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Web
Marketing Ezine
July
3rd., 2002
Issue #197
ISSN 1444-2027
Contents
1. Sponsor's Message
2. First Word
3. Tips, Tools, News and Views
-
The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning: Free eBook
- Cluetrain
Manifesto Thesis #2
-
Add
A Greeting To Your
Site
-
"John, I Thought You Changed Your Site?"
-
Free Training
Course of the Week:
-
Business Communications:
The
Written Request
4. A Touch of Humor: A
Third
Opinion
5.
Classified Ads
6. Free Training Courses
7. Feature Article: Want A Sticky Website That Sells? Forget Content!
8. Our Companion Ezine
9. Administrivia
Visit our companion website at http://www.WebMarketingEzine.com
Want to read this online? For your convenience, the Current Issue
of WME is posted each week at the WME website. Just visit
http://www.WebMarketingEzine.com/currentissue.shtml
1. Sponsor's Message
You'd
kick yourself if you didn't find out!
2.
First Word
Hi
All!
This week, we'd like to re-introduce you to Michel Fortin - The
Success Doctor. Positioning is an integral part of any Marketing Plan, and Michel is the author of this week's free eBook, 'The 10
Commandments of Power Positioning'. Take the time to read it - I'm sure you'll find this eBook a valuable read. Michel also
provides us with this week's Feature Article, which discusses the important distinction between content and copy, and what it can
mean to our bottom line! Enjoy it.
Thought
For the Week:
"Not
everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be
counted." - Albert Einstein
Till next week, have a good one!
John
3. Tips, Tools, News and
View
The
10 Commandments of Power Positioning: Free eBook
 This
week, I'm delighted to be able to offer you a Free eBook by the Success Doctor�,
Michel Fortin.
His book, 'The 10 Commandments of Power Positioning: Magical Marketing
Strategies for Creating an Endless Stream of New, Repeat and Referral Business',
is available for you to download, now.
In it, he shares magnetic marketing strategies, like:
-
How
to position your product or firm above the competition in the mind of your
market;
-
How
to change your approach from being in business to being the business of
choice;
-
How
to harness the power of perception and claim superiority without stating it
outright;
-
How
to have people remember you or your product by making it stick firmly in the
mind;
-
How
to choose the right media and where to find free (or low cost) publicity
opportunities;
-
How
to create strategic marketing alliances that send you and keep sending you
leads;
-
And
much more!
Download
your Free copy of this 40-page masterpiece, right now!
Cluetrain
Manifesto Thesis #2
"Markets
consist of human beings, not demographic sectors."
Read
the whole Cluetrain
Manifesto at http://www.webmarketingezine.com/cluetrain.htm
WME
Supported By...
Working
at Home and Loving it and You Can Too!
Being at
home with my children meant the world to me. I finally found an opportunity that
made sense to me, and my family. No Selling or Home Parties, no chasing people.
I am raising my kids AND paying the bills! I am so proud of what I do.
For more info: http://rose.themomteam.com/
Add
A Greeting To Your
Site
Wouldn't it be nice to have a greeting on your page that responds to the time of day?
This little script, provided by Bravenet, does just that. You can paste this into your html document in the location you would like the greeting to appear. That�s all there is to it. Now, when someone visits your site the greeting will be:
"Good Morning. Welcome to my site!"
"Good Afternoon. Welcome to my site!"
"Good Evening. Welcome to my site!"
(Depending on what time it is on their computer.)
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- Begin
todaydate = new Date();
timeis=todaydate.getTime();
todaydate.setTime(timeis);
houris = todaydate.getHours();
if (houris > 17) display = "Evening";
else if (houris >12) display = "Afternoon";
else display = "Morning";
var welcome = ("Good " + display + ". Welcome to my site!");
document.write(welcome);
// End -->
</script>
"John, I Thought You Changed Your Site?"
Here's a stupid, but useful HTML trick for you. Many people
write in telling Aesop.com:
Hey,
Can you guys help me with this?
