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Writing Sales Copy – Make Your Product’s Benefits Sparkle!

o Are “Faux Benefits” killing your sales copy?

o Why product features are far more important than you’ve been led to believe …

o The simple secret to exploding your sales results in just five easy steps …

o And MORE!

Dear Business-Builder,

The other day, I had the dubious pleasure of reviewing sales copy submitted by a new group of my beloved cubs – each of whom has read The Masters and even completed courses on copywriting … and each of whom I believe has the innate talent to (eventually) become one of the greats.

Each cub was told to write benefit-oriented headlines for a series of natural supplement products.

The first headline jumped up and shouted …

Get Off The Hormone Roller Coaster!

“Well,” I said to myself, “THAT certainly sucks!” And so I turned to the next one …

Balance Blood Sugar Levels Naturally!

… And the next …

Flush Deadly Toxins Out Of Your Colon!

“Whoo boy,” I said out loud, “I should be getting combat pay for this!”

See, not a single one of those “benefit-based” headlines contains a single real benefit! Instead, each contains a “Faux Benefit” – a product feature masquerading as a benefit!

Apply my patented “forehead slap” test to each of those headlines and you’ll see what I mean.

o Have you ever been awakened in the middle of the night … sat bolt upright in bed … slapped yourself on the forehead and exclaimed, “Holy Moley – I gotta get off of the hormone roller coaster?”

o When was the last time you were jarred out of a deep sleep exclaiming “Jeez Louise – I need to balance my blood sugar levels naturally!”

o And have you EVER jumped out of a warm bed to holler, “I gotta flush some deadly toxins out of my colon!”

No? Me neither!

Have you ever found yourself feeling eager to PAY for a product that would do any of those things for you?

Nope? Join the club!

I mean – getting off the hormone roller coaster sounds like it might be a good thing. On the other hand, roller coasters are fun. Heck, people pay money to get ONTO them!

I suppose balancing blood sugar levels is good, too. And if you’re making a list of folks who are “all for” flushing deadly toxins out of my colon – or any other part of my body for that matter – put me at the top of it.

But are these really benefits our prospects crave – and are willing to pay for?

Of course not. Our “hormone balancing” prospects want to stop having hot flashes and mood swings and stop losing their libidos.

Why? Well, for one thing, because hot flashes and mood swings are irritating – even miserable. And for another – drilling down even deeper – because all of these things threaten the intimacy and security of their primary relationships. Nobody wants to be a hormone hermit!

Nobody really wants to balance their blood sugar levels, either. But anyone in his or her right mind DOES want to avoid the misery of blindness … cold, numb, painful limbs … amputation … and premature death that go along with diabetes.

And frankly, while “flushing toxins out of my colon” is nowhere near the top of my personal “to do” list, I WOULD prefer not to be constipated, or plagued with uncontrollable diarrhea, or have to poop in a bag for the rest of my life, or die from colon cancer.

The Faux Benefits heralded in these headlines are mechanisms … processes … product features that deliver benefits. They are not, in themselves, real benefits that anybody craves or wants to pay for.

My beloved copy cubs failed to drill down to the real, bottom-line, rubber-meets-the-road benefit each product provides – the tangible, measurable, real value they bring to prospects’ lives: The value that prospects are willing to – once again – pay for. This is a cardinal and common sin even among more seasoned copywriters – and that business owners and marketing execs too often let us get away with.

Here’s another: Failing to fully explore the benefits that each benefit provides. In short, squeezing every feature until you’ve explored every benefit … and then squeezing every benefit for the secondary benefits IT provides.

Confused? Me too – sometimes, anyway. Let’s work through this together …

Benefits 101

Let’s start with four basic facts …

1. Every product has features: Features are merely objective facts about a product (or the company behind it). In three-dimensional products, features include size, shape, weight, construction, color options and more.

In information products, features include number of pages, size, frequency of publication (for periodicals) and the types of information that are presented.

2. Fortunately, most features are there for a darned good reason: Prospects don’t want features. They want you to change their lives for the better.

Product features are merely the means to that end. That means features can have a place in ad copy – like telling prospects how many issues they’ll get per year … how many big pages are in your book … or that your widget is made from carbon steel for strength or carbon fiber for lightness.

Beyond that, features are a yawn because they’re about the product; not about the prospect. Or, as in the examples above, they can help demonstrate how your product delivers a benefit.

The good news is, just about every product fact – every feature – is there to provide a benefit that your prospect IS willing to pay for.

