Online Archives - Page 2 of 19

Online Copywriter Vs Offline Copywriter – What’s the Difference?

Being an online copywriter is becoming a much more lucrative profession as more and more Internet business ventures pop up all over the web. Everyone has something they want to sell online, it would seem – and copywriters are the people with the skills to make things sell.

But is there really a big difference between copywriting for the web, and copywriting in the offline world? In some respects, yes. In many ways, successful online sales pages resemble successful offline sales letters. However, there are some important points to bear in mind when it comes to online copywriting that can have a big impact on the success of your copy.

The Way People Read Online

One of the biggest issues a copywriter must consider when writing for the online space is that the way people read words on a computer screen is completely different from the way they read a printed page.

Computer screens tend to cause a strain on the eyes if you read from them for too long. For that reason, people naturally start to skim and scan when they read copy on the web. Add to that the fact that web surfers in general are an impatient breed, looking for the information they need right now. When you understand these factors, you can see why online sales copy needs to lend itself to skimming and scanning.

This means having plenty of headlines through the sales copy is particularly important. Ideally, a reader should be able to scan through the page reading only the headlines, and pick up a good idea of what the whole page is about.

As for the body copy itself, short sentences tend to work best online. The language ought to be as simple as possible, so anyone can read and understand it. No one is going to get out a dictionary to understand your sales copy.

Another factor of making sales copy easy to read online is breaking up the writing into short paragraphs. It’s not uncommon to see sales page with a bunch of one-sentence paragraphs. The ellipsis (…) is also a common feature of online copywriting, because it helps draw the reader’s attention towards the next line and create a sense of anticipation and suspense.

Creating PPC Friendly Landing Pages

One of the methods typically used to drive traffic to an online sales page is PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising, using a network such as Google AdWords. If you’re going to be using PPC as part of your plan to drive traffic to your product page, you need to ensure your site copy lines up well with your ad copy.

There are several reasons for this. One is that the relevance of your web page to the keywords you bid on can affect the price you pay per click. But the other is simply your conversion rate. If your ads aren’t in sync with the copy on your sales page, you’re not likely to get the conversion rates you could potentially get if your PPC campaign and your sales page copy were working in harmony.

Search Engine Optimization

Another major method of traffic generation to a sales page is search engine optimization (SEO). This involves optimizing your sales copy for particular keywords, so that your page will show up in organic search results (as opposed to paid results) at the major search engines like Google, Yahoo! And Bing.

A good online copywriter will know how to approach optimizing your sales page, is SEO is a big part of your traffic building plan.

To get a marketing experienced copywriter to handle writing or rewriting your sales page, simply visit Premium Online Writing and hire an online copywriter.

The Definition of Offline Marketing and How You Can Use It to Enhance Your Online Presence

Offline Marketing in a Nutshell

The definition of offline marketing isn’t difficult to grasp, since it’s the very same marketing strategy that was traditionally used before online marketing came into widespread use. Before online marketing monopolized the marketing landscape, becoming the primary means most businesses use to promote their products and services, traditional marketing methods were far more prominent and were, in fact, in exclusive use for gaining the attention of the buying public.

Any complete definition of offline marketing would have to include the concept of print-based media. Publications such as magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and brochures, and other types of print media, including letters, postcards, and business cards, have all been widely used to market products. Additionally, the traditional definition of offline marketing typically includes radio, TV, and recordable media such as audio and videotape. In-person encounters, including one-on-one meetings and group presentations such as lectures, seminars, and workshops, also round out the common definition of offline marketing.

Marketing Has Changed

Most of the conventional marketing campaigns we’ve been discussing, which fit the classic definition of offline marketing, carried a hefty price tag – and still do. However, today, they no longer hold the monopoly they once did. They now compete with – or even complement – new media methods. At one time, such offline campaigns were considered one of the inevitable expenses of doing business. But, with the advent of the Internet and today’s extensive line of high-powered digital devices, marketing has changed significantly.

