How To Write A Sales Letter

What copywriters don't want you to know

2009-06-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

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Very few talk about this secret because it's
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You see almost all successful marketers are
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Sell More with a User-Friendly Web Site

2009-06-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

Easy navigation is essential to keeping prospective buyers at your site. Follow these tips to make your web site user friendly and increase sales.

Make it easy for prospective buyers to find what they are looking for.

Provide plenty of links on your home page, giving visitors an overview of your web site's content and choices. Provide links to your home page and main sections (such as your order form, contact page, products, and articles) on every page. Visitors may not visit your pages in the sequence you would like them to. Provide a site map (table of contents) if your site has more than twenty pages. Make sure all links are working.

Keep pages short.

Visitors should be able to see the important information, especially on your home page, without scrolling down. Studies show that more than half of the web surfers never scroll down past the first screen of information, so provide your benefits, site description, and USP at the top of the page.

Make your web pages easy to read.

An easy-to-read, professionally-designed web site can maximize your sales. Use color and spacing to make your web pages easy to read. Dark text on a light background is easy to read. A hint of color softens the screen. Avoid text on dark and busy backgrounds. Break up your sales copy into short, easy-to-read sections and use subheadings to highlight benefits. Split up long pages into several pages.

Make it easy to contact you.

Provide your phone number, email address, and URL (web address) on every page. This will make it easier for people to go back to your web site.

Speed up your web site.

Your web site's speed has a significant impact on user loyalty. A slow web site will cost you sales. Visitors won't wait more than10 seconds for your web pages to load. Make your home page fast loading to keep visitors at your site.

A user-friendly site will sell more. Make your web site user friendly to keep visitors at your site, read your sales materials and buy from you.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

Writing for a blog

2009-06-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Blogger Writing Guide

by Dean Rieck

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of writing guides out there. But in my opinion, none surpass the simple, direct advice of The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White.

This classic serves up much good advice, especially in the last 20 pages in a section titled “An Approach to Style.” Nowhere have I seen more helpful advice in so few words and with such precision. This is why I always keep this book within reach.

If (for shame) you don’t already have this reference in your library, I will leave it to you to explore it in depth. But I would like to provide my own version of eight important writing tips as they apply to blogging.

Put the reader first. The purpose of writing is clear, sometimes persuasive, communication. It is not about you or your clever ideas. If you write to impress, you will distract the reader from the content. Good writing is like a store window. It should be clean and clear, providing an unobstructed view of the contents within.
Organize your thoughts. You don’t need a detailed outline for most writing. But you do need to know what you want to say before you say it. If you’re comfortable with the sort of outline you learned in school, use it. Otherwise, simply jot down the important points you want to make and arrange them in the order you want to make them. Eliminate any ideas that are not directly related to these points.
Use short paragraphs. Look at any newspaper and notice how short the paragraphs are. That’s done to make reading easier since our brains take in information better when ideas are broken into small chunks. In ordinary writing, each paragraph develops one idea and includes many sentences. But in blogging, the style is less formal and paragraphs may be as short as a single sentence or even a single word.
Use short sentences. You should keep sentences short for the same reason you keep paragraphs short: they’re easier to read and understand. Each sentence should have one simple thought. More than that creates complexity and invites confusion.
Use simple words. Since your purpose is to communicate and not impress, simple words work better than big ones. Write “get” instead of “procure.” Write “use” rather than “utilize.” Use the longer words only if your meaning is so precise there is no simpler word to use.
Be specific. Don’t write “Many doctors recommend Brand X.” Write “97% of doctors recommend Brand X.” Don’t write “The Big Widget is offered in many colors.” Write “The Big Widget comes in red, green, blue, and white.” Get to the point. Say what you mean. Use specific nouns.
Write in a conversational style. There is a road sign often posted near construction sites that always irritates me. It reads, “Maintain present lane.” Why so formal? A more conversational style would be better: “Stay in your lane” or “Do not change lanes.” If you write as if you’re wearing a top hat and spats, you distance yourself from the reader and muddle the message.
Be clear. This may be the most important rule of all. Without clarity, your writing fails on every level. You achieve clarity when you accurately communicate the meaning in your head to the head of your reader. That’s difficult. Look at your writing with an objective eye. Consider what might be misunderstood and rewrite it. Find what is irrelevant and delete it. Notice what is missing and insert it.

When writing fails, it’s probably because you don’t have something to say, are too concerned with affecting a style, or both. Follow the suggestions here, and you will avoid these problems and many others. Plus you will find that your copy is more lively, more meaningful, and more profitable.

Dean Rieck is a leading direct marketing copywriter. For more copywriting and selling tips, sign up for Dean’s FREE direct response newsletter or subscribe to the Direct Creative Blog.

Find out what most copywriters don't want you to know - Visit http://www.scam-free-sites.com/conversational-hypnosis.html

Internet Writing - Top Tips

2009-06-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Online readers love information, but be sure your information is crisp, clear and concise.

Target your Web content to your preferred audience. A good way to do that is to include your audience in the title or introduction. When you focus your information on your audience, you write more compelling, focused copy that your readers will love.

Keep your paragraphs short, even a line or two. Online readers will ignore long batches of words in long paragraphs, whether in an ezine or at a Web site. You will lose sales. Respect readers who want short material.

Make your headlines compelling. Test them on associates, edit them at least five times. If your headlines are not compelling, visitors will go to the next Web site.

Get to the point quickly in the title and the first line. Keep your introduction and conclusion to a sentence or two.

Make your copy strong, clear, and direct.

Tell your readers what you want them to do. They are waiting for your magic formula to make them richer, healthier, and happier.

Eliminate superfluous words, adverbs (like "ly"), and passive verbs. Replace linking verbs such as "is" and "was" with bold verbs. Use powerful words that sell!

Keep these tips in mind so that your Web site will bring potential buyers to your Web site, keep them at your Web site longer, and convert them to buyers.

