MarketingSherpa just rocks. They put out great reports and summaries in addition to their weekly wisdom. And speaking of wisdom, reading through their recent “Marketing Wisdom for 2010” report prompted quite a few insights for this freelance copywriter. This week, we’ll delve into one per day (since there were a total of five, I figure it was meant to be!)

 

Today, I gush over what Dean Rieck of Direct Creative had to say. Any comment that starts with "Content is king" is going to speak straight to a freelance copywriter's heart. But he gives proof, talking about a client that created more than 7,000 pages of blog posts and pages. And got results. As he says, it boosted the website in search engine rankings and it created a large pool of keywords.

Although I'm "just" a copywriter, I keep up with all things marketing...or at least as many as I can. How to increase your search engine rankings via organic SEO is one of those things. It's not rocket science, but it does take work. As this guy says, in this case, thousands of pages of work. But that's not hard! 

Over and over I am approached by company's that want to improve their SEO and over and over I tell them to consider blogging...and they do not listen. It's like me saying I want to lose weight while chowing down on chocolate chip cookies. I have a choice to make. So do they. But blogging takes commitment and they must want a magic bullet instead (which is, I think, why so many companies turn to pay per click instead).
If you want to improve your search engine rankings, add blogging to your marketing mix. Blogging is not hard, nor is it time-consuming! In addition to blogging, your company has ample opportunities to be creating content that can go on your website: press releases, tip sheets, whitepapers, how to guides, FAQs...

Content is king, especially in the world of search. The way to win search is to have great, keyword rich, relevant content. It's that simple. Hire the best copywriter you can find, and let her get to work creating your content so you can get the rankings you want.

It's not rocket science, but great content might take your SEO to the moon.

Seems like being a web site copywriter means working in a time warp sometimes. I get my part done, but then development still takes a while. I guess that means being a freelance copywriter makes me good at delayed gratification! Since I have to wait to see the fruits of my labors! 

Today a website copywriting project when live, and it's once again for me a delight to see my words at work. The K & H Print website was a great copywriting project for several reasons. Jay, the CEO, really pushed me in a way most clients don't. :-) For which I am grateful because I had to dig a little deeper and it was character building! My suggestion that they use video to tell their wonderful story was not only accepted, but embraced, and my colleague Mavis Lamb made that all come together for them. I got to work with Adhost, a favorite company of mine. And I got to really delve into this 101 year old company and what makes them tick.

This was a somewhat intensive website copywriting project, even though SEO wasn't part of it. And I enjoyed every minute of it, and I'm very proud of the results.

Take a look, click through, enjoy. Especially the home page. That's where the CEO really pushed me and I'm glad. I'm proud of the result.

I am slowly, ever so slowly, pulling together my "marketing is like dating book." The irony of being a freelance copywriter is you spend all your time writing for other people and don't seem to find time to do your own writing! 

But I've said enough in this copywriter blog about marketing is like dating to have, of all things, dating websites find it and post comments to it trying to get links back to their own sites. OK, this makes me laugh, but also draw two lessons from it:

My freelance work often involves website copywriting using keywords for SEO, but I know that's only one part of getting your website indexed and ranked by search engines. Links into your site are the other. So going out looking for blogs to post comments on to link back to your website is one way to do that. But, and this is a big but, you have to make sure you're posting in an appropriate place! 

Obviously anyone who things a link to a dating website is appropriate for this professional copywriter's blog didn't read the blog. Dumb.

The other lesson, well, it's not really a lesson, is something I hadn't considered: Here I've come up with 9 ways to improve your copywriting based on the idea that marketing is like dating, and people are coming to me via my freelance copywriter blog saying dating is like marketing. LOL! Yep. It sure is! 

I'll make sure to make that part of the book...when I get enough free time away from web copywriting and email copywriting to work on it...

Revising my own keywords as a professional copywriter who writes a blog, I was struck by how easy it might be to use keywords that don't attract your target audience...quite the opposite.

As I revised my freelance copywriter blog keywords this past week, there were several suggested to me that I knew wouldn't work. Anything with "wanted" in the term was another freelance copywriter looking for work, not a potential client. And search terms that used simply "writer" and not "copywriter" meant people with smaller budgets. (Clients that can afford to hire a professional copywriter will search using the term copywriter, not writer. Anyone who found my blog and therefore Website using the search term "writer" is therefore not a good lead for me, in my experience.) 

