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1. Just Thinking ...
2. Article ... "Five Keys To Leaner And Meaner Copywriting"
By Robert Warren
3. Article ... "What Is a Satisfactory Sales Conversion Rate?"
By Joe Robson
4. Kwik Tip... "How To Create Benefits From Features"
By Joe Robson
5. Article ... "Writing Newsletters - Tricks of the Trade"
By Glenn Murray
6. The Last Word
7. Stuff
Articles can be reprinted in their entirety, providing the author's resource details are kept intact.
-------------------------------------
Joe Robson's 'Headline Writing Master Course' is an astonishing
library of ebooks and audios from some of the World's Very Best Copywriters and Marketers. You won't believe how much explosive
information it holds until you read about it here .. http://www.headlinecourse.com
--------------------------------------
1. Just Thinking ....
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Hi - good to see you:-)
I've been reading a lot recently about how Internet sales are
quiet at this time of the year. One guy I know is postponing the
launch of a project until the 'buying' season is upon us.
On the face of it that sounds like common sense.
On the face of it.
Personally when this time of the year comes around I increase my
efforts, and make darned sure that my sales INCREASE rather than
slow down. Last week I launched a new Course which sold like
wildfire.
In the 'quiet season'.
Last year I did the same.
In the 'quite season'.
In case you're thinking that I would make more sales by waiting
for the 'busy' period to come around, all I can say is that I
STILL manage to sell to the 'absentees' when the time comes
around. As the Proverb says ...
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".
Have YOU done anything to maintain your
sales this month?
How about a 2 for 1 offer.
A deep discount.
An extra bonus.
Or any number of incentives - but do
something!
-----------
I joined a traffic generation program some time back on the
advice of 2 people I know and respect. It's called Traffic Swarm,
and I joined for free.
Normally just the mere mention of traffic 'schemes' makes my eyes
glaze over and I have to fight hard to prevent a big yawnnnn.
(I've just yawned by merely writing it down!)
Anyway that was a few months ago and I was VERY impressed by the
traffic and sales I got from it. So much so that I upgraded to
the PRO version, and by tracking my clickthroughs I was able to
verify that I am making a substantial profit from it.
Anyway, it's free to try it out, and I strongly recommend you do too.
Sign up at http://tncinfo.com/trafficswarm
If it works for you
then you can decide whether to upgrade or not.
-----------
I spend an hour or so each month capitalizing the First Names of
new Digest subscribers, and deleting those who subscribed with
stoopid names. I understand completely how easy it is to
accidentally spell your name in small caps. We all do sometime or
other when rushed.
But call me crazy if you like (I prefer Joe), but I don't like
the idea of spending hours writing this newsletter and sending it
out to someone saying ...
Hi Mickey Mouse, or
Hi LonelyLady, or
Hi xyz, or
Hi oompa lumpa, or
Hi anonymous, or
Hi F ... no I won't go into that!
What these morons don't realize is that I just delete
subscriptions made by anyone suffering from GMDS.
Click. Zap. Be gone. Get lost.
I suppose they can't help being so stoopid.
GMDS? ...
Gray Matter Deficiency Syndrome. Apparently the Internet seems to
attract a very high proportion of sufferers.
-----------------
Don't miss this ...
If you missed my Special Mailing earlier this week announcing my
Brand New Course, or if you read about it and decided to return
again later, I'd like to remind you that the Discounted Price
Special Offer definitely ends at MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY JULY 28th.
And I ALWAYS end my discount promotions on the date specified!
http://www.tncinfo.com/rr_discount
-----------------
If you live in the UK and you would like to attend an in depth,
hands on workshop by ex NASA programmer Joe Clayton, you're in
luck. Or maybe not. I think there may still be a couple of seats
left at Joe's workshop in London on July 31st. In his last
workshop in his home state of Florida, he created a software
program and showed every attendee exactly how they can do the
same.
This guy is magic, and I'm absolutely confident that his
teachings and tools are going to help me make a LOT of money in
the near future. And I HATE technology!