While the overall definition of offline marketing has remained the same and its importance has certainly not diminished, its influence has shifted and its function has changed, opening the way for a whole new era of direct marketing strategies.

Today’s Marketing Requires More

Recently, the old-school definition of offline marketing as a stand-alone strategy – in comparison to the brighter promise of online marketing – has left the offline version the clear runner-up in the marketing race. And while traditional marketing methods haven’t been totally replaced by online methods, they now serve a subordinate role. Whereas, at one time they were the whole story, today they serve to complement, supplement, and/or reinforce online methods by leading prospects to a business’s website or social media fan page.

In short, online methods are the obvious winners in terms of convenience, cost, and reach, yet they clearly benefit when a well thought-out traditional marketing plan is run simultaneously. Because some online marketing methods, such as e-mail and social media, are completely free, they are some of the most cost-effective marketing methods you’ll find! And you can learn to use these and other Internet marketing media effectively.

New Media Marketing Can Be Learned

There are many ways to ensure that your online presence is reflected in your offline marketing efforts. Many marketers are learning these processes and implementing them into their own businesses to ensure maximum profits. However, it can be quire confusing in the beginning if you don’t know what you are doing. Which is why I created a free report to get you started in the right foot.

Why wait? You owe it to yourself to stop stumbling through the maze of modern marketing methodology, inconsistently implementing one slow and ineffective trial-and-error tactic after another, when you could begin earning profits quickly, easily, and painlessly. So, do yourself a favor: Read my free report. You have nothing to lose – and everything to gain.

5 Different Mediums Offered by Online Printers

Online printers make the job of ordering printed stationery easy and convenient. With different paper weights, sizes and finishes there are any number of variations for your printed work. The following shows details of the various printed mediums available by online printers and book printing companies.

Understanding what is accessible before placing your order will ensure the online shopping experience is a simple one.

Paper Weight – Grams per Square Metre (GSM)

80 gsm

80 gsm is equivalent to any standard copier paper. This might be ideal for ‘With Compliment’ slips or a one page leaflet where you need a bulk printing run.

80-130 gsm

80-130 gsm is mostly used for flyers or any material used as part of the general letterbox distribution or for other high turnover promotional material.

130-150 gsm

130-150 gsm paper weighted greater than 140 guarantees the print will not show through on the other side making this weight the best to use in brochures, flyers and newsletters where printing is required on both sides.

200 plus gsm

200 plus gsm is a thick high quality paper that does not need to be folded. Posters and calendar printing are a good example for using this weight of paper.

300 gsm

300 gsm is the standard thick card used in printing business cards.

Matching the right paper weight with the many different sizes available will result in a satisfactory product finished to your specifications.

Sizes

Matching the right paper weight with the many different sizes available will result in a satisfactory product finished to your specifications.

Measurements for A6 paper are 105mm X 148mm (A5 folded in half)

Use A6 for labels and cards.

Measurements for A5 paper are 210mm X 148mm (A4 folded in half)

Use A5 for the larger flyer or leaflet.

Measurements for A4 paper are 297mm X 210mm

Use A4 for letterheads as this is the standard letter paper size.

Measurements for A3 paper are 297mm X 420mm (2 times A4)

Use A3 for calendars and smaller posters.

Measurements for A2 paper are 420mm X 594mm (2 times A3)

Use A2 for large posters.

Measurements for A1 paper are 594mm X 841mm (2 times A2)

Use A1 for larger posters.

Measurements for A0 paper are 841mm X 1189mm (2 times A1)

Use A0 for wall banners.

Measurements for DL paper are 99mm X 210mm (A4 folded in 3)

Use DL for the standard flyer or leaflet and ‘With Compliment Slips’

Finishes

Bond is a flat non-reflective surface for use with general stationery lines.

Silk is slightly reflective with an ultra smooth finish.

Gloss is completely smooth with a shiny surface ideal when you want to make a statement.

Not only is there paper weights, sizes and finishes to consider but the use of colours for your printing needs. Some printers offer colour printing at the same price as black and white for certain lines so be sure and check out all the options available.

