Carol Bentley

It’s the online marketing dilemma. You want to encourage people to subscribe to your newsletter, blog, reports or whatever other valuable incentive you’ve created for your web visitors.

You’ve studied the best way to encourage people to sign up - as I did - and took note of the experts opinion about what works and what doesn’t.

And then, with gritted teeth, even though everyone I talk to (and that includes me… yes , I admit it I do talk to myself ) hates those annoying pop-ups I added one to my website. You may remember it.

Did you notice it wasn’t displayed this time?

No, I haven’t capitulated to the majority opinion (sorry, I do value you and hate the thought of upsetting you) but I’ve found a way to enjoy the best of both worlds. The power of the pop-up as a marketing tool and being able to stop the irritation you may have been experiencing.

Let me explain…

Once you’ve subscribed - whether it is through the pop-up or the in-line request in the right panel - you’ll never see the pop-up box again. Isn’t that great?

So how did I do it?

Well, I’m sorry to say it wasn’t me!

Oh yeah, I implemented it… but the actual method came from a brilliant techie-geek (his words ).

If you have a website using pop-ups (because you know they work) then take a look at Hill Henderson’s solution at http://hillrobertson.com

And do it NOW! Why?

Because Hill is currently offering his easy-to-follow system for an unbelievably minuscule $10 until 4:59 am (GMT) on Friday 18th Jan.

I hope you see this post in time… if you don’t he isn’t going crazy with his new price so it’s still worth popping over to look.

Is it worth the bother? Do Pop-Ups really work?

Now, if pop-ups really do annoy you, you might think it’s easier just to ignore using them altogether…

Not a savvy marketing decision. Based purely on my experience with this website here are my conversion stats, take a look and make your own decision:

Using pop-up displayed on every visit:

Inline conversion (unique visitors to subscriptions): 6.8%

Pop-up conversion 16.1%

Then I tested showing the pop up every 5th visit you made…

Inline conversion 3.7%

Pop-up conversion 6.8%

I think the figures speak for themselves.

It will be interesting to see how the new structure works…

~ Carol Bentley

The biggest challenge when sending out a message is getting your reader to respond. That applies to email messages, advertising, direct mail letters and other marketing approaches.

That is the essence of the question Martin Russell from www.wordofmouthmagic.com sent in:

Q: “You send out blog notification emails with a bit of the post in it, so is there any evidence for which is better; title only, part of post, full post?”

A: I got my training on ‘how to create a blog’ from Ed Rivis’ programme on business blogging for profit. And, initially, I followed his email notification style of sending just the title of the post.

However, I noticed that in email notices I received from Dan Kennedy for his marketing newsletters, he always included the start of his article. Sometimes this intrigued me enough to go and have a look, sometimes it didn’t.

And I wondered if giving a bit more of an idea of what a post was about would encourage more of my blog subscribers to visit. Effectively act as a teaser…

So I decided to test this and changed the notification style of my emails (if you’ve been a subscriber for some time you probably noticed the difference). It is still early days yet but the figures are showing an interesting trend. My average number of daily visitors has increased by 31.65% since sending the new style notice.

Now this is not scientific testing because the topics are different so it is not really a fair comparison. I shall check the average again after a few more weeks.

As regards sending the full post in the email, I’m not too keen on that approach. Not because I’ve tested anything - purely a personal thing because:

1. I would have to be more careful about the wording I use in the post to avoid triggering spam filter programs, which could prevent my messages getting through to you.
2. It would make some of the emails extremely long and I prefer to let you decide if you want to visit to read the full content.
3. If you got the full post in the email, you’d have no reason to visit this blog website. It would be more like an ezine newsletter. The idea of the website is to create a relationship, with the chance for you and I to interact. When you visit to read the post you can use the comment link to respond if you want to; effectively continuing the conversation I’m starting.
4. As this blog site grows, I’ll be adding links to useful products I’m developing. If you never have any reason to visit you won’t see the links and could be missing out on something that is important to you and your business.

So, on that basis, I don’t have any plans to test sending the full post message.

What are your thoughts?

Do you prefer to have an email showing just the post title? Or do you like having the introductory text that gives a hint of what the post is about?

I’d like to know your opinion - post your 2p’s worth using the comments link below.

