Web Site Etiquette

By Judith Kallos

Contrary to what some may believe, the Web is not an anything
goes environment. Considerations and courtesies need to be
implemented by all users so that everyone can look forward to a
more enjoyable or productive experience.

When it comes to Web sites, there seems to be a lack of common
consideration and courtesy by many Web site owners and visitors
alike. If both sides were to understand the basics, and the
following checklist covers just the basics, Web site owners will
produce more ROI, while Web site visitors will find their
inquiries are responded to more accurately and concisely.

Basic Etiquette for Web Site Owners:

=> Minimize the moving, flashing this or that or the latest
whiz-bang script. This goes for having too many advertisements
on your site that take forever to load as well. Take our word
for it we'll be gone by then. If you want us to buy your
products or services, stay away from Flash. We don't care about
all that fancy schmancy stuff-we just want to find what we are
looking for and don't want to have to download software
(and we won't) just to view your site.

=> Have consistent, intuitive navigation in the same place on
every page throughout your site. Make sure you also offer a
"Home" option in your navigation so we can get to the start of
your site if we so choose. Don't use buzzwords or make us wonder
what is where; we should be able to tell at a glance and be where
we want in no more than 2 clicks.

=> Make a point of having all your company's contact information
easily found on your site. If not on every page, at the very
least on your Contact page. No address or phone number (What are
you trying to hide?)-no business from us!

=> Please be clear and concise about your policies so that we know
what to expect if we choose to do business with you. Have your
policies posted on your site where we can easily find them for
review.

=> At the very least make an effort to respond quickly to our
specific inquiries in detail. Don't send us canned or generic
responses that really do not address our questions. The more
detailed and promptly you respond, the more likely we will do
business with you.

Basic Etiquette for Web Site Visitors:

=> Take the time to review our site to ensure our focus will in
fact cover what you are seeking. Sites cannot be everything to
everyone and most are not. Don't e-mail an orange site about
where to find the best apples! Review our site's FAQ before you
take the time to e-mail us about something we do not even cover.

=> Take the time to read the offered material on our site before
e-mailing us asking questions that with little effort the answers
could have been found. With all information we provide literally
at your fingertips, take the time to read it before you take our
time asking us to repeat what is already on our site. This
includes reading our privacy statements and/or order policies
before you engage in doing business with us.

=> When e-mailing our site, make an effort to type clearly and
concisely about what you would like to know. All caps or all
small case, poor grammar and typos makes your inquiries appear
less credible. Understand we are extremely busy answering
genuine customer e-mails to build our business. E-mails that
appear to be from a sixth grader are those less likely to receive
our serious consideration for a response.

=> To use our site's functionality, please read our help files and
tutorials that are provided to assist you before you e-mail for
support simply because you don't want to make the effort to read
and learn. Certainly if after making a sincere effort you still
have questions, e-mailing us asking for help in a kind and
courteous manner will ensure our response.

=> When utilizing our site's live online chat, be as courteous as
you would if you were face-to-face with the support agent. These
folks are here to help you. Here again, type using proper
sentence structure, grammar and spelling so your request is
understood. Then, once your session is completed, be sure to
thank the operator for their time and assistance before just
clicking off and going on your way. That always makes our day!

All too often both Web site owners and visitors think too much
about themselves and what they want rather than to give thought
to the other side. Wouldn't it be nice if that were reversed?


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About the Author:

Judith Kallos is an authoritative and good-humored Technology Muse
who has played @ http://www.TheIStudio.com for over a decade.
Check out her popular Technology Cheat Sheets @
http://www.LearnAndThrive.com

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Copywriting Makeover: It's Not About YOU, It's About THEM

By Karon Thackston

I've always loved scented candles. They help create a cozy atmosphere. They give you a relaxed feeling. And - most importantly - they make your home smell wonderful! So, naturally, I was excited when I was approached to rewrite the index (front) page for an online retailer who made specialty, soy scented candles.

The goals of the copywriting rewrite were to increase sales and improve search engine positioning for the terms "soy candles," and "scented candles." The copy definitely needed some work. It wasn't "bad," but it had one major thing holding it back. The copy violated one of the primary rules of copywriting. "It's not about you. it's about them."

An additional problem was that the information - while definitely necessary - was presented as more of a list of nuts and bolts. It needed a boost to create a "feeling" about the candles for sale.

The Problem

As you can see from the original version [Word Doc], , the copy either focused on the company or the candles. Very little of the copy focused on the customer.

Another element that was "off" in the copy was the lack of the "experience." Site owner Dan Fehn had some fabulous research data about scented candle buyers, however he did not know to include that information when writing.

Lastly, while Illuminous Times had fairly good search engine rankings, there was room for improvement.

The Solution

The data I received included the following information from the National Candle Association.

Candle industry research indicates that the most important factors affecting candle sales are scent, color, cost and shape. Fragrance is by far the most important characteristic, with three-fourths of candle purchasers saying it is "extremely important" or "very important" in their selection of a candle for the home.

Candle manufacturers' surveys show that 96% of all candles purchased are bought by women.

