Don’t Hire a Copywriter Until You Answer These Questions
July 29, 2008
Not everybody should hire a copywriter.
To see if you’re ready, answer these questions and read the explanations that follow.
Question #1: Are you already making sales?
The copywriter’s job is to improve response to an offer.
If your offer hasn’t produced any sales yet, what can be improved? Professionally written sales copy can’t multiply zero and get anything else except zero.
Claude Hopkins, one of the earliest fathers of modern advertising, says this in his book Scientific Advertising: “The reason for most of the non-successes in advertising is trying to sell people what they do not want.” p. 225
Do not even think of hiring a copywriter unless you are confident the market wants what you’re offering. A good way to do this is use low-cost and no-cost methods to promote your product or service. Then measure the response.
If people buy, then it may be time to hire a copywriter to help you multiply the results.
Question #2: Can you risk some money?
Copywriters are highly paid because what they do usually more than pays for itself.
Still, not every effort is a success. Among many winning promotions, there are a handful of failures.
When you hire a copywriter, you are making an investment. Of course, your goal is to make back more than your investment — and you very well may get an amazing ROI.
But there is a chance that your investment won’t pay off like you expect. Which is why you shouldn’t hire a copywriter unless you have some money to risk. You will have to decide whether the risk is worth it.
Question #3: Do you test ad copy?
Want to practically guarantee the success of your ad, sales letter, or offer? If so, there’s only one way to do it: testing.
A test seeks to discover what the market responds to best. For instance, perhaps you test headline “A” against headline “B.” The results show headline “B” converts 4% of prospects into customers, while headline “A” converts only 2%.
If you had relied on your preferences, you might have chosen the losing version, thereby sacrificing half of all the profits you could have earned.
Here’s why you should test your ad copy. First, it gives you solid insight into what really works. And, secondly, whenever there is a disagreement between you and your copywriter (or anybody within your company), testing serves as a non-biased way of discovering the truth.
Before you hire a copywriter, be committed to testing. It is the only scientific way to prove out what works and what doesn’t.
So how did you do? If you answered all three questions correctly, congratulations. You have an uncommon understanding of copywriting and advertising — and would probably benefit from hiring a copywriter.
5 Unique Ways To Get FREE Advertising
July 29, 2008
1. Give Testimonials
When you purchase a product or service and it exceeds your expectations e-mail the business a testimonial. Tell them in the testimonial the benefits you got from the product or service. Give them permission to publish the testimonial on the web site if they include your sig file at the end.
2. Leave A Message
When you visit a web site with a discussion board leave a message. You could post a question, interesting content or a compliment about their web site. Include your signature file at the end of the message. Some discussion boards let you post your banner ad or text link.
3. Sign Guest Books
When you visit a well designed web site leave a compliment on their guest book. You could give them a compliment on their content, ease of navigation, graphics etc. When you post your compliment include your sig file so other people will see it when they sign the guest book.
4. Write A Review
When you visit a web site you enjoyed a lot write a review for the web site Write about the benefits you gain from the site, the web site design, interesting online services it offers etc. E-mail the review to the web site. Tell them they can publish it on their web site if they include your resource box at the end.
5. Send An E-mail To The Editor When you read a good article or enjoy a certain e-zine, e-mail a compliment to the editor. Give the editor permission to publish the compliment in their e-zine if they include your signature file at the end. The editor may post it on his or her web site.
8 Ways To Get People To Visit Your Web Site Again And Again
July 29, 2008
1. Polls
Hold an interactive poll on your web site. Ask visitors a poll question. Have them e-mail their vote or opinion. People love to give their 2 cents worth. They would also like to read the results the next day or week on your web site.
2. Prize Drawings
Hold an ongoing prize drawing on your web site. The prizes should be something of interest or value to your subscribers. Most people who enter will continually revisit your web site to get the results. 3. Original Content
Give your visitors content they can’t read anywhere else. I’m not saying all your content has to be 100% original, but a portion of your web site should have original information. People will usually read information they haven’t read before.
