Whether you are trying to write good copy for a website, email, or direct marketing sales letter having a good headline is crucial. Without it your target audience could be lost within a matter of seconds. No matter what kind of product or service you are trying to sell the first job of your sales copy is to grab the reader’’s attention. A good headline has to do exactly that. Grab the reader’’s attention. So how do you write a great headline?

For starters a great headline needs to be the first thing the reader see’’s. It has to be at the top of the page. Not in the middle or at the bottom. It has to be the first thing that your audience reads.

In addition your headline needs to use all capital letters. In many ways your headline is the title to a short story. So you need to capitalize the first letter of every word. In addition you need your title to stand out from the rest of the page. Making the font size larger than the rest of the sales page and putting it in bold are two ways that you can do exactly that.

Next you need to keep your headline focused on your target market. You have a particular audience in mind. You”re not trying to attract just anybody. You”re looking to grab the attention of someone in particular. To do this your headline needs to speak to them about whatever it is they are looking for.

Now you need to make a promise to your potential customer. The promise needs to entice them into reading further and hopefully the promise can be fulfilled with the purchase of the product.

Check out what other people are writing. To know what kind of headlines grab people’’s attention you need to see what grabs yours.

In addition your headline needs to tell your readers exactly what they can expect from both your sales page and your product.

If you find yourself having trouble writing your headline then take a break. Often writing your sales page first will help you create your headline later.

Keep your headline short and concise. It needs to get to the point quickly and not drone on.

When writing your headline you need to keep it narrow. In this case we mean physically narrow. You can”t let it run on across the page. Keep it narrower than your sales page is so it can grab you reader’’s attention.

Your final tactic involves your sales copy. Using sub-headlines throughout can help keep your readers attention once they are past your headline. Most people are only going to scan your page so using a sub-headline will get them to stop and read key points within your sales copy.

These tips should give you a leg up when it comes to writing your next headline but it will still come down to your own creativity to make your message effective. Remember you need to relate to your reader and the problem they have which your product can solve. Empathizing with your potential customers is your best tactic when it comes to making that sale.

About The Author

Cash Miller is an expert in small business affairs. To receive more tips that can help your business and allow you to crush your competition you can sign up for his FREE Newsletter. Once you”ve signed up your going to receive access to 5 FREE E-Books that can help your business prosper. And as a Bonus FREE Newsletter Members can expect to receive an additional FREE E-Book each week.

By Ivan Kelly

Writing Articles is a great promotional method and a quick path to widespread acceptance and recognition in your chosen field. Eventually it can be great fun, but often first articles are reworked many times before you achieve a reasonably polished result. However, this doesn”t need to be the case.

Or rather, some paths are much easier to follow. That is not to say there is no work involved - and sometimes hard work. After all, you still have to walk the path and some are steeper than others.

Here’’s a “quick start plan” to get you going:

1. First, keep in mind that your articles should reflect your personality and style. Not everyone writes in the same manner. Your style will spring from the way you express yourself, using words and phrases you feel comfortable with. To add “personality” to your writing, share some of yourself with your readers; make your writing uniquely your own. It’’s fine to read ezines and others” articles to see what people may be interested in and spark your own ideas, but don”t pattern yourself after someone else. People want to feel that they know YOU - your knowledge and personality. This is what builds loyalty.

If it fits with your subject, don”t be afraid to mention your product or service, but DON”T write a “glorified ad” and call it an article! That can offend many publishers so that they won”t even consider articles from you in the future.

2. You”ll also need some basic tools. Get a notebook and pen or, if you are a “cut and paste” writer like me - a word processor or computer, and just brainstorm ideas for articles. If you”re at a total loss, read some articles in other ezines and websites - that may spark an idea for a different approach to the same subject or remind you of your own experiences in that area.

Think about what YOU need or want to know. Is there a problem area that has puzzled you? If so, it’’s likely that others are also curious about it and, if you research and write about the subject, would like to read your thoughts. Also consider what you have learned from experience that might help others? Once you get started you will come up with many ideas. Write each one down. If you think of a good title for that article, write that down too. Make it “catchy.”

3. What you should do next depends on you. There are several ways writers work, depending on their personalities. One good approach is to organize your points by making an outline of the information you plan to include or the points you intend to make. Then all you have to do is go back and “flesh out” the points, adding useful facts or links to more information.

Another approach, if you like to teach, is to write just as though you are explaining the subject to the reader in person. Either method is fine, just do what is comfortable for you. One method may work best for one kind of article and the other for another kind.

4. Be sure to use a spell checker! If you have one, run the grammar checker, also. Have someone else proofread it for you. This is especially the case if English is not your native language. Even professional proofreaders will tell you that they try to have someone else proofread their own writing, because it can be very difficult trying catch your own mistakes.

5. Try reading aloud the finished article so that you get a feeling for the rhythm and flow - and especially the sense - of it. Better still, read it to someone else who will ask questions if they don”t understand some point. (This might also prompt an idea for a sequel!}

6. Think ahead to how you intend to distribute your article. Once you have finished it, and made any necessary changes, you will need to submit it to as many websites and ezines as you can. Search the web for “article directory” and you will find many places to submit your article for free. There are also, of course, paid services and software that will do the submissions for you. Distribution can be labor intensive and very time-consuming. To keep up your motivation and free your time for writing articles do some in-depth comparative shopping. Professionals lean towards paid services as the most cost-effective approach. There are also several good software programs available for article submission and a search of Google will quickly list them for you.

The fastest and easiest way by far to get a following of people who recognize your name and listen to what you recommend is to write articles. For many people, clicking on the links in articles, forums, and discussion groups signatures is their primary method of finding good information.

This method also helps to locate the “experts”. From my own experience, I reasoned that if the person was published, odds were that they were somewhat of an expert on that subject. And, if they were experts, the products and services they sold or recommended were likely to be good. Those were the people whose products I bought and whose lists I joined.

By including a signature or bio with each article, including a line or two about your business and your website URL, it will generate traffic for you - the best kind of targeted traffic, too!