Nine out of ten candle users say they use candles to make a room feel comfortable or cozy.

This was the basis for the copywriting makeover. As a scented candle lover myself, I knew for a fact what women wanted from candles. I understood the candle buying experience and played on that knowledge to create copy that "romanced" the site visitor and increased the desire to buy.

The search engine optimization (SEO) aspect of the copy came easily. The terms "scented candles" and "soy candles" flowed naturally as I created the copy so my primary goal was to use these phrases in power positions (like the headline and sub-heads). I'd also place them as often as I could without making the copy sound stiff or forced.

The Rewrite

You can view the new copy in full here. As you can see, the new version immediately begins to entice the site visitor. Everything she wants from a scented candle is laid out before her. and some things she might not have known she wanted.

I began to pique interest in soy candles (as opposed to traditional wax candles found in stores) by immediately outlining the advantages soy candles offer. From there I played on the fragrance (the most important characteristic according to the National Candle Association).

I led the customer through a mental tour of their home - lighting candles for a special dinner, enjoying the glow as they snuggled with a good book, and having the unmistakable fragrances only soy candles offer wafting through their homes.

A final keyphrase-rich benefits list of why soy candles are superior to traditional wax candles and an emotional call-to-action wrapped up the copy.

The Results

I think the results of the copywriting makeover are best stated by Dan himself.

"Thank you! Sales have increase even before the holiday season and my rankings have improved, too. Right now I am #1 for the term 'soy candles' (previously ranked at #4), and I'm at #7 for 'scented candles'... a huge jump up from #17!"

So, as you can see, taking the focus off the product or company and putting where it should be (on the customer) makes a tremendous difference. Sales naturally increase when the customer feels he/she is the reason for your existence.

Take some time now to look back over your copy. Is it company focused? If so, learning to write specifically for your customers can turn your sales around almost immediately.

Which words make *your* customers buy? Let Karon show you. Boost your sales and your search engine positioning by learning to write strategically created copy that hits a nerve and makes the sale. Get the details now at Karon's site.

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About the Author:

As well as running her own copywriting business, Karon Thackston tutors at Search Engine College, an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing subjects.

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How To Promote Your Online Store

By Denise O'Berry

OK. So you took the leap and started your online store.
But, oops, there are no customers and your store is lost in
the crowd. All is not lost. You just need to be very
creative in how you market your site. The key thing to
remember as you market your site is "people buy from
people, not companies."

To make money online:

1) You must get traffic to your site.
2) You must convert that traffic to paying customers.

To begin simply create a T-chart. Label one column "Traffic"
and the other "Conversion." Then brainstorm what methods
you will use to to make those happen and turn them into an
action plan.

Traffic suggestions for you:

* Pay per click
* Offline advertising
* Article marketing
* Newsletter
* Autoresponders
* Word of mouth
* Joint ventures / strategic partnerships
* Talks to groups
* Participation in online forums / discussion groups

Most online stores are extremely competitive (what's not
these days?) and they compete on price - one of the worst
ways to compete. What you need to do is find a way to take
the focus off the money, find your unique value and promote
it from there.

So how do you do that? First you have to know who your
prospect is so you can speak to them directly. Hint: Your
market is not everyone or anyone. Once you know who your
prospect is, you can implement tactics that will convert
them into customers.

Here are some ideas that will help your conversion rate:

* Bundled products
* Free gift with purchase
* Regular newsletter
* Autoresponder course
* Helpful content on your website
* Companion blog for your website

These should get you thinking about where you need to go.
This is not by any means a complete, comprehensive list --
just a start. Begin by putting all of your ideas together
in an action plan. Use your action plan to drive what you
do every day. Spend at least one hour on these tasks per
day. In no time you'll find you've made a lot of progress.

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About the Author:

Denise O'Berry helps small business owners take action to
grow their business. Find out more at
http://www.smallbusinessmatters.com

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The 7-Step RSS Marketing Plan

By Rok Hrastnik

If you're wondering how to get started with RSS marketing,
here's a basic 7-step plan that should provide some needed
guidance. Use these steps as your personal RSS marketing
checklist to get your started and help you see whether
you're on the right track.

1. START USING RSS AS AN END-USER

The first step to getting started with RSS
marketing/publishing is getting your own RSS aggregator,
subscribing to other RSS feeds and just seeing and
understanding how it all works.

There's a variety of RSS aggregators to choose from. Just a
small sample:

a) Web-based RSS aggregators (websites):
http://my.yahoo.com, http://www.pluck.com,
http://www.newsgator.com, http://www.bloglines.com

b) Desktop RSS aggregators (software):
http://www.awasu.com, http://www.bradsoft.com/feeddemon/,
http://www.stevenwood.org/stories/2003/06/08/voxLite.htm

c) Integrated RSS aggregators (integrate with IE or
Microsoft Outlook):
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ (browser with
integrated RSS features), http://www.newsgator.com,
http://www.pluck.com, http://www.attensa.com/index.php?ys=1

2. PLAN YOUR RSS FEEDS

Planning your RSS feeds might be the most important thing
you do about RSS. You most certainly need an RSS feed for
your e-zine, your news section, your articles etc.

