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1. You could decrease or increase the length of
   your ad copy. There is no rule on how long your
   ad copy should be unless space is a consideration.
   The ad should be long enough to sell your product.
2. You could add some sub headlines on your ad
   copy. Sub headlines act just like headlines; they
   grab the readers attention. They’ll keep the readers
   interested as they continue to read your ad.
3. You could ask your reader questions through out
   the ad copy. They will answer the questions in their
   own head as they read your ad copy. The questions
   you ask should persuade the reader into buying.
4. You could highlight keywords through out your
   ad copy. The keywords should be attractive to
   your target audience. You could highlight them with
   color, underlines, italics, etc.
5. You could bullet or indent your benefits on your
   ad copy. Must people won’t read a whole ad copy,
   so make your products benefits standout and you
   won’t lose the sales from all the skimmers.
6. You could change the size of your text on your
   ad copy. You want to make your text large enough
   so it’s not hard to read. You also want your headline
   and major points to be larger so they will standout.
7. You could raise or lower the price on your ad
   copy. A higher price could i.ncrease the perceived
   value of your product and a lower price could
   lesson your product’s value.
8. You could add proof of results on your ad copy.
   You should include testimonials, endorsements,
   and factual statistics to prove your product’s claims.
9. You could add special offers on your ad copy.
   It’s usually easier to sell the offer than the product.
   You could use discounts, free bonuses, volume
   sales, etc.
10. You could eliminate the hard-to-understand
    jargon on your ad copy. Unless your product calls
    for technical words, you want your ad to be read
    without people pulling out a dictionary.

Having a blog for your business makes good marketing sense. So now you have to start creating some content for your blog. Here are a few tips on business blogging. I’ve taken these from Debbie Weil’s Top 7 tips to Write an Effective Business Blog. Download her pdf for more information and tips on writing an effective blog. She’s the queen of business blogging!

• Start with a topic you are passionate about
• concentrat on shorter, more frequent entries in your blog
• Let your authentic “voice” emerge
• Use correct grammar and syntax
• Write for the web: purposefully organize the content of your blog (I’m definitely going to do some more reading on that subject!!)
• Post at least once a week, preferably two or three times a week
• Include your key contact information

Using Debbie’s techniques will help boost your blog interest and readability. If you want to learn more about Debbie, visit her site www.BlogWriteForCEOs.com

Why would you want to add a blog to your business website?

A blog has natural search engine optimization features. By posting on a regular basis, your blog can help your business in many ways:

• create new, fresh content for your site
• each post is a new html document that the search engine spiders love
• you can share information with your readers
• you can solicit feedback on a product, question or book

If you don’t have a blog, or are unsure of what a blog is, why don’t you join the women of San Diego Women, Inc. on October 27th. I’ll be sharing why small business owners should incorporate internet marketing and blogging in their marketing efforts.

Additional Reading: Business Blogging and Blogging

1. Make a commitment to write!
   Schedule an appointment with yourself. Make some quiet time start by deciding what you want to write. Do you want to write an articles? An ebook? Maybe a novel! Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Look at your watch. Complete this sentence in one minute: “I would love to write —” Done?

   Please don’t read on until you’ve done the exercise. OK. Now, before your left brain kicks in with a huge pile of negativity, commit to this thing that you have your heart set on writing. I’ll count down, from three to one, and at the count of one, please take a deep breath and say: “I commit to writing (whatever it was that you wrote in the exercise above).” Three, two, one . say aloud: “I commit to writing —-”

2. Take Five
   How much can you write in five minutes? Let’s find out. Start with five tips. I know you can write five tips about your subject. Now that you have your five tips, take some time to expand each tip. Take five to write content for your current project. You can do this. It’s only five minutes. Just write, don’t think, just write. Think if you spend only 20 to 30 minutes a day writing and/or expanding on your content, your project will be completed in no time at all!

3. Need a Buddy?
   You can share your writing with someone. After all this can really keep you accountable. Find someone who wants to write something. You can each check the other’s work on a scheduled basis. Maybe you check in once a day, twice a week, etc. The objective is to keep yourselves writing. Don’t worry that the work is still in the rough stages. It’s only to keep you accountable and moving forward in your writing. All you need to do is find someone as committed as you are to completing your project.