Once you”ve written your first article, the path gets much easier. In fact, you may discover, as I did, that you have a hard time stopping!

About The Author

Ivan Kelly managed a Direct Mail business with extensive mailing lists for ten years and has designed and promoted many websites. He also provides a quality f”ree course on Article Marketing. For details go to: List Of Topics

By Beverly Vines-Haines

The only hard and fast rule I adhere to when it comes to writing is the one that says there are no hard and fast rules. Oh, I know, you belong to a critique group and they spout hard and fast writing rules every week or you bought the latest HOW TO WRITE book and spent three weeks committing all those “have tos” and “You better NEVERs!” to memory.

Here’’s the rub and I promise it will drive you crazy. The next best-selling novel will come out and everyone at work, church, and school, as well as all those talking heads on television will be telling you how fabulous and flawless it is. You”ll rush out to buy it, thinking an example of perfection is just what you need to drive all those little writing rules deep into your sub-conscious.

Uh-oh. What’’s this? You discover the author has broken every rule you struggled to learn You could tear this book apart fifteen ways based on what you know. But the reality is this writer will make millions by the time the paperback and movie contracts are signed. So what did you do wrong?
Nothing. The truth is the rules are in place for very good reasons and most of the time you will never break into today’’s tight fiction market unless you can be trusted to color within the lines. Later, things could change. I remember college instructors telling me I could not break the rules until I understood them. That made little sense at the time but now it does. Once in a while we have a scene or a situation where breaking the rules is the only way to write it.

Occasionally a fresh and dazzling new writer comes along with viewpoint or characters so unique and charming that editors forget every rule they”ve been preaching to the masses. Why? Because the writer is fresh and dazzling. Because that character or viewpoint so enamors and challenges and compels, no one cares about the silly rules.

Writing is all about sweeping readers into a world where they identify, ”feel” and take up temporary residence. It is not about the rules. Never has been. The rules are there for the same reason we have stripes on highways and warning signs on winding roads. They are there to keep us safe. All of us. Writers and readers. But don”t we all love an Evel Knievel?

The Mustard Tree and Treasure Leaf Publishing are always looking for good manuscripts. I”ll spend a lot of time trying to teach you to practice safe writing and stay within the lines but I don”t ever want to squelch a budding genius. Learn the rules. Take time to know how to write. There are many rules as you have probably already learned. “Was” and “Feel” and similar words can render your work passive and it is difficult to sweep readers (willingly) into a passive world. Adverbs (those worlds ending in …ly) scream, “Look at me,” and therefore slow the read and tire the reader.

People don”t identify with main characters who are cruel, flawed and criminal. We want to root for wide-eyed innocents like Cinderella and underdogs like Seabiscuit and jockey Red Pollard. We love stories where we see ourselves, where justice prevails and all the bad guys end up getting exactly what they deserve.

In future columns I”ll be talking about variations when writing for the Christian market and even more specifically for Treasure Leaf Publishing. The few rules I have mentioned here are just the tip of the iceberg. (Side bar, don”t use expressions like the ”tip of the iceberg” because they are considered trite) No matter what I say and what I teach, if your story is compelling and your critique group hangs on every word and forgets to refer you to rules 40, 280 or 763, you just keep writing. And when you are ready to submit don”t forget to give us a go at it.

Rules have a place in good writing. Most of the time they are worth their weight in gold (trite again!) and you should respect them. But trust your instincts. Know the rules and require a very good reason before you break them. But mostly, follow your heart, embrace your talent and just start writing.

About The Author

Beverly Vines-Haines has published newspaper feature stories, magazine columns and several novels. She ghostwrites for celebs and people on lecture circuits. Managing Treasure Leaf Publishing, she primarily writes for http://www.themustardtree.net.

By Jinger Jarrett

We all have nightmares of high school English teachers.

Improper grammar, bad spelling, and problems with writing a paragraph may just be a few of the problems you had in writing in school.

However, writing for the business world is a little different. Yes, you should still learn how to spell. Use capital letters in the appropriate places, and make your writing look professional.

The rules of grammar can be broken though to make your writing more clear, as well as making your writing more conversational.

Regardless of what type of writing you need to do for your business, these tips will help you write better. They may not help you get an A in English class, but they could help you write better copy and improve your conversion.

1. Write and then edit.
If you”re having trouble getting started, the problem may be that you are trying to write your piece perfectly the first time.

The easiest way to correct writer’’s block is to simply say what you have to say. Write it down as it comes to you. Once you”ve written down everything you need to say, set it aside for awhile. Then go back and edit. Do you rewrites after you have written it.

2. Read it out loud.
You can catch up to 70 percent of your grammar and writing mistakes by reading your piece aloud. Check for flow. You”ll get clearer writing by hearing how the piece sounds.

3. Do a good spell check.
If you”re not very good at spelling, you can use your spell check to help you find many spelling mistakes. However, a good spell check won”t catch words that sound alike. If a spell check isn”t enough to help you find all of your errors, find someone who spells well and get him/her to read it and check for mistakes for you.

4. Study good sales materials.
If you don”t have a swipe file, you should keep one. This should include a text document of great headlines you have found, great sales letters, email sales letters, ads, etc.

Include pieces that appeal to you. This can also include the sales materials for things you have bought.

Study these pieces and incorporate what you learn into your own writing. However, don”t copy. Rewrite elements in your own words.

5. Focus on the benefits not the features of your product or service.
What is the most important benefit of your product? This isn”t what a product will do, it is what it will do for the customer.

For example, if you are selling shampoo, perhaps the shampoo gets hair really clean. The major benefit for the customer could be that this shampoo creates shiny, luxurious, and thicker hair that makes him/her look like he/she stepped out of a salon.

When writing for the Internet, think about your reader. Use short words, short paragraphs, and only write your piece as long as it needs to be to explain your offer. Readers online read 25 percent slower than when they are reading in print.

You”ll get a better sales piece, and your reader is more likely to respond to your offer.

About The Author

Jinger Jarrett is the “Internet Marketing for Free” lady. She will show you how to use free techniques to market your business. Get thousands of dollars in free internet marketing stuff when you Visit her blog at Internet Marketing for Free.

