The Eternal Individual

Whoever said “long copy” doesn’t work on the web obviously
doesn’t know how to sell online. In fact, online marketers are
making an absolute fortune with web pages spanning 1200 or more
words used to sell their software and manual products.

There’s an internet marketing expert in the States who went from
zip to millionaire just by promoting a book on car secrets via a
very wordy online sales letter. He is now recognised as perhaps
the world leading expert in internet marketing. His name is
Corey Rudl.

The copy on our product pages is equally as long … and it
works, delivering us many thousands of dollars in product sales
without any offline promotion.

“How to Create a Sales Explosion With Every Ad and Letter You
Write” … http://www.synergie.com.au/explosion.htm “Marketing
Manager’s Toolkit” -
http://www.synergie.com.au/marketing-forms-product.htm “Tenders
that Sell” - http://www.synergie.com.au endersthatsell.htm

The key is to get to the point early … you can have long copy
on your website BUT (and I stress BUT) make sure the beginning
of your message gets to the point quickly. That’s where you can
lose people. It’s vitally important that you hook them quickly
by offering strong “hit them in the face” benefits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` The difference between
writing direct mail and writing web copy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will often start a letter by relating to the main frustrations
or problems that a reader faces. Sometimes I will spend two or
three paragraphs getting what I call the “nod factor” happening.
(This is when they are nodding their head in agreement with what
you have written).

With web copy, you simply can’t start your sales letter with
three paragraphs of copy setting the scene.

Chop, then chop then chop again!

Even though I said writing long copy is definitely acceptable,
what won’t work is FLUFF. Remove all those fluffy, round-about
ways of saying things and replace them with short, sharp and to
the point words. You can go into great length to describe
something as long as it is ABSOLUTELY critical to the sales
message.

Here’s a tip to help you write like a miser:

When writing online copy I avoid using a word processor. I
actually go into my email program and write it in the email
message window. It’s a mind-set thing. Makes sense doesn’t it!
We all write emails in a quick, friendly, to the point way -
much more economically than we do when writing snail mail. When
you’ve written your draft THEN cut and paste it into your word
processing program.

So, how do you make your words SELL online?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Follow the recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Remember, in other articles we talk about the AIDCA formula.
Make sure you follow it in your offline and your online copy.

A - Attention - grab their attention with a powerful headline
that absolutely shouts out the benefits of visiting the site

I - Gain their interest by relating to their needs or
frustrations

D - Create desire by spelling out the benefits and painting a
picture of how better off their lives will be by investing in
your product or service.

C - Gain their conviction. Convince them that they must purchase
your product. Summarise your benefits in a powerful way. Include
a powerful offer that convinces them to purchase now. Implement
risk reversal techniques such as a FREE trial or a money back
guarantee.

A - Incite action. Put a limited time frame on your offer and
tell them how to order. Make it as easy as you can to purchase.
Give them a number of options.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Copywriting, whether it’s offline or online is still all about
YOU (or the client, that is). Write in a direct “me to you” way.
Use twice as many “you’s” as you do “we’s”. This forces you to
step into the readers’ shoes and by doing that you’re helping
them relate (really relate) to what you’re saying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Break it up!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

There’s nothing that will make people click away faster than
long, tedious paragraphs and long sentences. Break up those
sentences. Break up those paragraphs into one or two sentences
(at the very most).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Put those HOT words in
lights! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Every time you move on to a new point include a subheading. This
breaks up the copy and makes it much easier to read. It also
enables people to scan your piece. With a good web piece you
should be able to scan just the subheads and be able to pick out
the major selling arguments in order so you can get a good gist
of what the piece is about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Use strategically placed
links to expand on points ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

In situations where some readers may need to find out more about
a certain point, instead of including a description in the main
body of your online sales letter, include a link to an
explanatory paragraph. This enables you to include all the copy
you need to sell something WITHOUT watering down the power of
your main piece.

It might be simply a description of the meaning of a certain
term.

It might be links to additional research which proves that your
product delivers results.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Weave testimonials
throughout your copy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Testimonials SELL. Gather as many testimonials as you can from
clients and feature them in a variety of different ways. Have a
testimonials or “what clients say” section. Feature these
testimonials as case studies AND use them as part of the copy
when making a particular point.

Eg. Your car will be so shiny it will look brand new AND be
worth $000’s more.

Margaret Smith of Smith and Co. Balmain agrees:

“I wanted to sell my 1995 Ford and to be honest it had been a
little neglected over the years. I was given an initial trade in
price from a dealer and after being rather disappointed with the
price I thought I’d arrange for your detailing services. My
gosh. What a result! I hardly recognised it. It looked like a
brand new car. I then took it in to another dealer and they
offered me $5,000 more. Thank you so much!”

This is a brief overview of how to write powerful web copy.
There are a number of other key copywriting principles to
consider. You can find more copywriting browsing our site.

Just remember - no matter what sales vehicle you’re using, the
recipe for copywriting success is the same. It’s just the tone
and the length that changes.