Writing Articles for the Internet

Write tips in this format. Use this three-sentence formula to bring the curious to you.

First, use a verb as a command.

Then mention the cost of not following your advise.

End with a positive comment.

Keep these tips in mind, so that your articles will bring folks to your Web site.

Judy Cullins: author, publisher, book coach, Author of Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Your Book Online and Write your eBook or Other Short Book-Fast! http://www.bookcoaching.com. Subscribe to FREE ezine "The Book Coach Says..." Email: Judy@bookcoaching.com

Hypnotic Writing - 7 steps to Success

2009-06-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

I am not sure about the ethics involved here but I do know one thing: It is a must need on the Internet. Without powerful writing, you will not succeed even if you are giving out free gold. A popular example being the experiment conducted by some marketing gurus. They advertised to give out $100 bills free. There was no response because the writing was not compelling/ convincing enough.

With the information explosion on the Internet, the competition is more deadly. Hence the use of power writing is at its peak. You have to stand out, to grab, to dominate, to intoxicate, capture and be noticed. The more you differ from the norms, the greater are your chances of success.

You need to make your power writing more forceful and spellbinding. How do you fascinate and mesmerize your readers? Here is a seven-step technique for achieving hypnosis through writing:

Use suggestion to subtly introduce an impression, inspiration, idea or thought. Let's consider a simple work example using the concept of 'sleep'. Our suggestion will be: 'You are sleepy'.

Give instruction/ command. Tell the person to take action as desired by you. Give a direct command. For our example, this will be: 'Go to sleep'.

Back up with a conviction/ determination statement &endash; A conviction statement conveys a sense of assurance, certainty, confidence, sincerity and passion. Conviction is very easily generated by using the word 'will' instead of 'can'. For our example, the conviction statement is: 'You will sleep'.

Follow up with endorsement/re-affirmation. Back up your conviction statement by using the word 'Yes'. For our example, this is: 'Yes, you will sleep'.

Give a vivid description to appeal to emotions - Describe in great detail giving all the advantages, disadvantages and properties. In short make it so vivid that your reader sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels the action and hence gets involved emotionally.

For example consider the following three descriptions: 'A strawberry'; 'A red strawberry'; 'A large ripe, red and juicy strawberry, mmm..'. With the third description you can almost feel your mouth watering.

Now back to our work example: 'You will fall in to a deep, soothing, slumbering sleep'.

Use powerful words. Some words click on the subconscious power of the mind and immediately trigger certain strong emotions. Hence these words have a strong appeal.

A small fraction of such words are outlined here: You, free, magic, hell, damn, baby, do, secret, revealed, sensational, revolutionary, pioneer, discover, will, success, yes.

Use repetitive rhythms. Repetition fascinates the mind and creates an intoxicating influence. For our example, the rhythm is: 'Go to sleep; you will sleep; yes you will sleep; you will fall into a deep, soothing, slumbering sleep'.

For successful hypnosis, the rhythm has to be repeated several times. Remember the rule of thumb of marketing experts: You need to repeat your sales message between seven to ten times to close a deal.

However since hypnotic writing is already so powerful, I will go with a cycle of three: at the start, in the middle and at the end of your message.

For ease of understanding, the work example used was very simple and straight forward. In actual business writing, you have to be subtle. You need to influence and fascinate without offending or being obvious to the reader. You will achieve this by weaving the above magic into the body of your regular business writing.

To integrate effectively, you may change the order of presentation, split up the process and make variations to the concept. Here your imagination is the limit. Copyright Shahnaz Rauf. Author 'Zero Dollar Budget' The Free Articles And Free Site Review At http://www.snzeport.com.For excellent marketing action plans, free advertising, join free newsletter-The Monster Twister. To Subscribe visit: http://www.snzeport.com/tmtarchives.htm

Increase Sales with an Easy-To-Navigate Web Site

2009-06-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

Can your visitors find what they’re looking for on your web site with one or two clicks? Easy navigation is essential to keep visitors at your site and turn them into buyers. Follow these 13 steps to make your web pages easy to navigate and compel prospective buyers to explore your web site.

1. Provide plenty of links on your home page, giving an overview of your web site's content and providing choices for your visitors.

2. Put clear navigation options at the top or left of your pages, so visitors see them right away. Users may not scroll through lengthy pages. In addition, add a "Go Back to Top" button at the end of long pages.

3. Provide navigation links to your home page, main sections, order page, contact page, and product pages on every page. Potential buyers may not read your pages in the sequence you would like them to.

4. Make navigation simple and consistent throughout your web site. Keep the style and location of your navigation buttons and links the same on every page.

5. Use simple terms for your navigation buttons and links that visitors will recognize such as "home," "order," and "contact."

6. Use standard underlined hyperlinks for recognition. The standard color for non-visited links is blue. Use a different link color for visited links.

7. Include a sitemap (table of contents) if your site has more than 20 pages. Creating a sitemap may also improve your search engine ranking.

8. Put your URL (e.g., www.yourdomain.com) and email address on every page.

9. Turn links into benefit-oriented headlines and include action verbs to motivate potential buyers to click on your links. For example, "Top 5 ways to increase your web sales immediately. Sign up now to get this $49 report F*REE."

10. Describe your graphics and navigation buttons in ALT tags (alternative text describing your images for visitors who browse your site with the images turned off).

11. Avoid "entry" pages (home pages with animation) visitors have to click on to enter the site that don't indicate what your site is about.

12. Avoid frames, drop-down menus, and pop-up windows. They may confuse visitors.

13. Make sure all links work.

Make it easy and logical for potential buyers to get to the information they're looking for. Apply these steps now and watch your sales increase!

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

Writing Web Copy

2009-01-27T17:57:00.000-08:00

Writing Benefit-Driven Web Copy – 4 Steps to More Sales

You've identified the benefits you offer your customers, but how do you turn a list of benefits into engaging copy?