By Chris Marlow

Where The Money Is:

For freelancers who are primarily interested in earning a very high income, it’’s smart to look to industries that mail very large quantities. Industries that mail very large quantities can do so only if they have a very large pool of buyers.

And consumers are a very large market, especially when it comes to certain widely used products such as face cream, vitamins, and publications. If a company drops a million pieces whenever they mail, and they”re selling the product in a one-step (mail order), then they would place a very high value on the copywriter who can get results, even if incremental.

This is the arena where you”ll find your most lucrative opportunities…work that can often command mailing royalties in addition to a hefty up-front flat rate. Imagine writing a mail order package for $15,000 and then making $20,000 every time it rolls out to 1 million names!

Of course, like practically everything else in life, the big mailers are fewer in number, representing the top of the pyramid; many smaller B2C companies occupy the middle and bottom portions of the pyramid.

Companies in the middle group (mid-size companies) are also great sources of business, paying well if not astronomically so. Small businesses, however, often do not have the funds to pay for professional copywriting, and often don”t understand direct marketing or the value of copywriting, and must be educated. A common phrase uttered by the experienced copywriter is “I don”t take clients I have to educate.”

The Business-to-Business Market:

Unlike the B2C market, the consumer and prospect universes of businesses are usually much smaller, often occupying niches that can be miniscule indeed. In such cases, all marketing costs are scrutinized with the utmost detail, with each campaign targeting a certain ROI. It’’s not uncommon for a large, well-known brand to consider a campaign a success if it brings in 15 or 30 high quality leads. (Sometimes these leads have buying power that reaches into the millions of dollars.)

According to Direct Marketing Association statistics, about two-thirds of the B2B space is lead-generating in nature, with the remaining one-third order-generating. A review of my own copywriting samples bears this out.

For the copywriter, the difference between a lead-generation job and a mail order job comes down to money. Since it usually takes more “real estate” (space) to convince someone to “write a check now” than it does to convince someone to “raise her hand” (lead-generation), an order-generating job should pay more than a lead-generation job, and sometimes much more.

In terms of pay structure, most B2B companies work on flat rates and would find the idea of “bonuses” and “royalties” foreign. However, I have successfully negotiated pay structures that offer extra pay for goals met.

Dangerous? Absolutely.

But once you have the utmost confidence in your knowledge and talents, and if you trust the company implicitly (a nailed down contract is essential for any job, no matter who they are or what they pay)…then you can do a little “gambling” and increase your potential for income, to say nothing of “upping the excitement.”

About The Author

Award-winning copywriter Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for freelancers who want to build a successful business. Visit:
FreelancersBusinessBulletin

By Chris Marlow

There are two financially ruinous negotiating tactics often made by beginning copywriters.

An example of financially ruinous negotiating tactic #1 comes from a successful book author who is adding copywriting to his writing skill set. Here, paraphrased, is a comment he made to me:

“My client seems unhappy with the work. I”m thinking of telling her she doesn”t have to pay the final 50 percent.”

My response: Copywriting is part science and part “art.” And it’’s the subjective aspect of assessing copy that leads writers to feel responsible when a client is not happy.

However, time (and expertise) is all the copywriter has to sell. A client contracts for that time and uses it, and must respect it with the agreed-upon pay.

Is the copywriter always right to demand payment when a client’’s satisfaction is unrewarded?

If the copy is indeed poor, then of course the client shouldn”t have to pay anything at all. But in the case of my student, a Creative Brief was used, and in fact, filled out by the client herself.

Thanks to the Creative Brief, the Web site copy was “on target,” and since I reviewed it as a “copy chief,” I know that the first draft copy was very good.

However, the client’’s email noted that the “voice” was not sufficiently hers, that she did not feel that her positioning as a “rural GP” came through strongly enough, that her bio seemed overly altruistic, and that it was clear that she would have to take the copy “in house” to finish.

When a copywriter gets this kind of feedback, his immediate response is often one of confusion, and sometimes deep insecurity. These emotions cause him to react defensively, instead of studying the response.

Rather than throw in the towel and lose half the copywriting fee, I advised this writer to call the client and offer to add what she perceived to be missing from the copy.

Unless the copy is way off mark - and it shouldn”t be if the writer used a Creative Brief - the solution is to make changes and edit until the work is acceptable and meets expectations.

The take-away: DON”T offer refunds or partial payments. DON”T get defensive. Instead, study and analyze a client’’s response. Get a clear picture of what the client is complaining about, then fix it.

If the client can”t specifically tell you what’’s wrong, then it becomes obvious to both parties that it’’s the client who is failing in the communication process. Revisions, refinements, and editing are a natural part of the copywriting process and their function is to “fix what’’s wrong” and perfect the piece.

(In this case, the small two-person operation exhibited characteristics typical of small business…they were unsophisticated about marketing and its processes, and unclear about the value of copywriting. They confirm my timeworn advice to avoid small businesses and seek work from more marketing-savvy mid-size and large companies.)

An example of financially ruinous negotiating tactic #2 comes from one of my recently “graduated” coaching students.

She asks: “Do you always quote based on your time or do you quote based on the value the project has to the client?”

The answer is to always quote based on the value to the client. If your work makes the client many thousands of dollars, or more, then you should be fairly compensated.

In cases where your work is directly linked to leads or sales, it helps to view yourself not so much as a “copywriter” but as a sales pro. Get the fact that you”re a writer out of your head and see yourself in a different light.

Who are the most important individuals in any for-profit entity? Those who bring in the business! Everyone else’’s salary depends on them. That’’s why they”re usually paid more than anyone else. YOU are in that category.

About The Author

Award-winning copywriter Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for freelancers who want to build a successful business. Visit:
FreelancersBusinessBulletin

By Chris Marlow

Many years ago when I first began freelancing, I struggled over what to name my copywriting business. The first name for my one-man shop was Chris Marlow and Associates. Although there were no associates, I imagined it made me look bigger.

