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 »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 »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 »Landing Page Tips from Christopher Knight
May 20th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI just opened an email from EzineArticles.com that shares a great list of What Not To Do’s when syndicating articles on the web and then linking them to pages on your personal website.
Some of the bloopers that Chris points out are making me chuckle to myself, as I reflect upon my own article writing and marketing experience and note the many linking faux-pas I made over the years.
Take a read of Chris’s Landing Page WTH’s to see for yourself.
- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing
(Yes, we write articles that you can use to help build your credibility and expertise online! Contact dina@wordfeeder.com for more information).
Popularity: 60% [?]
Posted in Article Marketing, Dina Recommends, Landing Pages, Linking, Recommended Reading, Small Business Marketing | 4 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 »7 Easy Steps to Getting Your Copywriting or Design Samples Up on a Website
April 30th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
To all the copywriters who send me emails asking for work, let me throw you a bone. The best way to attract interest in your talent is to get a website up. Not just because you should care what I think, but because you should care what anyone who entertains the possibility of hiring you to write their copy thinks. This goes for designers too, although I’ve never met one who was hard up for projects; most have their work cut out for them.
Step 1. Gather those copywriting or design samples.
Ideally, this should be anything that’s been published on behalf of a client - marketing brochures, magazine articles, website copy, flyers, whatever you have. If you’ve got actual clips of the designed pieces, scan and turn them into PDF files or .jpgs. Make sure the files are small enough that they won’t take ten minutes to load or make people’s computers blow up when they click on them.
Popularity: 39% [?]
Posted in Business Management, Copywriting Samples, Small Business Marketing | No 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 »100 Marketing Secrets
March 18th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comI just wanted to call to your attention a compilation that Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends has put together.
It’s her 100 Marketing Secrets downloadable report, contributed by the readers of Small Business Trends, including a panel of hand-picked, well-known names in the industry.
If you want to download the report instantly, click here.
If you prefer to poke around on Anita’s site and blog first, visit http://smallbiztrends.com.
What’s especially nice about this, for me, is that I got to help Anita compile and organize the report, and she has publicly acknowledged this on her blog. What a great feeling, and the gesture really says a lot about Anita’s character.
Another perk to being behind the scenes on a project like this is taking the time to click through to each contributor’s website. I’ve gotten to know some people in the marketing industry who I didn’t know before.
Download Anita Campbell’s 100 Marketing Secrets report!
WORK FOR YOURSELF?
Take the Small Business Owner Survey from Wordfeeder.com
Popularity: 41% [?]
Posted in Branding Strategy, Business Management, Gracias, In the Spotlight, Marketing Communications, Resource Room, Small Business Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »Copywriter Toasting to the Freelance Life
March 13th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comBob Bly has posed a fun question on his copywriting blog: “What’s your favorite thing about the freelance lifestyle?”
Little does Bob know, he’s the inspiration for my freelance career in the first place. It all started that fateful day at Barnes and Noble when I spied this famous title of his…
Five or so years later, here we are. (Thanks, Bob.) And what’s NOT to like about the freelance lifestyle? Some of my favorite perks…
Popularity: 20% [?]
Posted in Freelance Lifestyle, Small Business Marketing, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 7 Comments » « Previous Entries