Better yet are specific terms like web copywriters, blog copywriter, content copywriter, email copywriting...even if those are competitive search terms that I'll have trouble winning through blogging for SEO, I'd rather fight harder for search terms that I know will help qualified copywriting prospects to find me, rather than use search terms that I could easily win...but then instead of making money as a professional copywriter, I'd be spending time trying to explain to someone why I'm not the kind of writer they are trying to hire. And I definitely don't want to spend time fielding emails and phone calls from freelance writers looking for work, those using words like "wanted" in their searches.

Just because a search term uses a word you want to be found for doesn't mean it's a search term you should focus on in your blog. Be clear who is using those terms and why, rather than investing precious time in blogging using keywords that might generate traffic but won't generate clients or sales! 

Web writing can be a tricky business for a professional copywriter: You're never quite sure what you're going to be working with for a design, sitemap, clarity of message...I wrote my first website in 1997, if you can believe it, way before I even knew what a professional copywriter was! And in the 13 (gulp) years since then, I don't think I've done two website copywriting projects that were the same.

I really like what we were just able to do for Contract Controllers, a CPA firm, and this was a first for me: They had a set template and sitemap for me to work with, because of the company doing their site. But they were smart enough to know that even with a design that wasn't one-of-a-kind, their message better be! 

So they called me in as their professional copywriter. (Am I being self serving here? Probably, but this blog really is about them!)

They were great to work with, and the project went smoothly for this website copywriter. But I give them kudos for recognizing the need to stand out, to have a unique message.

I was a little frustrated with the company putting together the site because they wouldn't let us use unique Title tags (critical for SEO!). And certain elements couldn't be changed. But for the most part as the freelance website copywriter, I'm a happy camper because Contract Controllers got a decent looking site that tells their story.

See the site at http://www.contractcontrollers.com.

I'm a professional copywriter. That means it's my job to know words and how to use them, for websites, email, SEO, print, ghost blogging, press releases, etc.

But I've also made it part of my job as a professional copywriter to know about the tools and means used for serving up the copywriting that is my craft. That means learning about online press rooms, for example, or keeping up with changes in search engine optimization (SEO) copywriting. And much, much more! (You'd be shocked how much I know that has nothing to do with being a professional copywriter!) 

My embarrassing ah ha moment happened when I realized blogs would make perfect press rooms. I happen to know a little something about online press rooms (again, not related to being a copywriter, but related to knowing how to present my work). We did a presentation andarticle on online press rooms few years ago.

But that was before I really understood blogs as online marketing tools.

Using a blog for your pressroom is brilliant because it's easy to upload your content, the search engines will find and index those press releases faster (because they prefer blog content over static website content), it's easily searched, you can add static pages with your contact information and company bio...I honestly can't think of a reason NOT to use a blog for your online press room! 

If you've been thinking, yeah, we really need an online press room, but you haven't wanted to put the time and money into it, try a blog. I bet you can be up and running with your press room in less than half an hour. For tips on what to include, definitely read our article at http://www.weknowblogs.com/blog/sharons-marketing-missive/0/0/you-dont-have-to-be-an-online-copywriter-to-market-your-business-online-use-press-releases.

Fridays are a fast day for me. Not all day, just until dinner. But I just made this Friday harder buying salivating over the toasts and bagels pictured at the Global Toaster blog.

It's not that I'm obsessed with toasters. I'm obsessed with blogs as marketing tools. And by that I mean blogging for SEO.

The Global Toaster blog is the best blog I know of for showing how quick and targeted blog posts can be.

For me as a copywriter, it's kind of funny, because I love words and I love to write and I love to market...and that all adds up to wanting to write longer blog copywriting blog posts. Even the ghost blogs I write for clients tend to be longer. I rationalize that I get to be more verbose because it gives me more room for the SEO keywords too.

But Jane Toast, the clever and witty author of the Global Toaster blog, puts this SEO copywriter to shame. Her posts are short and to the point, but still entertaining and keyword rich.

I check out her blog on a regular basis to inspire me as the SEO copywriter to do a better job with my own blogging.

But I just learned not to do that on Fridays. Because now my stomach is grumbling and I have about 8 more hours of fasting to go.

It was really the egg and muffin toaster that did it...man, that makes me hungry! 

