The Home Business Professor's Newsletter 3

Let me start off by saying this. This course is about making money online.

Copy sells... not graphics.
Pictures have never sold anyone anything. You must write to convince people to take action.

However, there is a always need to pre-sell your ideas first.

What are the 2 Main Methods of using a website to make money?

This does work for mini-sites, and pay per click directed customers.

However, if you have a content rich site, which is giving customers information first, and selling second, then you must pre-sell first.

Both methods follow these general principles

1.Write your content as if you were talking with a customer face to face. Avoid talking at them, but rather, with them.

Avoid using complex words or concepts. Find a balance that a fifth grade student would understand without insulting anyone's intelligence.

Try to talk with them, as if you would normally do, and avoid trying to be someone else. Just be yourself.

2.Try to stay away from using CAPS or BOLD CAPS...if possible. It slows the reader down and interrupts the flow of your message.

Use bold to emphasize and bold underlined to really emphasize your points. Your content will be much more effective!

3.Write your content in an enticing fashion. Keep it compelling, and write to draw the person who reads it, to want more and more. You can use an interactive format, or an enticing format, or both. It does take some practice but just look at a web page that sold you. That's always a good template to start with.

Copy the way it was written (not the actual words), and you'll have a foundation to start with.

4.Write your content so each point flows smoothly to the next. This is very important otherwise, you'll lose the reader. Don't be afraid of writing long content.

If you write it right, people will follow it all the way through.

It's a myth that long content doesn't work. It actually could work the best.

5.This is very important. Your content page must be free of errors. If you have just 1 misspelled word, 1 incomplete thought, you will be scratching your head wondering why you are not getting results.

6.Design your web page to be concise, because if it's vague in any way you will lose the potential customer.

If you are getting sign ups, without any questions, you've done a good job!

7.Write your page one day and then go back to it the next day. Re-read it, out loud if you have too and you will p robably discover you still have work to do.

If it's written right, it will sound as if you just wrote it, but any professional will know how much work you really put into it.

You will know how effective your web page is, when you measure it against how many people read it, verses how many buy because of it.

8.Try to keep your sentences and paragraphs as short as possible. It makes it easier for the reader.

If they have a tendency to scroll downwards, before reading your letter, it won't look like such a bad thing to read through.

9.Never get caught up writing about just the features of your offer.

You must explain the benefits. Example: "This widget will save you time, effort, and energy because of the built in features".

Sell the sizzle... not the steak.

10.When your writing, include the words "you" and "your" as often as you can. The customer must see how this will benefit them... not you.

It is better to have 3-10 times the words "you" and "your", rather than "we", and "I", and "us", and "our", and "me" in your sales page. The reader cares only about how they benefit...and nothing about you.

Finally, don't forget Your opening words, must tell people how they will benefit from visiting your site.

You must also give people a brief idea about the nature of your site - what specific product or service is it selling, what free product or service is it offering, what can people expect to find at your site?

What do you mean you have writers block - already!

Perhaps we will look at that in the next issue, and discover other ways to find good content.

See you in the next 'Home Business Professor's Newsletter' which will cover these topics:
1. Find other ways of creating good content.

Here is to your success.
Bill Ritchie

Useful Resources

How to drive traffic to your site