Dynamic Copywriting

Ask most business people if they would like for their web sites to achieve number one Google rankings on all the important keywords related to their business, and you will get two reactions:

THE FIRST GROUP will jump up and down excitedly and assure you that of course they want to improve their search engine rankings.

THE SECOND GROUP will give you a blank stare and ask what a Google ranking is, what a keyword is and (in some dire cases) say they are just waiting to see if this "Internet Thing" is a passing fad before they get involved.... (sigh)

Ok, so let's just focus on the first group, shall we?

A keyword, as I've said before, is something of a misnomer. The phrase leads one to think it is a single word. Actually it is the equivalent to a "Search Query" someone types on Google, Yahoo, MSN or some other search engine when they want to look something up.

Someday, if the person types in "Texas Web Copywriter," "Texas Search Engine Expert," Texas SEO Expert," "Texas SEO Writer" or "Texas Case Study Writer," hopefully they will find this site or some other article I've written online. In other words, these keywords are terms I have made an effort to link to my name.

Also notice that none of these keywords are single words. They are actually three or four words long. Longer search phrases or keywords are called "Long Tail Keywords" and "Long Tail Keywords" is one of the golden concepts in improving search engine optimization.

Why is that?

Well I'm glad you asked. The longer the phrase, the more specific it is. For the person typing this phrase into Google, it means she knows exactly what she wans to find. She didn't just type "copywriter," she knew she wanted someone located in Texas and she also wanted someone who could write web content.

If your site is selling merchandise, people who type in long, very specific keywords are more likely to buy from you if you offer what they are looking for. In fact thse people probably already have their credit cards out of their pockets before they get online.

on the other hand, the people who are just looking for a copywriter, and not an "SEO expert who writes web content" may or may not want to do business with me.

That is the searcher's side of long tail keywords. Now let's look at the web site owner's side of this.

The sites these people who look for very specific, long tail keywords will find are going to be those that have those exact long tail keywords mentioned in the site several times.

This is what I meant when I titled this article "Improving Search Engine Optimization." There are two ways to improve search engine rankings. The first way is to buy "pay per click" ads from Google or Yahoo. The second way is "organic search optimization." The "organic" part of this term refers to the fact the Google itself finds these sites based upon what it determines the site to be about.

But how does Google determine what a site is about? First it will look at the domain name of the site itself. Had I been smart(er) when I started this blog, I might have titled the domain "Texaswebcopywriter.com," "Texassearchengineexpert.com," Texasseoexpert.com," "Texasseowriter.com" or "Texascasestudywriter.com," or something else along those lines.

The next thing Google does is look at the titles of the the individual articles. Since this article is titled "Organic Search Engine Optimization," it will very likely get indexed as being about, you guessed it, "search engine optimization."

Now if you have been reading this site for a while, you know that this site covers a lot more ground than just SEO topics. Each article about each different topic will tell Google a little more about the theme of this site.

But this one article will also tell Google that search engine optimization is one of the topics it does cover.

To make a complex topic simple, let me sum up with this: the way to get higher rankings from Google is to identify the best keywords to concentrate on. Find out what search queries your ideal customers type into search engines in order to find what it is that you offer.

Then armed with these keywords, use them often (but be careful here because Google will penalize you if your over do this) throughout your site. Notice that I repeatedly used the keyword, "improving search engine optimization" throughout this article. I did so deliberately to illustrate the point.

But as I said before, don't go overboard. Use your keyword about 4 times out of every 100 words (or about a 4% keyword density).

Can you do this? I bet you can.

COPYRIGHT © 2009, Charles Brown
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The most glaring problem I see on the business (or charitable) websites I visit is the lack of a form, clearly visible on the home page, to encourage visitors to opt in to an email list. The owners of these sites, frankly, are failing to take advantage of one of the best assets for putting up a website at all.

When I give talks to business people, one of the caveats I preach over and over again is that the most important reason to even have a website is to build an email list of qualified, interested prospects who willingly volunteer to receive information from you.

It is NOT enough to put a lame comment like “For more information call 1-800-XXX-XXXX.” Folks, it is not going to happen. They are not going to initiate contact, you have to do it. So give your visitors incentives. Bribe them! Give them self-serving, “what's in it for me” reasons to fill out a little form on your home page that asks for their names and email addresses.

So here are ten, plus one, reasons why your site should have a clearly visible place for your visitors to opt in to receive informative emails from you:

1. An opt in form enables you to build a list of people who have an interest in what you offer. Direct marketers have long quoted the mantra, “the money is in the list” for good reason. A list of interested prospects or repeat customers is the most valuable asset any business can have.
   
2. An opt in list allows you to target people who have given you permission to market to them. Read Seth Godin's modern classic, “Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers” which introduced the worlds to the concept of getting prospects to opt onto your list by providing free information that solves problems specific to your target market or helps them achieve certain goals that are, again, unique to your targeted prospects.
   
3. The people on you opt in list have self-selected themselves as your target market. This means you will no longer have to use the shotgun approach of trying to advertise or send direct mail to huge numbers of people. Seth Godin calls this getting prospects to “raise their hands” and identify themselves as people have needs your product or service can address.
   
4. The people on your opt in list WANT to receive your messages. As long as you don't bombard them with sales messages and provide them with a lot of useful, helpful information, they will continue to look forward to your emails.
   
5. Since most autoresponders require the person to confirm their request before they receive your information, you avoid accusations of spamming them.
   
6. Speaking of autoresponders, they are a software program available for minimal cost that sends out your emails automatically. The visitor fills out your opt in form, next receives an email that asks them to click a link in order to confirm that they wanted to receive the information, and then they are sent a second email with the requested info. Then they will receive your pre-written emails with additional information at regular intervals. This means your entire marketing program can be put on autopilot by using opt in forms and an autoresponder.
   
7. Sending out emails to the people on your opt in list is free. In an age when advertising and other forms of marketing is simultaneously becoming more expensive and less productive, email marketing to people who have requested your information is a true bargain.
   
8. An opt in form allows you to have repeated contacts with people who would otherwise be one time visitors to your website. Let's face it, a website is like a screen door on a submarine. Most visitors come to your site for about a minute and then leave. Very few people will buy on their first visit to your website. But if you get their attention and give them and incentive to opt in to your list by offering them some very useful information, you can nudge them again and again (again let me repeat that this works best if you continually give them useful information along with your sales and marketing messages), until they buy.
   
9. Continuing this last thought, opt in marketing defeats the hazard of one-shot marketing. Most people will not decide to buy on their first exposure to an offer. They need repeated exposures to absorb all of the benefits you offer and to develop a belief that your claims are true.
   