If you're using blogs as marketing tools and SEO is a big part of it, definitely check out the toaster blog for inspiration. Just make sure to do it on a full stomach, OK?

Yesterday I sat through another disappointing SEO webinar. It was "sold" to me as a copywriter as SEO copywriting tips for 2010, implying it would offer new information. But it was simply a rehash of old information I as an experienced copywriter already knew.

Seriously, maybe I do know everything there is to know about SEO copywriting for now, including optimizing press releases. This webinar talked about how to build an online press room, a topic the We Know Words copywriting staff presented on two years ago!

I realize not everyone knows as much as I do about search engine optimization and Web writing. That's because not everyone works as a website copywriter. I get that. But please do not sell me on a webinar by promising that it will be new information! If it's the same old, same old in 2010, fine. Tell me that and I'll know I'm still in a position to do well by my clients. But don't pretend it's more than it is.

I don't SEO staying the same for a while! That gives me time to ramp up on my role as a freelance copywriter in the age of social media...

Yesterday I started on a new website copywriting project and it struck me how important it is to know what your prospects know when determining what your website should say. In this case, the people come to the website already know they have a need (the patient is aware of the disease).

Not only that, they've heard of the company. (Which is why this is not an SEO copywriter project in this case.) And they've had contact with a sales rep from the company already.

What does that mean to me as the copywriter? It means there's a heck of a lot of stuff I do NOT need to say. These prospects are already interested. They are in the research phase. They have questions, like "Why should I choose you?" 

As the website copywriter, I don't have to sell them on the whole idea of what this client is selling. Nor do I have to introduce them to this company.

Instead I as the client's freelance copywriter get to delve into the competitive differences of this company. Plus I can streamline the sales process by answering the questions prospects typically ask right there on the website. Finally, I have room for "proof points" in the form of real-life stories that prove my client's claims.

Knowing where in the sales cycle or research cycle the prospect is helps me as the online copywriter to provide the information they are really looking for, not fill the website with fluff they already know...and that will make them just click away with a yawn.

I've just returned from a meeting in Seattle with a copywriting prospect. And earlier today I had another meeting with a copywriting client. Both times, I was called upon to be knowledgeable about much more than copywriting. I've long viewed that as part of my job, to know about all kinds of marketing, so I know where I fit as the Seattle copywriter, and to give the best advice to the client whether we're talking websites or email or (now) social media.

But starting with the new year last Monday, I see my role changing... from being able to give advice to doing certain marketing tasks myself.

I already work as a ghost blogger, something I plan to do even more of in 2010. But I'm still figuring out my place in social networking, as a content provider.

And maybe that's where I'm not sure? I'm in marketing, but my role in marketing is as Seattle copywriter. I have to know marketing to be a good copywriter. But what do I need to know to be a good social media content provider? Maybe it's even too early to say? 

I know how to be an SEO copywriter. I know how to use blogs as marketing tools. I know small business email marketing. I know how to do all these specific things that require specialized knowledge.

But what is the specialized knowledge required for copywriters in 2010? Are we now faced with copywriting 2.0? Or even 3.0 (if I missed the boat the first time around)? 

As I told the copywriting client this morning, it's my job to stay ahead of the marketing curve, in order to be the best freelance copywriter I can be. But I've yet to figure out my place in the new marketing world order.

Something to think on. Any thoughts on it, from other copywriters or people who hire copywriters?

Because I detest updating my Web site, being a copywriter, not an html guru, I don't put recent copywriting samples up on it. I told myself I would start blogging on projects as I completed them instead, so at least somewhere online, this copywriter would be showing off her prowess with samples.

It's December 28 as I type this copwriter blog, and I think I maybe blogged on recent copywriting projects um...twice?? This year I resolve to do better! And not only because potential clients need to be able to see my work and the types of companies I work for, but because they might learn from seeing these samples too. Or not. Maybe blogging on my copywriter projects is purely self serving! 

This project took a while to go live when my Website copywriter role was over, so I was delighted to see it finally. In those cases, I often have forgotten what I wrote by the time I see the finished product, so it's a pleasant treat to see the Website copywriting with fresh eyes and think, "hey, that's pretty good!"

The Website is www.maxsampartners.com and the challenges were unique. I didn't have to worry about keywords and SEO, but I had a very restrictive template to work within, which dictated not only the word count for each section and page, but the character counts even! Seriously, headings, captions, text, bulleted lists...every section had a set character count to work with.