Opt For Professional Printing Firms Online

Promotion and publicity are the two basic components that are essentially required for making people aware of a particular item. With the ever increasing competition, it has become important that a firm comes up with new and innovative strategies to make their mark in the larger world. A firm just cannot take their audience for granted. It is important that they promote products according to their niche audience. Take into consideration the target audience before planning a strategy. Many of the firms hire printing agencies that can help them to promote their business to the large crowd. This is where printing services come into the picture. They are considered as the backbone to promote business and create awareness among the market about their newly launched products.

Being a proprietor of the business, it is important that you take help of advanced technology to promote items. There are a wide number of promotional strategies that help to reach the target audience. A billboard stuck on the road is sure to attract the attention of the users. There is every possibility that another firm might also be selling the same items. This is where the importance of how well a person uses promotion skills comes into the picture. It is believed that early in the six century, China started using various printing methods. However, at that time, these methods were carried out as manuscripts and tapestries. However, as times passed by, there have been introduction of new and innovative features such as banners, billboards, posters and more.

The printing work is available on various resources comprising of canvas, PVC, acrylic, mesh, fabric, vinyl and more. The main aim of these is to create awareness and promote business. There are numerous printing source available online, opt for a reliable and authentic source among all. These firms have a team of experienced and qualified designers. They have good years of experience and are well versed in this field. The banners and signs created by the professionals help a agency to attract attention. They are printed on high quality fabric, and in any pattern, such as pop up banners, mesh, banner stands and more. They are a firm believer of patron satisfaction and offer them accordingly. The cost is affordable and within the budget of a common person.

The different business sectors requires various publicity tricks. These professionals create brochures, letterheads, small flayers, postcards, bookmarks, door hangers, catalogs, business cards, calendars and more. Apart from this, they also offer CD and DVD inserts, tear cards, presentation folders and more. These professionals will guide a firm through the whole process of opting right quality printing option. They will design the brochures, posters to perfection. They will go to any extent to assure the firm gets due recognition. This also helps to print a firm invoices and keep a track of the job from start to finish. Read the testimonials and reviews posted by the patrons to get a clear picture concerning their needs. Take a quick look at the website for more information.

For an Effective Online Marketing, Do Social Media Marketing

Every website owner desires to be visible on the search results web page in search engines. When they want to be on the race towards online presence, they need to have techniques or strategies. Marketing strategies, for example, search engine optimization, website design, social media marketing, pay-per-click management and printing are currently the most effective methods toward driving higher quantity of people to one’s internet site.

Search Engine Optimization. The optimization of the site is the most certain means of getting visitors or traffic and achieving greater ranking from engines. It is because of this that advanced methods of search engine optimization such as keyword research, backlinks building, article marketing, and refining a website as well as other strategies are ought to be done to help make a website stand above others.

Web Design Project. In web development strategies, models that are innovative, user-friendly and also useful are supposed to be created. One can make use of the website CMS (Content Management Systems) that allows him or her to have full charge of the actual website’s content. Specific top features of CMS include plug-ins, user supervision, E-Commerce functionality, textual content enhancing, sub-page development, picture modifying and banner supervision.

Print Layout. In order that the online reputation as well as exposure of a web site is best, you need imaginative style to do these. Personalized packages include emblem, business card, quote, sales receipt, letterhead as well as account models, making pamphlets, booklet, flyers and cards that will captivate each and every customer’s curiosity.

Social Media Marketing. Using the growth associated with social networks these days, one can make use of sites for example Facebook or Twitter to improve the particular visibility of his services to be able to millions of internet surfers. Efficient strategies including establishing social media marketing accounts, creating these to stand above the fall behind MySpace pages/Twitter pages, creating tournaments and also special gifts, getting visitors to some web page utilizing Facebook marketing, participating followers by asking questions, carrying out polls, tests as well as blessed attracts as well as computing just what proved helpful and exactly what didn’t can easily definitely assist a single drive traffic to their website within a couple of hours.