As a copywriter, many of the projects I undertake are completely new websites. The client has some general ideas about what they’d like to convey, but they need someone who can fine-tune their message, and create copy which engages their readers. As a result, over the years I’ve developed a process for doing this effectively. There are four main steps:

Identify benefits
Identify how you deliver these benefits

Prioritise your benefits

Write the content

STEP 1 – Identify your benefits

Branding aside, most websites are about selling. Customers don’t want to know what you can do; they want to know what you can do for THEM. That means the first question you should ask is, “What benefits do I offer my customers?” This is usually the first step toward identifying the key message to be conveyed.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t describe your products and services. You just need to make sure it describes them in terms of benefits to your customer.

STEP 2 – Identify how you deliver these benefits

Of course, you can’t just claim to deliver benefits and stop at that. You need to support that claim. You’re going to need to convince your audience that you actually do deliver these benefits. Anyone can say they deliver benefits, but few can say it persuasively.

From step 1 you’ll have a list of benefits. Now you need to think about how you deliver each benefit in that list. This is where you start talking about features – price, product highlights, distribution channel, competitor weaknesses, external factors, USPs, etc. It’s helpful if you draw up a table with one column for benefits and one for the features which deliver those benefits.
You’ll probably find this process much easier than identifying benefits. In fact, you’ve probably got most of this information written down already… somewhere. If not, chances are you uncovered a good portion of it when you were brainstorming for benefits.

TIP: If you’re having trouble identifying supporting features, before filling out the table, try listing everything you can think of which relates to what you do and how you do it. Don’t worry about the order. Just braindump onto a piece of paper, a whiteboard, a Word document, anywhere… Don’t leave anything out, even if it seems unimportant. (You’d be surprised how important even the most insignificant details can become once you start assigning them to benefits.) If you start getting lost, think back to the question you’re trying to answer: How do you deliver your list of benefits to your customer? Once you’ve done your braindump, read through it and decide which specific benefit each feature delivers.

STEP 3 – Prioritise your benefits

Now that you’ve identified all the things you COULD say, it’s time to figure out what you SHOULD say and where you should say it. This is where your benefits-features table comes into play. Read through your list of benefits and prioritise them according to how compelling they will be to your reader.

The reason for this? Priority determines prominence. The most compelling benefits will need to be prominent.

TIP: Be aware that your list may include some benefits which everyone in your business category could claim. In other words, they’re not just specific to your company, but apply to the type of service you offer. For example, if you sell a Content Management System (CMS) for website creation, you may list “Greater control for marketing managers” and “Less expense updating content” as benefits. Every CMS vendor could claim these benefits, so you’ll need to question their importance. Will they differentiate you from your competitors. Generic benefits can be useful if none of your competitors are using them, or if you feel you need to educate your market a bit before launching into company-specific benefits.

STEP 4 – Write your content

So now you know what you’d like to say, it’s time to decide how to say it. This is about three things:

Subject – What is the subject of your site; features or benefits?

Structure – How do you structure your site such that your customers will read your most compelling benefits?

Words – What words should you use to best engage your audience (and the search engines)?

Subject

What is the subject of your site; features or benefits? The answer to this question lies in audience identification. If your audience knows a bit about the type of product or service you’re selling, lead with features (e.g. processor speed, turnaround time, uptime, expertise, educational qualifications, wide product range, etc.). But make sure you talk about their benefits, and make sure the features offering the most important benefits are the most prominent.

Here’s a simplified example…

Cool Widgets offers:

Standard Operating Environment – Significantly reducing the complexity of your IT infrastructure

System upgrades which are less expensive to license – Providing excellent TCO reductions

In cases where you’re selling to an audience who knows very little about your product or service, lead with benefits (e.g. if you’re selling something technical to a non-technical audience).

Here’s the same simplified example, reversed for a novice audience…
Cool Widgets offers:

Reduced complexity of IT infrastructure – We can implement a Standard Operating Environment for your organisation

Reduced TCO – We can upgrade your IT to systems which are less expensive to license
Structure

How do you structure your site such that your customers will be sure to read your most compelling benefits? The answer is, keep it short ‘n sweet. And make it scannable. This doesn’t mean you have to cut features or benefits. You just have to structure your site to accommodate your message.

While every site is different, as a rule of thumb it’s a good idea to introduce your main features and benefits on your home page. Summarise them – preferably using bullet points, but at the very least, clearly highlight them so that your audience can scan-read (e.g. bold, underline, colour, link).

Then link from each summarised feature or benefit to a detailed description. Try to keep each page to approximately 200-400 words. You may need several pages to detail all your features and benefits. (Click to download a 29KB Word file containing a page structure template.)
TIP: In cases where you need to introduce features and benefits which are generic to your field (rather than specific to your offering), your home page is generally the best place to do it. From there, you can lead to a second page summarising the specific features and benefits of your offering.

Conclusion

Web copy is about far more than just clever words. It’s essential that you identify the benefits you offer your customer, and that you can convince your customer you actually deliver those benefits.

I hope that the guidance and tools provided in this article will help you on your way to engaging copy which converts to sales.

Glenn Murray is an advertising copywriter and heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at http://www.divinewrite.com/.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

Boost Your Internet Sales By Building Your Own Opt-in Mailing List

2009-01-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

Building a list is the most important element of any Internet business. You need an opt-in list to be successful online and turn prospects into buyers.

An opt-in list is an email list of people who have agreed to receive information from you. When they opt in, you get their permission to send them information. They have the option of unsubscribing from your list anytime.

Why do you need an opt-in list?