It was a totally different Website copywriter experience for me as a result, and fun! Fun trying to make sure I was getting the core marketing messages across while still being compelling and interesting and all within a tight space.

And as much as I love being an SEO copywriter, it was nice to take a break from keywords and thinking on all that stuff.

Yes, I admit it. I’m weird. I’m a copywriter who loves writing whitepapers. Is it because I spend too much time alone and my mind is warped? Is it the wet Seattle weather? Or maybe my hours spent as an SEO copywriter has damaged my perspective?

 

Nah. It’s none of those things. I enjoy working on whitepapers because they are such great sales tools, and because they give me as a copywriter the chance to really delve into the customer’s mindset.

 

I just got off the phone with one of my favorite copywriting clients. We are about to do three whitepapers around a new product launch, so this morning’s call was to get me ramped up. But we don’t spend all our time talking about how the product can do A, B and C. No, I as the copywriter want to know what to say based not on the product’s capabilities (what it can do) but rather based on the customer’s worldview (what do they want).

 

I get to learn about, and write to, their pain points, desires, daily frustrations and wish lists in a way I can’t do when a copywriter for ads or direct mail pieces.

 

The benefit for you as the marketer is the appeal of the whitepaper because it’s customer centric. The potential customer who downloads your whitepaper is pretty sure he or she is going to get mostly factual, useful information, not a 5-page sales pitch. That’s a feel good in your favor as the company they might buy from!

 

And crazy as I might sound, I think whitepapers are easy to write! They are straightforward and objective. They don’t require clever turns of phrase or picturesque verbosity. They are what they are.

 

I’ve also written enough whitepapers, and studied information about writing whitepapers, to have a structure I use pretty much every time. That’s how straightforward it is.

 

Plus they can be about a variety of topics. I started out writing whitepapers for high tech only, but over the years We Know Words copywriters have even written whitepapers for the corporate travel industry, and we wrote a series of banner ads and landing pages for a whitepaper written for the HR industry.

 

Whitepapers. They rock. For the copywriter and the customer both. Are you using them as part of your marketing mix?

 

To see a bit more about whitepapers written by We Know Words copywriters, go to http://weknowwords.com/whitepapers.htm.

 

Hmmm… I love them so much, my next blog topic might just be on how whitepapers help you date your prospects and customers!

Please excuse me while I gush while enthusiastically endorsing a product. I can’t help myself. Homestead.com rocks, pure and simple.

 

I’m a freelance copywriter and, unlike some other copywriters who like to wear designer hats as well, I stick to what I know: copywriting. That makes me better at what I do because that’s all I do! But it also means I work in the worlds of marketing and website copywriting, and that makes my friends think I can design and build websites.

 

I can’t.

 

But thanks to Homestead, I did! I just built an already successful website for a friend! When you see the site, it’s obvious I’m not a designer, but hey, this Seattle copywriter built a website! And with much more ease than I would have using FrontPage or Publisher or any of the other novice website building tools out there.

 

The site didn’t need to be complicated, but it did need to be clean and easy to use and a site that would rank well in search engines. It is all of those things thanks to Homestead. It’s already showing up on page one of Google for a specific search term, and page two for a very generic one. Amazing! (Yes, partly that's due to my skills as an SEO copywriter, but still, I don't usually get websites to rank that quickly!)

 

It’s easy to move things around, insert photos, format text, change colors, link, use alt text, include meta tags, change navigation and more. It even lets you add an email signup, then manage that email list.

 

Not only that, it is cheap! For only $20 per month, we got the domain name, up to five email accounts, and monthly hosting. Plus use of the software to build the site. I pay that much just in hosting my We Know Words copywriting website!

 

Then today I got into the site stats. So easy to access, use and understand! Much easier than with my own copywriting website, much!

 

You can make it an ecommerce site too, for a higher monthly cost, but even that’s only about $50 a month, far cheaper than setting up an ecommerce site on your own.

 

If you’re looking to build a website, and don’t want to pay a designer $1500 or more to do it, take a look at Homestead.com. If you have some design skills, you’ll be able to make it look good, but if not, you can still create a functional website for hardly any cost at all.

 

OK, done gushing. But what fun to get the chance to gush! It’s not very often something impresses me to this degree. And it’s nice to know some companies are still out there making products and services that really work, not just that make them money.

