Carol Bentley

Questions asked in my recent survey included:

• “What’s the best way to market to potential customers when starting afresh with no prior customer list or contacts?”
• “Increasing visitors to web sites”
• “How to drive visitors to web site”
• “What should I do to make a big impact on-line and off-line without spending a fortune?”
• “How to get more clients”

All of these questions, in one form or another, are asking about finding more people who are interested in what is on offer. It doesn’t matter if your business is conducted on or off line; the challenge is the same - finding customers in the most effective and economical way possible.

And very often the way you can do that works well for both on and off line activities.

In his new report Ed concentrates specifically on finding new visitors, contacts, for websites. Effectively increasing the number of people you can market to. Many of his principles can be used in the off-line world as well.

In ‘Who Else Wants More Traffic Than Their Site Can Handle’ Ed goes through a 6-part strategy starting with an old favourite of mine. One that has proven to be very successful - for both Ed, me and many other business people.

I strongly advise you to pop over and grab your copy of the report - it doesn’t cost you a penny. You just have to agree to Ed giving you loads more valuable info when he makes it available.

Seems like a bargain to me! Go to http://www.NoBSTrafficTactics.com

~ Carol Bentley

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Want to get your message across to your target audience? Want to get them excited and eager about your product or service? Want to draw them inexorably towards the sale without a moment’s hesitation?

Master the art of writing powerful ‘hit the mark’ bullets and you increase your chances of success ten, even one hundred-fold.

Look at the winning sales websites; those used to launch highly successful products, programmes, self-study courses and marketing programmes and you’ll see they all have one thing in common - bullet paragraphs drawing a clear picture of what you can expect when you take up the offer; or bullet descriptions of the problems you face to which they have the perfect solution.

Ever found yourself so caught up reading a website or letter you can’t draw away? It’s acted like a magnet to your eyes and senses? Why? What has fired your imagination?

Short, to the point, focused - a rapid-fire - of bullets.

Bullets are ideal for catching the skimmers - they are short and succinct. Great for highlighting the key benefits and results the offer is making.

Writing Bullets

You can learn how to write bullets. The easiest way? Write them!

• Find the web or sales letter that grabbed your attention, one that you found hard to resist (or maybe you didn’t; maybe you succumbed!).

• Grab a pen and paper and find somewhere quiet, where you won’t be disturbed.

• Copy the bullets in your own handwriting; absorb the phrasing, the rhythm. Notice the words.

• Repeat the exercise with other letters; just make sure the bullets you copy are vibrant, alive and speak to you.

Mark Hendricks, whose newsletter I receive on a regular basis, recommends taking the next step.

• Re-write every bullet point again for your own product or service.

Did You Know…

If you’ve followed some of my previous tips then you are already writing bullets - or at least the start of a bullet. Write 100 headlines, as I advised in my post Do your headlines grab your reader’s undivided attention? and some of those that are not powerful enough for your main headline are a good foundation for your bullets.

Examples of Stunning Bullet Writing. . .

Here’s a few websites where bullets are used to great effect…

Rich Schefren’s Strategic Profits

Shrink Wrap your Brain

Ultimate Success Program

Write Letters - Win Sales

I urge you to take the time to write these bullets out - it’s the only way to really get the skill under your skin!

~Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting sales letters writing bullets

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This post is giving you very short notice - and I’m sorry if you don’t see it in time.

I’ve mentioned previously about Ed Rivis publishing his book The Ultimate Web Marketing Strategy [Aff]. If you took a look at his blog then you already know about his startlingly low priced 24-hour launch of his book which commenced yesterday (4th March) at 10.30 GMT.

As I write this post that means there is just over 2.5 hours before it goes from £6.99 back to its normal price of £19.97.

The description on the front of the book cover says…

“How everyday business owners can use the world’s most tested and proven online marketing strategies to attract thousands of new customers, hyper-gear revenues, boost profits up to 2.5 to 25 times and grow their business or professional practice within the next 12 months or less.”

I think that says it all - I’ve watched Ed testing and proving these strategies over the last year and, what’s more, in his book he shares how he’s discovered what works as well as explaining what to do.

If you want to take advantage of his ridiculous starting offer pop over to Ed Rivis’ 24-hour Special

~ Carol Bentley

“I thought you were nuts about…” was the start of a comment on a hubpage I published on 9th February. But I had to smile as I continued to read because it went on to validate the advice I had given.

The subject of the hub is one I’ve mentioned in a previous post on this website… how taking time to write as many headlines as possible, before choosing the few you want to test, is time well spent.

