One way to look at copywriting is as the art of creating motivation using the written word. The written word carries profound power to persuade. How do you use this powerful tool to create motivation? By mastering and implementing these five strategies.

Strategy #1: Benefit Driven Language

Most business owners focus a lot of attention on telling consumers why their company or product is the best. Yet at the end of the day, that’s not what consumers care about.

Consumers care about what you can do for them. They don’t care that you have the biggest company, but they do care that you’ll always have their product in stock. They don’t care that you’ve been in business longer than anyone else, but they do care about reliable service.

Translate statements from “about me” to “about what we can do for you.”

Strategy #2: Use Power Words

Power words or action words are words that pack an emotional punch. Instead of saying your product saves energy, say it “slashes your energy bills by 40%.” Instead of saying your product helps bring in leads, say “new leads will be flooding in your inbox.”

Power words create mental imagery and have an emotional tone that helps sell your product.

Strategy #3: Proof, Proof, Proof

Prove every claim you make. People today are extremely skeptical – and rightly so. There are so many people making bold claims that promising a benefit simply isn’t enough anymore.

Prove what you’re promising, then prove it again and throw some proof on top. It’s much better to solidly prove that you can help someone lose 15 pounds than it is to loudly proclaim that you can help them lose 40 pounds without proof.

People won’t feel motivated unless you can prove that you’re the real deal.

Strategy #4: Removal of Risk

Doing business with a company for the first time is very risky for consumers. They don’t know if you’ll fulfill your claims, they don’t know if your product is good, they don’t know how good your service is – they really don’t know much at all about you.

That’s why risk removal is such a powerful way to get people to act on their motivation.

Risk removal doesn’t actually create motivation. Instead, what it does is remove barriers to getting people to act on their desire for your product.

Add a powerful money back guarantee to your product to reduce and remove risk.

Strategy #5: Urgency

When people think they’re going to miss out if they don’t act, that’s a powerful motivator. It’s called the “Fear of Missing Out” or FOMO for short.

Learn to leverage FOMO in your copywriting and you’ll be able to motivate and generate real action. Use it to take people from wanting your product to actually buying it.

When you operate a home business, it is very important for your Internet marketing efforts to be a success. You need to do all that you can to attract new users to your website and show them what you have to offer. This article will highlight five ways to be an Internet marketing success. There is no reason why they should not work for you, regardless of what product and/or service you are trying to sell.

The first thing you need to do is be very committed to the success of your business. This may not seem like it is as important as having a catchy ad or selecting the right keywords, but having confidence and believing in what you are doing goes a long way. When people look at your ads or read your blogs, they can usually tell if you are being genuine or not. If they feel that you are not genuinely committed to a product, why would they want to be?

Internet marketing is not as difficult as you might assume, but it is not simple either. There is a formula that works for each site, and it is up to you to find that formula. Finding someone that has a successful Internet business and convincing them to be your mentor could be very lucrative. Since they are already a success, that shows you that they know what they are talking about. They can show you the ropes and hopefully get you on the road to success.

Using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to make a page more popular is all the rage right now. This is when your ad is marketed in such a way that it boosts your site up higher in search engine results. There are good and bad methods for doing this, so you have to be careful. If you cannot figure out how to do this on your own, you can hire a company or individual to do it for you. The investment will be well worth it if their campaign is a success.

You need to always keep an eye on the competition, particularly if they are more successful than you are. Looking at the strategies they employ should give you a few ideas. While you do not want to blatantly rip off anyone’s ideas, you do want to use the tactics that seem to be the most successful.

Being unique is important considering how huge the Internet is. You need to do all that you can to make sure that you stand out from the crowd. If you do not, there is no way that anyone will notice you, and this could mean the death of your business. Your goal is to be so unique that you stand out, but you do not want to alienate users either.

Use the tips here to make your online marketing strategy a pure success. While these tips are fairly simple, they are sure to get the name of your business out there.

When you own a business there are a lot of things to consider. One of them is taxes. It will take you a little longer to get them done but there is an upside. Learn about tax write-offs for the self-employed.