10. Opt in marketing can position you and your company as experts if done right. Offering free information puts you in a whole different category of people who want their business. Both the initial piece that entices them to opt in, and the ongoing emails that give you additional opportunities to communicate your message to them, show them that you are capable of solving their problems or helping them achieve their goals.

BONUS REASON: Perhaps the best reason of all for having an opt in form on your website is that your list building efforts allow you to build a relationship with your prospects. Over time, you become a known and trusted source and advisor. Because you take time to educate the people on your list, your credibility climbs through the roof. And nothing in business can beat a relationship built on trust and credibility.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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Mike Santoro over at Duct Tape Marketing, has a neat article about a good marketing idea gone bad.

Apparently Delta bought some Google ads for the keyword “cheap train tickets.” Obviously Delta flies airplanes and is not in the train business, but give them credit for understanding that their competition is not just American Airlines or British Airways. They are competing against every carrier that provides transportation to passengers.

But, as Mike points out, clicking the link leads only to Delta's main home page. The visitors, who thought they had clicked an ad for cheap train tickets, find themselves on an airline's site. Huh? I have no doubt that 100% of these visitors either felt they were deceived or clicked away in confusion.

Mike's article goes on to say that if Delta had simply sent them to a page that offered comparisons of their air fares to train fares on certain routes, they may have converted a good number of these visitors. As it was, they no doubt wasted every penny they spent on these ads.

The lesson is that your home page is not the place to send every visitor. If you go to the trouble of getting links for certain types of visitors, such as through PPC (Pay Per Click) ads, think through what these people want, what they are looking for, and what information they are seeking.

AND give them what they want.

This all goes back to the idea of “Buyer Personas” again. Don't treat all your visitors as if they were all stamped out of the same mold. Every website offers different things to different types of visitors. The better you are at distinguishing the different needs and wants that drive these visitors, the better you will do at turning them into buyers.

This is especially true if you use PPC ads such as Google Adwords. Delta's visitors clicked links about cheap train fares. When they arrived at Delta's site, they had questions about cheap train fares and expected answers, which Delta failed to deliver.

Check out Mike's article at Delta Screws Up Smart Google Ad Buy. I think you will find it helpful.


COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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Recently as I've consulted with a number of business owners about writing content for their websites, I've once again been struck once again how difficult it is for most of them to come up with a “Unique Selling Proposition,” or USP, for their business.

A USP is an essential focused statement that tells a prospective customer or client why they would benefit from doing business with you. It is the “REASON WHY” buying they should buy your product or engaging your service.

What normally happens is business owners tell the world about themselves or their companies or their products. What we normally see is a “tell, tell” approach.

Look at magazine ads or Yellow Page ads for examples of what NOT to do. Most of these ads will not show you a real USP. You will see a lot of bragging or unsupported claims like, “we deliver excellence.”

I had an English teacher that referred to this kind of writing as “Solemn Vapors” because they use a lot of high sounding wording. Think of essays turned in by freshman English students and you will know what I mean.

So how do you write a succinct USP? How do you communicate what you do in a way that will persuade a potential customer to do business with you? Here are some ideas to help you create a powerful USP.

1. What CHANGES are your potential customers or clients seeking? How can help them bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to be? Most people buy to bring about some sort of change. This change can be to make their lives easier or more comfortable. To give them more status or pleasure, or it can be to make their work easier or faster.
   
   The point is that if you focus on changes, you get your eyes off yourself, your company and your product. You stop talking about things like how long you've been in business or how respected you are in the community.



2. Make sure you discuss these changes with specifics. Don't use change substitute words like “Results” or “Difference.” Make a clear distinction between the “Before” situation your prospects live in now, and the “After” situation they want to be in.



3. Focus on problems. Most really good USPs are about solving, avoiding or escaping a problem situation. Even the classic M & M candy commercial talked about candy that melted in your mouth not in your hands. That slogan was a great USP that dealt with a problem every parent has encountered, chocolate covered hands on a little toddler.
   
   If you can solve a business problem, help someone get out of debt, make more money, help a teenager get rid of acne, save a marriage, or solve any other kind of problem, you can turn this problem – solution scenario into a great USP.



4. Brag about quality. Ok this is the really dangerous one. Most claims of quality are empty and vague. But if you can do more than make a generalized claim of excellence and give specifics about how you achieve this quality, you can use quality as your USP. For example, if you use only the very best materials to make your products, or you have instituted a quality control process that is unique in your industry, these might be worth bragging about. If you put your service people through twice as much training as your competitors, or if you are the owner of an auto repair shop who actually telephones each and every customer after a visit to make sure they were satisfied with the service they received, you can brag about these things as well.
   
   Make sure any claim to quality can be backed up with specifics.

A good USP will stand out in the market place and will give your customers a reason to seek you out and buy from you.COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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I just read a really interesting article by Robert Stover on his blog, Breakthrough Copywriting Ideas, called “The Antidote to 'Howler Monkey' Copy – The Ethos Effect.

“Howler Monkey” means copy that shouts or is full of hype. It sounds phoney or contrived. And it puts a reader's guard up because it lacks believability .. and yet you can't help but trip over examples of over-hyped websites and sales material all over the web.

But the question for most of us who make our livings marketing on the web is how to be persuasive without resorting to extravagant claims.

To answer this, Stover refers us to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who wrote about persuasion in his work “Rhetoric.” Aristotle said there are three tools used by great persuaders.

The first is “Pathos” from which we get our word, “passion.” Pathos refers to emotion. It excites either the fear of pain or loss, or it promises pleasure or gain. Pathos is key to any persuasive copy and is always the core of any sales material worth its salt.

But the danger with Pathos is it can be overdone, resulting in hype. Once that line is crossed, your credibility is gone and cannot be regained.

The second tool is “Logos” from which we get our word, “Logic.”

Logic is never as persuasive as emotion, but in most cases it must be included in good copy. It seldom persuades, but it is always conspicuous if it is absent.

Finally, Aristotle gives us the tool of “Ethos.”

Ethos is character and credibility. Stover points out that your family doctor usually has high ethos, whereas a used car salesman stereotypically has very low ethos. Unfortunately, ethos is often left out of online copy and websites suffer when this important element is missing.

Stover describes two keys to ethos: The first key is when the seller has expertise. The second is when you perceive that the seller has your best interest at heart.

To illustrate these two keys, he gives two examples of financial counselors. One is your brother who has just started a job as a financial advisor. You would probably trust your brother to have your best interests at heart, but you might not consider him to have much in the way of credibility.

