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Digg it UP - Writing for the Web
Summertime Blues eem out of place on the Web, unless you happen to be marketing exclusively to executive types. Otherwise it's fine to speak in the first person and share your own viewpoints. Letting your own personality shine through and sharing your own experiences is a great way to build a relationship with your readers.
It’s summertime!1. No one wants to be bothered. 2. It’s too hot. 3. It’s a beautiful day; everyone is out. 4. No one is thinking about work. 5. Prospects are getting ready to go on vacation. 6. Everyone is on vacation. 7. Prospects are just returning from their vacations 8. I’m preparing to go on vacation. 9. I’m on vacation. 10. I’ve just returned from vacation. 11. My assistant is on vacation. 12. Their assistant is on vacation. 13. No one is in on Mondays. 14. No one is in on Fridays. 15. Prospects are catching up midweek. 16. Prospects leave the office early. 17. Prospects go to the office late. 18. Prospects take long lunches. 19. No one makes appointments till after July 4th. 20. No one makes appointments till after Labor Day.Print this list out. Send it to your competition. Then, get on the telephone!Life and work continue, even in the summer! If it’s too hot, then your prospects will be in their nice, air-conditioned offices—where you should be, too, making calls. If it is a beautiful day, some people may be out. The rest will not.Everyone is not on vacation every day. If you happen to call someone who is on vacation, call them back when they return. If they are planning a vacation, schedule the meeting for when they return. If they have just returned from their vacation, schedule for a time when they say they will be caught up. If you are going on vacation, schedule for when you return.Prospects are in the office on Mondays and Fridays, early and late. They are frequently at their desks during lunch—especially when you are calling the boss.Prospects make appointments all summer long, just as they do in the fall, winter and spring. If a prospect asks you to call back after a holiday, suggest that you “pencil in a meeting for after the holiday.” Promise th Don't come on too strong. We've all seen those websites that are trying too hard. Hyped up sales copy, excessive exclamation points, and text in too many different sizes and fonts are more likely to motivate the reader to leave immediately than to buy the product. Accentuate the positive, but don't exaggerate or make exorbitant claims or promises you can't keep. Instead of going for the hard sell, let your products speak for themselves. Stick to features, benefits, and objectiv Is Your Corporate Wellness Program Floundering? Website content, ezines, articles, e-books - if you run an online business you'll probably do your fair share of writing. If you're not entirely confident about your writing abilities, don't worry. You can master writing for the Web and learn to turn out clean, clear, and convincing copy. You just need to understand the nature of the Web and always write with your reader in mind. Here are some guidelines to get you started:
Is Your Corporate Wellness Program Floundering?Companies are instituting corporate wellness programs, often with mixed results. The idea behind a corporate wellness program is actually quite solid: these programs are opportunities for employees to get the help they need to prevent illness.The general idea of a corporate wellness program is that since as many as 80% of illnesses can be avoided with some preventative care, more attention to corporate fitness can improve productivity, reduce company costs, and can result in happier employees.While some corporate wellness programs seem to be doing just fine, they are the minority. Some studies have suggested that only about 1 out of 9 corporate wellness programs are seen as successful. This means that many corporate wellness programs are costing money but not producing desired results.In fact, some employers report that expensive employee exercise and employee wellness programs are used by only a tiny minority of employees - usually those employees who are already fit. Many companies that have invested in a corporate wellness program find that their workers are as unhealthy as ever!What is behind this alarming trend in corporate wellness programs? Research by Golding Corporate Wellness, Inc (http://www.corporate-wellness-mistakes.com/) has revealed specific factors that lead to unsuccessful corporate wellness programs:1. Not investing in corporate wellness programs. Even today, many companies simply do not pay enough attention to worksite wellness to institute a corporate wellness program. The first step to a successful corporate wellness program, then, is to create a solid one. GCW, Inc. can help if you are having trouble getting started.2. Investing only in employee exercise facilities. Many companies mistakenly assume that building employee exercise rooms or getting employee gym memberships means Get organized. Create an outline of the entire site before you begin to help you stay organized as you write, and work from that outline to create each page. Start out with general information and progressively get more detailed and specific as you go on. Tackle your subject systematically and lead toward a logical conclusion.Make it easy to read. Computer monitors are considerably more difficult to read from than the printed page. Don't overwhelm your readers with endless lines of text. Instead, break it up into logical sections and paragraphs. Formatting text in columns rather than lines as wide as the screen will make it easier to read. Use eye-catching headings to emphasize important points and key concepts.Get to the point. Go straight to the point in your opening paragraph - tell the reader what you're writing about and how they will benefit from reading it. Grab your