~ Carol Bentley

technorati tags: marketing copywriting web marketing

May I ask a favour?

Following the adage ‘Actions speak louder than words’ I’ve taken up Rich Shefren’s challenge to produce a 66 seconds video, whilst saying something worthwhile about his powerfully informative report The Attention Age Doctrine 2.

And it was a real challenge - especially as my normal mode of communication is long, explanatory and valuable information-packed letters, adverts or articles!!

But it was done - and within the designated time-scale. So here’s the favour I’m asking…

I need your support

Will you gift me 10 minutes of your valuable time to visit this video site, play the clip and then vote?

The clip is only 66 seconds long and voting is done through Digg and Sphinn (there are instructions on how to vote).  So, I think it may take you about 10 minutes. You have to play the clip for your vote to count.

Then - and this is where the power of what the report talks about comes into action - please ask your friends and business colleagues if they would do the same.

Now why should you or they bother, except as a favour to me and you? Because they too can download the free report I’m describing in the clip and gain valuable marketing insights. Plus - there are some brilliant prizes for voters to gain too.

Why do I want to get a good result? Because it will show the power of peer recommendation, which is something we all need to embrace more in business, and I can share the experience with you and explore how it fits with copywriting. And I’d quite like to walk away with the accolade of getting a hit!

Thank you for your support and for ’spreading the word’. I’ll let you know how it progresses in future postings on this blog.

~ Carol Bentley

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’m off to London for an Internet Seminar this weekend. Now why would I do that and how will it help you?

3 reasons:

1) The people: everyone attending is an entrepreneur - or an embryonic entrepreneur. They all want to know how to create a successful business on the web. There’ll be a fascinating breadth of business ideas and people from all walks of life.

Imagine the rich source of stories, experiences and insights to what motivates people that gives me as a copywriter! Remember, people like to know what others have done and how they’ve succeeded - especially when it reveals an idea they can adopt for themselves. You never know what tales I’ll hear to give you and me a marketing gem or insight.

2) Additional expert knowledge: Although I’ve written copy for the web, which has been successful, and I have some working knowledge of internet marketing I am not an ‘out-and-out’ expert on search engine optimising (SEO) (Ed is though - check his blog).

• I know a little html code;
• I understand the concept of SEO to get websites to appear in the first few pages of search results;
• I understand the principles of how PPC (pay per click) advertising works (but not ALL the in-depth secrets to get the best out of it);
• I appreciate the thinking behind landing pages and how to use keywords and
• I already use article marketing to some degree of success (try typing Carol Bentley into the search box on Google).

So, as far as the Internet is concerned, I’m a bit of a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ - expert in none.

And that’s OK, because in an ever-changing arena like the Internet keeping on top of everything is a full time job in itself and it’s not my expert area - copywriting is my passion.

Of course it’s useful to keep a ‘finger on the pulse’ and that’s what I’ll be doing at the seminar. Listening to the proven experts and picking their brains for the juicy tidbits I can come back and use - and share with you!

3) Connections: meeting and networking with all those self-motivating people (they must be self-motivated to give up a weekend AND pay to attend) is rewarding in itself.

Who knows I might connect with an ideal joint venture partner; or find a great supplier for me and my clients (I found 2 champions at the last event I went to!) or even find people who want my copywriting products or services.

That’s what networking is all about (I’ll be writing more about business networking skills in a later blog; having done it for over 20 years I’ve got some useful tips for you ).

So I’m taking a short break - travelling up to London tomorrow.

Check back after the weekend - when I’ll share any gems I’ve discovered.

And have a good weekend yourself.

~ Carol

On the web spreading the word about something - good or bad - is known as viral marketing. Think about it.. it isn’t new, is it? We’ve had viral marketing since the year dot! It’s just got a rather fancy ‘technical’ term nowadays.

Of course I’m talking about ‘word of mouth’ recommendations. You know, when a friend or relative recommends a restaurant or suggests a good film or talks about a theatrical play or musical concert they attended, it’s all ‘viral marketing’ because people are getting to know about it from someone else.

So how often are your customers and business colleagues talking about you? Is what they are saying a compliment or is it damaging your business?

