Writing ad copy can be easy if you use the right tools of the trade. Here are a few quick tips on how you can strive to write better copy that sells a product and produces results for your client.

Learn your client’s business

By learning about your client’s business and how they operate, you will be able to get a handle on who is buying their product. Ad copy for a restaurant will be much different than ad copy for an accounting firm. Do your research first, and then approach your client with a few questions to learn more:

• Ask questions about what other types of businesses are related to their work or product.
• Find out who their target market is and the median age, gender and other basic demographics about their customers. What you choose to write for 25 year olds will be much different than what you would write for a consumer that is 45+.
• Examine previous advertising copy that your client has had success with and ask to be shown what ad copy has failed to provide sell-through of product. Examine both then improve on the successful ad copy and apply those improvements to your ad copy.

Observe how your client has positioned their business in the marketplace

Once you can figure out the personality of your client’s business it will become easier to develop an ad campaign that works to fit their current profile. How a company wants to brand themselves and the products they sell is key to how they present themselves in words. You can work closely with company executives to learn about their wants and desires. Some businesses want to sell their product with ad copy that doesn’t match their company’s public profile. This can lead a company to a failed ad campaign.

• Question how your client wants to be seen by the public.
• Ask about the type of reputation they want to achieve.
• Find out how their competitors are viewed, expand on the competitions weak points to make your client stronger in the marketplace.

Adhere to your clients desires

As a copywriter you might not have enough time to learn about how every business operates.  It is up to you as a professional in the field to learn enough about each of your individual clients needs and how it pertains to the specific work you do for them. By listening to your client’s needs, learning what their desires are and working towards a common goal, you can look forward to creating successful ad copy that benefits the business you are working for.

• Working off ideas that you might think are inventive or ideal, may not benefit your client’s long term goals.
• As a copywriter it’s important to remember that most businesses work on a plan over the course of months or years. Your goal is to become a building block.
• Taking one step at a time is one of the most beneficial ways to incorporate your creativity and genius into  your client’s goals.

Working as a copywriter may seem like a no-brainer job for most. But for those who do the work, it’s an intense job that requires thought, sensitivity and a professional ethic that goes beyond your own thoughts of greatness. The best copywriters are the ones that match their style, their work and their creativity to their client. Once someone is able to generate good copy that matches their client’s goals and needs, that writer can count on being called back again and again as a team member that is known for their beneficial contributions.

In the ever changing world of advertising, copywriters can easily become an invaluable piece of a company’s  marketing plan. Match your skills to your client’s needs. Once you do this, you will be able to count on a long and productive relationship with your clients for years to come!

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

There are lots of ways that the top designers and firms work to meet their clients goals and being successful in the world of design means having a handle on how to create original ideas. Most designers would agree that it’s the execution of a great idea that makes it a success.

The Hartford Business Review recently published an article on their website by Warren Berger entitled Four Phases of Design Thinking . Warren Berger is the author of GLIMMER: How design can transform, business, your life, and maybe even the world (Penguin Press). He edits the online magazine GlimmerSite.com too. His article was so informative, we thought it was well worth our time to review how designers work to create successful innovative ideas.

Throughout the world of design, there are some shared behaviors that top designers follow in order to achieve significant breakthroughs. Second nature habits that were found to be common among expert designers and to their ability to transform an original idea into a successful innovation included; asking questions, caring, connecting and committing. If you’re a designer you will recognize these shared behaviors and if you’re looking for design work to be done, these are the steps that a top notch designer will most likely follow.

Designers Ask LOTS Of Questions

• Seasoned designers ask lots of questions.
• They work to raise questions in order to begin their design project.
• Designers strive to challenge the current reality or assumption in an industry.
• The creative mind works to learn the mainstream obvious and then figures out a way twist or morph it into an original idea that will turn into a successful innovative idea.
• A creative individual will often ask basic “why” questions that might seem naive and sometimes puts people on the defense.