On the other hand, you might know of a millionaire stock broker who obviously knows investments and is an expert in his field, but you may not trust him to put your interests above his own.

I don't want to give away everything in Robert Stover's article, so I encourage you to check out “The Antidote to 'Howler Monkey' Copy – The Ethos Effect to read more about the power of Ethos and how to establish it on your own website or marketing materials.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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I just read an article by Erica Stritch in Rain Today that 69% of buyers who are considering hiring a professional services firm will visit a company's web site before making a decision to do business.

This statistic just adds one more compelling reason to make sure your web site delivers the kind of content that will engage and persuade your visitors.

The days of just slapping up a brochure on the web or filling your site with empty "mission statement" language are over (if they ever exited). Whether you are a professional services firm or not, the point is that you cannot afford to make your web site an afterthought.

How can you make your site engaging and persuasive? Here are a few ideas"

• Pay attention to the search terms people typed into a search engine that led visitors to your site. This is a great clue to tell you what people are looking for and what questions they want answered. Make sure your site delivers this information.
  
• Build your site around what your visitors want to know, what problems they want to solve or what questions they want answered - rather than what you want to sell. Check out my article You're Really Just Selling Aspirin for more on how to do this.
  
• Make sure the home page offers visitors clear choices to click based on those questions they want answered or problems they want to solve that I mentioned above. It is fine to have product or services choices for those who have already visited your site or who are ready to buy, but most people want information first.
  
• Do I have to mention benefits? Of course I do because 90% of web sites I visit are written by people who wouldn't know a benefit if it bit them on the nose. If you have trouble distinguishing between features and benefits, substitute "solutions," "answers" or "changes" for the word "benefit."
  
• Use your site as a lead generation machine. Give visitors a reason a REASON to give you their email address. Offer something valuable and free (usually some information product words best). Most people will not return to your site unless you contact them later with more of the information they sought in the first place.
  
• What you say in your meta tags does matter. True it has little impact on getting search engine traffic, but it is also what people see when your site comes up in their search results. This will go a long way toward getting them to click onto your site. BUT it also tells them what to expect when they arrive, so don't le them down.
  
• Include case studies. The actual success stories of your existing customers will not only give people confidence about doing business with you, it will help them understand what you do and what problems you can solve.

None of us can take for granted the importance of our web sites. When over two-thirds of our potential clients check us out online as part of their decision-making process, no business can afford to gamble with a bad impression.


COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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What is the difference between writing web content and web copywriting?

There are two very different styles of writing that you may find on a web site. "Web content" refers to the purely informative text that you may read.

"Web copywriting," on the other hand, refers to the purely persuasive writing that is designed to get a reader to take action (usually to buy something, but sometimes to opt onto a list or subscribe to a newsletter, join a membership or schedule an appointment).

And as with just about everything else in life, there are gray areas between the two. Sometimes they will overlap and often you will see elements of both styles on a single web site.

Let's start by imagining why someone has come to your web site.

Chances are they did not come to be sold something. Except for entertainment and adult sites, most visitors go online to find out information (and since I don't deal with those two exceptions, I'll just talk about the information seekers here).

So we can safely assume that this person who is visiting your site has come to get answers to questions and/or solutions to problems. All of this means that you are a provider of information.

If you provide good information (ie content) to this visitor, you may later have the opportunity to persuade him or her to buy from you (via persuasive copywriting).

The reason for this is that providing good information is persuasive all by itself. Whey you answer questions and educate your visitor, that person will perceive you as an expert and a knowledgeable source. You also build up credibility and trust, which removes many of the objections and doubts a potential buyer might have about you.

On the other hand, some sites do very well with pure copywriting. For examples of this, visit Clickbank.com. Clickbank is a directory of digital products that refers you to one-page web sites that look and feel just like direct mail pieces.

Some of these pages are very well-written examples of pure web copywriting. They promote a single product and give you every reason in the world to buy it. These sites are not about providing information (although they often give you just enough information to arouse your curiosity), they are about selling a product.

And I would argue that there is nothing wrong with this. Many bigger companies that offer a variety of products or services might do well to have such sales pages (that look and feel a little like direct mail pieces) within their sites. After the site has provided lots of content and information, additional links can send visitors to a variety of sales pages to get visitors to take action.

A key to writing for a web site is to mix these two styles together. As you provide informative content, don't make it difficult for the person who suddenly decides to buy. Make sure your "Buy Now" links are clearly visible and have tabs that can lead them to other parts of your site without going back to the home page.

Within a single article you can write informative content and also give your visitors REASONS to take action or buy. You can paint pictures of a better tomorrow if they use your product, you can proactively answer objections and you can begin building agreement that certain solutions are the answers to their problems.

Writing web content and web copywriting are both arts and sciences. But they both begin with understanding who your visitors are and what they want.


COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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Just today I wrote an email to a potential client who wants to improve her organization's web site. I wrote her that some of the best "patterns" for great home pages are the covers of popular magazines. (Actually web site owners would do well to pattern their entire sites after really popular magazines, but I am only talking about the home page here).

You may laugh, but pick up a copy of Cosmo the next time you are going through your grocery store checkout line. The teaser headlines for the articles inside do two things:

1. They arouse intense curiosity, and
   
2. The curiosity the headlines arouse hits readers' "What's-In-It-For-Me" buttons.

Most web sites have a variety of different types of visitors with different needs, questions and wants. Your home page, therefore, should provide links that appeal to each of these needs, questions and wants that lead visitors down pathways which ultimately lead them to take action.

The actions are up to you. They can be to subscribe to a newsletter, opt in to an autoresponder list, request free information, contact your company, or buy right now.

Between the home page link and the desired action is a pathway that I refer to as a "trail of breadcrumbs." Each crumb is a reward to the visitor for staying with you this far. Generally these rewards are problem-solving information, case studies or other interesting and informative content.

Pull out all the stops when developing content for your visitors. David Meerman Scott refers to this as "thinking like a publisher." To go back to the magazine article analogy, if you really know who your visitors are, and what their needs, questions and wants are, you can then produce all kinds of content that appeals to these people.

One of the biggest mistakes though is to limit your content to only things related to what you sell.

Begin at the other end of the transaction. Begin with the people who come to your site, instead of what you want to sell to them.

A great example of this is a public speaker named J.P. Maroney, who was interviewed by Ben Settle at How To Super-Charge Your Marketing With Public Speaking.

When Maroney first started public speaking, he owned a publication that targeted retirees. How he went about selling advertising for this publication is very instructive for any of us developing good web content.

He went to local organizations speaking on the topic of doing business with the senior market. He did not talk about advertising to seniors, but gave business people insights and information about seniors and how to sell to them. What their needs were, how they made their buying decisions, how to build up trust, etc.

