Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts

June 11, 2008

Have I got a copywriter for you...

When I launched my Cool Site of the Day VIP coaching program a couple of weeks ago, I figured I had room for 25 clients and that I'd fill those slots within 4-6 weeks.

My copywriter had other thoughts.

Later today I will closing the VIP program. Thanks to my copywriter, Janet Beatrice, and her impeccable rewrites of my initial draft, the VIP sales page generated over 100 applications. Since I only have room for 25, I'll be combing through each application, making followup calls and deciding on the final list of clients over the next several days.

Make no mistake, Janet took a draft of my main VIP sales page and absolutely supercharged it.

Let me be a bit more specific: if I do my job and keep each of those clients happy, simple math tells me that I'll be taking in nearly $150,000 just from consulting via webinars and teleconferences thanks to a well-crafted sales page.

I suspect that, say, with a list of 40, I will have a waiting list that will allow me to have a steady stream of clients as current clients reach their goals and move on or perhaps hire me for more services ($500 a month isn't much if clients follow my advice ;)

Bottom line: Janet's letter was so effective that I wonder if I could ever put up another web page without her 'OK'.

And that's funny because many I
nternet marketers (like me) are reluctant to hire copywriters, or they think it should cost a few hundred for a letter.

Fact is, a lot of time and effort goes into writing and editing an effective sales letter and handing it off to a pro is the best decision I've made all year (in my case, Janet spent nearly 3 weeks caressing my VIP page).

For reference, you can expect to spend anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 and more for the right sales letter (Janet is neither at the low end nor the high end but I can tell you she is worth every penny).

Now, before I go on, when I told Janet that I was going to write this post, she graciously offered to do website evaluations to the first 10 readers to respond at a special discount ($95 vs. $195).

I can tell you that the comments she would share with you 'post-evaluation' would be worth several hundred dollars -- you could expect not only a basic critique of the copy, but also an evaluation of the overall website, including fonts, graphics, navigation, etc.

Janet will tell you if she believes you need her copywriting services, but there’s no obligation to hire her and she’s definitely not pushy. If you do hire her to rewrite your copy, though, she will take the evaluation fee off of her copywriting fee.

Anyway, I'm not going to blow her horn any longer--I'll let her convince you. If you have a need, or even if you're just wondering how much more effective your copy could be with a pro's input, I suggest you reach out to Janet asap.

OK, I'm nearly done, but I'd just like to say that if you're making a career out of internet marketing you should consider learning to write your own copy. Unfortunately, this is not as easy to learn as some think it is. You need to devote considerable time and effort to it. And no matter how much you learn, there's always more to learn. Plus, you can never stop honing your skills. It's kind of like playing an instrument.

So, unless you're able to make the time to write perfect copy, take Janet up on her offer. You won't regret it.

Cheers,

Mike

April 9, 2008

Facebook, Search Engine Traffic & More...

All sorts of things going on today...

First off, I finally started editing my Facebook page. I'll have a lot to say about 'Web 2.0/Social Marketing' stuff in the near future but for now I suggest you put up a Facebook page. It's a good way to connect with friends and business contacts.

I also added Twitter to my Facebook page (you'll see that gadget located halfway down the right side of my Facebook page). Twitter is simply a way for people to see what you're up to and for you to see what other people are up to (by doing so, you may see an opportunity to contact someone to discuss a project you're working on).

Bottom line regarding the above: just start playing with these tools (if you aren't already). Their usefulness will become apparent.


Cool Site of the Day VIP Program

I'm still working on launching the Cool Site of the Day VIP program. I've got most of the details ironed out but am considering hiring a copywriter to optimize the intro page. BTW, if you think this is something I should open up to the group (over 7,000 of you!), by all means, post your opinion as a 'comment' below (if you're reading this on the blog). This might actually be a great way for us to learn A LOT from each other.


Copywriting (very important topic)

Speaking of copywriters, here are some very useful TAGS from my Del.icio.us account:

  • The Gary Halbert Newsletter - Gary was considered by many to be one of the best copywriters out there. He passed away at a way too early age. Another copywriter who is legendary is John Carlton (be sure to sign up for John's '7 Marketing Strategy Lessons')

  • GoCopyWriting

  • Visuwords - tell me this won't help with your vocabulary.

  • GetMeContent - haven't used them yet but it seems like a good place to outsource writing projects (I'll be writing about the importance of outsourcing in a future post)

  • Copywriter Catalog - recently started by a nice guy, Jason Leister. Wish I could remember how we connected.

Shoemoney

I recently told you about WebmasterRadio.fm. Well, lately I've been tuning in every day; there are two shows worth checking out: Affiliate Thing (hosted by Lisa Picarille of Revenue Magazine and Shawn Collins of Affiliate Summit) and The Shoemoney Show hosted by Super Affiliate Jeremy Shoemaker. I listen during breakfast and lunch.


Affiliate Opportunity

I was listening to one of my favorite marketing geeks, Markus Allen, the other day (this guy lives and breathes marketing - offline and online). He's rather cynical about a handful of things related to affiliate marketing but one product he's absolutely behind is CGI Connection. Now, before I get into why you should be marketing CGI Connection, I want to point out that I stand behind all the Affiliate Opportunities listed on the right panel of the coolsite.com blog.

With that said, here's why I love CGI Connection: I'm not only an affiliate marketer for this great product but a customer as well. Here's what the guy behind CGI Connection, John Saya, offers: royalty-free web software scripts. Use any of his hundreds of scripts to simply make a better web site. If don't know how to program (like me) but need an easy way to get cool software onto your web site then CGI Connection is like a dream come true. So, become a customer AND an affiliate. You can't go wrong (especially if you take advantage of WMC to drive traffic to your affiliate link. See how it all ties together?)


Web Marketing Concepts

Speaking of which, if you're using Web Marketing Concepts to generate search engine traffic to your web site, here's an update I just got from the developer, Jim MacKinlay: when you set up your domain and 10 subdomains, only insert 200-300 keywords initially and then return to add the remaining keywords (to get to 500) about a month later. Any questions, feel free to contact me. And, oh yeah, that 'process map' for WMC is coming!

Finally, please answer my super short poll about font size preferences (left panel).

Thanks for reading,

Mike