When a designer asks why, they are really encouraging people to step back and reconsider old problems or practices that might be out of date. This gives the designer the ability to re-frame and steer thinking in a new direction. By striving to stretch the question of why to all facets of a project, they are able to rethink the basic fundamentals of a business. In the current economy and ever so volatile marketplace, this breeds innovation that gives birth to success.

A Great Designer Cares

• Designers do their best work by stepping out of the corporate bubble.
• They immerse themselves in the lives of their target market or audience.
• By observing and paying close attention to the customer they are trying to reach, they are able to dig out the consumer’s deep unspoken needs.
• Designers work hard to be present in people’s lives.

Lots of companies can say they care about their customer’s needs. Focus groups and questionnaires don’t really scratch the surface as to what makes an individual choose to buy a product. In order to reach a consumer on an emotional level, you have to empathize with them. This is the leverage that a good designer brings to the creative table. They strive to learn how their customers feel, how they think and how they live. By doing so, a seasoned designer learns what pushes a person to buy a product, join a marketing campaign, or become a faithful follower and consumer.

Designers Are Able To Connect

• A designer works to synthesize ideas.
• The creative thought process can take existing elements or ideas and combine them together in new ways.

Hiring a designer doesn’t always mean that a business will be forced into a new set of marketing materials or professional identity. It’s the job of a designer to also consider their clients current business elements and think laterally. Sometimes new ideas are not born fresh or invented from scratch. New ideas can be found by searching for new ways to combine current or older ideas. Designers do this by connecting them in a new way. They generate a new idea that is often comprised of scattered or mismatched ideas that didn’t seem to go together. This can be a shortcut to innovation. By combining previous ideas, this can help a business retain their original identity and brand, and simply strive for a new look, new message or re-tool their branded look to be more attractive to the public.

Designers Achieve Success Through Commitment

Designers are able to commit early to an idea.

They take original ideas and move them beyond imagination by giving them Form.

This Form makes an idea Real.

Designers are comfortable with putting an idea out into the marketplace when it’s young and imperfect.

A designer knows how to accept short-term failure.

Creative professionals have the ability to “fail forward”.

Some of the greatest designers have gone back to the design board more than once to tweak an idea into success. With their focus on commitment, the creative mind is often very comfortable with risk, more so than the average person is. They know that small failures are useful tools that provide a process for learning what needs fixing. In times of fast dynamic change, many companies need a confident designer on their team that can operate in a “test and learn” environment. In this type of work situation a designer will be required to create multiple or rapid prototypes. In design, the name of the game is often—Change it—Revise it — Until it STICKS!

Businesses and designers can look forward to forging a profitable partnership when they work towards a common goal. One way to do that is for the designer to explain what they will be doing, how they work their process and why they follow certain steps to achieve success. Through the use of an open line of communication, businesses can learn how to apply their designers behavioral habits to their own creative process. Being able to generate innovative and fresh ideas that  are attractive to consumers can push a business from hum-drum to sensational and victorious!

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

Many businesses, organizations and independents can use social media network sites to benefit their marketing efforts. By following a few simple steps, you can create a mix of social media skills that will increase your chances of success too! The rules of social media networking on sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and others are easy to set up, maintain and profit from. Once you have created your business profile or personal/fan page remember to follow these basic guidelines to attract friends and become a social media success!

One key factor that will make any social media marketing effort successful revolves around a business listening to their target audience or customers. Making a person-to-person contact is one of the most important aspects of how to engage an audience. While most of us work hard at finding our connections online in a virtual world, its equally important that after those contacts are solidified, that we harness the power of how to; listen effectively, speak with passion, energize others, offer support when it’s needed and embrace as much as possible through simple acts of common courteous personal interaction.

How can all of the above promote a media campaign on a social network a positive way?  It’s easy when you break it down. Here are a few simple steps that you can take to build a better social media strategy so that it bears all the fruits of success you hope for.