3. There are more benefits associated with each product feature than are dreamt of by most copywriters: Benefits are like bunny rabbits: Give them a little time and they’ll begin multiplying – each benefit or combination of benefits producing one, two, three or more new benefits you never thought about before.

The secret to kick-butt sales copy is to identify each and every benefit a product provides – and then to look at each benefit and ask, “What does THAT do for me? What additional benefits does that benefit provide?”

4. Your prospect has strong feelings about every dimensionalized benefit you present: Connecting each fully dimensionalized product benefit with a strong emotion that your prospect already has about the benefit (or the lack of it in his/her life) makes sales copy irresistible.

Benefits that sing and soar – in five simple steps

Here’s a little exercise to help you drill down to the benefits prospects are willing to pay for … fully dimensionalize those benefits … and then connect those benefits with powerful response-boosting emotions that your prospect already has about those benefits (or the lack of them) in his life.

By the time you’re through, you will have a complete list of company and product features … you will have squeezed every possible benefit out of those features … you will have fully dimensionalized those benefits … and you will have connected each one to a powerful emotion your prospect has about each one of them.

In short, you’ll have a comprehensive “features/benefits/dominant emotion” inventory you can refer to as you write your sales copy.

I do NOT suggest that you do this on every project. After a while, this kind of thinking comes naturally. But even for more advanced writers – and especially for folks who supervise writers – going through this exercise can go a long way towards finding new themes and adding power to your promotions.

To begin, create a spreadsheet with these headings: Feature … Why? … Benefits … Dimensionalize … Dominant Emotions … Rank.

Step #1: Create a Comprehensive FEATURES Inventory

If you’ve read any books or taken any courses on direct response copywriting, you’ve probably learned that features are immaterial. Only benefits matter. Only problem is, that’s just horse-pucky.

Features are the fathers of each benefit your product provides. And if every product benefit has its roots in a product feature, identifying and fully understanding each feature is essential to identifying all the benefits your product provides.

And so, if features are the fathers of benefits, it makes sense to begin at the beginning – by listing all the key facts about 1) The business and 2) The product or service you’re promoting.

Start by answering the following questions about the company and the spokesperson behind the product in the first column of your table …

A. “What are your qualifications?” What degrees or certifications have you earned in your field of endeavor? From which institutions? What associations are you a member of? How many years have you provided this product or service?

How many customers (patients, clients, etc.) have you served? Are you the largest or oldest in your area of expertise? What specialties do you offer that your competitors don’t?

B. “What resources do you use to produce a superior product or service?” How large an army are you putting to work on the prospect’s behalf? Who are the stand-out players? What unique or proprietary tools do you use to produce the desired result?

Do you have custom computer programs or hardware that nobody else has? How many customer service reps are available to make ordering comfortable and easy? How many service techs are on your payroll who can respond when the product needs service?

C. “How is your location a factor?” Are you closer to your prospects than your competition? Are your headquarters impressive-looking? Is your office close to a major intersection or freeway off-ramp? Do you offer plenty of free parking?

Or, if you’re promoting a product for a national company, how does its location help you produce a superior product? Are you offering an investment product that’s produced on Wall Street or anywhere in New York, for example? Or are you selling a politically oriented product that’s produced in or near Washington DC?

D. “What’s your reaction time?” Are appointments readily available? Do you perform your service faster than your competition does? If I order this product, how fast will I get it?

E. Inventory: How many different products do you have available? How does that compare to what your competitors offer?

Now, it’s time to really start digging – with answers about the product or service you’re offering …

A. Purpose: What, exactly, does your product or service do? If it accomplishes several things, great – list everything you can think of!

B. Physical dimensions: How does your product compare to competing products? Is it smaller? Bigger? Lighter? Heavier duty?

If it’s a published product, how many pages are in the book or the regular issues of the newsletter or magazine? Is the page size larger that what the prospect may be used to?

Are there illustrations, charts, or graphs? Is it written simply – in a way that’s easy to understand? Does it give clear, concise directions that anyone could follow? How many times do customers hear from your client each year (count regular issues, bonus issues, e-mail alerts, web site updates, etc.)? What regular features are included?

If you offer nutritional supplements, are your pills smaller than the competition’s? Does the prospect have to take fewer of them, or take them just once a day? What are the ingredients? Are they fresher than those used by some other competitors? More absorbable? More potent?