4. Quizes Give your visitors a quiz or a series of trivia questions. Post the correct answers weekly on your web site. The people who participate will want to come back to your site to see if they were right. 5. News Supply news stories related to your web site topic. People want current and up-to-date news. If you can be their first source, they will become repeat visitors to your web site. 6. Jokes
Give your visitors a little humor now and then. Don’t be so serious; tell them a joke. If they associate your web site with being happy they will visit again and again. 7. Free Stuff People love to get free stuff. List free stuff on your web site. It could be software, services, sample products, e-books etc. The freebies should be related to your web site topic. Keep the freebies coming and your visitors will return regulary.
8. Directories
Tell your subscribers about Web sites related to your web site topic. The web sites should be interesting and helpful. Become your readers web site directory and they will come back.
John Reese Forum
July 29, 2008
What is spy-ware and ad-ware? Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the Internet, spyware is programming that is put in someone’s computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to interested parties. These companies build user profiles for statistical data, or they sell it to third parties to do target advertising. is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our visitors.
Can I create my own campaign? If the campaigns listed in our advertising categories are not what you are looking for please contact us today and request a quote any any amount of visitors, banner ads, or email advertisements. We are very flexible and can set up any type or size campaign for your online business.On selected sites, Live!Ads allows you to target your advertising to specific pages within some sites. This is known as Targeted Advertising.
What are the Most Effective Teeth Whitening Products? A bright smile is definitely part of the definition for good looks, and how could one feel confident and attractive when they have to keep their lips tight for fear of revealing their dull teeth? Such preoccupations about dental care and dental aesthetics fully justify the high demand for teeth whitening products, and manufacturers definitely don’t disappoint their consumers. is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our visitors. We realize you are entrusting us with personal information, and to protect your information, we have adopted a set of strict regulations and guidelines ? our privacy policy. We share aggregated information such as the percentage of women vs.
Public Health. Has the settlement changed the way cigarettes are sold and marketed to youth? Cigarette companies can no longer target youth in advertising, promotions or marketing. Any industry actions aimed at initiating, maintaining or increasing youth smoking are prohibited. For example, tobacco companies cannot use cartoon characters in cigarette advertising, promotion, packaging or labeling. Cigarettes cannot be advertised on outdoor billboards, trains, taxicabs, or buses.No. LocalVoter is a company that intends to fund its operations by providing individuals, campaigns, companies, and interest groups with a unique method of advertising to their target audience.If you have competitors working to attract your customers, or if you want to consistently grow your sales and make more money, then advertising is a necessity.
Should I advertise? If you have competitors working to attract your customers, or if you want to consistently grow your sales and make more money, then advertising is a necessity. The key is to know who your customer is, and why they like to do business with you. Once you know the characteristics of your best customers, you simply need to target your advertising in a way that converts prospective customers with similar characteristics into loyal customers.Spy-ware and ad-ware are programs that can sometimes be installed on your machine without your knowledge or you could be tricked into installing them when browsing a web site or downloading files from a web site. These programs can do things such as install toolbars, give occasional pop-up ads, or completely slow your machine down and cause a variety of problems including Internet connection issues. is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our visitors.
Are you going to sell or share my personal information? We share aggregated information about our visitors with advertisers so that they may better target their advertising on our sites. By sharing aggregate information, we can better define our customer base, making our site an attractive advertising option for advertisers. is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our visitors. We realize you are trusting us with personal information, and to protect your information, we have adopted a set of strict regulations and guidelines ? our privacy policy. We share aggregated information such as the percentage of women vs. is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our visitors.
Online Discussion Board Advertising
July 29, 2008
Posting messages on online discussion boards is a great way to get free advertising. When you post a message include your signature file at the end. Your signature file should be no more than 5 to 6 lines. Include an attention-getting sentence why they should visit your web site or e-mail your auto esponder.
Some online discussion boards allow you to leave text and graphic links at the end of your messages. You will get a better click-through rate with links than just a normal signature file.
Below are three types of messages you could post to online discussion boards:
1. Informative Comments
Post information that would be informative to the people who participate on the discussion board. It could be an article or a study you’ve completed.
2. Ask Questions
Post a question on the discussion board you would like answered. This will give you a chance to meet other experts and it could lead to a profitable joint venture.
3. Answer Questions
Post the answer to another person’s question on the discussion board. When you answer questions you will get known as an expert on the subject.