Listen:

Listening is a major milestone that most businesses have forgotten or forget to do. By listening to your target audience or customers you can; gather data about customer needs, improve product development ahead of production schedules and make customers feel like they have a stock in a company that cares about what they’re saying. By the simple act of listening businesses can  build a loyal following for their personal brand.

Speak:

By offering good solid advice, being helpful when needed and keeping in touch with whether or not customers are happy with a product, you’re grooming your business for its next year’s future success. Let the people in your company that are the most passionate about transforming your image to be in front of your social media marketing campaign. Those individuals will be able to speak effectively and clearly about company goals and help current and future customers learn what your business is about. This builds professional trust that “speaks” volumes about where your company is in the line-up when stacked against the competition.

Energize:

Having your most energetic and passionate professionals leading the pack on your social media sites, brings your business one step closer to closing in on your competitors. Passionate employees talk up a company better than any print, web, or snail mail campaign can ever do. Let those that love their job, work it for the betterment of the rest in the crew. They are ones that will offer the most personal touch to your speaking efforts.

Be Supportive:

In regards to offering support to your customers, online social media sites are a great way to answer questions about products, address complaints, and give advice on product use and compatibility with other products. Businesses can rely on their social media sites to update their audience and followers on new product developments, recalls and other important customer service announcements. By being a supportive company that shows that you care about your customer base, you are making connections that withstand the test of time. Being supportive builds the longevity of your business.

Embrace Everything:

Most of us are fearful of what it means when someone says that you should embrace something. We think to the docile acceptance of a situation that we cannot fix or change. Quite the opposite is true when you learn what embracement means. The dictionary describes embracement as a hug, to accept willingly and to include. By taking this term literally, a business can look forward to embracing everything through a virtual hug, by being open to the opinions of others. They can willingly accept that some folks might be complimentary or critical and handle each situation with professional grace. By including their customers and target audience as followers of their company on a social media site, businesses reap the rewards of their customers feeling like they are part of your business. Their loyalty for your company will blossom into a lasting relationship.

Branding your company online in the social media world is not an easy task to accomplish. You need hard working positive individuals that your company can count on. Your time and efforts in planning a targeted strategy begins in the boardroom, but is tested on the World Wide Web where everyone can see the failings of a poorly thought out plan. Take your time, think about your company mission’s statement, revise it if it’s outdated. Then take flight and you too can navigate your social media marketing campaign to benefit your business!

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

Enjoy the value of Facebook and build your business by creating a Facebook business page. By having a Facebook business page you can increase your online presence and gain even more exposure by; including  your Facebook page link in your email signature, posting your link on your business website and adding it to your print and advertising materials. Facebook can be an excellent and valuable business tool if used properly. Check out the research and stats below to find out just how powerful Facebook is in the world of social media networks.

Recent studies performed by Edison Research showed:

• 48% of Americans, over the age of 12, had a profile page set up on a social network site.
• 30% of those same individuals logged on to their social network page multiple times each day.

The statistics from  Facebook are astounding:

• There are more than 400 million active users.
• The average user has an estimated 130 friends.
• People are found to be spending over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

Use Facebook to Build Your Business

In order to use Facebook so it benefits your business you can incorporate these ideas:

• Choose a keyword name that will improve your search engine ranking. Try matching your Facebook name to your business name so folks can find you online in cyberspace and on Facebook under the same name.

• Work on creating a comment posting schedule that fits into your work schedule. Posting  on a regular basis can help others get to know you and your business. It will also increase your chances of gaining followers.

• Ask you Facebook friends to interact with others on your page. You can do this by posing questions to spark conversation. The idea is to create a conversation that encourages multiple replies.

• If friends post on your page, respond to their comments as often as possible. This will let them know your available.

• Text is great for getting things started, but make a concentrated effort to share photos and videos so your Facebook business page is interesting and stimulating.

