Are You Content With Your
Content?
by Dina Giolitto
Following are Five Immediate Changes You Can Make
to Drive Traffic and Sales Through the Roof
1. Put More Oomph in Your Articles.
Don't tell the reader what he "could" do; tell him
what he MUST do! Which of these sounds more dynamic to you: great copy,
or brilliant copy? Speak in an authoritative tone, and you will be
regarded as an authority. Go bookmark http://thesaurus.com in your
favorites folder right now. You NEED power words to make your copy pop!
2. Tell the Reader Exactly What to Do.
Ever read someone else's web page and find
yourself going into "the zone?" That happens to your reader, too. Snap
him into action while he's caught in the trance. Click Here. Buy Now.
Pop Your Email Address in the Subscriber Box Below. Seems almost silly,
right? But call to actions are everywhere because they really WORK.
3. For the Love of God, Dumb it Down.
Here's a big goof that new web writers frequently
make: writing copy that's too abstract, too esoteric, too
philosophical. Translation: you MUST dumb it down. This is the web,
we're all distracted as heck. I guarantee, nobody will think less of
you if you simplify your concepts and language. Equate your web copy
with a highway billboard. Surfers are cruising by, no heavy reading is
going on here. Just trust me on this one, Smarty Pants.
4. Tell Them How It's Done.
Another common content error: letting your reader
know what he CAN do, but never telling him HOW to do it. Today's web
has everyone falling all over themselves to give away free information.
If you do not inform your reader with the basics of how to accomplish a
task, perform a function or use a new tool, I guarantee he will find
out from someone else.
5. Be a Branding Whore!
Spend enough time hanging out in online networks,
and you will recognize the Power Players by their ID Badge - that
signoff that distinguishes what they do and lists their URL. Brand
your business in every single email, article, forum post and blog
entry that you write. NEVER assume taht everyone in the group knows
you. Someone new will always come by... and can leave again just as
quickly. Make your mark everywhere you can.
Are YOU Content With Your Content? Get Top
Secret Marketing Tips from the Web's Biggest Gurus and Expert Authors
on The First Annual Web Content
Awareness Day on FEBRUARY 9, 2006.
Dina Giolitto may be contacted at
http://www.wordfeeder.com
or
dina@wordfeeder.com
Are You Content With Your
Affiliates?
Make Selling a Snap With This Simple Plan
by Dina Giolitto
We all try to give our affiliates the benefit of
the doubt, thinking they'll willingly write up a gleaming review of our
product and pitch it to millions. But the truth is, your affiliates
have better things to do than create your copy.
If you want results, you must make it easy for
your affiliates to put your selling strategy to work. Hire a copywriter
to inject energy into your sales pitch and create an urgent need for
your product. Then "gift wrap" this information in an easy-to-access
format that your affiliates will want to kiss you under the mistletoe
for! Here's how to craft the plan.
Step 1. Create a sales letter.
What? You don't have a sales letter? Santa's
coming with a lump of coal for your stocking, because EVERY good
affiliate must have a sales letter. This will be your most involved
aspect of the project and the ultimate sales vehicle, so fill yours
with clear-cut product benefits, real testimonials from live customers,
and "click to buy now" buttons.
Step 2. Prepare an E-Book Ad.
Did you know that people who give away free
e-books frequently add affiliate advertisements to the last few pages?
It's December, and E-books are dropping into email boxes faster than
Santa slides down the chimney. If your marketing friend is creating an
e-book in a hurry, she needs to be able to grab your promo and pop it
in place. Write a snappy headline, a few bullets of copy and include a
product image and link to your sales page. Package in a Word file and
send 'er off.
Step 3. HTML-Format an E-Mail Promotion.
Your affiliate may choose to showcase your product
alongside of other marketers... nevertheless, it's a good idea to send
them a graphically-enhanced email that does a good job of persuasively
selling your e-book. You may even wish to include a personal message
addressing the customer. Attaching a text file that contains the ad
copy is also a good idea.
Step 4. Create Blog Copy.
How many time have you come across your product
showcased in someone else's blog with NO power headline, NO persuasive
copy, NO product benefits and NO love? Do yourself a favor. Start with
your own blog, where you can try a few methods and figure out the best
way to blow out your offer. Once you nail the favorite, pop this into a
Word file with your graphic, and viola, instant blog post for your
affilliates to grab and use immediately.