But how you will package these, what others you might want
to offer and other important issues, are much more complex
than we can cover in this space. A precise overview of all
of the opportunities is available in the "Unleash the
Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS" e-book at
http://rss.marketingstudies.net?src=sa13

You might also want to do follow-up (autoresponder) RSS
feeds, feeds for your affiliates, feeds for your employees
or business partners, feeds for the media, and so on.

3. CREATE A LIST OF RSS MARKETING/PUBLISHING REQUIREMENTS

Then create a list of requirements for the RSS
marketing/publishing solution you will be getting to
publish your feeds. The list should answer the basic
questions, such as:

a) Do you want to integrate RSS publishing with your
existing content management system?

b) What RSS metrics you'll want to watch? For example, are
you satisfied with just a rough idea of how many people are
reading your RSS feed, or are you interested in more
precise subscriber counts, clicks and even individual
content item popularity?

c) Do you need feed personalization, such as personalizing
your RSS content with the receipient's name and other
details?

d) Do you want to provide your subscribers with the ability
to precisely select the content they want to receive in
your RSS feed (customization), such as by content topic,
keywords, authors and so on?

e) Do you want the RSS feeds to be hosted on your own
server?

f) Do you need the ability to target promotional messages
or other content to your individual RSS feed subscribers,
for example based on their previous clicks and reading
habits, or even their subscription data?

g) What's your budget?

h) Etc.

More information on all the different possibilities
provided by RSS is available in the free Business Case for
RSS report at
http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/case/index.html?src=sa13

4. CHOOSE AN RSS PUBLISHING TOOL AND CREATE YOUR FIRST FEED

After you've prepared a list of requirements you can start
searching for the appropriate tool. These come in a few

general categories:

a) Desktop feed generation tools
Desktop software you can use to inexpensively, quickly and
easily generate RSS feeds, but doesn't allow for more
advanced features such as content targeting. The market
leader in this category is http://www.feedforall.com.

b) Hosted online RSS publishing solutions
If you don't want to be bothered with a desktop tool and
having to constantly upload your RSS feeds to your server,
you could try a basic hosted online RSS publishing
solution, such as http://www.myrsscreator.com. Using their
simple service you don't even need your own website to
publish via RSS. Another good choice, especially if you're
in PR, is http://www.press-feed.com/

c) Advanced RSS marketing solutions
These will cover more advanced RSS marketing capabilities,
such as metrics, scheduled autoresponder messages, database
building capabilities and similar. The strongest contenders
in this market are http://www.simplefeed.com,
http://www.nooked.com, http://myst-technology.com and some
other strong players as well. Solutions aimed especially at
smaller companies include http://www.rssautopublisher.com
and http://www.market-soft.com/bypass/

d) Other options
There are many other options as well, one for example being
using your existing content management system to publish
RSS feeds, or using a blog publishing solution such as
http://www.movabletype.com

5. PROMOTE YOUR RSS FEEDS THROUGH YOUR OWN CHANNELS

a) Create an RSS presentation page, on which you explain:
what RSS is; how the visitor will benefit from using RSS;
where they can get a free RSS aggregator (recommend one
yourself!); how they can subscribe to your RSS feeds; and
why they should subscribe to your own RSS feeds.

Then, on this same page, include the links to all of your
RSS feeds. In addition to the standard orange RSS button,
also include direct links for subscriptions via MyYahoo!
(get it here http://my.yahoo.com/s/button.html) and other
relevant services, such as Bloglines
(http://www.bloglines.com).

b) Now promote this RSS presentation page as much as you
can using all of your available channels.

c) Promote your RSS feeds directly below your e-zine
subscription box, and always "above the fold". Promote your
RSS presentation page (telling your visitors that's where
they can subscribe to your feeds) on the most prominent
locations of your site.

d) If you're publishing more than one RSS feed, but rather
a couple of focused topic feeds, promote each of them next
to their topics on the site.

e) Promote your RSS feeds in all of your e-mail messages
and e-zine issues.

f) As for the content, don't just say "Subscribe to receive
news from my site", but rather prepare compelling copy to
specifically show your visitors why they need to subscribe
to your content in the first place and why they should
subscribe specifically to your RSS feeds.

e) Enable Auto-discovery
Just include the following piece of HTML code in the <>
section of your webpages and you'll be all set:
< rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="ENTER_RSS_URL">

6. PROMOTE YOUR RSS FEEDS THROUGH EXTERNAL CHANNELS

a) Submit your feeds to the appropriate search engines and
directories. A good list can be found here:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

b) Ping the RSS aggregation sites each time you update your
online content, letting them know that new content is
available to be indexed. You can use this free service:
http://pingomatic.com

7. OTHER KEY RSS ACTIVITIES

a) Measure and optimize your feeds

b) Syndicate your feed content to other web media

c) Display third-party RSS feeds on your site



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About the Author:

Immediately find out how you can power your online business
with RSS and instantly increase your internet success.