At the end of almost every presentation, he had people come up to him to advertise in his publication.

This is the kind of content marketers need to produce more of. We've all seen articles by insurance salespeople about how to select the right car insurance. Such content comes off as self-serving and really only appeals to the person who is actively looking to buy car insurance right now.

But what if the same agent wrote about:

• auto safety,
  
• how to select car seats for small children,
  
• safety tips for driving in bad weather,
  
• what to put into an auto emergency kit,
  
• how women can protect themselves from predators if their car breaks down at night,
• how to check tires for dangerous wear,
  
• how to safely change a tire,
  
• a comparison of the best auto clubs,
  
• frequently asked questions about auto insurance,
  
• how to make sure your teenage driver is safe,
  
• AND how to select the right auto insurance

This agent has written about concerns that affect her potential customers, not just thinly disguised sales information.

In addition, this agent's web site will be a RESOURCE that her target audience will come back to because she produced content that was (cliché alert) outside the box.

So go back to your home page and look at it as the beginning of a trail of breadcrumbs. Lead your visitors down these pathways toward actions by providing them with content that appeals to their needs, questions and wants.


COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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Visit most web sites and you get a product or service pushed down your throat right from the beginning. These companies think that if they tell you what products they sell or what services they offer, you will pick one and everyone will live happily ever after.

I disagree.

I have been writing a bit lately about David Meerman Scott's idea of creating (or discovering might be a better word to use here) the "buyer personas" of people who might potentially use your product or service. I believe the best web sites begin with the visitor's problem or want and leads them to the product or service that solves that problem or want.

A web site should be like a doctor's appointment. The doctor asks questions, listens to your complaint, runs a few tests, makes a diagnosis and them prescribes a pill.

Now I don't know about you, but if I came into a doctor's office and I was handed a prescription before the doctor ran those tests and asked those questions, I would turn around and leave. Wouldn't you?

But that is exactly what most (dare I say 99.99999% or them?) web sites do. One-size-fits-all solutions are handed out or the visitor is expected to diagnose herself immediately upon landing on the home page.

Here's a better way:

1. The visitor does a search on Google, Yahoo or some other search engine.
   
   
2. Based upon whatever search term this person typed into the search engine, he or she is given several choices, one of which (your site) seems to fit what this person is looking for and this site gets clicked.
   
   
3. Upon arriving, the visitor is not confronted with a lot of product or service information (although tabs are displayed for those who already know what they want or who have visited this site before). Nor is this person faced with a lot of self-serving puffery about the company. Instead, a diagnostic menu is prominently displayed to help the visitor self-select him or herself as one of your company's buyer personas. (For an example, see Kadient.com, which displays a menu under the heading "What Are Your Objectives?).
   
   
4. Once this visitor makes this initial choice, they are led down a pathway that provides lots of problem-solving information designed for this particular buyer persona.
   
   
5. The visitor continues down this pathway, gathering information, reading case studies and persuasive content that leads to the sale of the appropriate product or service.
   

Consider how different this is from most sites you visit.

Think about this, when that doctor hands you a prescription after asking all kinds of diagnostic question and running a number of tests on you, does she have to "sell" you on that medicine? Does your doctor have to persuade you in any way to follow her advice after she has spent a lot of effort analyzing your illness?

Of course not. When a credible diagnostic process precedes a product or service recommendation, there is much less resistance to the solution that is offered in the end.

Do you know of any sites that follow this diagnostic-first approach? I am writing a new book on writing better web content and I am looking for good examples of sites that begin with a buyer personal menu.

Please let me know of any suggestions you may have.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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The New Rules of Marketing & PR
With my apologies, this article is a couple of weeks over due, but I have been busy with several other writing projects.

I had promised a second part to my review of David Meerman Scott's wonderful book, "The New Rules of Marketing & PR."

If you recall from part one, Mr. Scott experienced an all-too-typical example of the wrong way to market when he went online to gather information about buying a new car. All three of the big US automakers' web sites began with the assumption that he was ready to buy now when he was still at the information-gathering stage.

He was assaulted with TV-style broadcast advertising with one-way messages focused on price.

Compare this approach to what he calls the new rules and how you and I as marketers can implement them.

The first step Mr. Scott suggests is to create "Buyer Personas" for your target demographics. In other words, break each visitor to your web site, each person who may eventually buy your product, into distinct groups based upon what each group of people want and need and what information they seek, regardless of whether this information will lead them directly to make a decision to buy.

For example, political campaigns have long targeted groups they call "Soccer Moms" and "NASCAR Dads." By singling these groups out from the electorate, they can identify what concerns these groups and what they will base their votes upon. Also by giving these "Buyer Personas" names, they make them real to the marketers involved in the campaign (and let us not for a moment think that a political campaign is not a marketing effort).

Suppose the car companies had done this when they had built their web sites. They would have realized that not every visitor was in a "buy now" mode. They would have realized there were many who wanted to simply gather information, get user generated feedback, check out safety, reliability and fuel economy information. They also could have treated different visitors as having distinct wants and needs.

Instead, they thought of all their visitors as a single entity. Don't you think that NASCAR Dads and Soccer Moms would have different motivations they could have appealed to?

Once you have create profiles for all the distinct "Buyer Personas" that have an interest in your web site or your company, Mr. Scott lays out one of the main themes of his book: "Think Like a Publisher."

Thinking like a publisher means to create content and information that would be of benefit to these Buyer Personas. This does not mean product information or sales content, but to simply understand what information could benefit these groups.

For example, what content can you create that would solve problems for your identified Buyer Personas without mentioning your company or products or services?

Some examples Scott uses is an automobile tire company that could produce an ebook or video on how to drive safely over snow and then offer it free on your web site, on YouTube or to give it free to auto clubs or drivers' education schools.

Another example could be a catering company that could produce content on how to plan a wedding reception or a dinner party.

Notice that all of these address problems for certain identifiable groups of buyers without being overt sales pitches. Having said this, however, this kind of non-selling can often be the most powerful selling tool you can create because it positions you as an expert (an unselfish expert) in your field.

Another very interesting example he cites is a company called The Concrete Network. A "brick and mortar company if ever there was one, the Concrete Network diligently produces how to information, problem solving information and media releases that address the needs of both their b2b and b2c (sorry, "business to business" and "business to consumers") buyer personas.

These include buyer guides on all sorts of home improvement projects and a Find-A-Contractor service that links homeowners to builders on 22 different specialties in 192 metropolitan areas in the U.S. or Canada.