I changed my site, and when I visit my new page I can see
that it's changed. But then people will still write in
and say:
"John, I thought you changed your site like you said in
your newsletter? When I visited, it was the same as before.
What's up?"
What *is* up? Can you guys help me out?
Signed,
Confused
What's up is that your visitor has your old page in "cache"
memory. Browsers that have this option turned on will save a page
on your visitor's hard drive and call up what's stored on their
hard drive rather than pull the page from your server again.
Here's some simple code that will "bust" the cache and ensure
your page is displayed freshly each time:
<META http-equiv="Pragma" content="no-cache">
Just place that code between your <head> and </head> tags and
you're good to go.
WME
Supported By...
Did
you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine
"Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web
Subscribe � http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
Great Business and Computer Tips � Monday thru Friday
Instructions to place your ad are in the Newsletter.
An EzineADventure
AD. Click Below - Get Your FREE Ads NOW!
http://www.ezineadventure.com/Default.asp?id=8572
Free Training
Course of the Week: Business Communications: The
Written Request
When you make a written request, you're asking
someone else to do you a favor or perform some sort of action. You need the
cooperation of your reader. But how do you get that cooperation? How can you
write to increase the chances that you'll get what you want?
In
This Open University of Washington Course, you will
-
learn the difference between a direct request and a persuasive request, and when to use each one;
- how to organize a written request to make your reader more likely to do what you ask;
- the three most important strategies for getting your request read and granted.
To
take this, and other free training courses, visit
http://www.webmarketingezine.com/freetrainingcourses.shtml
E-Commerce
Term of the Week: Redirect
When you type in a URL and hit "enter" but notice that the browser automatically sends you to another URL, you are experiencing a redirect.
For example, if a Web site changes its domain name, instead of simply taking down the old site, it may leave a page on the server that says something like "Our name has changed. Please update your bookmarks. If the new homepage doesn't appear within the next ten seconds, click here."
If your browser is fairly recent, it will automatically redirect you to the new page. (If you don't have an updated browser, it's time to download a new one.)
-Source: NetLingo- The Internet Dictionary
http://www.netlingo.com
The NetLingo Dictionary book is 528-pages of over 2500 terms. Learn more...
4. A Touch of
Humor
A
Third
Opinion
A
man takes his hamster to the vet, and after a short look at the creature the vet
pronounces it dead.
Not
happy with the vet's diagnosis the man asks for a second opinion.
The
vet gives a whistle and in strolls a Labrador dog. The dog nudges the hamster
around with its nose and sniffs it a couple of times before shaking his
head.
"There"
says the vet,� Your hamster is dead".
Still
not happy the man asks for a third opinion. The vet opens the back door and in
bounds a cat. The cat jumps onto the table and looks the hamster up and down for
a few minutes before looking up and shaking it's head.
"It's
definitely dead sir", says the vet.
Convinced,
the man enquires how much he owes.
"That
will be $1000, please".
"A
$1000 just to tell me my hamster is dead?!!" fumes the man.
"Well",
says the vet, "There's my diagnosis, the lab report and the cat scan".
5. Classified Ads
Ezine Advertising WORKS! Showcase your ad. in "The Human Face of
Web Marketing", at just $20 for four insertions. Just go to
http://www.webmarketingezine.com/advertise.shtml
How
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http://www.webmarketingezine.com/isl.htm
Make
Your Site Sell- The Most Important Free Download You'll Make
http://www.webmarketingezine.com/myss.htm
FREE
five lesson class shows you how to improve the your results
http://www.webmarketingezine.com/lct.htm
WOMEN!
THIS LIST IS FOR YOU! THE BALANCED WOMAN! Send a blank email to; [email protected]
Read
about your business's future at:
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Improve
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Article
Announce - The Free Writer & Publisher Connection
Subscribe: mailto:[email protected]
Your
own infoproduct? Take the FREE InfoProduct Masters course!
Just send a blank e-mail to [email protected]
Serious
about writing that book? Look at this site!
