Weiss Report Blog

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I want to share with you the two most powerful marketing methods
I’ve found for the copywriter. And they are (drum roll
please)…direct mail and… networking!

In my coaching program I have my students go through an
intensive 24-session web/mail marketing program that gets them
the high quality leads they need for financial and professional
success.

However, as one of my previous students recently reminded me,
networking is also a very strong marketing tool.

In fact, it was networking that got me my first clients, and it
was direct mail that got me the right clients during the second
phase of my freelance career.

Here’s what you need to know about networking…

Rule number one: Avoid the Chamber of Commerce!

Almost every copywriter I know (including me), automatically
puts the Chamber of Commerce on the short list of good places to
network. And almost every copywriter (myself included), is
disappointed with the results.

Now I’m not saying the local Chamber is always a losing
proposition; I have one past student who said Chamber networking
paid off for him, but 99 percent of the copywriters I talk with
agree the businesses found there are just too small (and usually
clueless about direct marketing).

What’s more, the Chamber is comprised of many types of business,
so niching is not possible.

It is much better to go to events and meetings that focus on
marketing, like those of a local Direct Marketing Association
and American Marketing Association. This is where you’ll find
marketing directors, direct marketers, and marketing-related
vendors likely to have a high interest in copywriting services.

When I first started my freelance career I joined the Oregon
Direct Marketing Association and took every opportunity I could
to get my name known.

I wrote the newsletter (and placed a free ad in the
classifieds); I wrote the press releases and I accepted
responsibilities for putting on the yearly conference. I even
gave a speech on the proper elements of a good sales letter. And
I put myself on the board.

All of this led to my first freelance clients: mini-cataloger
and manufacturer Stash Tea, LawnPro, a small landscape
maintenance firm, and an ad agency that locked me in a tiny room
on site, as though to prevent me from making a personal call on
their dime. Not the best clients, but it gave me my start.

Over the years, technology has made niche marketing the smart
way to go, and for that reason I also highly recommend that you
seek groups, organizations, trade shows, and associations that
pertain to your niche.

Another one of my current students is niching into a very
specialized area of the alternative health field. Within her
unique niche she’s found huge trade shows she can attend, and is
now making calls to vendors to introduce herself and let them
know she’ll be stopping by their booth. The positive response
she’s been getting has us both very excited!

Many copywriters find it difficult to network simply because
they live remotely. For them, I like to point out online
alternatives.

For instance, as a specialist in software who lives in
California’s remote Palm Desert (near Palm Springs), I must seek
online opportunities to network.

To this end I’ve participated in marketing forums on
SoftwareCEO, a popular site for software execs. And I’ve also
written articles for its newsletter.

I can report that networking on SoftwareCEO has paid off nicely,
as a large chunk of last year’s income came from a client who
saw my name there.

Online networking has another plus, and that’s that it’s an
especially attractive route to take if you’re shy and have a
difficult time of meeting people.

With online networking, all you have to do is answer a question,
provide an opinion, or share a resource. It takes just a few
minutes, you don’t have to dress up, or travel anywhere, and it
doesn’t cost a thing!

In summary, there are many ways for copywriters to market
themselves. Public speaking, writing articles, cold calling,
running ads, and so on.

But most copywriters have neither the time nor the finances for
multiple marketing efforts; most pick one or two methods that
appeal to them, and work hard at making them effective.

One thing is sure: I wouldn’t be where I am now without
networking. I found my copywriting mentor via networking and he
taught me everything he knew.

With networking I made the connections that got me an agency job
that changed the course of my career…and my life.

Reflecting on what networking has done for my career, I must
wholeheartedly encourage my ambitious freelance friends to take
advantage of its benefits.

I’ve often thought that in any business, it’s the people who
make things happen. With networking, you can capitalize on this
truism. You can develop relationships that last a
lifetime…gain experiences that greatly impact your
career…and enjoy rewards far beyond your initial imagination.

I encourage you to find networking opportunities, both online
and off. Network consistently and I guarantee that when you’re
“fat and happy,” you’ll attribute some of your success to
networking.

These days, there’s widespread acceptance that a website is an integral part of the marketing plan of any business. Likewise, it’s commonly accepted that web copy is a vital component of any website. But how much web copy is enough?

The pure volume of information available on the Internet is daunting - often counterproductive. There are approximately 550 billion documents on the web, and every day another 7 million are added. According to an A.T. Kearney, Network Publishing study (April 2001), workers take so long trying to find information that it costs organizations $750 billion annually!