Does this content always lead directly to a buying decision? No, but they do imply a generosity of spirit in these companies.

Several years ago, during the late 90s dot.com meltdown, I volunteered to do career counseling for a group of downsized managers and executives. One of the first things I had my classes do was to think of themselves of solutions to specific problems.

One by one, these folks all "got it" and it transformed their thinking from being job seekers to people who were very, very good at solving particular problems for organizations. Once this occurred, their whole approach to the job market was transformed. They were not job applicants, they were solutions to a big problem.

I think Mr. Scott is talking about the same thing here. When you begin to "Think Like A Publisher," you start producing problem-solving information for targeted groups of potential customers.

Be sure to pick up The New Rules of Marketing & PR. You will be very glad you did.



COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown




The New Rules of Marketing & PR

The New Rules of Marketing & PR


I've never written a multi-part book review, but I already know that no review of David Meerman Scott's The New Rules of Marketing & PR could do it justice in a single article.

I've only read four chapters so far and nearly every page has sections highlighted, Post It notes attached or my own additional comments written in the margins. I keep finding myself putting the book down just to think about what Scott is telling me.

In other words, The New Rules of Marketing & PR is such a wealth of information that I am going to give you my reviews on the installment plan as I go along.

So strap yourself in and let's get started.

Let's begin with Scott's experience back in 2006 when he wanted to buy a new car. Like most of us these days, he went online to gather information first.

His first stops were the big three U.S. automakers' websites. "At all three," he said, "I was assaulted on the home page with a barrage of TV-style broadcast advertising. And all the one-way messages focused on price."

"All three of these sites assume that I'm ready to buy a car now. But I actually just wanted to learn something."

Lest we all snicker at how automakers just don't get it, we should recognize that this is the approach most companies are taking with the web. They are simply trying to adapt the old advertising, marketing and PR campaigns to a new media. It's laziness really, rather than learn new strategies, they (meaning most businesses) simply want to slap on the tried and true ways of yesteryear's marketing to the internet without learning the new rules.

The first new rule, according to one of my own aforementioned comments in the margins, is that people search the web for information, not canned commercial messages.

Scott goes on to say:

At each site, I felt as if I was being marketed to with a string of messages that had been developed in a lab or via focus groups...If I had wanted to see TV car ads, I would have flipped on the TV....They were luring me in with one-way messages, not educating me about the companies' products. Guess what? When I arrive at a site, you don't need to grab my attention; you already have it.

Contrast this with the experience Scott had when he found places like Edmund's Car Space, a free consumer-driven social networking site. Here he found photo albums posted by owners of various makes and models, user groups categorized again by makes and models, favorite links of the car owners. He even found over 2,000 messages by owners just on the Toyota FJ Cruiser.

This is the kind of site a person who wants information will seek out, not a site that simply throws advertisements at us. I've said it before, but most sites I look at still remind me of a brochure or some company's Yellow Page ad.

What is so exceptional about The New Rules of Marketing & PR is that Scott provides a roadmap that anyone can use. Whether you are a big company or a mom and pop. A non profit, an artist, a major corporation, a rock band or a church or a politician.

As I confessed earlier, I am just getting the tip of the iceberg so far. But the sweep Scott gives in this book is very impressive. He discusses blogs, podcasts, forums and wikis, viral buzz, YouTube, content-rich web sites (music to my ears), online PR campaigns, thought leadership, SEO press releases, social networking and much more.

In short, The New Rules of Marketing & PR is a college course on how to use the web's new tools to get your message out.

As I said before, I cannot possibly fit this book review in one single article. I plan to make this a series. It is by far the best book on web marketing and PR I've read in a long time. So see you next time.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown
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Hopefully your website is doing just fine and you are getting search engine traffic because you have followed the rules for SEO copywriting, and your website content is written to sell. But if both of these conditions are not true, read on.

I recently posted a test ad on Craigslist.org with the same headline as this article, "Why Isn't Your Website Making Money?" and was flooded with calls.

Obviously I hit a nerve here because a lot of companies, both large and small, are just not getting the revenue from their sites that they want, expect and need.

When I look at these sites, I see two distinct problems:

1. First, the sites are simply not written to attract search engine traffic. There is either no concerted effort to target specific keywords over and over again so that search engines will determine a specific "theme" to your site and send relevant traffic your way.
   
   Or, the keywords targeted are too competitive and you will never rise to the first pages of Google or Yahoo's search results.
   
   Let's say, for example, you have a travel site. If you are simply targeting the keywords, "travel," or "vacations," your chances of rising to the top of the search engines are somewhere between slim and none.
   
   But if you target keywords like, "honeymoon adventure travel," or "family adventure vacations," your competition is much less and you will find your rise up the search engines will be much faster.
   
   But how do you use these keywords in your website's content? The rule of thumb is to use them enough but not too much. You definitely want to use your main keywords in your website's title and in the URL (for example, if your site's name is "Honeymoon Adventure Travel Ideas," the URL should be http://honeymoonadventuretravel.com).
   
   The next point of SEO writing is to sprinkle the main keywords throughout your text. As I mentioned in a recent article called, Dynamic Copywriting: Writing for Search Engine Traffic, the ideal is to write your keywords about 4 to 6 times per 100 words. Less than this and you won't get noticed, more and Google at least may regard your site as a spam site.
   
   
2. You must write website content that sells. I recently wrote another article called, Dynamic Copywriting: My Formula For Writing Money-Making Website Content, in which I gave a list of ideas for making websites more profitable.
   
   But they key for a profitable website is to write content that is informative and valuable to the visitor. Literally you want to make your site a resource for people who are potential buyers of what you sell.
   
   The mistake many website owners make is to write content that is little different from their company brochures or Yellow Page ads. The web is simply a different medium altogether.
   
   The second reason people use the internet (after pornography) is to find information. But most websites fail to deliver written content that meets this purpose. And a site that fails on this level will not be bookmarked and not be returned to. And more importantly, it will not collect leads or make sales.
   
   If you remember nothing else from this article, remember this: "Writing website content that delivers problem-solving information will make sales for your company."

Of course there is a balance between SEO writing and writing website content that makes money. Basically it requires writing for two different audiences, machines and humans.

The search engines want writing that can help them identify what your site is all about and whether your keywords are relevant to its theme.

On the other hand, humans will be quickly distracted by writing that seems to plug in keywords randomly or in a way that makes the content seem disjointed.

The point is that SEO writing gets visitors to your site, but good website content writing gets those visitors to take action.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

I've written before that one of the key components of writing website content that makes sales and attracts new clients, is to use your website as a platform to build your email subscriber list.