C. Performance metrics: How quickly can your product be delivered, installed and/or begin producing results? How fast does your product complete the desired task? How thoroughly does it do its job? How long does it last? How do your product’s performance metrics compare to similar products offered by your competitors?

For investment products, what results has it produced for investors in the recent past? How did it perform at key turning points in the economy or markets – the tech wreck of 2000, or the gold price explosion of the 1970s, for example? How and when did it help prevent investors from making major blunders?

For health products, how fast does it work? How can I know it’s working? What studies have proven that it works? Or for information merchants, what health breakthroughs were you the first to publicize? How else does the past performance of the author, editor or the product itself demonstrate the superiority or indispensability of the product?

D. Credibility: What have customers, subscribers, peers and others said about your product or service? What guarantees and/or warranties come with it? How do they compare to what the competition offers?

E. Available options: What choices does your product offer to prospects? What colors or sizes does it come in? How do your terms make ordering the best fit possible for customers? Is it customizable in any way? How do these choices make your product superior to the competition?

F. Timeliness: How quickly can your product be delivered and/or installed? How does this compare with the competition?

G. Pricing: What are your prices? How do they compare to the competition? Do you deliver more for the money? Or does your product’s quality demand a higher price?

If applicable, divide your price by the numbers 12, 52 and 365 — and then write down the product’s cost per month, week and day.

These are just a few idea-starters — please do not stop here!

Use this opportunity to think through every step of the process that your prospects experience when shopping for, buying and using your product or service.

Step #2: Attach a “Why” to Each Feature

The next step is to figure out why these features are included in the product or service, and then to turn those reasons into tangible benefits that will bring value to the customer’s life.

So now, in the “WHY?” column next to each feature, enter the benefits each feature provides.

Example: If you’re selling a high quality drill bit, your entry might look like this:

Feature: Constructed of carbon steel.

Why: Never wears out.

On the other hand, if you’re promoting a dentist, your list might look like this:

Feature: A TV in every exam room.

Why: More comfortable for the patient and time passes more quickly.

The “why” for an investment newsletter might go like this …

Feature: Daily e-zine included with subscription to monthly newsletter.

Why: Stocks move fast; opportunities could be lost without split-second updates.

Or, if you’re writing for a book on health, you might write …

Feature: Specific prescription for each age group on each supplement recommended.

Why: To eliminate reader confusion.

Attach as many “whys” to each feature as you can. My guess is that as you review your completed list, you’ll be getting pretty excited. And for good reason: Your brain is already beginning to take the next step — visualizing how these features improve your customers’ lives!

Step #3: Turn Features into Benefits

The simple act of completing Steps #1 and #2 above could easily multiply sales and profits at tens of thousands of businesses from coast to coast — merely by shifting the spotlight off of the advertiser and his product or service and on to why their features are important to the customer.

But still, we focused entirely on a company and a product or service. Now, we’re going to bring your prospect into the picture — and answer the question, “What’s in it for me? How does each of these features — these facts about the business and product or service — directly connect with and improve my life?”

Think about how each feature and “Reason Why” benefits your customer, and list every possible way each one of them brings value to your prospect’s life. We’re going to ask the one question that’s constantly at the forefront of your customer’s mind: “What’s in it for me?”

And we’re going to answer by listing the problems your product or service solves … the desires it fulfills … and the future disasters it will help your customers avoid.

Be sure to think about immediate benefits as well as those the customer will experience later on. If you’re selling one-hour oil changes for example, you can save your customer oodles of time right now, today. But you also make it easy for him to properly maintain the family chariot, thereby helping him avoid an inconvenient or even dangerous breakdown and costly repairs later on.

Write each benefit as a “you” statement — as if you’re talking face-to-face with your prospective customer, patient or client. Then, go back over your list of benefits … look at each one … and ask yourself, “What additional benefits does this benefit bring to my life?” Keep drilling down until you hit the Mother Lode – the benefits that mean the most and bring the most value to prospects’ lives.

Step #4: Dimensionalize each benefit

I don’t know who first coined the word “dimensionalize.” I do know that it drives my spell-checker bonkers, so it’s probably not in any dictionary you’ll ever see.

But the word “dimensionalize” does a great job of describing what “A” level copywriters do – the extra mile we travel to make sure each benefit in our sales copy is as compelling as possible.

When you “dimensionalize” a benefit, you give it added dimension by painting word pictures of all the ways the prospect will enjoy that benefit. You compare that benefit with those offered by others. You add specifics that demonstrate all the ways the benefit will enrich the prospect’s life.