Almost everyone is familiar with Dish
Network and DirecTV. These
two enormous successful firms sell paid satellite
tv to over twenty million Americans.

Both of these firms offer an incredible selection of programming
with an amazing level of convenience for the average viewer.

What fewer people know is that many channels of quality
satellite television programming are available at no cost to
individuals with the proper equipment.

This programming includes channels such as:

ABC News Now America One Bloomberg TV Bluegrass Music CNBC CNN
The Documentary Channel Faith TV IRS Satellite Network KPBI (Fox
Fayetville) KQUP (UPN 24) The Outdoor Channel

These channels are encoded using DVB, NTSC, or PAL.

You can legally receive these channels without any type of
subscription. These channels are known as free
to air channels.

What You Need to Receive Free Satellite TV

Most free
to air programming is broadcast on the Ku Band. Ku
Band signals can be received with a satellite dish as small as
eighteen inches across.

Some free to air programming is still broadcast on the older C Band. C Band
reception requires a dish at least six feet across.

Your satellite dish will need to be equipped with an LNB (Low Noise
Block) which is designed for use with free to air satellite
signals.

If you want to receive channels from more than one satellite,
you will also need a small motor for your satellite dish.

To control all of this gear, you will need a free to air
satellite receiver.

Pros and Cons of Free Satellite TV

Free-to-Air satellite TV is much more difficult to setup and
maintain than DirecTV or Dish Network. On the other hand,
free-to-air satellite is considerably less expensive than paid
satellite tv.

Dish Network and DirecTV offer the most popular channels
available anywhere. On the other hand, free-to-air satellite
television also gives you access to a wide variety of
specialized programming which is not available on paid satellite
tv networks.

The right satellite tv solution for you depends on what you want
to watch on your TV. And if you have room for two satellite
dishes, you can have both!

The Biosphere II project was abandoned when the green house gases became too high and forced those inside to get out. In the future human colonies will have to worry about such things on other planets as well. Enclosed human habitats will need to replenish the oxygen and be sure to use the CO2 for something else or separate it out again.

If CO2 levels rise too high too fast then some of the gas may need to be abandoned or discharged to re-acclimate the suitable artificial environment to the proper levels to sustain human and life. Now then the last thing you want to do is discharge anything, what you really want is to separate out the CO2 so you can keep the Oxygen for human life but leave the proper amount for the plants.

If this problem happened in Biosphere II can it be happening on Earth too? And if so what can we do? Can we send some pollution out into outer space thru the ozone holes at the poles? What are we going to do as a species if we run out of fresh air to breath? Some folks believe in climate change and others in global warming, but if this is happening and it is rapidly increasing it really does not matter what is causing it, as we need to do something to get rid of the CO2 build ups if human civilizations are to survive. Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Piano students who are talented and dedicated spend a lot of time studying the piano, but in the process they may be losing an important quality of art, the ability to be spontaneous. Here’s some things that piano students have a tendancy to do that limits their creative energy.

1. Play through every song without stopping to investigate areas that interest them or areas they are unsure of.

Students need to examine the music they are learning and be asking questions as they are playing. Observation is important to find the details that need attention. Playing through the music over and over again from beginning to end, and going on to the next song in the same way limits possibilities for improvement. A learning process involves asking questions along the way and paying attention to areas that need to be thoughtfully reviewed.

2.Practice without a specific goal that adds creative purpose to their playing.

Without specific goals and strategies for achieving those goals practice is meaningless. Progress isn’t measured by the clock, but by the product. Students need to know what they are trying to produce to be effective in their practice.

3. Practice their pieces in the same order every time without variation.

At the beginning of practice our attention is highest. First attention needs to be given to challenges in the music. Then stop for a few minutes and start again fresh. Look for areas of the music that need work and focus attention on these.

4. Don’t connect to the music give it personal creative meaning.

The ultimate goal is to bring the music to life. Students need to bring their own magic to the music by connecting to each note so that it resonates as part of a coherent, human story. Music always tells a story. By imaging that each note is part of an important story they are telling to their best friend, students give their music personality and interest that is needed to bring the music to life.

5. Gloss over the notes without becoming intimate with each part of the music.

It takes patience to look deeper into areas of the music to become completely familiar with every melody. The ear needs to hear it clearly and be certain of what is there. Ignoring areas of uncertainty and avoiding thoughtful, creative strategies to bring them into clarity is a matter of discipline. It’s natural for students to put off looking at these areas and focus instead on the areas they can already play well. Uncertainty is uncomfortable and it feels safer to play the parts of the music that are familiar. It is human to avoid what we feel anxious about, and it takes courage to face each challenge in the music creatively.

Even young children can learn effective practice habits that honor creative work and not just time at “work.” Finish lines and artificial boundaries that don’t really exist shouldn’t rule. Creative playing strategies and tools that have integrity, meaning and purpose are what students need for mastering the art of practicing and piano artistry.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You’ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f’ree internet newsletter so you can download f’ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com