Before posting to any online discussion board read the FAQ or rules first. They will tell you what kinds of posts are allowed. Read the board for a few days before posting your message to see what type of messages are being posted. Never post messages on a board that are unrelated to the subject.
John Reese Scam
July 29, 2008
Do reciprocal states allow direct mail advertising? Reciprocity laws DO NOT generally authorize direct mail solicitation and sales programs. Reciprocity provisions are designed to primarily address shipment, and in some cases expressly prohibit solicitation. Direct mail offerings to consumers in a reciprocity state could be interpreted as tantamount to a sale.Yes. If you have your own mailing list, you can upload it to our website with the PersonaLISTSM option and maintain it on-line for free.Yes.
Can I purchase a specialized list on your website? We have partnered with infoUSA to provide specialized lists to our customers. You can purchase a list from them and use that list in your orders here. A list purchased from infoUSA and used in an order on our website will be available to you as a PersonaLISTSM for future orders.The U.S. Postal Service averages 8 to 14 business days for Standard Mail (slightly less with Priority Drop-Ship) and 5 to 8 business days for First-Class Presort. Please note: Due to factors beyond our control, QuantumDigital is not responsible for postal delays of time-sensitive materials.
What media types do you offer, and what sizes are they? We offer a variety of media types, including jumbo postcards (5 ” x 8 “), flyers, and business-reply postcards. You’ll find detailed descriptions of all media types on our pricing page.Because of our high volume and integrated printing system, all of our customers benefit from efficiencies of scale. Orders of all different sizes enter our production stream and are processed together. This is how we are able to offer the same low price, whether you want to send 20 cards or 20,000.
Do I have to sign a contract? No. We are extremely confident that you will use and continue to use our services. Thus, we do not require any contractual obligation. We only ask that you read and accept our Terms & Conditions.Many aspects of our order process are customized for specific industries. For instance, if you selected “Remodeling” during the sign-up process, you would see remodeling designs and messages by default when placing orders.You can select from our professionally designed templates, or modify an image from our collection.
Can I receive a copy of my mailing when I place an order? Yes. You can order a confirmation card for $1.00 at the time you place your order. We will mail this card to you in a first-class envelope when the rest of your order is mailed.Our standard paper / cover stock options are 80# matte for postcard media types and 28# text for flyers. These options are included within our regular pricing. During the ordering process, you will also have the option to choose 100# gloss or 130# gloss cover / card stock.Yes.
How do I design a card on-line? You can select from our professionally designed templates, or modify an image from our collection. With our on-line design program, you can change fonts and colors, upload pictures, and drag items around right in your web browser. Try it here!Yes. You can order a follow-up report on-line at the time of ordering. Prices are $5 for the first 100 resident names and 2 for each resident over 100. The follow-up report will contain the names, addresses and phone numbers (when available) for each recipient of your mailing.Reciprocity laws DO NOT generally authorize direct mail solicitation and sales programs. Reciprocity provisions are designed to primarily address shipment, and in some cases expressly prohibit solicitation.
Airplane Banner Towing
July 29, 2008
Companies know the value of advertising. Some set aside as much as 20% of their budget just to get their message to the public. Many ads are expensive and complicated. They convey all the information the consumer needs to know to decide whether or not to seek after the product. But sometimes this is information glut. Sometimes, very little needs to be said to bring about the same results.
Banner advertising takes a simple message and conveys it to a large attentive audience in a short period of time. An airplane streams the message over a crowd multiple times, thus engraving the few words into their memories.
A simple ad means it can go from idea to production much quicker. At the most a banner ad is one sentence. Therefore, once this sentence or phrase is chosen, its production can get underway. Think how simple proof-reading is!
Banner ads need to convey only enough information to get the customer interested. Additional facts may be obtained for those attracted to the product. Money is not spent on multiple printed ads that end up as fish wrapping.
The one drawback of banner ads is that everything hinges on the impact of that short message. It has been said that to talk an hour, a speaker can wing it; to talk for ten minutes takes planning. This is true of banner ads also. The message should be sharp and easy to read. It should do its best to convey to the audience what is being sold, provided, or conveyed in a way that will be remembered without effort.
