Email Newsletter Subject Lines: Little Tricks that Work to Increase Your Open Rate
October 1st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comYou just finished writing an email newsletter issue that you’re proud to blast out to all of your subscribers. You’ve included a compelling interview with an industry expert, a how-to article to help readers increase their business, and a calendar of events this month that will blow their minds. Problem is, you can’t seem to get subscribers to click and open!
How can you increase your open rate? This is a problem that perplexes many newsletter publishers. If you really want to increase your open rate, then work on your subject lines.
Wake ‘Em Up, Shake ‘Em Up.
Have you ever come across an email subject line so intriguing that you simply can’t tear your eyes away from it? What do you do - you open it immediately, of course!
With the huge amount of emails we get slammed with on a daily basis, people are just itching to hit that delete key - so don’t let your tired old, “seen this before” subject line drive them to the edge.
Writing a subject line is just like writing a headline for an article or an advertisement. You want to grab the attention of the reader right away. Think juicy headline, like those head candy articles you find on MSN.com that you just can’t resist no matter how hard you try.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Posted in Email Marketing, Email Newsletters and Ezines, Headline How-To, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 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.
Continue reading “Copywriting to the Rescue: How to Connect Deeply With Your Readers to Get More Sales“
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 Tell if Your Sales Letter is Too Long
September 23rd, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comSeems like nobody can agree on the proper length of an online sales letter. Some copywriters preach that longer is stronger… but perhaps they get paid by the word or the hour? (I get paid by the hour, but I’d rather take the high road on this one).
Others use the argument, “Your sales letter should be as long as it needs to get the message across.” While this is certainly true, it still doesn’t actually provide the confused marketer with an answer, does it?
I’m going to tell you approximately “how long” your sales letter should be - but really, it will depend on how much relevant information you have available to share. Let’s tackle this one section at a time.
(Continue reading “How to Tell if Your Sales Letter is Too Long“)
Popularity: 11% [?]
Posted in Business Writing, Commercial Writing, Copywriting Services, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters, Small Business Marketing, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 2 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…
(Continue reading “How to be Colloquial in Your Copywriting“)
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 »Wordfeeder Needs Freelance Writers
September 15th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
Great news! We are expanding our horizons and I’m interested in connecting with writers who are experienced in writing for the web, available for paid work, and have a flexible schedule.
(Note: If you already work at a full time job, this may not be the right fit. Most copywriting jobs are “short order”).
Interested in hearing about more about opportunities with Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing? Please send an email to dina@wordfeeder.com that contains….. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 11% [?]
Posted in Freelance Lifestyle, Project Manager, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Wordfeeder Email is Down Today
September 15th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comThis morning I was working from about 7 a.m. EST to maybe 9:15 when suddenly the connection to my email (dina@wordfeeder.com) stopped functioning.
If you have something important that needs immediate attention, please direct your email to wordfeeder@gmail.com.
If your email is important but not urgent, you can email wordfeeder@gmai.com and CC dina@wordfeeder.com.
Thanks for your patience!
Warm regards,
Dina Giolitto
Wordfeeder.com
Popularity: 8% [?]
Posted in Technical Difficulties, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 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 »Does your company have a freelancer database?
June 19th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comLast month or so, I was invited by my corporate client to be part of their internal database of freelancers. The marketing department already knows me, obviously, but this type of exposure would give the rest of the company access to my contact information in the event they may need a reliable and trustworthy copywriter to help work on projects.
I was flattered to receive the invitation, and thought it was a highly functional way for this company to maximize their outsourcing potential. Let me describe to you how they’ve organized their internal database:
Popularity: 56% [?]
Posted in Brochure Copywriting, Business Management, Business Writing, Catalog Copy, Commercial Writing, Copywriting Samples, Freelance Lifestyle, Marketing Communications, The Copywriting Client, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 1 Comment »Should You Sell a Product or Service?
June 10th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comTons of marketing experts preach the Marketing Funnel or Product Pipeline. Their theory on online business is that you should offer an array of product choices, one for every market segment. Your high end consumer will go for the bells-and-whistles package, your budget-conscious consumer will choose the economy offering, and then your middle men will fill in the remaining rungs of the ladder. On top of that, they’ll encourage you to simultaneously market services along with the product you create.
I’m more of a marketing realist myself. As much as they might like to, most of my clients just don’t have the bandwidth to give their readers “everything and a bag of chips.” For those with limited resources, budgets, time and energy, it might be a more practical idea to focus on one, or the other - product, or service, for the time being.
So let me ask you: are you a product man, or a service gal?
Popularity: 51% [?]
Posted in Branding Strategy, Business Management, Business Writing, Marketing Communications, Small Business Marketing, Target Audience, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Is there a formula for writing copy that sells?
June 4th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI did some work for a new client this week who asked me the following question via email:
What makes an ad work? What in an ad gets someone to contact me, or better yet what is the formula to writing ads since I will have to continually be changing them to stay fresh?
Yes, there’s a formula, although those who have been writing copy for a long time don’t necessarily have to run through this checklist. They just end up writing “standard ad copy” automatically. It’s not unlike riding a bike or doing the dishes - after you get good at it, you just don’t need to think about the steps anymore.
Okay, so here’s my response to the question.
In ad copywriting, many follow what’s known as the AIDA formula - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. This is the short explanation of how it goes.
Popularity: 68% [?]
Posted in AIDA Method, Call to Action, Copywriting Big Guns, Copywriting Techniques, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 2 Comments » « Previous Entries