Step 4. Package, Address and Ship.
Write a letter to your affiliates explaining your
plan to "streamline" the marketing effort while making things easy on
them and bringing increased sales. You must make your sellers
understand why the copy and design you've provided will increase their
sales and bring them more income. Explain in detail exactly how you'd
like your ads to appear. Don't feel that you're being pushy. YOU worked
hard to create this product, and only YOU will promote it with the
fever that it takes to pull in profit.
Your affiliates will appreciate the fact that you
sent them an easy-to-implement selling strategy, and put it to work in
their own marketing materials at once. Not bad, for a holiday rush job.
Are YOU Content With Your Content? Get Top Secret
Marketing Tips from the Web's Biggest Gurus and Expert Authors on The
First Annual Web Content Awareness Day on FEBRUARY 9, 2006.
Dina Giolitto may be contacted at
http://www.wordfeeder.com
or
dina@wordfeeder.com
Are You Content
With Your Blog Content?
Avoid the 5 Blog Bloopers that Will KILL
by Dina Giolitto
So everybody's bloggin', but what makes one web
marketer's blog a hotbed of marketer activity and massive sale
converter... while another blog just sits there collecting hits but
getting no real business? Check the Five Bloggin' Bloopers that will
kill your credibility and drive business right into the other guy's
lap... then avoid them like the plague!
Blog Blooper 1. Not branding yourself.
How will people who land on your blog via the
links and search engine results know who you are unless you tell them?
Try to close every blog entry you write with a signoff or
call-to-action. Example: "Need a copywriter? Email
dina@wordfeeder.com." This way, no matter what your fans are reading,
they'll be reminded of you, your website and what you can offer them.
Blog Blooper 2. Sharing too much personal
information.
If you're blogging for business, stick to
business. Sure, it's okay to reveal a few amusing details now and
then... but if you gab too much on your blog, all you'll succeed in
doing is attract other gabbers. Remember your purpose in all this, and
keep your topics closely geared fulfilling the business needs of your
target audience.
Blog Blooper 3. Too many links to
competitor sites.
Your fans will love you for sharing resources, and
if you link to "friendly neighborhood service providers like yourself",
this will endear those marketers to you and your blog and prompt
reciprocal links back. However, be sure to choose your outbound links
wisely. Select complimentary service providers... not ones who offer
exactly what you do!
Blog Blooper 4. Not enough "spice."
Post an intriguing or controversial viewpoint, and
your readers are more likely to jump into the conversation with posted
comments. The more activity on your blog, the more people are
"following along" as the plot develops, and the more repeat visitors
you'll get. If everyone's flocking to your blog, that means better page
rank for you. So please do "spice it up!"
Blog Blooper 5. All "pickup articles," no
personality.
Hey, now there's a great way to develop your web
style - only post other people's tips, stories and advice. Nothing like
drawing a crowd and then sending them away to other folks' website
because you never took the time to reveal your opinions, advice, or
even your line of business for that matter! Sure, search engines feed
on article content, but you MUST develop your blog persona or you will
NEVER get business!
Okay, now that we've laid down the blogging laws,
it's time for you to hit the blogosphere and make a name for yourself.
Start from scratch and have fun with it. I know you can blog like a web
marketing pro.
Dina Giolitto may be contacted at
http://www.wordfeeder.com
or
dina@wordfeeder.com
Are You Content With Your Branding?
5 Tricks to Blast Your Site to the Masses
by Dina Giolitto
The best brander I've ever come across on the web
wasn't even trying to sell anything. Lance Winslow, die-hard
article-writer and EzineArticles.com fan, gave me a swift kick in the
right direction with his latest "accidental" strategic article
campaign. Thanks to Lance's brilliance, I was reminded of what you and
I both NEED to do to build a powerful online presence.
Here are five tried-and-tested tricks you can
borrow from Lance Winslow the Franchise King of CarWashGuys.com, to get
your message out to the masses and make sure everybody knows YOUR name.
1. Give yourself a tagline.
A tagline is the opposite of a headline because it
comes last instead of first. Your tagline is the "punctuation" at the
end of your marketing statement. Every famous big-name brand has a
tagline and so should you. Examples: "GE: We Bring Good Things to
Life." "Burger King: Have it Your Way" (Am I dating myself with these
samples?).