Traditional advertising often barrages the customer with an overload of information in an effort to attract customers to buy. This may include addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, even contact person information. Once the ad is produced, it must compete with others for the attention of the reader or listener. Though often expensive, such ads do not carry a guarantee that others will be affected by it.
Banner ads streaming behind airplanes have an inherent demanding presence. Who can ignore the sound of the plane and the novel streamer in the sky? As the customer reads it, a need comes to mind. The repetition of multiple passes reinforces this answer to the need. Once home, the need brings to mind the ad and further inquiry is made. If this additional information is vital to the customers, many have coupled banner ads with printed ads to multiply the effectiveness of both.
If cost effectiveness is important to a company, consider the proven effectiveness of banner ads. Think of the customers rehashing your message over and over in their minds long after the banner is gone.
Know How To Evaluate Web Site Performance
July 17, 2008
Setting up a website is the very first step of an Internet marketing campaign, further the success or omission of your site depends highly on how specifically you keep designated your website goals. If you don’t know what you want your site to accomplish, it bequeath most likely fail to accomplish anything. Off-course goals to guide you in developing and monitoring your website, all your site will be is an online announcement that you are in work.
If you vision your site to push some form of commotion, whether it is visitors filling independent a system so a representative can contact them, or purchasing a energy, there are steps you subjection take to make certain that your website is functioning at peak efficiency. One of the first indicators of how well your site is working for you is arrangement independent the number of visitors in a inured period of year. A good baseline measurement is a time in which you haven ‘ t been doing any uncommon offline promotional activities.
However, just because hoards of people have passed wound up your gates does not mean your site is successful. Usually, you want those visitors to actually do something there. It is equally important to monitor the number of visitors to your site who made a purchase. This figure is called the site conversion rate, and it is an essential root of the efficacy of your website.
To find the site conversion standard, take the number of visitors per month and figure out the percentage of them that actually performed the action your site is recognize addition for. Due to example, if you had 2,000 hits to your site, but solo 25 of them purchased your product, your site conversion rate equals 1. 25 %. To get this figure, haul your number of visitors and divide that figure by the number of visitors who made a purchase. Then divide that result by 100 ( 25? 00 X 100 ).
If your website is set - up to bias visitors to fill outward a form, make cocksure to then figure out what the difference is between your site conversion ratio and your sales conversion degree. This is because not everyone who fills out your form will actually emerge as your customer. However, whether your site is set - up to sell a service or product, or to get the visitor to fill outermost a form, the site conversion rate will measure the success or failure of your website whenever you make changes to the site.
You may find that you weakness to implement some fresh marketing strategies if you find that traffic to your site is extremely low. Experienced are differing effective methods to improve the flow of traffic to your website, particularly launching a search engine optimization visit. This campaign is targeted at increasing your perspective in search engine results so that consumers can acquisition your pages faster and easier. You authority either research the steps you need to catch to improve your search engine rankings, or employ a search engine optimization company to do the work over you. In either case, after your have improved your search machine positions, lead to sure you keep on top of them by regular monitoring and adjusting of your efforts to maintain high positions.
Another factor to examine is how easy it is for a visitor to your website to see through the action the site is set - up thanks to. For example, if your goal is for the visitor to fill out a form, is this form easily accessible, or does the visitor hold to go through four levels to get to it? If actual ‘ s too difficult to get to, the customer may just throw guidance the towel and move on to another site. Sire sure your buttons are highly visible, and the path to your form or ordering page swiftly accessible.
Finally, have a professional evaluate the copy on your website. The goal is, of course, to get your visitor to make a purchase or fill out your system. Website copy must be specifically geared to your online campaign and not just a cut and paste job from your company brochure. The right copy culpability make the difference between profit and loss in your online campaign.
Search Engines Paid Search Vs. Natural Search
July 17, 2008
Search Engines
Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN are really just data bases. When you do a Google Search you are not searching the “world wide web” you are searching Google’s data base. There are two ways to get in to these databases. One is to submit your site to the different search engines. In about 6 to 9 weeks the search engine will index your site. They have software that comes to your site and index every page and adds it to the database. They come into your main web URL and follow the links to all the pages of your site. They capture key elements from the code on your page to the content. These are then stored in the data base. When someone puts a keyword in the search box the “algorithms” determine the best page or links to the best pages for your search.