First, your visitors may not be ready to buy the first time they visit your web site. People don't always make decisions right away. They may want to check out other web sites before buying. They may procrastinate because they're busy and in a hurry. Therefore, you have to stay in touch with your prospects regularly so they'll remember you when they are ready to buy. Another reason they may not buy right away is because they don't know you yet. You haven't built rapport and trust yet. You have to develop relationships and show that you know what you are talking about. To build trust, you must provide your subscribers with helpful information that is related to the products and services you're selling. You have to keep contacting prospects until they buy from you. Marketers know that typically a prospect must hear a message an average of seven times before they will buy. If you give up too soon, you'll be losing many sales.
It's important to motivate potential clients to give you their email address so you can contact them on a regular basis. If they leave your web site without giving you their email address, you're losing your chance to sell them.

Building your own list provides highly targeted, responsive leads. People who sign up for your free newsletter or report are your best prospects. They are interested in your information and they will be a lot more responsive to your recommendations and offers than purchased leads.

If you have your prospects' email addresses, you can keep in touch with them and start building a relationship. You can send them discount offers and sell them other related products. A broadcast message to your own email list will get targeted traffic to your web site instantly.

Here are some of the best free ways to build a list.

- Put your subscription offer somewhere near the top of your web page. Or get their attention with a popup, popover, or popunder.

- Another way to get their email is by using a “name squeeze” page. This is a web page with a sign-up form that is designed specifically to get the name and email address of visitors. You need compelling copy on the page to encourage people to sign up.

Offer something that makes it worthwhile to subscribe. For instance, offer a free report when they sign up for your newsletter, or a free ebook, audio, or video.

Here's an example of a compelling subscription offer:

Please take a few seconds to register and you'll immediately get an email with 15 audio interviews with professional copywriters. You'll also get a free subscription to my ezine "Inside Copywriting Secrets".

Build your own list using one or several of the above opt-in methods. Then use autoresponders to stay in touch with your prospects on a regular basis and build trust by offering great content. Autoresponders make it easy to automate your follow up.

Don't make the mistake of giving a hard sales pitch in the first autoresponder message. Instead, build interest and rapport. Start with an informative message that educates the reader about a topic that is related to your product or service. Mention how your product or service can solve their problems. By the time the potential customer reads your seventh message and your sales message, they will be convinced enough to make a purchase!

Building lists is very important to your Internet success. Capturing leads and building list should be the main focus of your site.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

How to Create a Powerful Online Presence

2009-01-06T05:54:00.000-08:00

Web site design plays a crucial role in converting visitors to customers. Your web site is the first impression people have of you. It is often your first and only contact with your prospective customers. A professional-looking, easy-to-read-and-navigate web site is essential to building trust and making sales. Follow these tips to create a powerful online image.

· Simplicity is the key to powerful design. A web site must be pleasing to the eye, but not too flashy. Limit colors to two or three colors. Limit fonts to two or three fonts.

· Be unique. Design original graphics and layouts to attain a unique look. Stand out from the crowd.

· Target your market. Use images, colors, text, fonts and themes that are appropriate for your market. For example, you will use completely different images and colors for kids, professionals, men, and women.

· Use quality images. Just as quality images will boost credibility, bad images will hurt you.

· Use images that support your sales message. Don't fill the page with graphics that have nothing to do with the content. Your product image is important. For example, if you're selling an ebook, make your book look real with a targeted ebook cover. If you're selling a CD, show a CD image.

· Emphasize important information with attention getting underlines, hand drawn and handwritten notes and other doodles such as hand-drawn arrows.

· Design a quality header. You can instantly change the look of your web site by changing the header graphic. The header is the very first thing a visitor will see when they arrive at your site, so it is your first chance to make a good impression.

· Use logical, consistent navigation. Viewers want to find what they’re looking for without having to go through numerous pages or clicking on numerous links. Use terms for your navigation buttons and links they will recognize such as Home, Order, and Contact. Provide plenty of links on your home page, giving an overview of your web site's content and choices.

· Design a catchy order button to attract attention and motivate people to order.

· Don't overuse the latest web techniques. Avoid entry pages with animation that don't tell anything about the content and take a long time to load. Your visitors will appreciate a site that opens fast and search engines will be able to index your pages.

· Write compelling copy. A clear, well-written message is essential to converting prospects into sales. Avoid spelling and grammar errors.

Combining layout, graphics, typefaces, and color into a unique design requires graphic design skills. If you don’t feel you are quite up to the task, or are just too busy putting the content together, then it would certainly be beneficial to get help from a professional designer who specializes in creating web images.

If your web site looks professional, visitors will conclude that you are professional. If your web site looks amateurish, they will assume that the quality of your services and products is unprofessional too.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

What Visitors Like and Dislike with Graphics

2008-12-31T06:07:00.000-08:00

Here's what Internet users and buyers say they like and dislike.

What Internet visitors like:

- They want easy and logical navigation. Viewers want to find what they're looking for without clicking on numerous links or having to go through numerous pages. Use words for your navigation buttons and links they will recognize such as Home, Order, and Contact. Avoid using an entry page with animation that doesn't tell anything about the content and takes a long time to load.

- They like being in control and having multiple choices. Give them choices by providing many links. Provide plenty of links on your home page, giving an overview of your web site's content and choices.

- They like sites they can interact with. Web visitors like to be involved. Offer an ezine they can subscribe to and provide feedback forms. Bulletin boards (message boards) are a great way to get repeat traffic and visitor interaction. Involve your visitors by providing downloads, databases, search features, contests, quizzes, trivia tests, self-scoring tests, and animated movies that include interactive elements. Other interactive web tools include shopping carts, chat rooms, free classifieds, JavaScript, and search-engine submissions.

- They love content and freebies. Useful, valuable, and entertaining content gets visitors to your site, engages them, builds credibility, and converts them into buyers. Valuable content can include how-to articles, reports, tips, links to useful resources, and freebies.

- They love customer service and will return to sites that treat them well.

- They like pictures without sacrificing speed. A slow web site will cost you sales. Don't make visitors wait for graphics they're not interested in. If you want to illustrate your products with large images, provide thumbnails (small graphics) and let visitors decide if they want to click on them to view larger images that take time to load.

