Blogfeeder - The Copywriting and Marketing Blog from Wordfeeder.com

Announcing Our New E-Guide: Start Up Your Own Writing and Editing Business On the Web

Are you a writer, copywriter or editor who's always dreamed of working from the comfort of home? Finally, after serving clients via the web for more than 8 years, Wordfeeder is creating a long-awaited guide book to help you do just that.

Get ready for The Nitty Gritty of How to Start Up a Writing or Editing Business on the Web!

I used the phrase "nitty gritty" because I'm a practical person. I like to get to the meat of the matter, and that's what I'll be sharing with you. You know... those confusing little details about online business that nobody bothers to tell you about without a lot of prodding and struggling on your part!

Some things you'll learn from our e-guide:

• The critical difference between web and print copywriting
• How to organize, categorize, and present your writing samples for public viewing
• The secret to getting people to your website who already want what you have
• Email newsletters 101: yes, those new marketer mistakes can really hurt you!
• Social networking tactics to blast your good name out to the world and bring you more clients than you know what to do with
• HTML survival basics to give your web content an extra push
• Coping skills for challenging clients (and how to attract the best ones to your front door)

And much more!

Be one of the first to hear about the launch of our long-awaited e-guide, The Nitty Gritty of How to Start Up a Writing or Editing Business on the Web. Sign up for our list below.

 

 

Copywriting Special: The Sales Page Critique

If your sales page doesn't pull in the do-re-mi that you thought it would, does that mean your product is a flop? Not necessarily... it could be the copywriting that's standing between you and your profits.

Wordfeeder.com is offering a Sales Copy Critique for the month of November. Below, I've outlined the key elements:

1. Purpose: what is the action you'd like your reader to take upon reading the sales letter?

2. Headline effectiveness: do your lead-ins snap the reader to attention and prompt him to continue reading?

3. Tone: do you incorporate language and colloquialisms that your target customer can relate to?

4. Message: can you make your point in a clear, succinct and compelling way?

5. Persuasiveness: do you give a strong argument in favor of choosing your product over the competition?

6. AIDA method: does your copy hit the four hot points: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action?

7. Intangible benefits: is yours an emotional sell (very different from simply listing the features)?

8. Calls to action: do you give the order at key points on your sales page?

9. Linking strategy: Are you losing customers with the wrong types of links?

10. Testimonials: does each of your testimonials hit upon an important benefit?

There may be other elements of your sales letter which can potentially stand between you and your sales conversions. It can be something as simple as too much whitespace at the top of the page... a logo that doesn't look professional, things of that nature. Even though I'm technically a copywriting expert, I take a holistic view of the marketing piece before me.

Okay Copywriting Chick, What's the Damage?

The price of your sales letter critique will depend on how much help your writing needs. For all I know, you could simply require a few copywriting nuts and bolts tightened (as opposed to copy that's like Courtney Love on a bender... it makes you run away screaming).

So let's say we start at $140 (that's 2 hours of work) and go from there.

Contact Dina@Wordfeeder.com to reserve your spot for a Sales Letter Critique this month!

Your Online Sales Letter

Many people ask me about sales letters. Do they need one? How does one go about writing a sales letter? Or, the ever-popular, "Sales letters are tacky!" (Yes- more often than not, they really are. But yours doesn't have to be.)

If you want to sell products on the web, it takes more than good sales copy to do it. I get the feeling sometimes, that after writing their sales letters for them, my clients expect their businesses are going to take off like a rocket. Just like that - as though I'm sitting here doing a magic spell...

But it takes more than just great writing to launch a sales campaign that brings real results. Once you perfect the copy, the next step is repeatedly showing it to people. Do it in your ezine. Do it in your blog. You might have the greatest copy on the planet, but it won't mean diddly if no one's looking!

Before you can promote your sales pitch, you've got to get one written. Get help with the creative process in 10 Reasons Why Your Sales Letter Doesn't Convert (And What You WILL Do Better Next Time Around.)

Why not read it today?

Get your sales copy on the fly - Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Copywriting: How to Think Like a Top Paid Creative

I'm guessing that you came to my copywriting and marketing blog for one of two reasons:

1. You want to know how to write copy that will help you sell more product

2. You're a copywriter like I am - you're looking for cameraderie and perhaps an article topic or two

I just released an article that I think you'll like. It's about Analogy Marketing and how this technique can help you write copy that's on par with what the web's best creatives would write. You just missed the newsletter mailing that I sent out explaining this in detail, but have no fear.