Years later when I thought I was much smarter, I changed the name to Ad Copy, Inc. It didn”t get me any more business than Chris Marlow and Associates. And it cost me lots of money for new stationary and legal incorporation. Eventually I gave that name up too, since I was not fulfilling the requirement of taking minutes at board meetings, seeing as how I was the only board member, and a fully absent one at that.

Finally I settled on plain old Chris Marlow Copywriting, which as it turned out, was the best name for a freelance business such as mine. And why is that, you ask? Because of the power of branding.

Over the years people have seen and heard my name, sometimes many times, which leads to an inevitable (and hopefully positive) impression. Even if they don”t remember how they heard of me (e.g., they saw an article, happened across my Web site, received a sales letter from me), they do remember my name.

And when the day comes that I have an opportunity to do work for them, I am partially “pre-sold” because they”re familiar with my name.

The reason I”m writing on this topic today is that many of my coaching students who are just starting their freelance business ask me what they should name their company. Of course, I always advise that they use their own name.

If they want proof that there’’s value in building a brand with their name, I simply ask them how many copywriting and marketing gurus are “name famous”? We know the greats by their names…Bob Bly, Ted Nicholas, Gary Halbert…even the old masters are known by their names…John Caples, Claude Hopkins, Victor Schwab.

Invariably my students point out that “they” are not copywriting gurus, to which I answer, “Well how are you going to become a guru if nobody knows your name?”

Now, many copywriters do have a company name “at the back end.” For instance, Jay Abraham’’s famous name is out front, using its power of branding to sell high priced seminars. At the back end, however, is The Abraham Group, which exists to support Jay’’s marketing ventures.

So if you”re selling something other than your copywriting services, creating a company name might make sense. Whatever you do, avoid cute, “puny” or irrelevant names. Names like “WriteRight” and “Write-On” say nothing about your services or your benefits to the client. If you feel the need to “beef up” your own name, then why not create a tagline instead? I recently admired this one from the signature file of copywriter Monica Day: “Finding the words that work for you.”

As a potential client, this tagline implies that Monica will exert effort on my behalf (”Finding the words”), and that I will be pleased (”that work for you”). Remember, simple and straightforward works best in freelancing. Rather than coming up with a clever company name, put your efforts toward doing good work for your clients. After all, YOU are the product. Let your name be your brand.

About The Author

Award-winning copywriter Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for freelancers who want to build a successful business. Visit:
FreelancersBusinessBulletin

By Mark Satterfield

We”ve all experienced that sinking feeling you get when you look at an empty computer screen or a blank sheet of paper. Starting to write is the most difficult part of the process, and this is where formulas can help get you over that initial speed bump.

The first and easiest one is the interview. You can interview colleagues, clients, prospects or even yourself, if you”re so inclined. Here’’s a clever idea you might want to consider.

Todd Black who’’s in charge of business development for a large software firm in Silicon Valley, proposed writing a regular column entitled “The Winner’’s Profile”. It consisted of a short 300-word profile of leading executives in his industry. The benefits to Todd are numerous. It enables him to contact high profile prospects under a non-sales guise, which increases the likelihood of his call being returned. Who wouldn”t want to receive free publicity and ego fulfillment by being profiled in an article like this?

It was a great way to initiate a conversation, which ultimately turned into many productive business relationships. If the trade publication in your industry isn”t publishing such a “winner’’s profile”, suggest it. Smaller publications are often starving for articles and your suggestion is likely to be received extremely positively.

If you don”t have a prior endorsement from the trade publication, don”t let that stop you. You can write the article on “spec”. That is you write the article first, and then seek places to get it published. This is how I typically work. You can pitch it this way when you call a high profile person in your industry that you want to interview.

“Hi. This Mark Satterfield and I”m in the process of preparing an article for submission to Our Industry Trade Journal on emerging trends and was hoping I could get 20 minutes of your time to interview you for the article.”

I ask for 20 minutes because it’’s less demanding than asking for a half-hour but since hardly anyone actually schedules his or her time in 20-minute increments, you wind up getting at least a half-hour with the person.

Of course there is etiquette involved in this process. For example, you don”t want to conduct the interview and then never actually write the article. That will come back to haunt you. On the couple of occasions where I”ve written an article but haven”t found a place to publish it, I send a draft copy to the person I interviewed asking for their comments. Not only does this satisfy the individual’’s curiosity about what you wrote, but it’’s also another great excuse or reason to get back in contact with the person.

When the article does get published, I send everyone I interviewed a copy. This is a good idea to do even if you”re sure that they received a copy of the publication through other sources. It’’s a nice professional touch, shows your consideration, and again it’’s a great excuse to stay in contact!

The interview format is the easiest to write because you”re writing in the same style as you speak. Most people communicate just fine when they”re speaking. This conversational style also works very well when communicating on paper.

A test that one of my editors told me early in my writing career, is to read out loud what you”ve written. If it sounds like you speaking, it’’s probably fine. Remember that in order to get published you”ve got to write. It’’s been my experience that the interview format is the quickest way to get your next article produced.

About The Author

Mark Satterfield is the creator of the Gentle Rain Marketing System: How to Generate a Consistent Flow of New Clients. Quickly & Easily. With No Cold Calling. Find out more:
http://www.gentlerainmarketing.com

By Murtuza Abbas

If you want to sell more products and services make sure you use these 10 hypnotic sentences in your ad copy.

If you want to keep your visitors attention on your salesletter, then I urge you to read this article — immediately.

If you”re sick and tired because your website isn”t pulling the response that you are expecting, then here’’s good news–

Now you can make sure that your website visitors read your ad copy, stay interested in what you”ve to say and thereby increasing the probability of your website making a sale.

Tell your readers what they are probably thinking, feeling or doing as they read your ad copy.

This will help in retaining their attention on your ad copy and keep their interest flowing.

This strategy will usually trigger their own subconscious mind to bring out these feelings or actions.

You can add these killer hypnotic sentences into any ad copy. You may have to change one or two words so it relates more to the product or service you”re selling.

SENTENCE 1 - As every word you read travels from this ad to your brain, you start to understand just how much our product could benefit your life.

