Make your online sales copy LOOK like it’s easy to read.

easy to read copywritingThe best copywriting in the world won’t work if people don’t read it.

And people won’t read your copy if it looks “hard” to read.

In other words, the structure and visual design of your copy can make it or break it.

Often when I look at an online sales page the headline is too long, or the opening paragraph is too long. Or the first three paragraphs are all too long.

The outcome? The page looks like hard work. The appearance of the first screen of text signals that the reader is going to have to take a deep breath and really concentrate. They are going to have to commit to working their way through the text. Like reading a text book at school.

Bad move.

Sales pages that look like hard work are created by people who misunderstand the nature of people’s attention online.

Read the full post…

But who writes the homepage?

fight for homepageThere are copywriters for copy, and content writers for content…but who writes a website’s homepage?

There is no doubt that writers and copywriter are in demand.

With the explosive growth of web content marketing and social media, a lot of words need to be written. Not to mention all those sales pages and landing pages. And the emails and newsletters.

So it’s no surprise that when you do some Google searches for words and terms like copywriter and “content writer” you get a lot of results.

Here’s what I found today on Google

copywriter – 13,800,000 results

“content writer” – 4,180,000 results

There is plenty of supply and demand when it comes to copywriting and web content writing.

Which brings us to my key question…who writes the homepage?

Read the full post…

An easy way to improve every page of copy you write.

easy copywriting secretWouldn’t it be nice if there was just one easy way to improve every single page of copy you wrote, regardless of the product or service you were trying to sell?

It turns out there is.

It works for homepages and sales pages. It also works for emails and newsletters. Product pages. Shopping carts. White Papers. Radio. TV. Direct mail. Whatever.

It works whether you are selling weight-loss products or industrial fasteners. It works whether you are selling vacations or dental services.

Best of all, it’s incredibly easy to include this “secret” in everything you write.

I’m not saying this little trick is all you need to know about copywriting. Nor am I saying its use will cure bad copy.

But it will help.

Here it is…

Read the full post…

Monday Spark: Share your gift and prosper.

the gift of copywritingA while back I wrote a post about how copywriters are the rock stars of online business.

Put simply, ecommerce is driven by words. Without good copywriting, there are no sales.

If you have talent as an online copywriter or content writer, you are fortunate. These skills are a true gift.

Now let’s look at two very different ways in which you can use that gift.

First, you can focus on making as much money as possible. You know you have a skill companies need, and you can look for ways to maximize your fees and revenues. When you have something of great value, you can sell it at a premium price.

You trade your gift for cash.

But there is another way of looking at this, taking the meaning of the word “gift” a little more literally.

Look at your gift as something to be shared and passed on.

Read the full post…

My secret resource as an online copywriter – social media.

social media copywritingOn the face of it, this may sound counter-intuitive.

Why would an online copywriter be interested in social media? These two areas of expertise and interest seem worlds apart.

There is a very simple reason.

Smart copywriters focus on the wants and needs of their readers. Smart copywriters try to see the world through the eyes of their prospects and customers. Smart copywriters walk a mile in the shoes of their prospects and customers before they type the first word.

Back in the days before the web we did this mainly through focus groups.

Read the full post…

Integrated social media: The next opportunity for online writers and copywriters.

social media integrationSocial media marketing is, thankfully, coming out of its trendy phase and moving into its business phase.

For those of us who have been online for a while, the trendiness of social media has been somewhat irritating. The web was social before the web even existed. In other words, the Internet was social before the first web browsers appeared. Back then we connected with one another through Listservs and the like. It was 100% social.

Services like MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook didn’t invent social media. They simply made it more popular and improved its functionality.

Read the full post…