Request the free 28-page Business Case for RSS report, with
easy-to-follow instructions, examples and advice on how to
get the most out of RSS in the shortest possible time. Get
the free download here:
http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/case/index.html?src=sa13

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E-book Sales - Will Your Cover Close the Sale?

By Andrew Eaton

Well designed professional looking e-book covers do much,
much more than show the title of the book. An e-book cover
can be a powerful attention grabbing sales tool. If you
are currently promoting an e-book on your web site and
don't have an e-book cover to promote it, you're losing
money.

Believe it or not, people DO judge a book by its cover. If
you've got no cover, only words describing the book, you're
losing many potential buyers. If you've got an e-book
cover with the title and a background cover only, you're
losing money.

As with any sales or marketing effort there are three
things you need to keep in mind when designing your e-book
cover. #1) You identify a desire or fear your prospect has
and have come up with a solution (your e-book) People buy
based upon emotions, not logic. #2) Next you make your
prospect a promise to have him reach his desire or
eliminate his fear. You want to have him picture his
desires being met. (This is where the e-book cover goes to
work.) and, #3) you make him an offer to purchase the
solution to his desire or fear.

The e-book cover should make your prospect visualize
reaping the benefits contained in the book. The word, the
picture, the colors all should be set to intensify the
emotion of reaching his desire or calming his fear. They
should work together to bring a unique offer that can't be
achieved unless they have your e-book. The E-book cover
will then be an immediate call to action. A call to action
that is easily perceived and acted upon.

Creating an e-book cover that acts as described above will:

Lend credibility to your product

Help establish trust with your prospects

Increase perceived value

Make your e-book look like a "real" tangible book that
people can see and feel

Whenever you look at your e-book cover, ask yourself these
questions:

Does it adequately paint the picture of the desire of your
prospect?

Does it calm his fear?

Does it fill his need?

Does it intensely attract your attention?

Don't just settle for minimal returns on your e-book.
Applying the concepts discussed here will increase your
profits.


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About the Author:

Andy Eaton is one of the most sought after graphic
designers on the web, not only does he create quality
graphics, but he also teaches you how to create them step
by stem in his video membership site, Right now you can get
access to some FREE quality videos by signing up to his
action packed ezine Visit
http://www.graphicsecretsexposed.com/ezine

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Are You Targeting The Wrong Keywords?

By Kalena Jordan

Someone asked me recently to name the most critical element of any search engine optimization campaign. I didn't hesitate to respond 'keyword selection'.

Like it or not, the keywords and phrases you select to describe your site within your META tags and body text can make or break your listings in the search engines. It's a sad fact that most companies are targeting the wrong keywords and losing traffic as a result.

Even sites that have excellent rankings will not benefit if those rankings are for unsuitable keywords. Let me give you an example:

A few months ago, we had an Australian client who wanted us to implement an optimization campaign to improve their search engine rankings, but without jeopardizing existing rankings they had achieved for two particular search phrases: 'Internet solutions Australia' and 'online banking solutions'.

Can you guess what products and services this company sells? The search phrases don't really give much away do they? In fact, this company is a distributor of web site design software that is specifically tailored for banks. Now ask yourself this: if you were a bank looking for this company's products, would you have typed in either of the phrases above to find their site? I doubt it. You would type in something more logical like 'web site design software' or 'web sites for banks' right?

This company was clearly targeting the wrong keywords and phrases. Their top ten rankings for these phrases were irrelevant, because nobody was searching for these phrases in relation to the products this company was offering. The phrases they had chosen are what I call 'jargonized', that is, they are filled with industry jargon and buzz words.

Take 'Internet solutions' as an example. Such jargon has found its way into our language with the onset of the digital age and is bandied around boardrooms and marketing departments everywhere. However the definition of this phrase is very broad and could be used to describe anything from a dial-up connection to a web site itself. It's not a logical choice for searchers and is therefore useless as a key phrase to target.

To prove my point, I researched the client's chosen phrases using Wordtracker keyword software and then did comparison research using the more logical phrases above. The results were crystal clear: the logical, simplified phrases were many times more popular than the jargonized ones. Once I demonstrated this to the client, they were more than happy for us to conduct more thorough keyword research and start their search engine optimization campaign with a clean slate.

When selecting the keywords and phrases for your site, remember to select search terms that describe your products and services in the most logical, simple and specific way. By doing so you'll not only increase the search engine traffic to your site, but you'll ensure your visitors are highly qualified to buy your products and services when they arrive.

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About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running her own SEO business Web Rank, Kalena manages Search Engine College, an online training institution offering instructor- led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing subjects.

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How To Save Money on the Adwords Network

By Steve Cash

Over the years I have had many accounts with Adwords,
spending a small fortune with the Adwords service. So
naturally I have picked up many cost saving tricks. I am
aware that most people feel Adwords costs too much and
delivers little results, this is completely untrue. Adwords
is a service that is here to help us, so I have written
this article to help web developers make the most out of
the service.

1) Set your currency

First and foremost, select the currency of which you
locally trade in. You may think its wise to start your
Adwords account in USD, but if you do not live in the USA
you may get a shock when you find how much you have been
charged.