Pay-per-click Management. If a person likes his merchandise to be elevated in major search engines by paying advertisements, what he needs is pay-per-click supervision. He will acquire more visitors using PPC supervision methods. Staff who were educated from the unique Yahoo Ad Phrases team can easily optimize and take away unproductive advertising campaigns, observe and keep track results, discover new markets, uncover new clients which rivals have not reached yet.

Business Letter Writing – Writing a Business Letter, Offline or Online II

Whenever you are writing about an action that the company, or a department, as whole is taking, use ‘we’, and whenever it is you personally taking the action, use ‘I’. In the examples above, the first is an action on behalf of the company, and the second is an action taken by you personally. “I will talk to my colleagues” is correct in that case.

When writing in a business style, you should do so in such a way that there is no possibility of ambiguity, and that your message is clear and easy to understand. Don’t make the mistake of believing that senior personnel in your, or any other, company is educated and can understand the nuances of vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. Most can’t. Most business leaders are not English language majors. All they want is clear writing that they can understand without having to reach for a dictionary. They also want clear information, and never make excuses: provide reasons.

For example,

“Dear Mr. Customer, I am sorry that your order is late. It will be with you shortly” is not acceptable, whereas “Dear Mr. Customer, We apologize for the lateness of your recent order. It was held up due to a problem with our production unit but will be with you by the 17th of this month” is more acceptable.

Business letters should never tell lies or prevaricate. They should be short and to the point, and make an honest statement of the facts. Lies and prevarication have a habit of biting you later, so leave them alone. Put yourself in the position of the person you are writing to and write accordingly.

Business letters relevant to internet businesses are no different, only that you must not assume that just because it is the internet then you need not be so formal. Many internet entrepreneurs are very educated people who run their internet business in the same way that offline businesses are run.

The best approach you can take when writing a business letter relating to either an online or offline conventional business is to stay formal, do not use too many long words and keep to the point. State what has to be said and no more. Businessmen want the facts, not the waffle.

Online Database – Key Advantages And Disadvantages

Database in a business scenario is commonly associated with a list of leads or customer information, though in a more technical environment it can also be referred to as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle or Sybase. Traditionally available offline, databases have also spread across the online horizon delivered over the internet and available on a monthly subscription basis. Though Wikipedia gives you a wide list of online databases, here I’ll mention only about the advantage and disadvantage of getting your data online and forming an online database of your own.

Since the past ten years we have been collecting data using spreadsheets and enhancing our skills to convert it into a database which comes in handy later. Microsoft Access, SQL and Oracle has come along a long way supporting spreadsheets as the complexity of the database increased and it started falling apart. But these databases were available only on a single desktop or accessed over a LAN connection to an in-house server. Easily tackling the desktop spreadsheet applications in the mid-field, web-databases are closing in to score and has become the lifeline of people moving their data online. Most of these web-databases are hosted in a Cloud environment and protected by SSL encryption and a secure log-in with proper User Access Control.

Some advantages of using an Online Database

Online – As the name suggests, an online database can be accessed from a web browser from anywhere in the world. With Cloud Computing coming to the foreground, it is much easier to host an online database in an elastic public cloud making it more scalable and secure.

Elasticity – A web-based-database can hold infinite data and is totally elastic in nature. Whenever there is a surge in data flow, more storage space can be allocated and scaled up and down based on requirement.

Multi-tenancy – A public cloud database is generally multi-tenant in nature. This means the same database can be used by multiple customers on a shared model where you pay only for the space you use.

Pay-Per-Use – Monthly subscription based pay-per-use model makes online databases look quite lucrative where you do not need to invest a huge Cap-Ex on licensed software.

Limitations or disadvantages of an Online Database

Security – One of the gravest concerns of using a web-database is security. With not many security standards available in the Cloud Computing model, most of the users are worried about putting their financial data online.