On the hub I included a useful mind map, which gives an ‘at-a-glance’ reminder of my headline creating tips. You can download it from the hub page http://hubpages.com/hub/craftingheadlines, where you can also read the full comment left by the reader I mentioned above as well as those left by other readers.

Please give the page a thumbs up rating when you visit it. Thanks.

~ Carol Bentley

This year one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve worked on is a website for healthier chocolates. Yes - you read that right healthier chocolates.

It was a new product launch from a client who manufactures gorgeous Belgian chocolates in Surrey.

I have to admit writing copy for most of his products is exquisite torture for me… why?

Because I’m diabetic, but I love the taste of chocolate. And unfortunately the two don’t really go together.

But the thing is, you cannot write passionately about something you have no experience of, that’s why you are really the best person to write about your product or service.

But this new chocolate is different. It’s an innovative antioxidant-rich chocolate. The cocoa beans go through a new fermenting process that keeps a higher level of antioxidants than the standard method, which means the chocolate retains 80% instead of losing 70% of the natural antioxidants found in cocoa beans.

And the better news for me… during my research I discovered the scientific research had been carried out to check how antioxidants affect diabetics.  And it seems they are good for preventing the development of diabetes type 2 and can even help with blood sugar levels for diabetics. And that’s in addition to all the other benefits of having your daily quota of antioxidants.

Now I indulge in my two small pieces of chocolate every day (they are just the size of an after-dinner chocolate you’d get at a restaurant).  What’s more I’ve noticed I have a lot more energy and clarity of thought (no bad thing for a copywriter) without upsetting my blood sugar levels.

So you can see why I enjoyed writing the copy and managing this website project for my client

If you would like to see the copy I created - and maybe discover more about the health benefits of antioxidants and these delicious Belgian chocolates - you can check it out at www.delvaux-acticoa.com

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: healthy chocolate antioxidants webcopy

Note: Please claim your gifts before 10.00 a.m. on Monday 26th November 2007. They will not be available after that date and time.

I decided I wanted to celebrate my first full month of blogging by giving you a gift; but what? What would prove extremely useful and valuable to you?

Because I don’t know exactly what business issues you are facing right at this moment, I had to think of something what would be useful to you regardless. And, of course, the other challenge I had is giving something that is valuable regardless of whether you provide a service or a product; sell online or offline; sell to other businesses or to consumers.

Which is why I decided on 2 gifts and I’m confident that you’ll be very happy with at least 1, if not both. You are welcome to take both.

Both gifts are downloaded as a zip file. Each contains a text file and a PDF e-book. The text file gives you an introduction to the e-book. The e-book itself contains the meat of the subject. Enjoy!

Gift 1

Service Sellers Masters Course - Because you visit my blog on a regular basis and you’re probably comfortable using the world wide web, I’m guessing you have a website of your own. If you provide a service then your web site can ( and should) be a clear source of new clients or customers.

This extremely easy-to-read 204-page e-book describes how to create a results generating website for service providers.

The e-book explains how your website should be set up to attract all the targeted traffic you need. And, even if you have a web company who designs and manages your web site for you, the insights this e-book gives helps you understand how your web site should be structured to give you the best results.

Get your Service Sellers Masters Course

Gift 2

Make Your Price Sell - This shorter e-book (54 pages) describes how to establish the best pricing for your product or service. Although it is aimed at e-commerce sites, the underlying marketing premise applies to any pricing decision; whether online or offline.

Get your Make Your Price Sell e-book

Limited Availability

Normally an anniversary celebration lasts 24 hours. However I’ve noticed I get visitors on Saturdays and Sundays, even though I do not post any new messages at weekends. So it would seem some visitors prefer to catch up at the end of the week, maybe you do?

That’s why I decided to make this a celebration weekend. If you are reading this on Saturday or Sunday you can still claim your gifts. In fact you have until 10.00 a.m. on Monday 26th November, which is when the PDF files will be taken down.

Enjoy your gifts and let me know how you get on with them.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting marketing pricing web marketing business resources

The expert advice, if you are looking for a web domain name, is to find one with the specific keyword or phrase your target audience is likely to use in search engines. Plus, to increase your chances with search engine positioning, it’s best (so I’m told) not to separate the words with hyphens or underscores.