SENTENCE 2 - You don”t realize it yet but, in a few short minutes you”ll realize that you can”t put off this vital purchase and then you”ll be yanking out your credit card.

SENTENCE 3 - After you read this short ad you will feel like your problems are almost completely solved, all you will have to do is order.

SENTENCE 4 - As you”re skimming through this, you”re beginning to think you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying out our product.

SENTENCE 5 - As you keep reading this ad copy, you are feeling more and more compelled to experience all the benefits of our product.

SENTENCE 6 - The more you keep reading our ad the more you feel it would be a waste to let this opportunity slip by.

SENTENCE 7 - The more you review our ad the more you begin to find yourself getting very excited about our product and starting to feel the urge to buy now.

SENTENCE 8 - You don”t know it yet but, at the conclusion of this ad, you will feel driven to order and experience all the benefits of our product.

SENTENCE 9 - The more you understand just how valuable our product could be to your life, the less you think about delaying this important purchase.

SENTENCE 10 - As you”re scanning over this ad copy, you are beginning to imagine using our product and enjoying all the benefits it brings.

Everything you may have heard about increasing your website conversion might be true.

But this article has shown you some killer ways that will keep your website visitors attention focused on your salesletter and thereby making more sales.

There’’s never been a better time for you to pump up interest of your website visitors, than it is today!

About The Author

Grab FREE $147 ”Profit Pulling Minisites” Vault.

What if Murtuza creates Your Own money-making website Ready to take Orders in Less than 7 Days? Learn how to start an internet business…

http://www.7DaysToEarn.com/internet-business

By Murtuza Abbas

If you want to sell your products like crazy using your ad copy, then this might be the most important article you”ll ever read.

Finally there are 10 killer steps that you can use right NOW to pull more orders from your ad copy without spending a dime.

If you want to pull in more orders and sales, then I urge you to read this article — immediately.

If you”re sick and tired of low sales pulling power of your website and want to turn it into a killer cash generator, then here YOU go…

STEP 1 - Include Examples.

Use plenty of examples in your advertising copy. This will enable your target audience to understand your sales pitch completely. It will also create their interest till the end.

STEP 2 - Explain them In Simple Terms.

Gain extra credibility by using terms your readers may not understand, but can follow by explaining them in simple terms.

This will show you”re an expert in your niche. Help them to get your message and get their problems solved.

STEP 3 - Show Your Excitement in Your Copy.

Reveal how excited you are about the product. Show them how it has benefited you in solving your problems. You could use words or a picture of yourself looking very excited.

STEP 4 - Let them Relate their Problems to Yours.

Tell your target audience you were in their current position. Tell them about the problems you faced. Next, tell them how your product pulled you out of that position.

They will relate themselves with YOUR position and grab your product to solve their pressing problems.

STEP 5 - Challenge your Readers at the End of your Ad.

Give them a risk free guarantee. Take all the risk on your shoulders and show them your confidence in the product.

Make a bet with them; if your product doesn”t solve their problem, offer them a free product in return.

STEP 6 - Ask Questions.

Get your audience involved in your ad by asking them questions. This will retain their interest.

They”ll automatically want to answer the questions in their mind.

STEP 7 - Give Them a Personal Touch.

Introduce yourself in your ad copy. Stick your picture on your website. Give them your contact details.

Haven”t you ever read an ad copy and wondered half way through it who is selling the product? It’’s a big turn off.

STEP 8 - Tell a Story.

Start your ad with a story. It draws people right into your ad and they forget they”re being sold to.

This builds their interest till the end.

STEP 9 - Make it Simple for them to Understand.

Use less than five points in your ad copy. If you start revealing too many topics, your readers might get confused and quit reading.

Make your website short, to the point, benefit laden and exciting enough to get them till the end.

STEP 10 - Make them Feel Better.

Make your target audience’’s experience reading your ad positive. They must feel that there’’s a solution existing to their current problems.

You could educate them or tell a joke to make them laugh. Everything you may have heard about writing killer sales copy might be true.

But this article has shown you some amazing quick ways to get started on your way to attract more orders from your ad copy right now.

I”d like to make you an extremely bold promise. You can easily boost your websites conversion ratio and pulling power of all your sales letters and ads through the ROOF.

You can quickly and easily double your existing income from now on, if you use the tips above in your ad copy and test it thoroughly.

There’’s never been a better time for you to let your website copy and salesletters pull more profits and sales, than it is today!

About The Author

Grab FREE $147 ”Profit Pulling Minisites” Vault.

What if Murtuza creates Your Own money-making website Ready to take Orders in Less than 7 Days? Learn how to start an internet business…

http://www.7DaysToEarn.com/internet-business

By Kim Pearson

We are funny about writing. We think everyone can write — after all, we learned how in first grade! Reading and writing are a big part of what makes us “civilized.” One of the correlating lessons that we learned, at the tender age of four or five, was that we must do our own work. Never, ever, copy someone else.

A first grader can write a simple story. A fourth grader can write a book report. By the time you got to high school, you had learned to research and do reports on complex subjects. You had learned grammar and spelling and sentence construction. You had read some great works of Literature.

So now you are an adult and you should be able to write a book of your own. Right? Not necessarily. Writing is a difficult skill. It takes time to perform it well. It takes effort and dedication and persistence. It helps to have talent, or skill. It really, really helps if you love to write. Not everyone has this knowledge, skill, talent, or time. Not everyone loves to write.

Maybe your skills and talents lie elsewhere. Maybe you don”t have the time to devote to a project as big as writing a book. Maybe you would rather clean the toilet than put pen to paper or fingers on a keyboard. But does that mean that your great ideas, your new methods, your inspirational stories, are not worthy of a book? Of course not!

Regardless of what your second grade teacher told you, you don”t have to do it all by yourself. Many people are available to help you author your book - writers, editors, proofreaders, illustrators, designers, printers, publicists. They can do much of the work, including writing, while you oversee the process and ensure that your idea or story is presented in a way that is true to your own vision.