Anyway, it hasn't been widely publicized and there isn't a decent
sales page to send you to. That's because Joe is a BRILLIANT
programmer and a CRAP copywriter. ( Yeah Joe - you know I'm
right:-) However if you're interested, go to this members page.
It may not make much sense if you're not a FSF member. However if
you email Joe he'll be sure to answer your questions.
http://www.free-software-forever.com/mini-dpcon.htm
-----------
That's it, I hope you get something worthwhile from this
month's articles.
Keep smilin'
Joe.
PS Don't forget, the Discount Deadline for my new course is
Wednesday July 28th. After that the price goes UP!
http://www.tncinfo.com/rr_discount
--------------------------------------------
2. Article ...
"Five Keys To Leaner And Meaner Copywriting"
By Robert Warren
--------------------------------------------
Grab 'em and don't lose 'em. Every marketer knows that one. Human
beings have very short attention spans, so you can't afford to
waste your prospect's time - give them the good stuff and then
let them go as soon as you can. Writing effective marketing
material is all about writing crisply with just a handful of
words.
Clean writing isn't an accident, but is instead the result of the
careful application of certain principles and tools. Try these
five techniques for crafting leaner, meaner, more effective
business copy:
Avoid modifiers. Modifiers change the meaning of other words; the
most common of these are adverbs and adjectives (words that
describe verbs and nouns, respectively). They're used when the
writer feels that the noun or verb needs a little something
extra: "the shining sun", "run quickly", etc. Get rid of as many
modifiers as you can and choose nouns and verbs that stand on
their own.
No lazy words. Every word should be doing real work, conveying
necessary information and supporting other parts of the piece.
Think of your sentences as support beams and rafters in a
building, and analyze the piece word-by-word: are there any nails
sticking out of boards? Anything that's there purely for show?
Anything that doesn't strengthen your writing weakens it. Strip
your copy down to its most essential parts, and throw out the
words that are sleeping on the job.
Reduce it to a single sentence. Do you really know what you want
to say? You might be surprised - try phrasing your entire piece
into one simple sentence. Can you do it, or are you insisting
that your message is too in-depth? Taking your point down to a
single statement can give your copy new focus and clarity.
One thought per sentence. Sentences and paragraphs are different
things. Avoid long, complex sentences built up of multiple
thoughts. Keep your sentences to one thought each, keep them
short and simple, and use your paragraphs for the complex ideas.
When in doubt, cut it out. Every writer has written the perfect
sentence that just doesn't play along well with others. Hemingway
was right - kill your darlings. If you can't figure out how to
ease that bit of poetry in with the rest of your marketing piece,
cut it completely and don't look back. Be merciless. You'll be
surprised how often that's the best solution.
----------------------------------------
Robert Warren ( http://rswarren.com
) is a freelance copywriter in
the Orlando, Florida area, specializing in providing for the marketing and communications needs of the independent
professional private practice.
----------------------------------------
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with this remarkable creation. It's called "Joe Robson's PC and
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http://newbieclub.com/security
--------------------------
3. Article
..."What Is a Satisfactory Sales Conversion Rate?"
By Joe Robson http://adcopywriting.com
--------------------------
Clients often ask me the question "What is a good or satisfactory
visitor/sales conversion rate (CR)?
1%?
3%?
5%?
I don't know - do you?
Some people on the Web seem to think they know. But I certainly
can't understand how they know, because there are so many
variables.
We are told that testing a sales message is a pushover on the
Web, compared to off line. Well it's true that it's quicker to
change a Web page or an autoresponder than it is to change an off
line direct mail shot. And it's also true that if you keep the
variables similar, then it's quick to compare the results of a
new Web sales message or email shot.
But when do you know if - your CR is maximized? Do you continue
testing until visitor/sales begin dropping off? For instance, if
you are selling to your own list, then sales are bound to drop
off after your initial promotion, but your CR can still be
compared.