When it comes to taxes, there is a lot to know. As a business owner, things can get a bit more complicated because you work for yourself.

When you work for a company, your wages are subject to taxes. You fill out a W-2 form and the company does the rest. You can see on your check what has been deducted for state, federal and social security tax. It’s a no-brainer for the employee.

Most self-employed people receive their full pay for their services. Taxes are not taken out. This gives you an advantage when it comes to utilizing as much of your money as you can. But, tax time comes and your earnings will be subject to taxation.

Because you haven’t paid anything into the system yet, all of your money can be taxed. But, deductions in the form of tax write-offs can reduce your taxable income. This can change your tax bill.

Tax Write-Offs

Here are a few of the tax write-offs that you are eligible to deduct as a self-employed individual. A full listing can be found on the IRS website.

Clothing – This is one that we rarely think about. But, if your job involves purchasing and wearing items that you don’t wear or can’t wear other than for your business, then you can deduct a portion of their cost. Usually, this applies to such occupations as landscapers, construction workers and the like.

Home office – This deduction has tripped people up for years. Basically, you will need a dedicated office space in your home for your business. Conducting business occasionally from your computer in the family room doesn’t qualify that space for a tax write-off. But, when you have an office set-up, you are also eligible to deduct a portion of the utilities and the cost of the office supplies.

Travel expenses – Often, you may have to visit conferences or even take meetings with clients. Keep good records of everything you do: airline tickets, meal receipts, gas receipts and other incidentals that you pay for. A percentage of it is deductible as long as it was incurred in the transaction of your business.

Medical expenses – Because you are not employed by anyone, your medical bills are your responsibility. You can regain some of the premiums paid on your tax return. The exception to this rule is when a spouse is eligible for family insurance at their job and this could cover your medical needs.

You work hard. Make sure that you claim all tax write-offs that are due for your business.

Google Places can bring a lot of traffic to local businesses as well as lend credibility to an establishment. It can help you get people from Google Maps to your establishment, as well as help you rank highly in organic results for local searches.

Here’s how to get a high ranking in Google Places.

PageRank and Backlinks Matter

One factor that still plays a strong role in Google Places rankings are your backlinks. In standard SEO, backlinks are the backbone of any SEO campaign. In Google Places optimization, backlinks play a lesser role, but are still critically important.

According to SEOMoz’s Google Places reverse engineering study, PageRank has a very measurable impact on how well you rank.

In addition to getting links back to your site, you should also focus on getting links from local sites. For example, if you own a pizza shop in Chicago, try to get as many links as possible from other Chicago businesses and websites.

Work on Your Citations

Your citations are other web sources that cite your business.

These include websites like the Yellow Pages, Superpages, Yahoo!, Yelp, Citysearch and more.

These websites will list your address, phone number and possibly your web address as well.

Google uses these citations to verify that you are who you say you are. They want to make sure your business actually exists before putting it live on Google Places.

The number and quality of your citations affects your rankings. If any of your citations are inaccurate, make sure you contact the website to change them. If you’re not listed on any major offline business directory, make sure you submit your business.

Get Reviews

Reviews play another big role in ranking. The more reviews you have and the better the reviews, the higher your rankings.

Try to get as many people to review your business as possible. You can ask personal friends, family members and employees to leave honest reviews. You can also incentivize customers to do reviews.

Do whatever you can to get as many reviews as possible. However, never fake a review and never review your own business.

Listing Tips

There are a few important things to pay attention to in your listing.

First, categories are extremely important. They help Google figure out exactly what kind of business you run, because keywords aren’t always a good gauge when it comes to business names.

Make sure you’re in the right category. Do a search for your business type, see what category your competitors are using and do the same.

Make sure you verify your ownership of the business. Doing so will also give you a measurable bump.

Finally, make sure you fill out the information as accurately and completely as possible. Use your real phone number and not a call tracking number. Use your main website and not a website designed specifically for Google Pages.

Building a successful brand can solidify your business in your niche. It establishes you and your business as a name that can be trusted. Here are some tips to help you build brand success.