What Internet visitors dislike:

- They dislike long pages. If you have a long sales letter or page, break up your copy into short, easy-to-read sections and use subheadings to highlight benefits. Break up text with white space, color, columns, lines, and graphics.

- They dislike drop-down menus. Some newbies don't know how to use drop-down menus or they're not aware that there is a drop-down list.

- They don't like receiving error messages or their computer locking up. Be aware of programming errors when using Java or JavaScript and other features that may crash a user's computer.

- They don't like difficult-to-use web sites. When using sophisticated features, software, and programming, consider how people access your features. Test if the typical user can use your database and pull-down menus.

Follow these tips to make your web site user friendly. Make it easy for visitors to use your web site and they'll refer your site to their friends, return often to your site, and buy your products and services.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

How To Boost Your Copywriting with Power Words

2008-12-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Are you using power words in your web sites and blogs? If you aren't, start using them now. Adding power words is an easy way to write more effectively.

What are power words? Powerful words are words that create an image or impression in people's minds. They elicit feelings and actions. For example, the words "bravery, hurt, sacrifice and justice" create a strong impression when you read or hear them.

Power words such as "accomplished, achieved and awarded" in a resume capture an employer's eye and describe the job seeker's accomplishments.

When using power words in your web site they will catch the attention of your web visitors and prospective buyers, create visual pictures in your readers' mind and bring out emotions.

Just replacing a few ordinary words with power words can make your writing powerful and turn ordinary sentences into convincing ones. You should incorporate power words in your sales letters, web site and all marketing materials and business communications. Use strong, powerful, positive words loaded with emotions that are suited to your topic and audience and intersperse them into your writing to create killer sales letters and promotional materials.

Here are some of the most important words that have proven to attract attention, motivate prospects to buy, and increase sales. Use them in your web site's headlines and copy.

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Other top power words you should use in headlines and sales letters include "breakthrough, latest, proven, money, top (top 10 ways), act (act now), call now, call today

Use power words and action verbs to make your sales letters powerful and compelling and add impact.

Start using power words now! Add power words to all your marketing materials. Use power words when writing headlines and content for your web site. Using them can generate additional traffic, subscriptions, leads and sales.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

Easy-To-Read Web Pages Will Increase Sales

2008-12-19T06:28:00.000-08:00

Web pages with readable text will generate more sales than fancy-looking pages that are hard to read. Follow these design tips and not only will your web pages be easier to read, but you'll keep potential buyers at your site and position yourself to increase sales.

Keep Pages Short -- Especially Your Home Page

• Put important content at the top of your pages so it's visible to visitors immediately. Users may not scroll through lengthy pages.

• In general, limit the length of a web page to two screens.

• Split up long pages into several pages.

Layout

• Use left aligned text rather than justified text.

• Write short paragraphs (2-5 lines).

• Limit the width of your web pages to fit your visitors' monitors. Your visitors don't want to scroll left to right to see your content.

• Keep the look, layout, navigation, typefaces, and colors consistent on all pages.

Break up Copy

• Break up long text with white space, color, columns, lines, and graphics.

• Break up copy into easy-to-read sections

• Use subheadings and bulleted lists to highlight benefits.

• Draw attention to important information with hand-written text and hand-drawn arrows, circles and other doodles. Do this sparingly to avoid a cluttered look.

Colors

• Use color sparingly. Too much color can be distracting.

• Select a background color that contrasts with the text color to make your content stand out.

• Avoid blue backgrounds when using blue links (the standard link color).

• Avoid dark backgrounds. Dark text on a light background is easy to read.

• Avoid text on multi-colored background images. Such background images will decrease the readability of your text.

• Use web-friendly colors. Colors that look bright on your monitor may appear dark on someone else's and make your message unreadable.

Typography

• Limit the use of small type, reverse type (white text on dark background), and italics.

• Avoid using UPPER CASE in your body copy.

• Limit the number of fonts in a web site to a maximum of three (proferably only two).

• Use a type size that is geared to your target audience. For instance, use larger type for older readers.

• Emphasize important words, headlines, and sentences by using color, bold, and different text sizes. But do so sparingly. Too much bold or color reduces the impact.

• Avoid underlining. Readers might think your underlined words or sentences are links.

• Use standard fonts such as Arial, Verdana, and Times New Roman. If you're using fonts your viewers don't have on their computers, their browsers will substitute those fonts and your web pages will look different on their computers than you intended them to look.

• Avoid special characters like curly quotes, curly apostrophes, n-dashes, and m-dashes. These characters may convert into bogus characters on web sites.

• Use fonts that are appropriate for your subject matter and your audience.

Images and Graphics

• Use images and graphics that support your sales message.

• Keep animation, blinking text, and scrolling text to a minimum. They distract the reader from focusing on your text.

Check Your Pages

Web pages may look different on your visitors' computers, depending on their computer, monitor, browser, and fonts. What may look great with one browser may look unprofessional with another. View your web pages with different browsers, computers, platforms (PC and Mac), screen resolutions, and settings. Statistics indicate that visitors use a wide variety of browsers and platforms.

Keep visitors, prospects, and buyers at your site with easy-to-read, interesting content. An easy-to-read, professional web site can maximize your sales. Apply these techniques now.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

How to Optimize Your Web Images

2008-12-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Images are important. The right images can change the look of your web pages instantly and, more importantly, they can instantly boost your online sales.

However, your images must come up quickly. Graphics that are not properly optimized can slow down your web pages considerably, and a slow web site will cost you sales. Apply the following techniques to help speed up your pages, keep potential buyers at your site, and boost sales.

· Keep images and graphics as small as possible in file size. The larger the file sizes, the longer the images take to download.

· Always optimize images before placing them on your web site. Optimizing compresses a file and reduces the file size while maintaining the highest image quality possible.

· Reduce your file size by saving images in the proper graphic format. GIF or JPEG are the most popular formats for web images.