However, you also need to track your Clickthrough CR. One email
announcement may get you a clickthrough rate of 10%, while
another follow up announcement may only achieve 2% CR. Yet the
second bunch of visitors may have clicked through the first time
and chose to 'think about it'. As they are hot prospects, you may
achieve a sales CR of 15%. So if your first shot achieved 3%
Sales CR it would be easy to mistakenly conclude that your second
mail shot was more effective.
Not so, because your second group was more highly targeted than
the first lot.
In case you're expecting it, I'm not about to come up with a
'guru' solution. I simply want you to understand that there is a
LOT more to testing than most marketer's realize. In fact it
really is a science which most people never grasp.
In my case, I test a little then move on to another project -
unless sales are extremely low. Then of course the whole
marketing campaign has be stripped down and minutely examined.
Let's take my Newbie Club for instance http://newbieclub.com
First time visitors to the site normally join as a free member
and access the site.
However, they receive the Insider Newsletter every week and it
may be weeks or months before they return to the site and buy
something. So if I calculated that 400 people joined out of 2000
visitors, and 200 products were purchased that week, I'd have a
CR of 50% which is fantastic.
But many of the products are sold from the Newsletter!
So what about the 1600 visitors who do NOT join in the first
place? Do we count them in our calculations?
In that case 200 sales from 2000 visitors is 10%!
I'm not asking for feed back, I'm just trying my best to show
that calculating CRs is not as straight forward as many will tell
you it is.
As for the original question "What is a good or satisfactory CR?"
my answer is whatever YOU are satisfied with. Example ...
My recent new product launch http://reprintrightscourse.com
enjoyed a terrific 18% visitor/sales CR with one of my lists, and
12% with another. But my clickthrough rates differed because one
group was more targeted than the other. So I made more sales from
the smaller group. But, most importantly, I'm very satisfied with
the overall result.
So I suppose the moral of this story is that you should check
your stats by all means and test by all means. But do not overdo
it or get paranoid about whether you could get more profit
another way.
There are so many ways of generating profits on the Net I prefer
to use my energy on creating more products.
You of course may disagree:-)
---------------------------------
You Can Reprint this article in its entirety if you include this
resource ...
Article by Joe Robson - The Copywriter Who 'Gets The Net'.
http://adcopywriting.com http://newbieclub.com
http://guruspeak.com http://headlinecourse.com
http://reprintrightscourse.com
http://headlinewriter.com
---------------------------------
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AUTOMATICALLY, keeping it in tip top condition.
I've negotiated a 25% to 50% DISCOUNT FOR NEWBIE CLUB MEMBERS.
but ONLY at this special Newbie Club Members Discount page ...
http://tncinfo.com/digestspeedup.htm
OK, if you're not a Newbie Club Member you still get the deep discount.
--------------------------------
4. Kwik Tip ..."How To Create Benefits From Features"
By Joe Robson http://adcopywriting.com
--------------------------------
Want to see some REAL pro salespeople in action?
If you can get it on your satellite or cable TV tune in to the
QVC Shopping Channel.
Watch how these super salespeople extract every known - and many
previously unknown - benefits from the most mundane of products.
I mean to say, what would YOU say to sell a screwdriver?
Or an 'ordinary' computer printer?
Or a lady's plain gold band ring?
Or a set of stainless steel kitchen pans?
I'll tell you this, those guys are nothing short of BRILLIANT!
This week alone I bought a wireless keyboard and mouse from them.
Yet I've looked at a half dozen or so in the past few months in
the PC stores. This one isn't cheaper. It's not unique.
And yet when I listened to the QVC guy explaining the benefits of
their product, I just HAD to have one!
------------------------------
-------- "Listen To The REAL Experts"
Extraordinary 'From-The Gut' Interviews With The World's Top
Copywriting, Internet Marketing, Ebook Publishing, Email & Viral
Marketing Experts. Joe Robson's Guruspeak.com has a new and
extraordinary collection of Interviews with the Very Best and
Most Successful marketers in the world. http://guruspeak.com
------------------------------
5. Article
... "Writing Newsletters - Tricks of the Trade"
By Glenn Murray
------------------------------
Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you'll soon be writing great
newsletters and reaping the rewards.