The Importance of Maintaining a Business Website & Blog

Once your business is set up on Facebook with a custom page, turn your efforts to expanding your online presence with a solid foundation like a website and blog. Many businesses wonder why they should spend the time in creating a business blog when a Facebook business page appears to be more interactive. The answer is that you don’t own your Facebook page. You are using Facebook as a place to simply interact and connect with others. They key to using Facebook is to make it beneficial to building your business and that is done by driving your Facebook friends to your own website and or blog.

Think of your website as a central hub for your business and your blog as your social outreach for your marketing and public relations. Since you own your website and your blog, it’s yours. You have complete control of the changes, the longevity and the future of your site and blog. On Facebook, you don’t own your page and any content created on your Facebook page could disappear if Facebook vanished.

Be in Control of Your Destiny

Choose to be self-reliant and maximize the time you invest on your social network pages by creating a strong central business homepage, website and up-to-date well- managed blog. Brand your business by creating an internet storefront. Your store can be filled with creative content that describes your business mission, goals , products and services. At the end of the day, your cyber shop will also be in place for as long you own your business!

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

SEO, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization, refers to the steps followed to optimize a website. Websites  are optimized by changing or improving parts of their internal or external features, like improving website copy text, keyword tags(internal) or web hosting controls(external). SEO also works to improve site design and content that will increase traffic. The ideal traffic that the optimization targets is search engine traffic.

There are individual consultants, small businesses and large firms that specialize in SEO. Some Search Engine Optimization specialists are focused in one specific area and others are broad and generalized. Because optimizing a website requires attention to a variety of unique elements, some specific and others general, many SEO professionals describe their work as being in the open field of website optimization.

Companies and individuals need Search Engine Optimization because web traffic is controlled and “driven” by the top commercial search engines, AskJeeves, Yahoo!, Google and MSN (AOL pulls about 10% of searches and is powered by Google results). Web users who are looking for content, services, products or information are generally using a key method of web navigation—search engines. If a website can’t be found by these major search engines or the content of a website can’t be put into their databases, then those sites lose out on valuable traffic.

To simplify, the words we use when we type letters into the search box are valuable. These searches are called search queries and usually contain a phrase that is then best matched to a specific website. Many people agree that their experience has proven that search engine traffic can have a tremendous impact on a website’s success. Since targeted visitors can offer publicity, revenue and exposure, Search Engine Optimization offers a substantial rate of return on investment.

Search engines like Yahoo!, AskJeeves, Google and MSN need SEO help because they are limited in how they operate. Search Engine Optimization helps to make content available to the search engines and can also boost search engine ranking. With content that is easily found, sites are placed where web users can see it – page one of a search, instead of page 32. Organizations, businesses and individuals can pick up visitors, attention and lift a website to gain more visibility by performing Search Engine Optimization.

As you begin on your journey into the wide world of Search Engine Optimization here are a few quick tips on how to make website text search-friendly!

Search engines cannot index certain text styles and as a result, many sites struggle with making their text search-friendly. Search engines cannot read, index or pull the following text styles:

• Text embedded in a Java Application or Macromedia Flash file
• Text in an image file – jpg, gif, png or other image.
• Text accessible only through a form or other on-page action

Search-friendly text can be described as text that the search engines can spider and index. When creating text in HTML it’s critical to website rank and getting indexed properly to make your website text search-friendly. Search engines measure the phrases and terms in text copy and pull information about that page based on their findings. Finding the right balance of how to create content that is reader friendly and “search-friendly” could be considered both an art and a science. The following rules apply when working to optimize on-page text for search rankings:

Create and make the primary phrase/term stand out.

Keyword density is now considered useless. General frequency is what helps ranking.

Create web content that is high quality and on-topic.

Search engines are sophisticated and analyze content to find quality pages. They also have teams of researchers that work to find quality writing.

Structure your text/document.

A journalistic format is common and preferred. The copy starts with a description and then moves from broad to narrow in subject and content.

Cozy content works so keep website text together.

When creating a document or on-page content, it’s important to avoid breaking text through coding. One way to do this is by using tables that have text sections like content, ads and navigation that flows.  Too many “nested” tables can create broken sentences and paragraphs that are not search-friendly.