If you sign up for the Word Food Copywriting and Marketing Ezine right now, the very article I speak of will arrive in your email inbox.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Happy Web Content Awareness Day!

Well, it's here - the moment you've all been waiting for. I know you felt it... creeping down the stairs in your footie pajamas at 4 am... hoping to get a glimpse of the Man With the White Beard. Oh wait - wrong holiday.

For those just tuning in, my name is Dina Giolitto and I run Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing. Last year, I created a new holiday - Web Content Awareness Day - "dedicated to all those who create content for this great Web of ours!"

In 2007 we continue the WCAD tradition. This year's theme was "An Information Celebration Taking Place in Your Email Inbox."

I emailed a total of TEN articles containing information you NEED to know if you plan to grow a successful business online.

I also royally hooked my list up with trusted experts who can help them build and maintain a quality website that gets them targeted traffic and sales.

 

Topics we covered in the mailings:

Web Design
Copywriting
Article Marketing
Ezines
Podcasting
Public Relations

If you missed all the fun, have no fear. You can tune in to the FINAL ezine issue and free copywriting giveaway that I JUST sent out to my WCAD readers:

http://webcontentawarenessday.com/ezine-wcadgiveaway.htm

ALL of the articles are accessible via that link, and you really do not want to miss all that we reveal!

If you like what I sent out during WCAD, maybe you will find my copywriting and marketing ezine useful as well! Sign up - click the link.

Tell the Wordfeeder What You Want.

So, I have this yearly promo going on from January 9th through February 9th, called Web Content Awareness Day(s). What I do is give the floor (meaning, space in my copywriting ezine) to a group of trusted web marketing experts. I then share articles these professionals have written that contain tips and advice on how to get your website noticed and generate more sales.

So far, we are up to Mailing 4 out of 6 of Web Content Awareness Month. *To sign up, click the link and drop your email into the box at the bottom of the page.

Now, some folks who took my WCAD Survey (still open by the way!) expressed the desire to receive more copywriting tips - which only makes sense, this being a copywriting and marketing-geared website and all.

However, to be fair to all WCAD participants, over the celebration it's my goal to strive for a good balance of content. This is one of the few times I'm able to share NON-copywriting tips (meaning, all those other things you MUST do to get your business out there in front of the right eyes. And believe me, this is stuff that I didn't know about when I first arrived on the web - so it's been VERY helpful to me in my own business growth).

Now, in terms of what everyone is asking for - I'm delivering a Copywriting Grand Finale on Web Content Awareness Day proper, which takes place on February 9th.

The sixth mailing will contain a free copywriting giveaway - a special report, created by Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing, designed to teach you web copy techniques that bring real results.

Now, here's the problem: I can't make up my mind which copywriting report I should share with you. In my estimation, they're all terrific (if I do say so myself).

I cover three different key aspects of copywriting in my reports.

• The mechanics of web copywriting - word placement on the page, directionals, links, etc.
• Emotion, psychology and persuasive tactics
• Logistics, categories, and keyword placement (believe it or not this is FAR MORE CRITICAL to driving targeted traffic than you would ever imagine)

Each report I'm thinking of offering covers one of the above three aspects of writing copy.

So, here it is: if you want to have a say in the type of report I deliver on the big day, take a moment and cast your vote in our WCAD Copywriting Gift Poll!

Web Content Awareness Day Strikes Again.

So, last year I created Web Content Awareness Day - the first-ever holiday for online business owners, and anyone who uses the Web as a major vehicle of communication.

The catch phrase was:

Web Content Awareness Day: Dedicated to All Who Provide Content for This Great Web of Ours.

Even though I had no idea what the heck I was doing, I dove headfirst into Dreamweaver Web Design and even attempted to run an email list before I had signed up with an official list manager (BIG mistake!).

I went full tilt with this thing, managing article submissions from qualified experts from the comfort of my email inbox while simultaneously running an online discussion group on Ryze.com, sending out email alerts, a month-long article and PR campaign, with blog teasers leading up to the Grand Finale of Web Content Awareness Day on February 9.

