Writing on the Web from Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Advertorial: Step 9- A Clear Call to Action

The final section of a good advertorial asks readers to do something. It follows your irresistible offer, where you sweeten the pot by throwing in bonuses and extra features. But why should anyone act now?

Unless you mention reasons to act now, people will put it off, maybe say they will think it over, and then forget about it. You should include scarcity and urgency in your copy to get your readers to act and act now.

How can you let people know that your offer is only good for a certain time period, or until a certain number of sales or registrations is reached? The key is to be rigorously honest and authentic. Anything less and you will trigger your readers' BS antennae and they will abandon at the point of purchase.

I once got an email promoting an ebook in which the author insisted there were only a few copies left. That's actually a pretty funny thing to say since most people know ebooks are digital publications, but the author destroyed his credibility by not letting people know it was a joke.

If you are doing a teleseminar and the telephone line really truly is limited to 100 or 1000 people, it better be true. Most people know that when registrations fill up, the professional can simply get a bigger bridge line.

Including scarcity and urgency issues in your advertorial makes a lot of sense, as long as you are honest.

White Papers as Lead Generators

White Papers: The Ultimate Lead Generator

Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: Michael A. Stelzner, White Paper Source

May 31st 2007, 3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)

In an era of overloaded inboxes and marketing hype, a well-crafted white paper can generate serious leads for your business. White Paper expert, Michael A. Stelzner, author of "Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged, will reveal the art and science of marketing with white papers.

Michael A. Stelzner is a leading authority on the topic of writing and marketing white papers, and authored the bestselling book, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged. He has written more than 100 white papers for many of the world's most recognized companies, including Microsoft, FedEx, Motorola, Monster, Hewlett-Packard and SAP. Contact information.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on May 31.

P.S. Don't miss our teleseminar on June 6 with Michael Stelzner on how to create white papers to generate leads!

White Papers: The Ultimate Lead Generator

Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: Michael A. Stelzner, White Paper Source

May 31st 2007, 3:00 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET)

In an era of overloaded inboxes and marketing hype, a well-crafted white paper can generate serious leads for your business. White Paper expert, Michael A. Stelzner, author of "Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged, will reveal the art and science of marketing with white papers.

Michael A. Stelzner is a leading authority on the topic of writing and marketing white papers, and authored the bestselling book, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged. He has written more than 100 white papers for many of the world's most recognized companies, including Microsoft, FedEx, Motorola, Monster, Hewlett-Packard and SAP. Contact information.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on May 31.

P.S. Don't miss our teleseminar on June 6 with Michael Stelzner on how to create white papers to generate leads!

Advertorials: Step 7- Provide Proof

When writing persuasive copy, you want to come across as trustworthy as possible. One way to this is to be transparent about the fact that readers have doubts. Many people have been burned by buying worthless ebooks with nothing but fluff.

What kind of proof can you present to show you are real and your services good? Case studies are an excellent way to present a customer experience. Testimonials should also be included, but be sure they are specific and use full names and quantifiable results.

How has the product or service you'd like readers to try had an impact on the lives of others? Can you get people to record their stories? Audio files are very powerful. Your clients can use a telephone recording service to report their experiences. Video is even more powerful.

Here is how I include a section on proof in our Blog Squad Mentor program advertorial:

Friday Fun - Catching Up with Myself

Once a week I indulge myself and share what's really going on with my work and life. I kinda dislike those self-serving blogs that do this all the time. Here's my life:

Got up to find one of the kitties tried to access helpctr.exe over a hundred times during the night. Dewey or Huey must have fallen asleep on the keyboard. Remind me to shut down at night so they don't screw up things even more seriously.

I missed Tom Antion's mentee rap session last night and get frustrated with myself when I do this. At 6 p.m. I'm in front of the TV watching a Law and Order rerun instead of soaking up Tom's wisdom. For all the money we're paying Tom, that is just not smart. Note to self: listen to audio.

I hate listening to podcasts on my iPod. I'd rather have music on. I find it really hard to pay attention to podcasts. So if I miss a teleseminar, chances are, the audio file will not do the trick. That's just me. Denise does the podcast walk on the treadmill all the time.

Happy birthday, back! This is my 6 month recovery point from surgery. All 4 pins have stayed in place, and x-rays show I'm laying down new bone which will solidify and hold the pins.

I'm playing tennis every day now, and am getting back a little punch in my forehand.

Weekend plans with The Hubby: tennis, movies, tennis...the only new movie out we haven't seen is of course Pirates. I'm a big Johnny Depp fan, although this isn't the best use of his talents.

I don't know about this personal sharing stuff... is it too boring? Should I make something up?

Oh! Almost forgot... Denise and I are in New York City next week for a book conference. I can't decide whether to post a couple times here, invite a guest blogger, or just take a rest. If you're a reader and you care, drop a line by clicking the comment link below.

Hope you have a fun Friday, and a great weekend!

Advertorials: Step 5- What's Your Solution?

