schwartz was smart enough to know that the client knew (in this case) his own product better than he ever could, and simply translated that knowledge and passion onto paper.

The ideas were sitting in the client’s head and Schwartz knew exactly what to do with them.

It goes further …

For better or worse, a writer is working all the time.

Phone calls with friends, the plumber, your spouse, your child, your boss, your client, your neighbor — they are all constantly giving you ideas.

They are all constantly telling you what they — and the entire world — truly want.

It is all grist for the mill.

All you need to do is … listen.

Steal this post

Eugene Schwartz summed this up for me perfectly:

You don’t have to have great ideas if you can hear great ideas.

I stole this post from him, and he stole it from many others.

Listen more. Talk less.

Read less. Read better.

Steal.

The Art of Finding Ideas is then … to go out and find ideas.

Originality? That’ll come from using your own voice, and your voice develops from only one thing — writing more. And more. And more.

Where have you been getting your ideas?

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s copywriter and resident recluse.

19 Ways to Get Paid for Your Writing

Posted on 10. Oct, 2011 by in Blog, Copywriting, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

image of $100 bill

Good writers should get paid for their work. It’s as simple as that.

If this is what you want to do professionally, then you should be paid for it.

A dirty little secret of this business is that many writers that earn a full-time income by putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, aren’t any better than the writers who don’t make a dime.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Let me be clear, you’re not going to find any “get rich quick” ideas in this post. But those writers that earn do have a secret weapon …

They know where to go to get paid.

(A quick note before we start — all of these assume you’re actually good — that you’ve put the hours in to master your craft. Obvious, right? So now that that’s out of the way, let’s get rolling.)

Start with your network

Most writers hate the idea of picking up the phone and calling up the people who are closest to them.

They see it as a breach of social decorum — after all, these are your friends and family, not your marketing team!

The truth is that your close network is very first place that you should look. They like you, they trust you, and they want you to succeed.

If you were in their shoes, wouldn’t you want an opportunity to help out? Here’s how you can give them that opportunity:

  1. Ask. Yup, it’s that simple. Pick up the phone, call your nearest and dearest, and explain that you’re looking for writing work. Ask if they know anyone who might be looking for a writer. Be specific about the kinds of writing that you specialize in (email marketing, landing pages, etc.), and give them some hints about who might be looking for someone like you. You might be surprised at how many people your contacts know, and how eager they are to help you.
  2. Who knows an agency? Instead of asking your contacts if they know someone who needs a writer, you can ask them if they know someone who works at an ad agency (or a graphic designer, or a web developer, etc.) — these people always need writers, and all you need is a good introduction.
  3. Bad writing scouts. Maybe your contacts don’t know anyone who needs a writer today, but that doesn’t mean they won’t see someone who needs a writer pretty soon — you just have to teach them how to spot the right person. Ask your friends and family to keep their eyes open for bad writing — in menus, brochures, emails from companies, and so forth. All they need to do is forward the material to you, or take a picture. Then you can approach the company and say “This was so bad that a friend forwarded it to me — don’t you think you should get it fixed?”
  4. Dreams of writing a book. Another question to ask is whether they know anyone who’s always dreamed of writing a book, but who just isn’t much of a writer. Maybe they need a ghost writer, and maybe your contacts can make the introduction …
  5. Expand to other networks. Once you’ve gotten comfortable talking to people about what you’re doing and what you need, you should expand those efforts to formal networking organizations like chambers of commerce and BNI groups.

Once you’ve exhausted your networks, it’s time to start looking at “cold” opportunities …

Find companies to work with

Companies need writers every day, for a variety of tasks.

Sometimes they have in-house writers, and sometimes they have freelancers that they’ve worked with for years … but sometimes they have neither.