 

P.S. This friend admittedly got some kickass freelance copywriter services too, so that has helped with his search engine rankings. But hiring a freelance copywriter is much cheaper than hiring a website designer, so if you have to choose, maybe put the money into the copywriter, use Homestead to build your site, and save yourself a bundle!

Just read an article by a very respected SEO copywriter talking about Title tags. If you do any SEO copywriting, or you work with your SEO copywriter, you’ll know the Title tag is a critical part of your search engine optimization (SEO).

 

(If you don’t know, read a quick tutorial I just wrote for another blog here: http://smallbusinessblogging.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/small-business-blogging-for-internet-marketing-why-your-title-is-soooooo-key/.)

 

Normally I really respect this SEO copywriter’s opinion, and, knowing how important Title tags are I was excited to read this article to make sure I know everything I need to to be a kick ass Website copywriter…but in this case, I was disappointed in her advice because in all honesty I think she’s just a wee bit wrong.

 

Why? Because she talked about including the company name in the Title tag. I disagree, unless your business is well known and people are searching specifically for YOU (meaning your business). Even still, if that’s the case, does your company name belong in the Title tag?

 

People use search engines like Google to solve problems. The problem might be they need a new keyboard for their laptop, or they’re searching for a new horse, or they’re researching an arch pain in their foot…there are likely as many problems to be solved as there are Internet searchers!

 

But your Title tag has to match their search in order to work. That means the keywords in your Title tag must match the keywords they’re typing into the Google search box.

 

Is searching for We Know Words solving a problem? Only if the problem is they are looking for my copywriting company specifically. But if that’s the case, they probably already know to go to weknowwords.com. More likely they are searching for a freelance copywriter, or a Seattle copywriter, or a Website copywriter, or an SEO copywriter…meaning they don’t know they want to hire me, Sharon, as their copywriter, they only know they need to find a copywriter.

 

Including the words “We Know Words” in my Title tags would be a complete waste of space.

 

I agree with the author that Title tags are so important and I’m glad she’s talking about them. But too many people will likely follow that SEO copywriter’s expert advice and waste precious SEO real estate with company names that don’t belong. L

 

Here’s another analogy for proving marketing is like dating: Think of personal ads. Why? Because words can woo.

 

Even with online dating sites like Match.com, you don’t rely solely on the photos. Heck, plenty of people (mostly men for some reason) don’t even put up photos. The words still matter. You read someone’s profile and decide if it resonates with you or not.

 

Let’s take search engines and search results as an example…

 

Like your personal ad, you can write these to say anything you want, as long as they also have the search terms you want to get found for. The goal of this search result is first, to get found, and second, to get someone to click through and go to your site, for this copy to resonate with the prospect. You don’t get to use any pictures, so it’s like the personal ads of old, when people put their ads in newspapers.

 

Now think of the search result someone gets when searching on Google, using the We Know Words copywriting Website as our example. Type Seattle copywriter into Google and sure enough, We Know Words is on the first page (under that horrid local search map, gads I hate those things!).

 

What people get for a search result is the title tag and description I’ve written for a particular page on the We Know Words Website. In my case, this is really bad, I don’t know that it would resonate with anyone, honestly…  

 

Marketing writer - Seattle copywriter portfolio of web writing and ...

Copywriting portfolio of ads, brochures, case studies, datasheets, emails, Web content and more showcases the singular talents of the marketing writers at ...

 

But besides the fact that this Seattle copywriter is maybe acting like the cobbler whose children have no shoes, my advice is still sound. J Have your copywriter, whether freelance or in-house, write your website copy, brochure copy, email copywriting, whatever it is, as if she were copywriting a personal ad.

 

If I were to rewrite my title tag and description as a personal ad, keeping in mind that I have to achieve both search engine optimization (SEO) and conversion (getting people to click on the link and go to my site), I could do it as:

 

Marketing writer - Seattle copywriter portfolio of web writing and ...

Searching for a stellar freelance Seattle copywriter? See complete portfolio of print copywriting, email copywriting, Web copywriting and more.

 

I want to keep marketing writer in the Title tag, because it ranks well in Google, but I’m pushing Seattle copywriter as a keyword a bit more so it’s in there twice now. That’s my SEO. But I also made it more action oriented.

 

OK, maybe not the best example of having your copywriter write marketing ads, but like the cobbler, this copywriter has to get some client work done! No more indulging in blogging for now!