4. Make writing the first thing you do every day
   Block out specific time each day for writing. If you are a morning person, write first thing. Decide for yourself when you are the most productive. Set the stage for your writing. Do you want some nice soft music, scented candles, a quiet room. Create the atmosphere that will help you be the most productive during your writing time. If the environment is inviting, you’ll look forward to spending this time writing your project.

5. Give up your attachment to the outcome
   Just relax. You can always revisit your copy and revise it at any point in time. For this exercise, you just need to get the content out. It’s always easy to look at your first draft and think it’s not up to par. It’s just the first draft. Once you get past that, the editing will be a piece of cake. You can analyze your content, rework the copy, buff it out and make it outstanding, after you get it out.

Now, just make the commitment to sit down, take five and let the words pour out of you. Have fun!

Recommended Reading: How To Write An Ebook

There is nothing better than being able to sell your own product. The problem is, how do you create a product that is actually sellable?

With the advent of the internet, product creation has taken a whole new aspect. Whereas in the real world, creators vie for ideas that are tangible and physically deliverable, the web allows creators to package information as profitable merchandise. It is the age of information after all, and information is one of the primary factors that drive online dealings.

Information products can take many forms. You could publish your own e-book. Or if you wish to come up with something less daunting, you could distribute your own special report. Electronic magazines, or e-zines, can also be sold through subscription. All of these are effective methods of conveying novel information.
The best thing about it is that you don’t even have to write them. If you simply don’t have the time to come up with an e-book, a special report or any information product, you could hire someone to write them for you. Ghostwriting services are abundant on the net.

But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves.

In creating a product, the businessman is confronted with many questions that more often than not derail the creation process. Hence, here are five answers to the five most common questions that an internet marketer encounters in information product creation.

1. What’s the first step in creating a product?
   The answer is simple: you need an idea. Coming up with that idea, however, is the difficult part.

   You have to realize that everything is a product, as everything is information that, when packaged correctly, is desirable to certain people. Try to update yourself with the latest trends. Read a lot of books and newspapers. Be on the lookout for things that might inspire a deeper study.

   Also, think in terms of titles. For example, you’re reading the papers and an article therein reports of unique wedding ideas. Think big. Think flamboyantly. Apply these thoughts to titles. You should come up with something as grand as “Ten Truly Magnificent Ways To Celebrate Your Wedding,” or “Ten Enchanting Ideas To Make Your Dream Wedding A Reality.”

   Remember, product creation is partly driven by packaging. Titles add so much to the overall feel of the product. And conceptualizing a title would assure that you would be able to keep your focus during the rest of the creation process.

2. Where do I get content?
   Information products are naturally carried out through content. If the content is good, the information would be excellently conveyed. There are three ways to get good content.

   First, write the product yourself. If you have the time to do so, then no one is better suited to convey the idea than you.

   Second, hire a good ghostwriter. Ghostwriting services abound on the web. Look for a good and affordable one.

   Third, you could try public domain information. These are free to use, and they are easy to find for those who actually try to look for them. Basically, all works before 1923, and some works before 1978, are considered public domain information. You could reproduce these without having to pay any royalties.

3. How do I package my product?
   Selling them as mere .doc or .txt files would seem amateurish and unattractive. The usual format used for information products is .pdf or .exe. Of the two, .pdf is more widely used, but .exe offers more eye-grabbing features.

   Converting your products into .pdf is simple. There are many free resources available on the net that would allow you to do this. Creating a .exe file, on the other hand, would need some programming skills.

4. What price should I put on my product?
   Basically, there is no limit as to how much you could price your product. If you feel it is worth $500, then sell it for $500.

   Some are afraid that by pricing their products at a high amount, marketability would suffer. The truth of the matter is, it could go either way. Assigning a high price for your product may give the impression that it is something valuable. This would attract potential buyers.

   Additionally, you could add more value to your product by packaging it with freebies. An e-book with two accompanying software programs, for example, would perfectly justify a high price that is attached to it.