In those cases, they go looking for new talent …

  1. Use your writing skills to do some prospecting. One of the best ways for writers to score new clients is to send some well-crafted direct mail. If direct response copywriting isn’t your strong suit (yet), check out this post on how it’s done.
  2. Job postings for freelance writers. Keep an eye on the major job boards and Craigslist to see who’s looking for freelance writers. You can also look at the websites of specific companies that you’d like to write for to see if they’re looking, though this is a bit more of a long-shot.
  3. Job postings for staff writers. Don’t limit your searches to freelance writing positions. Often, companies are looking for full-time staff writers, but still need freelancers as well (especially if they’re having trouble filling the full-time position!). Reach out to these companies and offer to freelance for them, and they just might take you up on your offer.
  4. Agencies. Most companies need writers some of the time, but agencies need writers all the time. That means you don’t need to wait for them to publish a job posting — just make a list of all the agencies in your city, and tell them that you want to write for them.
  5. Start-ups. You can also get in touch with start-ups. Follow the news feeds of incubators and venture capitalists to see who they’ve just funded — these are companies that have some cash to spend. They’re often in the perfect position to outsource the writing work that they’ve been doing themselves until now.
  6. Editing and proofreading. A good way to get your foot in the door is by looking for freelance and permanent editing positions. If you do enough editing, they’ll likely wise up to the idea that they could have saved themselves some time and money by asking you to do the writing from the get-go. Just be sure to let them know that’s a service you can provide them.

Okay, enough about writing for companies. Let’s go back to the grand-daddy of writing venues, which is the print media …

Old school print media

Yes, times are tougher these days for print media, but magazines, newspapers, and book publication still make up a multi-billion dollar industry.

That’s more than enough money for you to take a small piece out of.

  1. Magazines. The original place for writers to get their “first break” was magazines, and there are still a lot of them that are alive, kicking, and looking for great content. The best part is that unlike most blogs, they almost always pay their contributors. So how do you find them? Pick up a copy of Writer’s Market, and start looking for subjects you write well about. Don’t neglect the trade magazines, which can be a source of both revenue today and new copywriting gigs tomorrow.
  2. Newspapers. Start with small, local papers, and buddy up to the people in the editorial desk to find out how you can get your foot in the door. Once you’re in, and your work starts getting traction, you can approach the bigger papers as well.
  3. Books. Publishing a book has long been the “holy grail” for many writers. The economics of book publishing have changed a lot, and authors have had to get creative in order to be successful, but there’s still success to be had in book publishing. Spoiler: stay tuned for my upcoming book Engagement from Scratch, featuring, among others, Copyblogger’s own Brian Clark!

But as we all know, print comes with a lot of limitations, especially today.

And so we turn to …

Writing work online

Yes, there’s also the internet — with lots of opportunity and lots of money to be made for good writers — after all, that’s one of the main subjects of this entire blog!

So let’s explore those opportunities, starting with …

  1. Using content marketing to attract copywriting clients. Many writers grow a blog with the express purpose of building a copywriting client base. It’s a common strategy because it works — so what’s your strategy for your blog? (Pro tip: remember to write mostly for your potential clients, not for other copywriters.)
  2. Paid guest posts. Did you know that you can get paid to write guest posts? You won’t turn into Jon Morrow overnight, but there’s still money to be made. Copyblogger doesn’t pay for guest posts (though there are lots of benefits to writing here), but there are sites that pay between $50 and $200 for posts, including Freelance Switch, Smashing Magazine, and many others.
  3. Smart affiliate marketing. If you can get enough traffic and a large enough list, you can run ads on your blog, but you can often do much better by getting creative with affiliate offers. More and more successful affiliate sites are being built on excellent writing, paired with creativity and a strong business strategy.
  4. Writing coaching. Likewise, once you’ve built an engaged audience that is blown away by your writing, some of them might want you to coach them on how they can do the same.
  5. Information products. No, I couldn’t finish a post about how writers can make money online without talking about information products … starting with simple ebooks and progressing to well-developed educational sites. They’re hands-down the best revenue opportunity for you, assuming you’ve got an audience who wants them. Oh, and Teaching Sells is re-opening soon. What a coincidence… ;) (Full disclosure: I’ve been a student in Teaching Sells since way back when, and it’s one of the best investments that I ever made in my online business education. Not a pitch, I’m just saying.)

So many choices … where to start?

Undoubtedly, there are a lot of options outlined in this post.

And even more undoubtedly, a lot of them involve lots and lots of work — again, there’s no “get rich quick” idea hidden in this post!

So … where should you start? What’s your best bet?

The truth is that I don’t know.

I can tell you what’s worked for me — but we’re different people, with different strengths, experiences, and circumstances.

What you really need is some hard data about what lots of people do, and what seems to be working well across the board.

I don’t have those numbers to give you. Not yet, anyway …

Complete the semi-local business survey

Everybody talks about making some money locally and some money online, but there’s no hard data about what results large numbers of people are seeing, and how long it’s taking them to get there.