You can market your business on the Internet without being or using an online copywriter. Use press releases  and an online press room. And here’s how, in an article written a couple of years ago by Marina Parr, when she worked for We Know Words as a copywriter. It’s great advice for anyone with a Web site who wants to improve their SEO! So here it is again…

 

Who needs on online press room? You do. But the reasons go beyond reaching the media and gaining coverage in next day's newspaper. These days a press room is just as much a "customer room" as it is a place aimed at journalists. Build one correctly, and you're able to use online press releases to tell your company's story directly to whoever is searching on the Web, boosting your credibility with both media and your potential customers. And with customers shopping online for everything from flowers to shoes to cars to enterprise management systems, they are just as likely to end up researching you at your press room as the reporter at the local paper.

Fact is, your online press room's real power is in boosting your visibility on the Web, a cluttered place where search engines crawl through content everyday looking for new, updated information. It's the kind of information that you can naturally add to your press room through online press releases, recent articles and awards, and much more without using and online copywriter or SEO copywriter. So not only are you telling your story to Wesiteb visitors and journalists alike, but your press room's fresh, search engine friendly content is helping people find you in the first place by using press releases for SEO.

 

An online press room, at its heart, is all about you. It's your best chance to use online press releases to tell your story from all angles, whether it's facts and figures, photos and bios, or logos and slogans. Configure it correctly and fresh content will build your web presence, help the media "get it right" when writing about you and help you connect directly with customers who may not have been looking for you in particular, but will be glad they found you! And you'll be glad to find out you can achieve that kind of SEO without using an online copywriter.

 

Now that you're convinced you'd benefit from online press releases and a press room, here are nine tips to help you build one relatively quickly and painlessly (really).

 

Nine tips for building an online press room that builds your online presence

Tip 1: Consider your online press room as an extended About Us page. This is your opportunity to present facts and figures-from when you started your business to where you're located to how many people you employ. It's also a place to flesh out your company's philosophy, give kudos to key employees, note awards you've won and post articles that have been written about you-or in some cases, for you.

 

Tip 2: You can pump up your online presence further by using press releases for SEO, sprinkling keywords that people naturally search on into the online press release copy you post. It's a simple way to boost your search engine rankings-and get found.

 

Tip 3: And when you suddenly have a story to tell, your press room positions you to communicate directly with the media, giving journalists instant access to critical information about your company. In addition to being used in online press releases, that information can be boiled down into two to three sentences for journalists to copy and paste into their own stories with little editing. It makes it that much easier for you to help the news media define who you are, rather than them defining you.

 

Tip 4: Even though you're using press releases for SEO, this is still online PR. Make sure your press room includes all the ingredients the media needs to write and report their stories. That means including key contact information--both email addresses and phone numbers--so reporters on a deadline can reach the right people right away. Also be sure to include a corporate bio and include basic data, including when the company was founded, the number of employees, location, gross annual revenue and other objective, background information that can be dropped into a story.

 

Tip 5: Think in terms of pictures when thinking about online PR. Nothing tells your story better than pictures that add a human element. So be sure to include photos of founders, directors and other key players. It also helps to have a jpg of your logo, as well as a scenic shot of your operations. Again, you help shape your story by providing reporters with the photos you choose.

 

Tip 6: Both in your online press releases and your press room, offer easy-to-find links to other information customers or reporters might be looking for: information about the company and its principals, information about your product or service such as product sheets or case studies, recent articles written about your company, etc. An online press room has to be straightforward and not overly salesy. Reporters will spot the hard sell and click away, and so will regular customers who happen to wander into the press room, either on purpose or by chance.

 

Tip 7: To use press releases for SEO, regularly create online press releases and submit them via an online service like PR Newswire. Or simply add them to your site as separate pages, and link to them from your press room. Regularly can be just twice a year, if necessary, just make sure it's regular (keeping in mind that they more frequently you update content on your Web site, the happier the search engines will be with you). And even if you don't spend the money to submit them online, still add them to your Web site. It shows both prospects and search engines that you keep your site current. After all, these days your online press releases about getting covered in the New York Times; as they're about telling your story to a potential customer as much as to a journalist.