When you’ve finished, your list may look something like this, for example:

Feature: Constructed of carbon steel.

Why: Never wears out.

Benefit: The last drill bit you’ll ever buy.

Dimensionalized Benefit: You can save up to $75 a year in broken drill bits … hours of unnecessary trips to the hardware store … and hundreds of dollars in lost income!

Or in our hypothetical promotion for a dentist, your list might look like this:

Feature: A TV in every exam room.

Why: More comfortable for the patient and time passes more quickly.

Benefit: Your appointment is over before you know it!

Dimensionalized benefit: Great for fidgety kids: The time zips by. In fact, just last week, little Jimmy asked if he could stay longer.

The benefit drawn from a feature offered by an investment newsletter might go like this …

Feature: Daily e-zine included with subscription to monthly newsletter.

Why: Stocks move fast; opportunities could be lost without constant updates.

Benefit: You’ll never get caught wondering what to do when major events break!

Dimensionalize: You’ll lock in your profits when the market sags and go for even greater profit potential by getting into each up-move on the ground floor.

Or, if you’re writing for a book on health, your list might look something like this …

Feature: Specific prescription for each age group on each supplement recommended.

Why: To eliminate reader confusion.

Dimensionalize: You’ll always know precisely what you should be taking … how much you should be taking … and even when to take it.

Step #5: Connect each dimensionalized benefit with a dominant resident emotion

Identify how your prospect is likely to feel about each of the dimensionalized benefits on your list.

Do NOT stop at listing just one emotion per benefit. Think about how the prospect feels about the lack of this benefit in his or her life now. And about how the prospect will feel as he or she is enjoying that benefit. And about how they’ll feel as others see them doing things better … being healthier … richer … happier.

When you’re done, review your inventory and rate each benefit/emotion combination on a scale of one to five. As you assign each ranking, think about three things:

1) The relative importance of the improvement each benefit brings to prospects’ lives: A benefit that can prevent cancer would be scored higher than one that merely produces sweeter breath, for example …

2) The relative number of prospects most likely to covet that particular improvement: More people are likely to have arthritis than cancer …

3) The relative intensity of the emotion(s) connected to each benefit.

Finally, sort the entire spreadsheet by these rankings in descending order.

When you’re done, you’ll have systematically created a comprehensive inventory of features, benefits and dominant emotions for your product.

Then, USE your inventory to make sure you press every possible hot button as you begin writing your sales copy – and please, for mercy’s sake – to get real, dimensionalized, emotionalized BENEFITS into your lead copy!

What You Never Knew About Resume Writing

In 2011, almost all resume writers have failed to understand that nearly all resumes are written online. Simply knowing this can give the job seeker an amazing advantage.

For instance, a mere 30% of website readers scroll down on any given web page. Therefore, the job applicant can have 2, 3 or even 100 pages, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t get the most important information to the top.

Moreover, the Western world reads left to right, obviously starting on the top left starting with the upper left corner.

Because of this, the resume writer must widen out the margins and make more room on the top and bottom of the document as well. They should covet the top left of their resume and make sure to fill it with quite compelling content that is aimed to hook the reader’s attention.

They should never put their name in fancy font.

If you look at any major news website, they always have a small logo on top. That’s because it’s very important advertising real estate to the company. Advertisers, regardless of size, want that ad.

When newspapers were printed years ago, they had very large, well-designed logos that had lines in them.

It used to be that half the newspaper homepage was a newspaper logo. Not any more. For the most part, the online news companies have been humbled, or lived to survive as a company another day.

Moreover, the resume writer never wants to put lines in their document. Studies have shown that lines cut off the website reader’s vision. It is almost like a stop sign.

With this knowledge, a resume should start with:

(.5 margin will typically still print)

Bob Smith                            bsmith@....

1234 Anyroad                      777-7777-7777

Anytown, USA

Objective:

After breaking my employer’s sales record two out of four years that I’ve been with the firm, I have decided that my strength truly lies in branding and advertising.

While I still want the consistent people interaction as I enjoy account management in sales but, I want to be able to take a product or service and help the company that I’m with tactically beat their competition through pristine marketing.

Strengths:

Branding, Advertising, Account Management, Web Marketing, Ezine Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Print Marketing

The job seeker got a lot in within 2 sentences. They are taking full advantage of the laws of website reading.

Just by glancing at these 50 or so words, the employer is probably relieved that the person has all the skills that they are looking for. There’s also a chance they will just take a quick glance down, be satisfied and contact the job seeker.