· Avoid large and unnecessary graphics -- especially on your home page. Only use images that support your sales message. If you have too many images on your pages, they will distract your visitors and will dramatically slow down the opening of those pages.

· If large images are necessary to illustrate your products, display smaller images (thumbnails), and provide links to the larger versions (which will open on a new page).

· Crop images. If, for example, you’re showing a photo of a person using your product, much of the surrounding background is not necessary to support your sales message. Every bit that you remove or "crop out (remove) helps to lower the file size of that image.

· Reduce the number of colors in clipart and illustrations. The more colors in an image, the bigger the file size and therefore the more time it takes to open a page.

· Use gradients sparingly. They contain two or more colors and produce a larger file size than a single solid color.

· Keep the resolution of your images at 72 dpi, the maximum resolution a computer monitor can read.

Include ALT tags in your images. The ALT attribute provides an alternative text description for images. ALT text displays before the image is loaded in the major browsers and instead of the image if images are turned off. ALT tags tell search engines what an image is about but they are less important for search engine optimization today. Alternative text is still appreciated today by users with accessibility requirements and users wanting to optimize bandwidth use.

Pictures can instantly improve the look of your web site, but it won’t matter how good they look if they significantly slow down the opening of your web pages. Use high quality, relevant pictures that support your sales message but make sure they are optimized.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

Boost Sales With Targeted Web Images

2008-12-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

Images add pizzazz to your web site. You can make a web site more attractive and support your web content by providing a visual representation of your product.

Images also communicate a message. They can trigger feelings and emotions. Carefully selected, quality images that accurately support your sales copy will help to generate a positive response in your web visitors. More importantly, focused, high-quality web images will increase your sales! Quality graphics, like an overall quality web site, will inspire trust in you and your products.

Keep in mind that not just any image will be an improvement. In fact, if your choice of graphic images (photos, clipart, illustrations, handwritten doodles) is not properly focused and of high quality, then you could actually lose sales. Poor graphics will damage your credibility instead of boosting it. They suggest that you are not professional, your sales message is not to be trusted, and your product’s value will become suspect.

What kind of graphics should you add to your site?

Use unique graphics that represent your products and enhance your sales message. Here are some images that can do that.

• A professional-looking header image at the top of your web pages. This is the first thing your web visitors (and potential customers) will see, and therefore is your first chance to make a good impression.

• An image representing your products. This can be an ebook cover, software box cover, or CD cover image.

• An attention-grabbing order button to attract people to your order link. Including an action verb in your order buttons, like "Click Here to Order Now!" can increase sales.

• Turn navigation links into images and keep them consistent on every page. I would also suggest that you provide text links in addition to the image links for search engine optimization. You can put the text links at the bottom of the page.

• Hand drawn notes, images and doodles have proven to boost the response of sales copy.

• Include your URL on each Web page. This will make it easier for people to go back to your Web site when printing or saving your Web pages. You can include your URL and copyright information in an interesting-looking footer image.

Don't use too many images as this can have a negative affect. Too many images tend to distract the visitor which lessens the impact of your sales message. Use only enough images needed to support the focus of your site. The bottom line is: A few quality, focused images sell!

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/

Is It Easy To Buy From Your Web Site?

2008-12-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

If it's not easy for prospects to buy, they won't. Use this checklist to find obstacles in your Web site that cost sales.

Navigation

· Are you leading prospects to your order form?

· Is your order form easy to find? Do you have an "Order" button or link to your order form on most pages?

Contact Information

· Can prospects contact you if they have questions?

· Do you provide a link to your contact information on every page? Do you provide a phone number, email address, and mailing address?

Product Information

Do you provide the information your customers need to buy your products or services? This may include:

· Product listing and pricelist.

· Testimonials, case studies, and customer list.

· Money-back guarantee.

· Answers to frequently-asked questions.

· Service information and warranties.

· What your products or services can do.

· Who your products or services are useful to.

· How customers use your products or services.

· Tips for buying your products or services (to help prospects make an informed decision).

Payment and Ordering Methods

· Do you provide several ordering and payment options?

· Do you accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover? The majority of Internet users will order online with credit cards. Few people will mail a check. If you're not accepting credit cards online via a secure server, you will lose sales.

· Can your prospects order online through a secure order form or shopping cart?

· Is your order form or shopping cart simple to use?

· Is every part of your form working?

· Do you provide alternative options for those who don't feel comfortable ordering online such as ordering by phone, fax, and postal mail?

· Can customers pay by check or money order?

Is it easy to buy from you? Eliminating obstacles will boost your sales immediately.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

© Leva Duell

How To Write Killer Sales Letters

2008-11-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

How To Write Killer Sales Letters

I'm sure you've seen those ads that grab your attention and have you ready to pull out your wallet or credit card. They are literally making you an offer you can't refuse. Don't you wish your ads were that persuasive?
Are the marketers who wrote these ads natural born writers, or is there a formula that you can learn? Writing to persuade is a skill that can be learned, like any other skill. It's just a matter of breaking down the process into four simple steps.

Step # 1. The first step in writing your killer sales letter is to identify your target market.
This seems simple enough, but how many marketers do it? When reading some of the ads I get in my inbox, I have to wonder. I don't want to burst your bubble, but the truth is, not everyone on the planet is a prospect. Concentrate on those who are. Before you begin your ad campaign identify your target audience.

Step # 2. Once you've identified your target market determine what their major problems are.
Do they need more money?
Do they need to save time?
Are they interested in improving their health?

Sit down and determine every problem that your prospects have and decide how your product or service can help solve their problems. There are no shortage of problems, but there is a shortage of problem solvers. Start thinking in terms of becoming a problem solver and you'll always be in demand.

OK, you've identified your market, you've determined what problems they have, now you're ready for the next step.

