Patrick Armitage says, “The written word’s been getting written off lately. SnapChat, Instagram, Pinterest, infographics, emojis and video have been stealing the limelight as words, copy, content, whatever you want to call it take a backseat. We’ve become enamored with the idea that showing, rather than telling, provides a better brand experience. But the backbone of successfully using these newfangled channels starts with a brand vision well-articulated through strong copy. The continuity of a brand, despite the advent of new media, hangs on the tenor of a singular voice”. Copywriting... [...]

Daniel Burstein says, “I’m staring at a blank page on my screen. There are several directions I could go with this piece of writing, and I’m not sure which will be most helpful to you: How to improve the conversion rate of your email marketing How to best understand and serve your customers How to split test your email marketing I’m sure you face this dilemma as a copywriter or marketing manager as well: Which subject line will be most effective? How should you craft the headline? What body copy would be most helpful (and generate the most response) from customers? So that’s what... [...]

Paul Cheney says, “If you’ve ever opened a Web browser, chances are you’ve visited The Huffington Post. That might be related to the fact that they (by a landslide) publish the largest number of viral stories on the Web, according to NewsWhip. One of my favorite things to do when I find out someone is the best at something isanalyze their method … and steal the hell out of it. So I ran a query through one of my favorite sites, BuzzSumo, a content analysis search engine (my description, not theirs), and pulled up HuffPo’s most shared content over the past year. Because you’re all marketers,... [...]

Video Script is an online video script (and audio scripts, too, for that matter) writing application. It lets you quickly write video scripts for any marketing video, and using it is easy. After you create your script you can publish it as a PDF, Word or PowerPoint document. Record it yourself, or hand it to an announcer. If you have video creation software, this is a great way to use it to build professional videos. As you know, there have recently been several applications that make creating videos easy: VideoMakerFX, Easy Sketch Pro, Explaindio. No matter how new you are to video, with one or... [...]

Yael Grauer says, “Let’s be clear: You need emotional appeal in your writing. Compelling stories keep readers on your website, and since you must discover their worldviews and understand their experiences so that you can serve them better, you’ll naturally learn about their emotional states. But when you communicate with your audience, you need to strike the right emotional balance. In fact, getting heavy-handed with emotional appeal in your writing can backfire and potentially harm your credibility”. Why Too Much Emotional Appeal in Your Copy Can Harm Your Credibility ‘Copyblogger’... [...]

Dr. Ben Adkins was ready to quit marketing online. He had tried “everything” the big names in online marketing were teaching and had gotten nowhere. Then, in December, 2011, he looked at what the big marketers were doing, and stopped listening to what they were saying. And his eyes were opened. What made them successful was their sales copy, in their emails and on their websites and blogs. That was they key to their high incomes, not the “solution of the month” they were promoting. So, Adkins started a detailed study of their sales messages, looking for the common threads... [...]

John Tackett says, “I’ve always loved this quote: “Brevity is the soul of wit.” – William Shakespeare To me, its beauty rests in the powerful meaning packed in six simple words. Brevity can also be used as a tool to aid your marketing, as I discovered from a recent email experiment. But first, a little more detail about the experiment. Background: A global producer of high-quality audio equipment and accessories. Goal: To increase clickthrough rates in an email. Research Question: Which email will generate the highest clickthrough rate? Test Design: A/B multifactor, radical redesign... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “Every business needs content. Not the bland, me-too nonsense that so often clutters up our in-boxes and feeds, but genuinely useful, interesting content. Content that lets a business stand out amid the clutter and noise. Content that moves prospects closer to a sale. Content that can become a powerful differentiator for your company. And increasingly, businesses are having a tough time finding the writers who know how to create that kind of content over time. According to some recent research by Content Marketing Institute, the demand for content writers has grown by... [...]

Matt Bacak has just created a new training course, Buy Now – Hooks, Triggers and Buying Trances, to show you how to use sales psychology to improve your earnings. This training is actually a recorded conversation with Jo Han Mok, in which they discuss the psychology of online persuasion. In this conversation, Bacak and Mok shared ideas that most marketers don’t use and, as a result, limit their income. Use all these ideas and your online income will have a chance for upward escalation. Since this collection of persuasion tips comes from their own experience, you will find ideas you... [...]

Bryan Collins says, “When you have to create fresh topics for your blog each week, sometimes you just feel stuck. Or maybe you can’t nail down your unique selling proposition that sets your business apart from the competition. Perhaps you’re still wrestling with ideas for your email autoresponder series. All of these issues are completely normal for writers who continuously aim to serve their audiences. Since finding a way into your readers’ hearts and minds is your goal, you can exhaust your brain trying to find that perfect connection. As a result, instead of producing the perfect... [...]