readers' attention and motivate them to read on. People are busy and there's plenty of competition for their time and attention, so let them know what's in it for them and why they should stick around to read on.Write for your readers. The right perspective is the reader's perspective. People visit a website because they want information and want it fast, so give them what they came for. Instead of focusing on what you want to tell them, tell them what they want to know. Ask yourself what kind of person is likely to be reading what you write, and tailor your writing to that group. Don't use any technical terms your audience might not be familiar with. You want to come across as knowledgable without talking down to your readers.Keep it short. When it comes to writing for the Web, less is more. Reading from a computer monitor is relatively taxing on the eyes, so be concise. Make sure you've covered your subject thoroughly but concisely. Paragraphs should be relatively short (generally, three to five sentences). If your subject can't be covered thoroughly enough in a short article or on a Web page, split it up into two articles or Web pages.Stay focused. Stay focused on the main idea you want to express in each paragraph or section. After you've finished, reread what you've written to make sure you haven't strayed from your topic. If you find you've digressed or gone off on a tangent, cut the extra material for use in another article. Your content should closely match your title or heading and introduction (in other words, make sure you've given the reader what you promised.Be yourself. Be conversational but professional. Formality and "corporate speak" seem out of place on the Web, unless you happen to be marketing exclusively to executive types. Otherwise it's fine to speak in the first person and share your own viewpoints. Letting your own personality shine through and sharing your own experiences is a great way to build a relationship with your readers.Don't come on too strong. We've all seen those websites that are trying too hard. Hyped up sales copy, excessive exclamation points, and text in too many different sizes and fonts are more likely to motivate the reader to leave immediately than to buy the product. Accentuate the positive, but don't exaggerate or make exorbitant claims or promises you can't keep. Instead of going for the hard sell, let your products speak for themselves. Stick to features, benefits, and objective When Business Drops Off, Always Look Here G>Make it easy to read. Computer monitors are considerably more difficult to read from than the printed page. Don't overwhelm your readers with endless lines of text. Instead, break it up into logical sections and paragraphs. Formatting text in columns rather than lines as wide as the screen will make it easier to read. Use eye-catching headings to emphasize important points and key concepts.
It’s amazing where you can find hidden revenue when you take a moment to look around your business. Many businesses are losing revenue because of their phone system, whether you have multiple lines, or a home phone, no matter. Either can easily lose you money.YOUR PHONE SYSTEM Recently I’ve called a couple of clients’ phone systems. In several instances I was trapped in a queue. It was frustrating. I don’t necessarily have a problem with queues that prompt me to “press #1 for the children’s department” or “press #5 for Dr. Smith” rather, I get frustrated when I follow your recording instructions and I get no where! Thus, I hang up resulting in missed revenue.LESSON Call into your phone system at least once a week, no less, even if you have only one home phone line with voice mail. Call into it. Is it still working? Has your greeting suddenly disappeared? Is there even a dial-tone? Has the line been cut? Did you leave your phone plugged into your fax? Is your receptionist still pleasant or has he suddenly become fed up with his job, grumbling at callers?If business suddenly drops off for no reason, always look to your phone. Call all your numbers, especially after you’ve requested any changes or updates from your phone provider. [We all have stories to tell about the latter.] And don’t forget to check all forwarding numbers from your yellow page ads. Can’t remember? I check mine every time the bills arrive.A quick story….Many years ago I worked as a marketing manager for a large telecommunications company. One afternoon my general manager tried reaching all her direct reports, only to get voice mail each time. The next morning she demanded that all voice mails be deactivated. Moving forward, the receptionist was to take all calls live and handwrite all messages.It was a fiasco.We were a sales-based organization. Part of the bloodline for an Get to the point. Go straight to the point in your opening paragraph - tell the reader what you're writing about and how they will benefit from reading it. Grab your readers' attention and motivate them to read on. People are busy and there's plenty of competition for their time and attention, so let them know what's in it for them and why they should stick around to read on.Write for your readers. The right perspective is the reader's perspective. People visit a website because they want information and want it fast, so give them what they came for. Instead of focusing on what you want to tell them, tell them what they want to know. Ask yourself what kind of person is likely to be reading what you write, and tailor your writing to that group. Don't use any technical terms your audience might not be familiar with. You want to come across as knowledgable without talking down to your readers.Keep it short. When it comes to writing for the Web, less is more. Reading from a computer monitor is relatively taxing on the eyes, so be concise. Make sure you've covered your subject thoroughly but concisely. Paragraphs should be relatively short (generally, three to five sentences). If your subject can't be covered thoroughly enough in a short article or on a Web page, split it up into two articles or Web pages.Stay focused. Stay focused on the main idea you want to express in each paragraph or section. After you've finished, reread what you've written to make sure you haven't strayed from your topic. If you find you've digressed or gone off on a tangent, cut the extra material for use in another article. Your content should closely match your title or heading and introduction (in other words, make sure you've given the reader what you promised.Be yourself. Be conversational but professional. Formality and "corporate speak" seem out of place on the Web, unless you happen to be marketing exclusively to executive types. Otherwise it's fine to speak in the first person and share your own viewpoints. Letting your own personality shine through and sharing your own experiences is a great way to build a relationship with your readers.Don't come on too strong. We've all seen those websites that are trying too hard. Hyped up sales copy, excessive exclamation points, and text in too many different sizes and fonts are more likely to motivate the reader to leave immediately than to buy the product. Accentuate the positive, but don't exaggerate or make exorbitant claims or promises you can't keep. Instead of going for the hard sell, let your products speak for themselves. Stick to features, benefits, and objectiv USB Pens Drives /P>
How do you use usb pens? Simple. Plug it into the USB port* of your PC (or Mac!) and watch the system automatically detect the new device. Take at look at your system drives... a new drive has been created! The operating system can now access your USB Pen Drive just like any ordinary Hard Disk Drive. The USB Pen Drive is shock-proof, dust-proof and weighing a mere 21 grams, it needs no batteries, has no moving parts and is available in range of capacities from 32MB to a massive 1GB.USB - Universal Serial Bus, is a 'standard' developed by the computer industry to allow a vast number of different devices to be easily attached to one machine with the minimum requirement for extra drivers and software and still operate at an efficient speed.Many companies within the UK use Promotional usb pens as little incentives to customers of old and new. At exhibitions it`s common place to see many of the exhibitors giving out Promotional usb pen drives as part of the event. The idea of giving out Promotional usb pen drives is to provide customers with something that they can use that has your company logo upon it. A range of Promotional pen drives can be given out to clients it all depends on how effective you want them to be. Popular items of Promotional usb pen drives have been pens with messages printed upon them.Give your regular customers Promotional usb flash drives like printed pens and they`ll have an object they can use on a daily basis that has your name emblazoned upon it. Moreover, give Promotional usb drives to prospective new clients and they`ll be able to read your company brand inside their business premises. Every time they use a usb pen that`s been given to them by you, your products will be floating through their minds and your company will be foremost in their thoughts. The usb pens that are given out at corporate events can vary from the low capacity to the most expensiv Write for your readers. The right perspective is the reader's perspective. People visit a website because they want information and want it fast, so give them what they came for. Instead of focusing on what you want to tell them, tell them what they want to know. Ask yourself what kind of person is likely to be reading what you write, and tailor your writing to that group. Don't use any technical terms your audience might not be familiar with. You want to come across as knowledgable without talking down to your readers.Keep it short. When it comes to writing for the Web, less is more. Reading from a computer monitor is relatively taxing on the eyes, so be concise. Make sure you've covered your subject thoroughly but concisely. Paragraphs should be relatively short (generally, three to five sentences). If your subject can't be covered thoroughly enough in a short article or on a Web page, split it up into two articles or Web pages.Stay focused. Stay focused on the main idea you want to express in each paragraph or section. After you've finished, reread what you've written to make sure you haven't strayed from your topic. If you find you've digressed or gone off on a tangent, cut the extra material for use in another article. Your content should closely match your title or heading and introduction (in other words, make sure you've given the reader what you promised.Be yourself. Be conversational but professional. Formality and "corporate speak" seem out of place on the Web, unless you happen to be marketing exclusively to executive types. Otherwise it's fine to speak in the first person and share your own viewpoints. Letting your own personality shine through and sharing your own experiences is a great way to build a relationship with your readers.Don't come on too strong. We've all seen those websites that are trying too hard. Hyped up sales copy, excessive exclamation points, and text in too many different sizes and fonts are more likely to motivate the reader to leave immediately than to buy the product. Accentuate the positive, but don't exaggerate or make exorbitant claims or promises you can't keep. Instead of going for the hard sell, let your products speak for themselves. Stick to features, benefits, and objectiv Small Business Marketing Secrets: A Cold Calling Refresher sely. Paragraphs should be relatively short (generally, three to five sentences). If your subject can't be covered thoroughly enough in a short article or on a Web page, split it up into two articles or Web pages.