2) Use negative keywords

You are using the Adwords service to generate website
traffic, so obviously you want the right traffic to
generate revenue. Start by using negative keywords for
people whom you do not want to click on your advert, the
best place to start is the keyword "free". As I doubt you
want to waste money on traffic that will not generate
revenue.

3) Make a strict daily budget

Make sure you have set out a daily budget, Adwords
generally advise a way out of proportion budget. After all
most new Adwords customers have no idea how effective the
advertising will be. Do not start off with a bang, your
pocket will feel it.

Just as important as the budget, be careful with the CPC
rate. I advise you to start with a low number, each click
soon adds up very quickly. I actually found that by
lowering my CPC rate by 50% I doubled my visitor count.

4) Check those clicks!

One of the most talked about problem with Adwords is, click
fraud. There are two main types of click fraud: the first
is when any one starts clicking away at your advertisements
trying to waste your money. It is very hard to stop this
kind of fraud, if you are a victim stop your ads and file a
report to Google ASAP.

The second main issue is now that google allows Web
Developers to earn money off their websites by placing ads
(Adsense) . Some Web Developers try to cheat the system by
clicking on their ads as much as possible. The best way to
stop this kind of fraud is check your page log, Adwords
allow you to block out websites that you do not want your advert to be placed on.

Adwords does not have many protections against click fraud,
although they do disable Adsense accounts who cheat. Google
are very hesitant to refund the victims, if at all. Reports
tell many organisations are actually suing Google to get
their money back, so be careful.

In this article I have illustrated some of the most
beneficial ways to save money when advertising with
Adwords. My main advice to you is, do not go crazy with
your spending. You may not see the results you are after,
it does take a while to get to know Adwords. I have had
many successful ad campaigns using the Adwords network.

However I do advise to look around, with the ever growing
popularity of MSN search you may actually find it much more
affordable.

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About the Author:

Steve is the owner and operator of Private Mail Services. We
endeavour to keep your personal life totally safe and private.

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Words To Avoid Using In Copywriting And Advertising

By Ray L. Edwards

I could still recall the days of writing telegrams. That was
before the fax machine, internet and email. Writing a telegram
meant economy of words and so obvious verbs and needless
adjectives had to be omitted.

Today, with the advent of email and other cheap sources of
communication you don't have to be that paranoid about your
message-except you are writing an advertisement. When writing a classified ad for example, every word must count in the small space allowed and so word choice becomes very important.

But word choice is not only about being brief.

Even when crafting a long sales letter you should try and avoid
using the personal pronouns: "we, me, I, our,us". The sales
message should be about your prospects and not about your
company. The "we syndrome" is a common error but it can easily
be avoided. A sales message should state upfront the benefit to the customer not parade how many awards the company has received in the past ten years. Whenever possible then the copy should be written in the third person.

There are some other words that are very common in advertising
but are just too vague to have any force. Great copy is always
specific. "How to make $3,567.23 from your home in 30 days!" has
more force than "How to make money from home." Here are some
commonly used words that lack force because their meaning is too ethereal:

"It" - State what "it" is rather than leave "it" for the reader
to figure out. This word can often be replaced by what 'it'
represents or stands in place of.

"Quality" - This has a similar meaning to "personality". We
often hear people say that someone has personality. But everyone has a personality whether good or bad. The same holds for quality. Every product or service has some quality which the
customer will be the ultimate judge of.

Superlatives such as "tastiest, best, fastest, strongest,
superior, minimize, optimize". The problem with these words is
that they instill doubt in the readers because these claims
appear unsubstantiated. These words lack power because they are not measurable. Take the word "superior" for example. What criterion or measurement was used to judge this product as
superior and by how much?

"Solution" - This word cannot stand on its own. If you are
selling a product or service it is also obvious that you are
selling the solution to a problem, so state what the solution is rather than just using the word.

"Technology" - This word is commonly used to suggest innovation and newness. But customers have little concern about the technology that is behind the products they buy. They are only concerned about the benefit they derive from these products and services. How many drivers are really concerned about the technology that's under the hoods of the vehicle they drive? They are really only concerned that the vehicle is reliable and gives them some social status.

"Difference" - Rather than stating that you are different from your competitors state the difference instead. Just saying "different" means little and is just filling space. The statement "We make all the difference" doesn't leave the prospect more educated than before reading your sales message.

Consider the following advertiser's blurb:

"We make all the difference because of our superior
quality and solutions we offer."

It's like junk food - a lot of flavor but zero nutritional value.
This statement means little because it's not specific at all.
It creates more questions than answers and leaves the reader
totally confused. And this is the last thing you want to do to a
customer.

Go to any website and you'll see statements such as "can save
you time and money", (well how much?) "creates website in less
time" (less than 2, 4, 100 hours?), "maximize your gas mileage"
(by how much 1%, 5%, 40%?). All these statements will triple
their effectiveness by using numbers (note that I gave a
quantity, 'triple').