Tip 8: Include a descriptive sentence or two with links to your online press releases, so journalists and regular folks know what they're clicking on. Too many press rooms provide long lists of press releases without enough supporting information telling someone why they should click on a link and what they'll find if they do. Without that summary information, visitors won't bother to click-and you miss the chance to enhance how you're viewed and written about.

 

Tip 9: Don't treat your online press room as a last-minute afterthought. Think of it instead as a portal to the rest of your Web site-and your company's credibility. Your press room can be-and should be-one of your most information rich, keyword loaded, always changing sections of your Web site. Your press room is also your opportunity to provide visitors a more personal look at you, your employees and your company. And because people don't always enter Web sites through the home page, prospects searching online for information might find your online press room first. So make the most of it by giving it plenty of your attention.

 

In short, your online press room is really a full view of you and your company, as well as a tool for SEO. Think of yourself in front of the dressing room mirror and take advantage of every angle-from the pictures you post to the articles to the press releases you use for SEO to a three-sentence corporate summary that can be quickly copied and pasted. You're in charge of how you present yourself…and how you get found online in the first place. The power is in your hands. Use it!

And if you find that this sounds too hard and you do want to hire an online copywriter or SEO copywriter to help, go for it. That or use blogs as marketing tools instead!

As a freelance copywriter, I recently did some informal market research, trying to wrap my head around how to do the copywriting for a product new to me. When reporting what one prototype customer said to a friend, when that prototype customer was obviously wrong, my friend said I should have challenged him.

 

Uh…no. The customer is always right. If the customer says the sky is green, the sky is green. At least until I through my copywriting prowess move him from potential customer to loyal customer. Then I have some credibility with him that means he’ll listen to something that opposes his worldview.

 

My job as a freelance copywriter is to figure out what my clients’ customers are buying, not what the client is selling. Yet I run up against this mindset all the time, with clients so focused on how they see their product or service, they’re unable to see it through the customers’ eyes. That’s why I like to talk to customers, and to the salespeople: The sales folks usually understand better what the customer is buying than the marketing department, because the marketing department is too obsessed with the story as they see it, not the way the customer sees it.

 

In spite of the marketing department, copywriters have to write their copy to sell what the customer is buying, NOT what the client is selling.

 

Are you selling mattresses or a good night’s sleep?

 

Are you selling blogging software or search engine optimization?

 

Are you selling meat or meals?

 

Are you selling trucks or status?

 

Are you selling TVs or entertainment?

 

I could have challenged my prototype customer and pointed out he was wrong. But he wouldn’t have believed me. And where in the world would that get me as a marketer and copywriter? That’s akin to going into a focus group and telling the participants they are wrong and what the correct answers should be…when the whole point of the focus group is to find out what potential customers think so the copywriting can match it.

 

Companies don’t always like what customers have to say or how customers view their product or service. They often want to sell what they want to sell, not what the customer wants to buy. But then they are ego-driven, more concerned with being “right” than being successful. The smart company tells their copywriter to write copy that fits and REINFORCES the customer’s worldview.

When you oppose someone's worldview, in any aspect of life, not just marketing, they resist you. And you cause friction. And I as a freelance copywriter want to avoid friction at all costs. Whether I'm doing the copywriting for a Website, email marketing, or something else, my words must move the prospect closer to "yes," not push them away.

 

Seth Godin’s book “All Marketers Are Liars” deals with this topic far better than this copywriter’s blog post does. He refers to figuring out your customer’s worldview, then telling your story in a way that fits that worldview. You’re not really a liar. That’s just a title that sells. But you are a story teller, especially if you’re a copywriter, and a good story tells a potential customer what they WANT to hear…even if you have to let them keep on believing that the sky is green.

 

I did the math. My research subject was wrong. But rather than say that and challenge my prototype customer which would have gotten me nowhere, I responded with, “OK, you don’t eat that many pounds of such-and-such. Do you eat at least six meals per month at home?” And therein would lie MY answer as the copywriter: talk about meals, not pounds. That fits the customer’s worldview and still enables me as the copywriter to do my job.
 
One caveat: Sometimes a prospect just isn't a good prospect. Sometimes no matter how a copywriter tells the story, it will not fit the prospect's worldview. Take me as customer for example: Is there a story that fits my worldview in such a way that I'd ever buy a Hummer? Nope. So just remember, not everyone is a potential customer, not everyone is a good fit.