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Become
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Send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]
6. Free Training Courses
Increase your knowledge; hone your skills; improve your results! Take advantage
of some of the finest FREE training courses on the Web by visiting our Free
Training Course listing at;
http://www.webmarketingezine.com/freetrainingcourses.shtml
With over 20 courses to choose from, you're sure to find something!
7. Feature Article
Want A Sticky Website That Sells? Forget Content!
By Michel Fortin
An interesting debate is raging among copywriters, web designers and content providers about the key differences, if any, between writing copy for the web versus writing content.
According to prolific copywriter Nick Usborne, a survey conducted among the readers of his email newsletter "Excess Voice," which is available at nickusborne.com, offers some interesting results. They seem to be split almost three ways: one-third consists of copywriters, another content writers and the final third both.
This is an important debate, I believe, since all online copy is content but not all content is copy. And that's a real problem.
Most designers, webmasters and writers develop content for their websites in a way to educate their visitors. They also write it with the notion that "content is king," "content raises search engine rankings," "content makes a website sticky" and so on.
That's all fine and good. But in my estimation, web content fails when it strives only at informing the reader, and lacks important elements that take the reader "by the hand" and compels them to do something -- anything, including the simple act of reading.
In other words, while some may compel our attention, many sites fail to propel our actions, too. And their owners often scream, "Why is my site not producing any sales," "why is it so heavily trafficked but getting such a poor response" or "why are people leaving so quickly (or after they got what they came for)?"
Well, if content was king, copy should be the castle.
The Internet is not a traditional medium in the broadcast sense. It is intimate, dynamic and interactive. People are more involved when reading the content of a website than reading a conventional print publication or watching a TV commercial. With the Internet, people also have a powerful weapon, and they usually never think twice about using it when the need confronts them: their mouse.
So, the idea is this: forget about writing content, at least in the traditional sense. Think copy. Think content that compels the reader to do something, even if it's just to continue reading.
According to Atomica.com, "copy" is defined as "the words to be printed or spoken in an advertisement." (And "advertisement" is defined as "a notice or announcement designed to attract public patronage." It's selling something, in other words.)
But the word "content," on the other hand, is defined as "the subject matter of a written work, such as a book or magazine." And keep in mind that there's no mention of the Internet, here.
Nevertheless, this is why I submit that, with its multitude of links and hypertexts, the web transforms the passive reader into an active, responsive participant. (Make that "response-able.")
A book or magazine is limited by its front and back covers. The web, however, is not. If your content does not strive at getting the reader to do something, whether it's to buy, join, subscribe, call, email, fill out a form, download, click or whatever, then you need to seriously rethink your content and the words you use.
Here's my explanation of the difference between content and copy.
Content informs. Copy invites. Even if content invites readers to keep reading, it's still selling an idea. It's still calling for some kind of action. And it's still copy, in my opinion.
If your web page is only meant to inform people, like some kind of book, it's content. (And like the closing of a book once it's read, the only action left is to close the browser window.) But if it contains links to other parts of your website, then it's copy. And you need to write your content with that mindset.
Ultimately, write your content by incorporating a direct response formula that compels and propels your readers to act. Don't leave them hanging. Take them by the hand. In your content, integrate a call for some kind of action, in other words. Ask your reader to "buy now," "join today," "get this" or "download that ..."
... Or better yet, at least ask them to simply "click here."
-
� Michael Fortin 2002
Provided by http://www.web-source.net/?syndicator
Michel Fortin is a copywriter, author and consultant dedicated to turning businesses into powerful magnets. His specialty are long copy, email and web sales letters. Subscribe to his FREE monthly email newsletter by visiting
http://SuccessDoctor.com/.
8. Our Companion Ezine:
A Better Life:ItsYourFuture!
ITS YOUR
FUTURE!
Enjoy Humor, Inspiration, Romance,
Fitness, Nutrition & Personal
Finance- all aimed at helping YOU to take control of YOUR future!
Subscribe FREE by sending a blank email to:
mailto:[email protected]
BE HAPPY BE HEALTHY LIVE LONG & PROSPER
9. Administrivia
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