Boost Your Website With Expert Content
The word has gotten out on website content.
It has never really been a big secret, really: the only effective way to promote a website is by hosting unique, quality content. Search engine optimization and paid inclusions are a waste of time and money if there isn't a compelling reason for your visitors to come back once they have found you. Website sales only come from repeat visitors and user loyalty.
A business built on expertise must be represented by content - articles, columns, white papers, guides - that meets the most discriminating needs. With your reputation at stake, follow these guidelines for producing the website content that will bring your web visitors back, time and again:
Make it expert. Your clients come to you because they value your expertise, skill and taste; your website content is a reflection of your word, a continuation of the professional client relationship. Never host material from a source that you can't personally vouch for, or to whom you wouldn't refer clients. Assume personal responsibility for every byline on your website.
Make it relevant and objective. Build content that people will trust - unbiased material that directly involves your clients and their needs. Don't roll sales pitches into your articles. Be an advocate for your clients and their interests, and use that awareness to inform the subject matter you include on your website.
Make it timely and researched. Information seekers hit the Web to find the latest, most specific answers to their questions. Don't post outdated or generic content. Make your content rich in accurate information, timely in scope, and authentically useful to Web users.
Make it unique. Website content that can easily be found elsewhere is worse than useless, because it makes your business appear commoditized. Don't recite the same tired advice being given by all your competitors - host unique and specific material on subjects not being covered anywhere else on the Web. Use your background. Demonstrate that your practice is one of a kind, by hosting information that only you can provide.
Make it well written. Your expert credibility can quickly be damaged by poor writing. Be aware of professional writing and publishing standards (found in the Chicago Manual of Style, available in any bookstore), and follow them. Hire a ghostwriter or professional editor if necessary to help make sure that your copy is clean and elegant. Never host any material that calls into question your intelligence or literacy.
A website can build or destroy an expert reputation; the deciding factor is content quality. With the sheer amount of useless, outdated, poorly written material on the Web today, the average Web user is almost desperate for information that can be relied upon.
Create an online resource that your clients value, and they will keep coming back - building your credibility, refining your market, and increasing your income.
Where have all the web content sites gone?
Many web content websites have vanished or stopped in their tracks in the last few months.
It's quite amazing that this has happened, actually, in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedies -- more people than ever are now using the web to get vital news information in real-time. (Family members in my household now visit international news websites to get a different perspective on the events going on!)
Content is still around, websites still advertise for content creation jobs, and yet the websites for web writers and the content community have dissipated to a small, yet vital, few.
So, if you're looking for support, news, and training, where should you go? Here's a rundown of the surviving -- and thriving -- websites and communities for those of us who write online!
Web Page Content
(http://www.webpagecontent.com/) Articles and products to improve web content >From the website: "75+ ways to make your web content more usable, readable, credible, accessible and profitable, and attract more traffic through search engines. New articles every week or so." An interesting mix of content and creation how-to's.
Contentious
(http://www.contentious.com/articles/011210.htm) Amy Gehran continues to write her monthly articles on online writing and content creation at (http://www.contentious.com). Meet with her when she travels to DC!
Online Content UK
(http://www.onlinecontentuk.org) Online Content UK has moved up to fill the gap in the UK content scene. They are now hosting events, an online discussion group, and they plan on adding UK Content Creation jobs in early 2002.
Independents Day
(http://www.independentsday.org/about_id/aboutid.php) >From the website: "INDEPENDENTS DAY is a worldwide project celebrating independent content and design on the web. It's supported by an informal network of designers, artists, writers, editors, developers, and producers who create content and design to enrich the web."
Web Writer News
(http://www.webwriternews.com) Emily Moorehead's website is packed with news, columns, and resources for web writers.
If I missed your website, which is a definite possibility, please email me your details at [email protected] and I'll let everyone know you're out there!
The Easiest Way to Write Anything
You've got something to say. You know it. Your associates know it.
But you don't regard yourself as "a writer."
How are you going to express your wisdom?
How will you communicate your thoughts?
