1.  You have to be totally trustworthy

If your website screams "Buy, buy, buy!" and you don’t give them good content and show that you know what you’re talking about, they probably won’t trust you or buy from you. If your site is one big walking, talking ad with the maximum number of AdSense ads, promotion pitch after promotion pitch, and banners stuck all over the place, potential customers are going to run the other way. They need to trust you before they offer you their credit card details or sign up to your list. Take a look at your site through your customer’s eyes and see what they see. Pull back on the AdSense and banner ads to make it a classy website. (Like this one!!!)

2.  You have to offer massive value

Start with giving away something free, like a report, in exchange for their opting in to your list. That’s your first chance to show off what you know and offer incredible value. You might argue that "free" doesn’t mean you have to give something valuable, but I disagree. How would it make you feel if a carpet cleaning company who wants your business came out and cleaned one of your rooms for free, and did a lousy job? Do you want to purchase from them?

After they’re on your list, continue to send them free valuable information. Perhaps a well-researched article or short PDF will make them open their eyes to just how much expertise you have. The next product you produce and promote and over-deliver on will entice your "free" customers to become paying customers again and again.

3.  You need traffic, and lots of it

This can be a tough obstacle for any new marketer to overcome. You can put together the most valuable, crazy, insane offer ever, but if no one knows about it, you won’t make those sales you’re dreaming of. Make a priority of learning how to get traffic. Research all the avenues of increasing your traffic and take action.  Invest in a course if need be, because it’s essential to get traffic. Of course, it should be targeted traffic, not just any old kind. You want people who are looking for what you’ve got; they’re more likely to turn into buyers.

In conclusion

There are no guarantees whatsoever that you will be successful with internet marketing, but if you spend time on these three components, you stand a very good chance of getting the sort of results you can be happy with.

Tags: internet marketing, copywriting

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Take a good look at how your website is laid out; can you see where some AdSense ads can be placed?  You can put them within your content and/or you can place them in your site borders.   Pay attention to how much room you have.

If you want to place them in your master border of your website or in a widget on your blog, the format is going to depend on how much space you have – width and length.  Experiment with the different formats to see which fit and which look good.

Keep in mind that long skinny ads can be hard to read because the ad wording is all chopped up.  Our eyes want to read more than 2 or 3 words before being forced to move back to the left to start a new line.  According to AdSense, their best performing ads are the 336×280 Large Rectangle, the 300×250 Medium Rectangle, and the 160×600 Wide Skyscraper.

Adding AdSense to content is not as restricting and you can use any size rectangle or square ad unit.  Don’t just settle on your first pick though; test, test and test again to figure out which placements earn you the most.

If you’re really limited on space, think about using the link unit ads.  They’re perfect for tight fits where you’d love to place some advertising.  You can use either vertical or horizontal link units. 

You can use a combination of text ads, link units, and image ads, but you are limited to the number of each you can use on your site.  Check AdSense’s TOS for the exact number.  You probably shouldn’t use all that you can anyway; it can make the information on your site hard to read and lends a spammy quality to it.

Should I use text or image adverts?

Google AdSense encourages you to use both and offers an option for that.  What it means is your ad spot may be either an image or a text.

Many people argue against using image ads because it was overdone in the past and people are blind to them now.  Since so many people aren’t using image ads these days, perhaps now is the time to start putting them on your site. Give it a try and see which perform better for you.

What are the right advert colours to use?

It depends on the colours already used on your site.  Take note of the background colour, font colour, header colours, and any additional colours used in the content.

You have three choices:

Contrast – Perhaps you have a website with black background and white lettering.  An AdSense box with a black background won’t stand out and might not be noticed.  Consider a contrasting background colour for the ad.

Blend – This would be choosing a white background for the ad if your site has a white background, no borders around your ads, and the title colour one of the colours on your site.  If your site’s words are black, but you do titles in red, then consider having your ad titles in the same red.

Complement -  This means don’t be as pernickety as you would be if you were blending.  Maybe you want a border around your ad, or you don’t want the ad background colour to be exactly the same as the website background colour.  Otherwise, you use existing colours from your site.

