Essentials of Good Copy Writing

Short take on Keys to Good Copy Writing


1. Know Your Product
You must be familiar with your product. Buy it, try it, test it. You should not endorse a product you do not believe in.

When you are enthusiastic about the product your copy will be much easier. You will be speaking from facts and truth.

2. Know Your Customer
Who is the person that will be buying your product. Some simple categories are sex, age, geographical region, income, occupation. Once you have this narrowed down you need to create copy that this customer will relate to. Do not write copy you will relate to. Write to connect with your customer.



3. Test Drive your copy
Find a couple of people who more or less fit your customer data profile and have them navigate through your site/copy. Ask them specific questions about your site/copy as well as their experience of your site/copy. Confusing web sites/copy is the NUMBER ONE reason people leave or will not buy your product.

3. Stress Benefits
Your customer wants your product because it will solve a problem for them and provide a benefit to them. Your customers are interested in hearing about this. Your customers do not want to hear about you. They want to hear about your product and what it can do for them. What can your product do for your customer? How long will the results take?
Can it make your customer rich?
Can it save your customer time?
Can it entertain your customer?
Can it make your customer feel better?
That's what people want to hear and know.

Your headline or header should contain your product's greatest benefit. In bold letters and a compelling color such as red will attract attention and eye contact to your headline. The first few words should talk directly to your customer.

People do not read very word on your page. They will scan. They will look for something that seems interesting and important to them.

You have about10 seconds to grab your visitor's attention. If you don't, they will move on.

That means you need to have a headline that is direct, clear and something your customer wants to read. Another thing to consider is that E Consumers are doing pother things while they are looking at your copy. They are also button oriented and they will click away the minute they loose interest. So you must give your customers a reason to stay.


4. Provide Trust
E customers are skeptical of the Internet. If you are not a name brand you will have to convince your customers that you are reliable, trustworthy and will give them good value for their money. Therefore your copy will have to convey this. One way to reassure your customers is to offer a free trial, a money-back guarantee. You can provide testimonials. You should include your e-mail address, physical address and phone number at the bottom of every page. You can also use a (small) photograph of yourself etc.

Use short, clear sentences. Use small paragraphs. Avoid technical info in the main part of your sales page. You can provide this at the end of your copy if necessary.

Be sure the font is large and readable. Be straightforward.


Try to be interesting. Use dramatic, descriptive words. Once you are done read your copy out loud. Try to punch it up by shortening sentences and adding adjectives.

8. Create Urgency
The one thing you do not want is for your customer to read your copy and think the product is great but they will come back and get it later. They probably will not. Add a bonus. Give your customers something special to purchase now.

9. Get A Response
Make sure you ask your customers to book mark your page. Offer something that your customers can get now for free if they choose not to buy your product. That way you can keep in contact with them.


10. Spelling, Grammar and Formatting
Check your spelling. Check your grammar. Do not stress grammar over speaking in a natural tone.

11. Be Bold but avoid Exaggeration
Do not fill your copy with statements that are not believable.

If you want to get the whole scoop on good copy then visit here. Don't wait because you only get one shot to impress and communicate with your customers.

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

How to Write Your Own E Book

Are you an author dying to get your book written, published and promoted? YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF.
Read how.
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Let's Get One Thing Straight About Being A Published Author-


by Jim Edwards and David Garfinkel (c) 2002 - All Rights reserved-





Just for fun, evaluate the following statement: "Most people want to write a book and get it published, but that's simply impossible 99% of the time.





"Is the above statement true? Not exactly. What's true is that most people THINK they can't write a book and get it published. And while that's a widely-held belief, just the opposite is true. In fact, it's easier to write and get published today thanever before - especially thanks to the ebook "revolution."





The field of ebooks is literally wide open for all who are interested - including, perhaps, you!What does it take to write and publish your own ebook?





Three things:


1) A TOPIC you are interested in that others would also liketo know more about.





2) The DESIRE to get the ebook written (note - you can writeit yourself, but you don't have to. There are other proven and simple ways to get your ebook written and published foryou.)





3) A simple, one-page, "sales letter" WEB SITE to sell theebook.





Does it take a lot of money or any special aptitudes? Oddly enough, not really. You have to be willing to take action, certainly, and learn as you go, but there are no special educational, financial or talent requirements to become a successful ebook author. The truth is, it costs very little to get started.





You can get a domain registered and online for as little as $9 to start and $6 a month for website hosting. In fact, there are actually six ways you can create an ebook without ever writing a word of it - so you don't need to be a skilled writer.





We'll tell you about one of them, in-depth, right now.Think of a topic you know something about that you'd like to write an ebook on. Once you have that topic in mind, then all you need to do is write a list of questions other people would pay to get the answers to... give that list to a friend... have the friend call you on the phone and ask you those questions... record the call... have the recording transcribed... and edit the transcription! Presto - you've just created a "meaty" ebook fast! (Yes, itreally is that simple!)





