Make Money At Home! Money Making Internet Business Opportunities Online

Partners In Success Ezine
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE:


1.) Quote of the Week

2.) From the Editor

3.) Success Tip of the Month

4.) Charles & Susan Recommend - $977 To $1,477 Daily?

5.) Feature Article - The Seven Deadly Sins of Website Copy

6.) Bonus Goodies - Money Making Flashy Designs in a Box
    Banners and Intros Vol. 1

7.) Power Word of the Month

8.) Advertiser's Corner

9.) Advertising Rates


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1.)  Quote of the Month

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"Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than
any other one thing a smile reassures them."

         - Andre Maurois


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2.)  From the Editor

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Hi! 

Greetings & Welcome to all of our New Subscribers! We hope
you enjoy today's issue of The Partners In Success Ezine.

If you need good, fresh Leads every day, be sure to check
out our newest project!  1000 Fresh Leads Daily...
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Until next time...may your business continue to grow &
prosper.

Partners in Success,
Charles & Susan Truett, Editors

P.S. There is NEW content at the Partners in Success
Website. Visit Today! http://tinyurl.com/bykh2


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3.)  Success Tip of the Month

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Although there are many advertising opportunities on the
Internet, one of the most effective is ezine advertising.
Consider purchasing sponsor ads within a publication that
targets your specific audience.

Today's tip is an excerpt from the acclaimed Web Design
Mastery series. http://www.webdesignmastery.com


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4.)  Charles & Susan Recommend

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5.)  Feature Article      

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The Seven Deadly Sins of Website Copy
By Michel Fortin Copyright © 2008

Throughout my research, I'm always surprised when I stumble
onto websites that are professionally designed and seem to
offer great products and services, but lack or fail in
certain important elements.

Elements that, with just a few short changes, can help
multiply the results almost instantaneously.

Generally, I have found that there are seven common
mistakes. I call them the "Seven Deadly Sins." Is your
website committing any one of these?

1) They Fail to Connect

Traffic has been long touted to be the key to online
success, but that's not true. If your site is not pulling
sales, inquiries or results, then why would it need more
traffic?

The key is to turn curious browsers into serious buyers.
Aside from the quality of the copy, the number one reason
why a website doesn't convert is that the copy is targeting
the wrong audience or fails to connect with them.

First, create a "perfect prospect profile." List all the
attributes, characteristics and qualities of your most
profitable and accessible market.

Don't just stick with things like demographics and
psychographics. Try to get to know them.

Who are they, really? What are their most pressing
problems? What keeps them up at night? How do they talk
about their problems? Where do they hang out?

Then, target your market by centering on a major theme,
benefit or outcome so that, when you generate pre-qualified
traffic, your hit ratio and your sales will increase
dramatically.

Finally, ensure that your copy connects with them.
Intimately. It speaks their language, talks about their
problems, and tells stories they can easily appreciate and
relate to.

Since this is the most common error that marketers and
copywriters commit, and to help you, follow the following
formulas.

The OATH formula helps you to understand the stage of
awareness your market is at. (How aware of the problem are
they, really?)

The QUEST formula guides you in qualifying and empathizing
with them. And the UPWORDS formula teaches you how to
choose the appropriate language your market can easily
understand, appreciate and respond to.

2) They Lack a Compelling Offer "Making an offer you can't
refuse" seems like an old cliché, but don't discount its
relevance and power. Especially in this day and age where
most offers are so anemic, lifeless, and like every other
offer out there.

Too many business believe that simply offering a product or
service, and mentioning the price, are good enough. But
what they fail to realize is that people need to intimately
understand the full value (the real value and, more
importantly, the perceived value) behind the offer.

Sometimes, all you need is to offer some premiums,
incentives and bonuses to make the offer more palatable and
hard to ignore. (Very often, people buy products and
services for the premiums alone.)

Other times, you need to create what is called a "value
buildup."

(In fact, premiums are not mandatory in all cases,
particularly when the offer itself is solid enough. But
building value almost always is.)

Essentially, you compare the price of your offer not with
the price of some other competing offer or alternative, but
with the ultimate cost of not buying - and enjoying - your
product or service.

This may include the price of an alternative. But "ultimate
cost" goes far beyond price. Dan Kennedy calls this "apples
to oranges" comparisons.

For example, let's say you sell an ebook on how to grow
better tomatoes. That might sound simple, and your initial
inclination might be to compare it to other
"tomatoe-growing" ebooks or viable alternatives.

But also look at the the time it took for you to learn the
best ways to grow tomatoes. Look at the amount of money you
invested in trying all the different fertilizers, seeds and
techniques to finally determine which ones are the best.