If the same people come to your site often, they may have become blind to your ads.  Take some time to move them around and change colours.  Not only will this help them get noticed, it tests what works best.

If you take the time to choose your AdSense ad formats and colours wisely and then experiment and test, you’ll be optimizing the AdSense earnings.  It’s worth it to spend the time initially to find out what looks the most pleasing to the eye as well as how the number of ads look in proportion to the amount of content.
 

Tags: adsense,, copywriting,, copywriter,, sales, letters,, business, writing,, copywriting, services

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The most cost effective way to advertise your business is through direct marketing, the core element of which is copywriting.

So if you want to increase your ROI for direct mail, online sales letters, email marketing campaigns, optimised web copy projects and linkbuilding content articles, you need to hire professional copywriters that know what they’re doing.

You’re in luck.

The Copy Box is full of professional copywriters who all know exactly what they’re doing, and we’re standing by to provide a professional service that will help you make the most of your marketing budget – even in the current economic climate.

For your free no obligation copywriting quote that will assist your business in attracting more clients, (complete with recession busting discounts until all this financial stuff blows over), just click the button on the right for a free quote and we’ll get straight back to you.

Tags: copywriting, services,, copywriting,, copywriter,, sales, letters,, direct, mail

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The results have come in and they’re kind of OK. But nothing to write home about.

What occurs next? Should you leave this project to die a natural death? Go with it? Or you could tear your copy apart and rewrite some or all of it to improve your response?

The most profitable answer is that you need to work on your sales copy. Which is where split testing comes in. If all you do is change something without split testing, then you have no way of knowing whether or not your changes worked for you or against you.

In traditional mail order, you’d split your list in two (hence the name split testing). 50% of your list would get version one and the other half of your list would get the second test. It’s important that you only change one factor at a time. If you change more than one item, you have no way of knowing which was the item that "worked".

The first thing to test is your headline. It’s impossible to know whether your headline is a world beater until you’ve pitched it against a different one. Keep testing and testing.

On the web, you can test your headline quickly and easily. Upload two different copies of your sales pitch (probably called something imaginative like index1 and index2). Then measure which gets more orders over time.

Once you’ve got a handle on this, it’s time to test again. Either by testing a different headline or maybe a differnt variable entirely. Maybe your guarantee policy. Remember to test your headline color. Possibly the price tag you’ve put on your product. And remember to test a higher price as well as your first instinct of cutting the price. You won’t know until you test whether a higher price will get more – or less – orders than a lower price. Or you may get less orders but more cash.

One way to speed up the testing is to use specialist testing software. This lets you test lots of different variables and applies some scary math (that you fortunately don’t need to know about) to quickly home in on your best split test. You can find this split testing software here.

Tags: copywriting, split test, sales letter testing, split testing

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
To All Clients and Friends of The Copy Box

As the festive period approaches, we need your help, so can I ask you a favour?

At The Copy Box, we’re constantly trying to improve our products and services, and would welcome your views.

We’d therefore be grateful if you’d take just a few minutes to complete our short customer survey by clicking the link below. Your answers will be confidential unless you state otherwise, and your opinions will be used to develop and fine tune the way we serve you in future.

Click here to take The Copy Box Christmas Survey

Once again, thank you for your help. I hope you have a great Christmas and look forward to working with you in 2009.

Best wishes

Laurence James
MD, The Copy Box

Tags: The Copy Box Christmas Survey, copywriting, copywriter

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It’s been a while since I updated this blog, mainly because me and my wife have just had a beautiful baby boy, Ewan, who is now 3 months old and is taking up nearly all of my spare time – which is a great thing because he’s so cute!

Perhaps we’re mad, but we also combined having a baby with moving from Glasgow to Arbroath on the north east coast of Scotland. The countryside is stunning and we’re right by the sea, so in future I shall be writing your copy with amazing clifftop and coastal views all around the office.

There are some great opportunities for rock jumping and body boarding, so I’ll be cleaning the cobwebs off my wetsuit in due course.

Kai, our rather discerning lurcher, seems to love it here too – so that means everyone’s happy!

Tags: copywriting, copywriter, copywriter, sales letters, business writing

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Check out these ideas for you to consider as you are seeking to become better at copywriting.