Yes, you can follow the path of J.Paul Getty, Lee Iaccocoa, and Donald Trump and hire someone to write your words. That works. (And I'm available should you want to talk about hiring me as your ghostwriter.) :)
But there is an easier way.
I call this the "two step" because that's all there is to it.
Here's the secret in a nutshell:
Step one is state your principle. Step two is illustrate it.
Pretty simple dance routine, right? Yet you can use this method to write ANY type of nonfiction---whether it's your life story, a school paper, an executive brief, or a full length scholarly book. (Actually, the scholars sorely need this method. They're too stuffy!)
I was reminded of this method while reading a book from the 1940's. I noticed that throughout the book the author would make a statement and then illustrate it with a story. The more I thought about it, I felt this was the easiest way to write anything.
Here's how it works:
1. Make a list of the ideas you want to communicate. Pretend these are laws, rules, insights, commandments, theories, or whatever will work for you. What you're looking for is a list of messages. For example, I was working with a Houston body-mind therapist and I told him about this method. I said, "One of your messages is that people can have whatever they want, as long as they aren't attached to how they get it." He nodded. "Another message of yours is that the energy we put out is the result we get." He nodded again. "Those are your key points," I explained. "Write those down. That's easy. All you do is pull out a sheet of paper or turn on your laptop, and just jot down the ideas you want to get across."
2. Now all you do is illustrate every point with three stories. This is what I liked about that book from the forties. The author made a statement, then illustrated it with a story that made the statement come to life. "You have all kinds of stories to share," I reminded my therapist friend. "For every point you make, support it with a story. Maybe tell how someone achieved a breakthrough following your main point. This reinforces your point and makes it easier to understand."
That's it!
Principle-story, principle-story, principle-story.
You can take ANY subject and break it down this way.
You're making it easier on the readers, too. They don't have to wade through a long involved tale. With this method, you cut right to the point. You say, "Here's what I believe," and then you use a story to explain why you believe it.
The book from the forties that I'm referring to was "How to Develop Your Executive Ability" by Daniel Starch. I'm using it as an example of this two-step formula, and not necessarily urging you to run out and find a copy (it's out of print, anyway).
I just pulled the book off the shelf and opened it at random. I'm looking at the chapter titled "Putting New Ideas to Work." It begins with a statement: "Write them down at the time they come to you."
It then spends four paragraphs giving lively quotes from Tolstoy, Darwin, and Robert Louis Stevenson about the importance of writing down your ideas when they come to you.
If you just write down your message or key point, it will sit on the page in a lifeless, very un-hypnotic way. If you want people to remember the message, if you want them to install the message in their skull, then tell a story that illustrates it.
Your stories don't have to be classics of literature. A relevant quote can bring a statement to life. Stories from other people can bring your message to life. But most powerful and memorable of all are the stories from your own experience.
I just flipped open Starch's book to chapter twenty-four, on "Turning Bad Breaks Into Opportunities." Right off the bat there's a statement: "Resolve not to be downed by failure."
And then follows a page and half of stories about people who were in accidents and went on with their lives, including a quote from Cervantes and John Bunyan. This supportive material awakens your message in the reader's mind.
You might notice that I just used this very technique to write this chapter. I told you there was a two-step formula for writing anything. Then I illustrated the two steps with stories from my clients, and with a story about the book that gave me the idea.
This "two-step" works!
The next time you have to write something, remember:
principle-story, principle-story, principle-story.
It's the easiest way to write anything!
I Almost Flunked English But Went On To Make Millions of Dollars Writing Sales Copy
The Guinness Book of World Records listed Joe Girard as the "World's Greatest Retail Salesman" for 12 consecutive years. He holds the singular distinction of having sold an average of six cars a day over his career. Recently, Joe Girard told me:
"Joe, I can sell in person to individuals in a personal way - in fact, I can sell more cars per day than anyone else. Yet, I can't do what you do -- you sell millions of products to masses of people through the sheer power of print."