Over at my company, Firepole Marketing, we wanted to change all that, so we created the Semi-Local Business Survey.

The survey will ask you how much of your income is generated locally, how much is generated remotely, and how you came to be where you are today.

Your answers are completely anonymous, and will be added to the answers of many others, so that we can see what the real trends in the industry are.

There’s no offer here, and nothing for sale — we just want to gather the data and share it with the community.

So please, take a few minutes and complete the survey!

About the Author: Danny Iny is an author, strategist, serial entrepreneur, and proud co-founder of Firepole Marketing, the program that turns non-marketers into expert marketers. He wants to know where entrepreneurs, freelancers and small businesses are really making their money — help out by completing the Semi-Local Business Survey today!

What Bestselling Fiction Can Teach You About Writing Better Landing Pages

Posted on 26. Sep, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, content marketing, conversion, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Headlines, Landing Pages, persuasion, productivity, RSS Marketing, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media marketing, Traffic

image of spy with gun

Imagine you’re having a discussion with a talkative, hyperactive teenager.

The conversation goes something like this …

We went to the mall, and like, there was this fire in the mall. And we went from there to the movies, but we didn’t have any money and anyway the popcorn machine was broken, and so we didn’t really want to go to the movies without popcorn. But right after that we went to have some pizza and there was this creepy guy outside the store. But listen to this — because that’s not the best part. The best part is that Sylvie dumped Josh, and like, they ran into each other in the street …

Annoying right? Then why do we so often write our web copy just like that teenager talks?

Is there a better way to write a landing page?

When we write copy for our website, we sound a lot like that teenager

We tend to move all over the place with our copy.

First, we’ll try to stuff five different concepts into the headline.

Then we’ll try and fill in too many sub-heads that we want to drive home.

And then our first paragraph attempts to cover all the possible points.

And — like that teenager above — we have the entire story in our heads, but nothing quite gets across to the client.

We’re trying to cover way too many points, way too quickly.

And, as you’ve worked out for yourself, this bouncing and jumping around is exhausting for your reader.

How this mistake unfolds in an actual piece of copy

Let’s take a look at our “teenage talk” problem using a real-life example:

Headline:

Are You Fed Up With Unprofessional Contractors?

Body text:

  • Contractors that don’t call you back or even show up?
  • Are you done with contractors that lack the ability to communicate in a timely manner?
  • How about contractors that run away from problems that crop up during and after a project?
  • Are you completely over dealing with the hacks of the world?
  • Have you had enough of sitting at home, babysitting the people you’re paying?

So what’s wrong with that sequence?

It gets off to a good start. The headline gets my attention without too much of a fuss, particularly if I’m having this problem right now.

But then I start reading and I get between three and five main plots and no sub-plots at all.

How do we know they’re main plots? Because we can list them out and see for ourselves. They all want to take center stage.

  • Main plot 1: Contractors don’t call you back or even show up
  • Main plot 2: They lack the ability to communicate in a timely manner
  • Main plot 3: They run away from problems that crop up during and after a project
  • Main plot 4: The so-called professional is nothing but a hack
  • Main plot 5: You are tired of having to babysit these people

Just like that teenager’s story, it’s possible for us to jump from one to the other, without so much as pausing for a single breath.

So now that we know we’re creating bounce, how do we get rid of it? And how do we still use all the persuasive points we want to cover on our landing page?

How to say exactly what you’re trying to say

Just like an exciting movie or a bestselling novel, your article needs a single main plot. One primary storyline that the reader or viewer is most interested in.

You can also have sub-plots — additional points that make the story more complex and interesting, and continue to hook that reader.

So how do you know which point is your main plot? It’s the client’s most pressing problem.

That’s obvious, isn’t it? You want to get the client’s attention by driving home the biggest, scariest, buggiest problem.

Here’s how we go about it:

Headline:

Write your headline. It should only cover one big, buggy, nasty problem

Body text:

  • Body text 1: Drive home the problems involved with that one point
  • Body text 2: Drive home the consequences of that one point
  • Body text 3: Drive home the solution to that one problem

Move to the next point.

So how does the teenager’s story look in this format?

Headline:

We went to the mall and there was a fire.

  • Body text 1: What happened next at the mall?
  • Body text 2: Then what were the consequences?
  • Body text 3: How did we escape the fire?