Frankly, a website that does not generate leads is a waste of internet real estate and certainly a waste of the company's time and money.

Along those lines, I want to direct your attention to a great article on http://marketingprofs.com called Four Ways To Build Your Email File Organically: It Is So Worth The Wait by Kimberly Snyder

The really great thing about Snyder's advice is that it will not be difficult or expensive to implement. Just a few tweaks to your website and you should really see a big improvement in number of email opt ins you receive.

Writing website content is an ongoing process. You learn new ideas and you put them into practice and then test the results. Snyder's four ideas are no different. But I think you will see the results very quickly.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

Most websites exist to sell something. Whether it is to sell a product, a service, or to raise support for a non-profit organization, most websites must make money to justify their existence.

But the reality is that most websites fail on this very basic level. I have observed way too many sites that are little more than an electronic version of a company's brochure or Yellow Page ad.

The problem, in my view, is a failure to write website content that sells. My elevator speech for prospective clients is that "I write the words on websites that turn casual visitors into customers."

That statement puts the spotlight not on a website's graphics or design, but on the "words" that make up its content. And "words that sell," I believe, is what separates websites that make money from those that don't.

To write website content that sells, I have developed the following format that I use when writing content for my own clients:

• Adopt the style of a successful magazine. The magazine industry is one group that really understands their customers. They conduct massive amounts of research on who their readers are, what they want to learn about, what they like and dislike, what products they buy, what problems they face, and on and on.
  
  Then they present the information their readers want in a format that is highly readable and interesting.
  
  They use both stories and useful, problem-solving information.
  
  Think about how often you or someone you know has clipped out an article from a magazine and passed it along or just kept it for their own use. Maybe it was an interesting story, maybe it was a "how to" problem-solving list article, or maybe it was a warning of a potential problem you had little previous knowledge of.
  
  If you begin writing your website content with a magazine format in mind, you will be able to develop the same loyal readership a successful periodical has.
  
  
• At the risk of repeating what has already been mentioned, know your ideal customers or clients, and the problems they face. Write several case studies about real clients you helped to solve these problems for. Write separate case studies for separate problems so visitors can identify with the problems they themselves are facing.
  
  
• Write your own story. If you are a sole practitioner, write about how you got into your business and what challenges you overcame. If you are a bigger business, write briefly about your history, your company culture and what your organization's driving passion is. People do business with people they know and like, so help them to know and like you.
  
  
• Write a "Difference Page." Why are you different from your competitors and why should someone choose to do business with you instead of the other guy. Don't use lame platitudes like, "We have 20 years experience," or unsubstantiated boasts like, "We deliver excellence."
  
  Develop a real positioning statement with meaningful benefits. This is also the place to write about your "Unique Selling Proposition" or USP. (See USPs: 10 Steps to Writing a Powerful Unique Selling Proposition for ideas on how to write compelling USPs).
  
  
• Include a Direct Response piece. One of the most important jobs of your website is to capture leads for follow up. Offer something for free (more problem-solving information, possibly a white paper or a report) that will induce visitors to leave their email addresses with you in order to receive your free offer.
  
  
• Develop a follow up system. This does not mean you hand your leads over to a sales staff right away. Use an autoresponder to "drip" on these leads by offering them a continuing stream of more free, non self-serving information that is of value to your readers.
  
  Only about 10% of your prospects are in a "buy now" mode, the rest are potential customers for some time in the future. By sending them regular emails via an autoresponder, you will position yourself as the number one provider of your product or service in their minds.
  
  
• Give visitors a call to action. Make that lots of calls to action. Give your visitors frequent opportunities to opt do something, anything, to advance the sale.
  
  You can provide several opt in forms for your lead list, or you can mention reasons to call you for a consultation (followed by an immediate placement of your telephone number so they won't have to look too hard to find it).
  
  If you sell products, strategically place shopping cart forms in several places on your site. You can also have buttons that enable visitors to email articles to other people so you can expand your network of visitors.
  
  
• Sprinkle testimonials and quotes from your customers throughout your site. Place them in sidebars on every page that is feasible to do so. When possible, even include a photograph of the customer who made the testimonial.
  
  
• Post a Frequently Asked Questions page. FAQs are often the first place a visitor will turn to when they encounter a new site. Gather both real questions you have been asked and also include questions you know people should be asking but lack the knowledge to think of.
  
  
• Links to useful information. Use this option sparingly as you don't want to give visitors too many ways to leave your site, but you still want your website to be a resource to your target audience. Sometimes you can gather articles from other sources and reprint them entirely on your site (a good place to find such articles is www.ezinearticles.com).
  
  
• Tutorials and Checklists. Depending on what business you are in, it may sometimes be helpful to provide step by step instruction about the process involved with buying your particular product or service.
  
  
• Product descriptions. Finally, you need to include the one thing that dominates most other websites, your list of products or services. Most of your competitors' websites will be all about their product offerings and little else.
  
  But because you have taken great pains to educate your visitors and provide a resource full of case studies and valuable information, your product list will not be as off putting as if you just tried to cram them down visitors' throats.

Every website, of course, is different. What works for one company will not work for others, which means my "formula" is not a one size fits all solution. But I have found that this format produces some very effective websites for those clients who want a site that attracts visitors who will return again and again.

Such a site builds brand loyalty and positions you as experts in your field.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

Let's face the facts. Even if the president doesn't want to use the "R" word, we are already well into a tough economy. That means it is going to be harder for professionals like doctors, lawyers, consultants, accountants and others to attract new clients or get more business from their existing clients.

However there are a few steps professionals can take to still get business coming in the door, regardless of the economy:

1. Create "bait" information pieces like white papers, tip sheets or other booklets that provide valuable, free information for prospective clients.
   
   These bait pieces are soft sell devices like, "8 Ways to Save on Property Taxes," "5 Ways to Avoid Getting Sued," or "How to Keep Your Children Well This Winter."
   
   But a hard sell piece like, "10 Reasons Goode, Hailey and Knight Should Be Your Accounting Firm" is not a good bait piece.
   
   
2. Turn every advertisement into a direct response ad – even Yellow Page or directory ads.
   
   There are two types of advertisements, "awareness" ads and "direct response" ads. Awareness ads just tell prospects that you exist and if they have nothing better to do with their time, to give you a call.
   
   Direct response ads entice readers to take action, such as to call your office or visit your website in order to get your white paper or tip sheet. When you advertise this way, you can actually measure how effective the ad is and make changes along the way.
   
   
3. Build a list. When people respond to your direct respond ads, collect these "opt in" leads to build a list. This concept is called "Permission Marketing" (based on the book by that name written by Seth Godin). This list of people who have requested your free information may become your most valuable resource, so take good care of it.
   
