It’s true… Rotating sliders can be
bad for your business health

Did you ever go to a website where the top header consisted of a series of rotating pictures that weren’t relevant?

Did it drive you crazy because you didn’t have Read the rest of this entry »

Smart, successful people
benefit from the power of words
when they want to get great results

Why do we use words, anyway?

Simply put… Because the right words quickly and effectively communicate your thoughts, emotions, and feelings to other people.

For my purposes here, I’ll break down writing styles into 3 main groups: Literary (novels or fiction books), editorial writing, and persuasive writing.

Today’s topic is what I call persuasive writing, and why successful people use Read the rest of this entry »

Ignore website optimization
at your own risk

First…  SEO is inherently complicated, but I want you to understand why it’s important for you to grasp the basics. So here’s my simple definition without going into all the techie details.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of getting your website’s pages to attract various search engine’s attention.

You’ll notice I said “process” – because good SEO isn’t a one-time thing, it’s ongoing.

Properly optimized web pages help search engines determine what the page is all about, so it can give each page a “rank” in their search results pages (SERP).

 And the big benefit to you?

Simple… Read the rest of this entry »

Do your web landing pages
get the results you want?

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So… lets start with my definition of a web landing page.

And depending on who you talk to, it can have several meanings.

To put it simply, a landing page is a laser-focused Read the rest of this entry »

Direct mail vs Email: Which one wins?

A client recently asked me:

If I send out the same sales message to the same number of people using email and direct mail, which method is more likely to get the best response rate?

Great question!

My answer: Assuming all other things being equal, in my client’s experience, direct mail usually wins the battle.

Why?

I think it’s because readers have an opportunity to hold a letter or postcard in their hands, which gives it a better chance to grab someone’s attention.

On the other hand… people are completely overwhelmed by the number of emails they get, so it’ll most likely be deleted before it ever has a chance.

But that’s my opinion.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Does your website FAIL to get the new customers you expected?

Okay… If you get serious, qualified, pre-sold prospects from your website, that’s great news! You’re light years ahead of most business owners.

But if you don’t, then Houston… you have a problem.

Look… All the traffic and visitors in the world will get you a total of ZERO customers if your website doesn’t convince them you can solve their problem and contact you.

Last time, I discussed 5 of the 10 website conversion “killers” that cause nobody to contact you after looking at your website.

So here are the other 5 big and common failures I see.
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Part 2:
10 Reasons your website doesn’t generate customers

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1. No eyeball-grabbing headline

If your website’s headline is “Welcome to my Website”, you can be virtually guaranteed nobody will read the rest of your content.

You need a main headline that quickly grabs your reader’s attention with a benefit or a question that raises curiosity.

There are many proven headline “formulas” Read the rest of this entry »

Why don’t people contact your business after finding your website?

Okay… it’s a loaded question.

There are actually many reasons you don’t get qualified prospects or new customers from your website.

So I boiled ‘em down into what I call 10 big website conversion “killers”.
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10 Reasons your website isn’t generating customers

1. Lack of purpose

Is your site’s primary purpose obvious to your reader?

Or does it try to accomplish too many things at once, confusing your readers?

Within 7 seconds or so, your readers expect to learn exactly what you do, how you can help them, and what the next step is. If they don’t, you’ll lose them.

2. Poor layout

Is your site’s layout and design simple and uncluttered so readers will keep reading?

Or is it “busy”, cluttered, and full of ads that will distract your reader?

You’ve probably heard the phrase “KISS”? (Keep it simple stupid)

It definitely applies to your website.

If it’s cluttered, then people’s eyes won’t know where to focus.

Read the rest of this entry »

A copywriting client fired me…

After a few weeks of working on a copywriting project for a client, I e-mailed him client to discuss the copy I’d written for his business.

Well… the reply I got wasn’t quite what I expected.

The phrases included “we’re terminating out agreement”, “impact of the message”, and “not acceptable to our corporate direction”.

On the bright side… it also included “appreciate your attempt and professionalism”.

Now of course, there are other parts of this story, but that that’s not my purpose here.

So… it made me feel…

Read the rest of this entry »

Hell yeah, you do!

I don’t know of a single business owner who doesn’t want to generate more leads and sales from their marketing.

So here’s one simple (and often overlooked) technique that you should use on every ad, sales letter, web page, email, and brochure you use.

Let me repeat it. Use this technique on EVERY marketing-related material your company produces – even your business card!

Or don’t use it – at your own peril… Up to you.

This mistake is one I see all the time, (actually… it’s something I don’t see), and it blows my mind because Read the rest of this entry »

Are you wasting money on advertising because you haven’t completely thought through the whole process, from target market to offer to call-to-action?

Put it this way… If you don’t make sure everything in your marketing process makes sense, you’ll simply flush your money right down the toilet.

Here’s a recent example:

A ValPak coupon for a small local sub shop (the keyword being small) offered different Read the rest of this entry »