Company newsletters can be an amazingly successful marketing
technique. Whether you want to up-sell or cross-sell, establish
your brand or establish your authority, or simply reach a wider
market, a newsletter can do the job for you. You just have to
make sure you write it right.
Television, radio, and print advertising are often too expensive
for many businesses to justify - especially small businesses.
Fortunately, there is an alternative. Today’s internet and email
technologies make company newsletters a very inexpensive, yet
surprisingly effective, form of advertising. When it comes to
newsletters, big companies and small are finally competing on a
level playing field.
So what is an email newsletter?
An emailed newsletter serves much the same purpose as a
traditional company newsletter. Think of it as a short newspaper,
but instead of relating to a town, city or country, it relates
to your business. You can include articles on new products or
services, awards, recent success stories and case studies,
promotions, specials, share price rises, company events,
research. And if it’s a quiet month, you can simply write
articles that might help your customers out.
10 Steps to Success
Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you'll soon be writing great
newsletters and reaping the rewards;
Keep It New! Your readers won't waste time reading something they
already know, so make it news they can use.
Keep it personal: Always use your reader’s name. Make sure when
someone signs up, you get their name, then use it in the subject
line, in the greeting, and anywhere else you can.
Know your reader: Find out what your reader is interested in. Do
some pro-active research, invite response, or find an email
marketing solution such as Ezemail that tracks the links your
readers click on and keeps a history of their activity.
Let them know you: Let your personality shine through. Readers
are far more likely to become loyal if they feel they know you.
Always include a bit of you in the newsletter, whether it’s
humour, personal details, personal anecdotes, or personal views.
Subject is Headline: The subject line of an email newsletter is
like a front-page headline in a newspaper. You need to draw the
reader in, so make it engaging and relevant (maybe promise a
benefit) but no more than 25 characters so your reader can see it
all before opening the email.
Use a Title bar: Make the most of the title bar to add visual
appeal and establish brand awareness.
Make it ‘scannable’: Most people don't read online, they scan.
Make sure you use easy-to-read bullet points and sub-headings.
Don't lose your reader’s attention. Reading is physically more
difficult online, so make sure you're concise. Use links to other
places instead of writing long articles.
Use White space!: If your page is too busy, you'll lose your
reader. Give them a chance to absorb valuable information by
dedicating about 30% of your screen real estate to white space.
Easy unsubscribe: Make your unsubscribe easy to find. If it’s
obvious, they'll feel safe and can then appreciate the content.
To many people, the ease of unsubscribing is an indicator of the
integrity of your company.
Forward to a friend: Include a link to encourage readers to
forward the newsletter on to their friends and colleagues. Find
an email marketing solution which allows you to do this and sit
back and watch your database grow!
Ezemail enables you to create, manage, deliver and track your
email marketing and sales communication. Email
kathpay@ezemail.com.au
or visit www.ezemail.com.au
------------------------------------------
Glenn Murray heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be
contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com
Visit www.divinewrite.com
for further details.
------------------------------------------
--------- "Top Quality Freebies"
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can find out how right here with Jim Daniels' complimentary 5
page guide ... http://tncinfo.com/malo.htm
Very, very, highly
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Get your own Affiliate Directory for your Website. It's worked a
treat for me for over a year now, and you can yours from
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--------------------------------
6. The Last Word
--------------------------------
"Well chosen words mixed with measured emotions is the
basis of affecting people."
.............. Jim Rohn
---------------------------------
7. Stuff
---------------------------------
Read the previous Digest here ...
http://adcopywriting.com/digest/112.htm
You can delete your subscription here ...
http://www.adcopywriting.com/unsubscribe/
If this was forwarded by a friend, you can subscribe here
http://www.adcopywriting.com/Newsletter_Subsc.htm
I'd welcome your feed back on the content of this
newsletter. Write to me at jr@adcopywriting.com
and ...
PLEASE forward this newsletter to friend. Thank You:-)
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