Copywriting Secrets From Mark Silver at Heart of Business
August 24th, 2010 | Copywriting
I’ve been a freelance web copywriter for over half a decade now, but one copywriting question still trips me up: how do you write a sales letter that’s not formulaic or full of hype?
Most people wrinkle their noses when they think of the long-form sales letters that dominate the internet, but that copywriting format has become a cliche for good reason: when done well, it works.
Then there are the thousands of long form sales letters that aren’t written well. (I’ve been responsible for at least one.)
Wondering how to be persuasive without being pushy, I asked one person whose sales letters I’ve always admired: Mark Silver of Heart of Business. Mark was kind enough to talk with me about his copywriting techniques and share what I learned with you. Read more »
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The Cult of Cute Advertising
August 17th, 2010 | General
From the E-Trade baby to the Geico gecko, advertising is awash in all things cute. Far from being a recent phenomenon, advertising has capitalized on our love of cute since stipple prints of babies graced the first Victorian print ads. But our obsession with the adorable has reached an all-time high in recent years.
Examples of Cute Advertisements
Consider the Geico gecko, who first appeared on all fours slithering across the Geico logo in 2000. He’s since morphed into a cuddly character with a charming Cockney accent.
“The gecko’s cuteness tricks you into forgetting that it represents something that’s not cute in the slightest,” James Wolcott writes in the Vanity Fair article Addicted to Cute: “a giant insurance company, which must deal in matters most uncuddly, such as injury, death, and arguments over claim payments.”
Wolcott’s explanation doesn’t work for all cute ads, though. What about Evian’s commercial of roller-skating babies, which garnered over 26 million views on YouTube? Read more »
Video: How To Write Killer Copy For The Web
August 12th, 2010 | Copywriting, SEO
The Lancaster SEO Meetup Group recently invited me to speak on one of my favorite topics, writing killer copy for the web.
Copywriting describes writing that appears on sales and marketing materials. (No, it has nothing to do with copyrighting, or registering stuff with the government.) Read more »
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Real Women in Business Talk About Real Marketing Campaigns
August 8th, 2010 | Real Women In Business, Video
I found this video via Savor the Success, an online women’s business community I’m exploring. (I haven’t decided if I want to shell out $50 a month for a premium membership, but I’ll let you know if I do.)
Not only is Angela Jia Kim a super-smart marketer, she’s also descriptive about the process she went through to create this poster for a press event. The world needs more savvy women business owners talking openly about their marketing!
I look forward to watching more videos from Angela, and I hope hers will inspire you to create a video, article or blog post about your own marketing process. If you do, let me know and I’ll share it with the world!
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Kelly Watson is one woman on a mission to show the world that marketing your small business doesn't have to suck. 