Don't forget the time, money and energy (including
emotional energy) people save from not having to learn
these by themselves. Add the cost of doing it wrong and
buying solutions that are either more expensive or
inappropriate.

That's what makes an offer valuable. One people can't
refuse.

3) They Lack "Reasons Why" While some websites are
well-designed and provide great content, and they might
even have great copy, they fail because they don't offer
enough reasons for people to buy - or at least read the
copy in the first place.

Visitors are often left clueless. In other words, why
should they buy? Why should they buy that particular
product? Why should they buy that product from that
particular site? And more important, why should they buy
now?

What makes your product so unique, different and special?
What's in it for your customers that they can't get
anywhere else? Not answering those questions will deter
clients and impede sales.

John E. Kennedy, a Canadian fireman and copywriter at the
turn of the last century, talked a lot about the power of
adding "reasons why." His wisdom still rings true to this
day, and we know this from experience.

Once, my wife had a client whose website offered natural
supplements.

It offered a free bottle (i.e., 30-day supply). But
response was abysmal. Aside from being in a highly
competitive industry, the copy failed to allay the
prospect's fears. They thought it might be a scam or that
there's a catch.

So all she did was tell her client to add the following
paragraph:

"Why are we offering this free bottle? Because we want you
to try it. We're so confident that you will see visible
results within 30 days that you will come back and order
more."

Response more than tripled.

Similarly, add "reasons why" to your copy. To help you,
make sure that it covers all the bases by answering the
following "5 why's:"

Why me? (Why should they listen to you?) Why you? (Who is
perfect for this offer?) Why this? (Why is this product
perfect for them?) Why this price? (Why is this offer so
valuable?) Why now? (Why must they not wait?)

4) They Lack Scarcity Speaking of "why now," this is
probably the most important reason of all.

A quote from Jim Rohn says it all, and I force myself to
think about it each time I craft an offer. He said,
"Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value."

People fear making bad decisions. With spams, scams and
snake oils being rampant on the Internet, people tend to
procrastinate, and they do so even when the copy is good,
the offer is perfect and they're qualified for it.

Most websites I review fail to effectively communicate a
sense of urgency. If people are given the chance to wait or
think it over, they will. Look at it this way: if you don't
add a sense of urgency, you're inviting them to
procrastinate.

Use takeaway selling in order to stop people from
procrastinating and get them to take action now. In other
words, shape your offer - and not just your product or
service - so that it is time-sensitive or quantity-bound.

More important, give a reasonable, logical explanation to
justify your urgency or else your sales tactic will be
instantly discredited. Back it up with reasons as to why
the need to take advantage of the offer is pressing.

Plus, a sense of urgency doesn't need to be an actual limit
or a deadline. It can be just a good, plausible and
compelling explanation that emphasizes the importance of
acting now - as well as the consequences of not doing so.

For example, what would they lose out on if they wait?
Don't limit yourself to the offer. Think of all the
negative side-effects of not going ahead right now.

5) They Lack Proof Speaking of the fear of making bad
decisions, today's consumers are increasingly leery when
contemplating offers on the Internet.

While many websites look professional, have an ethical
sales approach, and offer proven products or services, the
lack of any kind of tangible proof will still cause most
visitors to at least question your offer.

The usual suspects, of course, are testimonials and
guarantees. Guarantees and testimonials help to reduce the
skepticism around the purchase of your product or service,
and give it almost instant credibility.

(I often refuse to critique any copy that doesn't have any
testimonials. It's not just to save myself time and energy.
I would be wasting my client's money if the only
recommendation they got from me was to add testimonials.)

Elements of proof is not just limited to guarantees and
testimonials, either.

They can include the story behind your product, your
credentials, actual case studies, results of tests and
trials, samples and tours, statistics and factoids, photos
and multimedia, "seals of approval," and, of course,
reasons why.

Even the words you choose can make a difference. Because,
in addition to a sense of urgency, your copy also needs a
sense of credibility.

Today, people are understandably cynical and suspicious. If
your offer is suspect and your copy, at any point, gives
any hint that it can be fake, misleading, untrue, too good
to be true, or too exaggerated to be true.

. Then like it or not your response rate will take a nose
dive.

So, help remove the risk from the buyer's mind and you will
thus increase sales - and, paradoxically, reduce returns as
well. Plus, don't just stick with the truth. You also need
to give your copy the ring of truth.

6) They Lack a Clear Call to Action Answer this
million-dollar, skill-testing question: "What exactly do
you want your visitors to do?" Simple, isn't it? But it
doesn't seem that way with the many sites I've visited.

The KISS principle (to me, it means "keep it simple and
straightforward") is immensely important on the Internet.
An effective website starts with a clear objective that
will lead to a specific action or outcome.