5. What if my product has run its course?
   Even if you feel that you have squeezed every possible profit from your product, you could still earn from it.

   Try selling its master resale rights.

   This simply means that instead of selling your product, you’d be selling the authority that would allow others to re-brand and resell your product any way they see fit. This shouldn’t concern you anymore as you’ve exhausted all the markets that would buy your creation. Let other people worry about marketing it for further profit, but do take their money as parting gifts for a product that has served you well.

Two Ebook programs I recommend are Ebook Gold and Ebook Starter

1. Solve an existing problem for people. There are
   thousands of problems in the world. Create a product
   that can provide a solution to one of those problems.
2. Find out what’s the current hot trend. You can find
   out what the new trends are by watching T.V, reading
   magazines and surfing the net. Just create a product
   that’s related to the current hot trend.
3. Improve a product that is already on the market.
   You see products at home, in ads, at stores etc. Just
   take a product that’s already out there and improve it.
4. Create a new niche for a current product. You can
   set yourself apart from your competition by creating a
   niche. Your product could be faster, bigger, smaller,
   or quicker than you competitor’s product.
5. Add on to an existing product. You could package
   your current product with other related products. For
   example, you could package a football with a team
   jersey and football cards.
6. Reincarnate an older product. Maybe you have a
   book that’s out of print and is no longer being sold.
   You could change the title, design a new front cover,
   and bring some of the old content up to date.
7. Ask your current customers. You could contact
   some of your existing customers by phone or e-mail
   and ask them what kind of new products they would
   like to see on the market.
8. Combine two or more products together to create
   a new one. For example, you could take a brief case
   and add a thermos compartment inside to keep a
   drink hot or cold.
9. Survey the people who visit your web site. You
   could post a survey or questionnaire on your web site.
   Ask visitors what kind of products they would like to
   see on the market.
10. You could create a new market for your existing
    product. For example, if you’re selling plastic bottles
    to a pop company, you could turn around and sell
    those bottles to a fruit drink company.

Recommended Reading:Create Your Own Info Products

A great idea from my friend Allie:

Like so many, I have been at a loss as to how to help those left homeless and so devastated by Hurricane Katrina. I’ve given money to the Red Cross, but basically I’ve felt totally useless. I’ve scoured the internet for alternative ways of helping to no avail.

Then it occurred to me that I have the ability to create a project myself. And “The Blanket Buddies Project” was launched. My committment is to organize the creation, collection and distribution of at least 1000 cozy handmade NO SEW fleece blankets for the children of this disaster. They only take a few hours to make, require no talent and are soft and oh so cozy. One can’t help but feel security and comfort when wrapped up in one. They ooze love.

Will you help?

My thrown together homepage has information on how to make them.

Do you have others you can pass this on to?
Do you know places we can post a message?
Do you have contacts in groups like, sewing circles, church groups, school groups, ect, that you can contact and/or rally?

You’ve got a cool new website with all the works: cool Flash presentations, eye-catching colors, informative text, easy-to-use layout, and an interesting topic. You think your site is amazing, and you know that others will agree with you. If only they know it exists.

How do you make your website known? How do you make yours stand out among millions of others? You can spend lots of money on advertisement, but that will not work if you don’t have the money to spare on advertising. So what do you do? Make search engines work for you, that’s what!

Google, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, Altavista – you want to be at the top of their results list. The higher your site is in a search results page, the better chances that it will be visited. The science behind making your site a popular search result is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Don’t worry, though – even if SEO is referred to as a science, it is not all that complicated. You just need to take note of a few things, and before you know it, your site will have more visitors than you could ever dream of.

Here are five tips to ensure that your site would be a favorite of search engines all around the cyber world.

