How to eat a donut

Published November 15, 2010

Want proof that all is indeed well in the world?

Eat a donut.

But don’t just eat the thing. Really taste it. Savor it. Allow it to overtake your senses, and steer you to a place that reminds you that life really is sweet. (And that to enjoy it, you need to be just a little naughty!)

This morning, I had the pleasure of tasting la dolce vita again. Like a visit to the fountain of youth, a trip to my favorite donut shop in the whole world has a magical way of reviving and revitalizing me.

And while Mighty-O … Read the rest >

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Counting People: How to Track Web Traffic

Published November 8, 2010

Tricks of the Trade Dept.

There’s a common statistic that gets trotted out in website conversations that goes something like this: “The average visitor to your website is there only for 45 seconds.” (Or 33. Or 67. You get the idea.)

Interesting enough, especially when a lot of business owners and service providers out there are seriously considering spending a fair chunk of change to plow more traffic to their sites.

There are plenty of strategies to do this, from keyword SEO or a social media package specially designed to help bricks & mortar businesses ramp up online attention.

These … Read the rest >

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Is your website “the kitchen sink”?

Published November 1, 2010

How to pick, promote and prioritize what goes on your homepage.

If your homepage includes “everything but the kitchen sink,” you aren’t maxing out the revenue your website can bring.

The “everything but the kitchen sink” phenomenon is the symptom of a business run by a person with multiple talents, interests, businesses or income streams. What ends up happening is that your homepage becomes a tangled collection of options – “I can do this OR this OR this OR this OR…”

The intention to offer a “feast of options” ends up backfiring - forcing people to make too many decisions … Read the rest >

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8 Ways Your Website Is Losing Money

Published October 27, 2010

Page from the Playbook Dept.

Imagine a hundred dollar bill laying on the sidewalk.

Now picture, as you bend over to pick it up, it gets yanked further away. Like some frustrating, cartoonish farce. (Wheel in the calliope!)

Over and over again. Every time you almost have it between your fingers, the bill flutters a few feet in front of you. You’ve almost got it… woosh! Out of reach again.

This is exactly what a not-so-hot website does to your business.

If you’re like a lot of service providers, life coaches, and business owners out there, you’re reaching out … Read the rest >

Posted in content, copywriting, how to write

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What would Bonnie Raitt do (to your website)?

Published October 18, 2010

Page from the Playbook Dept.

If you’re stumped about how to make your website as charming as it needs to be to win you even more subscribers, ideal clients, and friends, you’re in luck.

Stella Orange laboratories has a fool-proof technology to help you turn up the ole “website charm.”

And if you find that your site falls short of the charm that you display on a regular basis in your “real” offline life, this technology will also help point you in the right direction. Towards a charming, money-making website.

See, the first thing about a charming website is that … Read the rest >

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The 3 Big DON'Ts for a Money-Making Homepage

Published September 27, 2010

And How to Fix Them

“Happy families are all alike,” wrote Leo Tolstoy, “every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

The same holds true for the homepage of your website. Homepages that make money all have certain things in common. Which means that if yours isn’t “bringing home the bacon” to your bottom line, you’re missing a few of those things.

As a copywriter, I look at a lot of homepages. And I talk to a lot of business owners who want to make the most of having a presence online. But a lot of the time, it’s … Read the rest >

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Get your marketing moving forward

Published September 18, 2010

One of the toughest things for small business owners is finding people you trust who can give you smart, clear feedback on your next bold move. Alright, it doesn’t even need to be bold. Any move at all.

Seems like everyone’s busy, and no one has time to sit down with you, and actually listen.

Tell me about it! I’m in the process of developing my next project - something along the lines of “website copywriting for DIYers”(I’ll work on the title, promise.) And I can just sit here, thinking & guessing about what I’m going to do…

…or I … Read the rest >

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Choose Your Own (Website) Adventure

Published September 6, 2010

Instant Replay Dept.

There really are two kinds of people in this world.

Well… let me take that back. Maybe four.

As cliché as it sounds, there’s some truth to the old saying.

For this month’s Instant Replay Dept., here’s a retelling of what I found myself saying to a client last week. And again, to someone on a project team. And guess what? It came up again a few days later in a meeting with the kind folks at SimpleFly Creative. (Marcel: Thanks again for loaning me your umbrella. I would’ve been soaked to the bone.)

When something … Read the rest >

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What Men in Speedos Can Teach Your Copy

Published August 30, 2010

Photo courtesy of fightlaunch's flikr photostream

Style Sheet Dept.

I’m not much of a sports fan. I’ll get up early to watch the Tour and Giro (I love riding bikes, after all) but that’s about it. (Well, that and the gritty and epic Texas football TV drama Friday Night Lights. But in that case, I swear it’s the writing. Seriously fantastic, even if they pulled some punches in the second season.) But I digress.

So here’s the thing you won’t guess about me: I enjoy watching mixed martial arts.

For those not familiar with MMA, two fully-grown, consenting adults step into an octagon ring surrounded … Read the rest >

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The Rule of 3

Published August 23, 2010

Tricks of the Trade Dept.

Here’s the deal:

You can figure how to do most things. It just takes focus.

Alright, maybe not surgery. But just about anything else. Car repair. Salsa dancing. Composting. Raising kids. Table manners. Copywriting is no exception.

And now for the good news. The Neighbors have a gazillion things on their to-do lists, and sitting down to read this post isn’t one of them. Which means advantage: you.

This month’s trick is handy when you have to write something that describes your product or service. (Not that you ever have to do that, … Read the rest >

Posted in copywriting