Step # 3. The third step in writing your killer copy is to let your prospects know that there is a solution to their problem.
Not only is there a solution to their problem, but you have the solution. Remember these three magic words, "I can help." Identifying the problem is not enough. You have to show the reader that there is a solution and you have it. Tell them every benefit they will get when they order your product or take advantage of your service. Let them know you can help them make more money, save time, or improve their health.

Step # 4. The final step in creating killer ad copy is getting the prospect to take action. Identifying your market, determining their problems and letting them know you have the solution, is not enough. You have to make them act. You have to create a sense of urgency. There are many ways you can do this. You can offer a special discount for fast action. You can offer special fast action bonuses.

Ask for the order. Let them know they don't have to put up with their problems another day. You can solve them right now.

These four steps are a basic outline to get you started.

Start studying the sales letters you read and break them down into the four basic steps. Determine how effective the writer was in covering the bases. Make notes on how you could improve on the sales letter. Learning to write persuasive copy is a life long venture. You can write persuasive copy. You have the basics, the rest is up to you.

Copyright (c) 2000-2002 John Colanzi. John publishes the "Street Smart Marketing" newsletter. To subscribe mailto:streetsmart@rapidreply.net Don't forget to get your free email course. "Five Days To Launching A Successful MLM Business." mlms@makenetmoney.com

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

Hand-Written Notes to Build Your Business

2008-11-17T05:25:00.000-08:00

Recently, I attended a networking event for my company. The speaker that night spoke about good networking practices. One of the practices she referred to was making sure to follow-up with everyone you meet at these events. She aptly referred to it as “pinging”.

The word “ping” takes its name from a submarine sonar search -- you send a short sound burst and listen for an echo or a “ping” coming back. So, in networking terms, when you send out a ping, whether with an email, a phone call or a hand-written note, you’re inviting that person to “come back” and communicate with you thus beginning a relationship with that person…one that will hopefully benefit you both long term.

I always make it a practice to send out hand-written thank you notes to everyone I meet at these events. I like hand-written notes, because they’re a physical manifestation of your company (your brand) to that potential client, strategic partner or referral source. A hand-written note sets the tone for your company. Hand-written notes also differentiate you from most other businesses. Ask yourself when the last time you received a hand-written note from someone you met at a business setting was?

Quite simply, hand-written correspondence is a wonderful way to build your business. When I say build your business, I am not just referring to acquiring new customers. I am also referring to keeping the customers you have!

According to a study conducted by the Technical Assistance Research Project in Washington DC, 68% of customers leave because of “perceived indifference”. In other words, customers don’t think you care about their business. As Sir William Jones said, “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated”. Our customers and clients want and need to be appreciated, remembered and thanked.

Another great advantage in sending a personal note….people tend to keep these cards. Whenever I receive a nice note from someone, I display it one my desk for awhile. Every time I see the card, I am warmly reminded of that person or business.

So, when should you send a hand-written card to someone? Here are a few suggestions:
• Every time you meet someone new and get their contact information (i.e. a networking function, a business meeting, a training session, on the plane, a social party, waiting in line at the grocery store, etc.)

• When a customer makes a major purchase from you or sends a referral your way.

• When you embark upon a joint venture with a new company.

Here are some other suggested but not mandatory times to jot a quick note:

• A birthday greeting to your clients and associates.

• A congratulatory note when you hear about something great that customer or business associate did. For example, one of my customers published a new book, so I sent her a congratulatory note.

• If you see an article that might be of interest to that client or associate, send them the clipping with a quick note.

• An encouraging note to members of your staff or team.

Remember, every card is a “ping”. It is likely that your message will echo back to you in some way soon!

Writing a hand-written note does not have to be a difficult exercise! When networking, make it a practice to take notes about the people you meet on the back of their business cards, so you have something to reference when you go to correspond with them.

Hand-written notes should only be 3-5 sentences in length. In other words, be short and to the point. If it is your first correspondence with this person, remind them where you met and what you do for a living. Thank them for taking the time to speak with you and perhaps suggest another meeting. Make sure to enclose another business card.

Your personal correspondence should be written on high quality stationery. Remember, your stationery represents your brand. If you are a veterinarian for example, a note card with a cute dog might certainly be appropriate. If you’re an image consultant, you might want something more refined and sophisticated. Personalized note cards with your name and/or company already printed on them are great for establishing a consistent brand or image. Make sure to give your correspondence that extra personal touch by hand-addressing the envelope and using a real postage stamp.

Set aside some time every day to write your notes. I prefer to do this practice at the end of the day. It gives me time to reflect upon the day and allows me to give this practice my undivided attention. It also helps me to end my day on a very positive note…energy which transcends to the following day.

For remembering customer’s birthdays, I have created an Excel spreadsheet with my customers’ names, addresses and birthdays. Once a week, I refer to this sheet to remind myself of the birthday notes I need to send out for that week.

Don’t get me wrong, emails, instant messages, phone calls and the like are all wonderful communication tools! However, taking the time to write a hand-written note really sends the message that you care and you have taken the time to think about your relationship or potential relationship with that person. Those 3-5 sentences can make a mighty impact. And, that ping will come back to you in the mighty echo of increased opportunity. Grab your pen and stationery and get writing today!

This article was written by Kristine M. Lewis, owner of http://www.dreampressonline.com./ Dream Press provides stationery and gifts personalized just for you! Products include stationery, favors, labels, calling cards and more!

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

Questions Your Sales Letter Must Answer

2008-11-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

6 Questions Your Sales Letter MUST Answer

Who Are You Selling Your Product To?

Before writing word one of your sales letter you must know who is in the market for your product. You need to be able to take your product and find the one specific group that is going to desperately have a need for your offer.

The more specific the better. If you’re offering a fishing lure designed to catch salmon you wouldn’t market it to men in general. You’d narrow it down to people that fished. And even more specifically, you’d market it to those that fish for salmon. By doing this your sales letter can speak directly to your prospect and therefore make more profits for you.

How Is Your Product Different?