The more specific your message is the more believable you will
appear. Using a bunch of superlatives only makes you seem
self-serving. Customers are immune to this type of hype and
filters out these claims like a squirrel discards peanut shells.

When making any comparison in your sales letter state the
baseline, use numbers and give a time period whenever possible.
In this way you don't have to use superlatives because the
numbers will speak for themselves. If you follow this simple
rule your sales conversion rate will increase by 4.7% within 29
days of putting this into effect.

Even though that last statement was hypothetical you can sense
its power because specific numbers were used instead of just
saying 'your sales will increase'.

I think it's time to review your sales message and sweep away the chaff words leaving the pure wheat behind.

You'll be 9.9% happier that you did!


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Ray Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and Internet Marketing Consultant. His copywriting clients have claimed up to 1,600% increase in their comversion rates just from using his services. He is an expert in writing sales copy for the web. He has studied extensively the relationship between website structure and design as a factor in internet sales success. You may visit his website at: http://www.webcopy-writing.com

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3 Reasons to Work From Home

By Benjamin Scott

People who trudge to work every day probably do not need
many reasons to quit their job. Many people who hate what
they do on a daily basis would likely give it all up in a
minute if they thought they could. Why, then, do they
continue to run the same hamster wheel of unhappiness in a
dead end job? Most people do not realize there is an
alternative. There are three really good reasons why anyone
could work from home. Most people just need to make the
biggest decision of their life.

The first reason to work form home is there is ample
opportunity to provide for a family by working from home.
The Internet revolution has created a new marketplace, ripe
for new businesses looking to launch. This revolution has
started a trend, and many people have found it easy to ride
the coattails of the trend to financial success and
freedom. The Internet has created a global market. You do
not have to sell to your neighbors alone, you could also
sell to people in different countries. This global
marketplace means increased exposure and opportunity for
sales and business.

The second reason to work from home is the relief from
monotony. When you work from home, you make your own
schedule. You set your own rules. You create the goals and
quota. You can do something different everyday if doing
something different brings you greater job satisfaction.
You fill every role in your own company, and wear many
different hats. Such responsibility could be scary, but it
could be exhilarating and exciting. For people who need to
be challenged, for people who need to grow, the chance to
work from home also means the chance to try new things all
the time.

The third reason to work at home can be found at home. Why
do you rush home from your current job? Do you have a
family you love and cannot wait to see? Do you have people
in your life you want to spend more time with? Maybe you
simply have a dog to walk and wish you could spend more
quality time with Fido. Whatever you rush home for, that
reason is reason enough to work from home. You can
physically be in the place your heart has been at all day
long. You can spend time with your family. You can witness
first steps, soccer games, ballet practices, and art
projects. You don't have to regret the things you miss if
you work from home, because your office is where the action
is. You choose when you need to work and when your family
needs to take precedence. Only for those who work at home
is such freedom a reality. Combined, these three reasons
present irrefutable evidence that the opportunities
associated with working from home cannot and should not be
passed up.

Copyright © 2005 Benjamin Scott

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About the Author :

Benjamin Scott operates a successful internet business
working from his home personal computer. To learn how to
duplicate his success and earn multiple streams of income
using the internet visit: http://www.eazyhomebusiness.com/

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Usability and Considerate Design

How good design and manners create user confidence.

by Kim Krause Berg

I hate to imagine that in your web development project team meetings, the one thing that will be overlooked is consideration for the end user. Yet, how many white boards have you seen lately that have 'ease of use', or 'be polite to customers' scribbled anywhere on them? Rather, the discussion hits on revenue generation, business requirements, colored backgrounds and information architecture. All good things, of course, but I'm quite sure you all want somebody to use it too, correct?

Where is the Shopping Cart button?

A few days after upgrading my cell phone, I decided to go online to purchase a car charger for my new phone.

I found the cell phone model and a page called 'Accessories'. There was a convenient anchor link at the top of the page that linked downwards to the 'vehicle power adapters' section of the page. I clicked on it. I could see, along with the image of the adapter and nearby description, an 'Add to Cart' button. It looked so perfect. So logical. I was thinking it was an easy to use shopping cart. Happily, I made my selection and clicked the 'Add to Cart' button.

Which, promptly and efficiently, brought me back to the top of the page, where those nice little anchor links were sitting.

Huh? I looked all over the screen to find a 'Continue Shopping' prompt or a link to 'Your Shopping Cart'. Something. Anything! I just wanted to order a product online for heavens sake. This is a well-known cell phone company. They can’t be this stupid. Worse, I was feeling dumb, and this is something no design should ever do to an end user. Steve Krug says, 'Don't Make Me Think'. I say if you make us think, at least let us enjoy the moment. It would've been nice to be able to complete that transaction, or find instructions on how I could do so.

I never could. Rather, I left the web site, and asked Google to show me a map to one of their stores located nearby. In this way, I could spend $3 per gallon in gas, take the dog for a car ride, stop for milk and get my car adapter. Why bother with the Internet?

Frightening Forms

One of my favorite areas for finding the 'usability with blinders on' effect is within web site forms. These can be contact forms, newsletter signups, shopping carts and sales lead forms. Many of them have no intention of ever being used. You can tell because they require your FAX number to function.