(I wrote it all bunched up like that instead of neatly bulleted out, to emphasize what a complete whirling dervish I felt like while trying to manage this thing in three months).

I partnered with a talented designer by the name of Lisa C. Boyd who compiled info from marketers who I knew "from around the web" and offered my audience a free downloadable book of special offers and deals. Heidi Caswell of RememberGreetingCards.com even custom designed a WCAD printed card that I mailed to all my best contributors (if you click her link, scroll down to the testimonials and you'll see the card she made for me!). We even did a "Guess the Baby Marketer" Contest, for fun.

What I succeeded in doing, at least the way I see it, was:

• Supply a group of inquisitive, do-it-yourself individuals with a free education on ways to grow your business online
• Fire up a small army of marketers to ramp up their traffic generating efforts and grow their businesses
• Push my own name further out there and build my own credibility - I swear, despite the internal calamity that this even was for me, it really worked and I advise you to run your own nifty parties online - but DO IT RIGHT AND GET BACKUP HELP!
  
• Shed some new light on the proper and effective use of article marketing, blogging, ezines, web PR, design, SEO, and online networking as business builders
• Introduce a bunch of good and decent people who didn't know each other before
• Slut some names of famous marketers around the web a bit (and pay homage to the Web Greats)
• Solidify connections between online marketers who already had been acquainted but maybe had more to learn about each other
• Exemplify selected content providers who are either experts in the craft (of publishing web materials), or know how to use the web for good.

And these are the lessons that I learned for myself:

• It is completely impractical to think that ONE PERSON can actually do all this and also run "business as usual" back at their own copywriting and marketing website. For me, it was a good lesson on "getting my sh*t together and learning that delegation is critical
• In extremely frenzied times like this when you are drowning in a self-created hell, you learn which friends of yours are pure gold - the kind who would  simply drop everything and come to your aid at the hour of need.
• And possibly most importantly - you MUST get an autoresponder and list management system before attempting to send out an email campaign!

This year, Web Content Awareness Day will be a MUCH cozier and less maniacal affair. You will be able to partake in the festivities simply by signing up for our Limited Time Only promotional ezine (translation - once Feb. 9 is past, no more WCD emails until next year).

Dates: January 9th through February 9th.

Details: Visit this year's newly designed Web Content Awareness Day homepage at http://webcontentawarenessday.com, and drop your name in the subscriber box for your free, month-long, free marketing education.

Thanks. :)

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing
Creator of Web Content Awareness Day

Dangerous Truth About How to Write Copy That Sells

If you can relate to and/or are fascinated by the post that falls directly beneath this one...

(it's about reading between the writing lines, in case you missed it),

Then you may well be interested in grabbing a copy of The Dangerous Truth About How to Write Copy That Sells before the price goes up tomorrow.

Buy it now, get half off, master the Seven Most Common Psychological Copywriting Tactics.

Write stronger copy, get more sales (or clients, or jobs)... and make more money.

 

A direct quote from the e-book:

"There is a reason why your home is stuffed to maximum capacity with brand name items, and why you place your utter faith as a consumer in what massive corporations have to say about life and how you should live it.

It's all due to the power of branding and the impact of persuasive copywriting."

(And that statement is followed by six (actually seven - the last one is a bonus) age-old, tried and tested persuasive copywriting techniques that work on the mind of your customer to convert believers, bring more sales, and build powerful brands).

I wrote this copywriting expose a while ago, but honestly I have been too busy to promote it. Last night however, I realized that deadline time for the early bird pricing was fast approaching, so I picked it up and gave it another look.

And it's good. It's really good. I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it... I am, after all, my own worst critic. I felt energized after I read The Dangerous Truth again... awake, clear headed, and like I had The Key to Impactful Marketing right there in my hot little hand.

And I think that's because the truth cuts deep, and this ebook is dead honesty. Even if you're already an old salt in the copywriting and marketing world, chances are when you read this ebook, you'll be reminded that you own the most powerful weapon in the industry and how to use it to evangelize brands.

(I'm sorry I said "evangelize" - I hate that word. It's so freakin' pretentious I can't take it).