Another thing to notice regarding the above written sample resume is how nothing is too fancy with the format in the resume. The resume writer wants to keep things simplistic.

Conversely, if the job seeker doesn’t want to be questioned about a job on the phone interview, they should put a separating line in their resume. Lines cut the readers vision off. This is precisely why there are no virtually lines on the NYTimes homepage.

For example, let’s say the job seeker has had 3 jobs in their career, but they don’t like the 2nd job too much. Here is a good trick to nearly ensure that the resume reader will not focus on it:

______ (small line)

Job 1: XYZ Company

(here you want to pad with details, thus pushing the second job down the page and lowering the risk that potential employer will look at it)

Pad

Pad

Pad

Pad

Pad

__________________ (bigger line this time making it look simply like a design)

Job 2:

The moment you begin tweaking your resume for the web reader, is the moment you get in for the interviews that you want instead of the interviews that underpay and only want you.

Make Money Online By Writing Reviews

Have you ever thought of making money right from your home? No more going to that boring office daily and living a monotonous life that gets on your nerves and leaves no time for you to spend with your family and even no time for yourself. There are ways out there in which you can do exactly that. Just sit in your home and do something you enjoy doing, at the same time getting paid. Though this may sound to be possible just in dreams, many people out there are doing just that in order to make money. One of the many ways they do this is by writing reviews. A product review is a report of how satisfying a particular product or service is and is usually given by someone who has used that product or service. It may also include detailed review of the particular features of the product and cover each one separately, giving a even better insight into the product without the need to spend your money on it.

Even better, a product review may contain different parts catering to the good and bad things about the product, better known as the pros and cons. Product ratings are the “points” the reviewer gives to the product based on his or her experience regarding its various features and their value for your money. It is usually given in the form of “stars” and accompany product reviews. Thus product reviews and ratings are a must to read before you buy something online. Anybody’s earnings are valuable to them and they can’t spend them on just anything. To make sure their money is going to the right place, all the customers nowadays prefer to read product reviews and ratings before they buy something online. This is a plus point for those who write reviews. With the increase in the number of products being bought online, the demand of reviews and hence review writers is increasing day by day. You can be assured that once you start writing reviews, you’ll never be without work.

So, are you ready to earn money by writing product reviews, and helping others choose the right place to spend their valuable earnings? If yes, you just need to find out the right place to start sharing your reviews with others. This can be done in several ways. One is to start a new site all by yourselves. This can be a tedious job and is not advisable if you’re not ready to do that much job. Other way is to contribute to an already present site which already has lots of visitors, In this way you can avoid doing the initial job. The last way is to find a freelancing job of writing reviews. This is the simplest one and the most common one too. Just go to Google and search for freelancing sites. Find out the projects that include writing reviews and you’re ready to earn money. This can be a very nice part time job and you’d be helping others too while earning money for yourself too.

Writing Sales Letters That Will Sell

If you get involved in businesses in your daily life, it reaches a point when business sales letters are very important. A business sells letter is an official document that can greatly drive up sales and maintain customers.

To write a good business letter, it requires a number of skills that you can choose to acquire over time or read here. Here, we will look at four major points that will guide you to write a successful sales letter and convince prospective customers or clients why they should choose your business.

Never bluff

What could be worse than dealing with a businessperson who bluffs? This behavior is not only unprofessional and dishonest; it is pathetic and totally uncalled for. Many business people write very convincing letters and attract customers to purchase their products. However, as soon as the customers realize that they were duped, they will never buy from that particular business. Some even consider legal action and discourage all their partners from dealing with you.

Your sales letter should be backed up with research for points that are either not very common or you need the customer to prove it himself. A good business entrepreneur always does research on his niche prior to establishing the business; it is therefore assumed that they know very much about the goods and services they deal. The more you know about the products you are dealing in the easier and better you will convince your customers why they should choose you and not your competitors.

Consider the letter audience

To sell a product, you must be able to speak directly into the buyer’s mind. You must express yourself in a language that the prospective buyer understands. If you use the language, phrases, lingo and loops that your buyers are conversant with, they should be able to establish a connection with you and this will lead to trust. Once you win your buyer’s trust, whatever advice you give on a product, they will most likely take it. This will be a boost to your business because not only will you have established an influence, your customers too will be comfortable directing their friends to you.

Tell a story

Every sales letter that attracts a buyer must tell a story. People love reading stories that they can relate to real life experiences. As much as your letter must be relevant and contain all the necessary facts, they should be concealed in the story that you give to the reader.