Switching – Another concern when selecting an online database is switching. Different databases support different formats and switching from one to another becomes a pain thereby increasing switching cost.

Downtime – There are times when the server can be down because of multiple reasons which can lead to huge data loss and inaccessibility thereby causing great losses to customers.

Online database can improve your productivity in many ways and can serve multiple functions. You can customize an online database according to your business workflow or simply use it for data collection and information sharing. Web-based-databases work on different environments, so that is the biggest advantage you can get.

Free Domain Names Online

With the way the internet is growing these days, it’s no surprise that there are a ton of people that want to own their own website. There are even more people that want to have their own domain name. Having your own can become a bit difficult. There is of course the option to own a sub domain but that will not help most people, because while they have a domain name by using this method, it will never end up at the top of the Google hit list, no matter how many great keywords they use. For those who don’t care about it, that’s great because sub domains are generally free so long as you use the free ones, and they are offered by many different websites. So the question on everyone’s mind these days, is it possible to get absolutely free domain names?

It is possible to obtain a free name that you actually own, but even free comes with a certain price. One of the biggest issues is that you’ll generally end up filling out a lot of different offers. Yes, we’ve all been through this, the scenario where they offer you something for free, and you get excited thinking you’re going to have the newest video game console, or absolutely free domain names in this case, and then they make you answer a bunch of questions. You’re fine with the questions, until you get to the one that requires a paid subscription to some ridiculous magazine in order to proceed. That’s where you end up drawing the line and clicking on the X.

If you do manage to get your own, and somehow manage to get it without giving up any money, then you’ll probably notice that you have to pay for the hosting. Without it, your site will never go live because even though you have your website made, with all of its cute little flash buttons and the like, it’s never going to be live on the internet until you shell out the cash for the hosting. Normally you’ll discover that the company offering the paid hosting is the same company that you got this free domain from. They’re going to get their money no matter what. If you do manage to get free hosting along with absolutely free domain names, then you’ll probably find that your page is littered with advertisements over which you have no control. You might be okay with this at the moment, but later on you’re going to realize that this isn’t the website you had in mind when you went looking for absolutely free domain names.

One more problem you run into, is that if you did not acquire the rights to .com, .org, .net and every other extension under the sun, people will be free to copy your name with a different extension. Say you have rubblecake.com, and someone makes rubblecake.org. This means that others may accidentally navigate to that site instead of yours, costing you both traffic and ratings.

All in all, it’s better to buy your domain name if you are serious about having your own website. It’s better for you, and it’s definitely better for everyone that visits your website on a daily basis.

Make Money Online

In today’s economy a lot of people are wondering how to make money online. The secrets to making money online are the same as making money in the “real world”: Hard work, creativity, innovation and knowledge. The Internet is the real world, it just has some aspects that allow a person of lesser means compete with people with much deeper pockets. That is its biggest draw.

Hard Work

Perhaps the biggest myth to making money online is that you don’t have to work hard. This is far from the case. In fact, in the beginning you might be working harder than you are now. Most people who succeed online do so by working very hard work at whatever project they are doing online. They did not just put up a website and sit back and wait for checks to flow in. They worked hard to get their businesses off the ground and were rewarded for it. A person who wants to make money online will have to commit several hours a day at least and lots of sweat equity to the project. If you’re not prepared to work hard forget about making money online. You have a chance to make a good deal of money online but you do have to earn it.

Creativity

The people who make the most money online are those who come up with new ideas and concepts. Whether it’s SEO marketing, blogging, selling through Twitter whatever somebody had to create it. The biggest fortunes will be made by those who are willing to create something new and work hard at it. This has been the case in the “real world” for some time. It was Bill Gates who decided the PC need a new operating system Now he can give away billions and not miss it. The same creativity takes place now on the Internet.