So, to sum it up, I think you're really going to eat up this psychological copywriting report I just released. And while I'm here, let me mention that I have yet to create the official sales page for this thing. I'm looking for a handful of testimonials from intelligent people who won't mind me sharing their photo and/or website and business listing.

If you read the ebook and love the ebook, let me know - send me an email.

And even if you don't like it, send me an email anyway because I need all the constructive feedback I can get.

Thanks for reading! And purchase your copy of The Dangerous Truth About How to Write Copy That Sells on the last day of our November Sale at Wordfeeder.com.

- Dina

Copywriting: Mind Games and Your Marketing

Do you recall my mention of Wordfeeder.com's latest e-book, The Dangerous Truth About Copy That Sells? Back in the summer I did a beta test of it on a couple of my colleagues, and then put the project aside to focus on copywriting and marketing work for my clients.

Well, I watched that movie Thank You for Smoking last night (brilliant, by the way... did this guy climb into my head and spit out my thoughts as he was writing his screenplay?), and it got me back into this brainchild e-book of mine. The theme of which is, mind games people play in their marketing copy and why/how they work to convert sales. This 20ish page e-book serves as my sales copy psychoanalysis. (And if that thought appeals to you and you haven't seen Thank You For Smoking, go rent it tomorrow.)

So, were you *born to write ad copy*? If so, then you know how it feels to be highly tuned in to emotional manipulation tactics. It's a gift, and a curse. A gift, because you know how to get people to take specific action simply by communicating with them in a certain way. That is, you know how to provoke and persuade through cleverly worded messages. This is the secret behind that copywriting magic you do, and the thing that adds value to the service you perform. This is why marketers pay copywriters $10,000.00 to write their sales letters for them.

It's a curse because: when you know how to manipulate, you can quickly sense when others are trying to manipulate you. You could be having a sandwich and just thinking happy thoughts, when something on an online networking message board sparks your fancy. All of a sudden the copywriting psychologist in you is analyzing the social dynamics of the conversation that's transpiring before your very eyes. In your imagination, you're even handing out little costumes for the chatroom guests to wear so they can play their various roles. And as you comprehend the motivation behind what each person is saying, it starts to eat away at your brain. Pretty soon, the inner dialogue that's taking place in your head is driving you mad! Mad! Mad, I tell you!

Oh - and then there is the matter of, how do you harness this untamed and dangerous gift of being able to move people to action with words? If you're a callous jerk, I guess you can talk circles around people until they're confused and delirious, stomp a trail of egos on your way up and act like a regular A-hole. But some wise copywriting-minded soul once pointed out that what goes around comes around, so we have that to keep us in check. And then there is the matter of, hey, maybe you're just a good person. Maybe all the mind games just eat you up inside. You can't help it if God gave you all this power that you can't handle... right? Well, channeling The Gift for profit is probably a good idea, but now we're getting into some weirdy metaphysical business and that's a topic for another post. Am I confusing you? Welcome to my world.

I used to go with this guy who would read my rambling emails trying to read everyone's minds, and then tell me "Dina, you think too much. Stop thinking so much about everything."

Easier said than done, pal. I can't stop thinking. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm your faithful copywriting and marketing servant. Oh no - I said servant. Is that too subserviant? Maybe I meant drill seargeant? Or did I mean analyst? Ah, yes... a good copywriter spends her life reading the lines, and then reading between the lines!

I was originally going to just post the lyrics to John Lennon's Mind Games here, because that's the theme song to my e-book. But I think that's deserving of its own post. Don't tell Yoko, okay?

If you're interested in The Dangerous Truth About How to Write Copy that Sells, sign up for my ezine and I'll be sure to fill you on Early Bird Pricing in the minute it hits the e-book shelves.

Thanks for reading!

Dina at Wordfeeder.com

Last Chance to Untame Your Marketing

End of Summer Special on Copywriting Boot Camp

Don't miss the reduced price on Web Copy Gone Wild Copywriting Boot Camp before Labor Day 2006!

Master the techniques that will help you:

• climb directly into the brain of your target customer
• put your copyediting skills on speed
• sell more product using persuasive writing methods 
• start commanding a bigger salary for your copywriting work

This is NOT a teleclass OR a downloadable PDF. These are hands-on exercises you can do at your own pace.

To learn more, click here. Offer ends September 5, 2006.