Layout and keyword usage has little value.

Website layout and keyword usage used to be considered important in search engine ranking. That’s no longer the case. Structure and keywords offer a slight boost in ranking, but the overall benefit is low.

By following these basic search friendly rules when creating your online copy content, you will enjoy higher search engine rankings, increased traffic and possible income potential and growth. The World Wide Web is forever evolving and keeping up with the newest and most up to date information is crucial to successful website design and development. Search Engine Optimization is for people, businesses and organizations that want to grow their online presence through the use of technical, creative and structured content.

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

Make Your Blog Content Count —Be Social & Syndicate!

If you’ve toiled over the content for your website, written articles or are building a blog, you should be thinking of syndicating your work.

What is syndication?

Content syndication is a term used to describe the process of content distribution. Whether it is video, audio or text copy, syndication is how you move your content so that your content is seen by as many viewers, listeners and readers as possible. If you’re not syndicating your content then the investment of time you’ve spent working on that content is low. To raise your rate of return and make larger gains in your time investment, syndicate!  

What syndication can do:

• Attract highly targeted visitors to your website.
• Increase the amount of people that read and comment on your blog.
• Give your website a higher ranking in the search engines.
• Create and build a constant following of like-minded people interested in your content.
• Help you build a platform that makes you an expert in your field of interest.
• Increase your rate of return on the time invested in creating your content.

All of the above are great business goals and solid reasons to syndicate your content. But how do you go about getting syndicated? 

Repurpose your content:

Current or new content can be re-formatted or re-used. This is an effective way to maximize the value of your content. Here are a few ideas on how to repurpose the same content so it becomes the right type of content and ready for syndication:

• Take your website copy and break it down into blog posts.
• Break up text articles and turn that into website copy and blog posts.
• Create an audio version of your blog posts.
• Turn your blog posts into a slideshow.
• Convert your slideshow into a short video with audio narration.

How you can syndicate your content:

Most content can be easily syndicated and here’s three easy steps on how to syndicate your content:

1.       Learn what an RSS feed is and then use it.

• RSS stands for “really simple syndication”.
• RSS takes your content and puts it into a special format so your content can be shared across the internet.
• Many of the social networking sites use RSS.
• Take your RSS feeds and submit them to RSS search engines like Bloglines, Blogpulse, DayPop and Feedstar.

2.       Forward your blog posts to your Twitter feed.

Twitter updates are searchable in the search engines and tweets are updated regularly. By sending your blog posts to your Twitter feed, you can stay on top of your search engine ranking and your content will get in front of many more people.

• If your blog has been built in WordPress, configure a plugin like Twitter Tools to send your blog posts to your Twitterfeed.
• This feed can increase your website traffic.
• Be careful to not overtweet your new content.

3.       Import your content into Facebook and Linked In

By focusing on strong titles and compelling content you can count on seeing click throughs to your website. You can also look forward to establishing yourself as an expert with credibility by growing your brand on these two sites.

• In Facebook, publish your blog posts to your Notes application.
• For Linked In, use the WordPress application to place your blog content.

You can create profitability for your business by sending your message to as many people as possible. Syndication is a powerful tool to increase your brand and grow your online following. As you work to increase your audience there is more opportunity for your business to expand. Make your content count and syndicate so your business can flourish and grow!

We welcome new ideas and you might inspire us for our next blog post! Share your thoughts and tips by posting comments for us. Thanks for reading!

By Sara Hassler

If you have an opinion (and don’t we all??) or just want to share facts about a topic you feel passionate about, Squidoo is the perfect format for doing just that. It’s a community website where members create free web pages called “lenses” for a variety of topics. These lenses can then be linked together so similar topics or authors can be found.

If you’re asking “What is Squidoo?” you may be in the minority. In fact, Squidoo is ranked in the top 500 most visited websites in the world and is in the top 300 most viewed by people in the United States. In 2009, Squidoo grew an unprecedented 91% with an impressive 900,000 people-built lenses as of February 1, 2009.