By the way, if you don't want to transcribe or edit the ebook yourself, you can get both of those things done for you for surprisingly little money... as little as a few hundred dollars, total, in many cases. That's how we wrote our most recent ebook. As authors ourselves, we came up with a list of questions, got on the phone, recorded the answers, and had the entire 4 1/2 hour conversation transcribed. Using this phone call -transcription - edit route we created an ebook in about a week. It cost us a total of $163 to produce it. (We hired out the transcription, and did the editing ourselves.)So far we've spent *zero* money on advertising and, as we write this article today, we've sold over $49,683 worth of that ebook in less than six months!





We're not unique in that way. We know many others who have successfully published ebooks - including another small publisher who has used this exact same method to create dozens of ebooks.If you can clearly understand a specific problem, want, need or desire of a large enough target audience and then create a publication that helps them get what they want, you stand to make a lot of money and help a great number of people at the same time.





If there ever was a "golden age" of publishing, NOW is the time. The truth of the matter is, today anyone can become a published author with an ebook in less than a couple of weeks. Between us, we have 11 ebooks online and we're making money every day, even as you read this.





You can do the same. Opportunity awaits you right now. It's never been easier to seize the day and go for your dream - become a published author!--





Jim Edwards and David Garfinkel are co-authors of "eBookSecrets Exposed," the authoritative resource for making alot of money quickly writing and publishing your own ebook. Guerrilla Marketing series author Jay Conrad Levinson says,"If ever there was a 'must-read' for this century, it's this book." For more information CLICK HERE

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

E Commerce Success Secrets

I always like to find ways for you to get going on your path. Here is a great article for your e commerce success.

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3 Secrets to "Striking it Rich" in Cyberspace
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved

http://www.thenetreporter.com

In the few seconds it takes you to read this another domain name gets registered at www.NetworkSolutions.com, theInternet's oldest and largest domain name registrar.

Everyone from industrial giants to corner flower shops currently wants to stake a profitable claim in cyberspace.

The lure of low startup costs compared to brick-and-mortar operations and the promise of high rewards draws an ever-swelling crowd of merchants to the online marketplace.
Yet despite the optimism statistics tell us that 80% of these "e" businesses will fail within their first 12 months of operation.

People from all over the country ask me what it takes to succeed in the e-commerce world once they've completed the basic steps for getting online.

The following three keys virtually *guarantee success* for any online enterprise.

The First Key:
A Quality product or service with highly evident and readily understood benefits for consumers.
If your product or service does not represent the highest quality and value possible, and if consumers don't understand exactly why they should buy from you, the speed of the Internet will just expose your shortcomings to the marketplace that much quicker.

In the offline world a product's benefits, not the features,cause consumers to make buying decisions.

A man doesn't buy a car with a 5 liter engine because of the horsepower, he buys it for the feeling of supremacy and control he thinks it will give him.

Kids don't want a 1000mHz computer for computing power in doing homework, they want to play the latest games.

The Internet magnifies this "what's in it for me" benefits-driven evaluation by consumers.
Products or services presented with readily understood,self-serving benefits for consumers sell best online (andoff).

The Second Key:
An excellent website that loads fast, provides pertinent information to targeted consumers, and allows them to make online purchases quickly and securely.

Your website should: · Load fast by making conservative use of graphics. (Go to yahoo.com for an excellent example.)
· Provide exactly the information your potential customers want and need.
· Make it extremely easy for surfers to navigate your siteand find exactly what they want.
· Look good on both the Netscape and Internet Explorer web browsers at various screen resolutions (640x480, 800x600,etc.).

The Third Key:
Consistent, targeted website traffic by consumers capable of buying your product or service.
Imagine buying a 50 foot billboard and, instead of putting it out by the highway, you hid it in your basement. Nobody would see it! The same thing happens if you don't actively and continuously promote your website to attract visitors.

With its incredible speed and communications power, the Internet acts as a magnifying glass for any organization's strengths and weaknesses. E-commerce, e-mail, and a website won't do the job of marketing, selling, and customer service for any company. They will, however, help every organization perform all of those business functions better, faster, and less expensively with the real and tangible result of "strikingit rich" in cyberspace!
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Jim Edwards & David Garfinkel are co-authors of the NEW"eBook Secrets Exposed": How to Make MASSIVE Amounts ofMoney - In Record Time - With Your Own eBook!

WHY are some people getting positively RICH selling ebooks? Visit here http://hop.clickbank.net/?arnoldc/ebksecrets

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

Dreams can Come True

Dreams by: Author Unknown

We all have dreams and expectations. We imagine things, we keep thinking about what we want to be, what we want to do, what makes us proud and happy and what will we become.

We grew up, and things seemed like having its own way. We accept our success or failures and we move on. The rapid change, the need to do the urgent things, the works, the pressures and the failures, all kill part of our visions.