With the teenager, she’d complete one story, and move to the next.

And the next …

But you may have made your point with a single story.

So what do you do with the rest of the stuff that you so badly want to get across? You bring it up later.

Let’s see how. But first let’s get back to squaring this in our original example.

Headline:

Are You Fed Up With Unprofessional Contractors …

  • Body text: … That don’t call you back or even show up?
  • Body text 1: Talk in detail about the problems created when the contractor doesn’t call back or show up.
  • Body text 2: What are the consequences? Describe the emotions that the client feels — again, in detail.
  • Body text 3: What’s the best way to avoid this wretched scenario?

And then you present your service:

  • Body text 4: Presenting XYZ contracting company.
  • Body text 5: Drive home the point of how you handle calling your customers back. Describe in detail how you do it — when you show up and how you follow up.

Notice we haven’t gone to Point 2 yet. And yes, I know, you’re itching to drive home that point.

But first, do you notice something?

The customer doesn’t care about your itch. They’re locked in to what you’re saying.

You’re the first person they’ve met who isn’t like that teenager, jumping from story to story.

The customer’s biggest problem is ‘unprofessional contractors that don’t call back or show up’ and you’re talking about exactly that. The customer wants to know more about that story in detail, before they’re ready to move to the next story.

So after you present your company and how it brings that one solution to their problem, you can move on to the next “subplot,” the secondary stories in your copywriting plot.

Roll out the remaining subplots in slightly less detail, in a feature/benefit format that looks like this:

Feature 1: Benefit 1. Describe the benefits of Feature 1 in strong, vivid terms.

Feature 2: Benefit 1. Now write more copy vividly describing the benefits of Feature 2.

And so on with Features 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 — adding benefits, of course, to every one of those features.

You can have as many as 8-10 paragraphs rich with details of the problem and the solutions you bring to the customer.

Having locked into the main problem and seeing how you bring that solution, the customer will happily trundle through the rest of the points, and become more convinced by the word about your ability to solve their problem.

In short, you must have a main plot, then drive it home

Later, pull in the sub-plots, but without the same level of intensity as the main.

Just remember to pick the point your customer cares most about as your main plot. ‘Sylvie dumping Josh’ has more drama than ‘no popcorn at the cinema.’

From there, you’re simply re-telling your story on the landing page.

One plot at a time ;)

About the Author: Sean D’Souza offers a great free report on ‘Why Headlines Fail’ when you subscribe to his Psychotactics Newsletter. Be sure to check out his blog, too.

You Already Know How to Write an Ebook … So What’s Stopping You?

Posted on 01. Sep, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, Collaboration, content marketing, Copywriting, editing, Entrepreneurship, personal branding, productivity, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

image of bookstore sign

There are plenty of great reasons to write an ebook.

A short, free ebook could be precisely the cookie you need in order for your email list to grow beyond a handful of members.

A big, paid-for ebook could be an important part of your revenue stream — and the first product in your sales funnel.

Being able to say, “I’m an author.” could give your credibility a massive boost.

So what’s stopping you? I think I know …

Maybe you think you don’t know how. Sure, you’re comfortable with writing blog posts, but an ebook is a totally different animal.

Or is it?

Everything you know about blogging applies to ebooks too

Think of your ebook as a series of blog posts.

Content-rich, in-depth posts that readers can’t wait to read and share.

When you look at it that way, your ebook suddenly seems less … daunting.

You already know how to write an ebook. Everything you’ve learned from blogging still applies. Just think of your ebook as a series, and each post as a chapter within that series.

That way:

  • Your ebook won’t become a bloated, “everything I’ve ever learned” guide to your whole field. It won’t sell — and you won’t have any room for your second ebook. Pick one topic, just as you would for a post series
  • Your writing style can stay friendly, informal and engaging. You don’t have to come across all stilted and academic just because it’s an ebook. Your readers will want to hear your voice, just like they do on your blog
  • Your chapters can be concise and information-packed — just like your blog posts. You don’t need to waffle on and on to fill the pages. After all, what would your readers prefer: straight-up information or a ton of padding?
  • Your content-creation routine doesn’t have to change drastically. You don’t need to lock yourself away for two weeks in order to finish your ebook. You can just write a couple of short chapters each week — in the same way that you write blog posts on a regular basis

You can use your current blog content too

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you could repurpose some of your existing content for the ebook.

For lots more on this, see Carol Tice’s excellent post, 12 Ways to Turn Your Old, Dusty Blog Archive into Cold, Hard Cash.

For instance:

  • You might use one of your popular posts as the introduction for the ebook
  • You could turn a “how to” post into a worksheet
  • A case study post could become a vivid example
  • Your readers’ comments might inspire new chapters or a Q&A section

Formatting matters just as much in ebooks as in blog posts

Some bloggers seem to ignore formatting completely when it comes to ebooks.

They’ll produce dull, grey documents densely packed with text … and they’ll wonder why no-one’s interested.

If your ebook is going to be a pdf (and most info-products are), then you can use all the same formatting features that you’d use in blogging:

  • Add images to grab attention, break up the text and show concepts that are hard to describe in words.
  • Include subheadings to help signpost the way through the text
  • Add hyperlinks so that readers can jump straight to the chapters that they need
  • Use bullet-pointed lists to display information more clearly
  • Create a style for block quotes so that these stand out from the text

You already know how to do all of this

You know how to write regularly.

You know how to make your style engaging.

You know how to use formatting to hold the reader’s attention.

So let me ask you again: what’s stopping you from writing your ebook?

About the Author: Ali Luke is a blogger, writer and writing coach. She’s just released a brand new ebook in her popular Blogger’s Guide series: The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible Ebooks. If you’d like to write an ebook that your readers can’t wait to snap up, click here and check it out today.

6 Design Tips That Will Have Your Audience Licking Their Screens

Posted on 30. Aug, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, content marketing, conversion, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Headlines, Online Product Launches, personal branding, persuasion, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media marketing, Traffic

image of dog licking chops

We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.

~ Steve Jobs

You’re creating great content to attract an audience. A loyal audience that comes to know, like and trust you.

But what if you never get the attention of that audience in the first place?

What if your blog visitors take one look at your well-written words and move right along because your page looks bland, boring, and amateurish?

You lose them at hello. Your words never had a chance to take root.

That’s where design can help.

Design creates a welcoming first impression.

It engages your site visitors and draws them in so they’ll actually spend time with your information.

It’s the difference between throwing some fast food on the table in front of your guests, and presenting a meal that’s carefully prepared, beautifully plated, and smells delicious.

Want to build up an appetite for your content?

Today’s post shares 6 tips to make your blog so luscious looking, you’ll need to warn people not to lick their screens.

1. Think about your guests

Delicious design starts with an understanding of who you’re cooking it up for.

Knowing your target market and what they’ll respond to is crucial if you want to pick typefaces, colors and images that will resonate with them.

What do you need to know about them?

Ideally, you have a grasp of their age group, predominant gender and education level.

Bonus points if you are aware of psychographic details like what motivates them, what their beliefs are, and what other companies they’re attracted to and buying from.

And just like you’d want to know about food allergies before you prepared a meal, it’s important to be aware of what your target market finds unpleasant or repulsive so you can avoid it on your pages.

2. Speak their language with typography

Custom typography allows you to break out of the Helvetica-Times Roman-Georgia-Verdana fonts our sites marched in lockstep to just a few years ago.

You can express your brand or your blog’s personality through your typefaces’ personalities.

Serif typefaces — the ones with little “feet” — are classic and traditional.

Sans-serif typefaces — those with streamlined letters — are contemporary and modern.

There are exceptions within these major categories, so trust your eyes to tell you what your typeface choices are saying.

It’s easy to use custom typefaces on our blogs now. There are several good commercial offerings that will “serve up” unique fonts to your site. The Google Font API will even do it for free.

It’s an extra step, but will make your content stand out, and give your words personality.

Here’s more on choosing and combining typefaces.

3. Use colors that make sense to your market

If you’ve carefully researched your target market as outlined in step one, you may already have an idea of what colors will work for them.

To start, I recommend you choose two main colors to represent your brand.

For you, two colors are simplest to work with — you’ll have a short list to choose from every time you need to make a color choice.

For your audience, two predominant colors will make it easier to recognize and remember your brand.

How can you pick just two colors from the millions available?

Start by looking at the consumer goods your target market already buys. What colors already appeal to them?

You don’t need to walk around your local shopping mall with a swatch book, but keep your eyes open to color combinations that sell to your particular market. Take inspiration from what’s already working.

4. Tell your story with enticing images

I’ll be the first to admit it: finding a good image to work with your posts is a huge pain.

It adds to the time it takes to finish your piece, and — because you typically look for an image after you’ve finished writing — it feels like just One More Thing To Do.

But, it’s worth it.

As wonderful as your carefully-crafted words may be, they’ll sit there limp and lonely on the page if you don’t pair them up with a compelling image.

A great image is like the cover of a dinner party invitation.

It gives people an easy “in” to start engaging with your writing. Images are processed quickly, and if you’ve picked one that’s attractive and creates just a little bit of curiosity, it will draw readers into your headline and the first paragraph of your post.

5. Order your information hierarchically

Visual hierarchy helps your visitor navigate through your page and absorb your information in the order you prefer.

Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? Here’s how to make it work …

Look at the information on any given page of your blog. What do you want your site visitors to notice first? It’s probably your site name.

Then what do you want them to see? It might be your headline, or the image you’ve used with your first post.

Once they’ve taken in the name of your site and you’ve drawn them into your content, then where do you want them to look?

Visual hierarchy directs the viewer’s eyes through your information by giving it an order of importance by where it’s positioned, how bold or bright it is, and how much white space it has around it.

The most important information? Make it larger, bolder, and brighter. Give it some breathing room, too: white space draws eyeballs.

The next-most-important information? Make it a bit smaller, less bold, and not as bright.

As you move down the ladder of visual hierarchy, remember: the less important the information, the less visual “weight” it should carry.

6. Keep it together with a style guide

OK, you’ve used color, typography, gorgeous images and visual hierarchy to create lickable, luscious pages.

Now what?

Keep up the good work!

Maintain consistency with a simple style guide. It doesn’t have to be a complex 20-page document.

Try this:

  • Open any word processor, and note your official colors
  • Log your typefaces, and which font you use where
  • List the file name for your official logo or header artwork, and where it can be found
  • Note any resources for photography so you know where to find more of a style you’ve used in the past
  • Continue to add to this document as you make design decisions about your site

Once you’ve created an attractive blog, keep people coming back to it by serving up beautifully-presented content consistently over time.

Make good design decisions, then continue applying them using your style guide notes as a reference.

And don’t forget the “please don’t lick your screen sign.” You’re going to need it!

About the Author: Pamela Wilson teaches small businesses to grow using great design and marketing at Big Brand System. Get her free Marketing Toolkit and follow her on Twitter.

A 7-Step Guide to Mind Control: How to Quit Begging and Make People Want to Help You

Posted on 25. Aug, 2011 by in Blog, Blog Psychology, Collaboration, content marketing, conversion, Copywriting, Email Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Headlines, Keyword Research, Landing Pages, List Building, Online Product Launches, personal branding, persuasion, productivity, selling, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, social media marketing, Traffic

image of black and white spiral

Well, why not?

They are the problem, right?

Here you are with a blog or a product or a charity you believe will change the world, and yet no matter how excited you are about the possibilities, no matter how much faith you have in yourself, you can’t help being worried:

  • If you ask a popular blogger for a link, will you get a reply?
  • If you ask a partner to email a product offer to their list, will they agree?
  • If you ask a friend for a donation, will they write you a check?

You don’t know. You can’t know. And it bothers you.

Wouldn’t it be easier if you could just close your eyes, pop over into their mind, and seize control?

Yeah. Too bad it’s not possible …

Or is it?

A Brief Introduction to Mind Control

As it happens, mind control is possible. Sort of.

No, you can’t turn your customers, partners, and in-laws into mindless zombies, but you can influence them.

In fact, there’s a science to it.

Back in the 1980s, a researcher by the name of Dr. Robert Cialdini wrote a book called Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. He outlined different principles scientifically proven to influence people, as well as suggestions for how to do it.

Since then, it’s become maybe the most important book in the field of marketing. If you haven’t read it, you should, as well as the sequel.

Here’s the bad news:

Mind control isn’t about magic powers, arcane arts, or even shaving your head and gallivanting around in a wheelchair (although, I’ve been tempted). The truth is it’s about something that makes a lot of people squeamish: marketing.

The Truth about Marketing

The core of marketing isn’t customer profiling or market segmentation or any of the other complicated nonsense taught in most business schools.

It’s infinitely simpler than that, and it can be encapsulated in one word:

Yes.

You ask a blogger for a link, and they say, “Yes.” You ask a partner to promote your product, and they say, “Yes.” You ask a customer for a testimonial, and they say, “Yes.”

If you get enough yeses, your blog/business/charity succeeds. If you don’t, it fails. It’s so simple, and yet so few of us really understand how to do it.

The good news?

You can learn.

What follows is a marketer’s guide to mind control. Use these seven strategies wisely.

1. Do all the thinking for them

The worst mistake you can make when asking anyone for anything is telling them to “Think it over.”

Here’s why: people already have too much to think about.

Between their jobs, their family, and their own hobbies and friends, their mind is already stuffed, like a suitcase bulging at the sides. Add one more sock, and the whole thing will explode.

To avoid it, they “forget” about things that aren’t very important to them, or if they do think about you, they don’t think very hard. It’s not because they are lazy or stupid. They’re just busy, and you’re probably not very high up the priority list.

And so the best strategy is to not ask them to think.

Do it for them.

  • Instead of expecting them to see how your blog post will benefit their audience, explain it, and offer examples of similar posts that have done well in the past
  • Instead of asking them to host a webinar for you, setup the webinar, landing pages, and emails yourself, and send them as part of your pitch
  • Instead of begging a customer to write a testimonial from scratch, send them a dozen different examples to use as a guide

Be specific. Explain your reasoning. Offer proof. Tell them what to do next and why.

If you do it right, it won’t feel like asking at all. It’ll be more like advising.

And they’ll say yes. Not because of magical powers of persuasion, but because you’ve thought through everything, and it’s a no-brainer.

2. Start an avalanche

Creating a successful marketing campaign is a lot like starting an avalanche.

First, you climb up the mountain, and then you find the biggest boulder at the top, and then you sweat and grunt and strain to push the boulder over, and then you sit down and watch happily as the boulder goes crashing into other boulders, eventually bringing the whole side of the mountain down.

The lesson?

The first big yes is a pain in the butt to get, but if you get it from the right person, then getting all of the subsequent yeses is easy.

For example:

  • Getting a popular blogger to tweet your post is hard, but once they do, dozens or maybe even hundreds of people will retweet them
  • Convincing a leader in your niche to promote your product is tough, but once they do, everyone else will want to promote it too
  • Persuading a celebrity customer to give you a testimonial can be tough, but once you do, sales skyrocket, and getting further testimonials is easy

Of course, a lot of marketers recommend taking the opposite approach.

They tell you to start from the bottom and work your way up because it’s easier.

But really, it’s just an illusion. Yes, pushing over a small rock is easier than pushing over a boulder, but the boulder is a lot more likely to cause an avalanche. So while it’s more work in the beginning to get top people to help you, it’s actually less work in the long run, and the results are far, far greater.

3. Ask for an inch, take a mile

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile,” right?

It’s supposed to be derogatory. It’s supposed to be a warning against appeasement. It’s supposed to protect you against getting taken advantage of.

But it’s also great marketing.

Whenever you’re asking for anything, never start by asking for everything upfront. Instead, start small. Make it easy to get started. Reduce the risk if it flops. Let them see the results for themselves.

And when it goes well, ask for more. And more. And more.

You might think that’s unethical, but if everything is going well, why not push for more? It’s not manipulation. It’s common sense.

For instance:

  • If you want to write a guest post for a popular blog, start by pitching the idea in one or two paragraphs, and then send them an outline, and then write the full draft of the post
  • If you want do a JV promotion with a leader in your field, start by asking them to email your launch content to only 10% of their list, and than 50% of their list, and then 100%, and then a direct mail campaign
  • If you want your customers to give you case studies, start by asking for a 1-3 sentence blurb, and then ask for a half-page testimonial, and then talk about doing a two-hour webinar going in depth about their success

    • It’s not psychological trickery or anything like that. It’s smart business. No one likes to risk everything upfront, and by offering progressive levels of commitment, your chances of getting them to say yes go through the roof.

    4. Always have a real deadline

    The keyword is “real.”

    All of us have had salesmen tell us, “Well, you’d better get back to me fast, because I have three more prospects coming this afternoon, and I don’t know how long it’ll last.” It’s BS, of course.

    There are no clients, and there is no urgency. The salesman is just so desperate he’s willing to lie, not only costing him your trust, but probably the sale too.

    And it’s not just salesmen.

    How many times have other people handed you completely artificial deadlines, thinking it will motivate you to act? Our teachers do it, our bosses do it, our family does it, and without thinking about it, you’ve probably done it too.

    Stop.

    Not only is it ineffective, but it’s totally unnecessary. Real urgency is easy to create. With a little thought, you can build it into your marketing. For example:

    • Instead of leaving a free report on your blog forever, tell everyone it will only be available for seven days, and then you’re going to start charging $7 for it. Not only will you get a lot more downloads, but other bloggers will be a lot more likely to promote it during the window
    • Instead of letting JV partners dictate when they will promote your product, schedule a launch, announce it to your list, and then forward partners the announcement, inviting them to participate
    • Instead of asking customers for testimonials whenever they get around to it, show them the timeline for an upcoming launch, including a specific date to send out testimonials. You need it by then, or you won’t be able to include it

    Will some of them bow out, saying they are too busy right now, and they’ll catch you next time?

    Sure, but it’s better than never getting started it all. And if you let other people dictate timelines, that’s exactly what will happen.

    5. Give ten times more than you take

    You know you’re supposed to give before you get, right? But what you might not know is how much to give.

    A lot of marketers mistakenly assume it’s a 1:1 ratio.

    Before you ask for a link, you should give a link. Before you ask for promotion, you should give a promotion. Before you ask for a testimonial, you should do one thing that deserves a testimonial.

    But that’s wrong. Smart marketers use a 10:1 ratio, and not just in action, but in value:

    • If you want 100 visitors, send them 1,000
    • If you want $1000 in product sales, sell $10,000 of their products first
    • If you want one testimonial, do ten different heroic acts of customer service worthy of a testimonial

    This isn’t about “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” It’s about generosity so overwhelming they can’t say no.

    Yes, it’s a lot of work, but that’s the price of influence.

    6. Stand for something greater than yourself

    Imagine there are two homeless guys standing on a street corner.

    The first guy has a normal, run-of-the-mill sign saying, “Spare a few dollars? God bless you.” The second guy, on the other hand, has a much more unusual sign: “Can’t afford to feed my family, and it’s tearing me apart. Please help, so I can stop feeling like such an awful Dad.”

    Which one would you be more likely to help? The second one, right?

    Forget giving him a few bucks. With a sign like that, you’d take him to the grocery store and buy him $200 worth of groceries. I know I would.

    That’s the power of standing for something bigger than yourself. It makes people care.

    And it applies to everything:

    • Instead of writing yet another how-to post, take a stand on an important issue, arguing with both passion and unassailable logic
    • Instead of starting yet another me-too consulting business, create a movement, working tirelessly to change the lives of your customers
    • Instead of selling yet another step-by-step manual, sell a philosophy, filled with heroic examples to inspire your customers

    Those are the types of things people want to talk about. They feel grateful just for having the chance to help you spread the word.

    7. Be completely and utterly shameless

    You want to know what separates a great marketer from a mediocre one?

    Shamelessness.

    I’m not referring to a lack of conscience, having a gregarious, extroverted personality, or any of the other ways we traditionally look at marketers. For the most part, those stereotypes are myths.

    No, by shamelessness, I mean this:

    An unshakable belief that what you are doing is good for the world and the willingness to do anything to bring it into being.

    When you believe in your content, you don’t publish it and forget it. You promote it day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, working tirelessly to spread the message to everyone who needs to hear it, and refusing to rest until they do.

    When you believe in your product, you don’t balk at sales. You revel in it. Not because you’re greedy or desperate or egotistical, but because you know your product will help them, and so it’s your duty to get them to buy. Whatever it takes.

    When you believe in your charity, you don’t beg for donations. You demand them. You grab people by the shoulders and look them in the eyes and tell them what you’re doing is changing the world, and it’s time for them to step up and do their part.

    It’s not about money. It’s not about glory. It’s not even about legacy.

    It’s about falling in love. It’s about being enchanted. It’s about seeing a vision so beautiful you can’t help but fight to make it real.

    Do you have a vision like that? Something worth getting up every day and fighting for?

    If you do, you can accomplish damn near anything.

    And if you don’t, well …

    What’s the point?

    About the Author: Jon Morrow is Associate Editor of Copyblogger. If you’d like to learn what it really takes to become a popular blogger, check out his free videos on guest blogging.


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