You can hire a ghostwriter, an editor, or a writing coach to help you put your ideas and stories into words that will excite, inspire, inform or delight your readers. Ghostwriters will do all the writing work for you, from organization and structure to color and characterization - basically from your head and out the ghostwriter’’s fingers. Editors will take what you have already written and make it better. Writing coaches will guide you with suggestions while you write.

But wait - isn”t that cheating? Some people think so. This goes back to school days, when having someone else write your term paper was cheating. (It still is.) But that was because having someone else write for you meant you were not learning, which was then your primary job. It was also cheating to use a calculator while taking a math test, because you were supposed to be learning how to do mathematics, not punch buttons.

This is no longer true. You can use a calculator now without guilt. You can also hire a writer to help you put your ideas on paper. (Of course they must be your ideas - it’’s still wrong to steal others” ideas and pass them off as your own.)

Hiring a writer is a little like hiring an architect. Say you are finally able to build your dream house. You have lots of ideas for this house. You know how many bedrooms you want; you know you want it on a wooded lot where the deer feed in the mornings; you know your kitchen must have a central island and space for at least two people to cook; you know you want natural gas heat; and you even know that your Jacuzzi bathtub must overlook a private patio with a great view of the mountains. You know you like blues and tans and that your taste runs to impressionist art like Monet and Morisot, and you hate the pop-art of Andy Warhol. Your style is elegant and cool instead of funky and casual, and you admire the work of I.M. Pei.

Wow, you know a lot, don”t you? But can you draw up the plans to build this house? Do you know which materials to buy and which carpenters to hire? Do you know how to wire the house, and how the plumbing works, and where to apply for all the permits? Probably not. Can you learn? Sure - if you”ve got a few spare years.

So instead you hire an architect or a construction firm, and you tell them everything you want and what matters to you, and they translate your ideas into a living reality. But it’’s still your house. It reflects who you are, not who the architect is. When someone admires the beauty of your house, they are admiring you - your taste, your plans, your ideas.

It’’s the same with your writing. Your original ideas and stories belong to you, therefore so does your book, even though you may not have written it all by yourself. This is why the copyright of your book belongs to you, not your ghostwriter, editor or coach. And be sure to get it in writing!

About The Author

Kim Pearson is an author and ghostwriter who has ghostwritten or edited more than 30 non-fiction books and memoirs, plus authoring 7 books of fiction, poetry and non-fiction of her own.For more information click here.

By Murtuza Abbas

If you want to write a hot highly read article, then this might be the most important letter you”ll ever read.

If you”re frustrated with lack of information or lack of ideas to put down an in demand article, this article is your solution.

Are you ready to find the solutions you have been searching for? What you are about to discover will benefit you greatly.

If you want to pour your website with truckloads of website traffic writing killer highly read articles, then I urge you to read this article — immediately.

This article will show you some killer ways to come out with hot article ideas beyond your wildest dreams…

1. Participate in Targeted Chat Rooms.

Engage in chat rooms related to your targeted audience. Watch what questions people are asking and ask others what information they”re attracted in.

2. Focus on Hot Topics.

Examine what information is being broadcast on TV, news and talk shows. That information is mostly hot topics.

3. Participate in Discussion Forums.

Swing out in like message boards. Individuals depart questions for information they”re seeking. That is a strong indicator of subjects to write around.

4. Survey Your Customers.

Investigate your web site visitors or present clients. Ask them what kind of articles they would like to see published on your web site or in your e-zine.

5. Give Them What They Want.

Constantly check your site’’s guest books. People sometimes leave questions or comments that would help you generate high readership articles.

6. Check Hot Selling Products for Article Ideas.

Check online bookstore’’s superior sellers list. They”re extremely good resources for finding attractive topics and ideas to write around.

7. Use Time to Generate Ideas.

Use the time of year to approach up with good topics. You could relate your content to the holiday, season, things that occur years ago during that time, etc.

8. Check Out Targeted Email Discussion Lists.

Join some related e-mail discussion lists. Explore the query being asked and the subjects people are discussing.

9. Discuss In Demand Topic in Your Niche.

Relate your article to a present fad that’’s going on in your specific industry. The topic is mostly attractive to your target audience.

10. Create Article Answering Customer Questions.

Build a file of visitor or client questions you receive via e-mail or phone. Usually, others have the same questions, but never ask.

Everything you may have heard about writing articles might be true.

But this article has shown you some amazing ways to get some killer article ideas that will get read by your niche market. The kind of ideas that are of high interest to your niche and will fill up your website with lazer-targeted ready to buy traffic.

One of the most difficult and time consuming tasks in this website traffic game is having to continually generate consistent streams of highly targeted traffic without spending a dime. And I bet article marketing is the ultimate solution.

This article has given you some proven ways to build foundation for your article marketing campaign that will boost up your website promotion efforts through the roof.

There’’s never been a better time for you to boost up your website traffic and sales writing hot in demand articles, than it is today!

About The Author

Grab FREE $147 ”Profit Pulling Minisites” Vault.

What if Murtuza creates Your Own money-making website Ready to take Orders in Less than 7 Days? Learn how to start an internet business…

http://www.7DaysToEarn.com/internet-business

By Sanyika Calloway-Boyce

The book business is a billion dollar industry; however grabbing your slice of the pie will require skills far beyond simply writing well and conveying your message clearly.

So, if you”re thinking about becoming a published author read this before you power up the PC and prepare to pen a masterpiece because there are a few (17 that I”ve found) landmines to watch out for on the road to self publishing success.

Following are seven of the primary reasons many authors fail. Is your book is positioned to fly or flop?

1. Publishing books with unprofessional covers. Despite of what your Mom might have told you, people DO judge books by their covers and if your cover does not look like it was professionally designed it won”t sell as many copies as you”d hope.

Take the time and do the research on a quality cover designer who will help you bring your book cover to life professionally and affordably.

Here’’s a great way to get a surge of inspiration - even if you never intend to see your book in the bookstore - go to the section in the bookstore that you would find your book and get ideas from the covers that are already there. Jot down the titles and go online to see which of them are top sellers and then model their success for your book.