2. Get a great-looking logo.
You want to activate both hemispheres of your
reader's brain and cement yourself in there. A logo does a nice job of
this. Choose one that matches the "style" of what you offer, make sure
it contains your signature font and color scheme. Don't forget to add
that tagline!
3. Spring for a domain name.
Make it catchy and memorable. At $8 a pop from
GoDaddy.com, there is no excuse NOT to register your site with a domain
name that will be remembered by your visitors and that you can
implement in your branding strategy. Add your domain name to your blog
posts, emails, network comments and articles for instant
recognizability. Don't be lazy now!
4. Use repetition to drill your message
down deep.
I repeat: Use repetition to drill your message
down deep. I hope Lance doesn't mind, but I am borrowing his tactic
because it is dead-on for capturing traffic and page views while
mesmerizing your audience. I recommend you put this strategy to work
right now. The trick: fire off round after round of articles with
matching themed headlines. Read the headline at the top of this page...
I'm doing this as we speak.
Bonus Tip: You Prepared the Plan, Now
Execute.
Here's what you MUST do to bring your branding
effort to life. Get into the habit of branding yourself in every
single piece of content you send out there. That means uploading
your logo to every site that offers the option, tagging your emails,
blog and forum posts with your "branding line," URL and call-to-action.
And of course, that killer article campaign with the repeating
headlines that even your competition can't help but stare at with envy!
Are you ready to brand like a pro? Good, let's get
cracking and make you a household name.
Dina Giolitto may be contacted at
http://www.wordfeeder.com
or
dina@wordfeeder.com
Are You Content With Your Conversion?
The #1 Reason Your Content Doesn't Sell
by Dina Giolitto
The sole most important reason why you aren't
converting sales is this: your credibility isn't cutting it. Why is
that? Because your articles are not providing hands-on tricks,
tactics, secrets and strategies that your customers are dying to
get their meaty paws on.
These words I mention... they're not just words
that marketers throw around to impress you. These marketers are trying
to communicate something that most people don't catch because they're
simply too distracted to get the message.
The message is this: Successful marketers make
specific plans, and carry them through.
You cannot market "randomly," throwing out an
offer when you feel like it, and expect to make substantial profit. If
you do, I assure you that you'll only succeed in running yourself
ragged.
The good news is, if you've been doing the
marketing freestyle boogie and not making sales off it, you can make a
plan to change for the better and start as soon as tomorrow. Remember,
if you've been doing it wrong all this time, that doesn't mean it was
all for nothing. Your name IS out there after all! But it does take planning,
preparation, timing and follow-through to properly execute a
marketing campaign that makes you money.
When you write articles, develop content and send
out free information to your subscribers, that information must be something
that they can put to practical and immediate use.
Your talent as a wordsmith is a huge plus in this
industry, but it will only get you so far. You must include substance
in your content if you want people to stare at your emails and go,
"WOW, that person REALLY has it together. Maybe I should keep following
along with what they have to say."
Two things you MUST explain when writing
content that will reach your key customer:
1. WHICH resources you used to create your
marketing materials.
I'll give you mine now.
http://nvu.com - a free web page editor
http://formmail.com - a low-cost form creator tool
http://ezinearticles.com - the best place to submit articles on the web
2. HOW you go about creating your materials.
Here's an example of how I would go about
explaining how to put together an e-book.
1. Write five short articles.
2. Save the articles to a Word document.
3. Add a Cover Page, disclaimer, page numbers, copyright line, contact
email.
4. Write an introduction letter to your customer.
5. Save as a .pdf file.
6. Upload to your web server and add the link to an email that you mail
to your subscribers.
These are just two small samples that illustrate
what you need to tell your readers if you want them to view you as an
authoritative source. You MUST tell them HOW. Anyone who fails to
instruct their audience is guaranteed to lose favor within five
information mailings.
It's bad enough that the web is so distracting.
Make it your number one priority to catch your customer's attention and
then tell him something he can put to constructive use immediately. Do
this right, and you just gained yourself one loyal customer for life.
Dina Giolitto may be contacted at
http://www.wordfeeder.com or
dina@wordfeeder.com