   
4. Make your website a resource for people who are prospective and existing clients. Don't be afraid to give away free information, but create more white papers, tip sheets, checklists, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and case studies about some of your clients success stories.
   
   It may sound counter intuitive to give away free information, but you will find that it pays dividends. It gives visitors a reason to keep coming back to your site and it establishes your credibility as an expert in your field.
   

For those of us who sell our services and knowledge, a tough economy is a time to roll up our sleeves and work smarter. But if you do work smarter, use direct response advertising, build a list and create a website that your prospects view as a resource, you will be rewarded while your competitors tread water.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

Combining the skills of a website content writer and an SEO writer

Almost all websites need search engine traffic, but few web content copywriters know how to combine SEO ("Search Engine Optimization") techniques with writing persuasively for humans. In other words, there is a special skill for writing for search engine traffic.

First think about what is at stake. Your site can be full of really useful and well-written content, but if people cannot find your site, they will never buy what you are selling.

The key is you have to write for both humans and search engines like Google, Yahoo, Lycos, Ask.com or any of the other billion or so search engines out there.

I know this sounds like a difficult balancing act, but it can be done. Here's how:

• Know the keywords you want to target. A "keyword" is something of a misnomer because they are often more than a single word. A helpful way to think about keywords is to equate them with "search phrases" that a person might ype into Google in order to find the kind of information you have on your site.
  
  I'll give you an example. The other day I did a Google search for, "how to get coffee stains out of carpet" (big stain - white carpet - I'll spare you the details). As a result of this search, I found several sites but the results on the first page all had content that used the phrase, "how to get coffee stains out of carpet" verbatum.
  
  So just remember, if you can identify the exact or closely related terms a searcher will type into a search engine to find information about your topic, put those terms in your site's content.
  
  
• Longer search phrases, if they contain over four words other than null words like "and, the, or," etc. are called "long tail keywords."
  
  Long tail keywords are your SEO bread and butter, because these searchers are looking for highly targeted information AND these searchers have been shown to be more highly motivated to buy now.
  
  
• Put your best keywords in your site's title and url if you are targeting this narrow niche and just building the site now. If it is an existing site or if this keyword only pertains to a subtopic, use the keywords on the title to this section.
  
  
• Use your keywords throughout your text. Optimally, use them 4 to 5 times per 100 words. Don't go overboard because search engines (especially Google) will penalize you and demote your ranking. The reason is because to a search engine robot, too many keywords looks like a spam site.

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

Why is it that some websites and blogs make money and others don't?

I think the key reason is unprofitable site owners do not have a clear focus on what the purpose of their site or blog is.

There are basically two types of websites or blogs:

1. A "Branding" Site, is a site that is designed to build your credibility or your "brand."
   
   For someone like myself, who uses this site to build a reputation as a freelance copywriter, a branding site is designed to establish oneself as an expert in a certain field.
   
   The same concept is true for any independant business person, whether you are a lawyer, doctor, consultant, home builder, realtor, etc. Your goal is to establish yourself as an expert in your field.
   
   But for an organization, the purpose of your site is still to build a brand, increase credibility and demonstrate that your firm is an authority in whatever service you offer.
   
   Think about how many sites you see that make empty boasts about how such and such firm is "the best" at whatever they do. Do such ads impart credibility to you?
   
   Probably not, but when you see a site that offers informative articles, free white papers or reports on how to solve a problem that concerns you, do you have any doubts about that company's credibility? In most cases you will find this company highly credible.
   
   In either case, whether you are an individual business person or a company, a branding site must build repeat visitors who keep coming back because you offer valuable information, keep them abreast of new trends, or post "how to" articles that solve certain problems.
   
   Another distinguishing trait of a branding site is that it seeks to generate money from offline business. If you'll pardon me for using this site as an example again, it exists solely to attract clients who want me to write web content, case studies, white papers and other copywriting materials for them.
   
   So the way I do that is to write about things I think will be helpful to my potential clients. Sometimes I may miss the mark, but I always try to think of what problems these businesses want to solve and what information they need.
   
   And over time, based on the feedback you readers give me, I have created a site that is a valuable resource to businesses that need to turn their website visitors into customers, or want to use white papers and case studies to attract more business.
   
   To sum up, a branding site is built upon the principle that them more free, valuable information you give away, the more you will attract new business.
   
   
2. A Traffic Site, on the other hand, makes money by making sales or hosting advertisements online. This site is nothing less than an "online saleperson."
   
   As a result, traffic sites are less dependant upon repeat visitors and more dependant on search engine traffic.
   
   A traffic site usually lives and breathes on ranking high on Google, Yahoo and other search engines for prospective customers to find it. Few traffic sites are designed to attract clients to offline businesses, but instead their purpose is to generate online sales and orders, or get visitors to click on ad links.

Are these two types of websites mutually exclusive? Hardly. A branding site needs to use all the search engine optimization techniques it can in order to rank higher when potential clients do a Google search. Moreover, many branding sites make additional sales by selling products like books or white papers on their sites.

By the same token, traffic sites often provide valuable, problem-solving information to enhance the company's credibility and reputation and to give visitors reasons to return again and again.

But the key here is focus. One of my biggest errors with this site when I first started out was a failure to focus on branding myself. I once had Adsense ads on this site, which only resulted in visitors clicking away to go off to see what someone else had to offer.

One of the best ways I know to prevent a muddled focus is to think about what you want a visitor to do once they arrive on your site.

If you want them to order a product, find ways to display those products with attractive photographs and descriptions of each item.

If you want them to click on your Adsense ads, make sure your site is optimized so the search engines have a clear "understanding" of what type of visitors to send your way. That way the search terms these people typed into Google match the type of ads displayed on your site.

On the other hand, if you want to establish yourself as an authority in your field and get visitors to hire you for offline work, make sure your articles are really informative and give them a reason to keep coming back.

Again, these two types of websites and blogs are not mutually exclusive, but you will find they produce much more business for you if you maintain your primary focus. To use the baseball expression, "It's all a matter of keeping your eye on the ball."

COPYRIGHT © 2008, Charles Brown

freelance copywriter, ghost writer, web content writer, white papers

Website Copywriting Designed To Focus on the Sale

I just read an interesting article by Todd Follansbee in Web Marketing Today. Todd is a website "Usability and Conversion Expert" who has conducted extensive research on what makes people buy when they visit a website.

Based on his research, he recommends that instead of following the traditional, "put up the home page and add other elements later" model, companies would do far better to design their websites backwards.

