If you’ve ever watched a classic infomercial, you’ve heard the line “But wait, there’s more!” This is called a “false close”, and the purpose is to seal the deal by piling on more benefits at the peak of the prospect’s interest, or in the moment of decision. If the “more” is exciting enough, it will…
A friend proudly showed off her new website yesterday. “I’ve worked on it for months – I think it looks great.” I hear that all the time – “Looks great”, “Pretty”, “Nice graphics,” “Professional.” I don’t know what any of that really means, it’s so subjective. I think people are saying it doesn’t look like…
When writing our website copy, it’s tempting to write what we think will promote us best – what we do, what we’ve done, how we do it. Sadly, all this talk about ourselves is usually of no concern to our readers. They tend to bore easily it seems. Of far greater interest, it turns out,…
HOW TO GET 5-STAR TESTIMONIALS Asking for testimonials can be tough, like asking for a favor. But it might help to remember that your client is actually getting something out of it as well: 1) If they’ve liked you, they’ll feel good about writing a recommendation. 2) It encourages them to review the value they…
What would you guess is the most common mistake I see in business websites? So many sites are guilty of this infraction, that I decided to write a quick post about it, and more importantly, how to fix it. I’m going to outline a simple home page structure for above-the-fold. Above-the-fold is what your visitor…
Before I work with clients I ask them a series of questions designed to help me understand their business, and how well they understand it themselves. One of the most frequent stumpers is “What’s your unique positioning?” Typical responses: “Well, let’s see…we really focus on the client’s needs.” “Oh, you know, I’ve been doing this…
It’s one of the most common mistakes I see in business websites. You want to tell your reader EVERYTHING about your business, but that’s no better than telling them nothing. People don’t want to know everything about you and your business. You’re lucky if they stick around for more than 10 seconds. I was watching…
I like things to be simple. Copywriting is about clarity. You want to get your message across clearly and powerfully. So as a writer I struggle with the sizzle and razzle dazzle of crazy graphic design. I’ve learned to talk the language and when I work with designers I get my way about 50% of…
It’s easy to increase your ranking by adding a few SEO elements, so why not do it? There are many, many tools that help with keyword research. Adding these to your titles and tags won’t rocket you to the top of the charts, but combined with good copy you’ll have a much more effective site….
I just finished an interesting book by Dan Kennedy. Dan‘s a copywriter and marketing guru who has written over a dozen books and delivered thousands of presentations over the past 30 years. Dan’s not the most likeable guy in the world. He’s arrogant, curmudgeonly, and opinionated. I would guess that most people are turned off…