2. Printing in larger quantities then they have proven they will be able to sell. The book
business is more a marketing and promotion business than it is a publishing business. No matter how great your book might, you”ll face financial frustration if you blindly print 5000 copies on the “hope” that they”ll sell quickly.

Without advance marketing and pre-sales promotions it’’s very easy to overestimate the initial quantity for your first order. So as soon as you have a quality cover designed you want to use that visual representation as way to promote your book, generate buzz and best of all gauge your first print run size.

3. Paying large amounts for services upfront to “save” money. Many first time authors believe that they will save money by printing a large quantity of books all at once. In fact, that is only partly true. If you print 5000 copies of your book to “save” $1.00 per copy on printing but only sell 1000 copies, you may be loosing more than you save if you haven”t factored in the additional money you need for marketing and promoting the remaining 4000 copies.

To keep your initial “savings” from actually costing you future sales, consider working with a Print-on-Demand printer that will allow you to purchase smaller quantity print runs. While it might seem like you”re paying more per copy the reality is you”re making a more financially sound business move.

4. Working without a coach or mentor. Information is great, but too much information can actually lead to inactivity. Have you ever been so blown away by a great idea that you didn”t know where to begin; so you did nothing? It happens to the best of us. That’’s why most often it’’s not more information that will lead to your success, but a structured plan and accountability to see it through.

Tiger Woods is arguably the world’’s best golfer. He has broken records and sent golfers 20 years older packing. He’’s focused and determined to win, and despite all of his success he still has a coach. His mentor isn”t necessarily a better golfer than he is, but a person who understands the game and can see things from a different vantage point to offer him tips, advice and coaching for maximum success.

5. Not testing a title before it’’s printed. Often when we have a great idea we can become so attached that we loose objectivity. When I wrote my book, “Teen Money Tips: Simple Steps For Banking, Saving & Making Money” my original title idea was “Get In The Driver’’s Seat: 7 Keys To Making The Most of Your Money” it was cute and cleaver but it didn”t give the reader an instant indication of what the book was actually about.

After testing the title with more than 50 potential purchasers in my target market the results were in overwhelming favor of “Teen Money Tips,” a title that I though was too boring. But I had to remember it didn”t matter what “I liked” if the intended audience wouldn”t buy it.

Boy, am I glad I listened because my market has rewarded me time and again with a steady stream of book sales!

6. Writing books they think people “should” read. The famous 12-step program operates on the sole belief that a person must first admit they have a problem before they will truly work towards recovery.

If your book addresses an issue that people “should” be concerned about, but that they don”t know about, don”t care about or are to afraid to take action on, then it might not be the best
investment of your time or resources to be the first one to write the book.

Writing for established markets that have proven to be willing to pay for information and a solution to their problem will enrich your life and theirs.

7. Waiting until the book is completed to market it. I”ll admit that writing a book can seem like a single focus task, and it should be at times. But authors must never loose sight of the fact that books are written to be sold. If no one knows about, or anticipates your book’’s release, then your initial sales will be low and disappointing, making it difficult to cover the initial investment and even harder to play catch-up.

Movement encourages success, and very few things guarantee movement like having advanced marketing for your book. Book announcements, virtual book tours and bundled book bonus offers are just a few things that you can do in advance to market your book and boost your bottom line.

There are many other reasons that first time authors don”t reach their full potential. I”ve been there so I understand what it’’s like to be long on enthusiasm and ideas, but lacking a full understanding of all the nuances to be successful as an author. That’’s why I”m passionate about helping aspiring (and even previously published) authors write, publish and promote their way to self publishing success.

By avoiding the “Seven Ways To Sabotage Your Self Publishing Success,” you”ll experience the upside of self publishing:
• Controlling your own work
• Pocketing more profit
• Credibility as an Author
• Expert status

And many more benefits much sooner; which is the whole reason you decided to become a self published author in the first place!

About The Author

Speaker and top selling author Sanyika Calloway Boyce, recommends Self-Publishing-Info.com as a great resource for coaches, consultants, speakers, authors or anyone who wants to write, publish and promote a book successfully.

By Kristy Taylor

The short story market is one of the hardest to break into. There are thousands of well-known writers pumping out short fiction, and thousands more just like you, struggling to get themselves published for the first time. But there are several things you can do to set yourself apart from the rest and start working your way to the head of the pack.

Attention to Detail
First things first, make sure your manuscript is professional. Use a plain, 12-point font, times new roman is the norm. Double-line space the entire manuscript and only left-justify your text. Use a minimum one inch margin on both sides of the page, and top and bottom. Put your name, address and contact number in the top right-hand corner of the coversheet, put your story’’s title and your byline in the centre of the page. Rights being offered should go on the bottom-left corner and approximate word count on the right. Thereafter, make sure the first three words of the title and the page number appears in the page header on the right-hand side. Place your title about two-thirds of the way down the first page, your byline immediately underneath, and start your story one double-spaced line below that.

If this manuscript was for a short story competition you would normally need to remove the coversheet and delete any occurrences of your name from the final draft. Though you should always check the competition’’s guidelines as some do differ.

If you can submit an error-free, professional-looking document, you will already have beat out all the dreamers who think they”ll get their story noticed if it’’s printed on pink paper, bordered with little stars, or hand-written in old gothic. None of these strategies will give you an edge; they will only make you look too eccentric to be worth an editor’’s trouble.

Choosing a Title
Though an editor may want to change your title, a title can sometimes make or break your entire submission. Don”t alienate yourself by selecting a title like ”My Dog Rover,” or ”The Story of My Father.” Instead, go for something mysterious or edgy, like ”Bark the Dead Down,” or ”The Meanest Old Bastard from Here to Melbourne.”

Know When to Take Instruction
Get on-line, not just for e-publishing, but for print publications as well. Find out what your target publishers are looking for in terms of genre and submission criteria, such as format and word length. You would be surprised at how many new writers will attempt to submit a piece that is 3,000 words too long, or is on a topic completely unrelated to the regular content of the publication they are attempting to break into. If you can follow a publisher’’s submission criteria to the letter and are sensitive to what their publication is trying to accomplish, you will find yourself pulling even further ahead of the other writers.