Use short sentences and paragraphs

Any good English writer will tell you how boring and tiring long sentences are to read, and to write. To keep the reader interested in your story, use the short sentences so that they don’t have to strain reading and grasping the concept of the lines. No matter how long your letter is, it should not appear like it is a research paper or a medical finding report. People like almost everything done for them, and they would like to have the story simplified so that all that is left for them to do is digest it.

Online Freelance Writing Jobs – How Article Writing Stands Apart?

There are several online freelancing companies. They are working 24 hours of the day allowing their writers produce quality write ups and earn some handsome amount of cash. Moreover, all internet marketers would want their business to get noticed through quality contents. A valuable and worthy content can draw lots of audience to a particular website. Good content help in building good relationships and also initiates the success of a business for a long period of time. A good content not only helps an online company make a handsome amount of profit, it also makes way for a writer to earn his daily bread and butter.

Content writing freelance jobs in India helps in better correspondence and worthy reciprocation. The more you write that better idea you can generate. When you start writing it is one sort of standard, when you continue writing your scribbling gets more relevant as you start developing more worthy ideas. Your sense of putting ideas into words develops each day. This is how Indian freelance writers have gained worldwide reputation and are able to write more profoundly maintaining an international style and standard. There are lots of companies throughout the world you are in search of quality Indian content writers because they know that there is a perfect crowd in this country that can really make products and concepts speak.

Online freelance jobs in India have become a custom because in this country literacy gets brushed up each day. People discover how to write better and how to write differently. Indian freelance writers have to handle so many things at one time. Their works involve sales, marketing, interacting with sub contractors, project work, marketing and billing. Thus, when an Indian writer handles so many things at one time and tries to put everything on paper accordingly his skill gets sharpened and his aptitude receives international recognition.

Article writing has always made a difference. An article can provide platform to your business. An article can make your working arena thrive each day. An article gives your work a perfect identity and helps people know you better. In this way an article always stands apart and helps in adding value to your work.

The Almost Automatic Way to Earn More Money From Your Online Writing Business

I find that working online can have its financial ups and downs. Sometimes my income seems steady, yet other times it can drop dramatically. And it can be hard to understand what’s gone wrong, especially when I haven’t been doing anything differently.

Or maybe that’s the problem.

Any business, online or otherwise, is either growing or dying. So it needs to grow.

So what should you do?

Naturally, the key to your online writing business being a success is making more sales. Whatever it is your selling, whether it’s your own products or someone else’s, you need to make sales.

Working online doesn’t have a regular weekly/monthly income like a 9-5 job.

Instead your income depends on many factors including:

Your niche
The products your selling
How well your website is laid out
Type of marketing
Quality of writing

And this list is only a small part of what will drive your sales.

So what does it take to sell more?

To make more sales you need to sell more.

This means selling more, as in having more things to sell, and selling more, as in doing more selling.

What it really comes down to is doing more selling. And that means marketing your products AND your website.

You see it’s no good trying to sell the same things to the same people over and over again. What you need is to create a bigger audience and this means getting more people to visit your website.

Likewise, it’s no good having just one product and trying to sell it to the same 100 people over and over again. Instead you need to increase how many things you sell as well as increase the number of people you’re selling to. That way you’ll be selling 50 products to 1,000 people, then 100 products to 10,000 people. You can never have too many things to sell or too many customers. This is why it’s imperative to get as many website visitors as you can – every day, every week, every year. Marketing your website should never stop.

It always surprises me how many people spend nearly all their time working on their website and writing content, yet very little time on marketing.

But the truth is that if no one knows your business is there, no one will come.

You need to go online and market your business as much as you can.

Make it your goal to do some sort of marketing every week.

Then when you have more time you can do adventurous types of marketing like creating a free product (eBook) to give away, writing guest blog posts or participating on a forum.

Just remember that sales are what keep your online writing business going. And because the income is irregular and you’ll go through times of financial feast and famine, you need to ensure that you keep your marketing machine running. Always.

Because the more people know about your online business and what you have to offer, the more money you’ll make.

Writing Your Affiliate Home Business Plan

Here’s a typical scenario: You are deciding to start a home business and suddenly everyone you know has his nose in your business, literally. What do you tell them? And how do you answer your own questions? What should you expect from the company in terms of stability, longevity, vitality, trust, income, and so forth? First the bad news: there are no guarantees. Then the good news: there is plenty of information from which to draw your own conclusions. The internet is huge, and any good company will offer free marketing tools and training.

