If you’re a business owner that provides a service to customers then you ought to take a look at case studies and how your marketing efforts can benefit from them.

What is a case study?

In essence, a case study is nothing more than an expanded testimonial. It details a problem and then goes on to explain how your service helped or made a difference, Case studies are primarily used in the business to business arena when one company wants to convince another company to use a particular product they offer.

An example might look something like this: Company A manufactures an industrial solvent that’s powerful and environmentally friendly. They then have a case study produced, using a previous customer’s experiences with the product, to use in convincing other companies to buy their solvent.

It’s a great marketing tool because it not only identifies the problem, but also explains why your solution is the best by including actual, hands-on testimonials. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s understandable that web site owners and bloggers put such a high emphasis on traffic. Without traffic, there are no advertisers. Without advertisers, there’s no money.

But what are you willing to do in order to get more traffic to your site? Would you, for instance, be willing to use a piece of fiction with a great headline to get people coming your way?

That’s a subject that’s making the rounds on SEO blogs all over the web because of a story that went viral and turned out to be a hoax.

Perhaps you read it:

“13 Year Old Steals Dad’s Credit Card to Buy Hookers”

The story was written by Lyndon Antcliff, a professional SEO specialist who helps companies drive traffic to their web sites.

Seth Godin writes about the Spirit of the Game; whether you’re willing to work the system or try to beat it. It’s worth a read because it directly applies to the topic at hand.

To me, the idea of using a made-up story as link bait falls in the category of someone trying to beat the system, rather than work with it. And as Seth points out, “they system adjusts and changes the rules.”

The question is: Is the traffic worth it if your readers can’t trust your content to be accurate - or even true? And more importantly, what safeguards do you have in place when you hire a writer to provide you with content?

by Mike Sieber

Content, of course.

Admittedly, I’m biased because I’m a content producer, but I believe I can make you see the light.

Having a web site that’s well-designed and easy to navigate is important to your online marketing efforts, but design doesn’t sell; words do. And it’s the words that keep people coming back to particular sites day in and day out.

One example I use often is Matt Drudge’s site, drudgereport.com. It’s an ugly site, but it gets millions of visitors each day because of the content.

Consequently, consider that direct mail is still one of the most effective methods for a company to generate sales. I’m sure you’ll agree that most direct mail pieces aren’t that attractive to look at, but their power to sell is without question. It’s because the content is so well written and compelling that people can’t wait to buy whatever it is the company is selling.

Knowing this, I’m still amazed at the number of entrepreneurs who spend the bulk of their marketing budget on web site design and skimp on the content. It’s like buying a Ferrari and filling the gas tank with water. You’ve got a great looking car that won’t get you anywhere.

If your web site is lacking traffic, or failing to convert, then it’s time to take a look at the fuel that drives it; your content.

If you’re not a writer by nature, and you’ve written most of the content yourself, consider having a professional copywriter analyze and tweak it where necessary.

Maybe you’ve been purchasing cheap content that’s written in broken or poor English. In that case, consider buying content of a higher quality.

Remember: Being a success on the web means standing out from the crowd. And when the crowd consists of sites made up of $2 articles and duplicate PLR content, it’s not difficult to do.

by: Mike Sieber

Lorelle VanFossen posed the question over at the Blog Herald: Is it the responsibility of the blogger to set a standard.

I believe the answer is, YES! And that standard can be simply stated: Do No Harm.

Regardless of whether you’re blogging for money or for fun, you have a responsibility to do no harm with your blog. What you publish has the potential to be on the web for many years to come, and your writings can come back to haunt you if you’re not careful.

Do no harm means that you won’t steal someone else’s work and pass it off as your own. It means that the content you provide is accurate to the best of your ability to make it so. It also means that you won’t use your blog as a tool to smear someone you dislike or disagree with. And it means that you’ll treat your readers with the same level of respect that you want to be treated.

Lorelle correctly states:

“You can be arrested for what you publish on your blog. You can be sued and taken to court over what you publish on your blog. Your reputation is at stake because of what you publish on your blog.”

Blogging is a wonderful tool for companies, entrepreneurs and the average person who just wants to be heard. The ability to publish to - and interact with - thousands of people instantly make it unlike any other publishing venue available. It’s also a serious business whether you realize it or not.

Set the standard to do no harm in your blogging routine; you’ll gain readership and respect no matter what your blog is about.

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Writing advertising/marketing copy that’s designed to pull in the money requires more than just stringing together finely crafted sentences. Plenty of writers talk about the importance of a great headline to pull readers in, and a strong closing to compel them to buy, and rightly so. These are essential to creating copy that converts readers into buyers.

But one element we often lose sight of is the emotional or psychological impact our words have on the readers. Once your headline pulls readers into your copy, you’d better keep them reading all the way to the close.

One way to do this is by using psychology and emotional triggers that pique readers’ interests.

Here are a few ways to include psychology and emotion in your copywriting.

Get personal.

One of the words people love to hear - besides free - is you. Writing in a style that’s more conversation than sales pitch appeals to people because they don’t like being treated as just a revenue source for companies.

As companies grow larger, the consumer often feels forgotten. Just ask anyone who’s had to deal with a customer service representative who doesn’t even speak English how that makes them feel and I’m sure insignificant would be one of the milder words that come to mind.

Speak directly to the reader when you write. Address their wants, fears, needs and desires to create an emotional bond of trust. Getting a person to trust that you have their best intentions in mind is a HUGE step towards making a sale. After all, sales at its most basic level is an agreement based on trust. No trust equals no sale.

Tap into emotions.

The old line that people buy based on emotion and then rationalize with logic is true for nearly every purchase they make - especially large ones. That’s why car ads usually leave out the tech specs and sell based on how driving the car will make you feel or what kind of status it brings.