Salesmanship in Print
When you look at it from Joe Girard's perspective, it's hard to deny the awesome power of writing good sales copy - which I call "salesmanship in print" -- a power that anyone can take advantage of. You don't need good looks, a charming personality or even great intelligence. In fact, you don't even have to pass English.
This is why it baffles me when people desperately rack their brains trying to find ways to make money -- when the greatest opportunity is staring them right in the face. What's even more mystifying is that those very same people, when presented with ingenious approaches to writing copy that sells, take the skill for granted and don't use it to make personal fortunes for themselves.
Flunking English
Not many people know this, but I almost flunked English back in high school. In addition, I don't know many big words, unlike the rest of my advertising and marketing colleagues -- and my writing style is quite unsophisticated to boot. Yet, by learning to incorporate into my sales copy all the things about how the human mind reacts to certain words and phrases that I've learned over the years, I have made millions of dollars for myself.
The most important lesson you must remember is this: If you learn nothing else but the proper use of psychological principles in writing sales copy, you will always make more money than you'll ever need.
The Million-Dollar Grapefruit Farmer
If you're one of those people who believes that you're not a good enough writer -- and that you couldn't possibly learn to write ad copy that sells -- I want to tell you the story of a man who attended one of my seminars. This man was a grapefruit farmer who had never written sales copy prior to attending my copywriting seminar. In fact, he expressed his doubts that he would get anything at all from the copywriting lessons he learned. Yet, by the end of the seminar, he was able to write direct mail copy to sell grapefruit by mail which, over a period of ten years, has earned him millions of dollars.
Success Leaves Clues
For many years I specialized in "space-age" products, and my claim to fame was in building and selling "the better mousetrap" -- from state-of-the art smoke detectors to chess computers to new-fangled calculators -- and more recently -- to BluBlocker® sunglasses.
But you don't need a space-age product to make a million dollars. In fact, that is the downfall of most people who enter the marketing field. They find a product, fall in love with it, and try to get the market to buy it. With an unproven product, you could lose a lot of money in the process.
Instead what you should do is find a product that's already selling well -- and use compelling copy to sell it better.
Harmonize with the Marketplace
One of the psychological principles I describe in my book, "Triggers," is simply this: Your product needs to harmonize with the marketplace.
Here's a tip that you would definitely find useful: When you're looking for a product to sell, go to the library and flip through the back issues of magazines -- particularly the tabloids. Note those mail order ads that are running week after week, month after month. There's only one reason why those ads keep running -- they're making money. Those products are already proven to sell well -- they've demonstrated that they harmonize with the marketplace.
Even if there are many companies that are already competing in those product categories (example: weight loss, hair restoration, and wrinkle products, etc.), don't worry. If you apply good copywriting guidelines, your marketing efforts will fare better than those who are making money, despite their poor sales copy.
"Splish Splash I Was Takin' A Bath"
Take a clue from Bobby Darin, a popular singer of the '50s. Darin was a young singer in New York who, for a long time, tried unsuccessfully to break into the music business. He would go from record company to record company trying to convince them to make an album of him singing popular jazz oldies. He was rejected.
So one day, Darin sat down and wrote a song that fitted or "harmonized" with what the public was buying at the time. What was popular at the time was good old rock and roll sung by black artists -- it was called the Motown sound.
The song he wrote was called "Splish Splash" and the words started out, "Splish splash, I was takin' a bath/ 'Round about a Saturday night." It had a good old Motown rock and roll sound -- and it became a smash hit, selling millions of copies.
Darin recognized what the market wanted, and he created something that harmonized perfectly with the prevailing market. From his earnings, he himself produced a record in the music genre that he really loved -- popular jazz oldies. His song, "Mack the Knife" went on to become a multimillion-selling single and made Bobby Darin famous.
To summarize, you must first have a product that harmonizes with your market. If you haven't made a substantial amount of money from your marketing efforts yet, sell only products or services that have a ready market -- this is the path of least resistance. Afterwards, with the money you make, you can blaze new trails with other products of your own preference.
|
| 