What Is a brand?

When you see the swoosh logo, what does it make you think of? And how about Coca-Cola? You know the tagline, don’t you? And if we say “You’re in good hands with -” you can probably finish the sentence.

All of these show how a particular brand has influenced not only society but also our idea of what these certain products should be. For instance, when it comes to photocopying, people use the term “Xeroxed.” Actually, Xerox is a brand name that has become synonymous with the act of photocopying. How is that for brand success?

Building Your Brand

Who’s to say that you won’t become as big as Xerox one day? For any business, you start in the same place – building your brand.

Here are some tips to get the ball rolling.

Be real with your customers – Anyone can create a “smoke and mirrors” advertising campaign. You can promise the world and some will believe you. But, when you don’t deliver, your credibility is shot. One way to be real is to put a face on your business. Add your photo. Speak plainly and in simple terms with your customers.

Make good on your promises – The problem with many companies is poor customer service. If you promise to send a confirmation email after purchase or an answer to an information request, then do so in the time promised.

Sell your product – Inspire customers to buy by giving them a reason to use your product or service. Describe how their life will benefit from having your product in it. Help the customer make an emotional connection to your product.

Promote your product in as many places as possible – When new products come out, do a press release. Promote it on your social networking site, your blog and your website. Create YouTube videos and also podcasts about your products to increase the talk. Don’t forget offline promotion as well.

Be consistent with your brand – Whatever you decide that your brand will stand for, be true to that. Use people and ideas that are in line with your brand to help identify it for your audience.

Target your customers – Now that you know your brand, you have to connect with the people who “need” what you offer. Use keywords to draw your customers to you. Create a list of potentials and then stay in contact with them.

What does your product stand for? Take some time and create your brand. Then, provide quality products that connect with your customers so they almost sell themselves.

Many businesses don’t put any attention into their marketing. This is one of the biggest reasons for business failures. Just opening your doors and hoping customers show up isn’t good business.

Getting Customers Is a Science

In business school, people are often taught that the secret to good business is “location, location, location.”

While location is certainly important to a business’s success, it’s by no means the only factor. In fact, great marketing can easily conquer having a poor location.

Take Domino’s Pizza for example. Domino’s was first started by a college student, who had the audacity to guarantee his pizza’s delivery time. Despite not being able to afford top locations, his phenomenal marketing propelled his business to the top.

The long and short of it is this: if you want customers, you need to actively solicit them.

Why Local Marketing Is King?

Marketing in your local community gives you one big advantage over big brands: personal relationship.

Think about it. Would you rather go to Supercuts, or the hairdresser whom you’ve known for years? By marketing and building your brand locally, you have the ability to build a personal relationship with your audience.

Big brands simply can’t go into every major city and establish relationships with people. On the other hand, with strong local marketing, you can do just that.

What Does Local Marketing Look Like?

Local marketing can be anything from advertising on billboards and radio stations, to using locally targeted online marketing.

The idea is to get people into your business using as little capital as possible. Test different advertising methods to see what works and what doesn’t.

Once you find a marketing method that’s generating results, try to scale it up as much as you can.

For example, let’s say you try radio advertising, online advertising and newspaper advertising. Radio and internet don’t bring you any results, but newspaper ads seem to perform really well.

If that’s the case, start buying ads in as many newspapers as you can. Buy bigger ads. Keep increasing your ad spend until the ROI begins to drop off.

Making Things Happen versus Hoping for Business!

If you want to build a successful business, you need to take your marketing into your own hands. Hoping for more business is not a good strategy for success.

Map out at least ten different local marketing strategies you can try. Include review sites like Citysearch and Yelp, traditional media like billboards and radio, as well as off-the-wall ideas like pizza box marketing or throwing special interest parties.

You never know what will work. Some methods work phenomenally well for particular businesses and not at all for others. The trick is to find the one(s) that work for you.