Innovation

After the creators the people who make the most money online are the innovators. These can be those who come with a new idea or those who have the courage to try and implement a new idea. If an innovator sees something new that looks like a big money maker they try it, they adapt it and they start doing it. In many cases innovators simply take somebody else’s idea and run with it. Next time you see a really great money making idea don’t just try to figure out how you can get in on it. Instead, try to figure out how to do it better. That will make you an innovator. It was Henry Ford who realized cars could be made efficiently with an assembly line process. That innovation changed the way cars are built.

Knowledge

The old saying that knowledge is power has never been truer. The online world is all about knowledge; those who have the most knowledge will succeed online. That means learn as much about your business or product as you can. Read, do research online, talk to others in the business, or develop a mentor relationship with a more experienced marketer. Do whatever it takes to get more knowledge and you make money online.

You Can Get Rich (Still) As a Home-Based Online Entrepreneur

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. “

Thomas A Edison

You may recall the late 90s when it looked as though anyone with a computer and access to the internet could become a millionaire overnight. Those were dotcom bubble and bust days. But that was only the first phase – the hype and sensation phase – of the Internet revolution. The dust has cleared and we can see things much clearer now, hopefully.

By some accounts, we’re now in the consolidation phase. And in this phase, it is quite easier to distinguish a good, real money making business opportunity from a bad one conceived and crafted in a scam artist’s lab.

Start Small and Grow it Big as You go

Given the state of the economic mess we’re now in, it is much harder to raise capital for any entrepreneurial venture be it on- or off-line. But this is the really good news. You don’t need millions of dollars in start-up money to start profiting from the online money making ideas we’re talking about.

What you need to understand is that the Internet is a communication medium par excellence – a most effective and reliable way to transmit information. And just like the telegraph, the telephone, and television before it, it has expanded the business and consumer marketplace by making it easier and also cheaper for people to buy and sell things.

Some of Those Who Wrote the Initial Online Success Stories

And some of the savvy entrepreneurs who understood this and jumped in early in the first phase came out fabulously reach. Just take a look at some of these top early performers who built billion dollar fortunes from their online business ventures Jeff Bezos, creator of Amazon.com; Jay Walker of Priceline.com; Pierre Omidyar and Margaret Whitman of eBay; Joe Ricketts of Ameritrade, Steve Case, Barry Schuler, Robert Pittman and Ted Leonsis of America Online; and Silicon Valley venture capitalists Johan Doerr and Vinod Khosla.

Then there are the “latter day saints” – otherwise average folks who are creating great wealth online as I write Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskvitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin the founders of Facebook.com; Reid Hoffman and his group who founded LinkedIn.com; Jack Dorsey and others who founded Twitter.com.

The Lesser Known Among Them

Others like Bill Bonner, Founder of AgoraInc.com – one of the largest and most successful consumer newsletter publishers in the world, my very own business mentors, Michael Masterson – who has recently “retired” again as a business builder, Jay Abraham, Bob Bly, David Cross, Rich Schefren, Mary-Ellen Tribby, and many other astute entrepreneurs have also built great wealth online. These individuals are writing their own internet-based business success stories.

Unfortunately, not every one of the lucky billionaires referred to earlier – especially those in the first phase of the Internet revolution, created good businesses. Some of them got rich simply by ‘selling a hot idea into a frenzied market’.

What this means is that there are all manner of ‘success stories’ out there. And if you want to build your own fortune online today, you have to choose the right success story for you. You’ve got to find a proven online business building model to follow. Two of my favorite recommendations come from Mark Zuckerberb and his colleagues who founded Facebook.com and AgoraInc.com. The Agora model is by far the most successful online business building model I know of. It is a model developed in part by my main business mentor, Michael Masterson. This is the model we’ve adopted and are refining in our own business. And it is what makes us the destination of choice for those who want to start and grow a profit making, Internet-based home business today and don’t have a large bank account to use as start-up money.

You really don’t have to reinvent the wheel. All you need is to learn from a successful model and adapt it to your peculiar situation.

So, are you ready to finally to start creating your own little fortune online while there’s still a chance to do so even when you don’t have that much money?

Remember, nothing happens unless you take action. The best time to start creating your own little web fortune is NOW!