Squidoo is not published in an ezine format and it isn’t a blog. It’s just pages of information where you can spin whatever you want, about whatever you wish. The lenses are very easy to make with a menu-driven application. So even (or maybe especially) if you’ve never built a website or written a blog before you can have your lens up and running in a very short time and sharing your opinion with the rest of the world.

When you create a lens with Squidoo, you have the choice to add different modules to your web page. There are modules for adding content, photos, featured lenses, YouTube videos, Amazon and Ebay auctions, and others.

Links to other websites are allowed on the lenses so you can even promote products as an affiliate marketer…do I smell profits? Yes indeed, Squidoo offers you a chance to collect income from your lens. Squidoo earns money from affiliate advertising with Google AdSense, Amazon, Ebay and other sites and keeps track of the earnings of each module then splits the profits with you 50-50. Wow! As if that weren’t enough, here’s another cool thing about Squidoo: it can help you feel good about yourself. Yup, you not only get to say what you want while standing on the world’s biggest soapbox, but Squidoo allows you to set up your page to donate your profits to charity, if you choose.

So if anybody asks you, “What’s Squidoo?” you can tell them it’s a great website that allows you to create a web page about your interests, passions and causes for free. It also allows you to contribute to charity or make money for yourself. So, “share what you care about, get found, get followed and get influential.” (Quoted from Squidoo.com). What could be better?

By Deborah Munger

Today, the possibilities for creative collaboration are light years away from what they were even just a decade ago. With new apps like Google Wave, and websites like Oozil providing a whole suite of free tools for collaborative communication, it’s almost counter-intuitive to work alone anymore.

Some of the greatest talents and minds in history have always known the power of working on a team. For example:

John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Almost anyone of any age knows the songs of the Beatles, and the groups two main songwriters undoubtedly represent one of the most successful music collaborations in history. Over a period of just seven years, between 1962-69, they published around 180 songs written collaboratively. Unlike many other music partnerships, Lennon and McCartney each wrote both music and lyrics.

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro

While Hollywood partnerships usually last about as long as Hollywood marriages, director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro have made a total of nine films together, and their partnership is ongoing. Their projects include some of the undisputed greatest films of all time, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Casino. Their collaboration is well into its fourth decade with the recent announcement of The Winter of Frankie Machine.

Ellery Queen

If you’re not familiar with Ellery Queen, chances are your parents or grandparents are. In a series of novels that spanned 42 years, Ellery Queen was one of the most successful mystery writers of all time, transitioning from popular books to radio, TV, and movies. The name was the pseudonym of two writers, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee, whose collaboration was so effortless, they only needed one name.

Coco Chanel and Pierre Wertheimer

Great collaborations don’t always have to involve two creative types. Sometimes they just require one creative type and a benefactor who recognizes the other person’s genius. Such was the case with fashion designer Coco Chanel, who benefited from theWertheimer’s expertise on commerce as well as his capital to launch Chanel perfumes. While the deal later went sour, working with Wertheimer ultimately made Chanel a very famous and very rich woman.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield

Sometimes it helps if you’re already best friends. In 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop in an old gas station in downtown Vermont, after learning ice cream making through a correspondence course –the early version of learning it online. You now know them as the names on your carton of Ben & Jerry’s

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Though some say they disagreed about almost everything on their first meeting at Stanford University, Larry and Sergey quickly became friends. Cramming their dorm room with cheap computers and armed with Brin’s data mining system, they ultimately used a rented garage to start up what ultimately became Google.

What do all these great collaborations have to do with Oozil? Everything. Enabling collaborative work is one of the driving forces of Oozil, and you can be part of it. With Oozil’s tools, you can find the Lennon to your McCartney, or the Larry to your Sergey, without even leaving home.

Oozil’s got your ticket to ride.

By Elizabeth Kelly