Things have changed, but they cannot really take away the dreams. We still have to dream on, to visualize our desires, our wants, our vision of our future, even when we are considered too old for such things.

Cornel (Colonel) Sanders started his business when he was sixty, and started the whole successful KFC business. The main thing is not the age - whether being too old, or too young, but it is the desire to dream on, and the courage to realize it.

Vivid visualization, taking it to sleep, thinking constantly about it, talking about it, planning it, adding all the spices to our dreams will make us a bit closer to the realization of our dreams.
Entrepreneurship starts with a dream, a simple wish of tiny restaurant operation, or a huge business of real-estate development, or a modest training center for English education, or just any other self-employed money earning fun.

The ability to dream on is one of the fine quality of human race that other species do not possess. So dream on, and put a deadline: make it a giant dream, a tiny one, an old everlasting one, a newfound one, a hobby related one, a change of life one, a religious one, a stupid one, a stroke-of-genius one, or just whatever...... just continue to dream on........ Then, Just Go and Do It!

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Sound simple. Dreaming is easy. Making your dream a reality is the challenge. You can do it. The time to start is now.

You will need some help. Here is a place where you can find that help.

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

Better, Richer, Happier

Do you think your life could be better, richer, happier? I know that your life can be better, richer, and happier. I also know that you can make this happen.

I also know that the way this will happen is:

• Wish, Hope


• Thought


• Idea


• Plan


• Action

Is this a straight path? No. Is this a path? Yes.





You have a wish and hope. You may label this as a daydream. You experience this and at some point you make a judgement about it. Your judgement may be that this wish, hope is not possible. That is it for you. That is the end for you.





Suppose you do not take that path. Instead you have a thought about this wish, hope. You begin to think that this wish, hope could happen. Now you have the thought. You are thinking about this wish and hope with confidence and ability. You have not made a judgement. You are open to this wish, hope happening.





Next comes an idea. After thinking you develop an idea, a way to make this wish, hope happen. Things are rolling along for you now. This wish, hope is possible and there is the idea that it can happen. It can happen with a plan.





Now you are creating the plan. This may take some research and consulting. Or it may just pop into your head. However, it comes about it is solidifying.





Lastly comes the action you need to take to make the wish, hope a reality.





Can it be that simple? Yes. There may be gaps and stops between each step. You may falter and get lost at any step. This is where the path is not a straight line. But do you really care what the path is as long as you ge there? Are you obsessed with the path and not the destination? Is this where you get lost?





Is there where you make the judgement that this wish, hope is not possible? Is this the end for you?





Wherever you are on the path you can do it. When you need help get it. Stay on the path. Void the judgement.





Help is here.





Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

TGIF

TGIF. (Thank God it is Friday).!!!!

Is this one of your slogans? Do you live for Fridays? I know the work week is hectic. I know you have stuff to do. I know you are stretched for time. I know you are sharing your time with loved ones. I know that the expression, "So much to do. So little time." is in your head.

I also know that TGIF does not mean that now you can slack off. I know that TGIF does not mean you will have a long, lazy, relaxing week end. I know that TGIF probably means you can get a little, teeny, tiny breather. I know that TGIF means you have some time to tackle what you could not do during the week.

I know TGIF means you can spend some time with your family. But it may be not the "quality" time you are desiring. It will be the "doing good things for your family" time. It will be doing

important and responsible things for your family such as shopping, cleaning, watching and chauffeuring your children to activities. It may be the same duties to help out a parent, sibling or neighbor. It is clearly "doing good time" but the enjoyment comes from getting the deed done rather than in doing the deed.

Things you want to pursue for yourself are probably put off. They are in the back of your mind but your week end is scheduled. Is there a way to find time for yourself?

YES there is but you have to make the time. I know you don't have the time. You have so much to do. Your week end is already jam packed.

Here comes the finale. If you never make the time or find a way to make the time with outside help YOU ARE STUCK. This is what each TGIF will be like of you.

I am asking you to choose right now. Do you want help? Make the choice right now to get help. Make the decision right now.

I am offering you a place where you can visit 24/7. A place where there is information and products for you to help yourself. Make the decision and make the time. Learn how to create the time you want in your life.

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach

Procratination Again

I felt I had to provide another post on procrastinating. You probably read the last post "Procrastination Blues" and procrastinated.

Maybe just seeing the word "procrastination" turned you off and you did not read any further. I understand how you feel. However, you must force yourself to cope with procrastinating.

Procrastinating is harmful to you. You know that. How many times have you put yourself down because you delayed doing something important? How many times have you put yourself down because you disappointed someone you care about. You disappointed someone you care about by not keeping your word. You made a promise to do something with the best intentions but you just could not get around to doing it.

I know you are feeling uncomfortable as you read this. This is touching a nerve. Help yourself to feel better. Help yourself to overcome your procrastination now.

Marcia, Your Confidence Coach