The other way to get added to the search engines data base is to have the search engine software find you through a link to your site from another web site back to yours. The software, called “spiders” will periodically comeback and re crawl your site to see if you have updated it.
One important thing to know is that each page on your site is indexed individually and each page stands on its own. The ranking are based upon the combination of correct meta tags, relevant content to the keyword they are trying to get rankings for and link popularity. Mostly one way links back to their site from relevant sites.
As long as the search engine can index the site, clearly read the meta tags and content, the better. The big issues come when a site is built in flash with very little content (search engines cannot read or index “flash” sites. Also, if the bulk of the relevant content is in PDF format this is bad because the search engines cannot read PDF. If the search engines cannot index the relevant text there will be no rankings.
You all ready know this but “sites” are not ranked, individual pages are ranked for specific terms found in the content of that page as well as link popularity, (relevant links pointing back to that specific page) for the term that you are trying to get ranked on. This is why each page has to be giving very specific attention. Paid search
Paid search is when your ad shows up at the very top of a Google search or down the right hand side of the results page. These are called “sponsored ads”. You pay for those positions. When every you click on one of those ads the owner of the ad pays the search engine. This is also called “pay-per-click”. The amount you pay is determined by several factors including what you are willing to pay every time someone clicks on your ad.
Natural Search
Natural Search is when you type in a “keyword” and a link and a description shows up on left hand side of the search result page. The only way to get on the first page is to have very relevant content on your web site and links to your site from other relevant sites. This is a long process for people in it for the long haul. There are a lot of companies that claim to be able to get you on the first page of Google. That may be true if the “search term” is very specific and no one else would ever search for it but you or they are using a “black hat” method that could get you site banned from the search engine. Bottom line: Paid Search means you pay for your position. The benefit is, if you have the $$, you will get instant traffic. Stop paying and the traffic goes away. Natural search is free traffic but it is built over time. The advantage is, if done right, it can provide traffic for a long time.
Search traffic (paid or natural) is the BEST traffic to have because you are being found by folks who are specifically looking for what you have. It does not get any better than that.
Four Simple AdWords Management Strategies
July 16, 2008
As PPC advertising has become much more mainstream in the world of online advertising, it can seem that more and more keywords are becoming saturated. This can be true at times, but there has never been a better time to run an effective Google AdWords campaign. All you need to know is a few tips. Here are four that you won’t want to forget when you start up your next AdWords campaign.
First, it is a good idea to have a well-developed keyword tactic. Don’t just start arbitrarily picking keywords or using a PPC service’s keyword generator to add more keywords. A good AdWords management strategy is to do a careful keyword analysis before you start. Understand the goal of your campaign, and choose keywords that will help you achieve this goal. Also, make sure you pick keywords that are specific as possible. You don’t want people clicking on your ad if they aren’t truly interested in buying what you sell.
Second, it is a good idea bid for the first page, but not for the first spot. What does this mean? It means that unless you are truly aiming to dominate the Internet landscape and be at the top of your industry, you shouldn’t worry about getting in the top slot on a SERP (search engine results page). If you are in the top ten spots, then you will appear on the first page of Yahoo results, though it varies for each service. Try to let your ad do the selling, not your position. Placing yourself at the top of the search results is a two edged sword - you will get more clicks, but they will not be as targeted.
One of the AdWords management strategies that goes without saying (but still can’t be said enough) is to test all of your keywords, and then test some more. You need to remember that PPC marketing is like the stock market - it can fluctuate greatly on a daily basis. Ignoring your keyword results or click through rates or conversion rates for too long can spell doom for your PPC advertising campaign. It is vital that you continually monitor your campaign, and make the necessary changes.
Last but not least, you should consider placing CPM ads instead of just CPC ads. What does this mean? CMP is a term that means cost per thousand, and it refers to impression based pricing instead of cost per click pricing. So, you can place ads on a cost per impression basis on websites that cater to a demographic that may be interested in your product. If you sell lawn mowers, you may want to advertise on a site that discusses lawn maintenance. Where your ads appear is up to you, but it can be a great way to pick up cheap impressions and, ultimately, clicks.
Try using these four simple strategies the next time you manage a PPC campaign. Doing so can increase efficiency and profitability.