But back to the WHY of that business plan. You’re going to be starting small, slow and boy! is there a lot to learn. What’s the point of actually sitting down and writing a business plan? You’re not Bill Gates, this isn’t Microsoft, just you in your home office a few hours a week, slowly building an online business presence, not really understanding what the heck you’ll be doing.

Relax and breathe. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, your plan won’t be designed to withstand the weathering of the ages. You can expect it will change and bend with the flow of your real experiences, which will be totally yours, not identical to anyone else’s.

What writing your plan will do is cause you to pause, think, dream, study and focus. The written document, whether it is one page or twelve, will give your business a framework to work within. The internet is vast and seemingly endless. It is easy to lose focus and drift away on a different whim or idea every day. Understanding where you are today, what tools you have to work with, what your goals are, and how you can best achieve them and measure your success, will help you stay on target and not waste what few hours you may be investing in your business at start-up.

Whenever you feel lost or confused, you can return to what you have written. When you analyze your situation and decide to make a change, rewrite that part of the plan. Understand that it’s a living document, intended to grow with you and your business. Your business plan is your friend.

Getting Started with the Business Plan

First you need to study the company and its management. You need to read and learn about the products, the compensation plan and the network structure. See you next month. Just kidding.

Plan on doing SOME reading each and every work day for the next few months, if not indefinitely. Keep up with the company forum entries every day; read something in the training reports every day. Your education will continue. Plan for it.

When you are ready, open up a Notepad window and answer these questions:

What service/products does your business provide and what needs does it fill?

Who are the potential customers for your product or service and why will they purchase it from you?

How will you reach your potential customers?

Where will you get the financial resources to start your business?

Ok. Maybe your company offers many products and services. What do you want to focus on? I suggest that, at first, you focus on one or two products and/or the affiliate opportunity. In other words, keep is simple. Once you get the hang of what you’re doing, you will KNOW when it’s time to expand. Do only what you are comfortable with, every step of the way. This is YOUR business, it’s your right and privilege to decide on your approach.

Internet marketing hinges on building trust. How will you do this?

Reaching customers means marketing. Your decision, once again. And again, the options should be in your company’s training materials.

So we’re talking developing a reading/study schedule. Here’s a possible list, once you’ve read enough to make your own decisions to answer the above questions, start writing. Your writing can be lists of words and phrases, free-form brainstorming, outlines, mind maps, whatever works for you. Just write it down, and don’t forget to save often. If your home office is inhabited by cats or small children, they have the tendency to press on random keyboard keys. Documents do occasionally just disappear. Saving avoids total disaster.

Study the products.
Read the training materials.
Read about commissions, bonuses, etc.
Study the marketing aids and strategies
Find out what free tools are available.
Visit the forums on a regular basis. Read everything about getting started.
Ask questions.

Your final written business plan will have at least four parts:

Introduction/background: history of the company and its founder, internet marketing trends, why THIS company and why NOW, and so on.

Goals: I suggest you think of what you would like to be earning in two years, but mainly focus on goals for your first year. Realistic goals can be projected based on info on the company website, in newsletters, searches on the forums, and focused questions to other affiliates.

Marketing plan: based on your answers to the first 3 questions above and your study of marketing aids and tools.

Action plans: the specifics of what you will do on a monthly, weekly, and/or daily basis for the next year.

I can’t tell you what your answers should be, because you have to decide how much money you have to invest. Only you can decide how many hours per day, week or month you can invest in your business. What products you feel most comfortable marketing, and who you decide to target as your customer base, are all decisions only you can make. If you get stuck and don’t understand a question, don’t know where to find information, or don’t know how to ASK a question, contact your sponsor or someone in your upline. If they can’t help you, they should be able to send you to someonewho can.

You should NEVER feel alone. Work should be FUN!…

Freelancing Writing – A Good Home Based Business Idea

Are you fed up with your long hours of busy office works? Want to get rid of your crazy boss? Then freelancing could give you ample opportunities to be your own boss and find a fortune out of your skills. As it is told that ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, you could find your fortune through this opportunity once you have a willing mind and some time to spend over it.

Freelancing owes you many jobs including writing and translation, computer associated jobs, search engine optimization, web designing and so on. There are also several opportunities for data entry, form filling, internet marketing etc. Here the most important advantage is that the real benefit goes for both the employees as well as the employers. These days people prefer finding good home based business ideas rather than opting for an irritating day job. This may be the reason why more and more of us are attracted to the style of freelance writing.