If your site is not meant to, say, sell a product, gain a
customer or obtain an inquiry for more information, then
what exactly must it do? Work around the answer as
specifically as possible.

Focus on the "power of one." That is:

One message One audience One outcome

If your copy tells too many irrelevant stories (irrelevant
to the audience and to the advancement of the sale), you
will lose your prospects' attention and interest.

If it tries to be everything to everyone (and is therefore
either too generic or too complex), you will lose your
prospects completely.

And if you ask your prospects to do too many things (other
than "buy now" or whatever action you want them to take),
you will lose sales.

Use one major theme. Make just one offer. (Sure, you can
offer options, such as ordering options or different
packages to choose from. But nonetheless, it's still just
one offer.)

Most important, provide clear instructions on where and how
to order.

Aside from the lack of a clear call to action, asking them
to do too many things can be just as counterproductive. The
mind hates confusion. If you try to get your visitors to do
too many things, they will do nothing.

Stated differently, if you give people too many choices,
they won't make one. So keep your message focused or else
you will overwhelm the reader.

7) They Lack Good Copy

It may seem like this should be the number one mistake.

While it's still one of the top seven mistakes, it's last
because the ones above take precedence. If you're guilty of
making any of the previous six mistakes, in the end your
sales will falter no matter how good your copy is.

Nevertheless, lackluster copy that fails to invoke
emotions, tell compelling stories, create vivid mental
imagery, and excite your prospects about your product or
service is indeed one of the most common reasons websites
fail.

Top sales trainer Zig Ziglar once said, "Selling is the
transference of enthusiasm you have for your product into
the minds of your prospects."

Copy is selling in print. Therefore, its job is no
different. In fact, since there's no human interaction that
you normally get in a face-to-face sales encounter, your
copy's job, therefore, has an even greater responsibility.

It must communicate that same enthusiasm that energizes
your prospects, excites them about your offering and
empowers them to buy.

Aside from infusing emotion into your copy, give your
prospects something they can understand, believe in and act
upon. Like a trial lawyer, it must tell a persuasive story,
make an airtight case and remove any reasonable doubt.
Above all, it must serve your prospect.

Many sites fail to answer a person's most important
question: "What's in it for me?" They get so engrossed in
describing companies, products, features or advantages over
competitors that they fail to appeal to the visitor
specifically.

Tell the visitor what they are getting out of responding to
your offer. To help you, first write down a series of
bullets. Bullets are captivating, pleasing to the eye,
clustered for greater impact and deliver important
benefits.

(They usually follow the words "you get," such as "With
this product, you get.")

But don't just resort to apparent or obvious benefits. Dig
deeper. Think of the end-results your readers get from
enjoying your product or service.

Do what my friend and copywriter Peter Stone calls the "so
that" technique. Each time you state a benefit, add "so
that" (or "which means") at the end, and then complete the
sentence to expand further.

Let's say your copy sells Ginko Biloba, a natural
supplement that increases memory function. (I'm not a Ginko
expert, so I'm guessing, here. Also, I'm being repetious
for the sake of illustration.) Here's what you might get:

Ginko supports healthy brain and memory functions. so that
you can be clear, sharp and focused. so that you can stay
on top of everything and not miss a beat. so that you can
be a lot more productive at work. so that you can advance
in your career a lot faster. so that you can make more
money, enjoy more freedom, and have more job security. so
that (and so on).

That could have turned another way depending on the answer
you give it, which is why it's good to repeat this
exercise. Here's another example:

Ginko supports healthy brain and memory functions. so that
you can decrease the risks of senility, Alzheimer's
disease, and other degenerative diseases of the brain. so
that you won't be placed in a nursing home. so that you
won't place the burden of your care on your loved ones. so
that you can grow old with peace of mind. so that you can
enjoy a higher quality of life, especially during those
later years. so that (and so on).

Remember, these are just examples pulled off the top of my
head. But if you want more help with your own copy, my FAB
formula is a useful guide.

Bottom line, check your copy to see if you're committing
any of these seven deadly sins. If you are, your prospects
won't forgive you. By not buying, that is.

About the Author:

Michel Fortin is a direct response copywriter, marketing
strategy consultant, and instrumental in some of the most
lucrative online businesses and wildly successful marketing
campaigns to ever hit the web. For more articles like this
one, please visit his blog at http://www.michelfortin.com/
and subscribe to his RSS feed.
 

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6.)  Bonus Goodies

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7.)  Power Word of the Month

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This Month's Power Word:

Blithe (blythe) adj. - carefree; cheerful


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8.) Advertiser's Corner

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To place YOUR ad in our Advertiser's Corner, visit
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9.) Advertising Rates

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Your Solo Ad mailed to our Subscriber Base.

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