To review, here are the 4 steps to writing persuasive copy in the form of an advertorial so that you can be educating at the same time as promoting your business:

1. Grab attention with a list of 3 or 5 horrible mistakes people make
2. Positioning: Why should anyone read or listen to you?
3. Explain the problem
4. Explain why most solutions fail

All of these steps are written with the reader in mind, what's in it for them, explaining problems from their point of view. You connect with readers by showing you know how they must feel frustrated or even angry when dealing with this issue. Now it's time to introduce step 5: describe your specific solution.

You can list the features of your product or services. One way to do this is to use the 'feature...so that...benefit' phrase like this: "Our program offers you an inexpensive way to access learning materials so that you keep more of your hard earned money."

Or, "our private membership site allows you to learn on your time at your convenience, so that you don't have to spend days away from home and work at an expensive workshop."

Keep in mind, that solutions that save people time and money are very appealing. People don't really care about the features of your widget, your ebook, your program. You do, but they are still looking for what's in it for them. So spell it out for them.

I'm continuing to use our Blog Squad Mentor Program as an example of how I apply these principles to real copy:

Advertorials: Step 3 Explain the Problem

I just wrote about steps 1 and 2 to crafting an advertorial that persuades readers to buy or register for your product or service over at Biz Tips Blog.

Just to review, those steps are:

1. Grab attention with a list of 3 or 5 horrible mistakes people make
2. Positioning: Why should anyone read or listen to you?
3. Explain the problem

Once you've got their attention, promised to deliver information that's relevant, and shown that you know what their issues are, you are ready to explain the problem.

This means revealing the 3 or 5 items promised in your attention-grabbing title. In this sample case, it's the 3 Worst Online Marketing Mistakes.

Here they are, as we propose to use them in our sample Blog Squad advertorial:

Branding Your Business on Blogging and Beyond Radio

Blogging and Beyond Season 2, Episode 6
The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman with guest expert Liz Goodgold of DUH! Marketing

May 24, 2007, 3 pm PT (6 pm ET) Blog Talk Radio

Business Branding for the Little Guys

Does your business name make people go "Huh?" … or do they understand immediately what you do and remember you for your expertise? Liz Goodgold talks to The Blog Squad about the importance of branding for solo business owners, authors and speakers. Author of DUH! MARKETING: 99 Monstrous Missteps You Can Use to Learn, Laugh, and Grow Your Business, Liz share's her "lizdom" that's made her a media darling.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on May 24.

Blogging and Beyond Season 2, Episode 6
The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman with guest expert Liz Goodgold of DUH! Marketing

May 24, 2007, 3 pm PT (6 pm ET) Blog Talk Radio

Business Branding for the Little Guys

Does your business name make people go "Huh?" … or do they understand immediately what you do and remember you for your expertise? Liz Goodgold talks to The Blog Squad about the importance of branding for solo business owners, authors and speakers. Author of DUH! MARKETING: 99 Monstrous Missteps You Can Use to Learn, Laugh, and Grow Your Business, Liz share's her "lizdom" that's made her a media darling.

Use this link to listen live on the air at 6:00 p.m. ET on May 24.

Hey, Stupid! Can You Hear Me NOW?

Grab their attention. In fact, steal it. Get it away from everything else by rocking their boat. Heck, why not tip it over.

What words can you use in your email subject line or sales copy title that will do the job?

"Scandal!" Yes, that's more appealing than 'insider secrets', which has been overused to bits. "Asshole?" Yes, if you're a Stanford professor with a couple of best sellers already published.

The problem with using earth-shattering, ass-grabbing words like these is the credibility issue. Once you have someone's attention - which you will when you use strong controversial words - you better deliver the goods.

Nothing worse than feeling ripped off when you take time to read something only to discover it's a worthless piece of marketing hype.

Most experts agree that you've got to use strong words to get people's attention. Here's an idea:

Are You Promoting or Educating?

Adam Urbanski's been teaching marketing for several years now and each time Denise and I are exposed to his wisdom, we come away with something new. This time, at his Attract Clients Like Crazy(tm) Boot Camp in Irvine last week, I learned more about writing advertorials. Adam calls this his Edumercial(tm) technique because it employs some of the powerful tips from late night infomercials.

If you are a service professional like a coach, consultant, speaker or author, you know the problem. It's a little different than pitching a widget or a thing that solves a problem. You need to sell without seeming to sell - you need to educate and inform rather than promote.

Learning sales letter writing and copywriting skills might not be the answer. For higher end sales such as your consulting services, you need first and foremost to build relationship with readers. And to do that you need to educate and inform, even over-deliver content that is useful and relevant to your readers.

How Not To Email Me - or Anyone Else If You Want Results

We learn from other people's mistakes, so here goes a prime example of what not to write in an email message if you want to get results.

First off, this person put Joan Stewart's name in the subject line: "The Publicity Hound Sent Me". That's a good way to get me to open up your email, but you better be sure it's true or you'll piss me off. In this case, if it were true, then the sender wouldn't have written what she did...

"Dear Denise"... the email begins. Only I'm Patsi. To be fair, we both get email at that address, but still...

"I invite you to help create an international buzz this year for "XXX Days" in Northern California.