Yet people continue to use it. Information gathering is the most common use of the Internet (American Express survey, 2000). And it seems work-related searches are amongst the most common, with 48% of people using the Internet to find work-related information, as opposed to 7% who use magazines (Lyra Research, 2001).

Interestingly, however, the average person visits no more than 19 websites in the entire month in order to avoid information overload (Nielsen NetRatings in Jan 2001).

So how do you ensure your site is one of those 19? How do you make your content helpful without making it overwhelming? That’s what this article is about…

I’ve written several articles on WHAT to write on your website in order to make it helpful. (See http://www.divinewrite.com/benefits.htm, http://www.divinewrite.com/webbenefitwriting.htm, and http://www.divinewrite.com/webwriting.htm) But that’s only half the battle… Businesses also need to know HOW MUCH to write. Here are 5 quick rules of thumb to help you decide how much is enough.

1) Know your audience (Reader or Search Engine?)

Think about whether you’re targeting human readers (potential customers) or search engines. This must always be one of your very first questions, as the answer will determine your approach to content.

In general, human readers think less is more. Search engines, on the other hand, think more is more (well, more or less…). In many ways, it comes down to a question of quality versus quantity. Human readers are interested in quality, whereas search engines are interested quantity. Human readers want you to answer their questions and make it clear how you can benefit them. And they don’t want to wade through volumes of text. Search engines want a high word count, full of relevant keywords, and short on diagrams. (See http://www.divinewrite.com/seocopy.htm for more information on writing for search engines. See <http://www.divinewrite.com/SEOCEO.htm for an introductory article on search engine optimization.)

You need to think carefully about your audience. In most cases, it’ll be a trade-off. A high search engine ranking is important (or at least beneficial) to most businesses, so a happy medium is required. The following tips will go some way toward providing this balance.

2) Make it concise

Say everything you need to say, but always ask, “Can I say it with fewer words?” The literary world may be impressed by complex writing, but visitors aren’t. Keep it simple, and keep it brief. Your home page shouldn’t be more than 1 screen long. In other words, visitors shouldn’t have to scroll. Subsequent pages can be longer, but try to keep them to a maximum of about 300-400 words each (approximately 1 scroll). A lot of people will tell you that you also need 300-400 words or more on your home page for a good search engine ranking. You don’t. If you focus on the right keywords and generate a lot of links to your site, you can achieve a high ranking without losing your readers’ interest by padding

TIP: For most businesses, a good rule of thumb is to make it conversational. Old school writers and would-be writers oppose conversational copy; don’t listen to them. Unless you’re writing for an old-school audience, feel free to write as people talk.

3) One subject per page

On this, both readers and search engines agree. Don’t try and squeeze too much information onto a single page. For example, instead of trying to detail all of your products on a single Products page, use the page to introduce and summarize your product suite, then link to a separate page per product. This way, your content will be easier to write, your readers won’t be overwhelmed, and you’ll be able to focus on fewer keywords (so the search engines will get a clearer picture of what you do).

4) Make it scannable

According to a 1998 Sun Microsystems study, reading from a monitor is 25% slower than reading from paper. As a result, 79% of users scan read when online. So make sure you accommodate scanning. Use headings and sub-headings. Highlight important words and sections. Use bulleted lists and numbered lists. Use tables. Use statistics. Use meaningful indenting. Use short sentences. Most importantly, be consistent in your usage. Oh… and follow rules 2 and 3 above.

5) Use a simple menu structure

Try to keep your high-level menu (Home, About Us, Contacts, Products, Services, etc.) to a maximum of about 10 items (5-8 is ideal). If you have too many options, your site will seem unstructured and your visitors won’t know where to start. In order for a visitor to want to come back to your site, they need to feel comfortable when they’re there. They need to know what to expect. If they can’t identify any logic in your menu structure, they will always feel lost. What’s more, this lack of structure will reflect badly on your business.

The Internet can be an incredibly cost-effective form of promotion because the cost per word to publish is so low. Don’t be fooled into thinking more is more just because it costs less. Audiences - even search engines - don’t want everything; they just want enough.

Happy writing!

* Glenn Murray is an SEO copywriter and article submission and article PR specialist. He is a director of article PR company, Article PR, and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit www.DivineWrite.com or www.ArticlePR.com for further details, more FREE articles, or to download his FREE SEO e-book.