1. Take a course. Many copywriting courses are available, both by mail order and the internet. Here are some programs to check out: programs by AWAI, Ray Edwards’ Web Copywriting Explained, and Breakthrough Copywriting by Michel Fortin and David Garfinkel. There are many excellent courses, but just make sure those teaching actually know what they are talking about.

2. You can hire a mentor to teach and guide you. This is a major investment in time and money, but is a decision many copywriters make. However, this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case if you don’t want it to be, as many successful business owners have learned the skill of copy on their own.

3. It’s a good idea to study good marketing and advertising. All good copywriters do this, and constantly. Check out advertisements that engage you emotionally, and figure out how they work.

4. Make yourself a swipe file. A swipe file is a selection of ads that copywriters can examine for inspiration and modeling their copy. You should save ads you see in magazines, newspapers, the internet, mail, or anywhere. There are also books available with hundreds of examples of effective advertising.

5. Learn by doing. That’s the way people have always learned best. A successful advertisement is one people have responded favorably to, so look for way to inexpensively and efficiently test the waters. It is relatively easy to advertise on the internet. You can promote products as an affiliate and inform people of it through pay per click ads with Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

You can also test with eBay, Cragslist, or in local newspapers.

Just be sure to keep at it every day. Read, write, and discover what works in the marketplace.

About the Author:
If you are looking to increase visitors to your website, see Darrel Hawes’ site for tips in getting more visitors, plus generating more leads

Tags: copywriting, marketing, lead generation, marketing, customer retention, lead generation, marketing

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By doing a little extra work, you can go out and get great ones. Testimonials that talk about specific benefits, and connect with your prospect because they are talking more than just "before and after" — they’re telling stories about real people. With testimonials like this, your copy becomes even more powerful.

A typical testimonial is what I call a Before and After testimonial. The customer tells you about the problem he use to have, and how it went away after he started using the product. The Before and After testimonial is a lot better than what we used to see, which was the "I love your widget!" style. But for today’s prospect, you need to do even better.

Why do I say that? Because nowadays everyone gives Before and After testimonials. They’ve become common and after awhile they start to all sound alike. They simply aren’t as powerful as they use to be.

For great copy, you want to get richer, more powerful testimonials. The good news is it’s not that hard to do. In fact, with just a little work, you can have a pile of testimonials — each focusing on a different selling point. All you have to do is go out and get them.

The first step is to get the names and contact information of key customers. Call them up and arrange a time to "interview" them for 20-25 minutes. This will be your chance to uncover interesting, real-life stories your prospect can relate to.

The next step is vital to creating powerful testimonials.

At the end of the interview, ask if he would be willing to give you a testimonial that you can use. If he says yes, ask if he would like you to type one up based on the conversation you just had. Most customers love this idea, especially when you tell them that they will have final approval on how it’s written.

Once the customer gives you the go-ahead, your job is to take what you have and turn it into the most powerful testimonial you can. If the interview has gone well and you’ve asked the right questions, you will have a lot of great material to choose from.

Start by reviewing your interview notes and asking yourself a few questions:

* Which angle should I take?

* Which key selling points do I need to reinforce?

* Which one could this story reinforce or support?

* What is the best way to position this particular testimonial?

* What parts will make my prospect think, "Hey, that guy is just like me!"

Just imagine how much more powerful and effective these type of testimonials will be. All of the different angles you can take and the great real-life tidbits that you can weave through your sales copy.

Interviewing is a great way to get powerful testimonials for your copy. The key is understanding how to guide the conversation so you can get to the "good stuff" in a short period of time. Then it’s just a matter of positioning it properly.

You’ll have a testimonial that’s written in your customer’s words, only better. It’s laser-focused. It addresses key selling points and reveals real needs and desires that your prospect will immediately connect with. It’s a testimonial that most copywriters only dream about.

About the Author:

Jodie Kastner can help you discover how to take your copywriting career to the next level. Don’t write another piece of sales copy until you find out about the copywriting secrets that will dramatically improve your response rates.