Asking for a phone number is risky. Make sure there is a really good reason for requiring one. For example, if accepting credit cards, a phone number must be entered. I rarely see this noted anywhere, but some people want to know why they’re being asked to enter it. Tell them why. They'll feel better about your request.

Sales lead and registration forms are scary. These forms ask for personal information, with the assumption that by the very act of filling it out, the prospect has automatically agreed to be contacted and have their personal information stored somewhere. I don’t understand this. We're told not to give out our phone numbers at bars, but its somehow okay to hand it over to someone online who is, after all, a total stranger to us? I’ve even seen social security numbers as required fields.

I advise anyone who will listen to ask permission when requesting a phone number. In the user instructions located at the beginning of the form, write something friendly such as, 'If you would like for us to call you, please enter your phone number.' Don't make a phone number a required field. Granted, the whole purpose of an online sales lead form is to get information on a prospect and follow up, but there's a considerate way to do it. Some people prefer email contact. Some will prefer the phone. If they offer their phone number, your manners don't stop there. You need to add areas in the form that inquire about the best to call your prospect, time zone, or other details to better enable an agreeable time to talk.

Other typical areas that I often see neglected are providing the company address on the form, a contact phone number, hours of operation, email contact and a person's name that your prospect can address when or if they should call. Some phone number fields aren't designed for International phone number entry. These details are especially helpful in cases were business is conducted on a global scale. Never assume everyone is awake when you are.

Lastly, make sure you have a clearly written privacy policy and that it is conveniently linked to from the top of any form or shopping cart process. If the link opens a new window or a popup, please put your end user's mind at ease by telling them that they will not lose any data they may have entered, or won’t be taken away from the form page, should they want to peek at the privacy policy. And, of course, make sure this functionality is in place. I can't tell you how many times I clicked on a little FAQ link or information icon while filling out a form, only to return and find all my data has disappeared.

CYA Before Customer Consideration

'Cover your ass' is often one of those hidden requirements that go into any software or web site build process. Adult sites have that nifty warning that says you must be over a certain age to enter the site, and God as your witness; they assume everyone is telling the truth. It doesn't matter to them. They've covered their tootsie by placing that warning there. Spam email often starts out with 'This is not spam', as if they've taken some sort of legal action and therefore, it's now okay to send you junk mail.

Assumptions are the way of Internet. A recent piece written by OK/Cancel's Tom Chi points out the absurdity of those agreement statements we must accept before being allowed to download new software.

He writes, in Legalese vs. Usability, "If a site asks for registration and then serves pages of legal text for one to approve before registration is granted, you can be sure that you are losing countless customers."

In general, we've come a long way with user centered software application and web site design. But, one wonders how a major cell phone corporation could let a poorly designed shopping cart exist on their web site. And, with all the emphasis on conversions these days, one of the easiest sales tools can come by promoting gestures like courtesy and consideration for your end user. A sale is just a sale. But a purchase from a company that values its customers' satisfaction is a positive experience.

They'll come back for more.

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Usability Consultant, Kimberly Krause Berg, is the owner of UsabilityEffect.com, Cre8pc.com, Cre8asiteForums and co-founder of the Cre8asiteNetwork. Her background in organic search engine optimization, combined with web site usability consulting, offers unique insight into web site development.

Copyright 2005 Cre8pc.com/Kimberly Krause Berg/UsabilityEffect.com. All Rights Reserved.

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The Power of the Blog

By Matt Bacak

Can a Blog earn you a prison sentence? Ask Mojtaba
Saminejad. He is an Iranian whose Blog, published in the
Farsi language, earned him a two-year prison sentence in
June 2005.

The online community is fast waking up to the power of
blogs which have spread across the internet like wild fire.
If you are still grappling with the word BLOG, these are
online websites which are diary-like in approach and people
are free to publish news or their ideas and thoughts. Blogs
are very popular as they are simple to use and in most
cases, free.

However, professional bloggers (people who have a decent
no. of hours of blogging to their credit) will admit that
blogging is not as easy as waking up in the morning,
checking out some posts and putting together a few witty
lines before you brush your teeth. You do need to be
knowledgeable about the subject you are writing on or you
are likely to be torn apart by people who are.

Having a Blog has its own set of inherent advantages which
are obvious and some which are not so obvious. The better
known advantages are:

Freedom to express: If you like to build a chain of
communication and use that as food for thought and for your
existence, a BLOG is the best way to create this outlet.
You can express your opinion openly and you just might be
surprised by the number of people who would agree with you.
Such communication channels also help build momentum for a
particular line of thought.

Networking at its best: If you own a blog which has genuine
exchange of ideas it can evolve onto a good platform to
network and grow your business. It is easier to impress
potential customers with a strong and valid point of view
rather than a price quote.

Excellent advertising platform: The sheer size of community
generated at a popular blog provides an excellent
advertising platform for advertisers. With the hunger for
new advertising platforms which is both innovative and cost
effective, blogs seems like the next location for the big
bucks of advertisers.