There comes a time in the life of many business owners where your dream business can begin to feel like a drag. You may contemplate selling the business or put forth a lackluster effort. It’s unfortunate and it doesn’t have to happen. You can keep the passion for your business burning brightly; maybe even hotter than it was when you first envisioned going into business for yourself!

Step Back

Take a few days, or even a few weeks, to step back from your business. Assess what you love about your business (or what you used to love and enjoy). Explore what you dislike about your business too. For example, maybe you’re a service provider and you used to enjoy your clients but your new clients are difficult and not enjoyable to work with. Or perhaps your desire to be a service provider has waned.

Knowing what you like about your business, and what you don’t like, can help you create a plan to modify it to fit your changing needs.

Embrace What You Love

Often, regaining or retaining your passion for your business means focusing on the tasks that you enjoy and finding ways to eliminate the rest. If you find that your passion is wavering, perhaps it’s because you’re doing too many tasks that you dislike.

Focus again on what you love and use that brilliant entrepreneurial mind of yours to find ways to get rid of the rest. It may mean modifying your systems so some tasks are no longer necessary. It may mean automating something or hiring outside help. Trust that when you’re able to focus on what you love, your passion will be sustained.

A Little Gratitude Goes a Long Way

It’s amazing what a little gratitude can do for the spirit. And when you’re an entrepreneur there are so many things to be grateful for. You’re the boss. You’re in control of your financial future. You get to spend your days doing something that you love. Whenever you feel your passion disappearing and procrastination setting in, think about all of the wonderful things you get to experience by owning your own business. It’s a quick and easy way to gain perspective and appreciation for your business.

Don’t Be Afraid to Make Changes

Finally, remember that sometimes maintaining passion for your business is about keeping things interesting. If you’ve found yourself in a rut, consider how you can improve or change your business to keep the fires burning. Constantly striving to provide better products or services, or to make more money, is a great way to stay motivated and enthusiastic.

You own your own business and that gives you the power to control your day to day destiny. If you find that you’re feeling unenthusiastic about your business, take action to make a change. You already know you’re capable of great things.

Any search engine professional will tell you – to succeed, you need the right tools. Tools to evaluate keywords, tools to gauge your competition, tools to get backlinks.

Without the right tools, even the best SEO professionals in the world won’t be able to get very far.

What are the most important tools you should know about? Here are some of the most important tools for Google search engine optimization.

1. Backlink Checking Tools

Backlink checking tools allow you to figure out exactly how strong your competition is for any given keyword before you begin a campaign.

It also allows you to reverse engineer strategies that are already working for other people in your industry. If you can figure out what’s already working and do it even better than your competitors, you have a very good chance of success.

Two great backlink checking tools are Open Site Explorer and Majestic SEO. Both of these tools have free versions that give you quite a bit of data, along with a paid version with even more data.

You can also use Yahoo Site Explorer and Bing Webmaster Tools to check backlinks; though both of these tools have serious drawbacks.

2. Submission Tools

If you’re doing mass backlinks using a social bookmarking website or article marketing, you’re going to want to have a few programs that do it for you.

For example, if you’re regularly submitting content to social bookmarking websites, you’ll probably want to use a tool like Bookmarking Demon or Ping.fm. These tools will submit new content to a wide array of social media websites all at the click of a button for you.

If you’re doing article submissions, you’ll either want to use a submission program like Article Submitter or use a service like iSnare.

3. Market Research Tools

There are several market research tools on the market that offer stellar keyword research and niche research capabilities.

For one, Google’s own Google Keyword Tool is still the best tool out there for raw traffic data. If you’re just trying to figure out how much traffic certain search terms get, it’s one of the fastest and easiest places to get data.

Another tool that’s been taking off rapidly is Market Samurai. In addition to search volume, Market Samurai will also evaluate the competitiveness of each keyword you type in and give you a rough gauge of how much you can expect to earn in that market if you successfully rank.

How Much of SEO Is in the Tools?

Though not having the right tools can prevent you from succeeding, having the right tools doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll succeed.

You need to use the tools in the right way to get the results you’re looking for. If you want to get ranked, tools can help you get there faster, but they can’t do the bulk of the real work for you.

