When was the last time you went to a website and thought to yourself, “Wow, this copywriting is really fantastic! Look at all the bullet points!” Yeah, me neither. That’s because good copywriting is like the lighting guy at a concert: invisible, but essential for showcasing the main attraction (your information). Bad copywriting crashes the party by jumping in front of the information and hollering “Look at me! I’m making it harder for you to find what you want!” Writing effective online copy is all about identifying the party-crashers and escorting them from the premises so you can showcase the main attraction.
Party Crasher #1: Complicating the Message
In any given industry, you have jargon, technical terms, and insider idioms that you use when communicating with others in the business. If you bombard you website audience with these things, however, you’re making it harder for them to understand what you mean. So don’t make them get a realtor’s license in order to understand your real estate website. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Party Crasher #2: Grammar By the Book
I’m a firm believer in good grammar and spelling. However, with online writing you get to break a few rules—discreetly. It’s okay, and even desirable, to use sentence... Read more
Tagged 'James Trumbly' 
Affiliate Marketing: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Almost everyone who uses the internet has interacted with affiliate marketing in some way, though you might not have realized it. Affiliate marketing enables merchants to partner with a third party, or affiliate, to promote their products and services. It seems like a match made in heaven: the merchant gets free advertising, and the affiliate makes a commission on each sales. And in many ways, it isa perfect set-up. But before you jump in with both feet, make sure you’re making an informed decision.
The Good: A Beneficial Partnership
Both merchants and affiliates can reap huge benefits from an affiliate marketing program. Amazon, one of the largest affiliate marketers in the world, has more than a million affiliates happily making money from their ads. Let’s take a look at the pros for both parties:
Merchant Benefits: Free ad space, broader audience, greater brand exposure, and—did I mention?—free ad space. Merchants benefit from placing their ads on a wide variety of website types, reaching a much broader audience than they otherwise could—all for free (mostly—see below).
Affiliate Benefits: Cash, cash, and cash. Affiliates can make money at home, at work, on the golf course, or on the beach. Just by devoting a small square of their website... Read more
Mobile Marketing VS Email Marketing
Mobile marketing has received a lot of press lately, so much so that some short-sighted marketers have loftily proclaimed email marketing to be dead. But before you send flowers, stop and check the pulse of your email marketing campaign. It may be much more alive than you think.
Is Texting Messaging the New Email?
I’ll admit it. I don’t have a smartphone. I was the last of my friends to get a cell phone of any kind. And at the end of the day, I still prefer sitting down at my computer to texting. I realize I’m not the typical consumer (there are now more people using smart phones than basic cell phones and texting is the most popular use of phones of any kind), but think about it for a minute. If you don’t have a smart phone and you receive a text with a link or URL in it, how likely are you to go find a computer and type that URL in so you can shop? Not very. That means that for the 41% of people who still use basic cell phones, your marketing message was wasted.
Which One Is Better?
Although it’s a natural question, it’s really not the right one... Read more
Creating model clients with proactive education
"I can't believe she asked me that." "I spent three hours going over the details of the proposal with him, and then at the last minute he backed out!" "I thought she wanted us to install a new kitchen sink and now she wants an entire remodel. And she's upset every time I give her a new price estimate!" Sound familiar? These are just a few of the comments you might hear around the water cooler at any business—you may have said something like them yourself. I know I have. It’s par for the course when you’re dealing with people who don’t really understand what you do, but want to retain a measure of control over the process. The good news is that you can turn these type of customers into model clients by educating them ahead of time.
1. Blog about what you do.
Blogs not only increase your readership and build customer loyalty; they also give you a chance to showcase your industry knowledge. When customers gain a better understanding of what you do and how well you do it, they’re less likely to question you and more likely to accept your suggestions and price quotes. Blogs also enable you... Read more
