Archive for April, 2009
Review: Doing Business By the Book
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Sophfronia Scott: Doing Business By The Book
Now is not the time to remain silent. In this economic climate the best thing you can do for your business is to showcase your skill and expertise—and one of the best ways to do that is to become a published author.
Doing Business By the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible is a quick, easy-to-read book and throughout you will find the basic nuts and bolts on choosing and assembling just the right stories to tell in your book. In addition, you’ll learn ideas for powerful lead generation strategies to make your book a success. If you have given any thought to writing a non-fiction book, this how-to book is a must have.
In Doing Business By the Book, Sophfronia Scott tells us that in today’s business world, a “published book is the near equivalent of a business card”. A book brings the author both publicity and notoriety and becomes a platform from which to grow a business. This book details how to do the entire process of using a non-fiction book for business development. She takes us from the beginning of finding your unique voice through organizing the book, tips for writing, publicity, and where and how to sell the book. There are dozens of ideas included for using a book as a platform for business expansion; this alone is worth the price of the book.
This is also a book by an author to develop other authors. There is discussion of voice, theme, theory and even how to choose the right stories to illustrate the points of the book. Doing Business By the Book teaches how to make a well-crafted book – the exercise of completing the Book Building Circle will ensure the reader has all the elements for a successful book.
One of the themes of Doing Business By the Book is that the best non-fiction “delivers on the promise of a system” by taking the reader “by the hand and show them how to do something”. Scott has demonstrated her own theory in producing a book which is a must read for any business owner who is looking for a powerful way to get their message out and grow their business.
I highly encourage you to pick up a copy of Doing Business By the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible and you will be so glad that you did!
What’s stopping you from writing your own book?
Your Website Copy Speaks Volumes
Posted by: | CommentsIf you think the text on your website isn’t important then you better think again. Website copy is one of the most important parts of your website. Your website’s success can actually hinder on how effective the copy is. Copy that isn’t up to standard will cause your site to fail quickly when a visitor arrives, no matter how great the graphics look or the services and/or products are.
You Only Have a Few Precious Seconds Before Your Visitor Clicks Away
The first few seconds are extremely crucial to the success of your website. You must grab their attention right away in order to keep them reading. When you’ve kept them there, you must continue to grab their attention or they’ll reach for their mouse instantly.
Internet surfers are diligently looking for information on a certain topic. Once they’ve stumbled onto your site, they will quickly skim through your material and see if your site has the information they’re looking for. Sites that don’t grab their attention right away; lose their visit and a potential sale.
Websites with poorly written web copy are doomed to fail. Those that do, generally make the following mistakes:
- Small or fancy style fonts
- Boring text
- Provide information unrelated to their website topic
- Contain several spelling errors
Walk in Your Customer’s Shoes
Think like your target market. If you were looking to buy the same services and products that you currently plan to offer, what copy would you want to see on the site? Would you want boring, unrelated material to read or something that grabs your attention and makes you want to read more about it?
More than likely, you want something that will grab your attention. The best way to accomplish that is to:
Write the Way They Want to Read or Would Understand
Think about who your target audience is. What are their likes and dislikes? Get to know them better. Now, provide them with text they could understand and would actually want to read.
For example, let’s say, your target market is women business start-ups in the telecom industry. If these women are on your site, you are going to walk their walk and speak their speak. Because they are in the start-up phase of their business they are more apt to review larger of amounts of text as long as it is written in way they understand. They will skim headlines and bolded text however and focus on what relates to them.
If that’s the case, then would they want to read text that’s geared towards the pharmaceutical industry? Probably not. They’re not likely to relate to the wording or the overall products/service even if they could possibly benefit from it. All in all this means that they will click away.
A website relies on the written text, not graphics, to get visitors to the site, grabs their attention and keeps them there. Don’t risk your business success by slapping down some copy and hope for the best. Give your visitors what they need and what they want.
Monday Marketing Tips: 5 Ways to Get More Business
Posted by: | Comments1. Article Submission
Writing articles is an easy way to boost your credibility as an expert in your field. Articles should contain a minimum of 250 words and an intriguing bio. When writing your bio, don’t necessarily start with your name. Keep with the flow of the article so the reader thinks that it’s part of it. When readers see your name, some automatically stop reading because they assume it’s the end of the article.
When your article is complete, submit it to online databases like:
EzineArticles.com
IdeaMarketers.com
ArticleDashboard.com
2. Offer Free Info Sessions and Educational Seminars
Do you have a product or service that could benefit members of your local community or Chamber of Commerce? If so, offer a free info session/educational seminar. Invite those you think could benefit directly. Keep a product on hand and offer back of the room sales once you conclude your presentation. If you have an ebook, put it onto a CD so the purchaser can take it with them that day.
3. Have a Contest
Everyone loves to enter a good contest for the chance to earn something of value. Set up your contest on your blog or within your ezine. Offer the registrant a free report or ecourse just for signing up for the contest. Post your contest in your ezine, blog, Twitter, Facebook and any social networking site you are a part of.
4. Write an Ebook
While this can sound daunting to many it can be easily achieved. Simply sit down and start writing on your area of expertise. If you have ezines with a lot of content and articles that you have written, can you expound upon them? If so, you have the beginnings of an ebook and/or informational product.
5. Offer a Teleclass/Tele-Seminar
Invite your personal list, Twitter followers, Facebook friends and your whole social networking group to join you on a teleclass to showcase your expertise, product and/or service. Provide lots of great information and a special offer at the end for the participants of the call.
