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: 12% [?]
Posted in Article Marketing, Copywriting for the Web, Marketing Communications, Niche Marketing, Small Business Marketing | 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: 72% [?]
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: 72% [?]
Posted in Branding Strategy, Business Management, Business Writing, Marketing Communications, Small Business Marketing, Target Audience, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »We Versus You in Your Copywriting…
June 3rd, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comIs it Better To Talk To Your Customer Or Talk About Yourself?
Many marketing, copywriting and sales experts will tell you that your marketing copy should talk to your customer as opposed to talking about yourself. They insist that the copy you employ be directed at the customer by using the word “you” throughout. (They call this the second person perspective.)
However, many people feel that using the you approach is too salesman like, and unprofessional. They prefer to talk about their company, their accomplishments and themselves. Copy written in this manner uses the word “we” (or I) over and again (the first person perspective).
So which way is right?
Here’s an argument for using you in your copy. Suppose you’re on a date and the person you’re with won’t stop talking about himself or herself. All night it’s, “I did this and I do that.”
It’s great to hear entertaining stories - but the person on the listening end is bound to feel excluded after a while.
The same idea applies to marketing copy. People want to feel like they’re part of a conversation as opposed to being talked AT. Not to mention - “you” puts the focus on the reader and engages him in the discussion.
But what about the idea that using “you” makes your copy sound too much like a sales pitch?
It’s true that “you” is one of the most powerful words you can use in sales copy, which is why it’s so effective, and used so often. So it’s no wonder that people who want to avoid sounding like a salesperson take the high road, so to speak, and avoid using “you” in their marketing copy.
However, when you think about it, using an exclusive “we” approach comes with its own negative stigma. It can be seen as arrogance - or worse - inadequacy. “I can’t offer anything to you, and I’m not interested in you - so I’ll just talk about myself.”
Popularity: 74% [?]
Posted in Copywriting Techniques, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Persuasive Copywriting, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Outsourcing a Copywriter? Here’s What You Should Know.
May 22nd, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
Many people who outsource copywriting and website marketing projects are concerned with keeping costs down. There is a simple solution to this without sacrificing quality: work together with the copywriter and strive for the highest level of productivity. Here are a few tips for making the process as seamless as possible and letting your copywriter do the best job she can for you.
Popularity: 74% [?]
Posted in Business Writing, Copywriting Services, Marketing Communications, Project Manager, Search Engine Copywriting, Small Business Marketing, The Copywriting Client, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Branding as Part of Your Business Disaster Recovery Plan
May 21st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
Have you ever thought about what would happen if you decided to stop operating your small business?
Maybe you’ll be sitting on a comfortable retirement fund one day. Maybe you’ll decide that it’s time to do something completely different.
Maybe (and this is something nobody likes to think about, but it’s reality)… a physical condition or illness will prevent you from managing your business with the same passion and vitality that you are today.
What will you do? You’ve had years to build a presence and get a momentum going. We’re talking about hundreds, maybe thousands, of carefully tended professional relationships, founded in mutual trust. Scores of customers who rely on YOU, nobody else but YOU, to fulfill a specific need for them.
What do you do with all that steam that it took you years and maybe even decades to build up? Do you just open the release valve, take down the shingle and bow out of the scene for good?
Popularity: 62% [?]
Posted in Branding Strategy, Marketing Communications, Recommended Reading, Small Business Marketing, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 3 Comments »Your Marketing In Bloom
May 13th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI’m doing a garden this year. Not just two tomato plants, a handful of herbs and some flowers, but a real garden, with real vegetables that we will hopefully be able to eat without any serious repercussions.
As I make my clumsy foray into the world of raised beds and organic composting, I’m reminded of my less experienced copywriting clients, and filled with sympathy for them.
Popularity: 59% [?]
Posted in Creative Platform, Marketing Communications, Newsletter Copywriting, Small Business Marketing, The Copywriting Client, The Creative, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 1 Comment »Email Subjectlines Redux
April 25th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI recently published an article on how to make subjectlines work to get your emails opened. That article was based on popular opinion - what the experts say. You can research email marketing and find a laundry list of tips that dictate “what you’re supposed to do.”
If the “experts” say it works, then it must, right?
I have to confess something here. I was never a big fan of “conventional wisdom.” People need to start thinking for themselves more. Learn to trust your own judgment.
That said, I’m going to be a rebel. For my own marketing, I’m not do anything that I suggested as a means of getting emails opened. However, if my clients want to follow popular opinion instead of *my* opinion, I’m amenable to that, which is why I published the article for them.
So here’s the thing. My email inbox is highly active. I subscribe to many online publications. Some are from my clients (to help me get insight into their marketing). Others are from experts like the ones I mentioned. Still others are topics of interest to me, like The Dog Whisperer’s newsletter and Cool Running.
Let me give you a sample of things my email inbox has said to me this month…
Popularity: 27% [?]
Posted in Email Marketing, Email Newsletters and Ezines, Marketing Communications | 4 Comments »How to Get Your Email Messages Read and Not Deleted
April 20th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comAs a copywriter, sometimes I’m asked to write email messages for my clients. You know the ones I’m talking about; those mailings that you hate to love or love to hate.
You get on someone’s list because you ordered a free report or signed up for their ezine. You figured you’d get one ezine a month, not 2-3 emails per week.
I know they seem like a pain, but successful Internet marketers swear by these messages that they program through an auto responder to go out in a series. And if all the successful marketers send them, they must work.
Ah, but there are some tricks to getting your email messages read and we can learn from these marketers. So here are some tips and tricks I’ve compiled that will have your list looking forward to and reading your emails before they jump on the delete key!
Popularity: 37% [?]
Posted in Ebook Creation, Email Marketing, Email Newsletters and Ezines, Information Products, Marketing Communications, Small Business Marketing | 1 Comment »Should Your Copywriting Clients Track Changes?
April 10th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comIf you’re a copywriter, or someone who writes marketing communication (same thing, but we all have our preference for what we like to be called), do you invite your clients to Track Changes when reviewing the work?
(For those who are new to the lingo, Track Changes is an editing feature in MS Word. It changes the color of text that’s been added inserted, and adds a strikethrough to whatever you delete.)
Me, I’m pretty flexible and usually adapt to whatever way the client feels most comfortable working.
But I have to say that Track Changes, while convenient, comes with a downside.
Popularity: 22% [?]
Posted in Copyediting, Marketing Communications, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 2 Comments » « Previous Entries