What sets your product apart from the competition? Have you done studies to show it works better? Do you have a higher overall level of customer satisfaction compared to your competitors? Can you say that your product is the only one that does something no other product does? If so, tell the reader in your sales letter.

If you can tell your prospect that your product offers a highly desired benefit unavailable from your competitor’s product then you’re going to make the sale.

Why Should The Prospect Believe You?

With all the scams and false information being given through advertising, disbelief sets in pretty fast. So you’ve got to make your prospect believe what you’re telling them is the undeniable truth. And you’ve got to do it fast before the prospect starts to think that every claim you’re making can’t possibly be true.

So tell them why they should believe you. Show them stats to back up your claims. Prove to them that what you’re saying is the truth from the beginning and they’ll believe everything you have to say from that point forward.

What Are ALL The Benefits Your Product Offers?

But not only the biggest, most obvious benefits, but also those that are not so evident.
By creating a long list of benefits the customer gets with your product you better your chance of listing the one thing they really need. And if you can show them one benefit that captures their eye then you’re going to make a new customer.

Why Might Your Prospect Say “No”? Read your letter from the viewpoint of your prospect. Would you say yes to the offer? If not, why?

Reading over your sales letter and answering questions and objections as they arise is a guaranteed method for increasing response and breaking down buying resistance.

Why Should Your Prospect Act Now? The final question you must answer for your prospect is why they need to act immediately. Miss this crucial step and your offer will be put on permanent hold as the prospect makes plans to act at a later date but never does.

Give them a believable reason to act immediately. Give them a special price if they act within the next few days. Or tell them quantities are limited and once they’re all gone they won’t be sold at any price.

Just make sure that your urgency is believable and truthful.

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Increase Sales With the Human Touch

2008-11-05T06:20:00.000-08:00

Increase Sales By Using a Marketing Strategy With the Human Touch.

Suspects, prospects and customers beyond having needs, budgets, being the decision makers and urgencies or inclinations are people. Many times businesses forget that customers are people because the businesses are so focused on doing what they do in their ongoing efforts to increase sales.

Simply speaking, having an autoresponder or customer relationships management system (CRM) that deliver numerous announcements needs to be integrated with a real live person. One effective marketing strategy to increase sales is the old fashioned hand written note to even a hand written postcard.

Marketing research reveals that outside of lumpy mail (something bumpy or bulky in the envelope) personal handwritten notes and cards get open first before even the hand address #10 business envelope. Writing these notes is time consuming, but does leave a positive impression in the receiver’s mind.

For some who have extremely poor handwriting or do not have the time to go the local card stores to department stores to find the necessary stationery, there are companies that can assist you. Through these companies you establish an account, load the contact information, select the card, write the message and the company takes care of the rest. Your prospect receives what appears to be a hand addressed envelope with a signed card by you and with your signature inside. How cool is that?

Additionally, there are companies where you can craft you own full color postcard with your unique message for anywhere from $5 to $20 for 100 postcards. Postcards are good for doing a follow-up after a trade show or networking event. Again, the goal here is to not only touch your potential prospect, but do it with authentic quality.

By taking action right now to set a goal to send at least one hand written note a day, you will begin to see customer relationships grow and ultimately an increase in sales to get to where you want to be.

Do you want to increase your sales? Then, you might be interested "Simply Speaking, Increase Sales by..." a truly quality e-book combination workbook that focuses on helping you within the 3 key areas of Marketing, Selling and Planning. Learn more at http://www.processspecialist.com/sales-training-book.htm
Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. is a speaker and national business coach who has written hundreds of articles with a focus on leveraging human capital for transformational change by developing results driven leadership in people, teams and organizations.

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.

How to Improve Sales Copy

2008-11-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

How to Improve Your Sales Copy to Get More Sales

A few small changes in your sales copy can produce a big increase the number of sales you get from your web pages sales letters, and postcards. Here are 12 simple things you can do to improve the effectiveness of your sales copy - and increase your sales.

Make sure every part of your message focuses on the customer. Convert anything about you or your company into a customer benefit. For example, replace "14 years of experience" with "pleasing customers just like you for over 14 years".

Write your message the way you would write to one person. Many people will read your sales copy. But each person will read it individually. Effective sales copy makes each reader feel like you are writing personally to him or her.

Communicate in simple and informal language. Replace words like "originate" with "start" and "receive" with "get". Use active words in the present tense to grab your prospective customer's attention and hold their interest. People stop reading if they begin to feel bored.
Convert technical words and phrases into common words. Use words every prospective customer will clearly understand without stopping to think.

Replace general words and phrases with specific descriptions. For example, replace a phrase like "get fast results" with "our new clients average 9 percent more profit in the first 60 days".
Divide long paragraphs into 2 or more short paragraphs. People read short paragraphs because they look easy to read. But they skim (or skip) long paragraphs because they look like a challenge.

Include some bulleted or numbered lists to make your message:

Visually attractive
Easier to read

More clearly understood
Don't overdo the attention getters. Too much bold type, underlining or all upper case letters makes your message harder to read. Use them sparingly to highlight important benefits or features.

Eliminate anything cute, clever or humorous. It diverts the reader's attention away from your message.

Keep your message positive and upbeat. Positive copy usually produces better results than negative copy ...except in politics.

Make sure your message flows smoothly. Readers should be able to visualize what you're saying without noticing the words you're using to say it. Keep them engrossed in your message.
Avoid sensation and hype. They lower your believability and cause you to lose sales. Tone down any claims that sound exaggerated - even if they are true.

Compare the sales copy you are using on your web pages, sales letters and postcards with the 12 strategies on this list. Revise your copy to implement those you overlooked. You will enjoy an immediate increase in the number of sales they produce for you.
Tip: Save this list and use it as a guideline the next time you create (or pay someone else to create) new sales copy.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: BobLeduc.com

Visit http://www.fivestarwebdesign.com/ to get a web site that sells.