As a copywriter I’d add another consideration to that… be careful about the words you choose from your readers’ point of view. Let me explain:

I’m an avid fan of the TV programme QI and I watched the ‘Children In Need’ edition last week on BBC4. Stephen Fry asked the celebrity panel to describe what was being sold on four example websites which were:

• www.therapistfinder.com
• www.whorepresents.com
• www.penisland.com
• www.presentsexchange.com

You can imagine the ribald comments that came out of these names. I’ve capitalised the words to show the true intention of the domain names:

• www.TherapistFinder.com
• www.WhoRepresents.com
• www.PenIsland.com
• www.PresentsExchange.com

Words chosen perfectly innocently can take on a different meaning when they are run together as web domain names. So - before you settle on a web domain name - make sure it’s not going to cause any embarrassment for you.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting web copy web marketing

I’ve just read a post by James Brausch in which he says ‘long copy sucks and other heresies’ and quotes tests and experiments he’s carried out. All of which are web-based.

He points out that he fully expects copywriters to jump on him and say long letters do work. And he’s right. Including me - but let me qualify that a bit further…

Do you remember the Opera Singer turned copywriter I mentioned in a post last week? (read If an Opera Singer can do it… so can you)

One of the first questions Kirsty asked me was:

“What’s your view of long versus short letters? Do you get people arguing about it when they ask you to do the copywriting?”

When I said “I’ve proven long letters work and yes, I do get sceptics!” her face was wreathed in a smile. “What do you say to them?” she asked.

So I told her… Want to know what I said?

“When you’re writing a letter you have to bear in mind that there are two types of people who are likely to read it; the detail people - like engineers. They want to be absolutely sure they understand every detail there is to know about whatever is on offer. Then you have the skimmers; the people who are too busy to read everything in your letter.

Now - think about it; what’s the real purpose of your letter?

It isn’t to be read. Its sole purpose is to get the recipient to take the action you want!

So you’ve got to satisfy both types of audience with one letter. And that’s where the formatting of your letter - as well as the wording - comes into play. (I’m going to assume you are writing an interesting, benefits-crammed, focused-on-your-reader type of letter).

For the detail people you must give the answers to all the questions they are asking themselves;

• ‘How will it help me?’
• ‘Why should I buy this?’
• ‘Will I regret spending the money afterwards?’ (known as buyer’s remorse)
• ‘Who else has got results from this?’ (genuine testimonials are needed here)
• ‘Will I get the same or similar result?’
• ‘What’s the risk I take by buying?’ (your guarantee gets around this concern)

You have to provide all the detail to back up their emotional decision to purchase. You can only do this in a long letter.For the skimmers, your sub-headlines give an overview of what your offer is.

If you get it right, as they scan your letter they will pounce on the sub-headline that is answering their burning question or catches their attention with a promise they like.

This is why it is imperative to make sure at least one of your subheads also clearly identifies how they can take up your offer; your call-to-action. Your skim-reader does not want to waste time searching for how to get whatever you are selling.

Something along the lines of ‘3 Easy Steps to Get Your…‘ or ‘How To Get Your…‘ or ‘What To Do Now…‘ is OK.”

I have had people contact me saying “I got your letter. I didn’t read it, it was too long..”

Do you think I care? Not a jot - they’ve got in touch haven’t they?

So my letter has done exactly what I wanted, it’s compelled them to take action.

Read your letter. Does it answer all the questions your prospect is asking (some people call it sales objections, but that seems a bit harsh to me. After all he just wants to know enough to be sure he’s making the right decision for him).  Check your sub-headlines; do they give the gist of what the letter is about? Do they draw the reader in to your letter? Are they succinct and supportive or just cute and clever without any substance?

Try this: Give your letter to other people to read.  Then ask them did they read the whole thing or just skim? If they skimmed, did they get a feel of what it was about? If they read the whole thing, did they find it interesting or boring? Use their feedback to fine-tune your content, but don’t let the skimmers persuade you to shorten your letter just for the sake of doing so ;-).

How Long is Long?

Again there are different views; some people say anything longer than 1 page is a long letter; others say 17, 20 or more pages have proved to be their best sellers. It’s a matter of testing.

For one client I upped their standard sales letter length from 1 uninteresting page to 4 reader-focused pages and it almost doubled the response for them.

For another client, who always sent out very long letters, we tested a 1-page ‘announcement type’ letter that got a great result. It may be because it was a contrast to what his prospects normally got from him.

There is no definitive answer.

Web Copy Length

So does the same apply to web based copy - should they be long letters?

Perhaps not according to James’ tests. But at the seminar where I met Kirsty, which was hosted by a multi-million $ turnover internet marketing company, they said their best selling letter was 55 ‘printed pages’ long!

As with any advice given by experts the only answer is to check what works for you… test both short and long copy in any marketing campaign regardless of whether it is online or offline.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: copywriting web copy