Before you get emotional in your copywriting, you really have to do some background research on your target audience. You must find out what makes them tick, what they want, what they’re afraid of, what makes them happy and so on.

Remember: Copy that converts in big ways always makes a connection with the reader. When you combine the connection with the powerful headline and a strong close, you can’t help but come out the winner.

Michael Sieber is a professional, freelance web copywriter. Subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed.

Making your promotion or offer read more like informative content increases your chances of conversion as opposed to hard sell copy.

People don’t like to be sold to. They’re skeptical of advertising, and this is true in both the on, and off-line, world.

The Internet began as a way to share information, and even though e-commerce has entered the picture, it remains a vehicle where information, rather than selling, is king. When people come to the Internet they come seeking information. They don’t begin by searching for sales copy, which is why you would do well in your online marketing efforts to meet them halfway by giving them useful content.

The idea of using information as a sales tool isn’t a new idea. In the world of off-line marketing and advertising there are a number of approaches that prove to be more successful than straight sales copy.

In the print world there are advertorials and magalogs, and broadcast advertising makes good use of the infomercial. The reason these marketing methods are so successful is that they build a level of trust between the buyer and advertiser. Because you’re providing the buyer with valuable information and data, they tend not to see you as someone who is only after their money.

The traditional way to use information as a selling tool online is the use of articles. However, this should only comprise a small portion of your overall marketing strategy. Consider adding white papers, e-books and case studies to your arsenal so that your buyers feel like they’re learning rather than being told to buy.

Remember, many people run at the first sight of an advertisement, or something that reeks of sales. However, they openly embrace good information - especially on the web - which makes it much easier for you to include your offer or promotion.

Mike Sieber is a freelance web copywriter. You can contact him for a free project quote. If you’d like to keep up with this blog, subscribe to the RSS feed.

I recently wrote a post about adding pages to your blog for better search engine rankings.

ABC Article Directory expands on this idea and their post is recommended reading for anyone who wants to use this technique to get more blog traffic and increase their search engine results.

If you were to ask ten copywriters what the most important aspect of good sales copy is, you’d likely get ten different answers. While body copy and your call to action are all vital to your conversion rates, the real money words are the ones found in the headline.

Why? Because if you don’t hook a reader with your headline the rest is meaningless.

So what’s the key to writing a sales-producing headline? Skewing them toward your target audience.

While there are other types of headlines that grab attention, the ones that specifically target your market are among the most effective.

Here’s an interesting example of skewing a headline to a specific audience that I found in the news awhile back. An Illinois couple face murder charges after they neglected their baby for 8 days. The actual story headline reads: “Parents of Baby Left Alone in Car Seat for 8 Days Face Murder Charges”.

However, Fox News ran the story with this headline: “Video Gamers Leave Baby To Die”.

It’s true that the parents did watch TV and play video games - among other things - while ignoring the child, but the video game aspect is hardly the crux of the story.

But if you’re scanning the top headlines of the day, the Fox headline is more likely to grab your attention than any other. And more than being an attention grabber, it’s skewed to a specific audience - those who think that video games and anti-social behavior go hand in hand. Whether you agree with Fox’s slant on the story or not, it works. That’s why - before you write any body copy - you must get to know your target audience and what makes them tick. Only then can you create a powerful headline that pulls them in.

Mike Sieber is a freelance copywriter with skills in article writing, sales copy and website copy. Contact for a project quote.

You can make your blog better and your readers happier if you learn to use brevity in your writing.

With all of the information available on the web, you can’t afford to lose readers because your writing is taking too long getting to the point.

Think of your blog as a steak and your readers as the diners. Your goal is to give them a nice, lean cut of meat without any fat.

Here are a few tips for improving your blog writing:

• Use short, snappy sentences. Readers are more likely to read shorter sentences than long ones. If you have a lengthy or run on sentence, break it up into shorter ones.
• Skip the preamble. Many writers write a paragraph or two before they even approach the main point. This is commonly called a lead in, but in most cases, it’s wasted time. When people come to your blog, get to your point in the first paragraph.
• Edit. Edit. Edit. Go through your post and strip out everything that’s not related to the topic at hand. Take out every unnecessary word and make your sentences tight. Find instances of repetition and remove them.

The point of brevity is to say what you want to say in the fewest words possible. That’ll make your blog better, and your readers happier.

Michael Sieber is a professional copywriter. Get a quote today.

The most important thing you must iron out with your copywriter before you hire him to write content for your site is the issue of ownership.

Too many website owners assume that once they pay for articles, or other types of content, they own it outright. The law seems to agree. According to an article on netdynasty.com:

“The intellectual property rights to the content, or the text and images that comprise a web site, are typically retained by the hiring company…”

Also, from the Office of General Counsel University of Texas System, the hiring party owns copyright when:

• Work created by employee within scope of employment.
• Work created pursuant to contract with assignment.
• Work properly documented as a work-for-hire.

However, too many problems and assumptions arise when people either don’t implicitly state the rules up front, or are simply ignorant of those rules. A writer contracted to provide content to a specific website might assume that he is free to sell that content to a competitor at a later date if there’s no clear direction otherwise.

If you’re paying good money for articles, blog posts and other types of web content, then the last thing you want to see is duplicate content all over the web because it detracts from the value of your site.

That’s why it’s vital that you and your content provider are absolutely clear on who owns what BEFORE the project starts. This can easily be stated in a project agreement that both parties must agree to before work begins.

Most professional writers know that the content they provide becomes the property of the hiring party once the transaction has been completed, however, some don’t. That’s why it must be put into writing at the outset.

Remember, making sure you’re the sole owner of the content you’re purchasing is more important than even the price. If ownership isn’t made clear, and your writer sells the same content all over the web, then the uniqueness of your site drops to near zero.