Here the freelancers could work from home, can choose own hours of working and also could bring good financial benefit as well. If one wants to get to the freelancing style, then you should have a 24 hour internet service that will help you to find and advertise your job and the required skills. One of the essential gifts that any freelancer owns is the World Wide Web that helps to expand small business of freelancing to greater world of marketing and new opportunities.

Initial step that any of you should follow before entering freelancing is to write down your skills and achievements. This will act as a portfolio and will fetch you more orders. Another thing is to search for a good freelancing agency which is web based and that could pay you nicely. If you are confident to guide yourself and do your job well, then you have a long way to go with the help of this home based business idea.

Most of your writing jobs will revolve around writing quality SEO articles which will be used to promote the client’s websites on various article directories. Don’t worry if you don’t know about the topic. You can search on the internet, find ideas and group them and write in your own words.

Once you become a famous writer you will get tons of orders for writing articles, website reviews and product reviews. So, go ahead and start building your freelance writing career.

The ABC of Writing Business Letters

We often wonder whether writing business letters correctly is as important as it is made out to be. Communication, written or verbal has always been significant to civilization. The method of communication is often dictated by various factors such as who is addressing whom, why, and when.

Business letters are generally used to communicate formally with various players regarding business matters. Unlike informal letters, these need to conform to certain rules so they could be read and processed speedily and at the same time provide you with the relief you are seeking. Fortunately, the basics of writing business letters are easy to master.

1. The beginning – you begin with the name, designation and address of the person you want to communicate. In case you do not know the name, the designation would often suffice, though personalization always provides better results.

2. The subject – you should keep in mind that the person who would read your letter has limited time and therefore needs to know what the letter is all about at a glance. The subject line serves to this purpose.

3. Reference – next, is your reference. This pertains to the source that influenced you to write this letter. For example, the advertisement in the newspaper if you are applying for a job; a previous letter, a recent development, your own preceding letters and so on.

4. The opening address – you start the letter with a “Dear Sir or Madam” depending on the gender of the person. It is important that you address a woman as Ms unless she makes it obvious she wants to be addressed as mrs or miss.

5. Body of the letter – the matter you want to be said should be put in simple and crisp language, avoiding wordiness. The tone should be polite, even when the letter is a complaint or gives negative feedback.

6. Closing statement – try your best to end the letter on a point of action. This is what the person would read last and therefore carry it in his or her mind. What you want the person to do? What do you expect from him or her? What you want them to remember about the letter?

7. Ending – the letter generally ends formally with, “yours faithfully”, “yours sincerely”, “warm regards”, or “best wishes” depending on how well you know the person you are writing to.

As you can see, writing business letters is not a difficult task. All it needs is a little practice and the basic know-how.

Home Based Business Reviews – Writing Reviews From Home

There are lots of ways to work online – the web has a constant demand for people working in a number of fields, from programming and web design to writing and editing. The expanding nature of the web has created numerous positions in any given field, making the opportunities for someone with a given skill set virtually endless. If you have a knack for writing, one of the ways you can make money with it is by writing home based business reviews. In this article, we’ll take a quick look at how business reviews work, and how you can use them to supplement your income.

Sites that hire people to write home based business reviews tend to do so not only because they are a popular means of allowing people to gauge where they want to eat, which local businesses are best, and what to expect from various businesses, but also because they attract users searching for certain key terms. This is called search engine optimization, and it is one of the premier forms of web marketing in current use.

Search engine optimization functions on the principle that many people will use search engines to find information. By having home based business reviews on a given restaurant, say, people searching for that restaurant will see a greater chance of the review site coming up earlier in the search results. This increases traffic to the site, thereby generating revenue through ads or other methods. Therefore, you can earn a living by writing reviews on sites that will not only provide the user with the information they’re looking for, but also increase the chance that users will see the review in the first place.

This kind of experience allows you to get your foot in the door to several industries, such as food journalism (assuming you review restaurants), consumer products, and similar markets. Writing home based business reviews is a great way to get exposure for your writing while also making some money on the side, and you can eventually obtain sponsorship for a review site that you can run yourself. Whatever your ultimate goal is, business reviews are a great way to get started making money online, and you can do so without having to commute to the office. Generally, you work your own hours, on your own time, at your own pace, and since many jobs pay by the review, you can work as much or as little as you want.