Tags: copywriting career, online copywriting, small business copywriting, copywriting, marketing, online marketing

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If you want to succeed in business, I advise you to take a look at his latest post on how to make it in your online (and indeed offline) endeavours.

With 90% of all small businesses failing within their first 5-10 years in the USA alone – we all need to make sure we stay on top of things and keep up to date with the latest copywriting, marketing and business management techniques.

Anyway, have a look at Jonathan Leger’s great new blog post here – I’m sure that as I have, you’ll find some valuable information in this article and on his website that will help you in your business.

In Jonathan’s latest post, I particularly like this quote that he picks up on about motivation and success, taken from The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, by Leonard Mlodinow:

"It might seem daunting to think that effort and chance, as much as innate talent, are what counts. But I find it encouraging because, while our genetic makeup is out of our control, our degree of effort is up to us. And the effects of chance, too, can be controlled to the extent that by committing ourselves to repeated attempts, we can increase our odds of success."

That’s great, it makes you want to go and get stuck in doesn’t it.

Finally, you also might like the following posts on Jonathan’s site, I know I found them very useful:

Google Neglecting Your Site? Add a Blog

Is Ranking in the Top 10 Good Enough?

Niche Case Study Week 1 – (You can then follow all the subsequent weeks)

Enjoy

Tags: internet marketing, how to succeed in business, copywriting, business writing, marketing

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Websites without video are slowly becoming a dying breed. No one can dispute the fact that marketing videos produce traffic and more sales. Video has become the rule rather than the exception and our online success depends to a large extent on the marketing videos we produce and add to our sites.

The new internet, or Web 2.0 as it’s become known, is driven by multimedia. It’s this new multimedia environment that we find ourselves in as internet marketers.

Over and above the effectiveness of video generated traffic, traditional traffic sources such as PPC, are becoming more and more expensive, to the point were campaigns need to be touching double digit CTR’s to stand any chance of being profitable.

Don’t get me wrong here. I still use PPC and will continue to drive traffic to my sites using PPC for the foreseeable future. The net is changing though and if we don’t want to go the way of T-Rex, we need to evolve our marketing strategies.

Producing a marketing video isn’t in itself a complicated procedure or one that requires hugely complex and expensive software applications. The various software components required for video production shouldn’t cost more than a few hundred dollars in total.

What can be complicated and leave us open to costly errors is the way we go about marketing our videos. One way is to produce a marketing video for our product or the affiliate product we promote and simply submit this to the various video hosting sites such as Revver, YouTube or Metaface to name just a few.

After submission, the video hosting sites allow us to further embed these videos in our own websites, without the need for any additional conversion. This process is simple and straightforward, but not one the serious online marketer should follow.

The reason I say this is that the embed codes from the video sites, such as Revver for example, also include embedded videos from other users.

Since all videos are in specific categories, we could well end up providing free advertising and web space to one of our competitors, which might well result in lost sales, particularly if our competitor’s video has been rated and viewed more times than our own.

The best way is to convert our videos to flash and to add this flash video to our websites. To do this we need effective and reliable video conversion software.

Videos generally include large volumes of information and tend to be large files. YouTube has a 10 minute and 100 MB maximum for any video submitted to the site, so this gives a good indication of the kind of file sizes I’m talking about.

This video conversion takes time and for most of us, this our computer is fully occupied for this time, meaning we can’t do any of the other tasks our online marketing requires.

Time is a valuable commodity and not something we can afford to waste. Video is a valuable marketing tool and not something we can afford to ignore. Get the best combination of time and result and your online marketing efforts can be that much more profitable.

I see dozens of people buying into cutting edge production software whilst ignoring the conversion software. The result? Super looking marketing videos that nobody ever sees and never result in any sales.

From bargain basement to top range converters, prices range from around $70 to under $100. Is the $30 difference worth lost time and effort? I don’t think so.

About the Author:

To learn how to increase your sales with Free Video Traffic you need to learn the secrets. Watch how Andrew S. Paxton, a Video Marketing Expert explains all in his excellent Video Marketing Tutorials

Tags: video traffic, video marketing, video production, video conversion, flash video, add video to website, internet marketing, online marketing, internet sales, internet business, website traffic, business, make money, internet, video

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