Keeping your communication channels open with your customers is one way of making sure they don’t have disparaging comments to make. You can do that by keeping them informed through newsletters, telephone calls, emails, occasional visits, seminars and open days, customer events, letters describing new products, services or offers - and of course you can create a web blog where you offer advice and help as I’m doing here.

Now I’m going to ask you to help me with some viral marketing…

A Gift In Exchange For Your Help.. 

This blog is new and I have a wealth of tips I plan to share over the coming months; tips you can adopt successfully in your business. Will you share with your friends and colleagues so they too can benefit? If you will, I have created an MP3 audio of powerful copywriting insights for you to listen to / download to show my appreciation of your support.

You can recommend your friends by clicking here or by clicking the ‘Click here to recommend’ link in the right hand panel.

Thanks.

~ Carol

A few posts ago I explained how my friend, UK Internet Marketing Expert, Ed Rivis acted as the inspiration (and provided the know-how) for me to create this blog.

And I told you he was planning to hold a crazy 24-hour launch special of his ‘Ultimate Guide to Highly Profitable Small Business Blogging‘ DVD tutorial programme, which has previously only been available with his ‘Shrink Wrap Your Brain’ programme.

He’s decided to go for it - and in my opinion he’s nuts!!

The normal price of the product is fantastic value - especially when you consider the time and aggravation his tutorial saves you. But that’s not good enough in Ed’s opinion.

Oh no!!

He’s decided to reward those people who are astute enough to realise how valuable blogging is for their business and take swift action.

But he’s only giving this massive 65% discount during his 24-hour launch special to invited visitors. And you’re invited because you checked this blog.

The launch special starts at 2p.m. GMT today, Tuesday 30th October, which means it finishes at 2p.m. tomorrow; Wednesday 31st October. Just follow this link to Ultimate Business Blogging

It’s only a short time-frame, but I promise - if you have any interest at all in keeping your communication channels with your customers and prospects open by hosting a blog - then this could be the most valuable link you follow today.

You owe it to yourself to at least look to see why I’m raving about how easy he’s made it and all the valuable marketing tips he includes…

Check out Ultimate Business Blogging now… if you leave it to later you may forget and miss the special launch bargain.

Oh, and one other thing… let me know when your blog is up because if it’s an interesting one I’ll announce it to everyone through this blog. Just pop a message with the URL over to me using my blog question form

~ Carol

“A lot of small businesses can benefit from blogging!” claimed my web marketing expert pal Ed. “How so?” I asked.

You see I must admit I was highly sceptical when he first said that - after all it’s just basically someone pouring out whatever is in their head; a bit like a personal journal - isn’t it?

But having watched how Ed has constructed his blog at www.edrivis.com and the immense wealth of information he gives each time he puts an entry in, I started to think a little differently.

After all it’s similar to the articles and newsletters I send out; just it’s all on-line in one easy-to-access spot. And of course, that means if you want to check back on an earlier article (blog) you don’t have to go searching through your emails trying to find it - you simply visit this site to look it up.

So how does a blog help you in your business? When you consider some experts claim up to 68% of business is lost through apparent indifference then it becomes obvious communication is key to keeping your customers (and prospects) happy. And blogging is a relaxed, informal and easy ‘no-brainer’ way to do that.

You can share information about your services or products - I’m not talking about your mainstream business marketing here; this is complementary to that day-to-day activity - I’m referring to the snippets you reveal to customers or prospects or discuss with colleagues during your daily business. The little ‘aha!’ factoids that people in your profession or industry regard as ‘normal’ but everyone outside thinks is a surprising revelation.

Want to know how to do it? Well the good news is Ed is about to launch a DVD/video called ‘Ultimate Guide to Highly Profitable Small Business Blogging’ as a stand-alone tutorial - I’ve already worked through it (I got a copy with his Shrink Wrap Your Brain programme) and he makes it amazingly easy to get started (believe me it has to be for me to bite the bullet as I have done with this blog!

Oh, and he’s told me he’s going to run a 24-hour launch special of the DVD at a ridiculous price. And I’ll be adding a timely post on this blog when it goes live. So, if you’re itching to know the easiest way to create a professional looking blog, subscribe now to make sure you don’t miss out when I post.

~ Carol