Gauging public opinion on products and services: Bloggers
post comments at a fiery pace. It is not uncommon to see a
couple of comments posted within a few minutes of the
original post. The topic and title of the blog needs to be
alluring enough to get such quick responses. Blogs thus
become an excellent forum to gauge public opinion on
products and services and even political and business
events.

Useful tool for inter-company communication without the red
tape: IBM recently started a blog for its employees on the
intranet. Reason? Simple, to get employees interacting with
each other and building up a knowledge based community for
putting together new ideas as well as provide good human
resource practices. More and more companies are ignoring
the naysayers for blogs and going ahead with using this
tool for fostering better employee relations within the
company. The knowledge sharing is also excellent and HR
personnel can monitor comments to get an idea about new
policies or identify troublesome issues head on and well in
advance.

Other benefits which are worth mentioning if you own a blog
is search engine optimization due to the high volume of
content featured here, updating yourself on the latest
trend in the marketplace which subsequently helps you
identify new opportunities which helps you stay ahead and
allows you to be tech-savvy in your social and professional
circle. The benefits outlined above should be enough to
inspire you to start a blog at the earliest!

Copyright 2005 The Powerful Promoter

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About the Author:

Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours.

Recent Entrepreneur Magazine's e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets To Unleash The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign up for Matt Bacak's Promoting Tips Ezine ($100 value) just visit his website at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or http://promotingtips.com

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E Learning: Why Choose Online Education?

By John Thompson

The Internet boom is far from over, although it has been taking
a slightly different slant in the past few years; hardly
surprising as technologies advance and trends change. The World
Wide Web is the largest resource of information in the whole
world and whatever your needs the Internet can provide. What
started as a bubble has soon become a massive tidal wave and
online education is one of the areas that is still increasing,
probably more than ever before.

You can shop online, you can watch TV online, and you can even
book your holidays online or work online and now you can
complete perfectly legitimate and recognised educational
courses online. Far from being the alternative form of
education used solely by working parents it is becoming just as
popular with teenagers and professionals all around the world.
There are no boundaries to learning when using the Internet.
You can study a course that local colleges and educational
institutions in your area don't offer and you can do so without
having to quite your job and leave home.

You don't need to take three years to complete a course; you
can often work at your own pace, fitting in around your
commitments and according to your spare time.

What courses are on offer?

As well as courses designed primarily for completion on the
Internet, many educational institutions are now leaning towards
offering the major courses to be completed in the comfort of
your own home. College degrees and graduate degrees are
available in almost any subject you could imagine with many
benefits over the traditional 'classroom' approach.

E-learning offers a vast array of topics too, from American
History to Zoology and everything in between. Perhaps you are
in full time employment and want a change in career. Not many
of us can afford to just give up work and go back to college so
online education could be the perfect answer.

Maybe you are unemployed and can't find work suitable for you
or the qualifications and experience you have. Online education
can offer you the opportunity to gain more qualifications
without the expenses of travelling or accommodation.

Why should I choose an online education course?

There are many advantages to online education. The courses are
usually tailored to meet the different demands that are
entailed within an online learning community. You are usually
free to study at your own time and pace, so you have the
opportunity to complete your chosen course quickly or as slowly
as you want.

There are no travel costs involved with online education and no
travel time whatsoever. The only time you will need to dedicate
to your learning will be the time you spend studying and any
trips to the library or other institution you may need.

Many jobs and careers demand a good working knowledge of the
Internet, and by completing your course online you are already
many steps closer to that end. You will have excellent
knowledge on Internet research; always being able to find the
information that is useful to you.

There are some factors you should consider when deciding
whether to opt for online education or a more traditional
classroom education. You will need a reasonably up to date PC,
together with an Internet Connection. Fortunately, computer
prices have dropped in recent years, so you can get a capable
PC for little more than $300. If you consider using Ebay or
buying a refurbished PC then you can reduce this price even
more. Don't forget, you will need a printer, operating
software, word processing software and an Internet connection
but again the price of these has dropped dramatically.

If you don't have much working knowledge of a computer or the
Internet you will need to find your way around at first and
this can seem a daunting task for the beginner. Don't panic,
just stick with it and buy yourself (or borrow from friends or
the library) books on how to use the software you are going to
need. Once online the Internet has all of this information at
hand, and the world becomes your playground.

A summary of online education

Online education can help all people from all walks of like
gain the education they want to better themselves or to advance
in the career they already have. Whether you are a working
parent or an unemployed bachelor, there are courses available
for you to complete through online education.

Online education offers many benefits and few pitfalls when
compared to the more traditional 'classroom' approach but you
should carefully consider your options before jumping in.

There are costs associated with virtually all online education
courses but these are usually little more than the costs to
study at a college and when you consider that there are no
travelling expenses and no extra living costs, you may find
online education to be a much more financially viable option.

©2005 John Thompson

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About The Author: John Thompson is editor of E-Learning
Resources, an web resource for online education and e-learning.

For more free-reprint articles by John Thompson please visit
this site.
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