 

When you’re a copywriter, it truly is all in how you say it. So never, ever underestimate the power of words. And value your customer’s opinions and thoughts and worldview. He or she may not be right, but he or she is the one with the money to spend.

i want to get into the psychology of numbers too because that also came into play in this situation, but I'll save that for another copywriting blog post.  

Working on a recent project as the Website copywriter, I submitted a draft of the home page of the Website to the design firm so they could build comps around it. The initial designs came back with my copy, but with a big ol’ “Welcome to our Web site” headline towering over my carefully crafted, attention getting headline.

 

As a Website copywriter, I obviously write a lot of Websites. As a consumer and marketer, I obviously see a lot of Websites.

 

And I do not get the whole Welcome thing. That home page is valuable real estate. You have three seconds to convince a site visitor to stick around and click around. (And this is true for every page of your Web site if those Website visitors are finding you via search engines and SEO.)

 

It is assumed they are welcome. Otherwise you wouldn’t have a Website, right? You’d have an intranet. You wouldn’t be visible to the whole World Wide Web.

 

Your headline has to work really hard. It has to grab that visitor’s attention. It should, you hope, include a keyword phrase. It should make the Website visitor want to see what else is on this page.

 

Don’t scream “Welcome,” you’re wasting your three seconds of opportunity. Instead scream “You want to know more!” OK, not that. But those big, bold words should be engaging, enticing, encouraging them to stay and see what your Website has to offer.

 

I had to fight the designers to get that banner welcome text removed and my own headline, which I had labored over, thank you very much, inserted in its place. And that shouldn’t happen, for a couple of reasons. One, I am the Website copywriter. Let me do my job. Two, even Website designers should understand the importance of that three second opportunity that your home page presents when a visitor lands there.

 

Listen to your Website copywriter. Or let your marketing team or Website designer use the tiresome welcome. The choice is yours…and it’s your site visitor’s choice to click the Back button when they find no immediate reason to stick around.

This Seattle copywriter is finally updating the We Know Words web site. It's a running joke that I need to hire a website copywriter to keep the web site maintained! But a pleasant lull in the copywriting business is making the update doable.

Part of the update is simplifying the site since I now rely more on blogs as marketing tools. (More on that in my next blog.) But I as a copywriter have a tendency to get a little fond of copy. As a result, I'm posting an article on email newsletters here since it's being deleted off the copywriting web site. It's an oldie but goodie and maybe a bit unusal to spot here since I've become such an evangelist for blogs as marketing tools. Why would I be encouraging the use of email newsletters? Granted they are not necessarily the best choice for small business marketing, but for the right size business, and right business, email newsletters are still great for marketing, even in an age of social media. Enough explaining, here's the article...

Market with email newsletters
Perhaps the hardest part of marketing is to keep doing it. The irony is, this is also one of the most important. One contact with a potential customer is less effective than repeated contacts over time. We also live in a world of skepticism and doubt, a world where trust matters more than price when people make buying decisions.

To market effectively, you need to establish and nurture a relationship with a prospect. Ditto for existing customers: Once someone has bought from you, don't assume she'll be back someday. You must stay in touch with her on a regular basis so she'll think of you next time she's ready to buy, and possibly refer you to others in the meantime.

 

So how do you stay in touch with your past, present and potential customers on a regular basis? E-newsletters. An e-newsletter is perhaps the most effective and cost-effective way to build and maintain relationships that earn their trust. And trust is crucial to sales.

E-newsletters reinforce your other marketing efforts too by:

 

·         Driving traffic to your Web site through links and special offers.

·         Establishing credibility and positioning your business as a leader and resource.

·         Improving your search engine rankings: Archiving the newsletters on your Web site adds to your content, and search engines love good content!

 

So why are we suggesting email rather than print? It's cheaper than printing and mailing a hardcopy version, for one thing. Plus you don't know if a snail-mailed newsletter even gets read or if it goes straight into the recycling bin. With an emailed newsletter, you can know right away how many people opened it and even how many clicked on a URL to go to your Web site. Email marketing also gets a higher response rate than direct mail: 10-15% compared to 1-2%.

 

Of course, as with all good marketing, your results depend on doing your e-newsletter correctly. Newsletters that are infrequent, boring, purely promotional, or sent to people who didn't ask to hear from you only harm your marketing efforts. But do your email newsletter right, and you will reap the rewards of that ongoing contact as you build relationships, earn trust…and make sales.