 |
|
The source of the best business, financial and legal news |
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
 | |
| |
 |
Business Informations |
|
|
|
Say Something Worth Talking About
I recently published a short e-book called 'One Thing I Know About Doing Business Online'. Seventeen people contributed - including Seth Godin, Jeffrey Zelman, Danny Sullivan, Jared Spool, Gerry McGovern and Ann Handley. But I didn't make a contribution of my own. This article is about the one thing I know... First, I should say that the rules are a little different for me within this article. I allowed my contributors only 150 words each. Why? Because I wanted them to think hard, find that 'one thing' and explain it clearly and briefly. To be half fair, here's my 150 words or less version: "Say something worth talking about. Unlike any other medium, the online experience is linked, networked... through sites, email, newsletters, discussion lists, forums, weblogs, wikis, cell phones, PDAs and more. If you have products or services that people actually want, then invest some time in talking about them in an interesting and different way. Talk about them in a way that stands out, makes your readers smile, laugh or scream in outrage. Don't be safe. Say it as it is. Say it loud. Say it in a way that strikes home and is memorable. Do that, and you'll have done something worth talking about...and the network will reward you." Ok, now for the cheating part - where I go on to embellish on what I've said. I think we can all agree about the online space being networked. It's a beautiful thing... to have all those prospects and customers connected and just a click or two away from each other. It gets a little tougher when we look at the issue of whether you're selling something that even a small group of these people online actually want. Because if you don't, it doesn't matter what you say... you'll never have something worth talking about. However great your copy and text, if the product isn't interesting, nobody is going to talk about it. Assuming you have a product or service people truly want, then writing in a way that really differentiates you from your competition will pay off in spades. The Web is awash with safe, boring text. Approved, screened and whittled down until it can offend nobody. You can blame your managers, your company lawyers...blame whoever you want. But the trouble with boring text is that it reads just like all the other boring text on the Web, and you can be absolutely sure that none of your prospects are going to get excited about it and tell their friends. With boring or 'ordinary' sales copy and content, you have to invest big bucks in pushing the message out there. In other words, you have to pay for advertising, in one form or another, just like you do offline. But if your sales copy and content is interesting enough, really interesting...then people will notice it. They'll laugh, smile, be offended or amazed. And remember, they are networked. And in the same way that people email jokes, cartoons and horoscopes...they'll also email news of your site. And rave about it in their weblogs, or post a mention in a discussion list, or tell a friend through instant or short text messaging. From what I can see, there are three types of copy being written online right now. There's the really boring, super-safe corporate stuff that leaves you scratching your head and wondering what it is they are trying to say. There is the super-hard-sell - "You'd be a moron not to buy this NOW" copy - that seems to come from the desk of some demented Ginsu knife salesman. And there is the OK stuff, that is written well and clearly...but really doesn't get your heart beating or your neurons firing. But where is the really exciting writing? Where are people writing in a way that is unexpected and surprising? When did the text on a commercial Web site last make you smile or laugh? Sure, it's scary to write that way. But as soon as you do...as soon as you say something worth talking about...the network will begin to hum and word will spread. So, truthfully now, are you writing in a way that is really worth talking about? Does the text on your site and in your newsletters terrify the boss? Have you had to lock the lawyer in a broom cupboard? This is the Net - and if the words aren't interesting, they won't spread. -- Article resource: Here's that ebook I mentioned at the beginning of the article: One Thing I Know About Doing Business Online Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocate of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.
MORE RESOURCES:
ecommerce - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Set Yourself Apart From The Ordinary I have written at length about the need to anticipate your visitors' needs. I have talked about how the first screen of the homepage needs to connect immediately and directly with the task each visitor has on his or her mind. Does Your Shopping Cart Have a Squeaky Wheel? Have you ever gone grocery shopping just before a holiday? The aisles are packed with people pushing carts, shelves need restocked, all the checkout lanes have long lines.. Merchant Account Insider Secrets - Accept Credit Cards Online The process of learning how to accept payments on the Internet is similar to the course of figuring out how to launch a business. What at first seems puzzling and intimidating may be viewed as straightforward and easy to understand if one has the right guide or manual. Saving Money On Your E-commerce Site After building and transferring many e-commerce sites it still amazes me that owners of e-commerce businesses are still wasting money in three basic ways. For fear of stating the obvious, saving money is the same as making money $100 saved is $100 added to your profit margin. Shopping Cart Usability Usable Shopping Carts Increase SalesE-commerce has been around since 1993 under many different names, but one thing remains constant; shoppers want usable web sites. Without a usable shopping cart the sites typically fail from poor performance. Cost Effective Ecommerce Solutions Ecommerce use to be about spending thousands of dollars on setting up your shop and hundreds of dollars on getting a merchant. My, how things have changed over the years. Ten Reasons Why Online Surveys Are The Future of Marketing Customers are tough cookies. They're extremely media aware and increasingly cynical - it's a clever marketeer who can get under their skin. The Rise of Multinational Virtual Corporations The virtual corporation is the emerging organisational form, which best combines, a fluid ability to adapt to rapidly changing markets and is able to leverage its skills with the complementary skills of other corporations. In the concept's purest form, each company that links up with others to create a virtual corporation will be stripped to its essence. Online Shoppers Say They'll Buy from Small and Large E-Businesses Alike As the holiday shopping season begins in earnest, consumers say they're just as willing to buy from small online retailers as they are from large, national e-commerce providers.In addition to this key finding, a new national survey of 2,500 consumers discovered extremely high levels of consumer participation in - and satisfaction with - shopping on the Internet, despite continuing concerns for security and privacy. Accepting Credit Card Payments Online Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments is crucial to the success of your business and profits. Your customers are more likely to buy from you if you offer them a secure and convenient way to order goods and services online at your site. Excuse Me, Are You Wasting Traffic? The largest cost and concern of an internet business is customer acquisition; traffic. Both quantity and quality of traffic directly determines the succes of an internet business. Paypal Primer To conduct business on the Internet, whether informal, one-time only transactions between two friends, or a full-fledged business selling products or services, payment arrangements have to be made. Before 1998, this often meant either checks sent through snail-mail, or very expensive, and often hard-to-obtain, merchant accounts for online credit card processing. The Internet Challenge In spite of the increasing attention on how the Internet is changing the business landscape, many small business owners are still struggling to understand its influence. But unlike the ceaseless blinking of the home VCR, the impact of the Internet cannot be ignored. How to Generate Cash from Your Web Site The Internet has changed the way people do business today. Most business owners don't have to rent an office in order to run their business. Get Out of The Way Get out of the way and make it easy for your visitors to find what they want.Recently I completed a report for a site that was the most 'peaceful' and among the most 'useful' I had seen in a long time. Looking For Free Advertising, Here It Is! There are lots of ways to advertise for free but they are time consuming so I guess technically, they are not free because your time is worth something! But if you have the time and not the money this is for you.I posed the question of "free advertising" to a few forums and they all can back the same, but with new links to check out. Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan You're excited. You have a great idea for a profitable online business. Short Story: The Benefits of Shopping Online Maria's new lifestyle: Short story about the benefits shopping on the Net has given to a dedicated artist.I've got this strange friend; her name is Maria. Chinas IT Industry to Maintain Fast Growth China's IT industry is expected to see a sales revenue of 2.68 trillion yuan (US$322. Google Catalogs - Old Gashioned Mail Order Meets High Tech Search In addition to Google's Froogle shopping service (still in beta), which features a searchable database of online merchants, Google is also beta-testing their Google Catalog service. Google Catalogs provides a searchable central repository of hundreds of mail-order catalogs.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