10 Point Site Design For Higher Marketing Results

Here are Follansbee's 10 points for designing websites backwards. You will see how this approach offers a much better chance of delivering higher sales than the traditional metiod:

1. Interview clients to find out what they want and need.
   
2. Brainstorm a list of everything a client would want to know in order to feel comfortable making a purchase.
   
3. Organize this information into logical groupings.
   
4. Visualize visitors buying process and construct a "sales ladder" that leads them along this process in sequence.
   
5. Storyboard each page of the site to make sure it follows the sales ladder.
   
6. Test your ideas with real customers to make sure your assumptions ring true in the real world.
   
7. Navigation. Begin setting up the website so that it offers the design elements visitors will be comfortable with.
   
8. Hire designers only after all sales ladder has been created and the sales ideas have been tested with real world customers.
   
9. Build the site. Rather than build it first and add on later, the site is only built after a clear plan has been laid to take visitors through the entire sales sequence.
   
10. Launch, monitor and refine. Testing never ends. Keep improving, keep checking your ideas against real world customers and how they behave.

This is a very informative article by Todd Follansbee. If you would like to read his entire piece, check out http://www.wilsonweb.com/design/follansbee-website-backwards.htm.

freelance copywriter, ghost writer, web content writer, white papers

COPYRIGHT © 2007, Charles Brown

What is the one thing your business cannot do without? What one single priority outranks all others?

Whether your business is a small one-man operation or a huge, Fortune 500 behemoth, generating new leads for new business is your single most important imperative.

Without customers or clients, you have no business. And without a constant stream of new leads, you will eventually have no customers.

According to a recent survey, lead generation is the number one goal for businesses in 2007.

Generating leads to acquire customers and drive sales will be top of mind for b-to-b marketers next year.

According to BtoB’s “2007 Marketing Priorities and Plans” survey, acquiring new customers is the No. 1 marketing goal for 2007, cited by 62.3% of respondents.

That said, how are you planning to generate leads for your business in 2007?

Two immediate ideas that can get your lead generation project off to a fast start in 2007 are:

1. Create Free Information Products. These can be everything from white papers to tip sheets to ebooks to free DVDs. This strategy recognizes that all buyers go through an information gathering stage in their buying process (the exception of course is impulse purchases, which is a topic for another article). Think about the last time you bought a new car, new house or helped a child choose the right college to attend. You probably looked up a lot of information on the internet, possibly you questioned people who had direct experience with your various possible choices, or you asked the companies for information.
   
   The single caveat of this approach is to avoid selling for your competitors. Don’t just offer information that sells the entire category. If you do that, your reader may choose anyone who offers what you offer. You must sell yourself without being too self-serving in the process ( a fine balancing act, but one that can be done).
   
   Offering free information is a strategy that recognizes that each buyer has a unique buying cycle and procedure. This approach allows you to enter their consciousness at any point along that buying cycle and become a trusted resource for valuable, non-self serving information.
   
   
2. Turn Your Website Into a Lead Generating Machine. It costs most businesses $10 to $20 for every qualified visitor that lands on their websites. I would argue that if you have a choice between getting a visitor to buy something now vs. leave his or her contact information, you are better off getting them to create a lead. When someone has opted in to receive future emails from you (ie “permission marketing”), you have multiple chances to sell and then sell again. This person can become a repeat customer for life. But if you try to hit the home run every time someone visits your site, you only get that one chance to sell and at best may only sell one thing.

Lead Generation is a huge topic and I will revisit this subject many times in the coming year. But for now, I would like to leave you with some resources you will find helpful.

• Brian Carroll writes a blog entirely devoted to the topic of generating b2b leads. He offers a lot of great ideas that you can never keep up with. If you can only put one our of ten into practice, you will do well.
  
• Michael Stelzner writes a great blog on marketing with white papers. He has also written an excellent book on the same topic called: Writing White Papers: How To Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged.
  
• Anne Holland has written a very good article on Marketing Sherpa in which she offers some very practical insights and ideas on how to generate leads.
  
• Another article by Anne Holland is about lead generation mistakes that get in the way of effective marketing. Anne is nothing if not candid, and her insights are always worth reading. They are also the kinds of mistakes we can all make, so her article is a good cautionary piece.

I’m interesting in hearing about your ideas and insights on the topic of lead generation. What do you think about this topic?

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown

Imagine a friend has set you up on a blind date with a person your friend just raves will be the person of your dreams (can you see disaster coming?), and after much cajoling, you finally agree to meet this “wonderful” person for dinner.

Now imagine this person spends the entire evening talking about himself or herself. About his/her career, hobbies, dog, exploits, travels, etc. On and on this evening goes as you mentally plot the ideal way to murder your now ex-friend.

Unfortunately, most websites, advertisements and company brochures I see take the same approach as this obnoxious date. These ads/websites/marketing materials talk about the company, the product, the service, how long the company has been in business, vain and unsubstantiated claims, pictures of top executives’ smiling faces, or laundry lists of services offered. Blah, blah, blah.

I call this approach to copywriting, “push communication,” because these writers feel compelled to thrust their agendas on the hapless readers. The one glaring difference between culprits of push communication and the obnoxious date, is that it’s hard to gracefully escape the obnoxious date, whereas the reader can flip the page away from a self-centered ad, click away from a boring web site or throw a useless brochure into the trash.

Now let’s contrast this to what I call “pull communication.”

“Pull communication” is dictated by what the reader wants and what interests the reader. The reader’s interests “pull” the dialogue forward. Every word written on an ad, website or marketing materials is written with the intent to solve the reader’s problems or help the reader achieve a goal.

I am reading a very interesting book called, “Your Attention Please” written by Paul B. Brown (no relation to me) and Alison Davis, that talks about this very point. To cure the problem of “me” focused communications, Brown and Davis suggest taking a close look at an industry that does a remarkably good job of writing to address readers’ needs and wants: service magazines.

These magazines, like Better Homes and Gardens, Men’s Health, Money, Self, Family Circle or Prevention, craft every single article to show readers what they want to learn. Articles in these magazines are on topics like how to lose weight, how to raise emotionally secure kids, how to get the most out of a fifteen minute workout, how to grow a flower garden, how to attract the ideal mate, or how to prevent a serious illness.

All these topics are examples of “pull communication,” because the spotlight is on the reader and it is what the reader wants. The reader dictates what is said, not what the writer wants to say.

So if you find your website, advertisements or marketing materials are starting to take on a, “Hello, this is who we are and this is what we do,” character, pick up a stack of magazines and see if they will give you ideas that will improve your “pull communications” skills.

And also, pick up a copy of “Your Attention Please.” It will be money well spent.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown