Article Writing: How to Improve the Quality of Your Content as a Means of Attracting a Higher Caliber of Clientele
October 6th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comAside from improving the grammar, the number one way to enhance the quality of your articles is to include details and examples.
It’s tempting, when you’ve got boatloads of content to produce, to skip past the finer points and barrel on to the next paragraph. But I assure you that each time you glaze over a thought without including examples, anecdotes and for-instances to add depth and meaning to your writing, you’re cheating yourself out of well-deserved clientele who would have been more than happy to pay you well for your expertise had they known that you WERE an expert in your field.
What do I mean by examples in your writing?
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Popularity: 6% [?]
Posted in Advertorial, Article Marketing, Brochure Copywriting, Business Writing, Commercial Writing, Copywriting Techniques, Copywriting for the Web, Marketing Communications, Newsletter Copywriting | No Comments »Copywriting: Why It’s Better to Write the Homepage Last
September 29th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comWhen you first sit down to write website copy, which page would you think you’d be writing first? The homepage, right?
Usually when I begin writing web copy for new clients, they assume I’ll be writing the homepage first and then moving on to the supporting pages like “About Us,” “Services,” et cetera. It would seem to make sense to work this way, wouldn’t it? Well… not so much if you really consider the function of the homepage as compared to the rest of the website, and the approach you need to take if you want to “hit it dead on” without having to crank out multiple redrafts and wasting tons of time and energy.
The clients who expect this often display what I call Home/About Us confusion. That is, they expect that a summary of the company will appear on the front page of their website. Actually, this is not the case. Recall that a company synopsis is what the About page is for! Head spinning yet? I thought so.
Okay, here’s the thing. The homepage of your website is the “megaphone” that turns heads and gets people excited and curious about what’s inside. Ideally, you’d want people to feel inspired immediately, and then call you up and ask you to do business with them. But, because people rarely act on the first impulse, we have supporting pages to help build their confidence in your ability even further.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
Posted in Copywriting Services, Copywriting for the Web, Search Engine Copywriting, The Copywriting Client | No Comments »Copywriting to the Rescue: How to Connect Deeply With Your Readers to Get More Sales
September 25th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comIf you want to write copy that persuades people to buy, then you MUST connect with your reader on a deep emotional level. To do this, master the fine art of painting pictures with words.
I’ve worked with countless clients, who, for whatever reason, prefer to keep their copy generic and vague. They know great copy when they read it, and they want it for their own websites and marketing collateral. And yet, when it comes down to it, these same people are too busy trying to sound like everybody else than to embrace a bold attitude in their writing and grab their audience by the teeth.
Perhaps my gun-shy clients think that vagueness appeals to a wider audience and will therefore bring the most sales? Maybe they worry that if their copy is too specific, it will exclude certain groups of people. In their minds, being everything to everyone is their perceived M.O. for attracting new business.
This is wrong. Why? The only thing that generic copy does is bore people to tears, and chase people away with tired messages that everybody on the block has already used a thousand times before.
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Popularity: 11% [?]
Posted in Brochure Copywriting, Commercial Writing, Copy Right, Copywriting Services, Copywriting Techniques, Copywriting for the Web, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Newsletter Copywriting, Persuasive Copywriting, Small Business Marketing, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Copywriting Tip: How to Keep All Eyes Riveted on Your Sales Letter
September 21st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com1. Make use of large (but not too large), bolded headlines. Your sales page will be split up into sections. This may not be obvious to the dazed and confused reader, but you will realize it as you go about crafting the copy. Add an enticing headline to the top of each section. This gives the reader a focal point to pause on as they’re skimming down the page.
2. Bold the important parts. (But try to avoid the OVERUSE of bold. If you bold everything, then nothing will stand out and your sales letter will be painful to view.) Bold the words that stir strong emotion in your reader. Bold the phrases that convey all benefits and advantages to using the product. Bold the calls to action that you want the reader to take. Bold any words that paint a picture of the reader taking the action you desire - even if they are not actual “commands.” Finally, bold the best lines and phrases in your testimonials! And as a PS - bold the product name so it pops off the page and burns into the brain more easily.
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Popularity: 10% [?]
Posted in Commercial Writing, Copywriting for the Web, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters | No Comments »How to be Colloquial in Your Copywriting
September 18th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
by Dina Giolitto
Colloquial writing “warms up” standard business communication and keeps things friendly between you and your reader. Basically, that means that in ad copywriting, you’re permitted to bend the grammar rules a bit, so long as the meaning isn’t lost.
The reason is because in natural conversation, nobody speaks in formal language. Not only do we ease up on the use of grammatical correctness, but we employ jargon and cliche as well as make use of contractions - or the abbreviated form of certain word combinations. Some examples follow…
Bending the grammar rules…
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Popularity: 13% [?]
Posted in Brochure Copywriting, Business Writing, Commercial Writing, Copywriting Services, Copywriting for the Web, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Persuasive Copywriting, Wordfeeder Copywriting, Writing Voice | No Comments »Copywriters: Think You Don’t Need One? Think Again.
September 9th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comSome people who “can write” don’t think it’s necessary to hire a copywriter. They figure that having a web designer to build pages, and a VA to set up their online shopping cart, is enough.
What they’ve maybe overlooked is that sheer volume of writing that MUST happen if they plan to make a significant impact within their field of expertise.
When you’re managing a team of professionals, whether for your department at work or for your own business, you force yourself into the role of team motivator, project initiator, executive decision-maker, and primary planner. That’s an awful lot to heap on one plate. Add to that being responsible for every piece of communication that goes out the door of your business, and you’re buried under one avalanche of work.
Let’s face it: communication is the key to every good relationship - especially one that you establish with customers and associates. Such a relationship begins with how you BRAND your company from Day 1, and continues throughout the life of your business. You need to ask the questions: what type of message are you sending? Are you sending it often enough to make a favorable impression? Is what you’re saying today consistent with what you said last month?
Continue reading “Copywriters: Think You Don’t Need One? Think Again.”
Popularity: 20% [?]
Posted in Commercial Writing, Copyediting, Copywriting for the Web, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Newsletter Copywriting, Persuasive Copywriting, Target Audience, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Dina Recommends: Ben Fitts’ Ebook, Nichework Marketing
August 6th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI find myself frustrated for a lot of the time, trying to explain to people why it’s better to narrow your audience than try to attract everyone in the world by covering every topic known to man on your blog, website, articles and so forth.
Even if I DO manage to get this concept across, I STILL have a doozy of a time helping people “see the light” in terms of proper keywords, links, and a smart design structure.
For a long time, I’ve thought that I could help people better understand and apply the concept of narrowing their niche, if I wrote a comprehensive, step by step guide covering the how-tos of marketing on the web.
I’ve been putting off writing this danged book. I just don’t have TIME to write a book! But thankfully, someone else has written it so that I don’t have to. His name is Ben Fitts and he’s been marketing on the web for many years. He recently finished Nichework Marketing and I read it and nodded my head in satisfied agreement the whole way through. “YES! Ben said what I was trying to say, and he even went ahead and gave the HOW-TO.”
You should read Ben’s book if:
You type in (what you believe to be) the main keyword for your “industry” (what you DO) - and your site is nowhere near the top of the list (and you’ve had a website for years).
You STILL don’t really “get” what it means to choose your keywords or optimize your site.
Your website or blog includes a list of keywords like “author, creative, customer service, Pennsylvania.” I see this everywhere and it’s just the wrong way to do it. These types of keywords are TOO GENERIC and will NEVER get your business noticed!
You are a “DO IT YOURSELF” internet marketer and you’d really like to get the REAL inside scoop on how to drive targeted traffic (and not what some schlub has been telling you to get you all confused so you’ll pay him to do it for you).
(Targeted traffic… you hear those words so frequently, what’s that even MEAN? It means your site brings in visitors who are READY TO BUY what you sell.)
Enough of me trying to explain what Ben articulates so perfectly with his ebook, NicheWork Marketing.
Grab your copy today and FINALLY begin to understand what this “web marketing” thing is all about!
Popularity: 27% [?]
Posted in Article Marketing, Copywriting for the Web, Marketing Communications, Niche Marketing, Small Business Marketing | No Comments »Your Website: Not Just Another Pretty Face
August 5th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comDo you ever wonder, “What the heck did I spend all this money and time designing a website for?”
The whole point in having a website is to be FOUND by those who are ALREADY LOOKING for what you’ve got. Webmasters don’t create sites to be “pretty” (although an attractively designed website is NEVER a bad thing!). We create them:
1. to drive traffic TO the pages from Google and the other search engines, and
2. to use cues such as “sign up now!” or “become a member” as a means of corralling in a continuous stream of leads.
A huge part of marketing your website is picking ONE key search term and then optimizing your site for that term. If your webmaster initially does a good job of building and search optimizing your basic site of, say, 8 or 10 pages, you’ll probably soon be seeing yourself coming up on page 7 for your main search term.
In order to bring your site up to Page 1 for that search term, this is what you’d have to do over time:
Popularity: 19% [?]
Posted in Copywriting for the Web, Search Engine Copywriting | No Comments »Genre Copywriting - How to Determine The Proper Voice for Your Site
April 21st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comGenre is a word that gets thrown around mostly in fiction circles. Popular genres include horror, sci-fi, romance, western, mystery and fantasy. People who keep reading specific genres do so because they know what to expect. It’s that familiarity with the material that keeps them turning the pages. Horror fans know that the pretty girl who goes into the dark room by herself will get killed. Romance readers know that the main character will find love in the end.
Your blog, or website, needs to have a genre too in order to create the comfortable familiarity that readers come to expect.
There are three main types of genres you can apply to your blog’s copy. The main focus of your site, and your readers, will determine what’s working and what isn’t. But, once you settle on a particular voice, it’s vital that you stick with it because your readers will demand it every time they visit.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Posted in Blogging Tips, Copywriting for the Web, Target Audience, Wordfeeder Copywriting, Writing Voice | No Comments »The Five Caveats of Writing Great Web Copy
March 24th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comThere is an abundance of articles on the Internet. Some are good, a few are inspired, and the rest belong in a junk heap.
Whether you’re writing to sell, or just to be read, keep these points in mind before you sit down and start typing.
1. Have a keyword-rich title and talk to the search engines in your copy.
The sheer number of words on the Internet means that people must rely more heavily on search engines to find valuable content than ever before. That trend won’t end anytime soon, which is why you must optimize your text so the search engines can find you quickly.
The first thing to optimize is your article’s headline. Search engines often check headlines first for relevant keywords before moving on to your body copy. Forego the desire to be witty when creating your headlines and opt instead to use keywords that will increase your chances for being seen. If you’ve got wordplay on the brain, never fear; that’s what the subhead is for.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Posted in Copywriting Techniques, Copywriting for the Web, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 2 Comments » « Previous Entries