Life is mobile and so is business. If you are a busy entrepreneur, whether in the real world, cyberspace or both, you need a way to stay connected with your business from any point on the globe. Stay current with apps for your Smartphone.

An entrepreneur these days needs to be able to move. That means having the tools that they need to conduct their business with them at all times. If you are a business owner, then you need a Smartphone that allows you access to what you need in order to grow your business even when you are not in the office or at your computer.

Take your pick. Everyone has their favorite line of Smartphones, but you can choose the one that offers the memory, ease of use and speed that you desire. And, with the large market of applications available today, most are available to more than one line of phones.

So let’s explore the essential apps that you will need if you want to perform as many functions as possible while staying mobile.

Essential Apps for Your Smartphone

* Square – This app is free to use. It allows you to process credit card payments right from your phone. You don’t have to wait until you get to the office and your PC to do this anymore. Use the card reader to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

* Evernote – They say that elephants never forget and neither does this app. Whenever you have an idea, capture it in picture, voice recording or words with this virtual memo system. With cloud computing, updates to your Evernote lists are synced across all of your electronic devices. This app is free to download.

* LinkedIn – This is by far the most popular social networking site for professionals. Just like with Facebook or Twitter, keep abreast of what fellow peers are doing using this app. Network, share information and update your profile – all from your phone. This app is free to download.

* Google Docs – Want to share information quickly with your team? You can update and send files back and forth with this application. Also, Google offers other cloud computing apps that allow you to talk with clients, invoice customers and create sync information across your devices and Google calendars. This app is free.

* Documents to Go – There is a cost for this app but it is well worth the payment. You can create MS Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint files – all from your Smartphone. Files can be transferred to your desktop also. Send completed files to clients quickly from any location. Now you don’t have to wait until you get back to the office.

* Dropbox or SugarSync – Now you can share files between computers and your phone with your team and clients. This app, which is free, allows you to make your information available to whoever needs it, when they need it.

As a business owner, it is important to have tools that make your business as mobile as you sometimes are. The apps above are examples of some of the more essential Smartphone tools.

In order for your business to grow, you need to expand your customer base. That means finding new clients to buy your products or services. But, what methods will help you attract the most people?

Most business owners don’t want to rest on their laurels. Even if they are making profits, they can always make more. Unless everyone in the world is using their product, then they still have work to do. If this is your philosophy, then keep reading to find out how to hook your next big account.

How to Attract A New Client

First, perform some background work. The best presentations begin before you have even put pen to paper. How can you create an effective presentation without knowing who your potential clients are and what they need?

So, find out all that you can about your clients. Any information can be helpful to building a convincing sales pitch. Analyze your customers from all sides to see where you can get a foothold.

Ask questions. What do potential clients want from you? For an online business, set up questionnaires or ask these questions in blog posts and wait for feedback. If you can talk to the potential client before pitching to them, then do so. One, it shows interest in their needs and it also means you are doing your due diligence.

Create a presentation that has your client’s need at heart. It is easy to pitch a product and forget all about the client. But, if you want them to actively listen to you, then you need to integrate them into the equation from the word go.

Here’s an example. If your client is sensitive about animal rights, then don’t give them the hard line kind of presentation. Show that your product is sensitive as well by demonstrating that no animal testing was used in the making of your product. Small things like that can make all the difference to your client.

Command the room when you make a presentation. Arrive early and set up your projector, slideshow or PowerPoint. Now you know that everything works and can just about guarantee that there won’t be any glitches. Also, arrange the furniture so that all eyes focus on you without anyone having to turn or crane their necks.

Choose the optimal time for your presentation. If you have been offered the spot right before lunch or quitting time, reschedule when you can have an early morning slot. The client will be more alert and focused on what you have to say.

Offer practical examples in your presentation. This means tell a story that relates to your product and the ability of said product to meet this client’s needs. A lot of technical jargon won’t convince them to buy. Everyone tries that approach. Make yours stand out.

Are you in need of new clients? Learn how to capture and keep their attention until the deal is closed.