However, you don”t always have to listen to the dictates of publishers. Many editors will tell you that if you are submitting a piece to them, do not submit it to any other publisher at the same time. If they find out they have been wasting their time on your piece while you”ve gone with another publisher, they could blacklist you. Although, authors will tell you a different story. Rather than having eager publishers fighting over your work, the truth is that you will probably submit your story, wait for months to hear from the publisher, and then get a letter of rejection. Is your time really that much less valuable than that of an editor? Experienced authors say submit, submit, submit. Just be sure to keep a list of all the places you have sent your manuscript so you can withdraw it if you get lucky.

Writing Competitions
While it may be hard or even impossible for a never-published author to get their manuscript in front of an editor, one strategy for breaking in is to enter short fiction contests. These contests usually come with some prize money and an opportunity to be published. However, beware of scam contests. Any contest that says you”re a winner and then asks you for money is a scam. Any contest that says you”re a winner but wants to publish your work without paying you is a scam. Don”t be fooled - research contests as thoroughly as you would a publisher. A reading or entry fee is pretty much the norm, but again beware, watch out for high fees in return for small prizes.

Get Tough or Get Out
Being neat, professional, competitive and a contest-winner may help to put you at the head of the pack, but these do not make up a never-fail formula for success. The truth is, your stories are going to be rejected a disappointing number of times. Just remember that this does not mean your story is bad, and it does not mean that you will never succeed. It just means that you are going to have to learn to accept rejection. Some of the greatest authors in literary history have been able to paper their walls in rejection slips.

If a rejection contains comments of any kind from an editor, you know you”re on the right track. You made them care enough to want to teach you something, and this is no small feat. Whatever an editor has suggested, consider it carefully. Try making some of these changes and resubmit.

Don”t Forget that this is a Job
Like every other stage of the process, this is hard work. Writing is like any other job, to do it well, you have to work your butt off, and deal with bosses that are going to give you a hard time every chance they get. The biggest mistake a new writer can make is to give up when things stop being easy. As soon as the creative juices don”t seem to be flowing, or they can”t get part of the story just right, they quit. This attitude is all wrong. Writers that are getting published aren”t better than you; they”re just working harder than you. Authorship can offer huge payoffs, but only to those who are willing to quit playing and do some real tough storytelling.

One last thing you can do to advance further ahead of the pack is to do your research. Writers used to depend on annually published directories like the Fiction Writer’’s Market to get the scoop on submission criteria and publisher addresses, but today the Internet is the place to be for the short story writer. The new frontier when it comes to short story publishing is on-line. The form is ideally suited to on-line publications, websites and as a downloadable for hand-held devices. So warm up your mouse and start pounding that keyboard, you”ll never know unless you give it a go.

About The Author

Kristy Taylor is a syndicated freelance journalist with articles and short stories strewn across all forms of media. She has written and published numerous books, and is the executive editor of KT Publishing. For free listings of short story competitions visit
http://www.shortstorycompetitions.com.

By Chris Marlow

I was recently approached by a copywriter who was confused about the proper use of copyright. He explained that the client had hired him for work, then canceled the job part way through, paying him for work done to date.

Perhaps because the work was unfinished, and thinking
there may be some future use for it, the copywriter expressed that felt he should retain copyright, and was perplexed when the client got into a snit about it.

I understand the idea to save good work that never got
published, hoping to “recycle” it in future jobs. For
years I hung on to a two-inch think file of unused
concepts.

When a new job came along that required concepting, I”d leaf through the folder looking for something that
would “fit” the new challenge.

Alas, I never did find a perfect fit between an old
concept and a new job. And one day I realized I never
would. That’’s because every job is unique. Every product is unique, every audience is unique, every marketing objective is unique. The strongest concept would once again have to come from my head. I threw out the contents of the file and never looked back.

So the lesson learned is that if you can”t even recycle a concept, you”ll never be able to recycle copy, which is much more granular.

Therefore it makes no sense to try and retain copyright; if your work is “for hire,” meaning that you”re being paid to do the writing, you can”t retain copyright anyway.

The United States Copyright Act gives the purchaser of the work sole copyright. To understand the difference, you, the copywriter, would retain copyright of a work you did not do for hire. For instance, no one is paying me to write this article. So I”m able to retain copyright, and market the article as I see fit.

One final important note about copywriters and copyrights. You do retain copyright until the work is paid in full. So use this fact to your advantage. Make sure your Fee Agreement points out that you will retain copyright until paid in full. It’’s a powerful way to use the work-for-hire copyright law to your advantage; I”m sure that having this clause in my own Fee Agreement has saved me some grief over the years.

About The Author

Award-winning copywriter Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for freelancers who want to build a successful business. Visit:
FreelancersBusinessBulletin

© Chris Marlow, all rights reserved

By Chris Marlow

I want to share with you the solution to a marketing problem recently expressed by three of my coaching students…and that is how to create a powerful online newsletter (ezine) for cultivating quality clients.

I realize this is not the only source of information you can find on how to write an effective ezine, but it follows my own successful formula, and it addresses mistakes I”m seeing repeatedly among my coaching students, whether new to the business or not.

For most of my students, a physical direct mail campaign is part of the “marketing mix” for gaining high quality clients in the fastest way possible.

But physical mailings are time-consuming and expensive, so I also encourage them to create a free ezine for their target market. Once their ezine readership is high enough, they can replace expensive physical mailings with easy, fast, and inexpensive “newsletter blasts.”

Rather than tell you what mistakes were being made, I”ll present their solutions below, which gives me more space for illustrating the 4 points I want to make.

Follow these suggestions and I guarantee an ezine that Will enhance your reputation, help you develop a loyal and eager readership, keep your unsubscribes low and help you build a list large enough to produce paying clients.

Point #1:

Determine specifically what you”ll be sharing with your audience and make it apparent in your newsletter title.

The regular content should revolve around your Unique Selling Proposition, a niche