I once had a sales manager whose idea of giving us leads was to throw a phone book at us and say, "Start calling!"He didn't care whether the people we were calling had any interest in what we were selling. He just wanted us on the phone pitching the product.Thankfully this type of cold calling is becoming a thing of the past. I call it "blind" cold calling because it is completely blind to the prospect's potential interest in the product or service. It pays no attention to what the prospect might want because it's focused entirely on what the salesperson wants.I believe cold calling is still a valid way to generate leads. But it is best used under certain conditions.One condition is that, as a seller, you are able to gather enough information about your leads so you have a good reason to call them. Because of your research, it's reasonable to expect they would have an interest in your product or service. If you cannot honestly make this statement, then you should not contact them with a cold call.A second condition is that your leads should be accessible via cold calls. I know most people don't like getting cold calls. But that's different. Even though people may not like getting cold calls, some still respond to them.Relationships begin and sales get made as a result of cold calls.On the other hand, many people cannot be reached with cold calls. They're in industries or positions with enough barriers that cold calls just don't work.If your market meets these two conditions then it might make sense to look at cold calling to generate leads. If not, then you would do better to look for other ways to connect with prospects. Cold calling might be a waste of your time. Stay focused. Stay focused on the main idea you want to express in each paragraph or section. After you've finished, reread what you've written to make sure you haven't strayed from your topic. If you find you've digressed or gone off on a tangent, cut the extra material for use in another article. Your content should closely match your title or heading and introduction (in other words, make sure you've given the reader what you promised.Be yourself. Be conversational but professional. Formality and "corporate speak" seem out of place on the Web, unless you happen to be marketing exclusively to executive types. Otherwise it's fine to speak in the first person and share your own viewpoints. Letting your own personality shine through and sharing your own experiences is a great way to build a relationship with your readers.Don't come on too strong. We've all seen those websites that are trying too hard. Hyped up sales copy, excessive exclamation points, and text in too many different sizes and fonts are more likely to motivate the reader to leave immediately than to buy the product. Accentuate the positive, but don't exaggerate or make exorbitant claims or promises you can't keep. Instead of going for the hard sell, let your products speak for themselves. Stick to features, benefits, and objectiv 20 Tips For Easy Ad Writing! eem out of place on the Web, unless you happen to be marketing exclusively to executive types. Otherwise it's fine to speak in the first person and share your own viewpoints. Letting your own personality shine through and sharing your own experiences is a great way to build a relationship with your readers.
Follow these tips to get your ads to produce the results you need to help build your online business.1. Your ads should arouse the readers curiosity provoking them to click on your ad to get more information. Remember that people will respond to your ad if they can identify with what you are advertising.2. Keep your ad limited to the number of words allowed for the type of advertising you are using, such as ezine ads, classified ads, etc. Do not go over the limit or your ad may be cut off, making it appear unprofessional.3. Make sure your ad contains lots of white space, easy to read fonts, and clear graphics or pictures.4. Your title or heading is the determining factor whether your ad gets read. People have been exposed to tons of ads on the internet so be aware of how your ad is presented. Your headline should be appealing to the reader and offer some benefit.5. When creating your headline keep it short and be specific. Reveal exactly what is in your ad. Avoid over used words like free, money, etc.6. A good way to attract attention to your ad is by using quotation marks and quoting someone in your headline.7. Try using "How to," "Last chance," "Now!," "Amazing," "Announcing," and others in your headline. They worked in the past and will pull in readers for you now.8. Using action words in your headline or asking a question will help to catch the readers attention. Try and make them no longer then 7 words.9. Always have a web page set up other then your main web page for your visitors to go to once they read your ad. This will allow you to target the information for specific ads. It will also make your visitors feel that they are special to you because the web page relates to the ad they saw.10. By setting up a specific page for your ad you will be able to track how it is doing. Testing your ads will determine which ones to c Don't come on too strong. We've all seen those websites that are trying too hard. Hyped up sales copy, excessive exclamation points, and text in too many different sizes and fonts are more likely to motivate the reader to leave immediately than to buy the product. Accentuate the positive, but don't exaggerate or make exorbitant claims or promises you can't keep. Instead of going for the hard sell, let your products speak for themselves. Stick to features, benefits, and objective comparisons with your competitors' products.Think globally. Remember, it is called the World Wide Web, after all, and your site could be viewed by visitors who have many different native languages, cultures, religions, and values. For that reason write for a broad audience. Photographs and language that are acceptable in the United States might be offensive to citizens of more traditional or conservative countries. Humor can liven up your site, but make sure the jokes are in good taste and won't be construed as sexist, racist, or derogatory toward any group.Check your work. Little mistakes have a way of standing out, and even one glaring mistake can undermine your professional image. Proofread your copy very carefully, more than once, and ideally have someone else proofread it as well. In particular, watch out for spelling and grammatical errors, missing punctuation, omitted or duplicated words, and poorly constructed sentences. Using your spell checker will help, but it's no substitute for careful reading by a human. You might find it's easier to spot errors in your text if you print it out and read it.Get another opinion. Recruit a few friends or colleagues who aren't overly familiar with your products and company to give you their opionions on what you've written. Could they understand your description of your product(s)? Was your explanation of the benefits and selling points convincing? Were they left with any unanswered questions? Be open to their criticisms and questions and use their feedback to fine tune your copy.Consult a pro. You might have something worthwhile to say but that doesn't mean you necessarily have a talent for writing compelling copy. If writing just isn't your strong suit, don't hesitate to enlist the help of a professional to help you get your thoughts down on paper. Depending on your own abilities, you might call in a proofreader, editor or even a "ghost writer" to help you convert your ideas into professional-looking copy.
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