1. Give importance to substance over appearance
   Do you want to share your knowledge on a subject that you have authority on? Do you want to sell products? Do you want to build an online shrine for your favorite actress? Whatever topic you have chosen for your website, make sure that you are able to give useful information on it. Search engines work by scanning sites for keywords. They search text and completely ignore everything else. So if you have made your site rich in colors, don’t forget to make it rich in content as well. After all, a beautiful layout can make people look, but relevant content is what will make them stay. Remember, in this day and age: content is king!
2. Know your topic well
   If you know much about your topic, you will know what people usually ask about it, and what they ask about it is what they will type in the search bar. When writing the content for your website, put yourself in your other people’s shoes, people who will be your target audience or market. Know the possible questions they might have about your topic, and give answers in your site.
3. Learn from the best
   Take time to browse and read sites that get lots of visitors and have the same topic as yours. Take note of any recurring phrases in these sites’ text. These phrases are most likely keywords. Incorporate them in your own site’s content. Don’t saturate your site with keywords, though. You don’t want to sound redundant to your site visitor. A 3% density level would be enough.
   In searching for the right keywords, use Overture’s services. It may take quite some time, as it is more of a trial-and-error method, but the results are conclusive, and a pattern can easily be observed.
4. Submit…and re-submit
   You will never get a certain job if you don’t send in your application for it. The same thing applies to SEO. If you want your site to be recognized by search engines, then go out of your way to register your site with them. After a couple of weeks, search for your site by putting in the keywords you used in your content. If your site is still not coming up in the search results, do not give up, and just re-register and resubmit your site. It’s possible that your initial registration was discarded without being processed. This usually happens because a lot of submissions are being done everyday.
5. Constantly update your site
   This can’t be stressed enough: search engine spiders love sites which constantly change their content. You can’t build your site and expect it to last forever without any updates. There will come a time when those search engine spiders would stop fetching your site for query requests. Here’s a tip: integrate a blog program in your site. Blogs have a user-friendly interface that allows easy updates.

Additional Reading: Search Engine Ascent, Blogger’s Edge

You’ve finally written your first article. Congratulations! Now what do you do with your article?

First you need to make sure to add a “how to publish” statement to the begninning of your article. You also need to end your article with a resource box.

A “how to publish” statement reads something like this:

“Please feel free to publish this article on your web site and/or in your e-book or newsletters with the authors resource box included and without any changes to the article. (Add your contact e-mail)” If you’d like them to inform you as to where and how your article will be used, just ask them to send a complimentary copy of the ezine, or a link to where your article is published.

A resource box appears at the end of an article. This is what makes your article a powerful viral marketing tool. It tells the reader valuable information about you, your services and the link to your website.

Here’s an example of a resource box:

Debra Simpson, has been helping small business owners use the internet to market and grow their businesses. Her website, Magic In Words offers plenty of information to help you make “magic” with your words.

Next, begin submitting your article to article submission sites. These sites are specifically for articles and are where ezine publishers and web masters go for free content for the ezines and web sites.

Below are a few sites to get you started. The first few Article Submission Sites are Yahoo Groups. You have to be a member of the group and each group will have a subscribe address. Joining and submitting is very easy. Just go to their site and follow from there.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ap-shorts –400 words or less

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/free-content

As you write articles, keep in mind that you can bundle the articles together to create an ebook. But, that will need to wait for another day!

Recommended Reading
Article Magic

You’ve finally written your first article. Congratulations! Now what do you do with your article?

First you need to make sure to add a “how to publish” statement to the begninning of your article. You also need to end your article with a resource box.

A “how to publish” statement reads something like this:

“Please feel free to publish this article on your web site and/or in your e-book or newsletters with the authors resource box included and without any changes to the article. (Add your contact e-mail)” If you’d like them to inform you as to where and how your article will be used, just ask them to send a complimentary copy of the ezine, or a link to where your article is published.

A resource box appears at the end of an article. This is what makes your article a powerful viral marketing tool. It tells the reader valuable information about you, your services and the link to your website.

Here’s an example of a resource box:

Debra Simpson, has been helping small business owners use the internet to market and grow their businesses. Her website, Magic In Words offers plenty of information to help you make “magic” with your words.

Next, begin submitting your article to article submission sites. These sites are specifically for articles and are where ezine publishers and web masters go for free content for the ezines and web sites.

Below are a few sites to get you started. The first few Article Submission Sites are Yahoo Groups. You have to be a member of the group and each group will have a subscribe address. Joining and submitting is very easy. Just go to their site and follow from there.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ap-shorts –400 words or less

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/free-content

As you write articles, keep in mind that you can bundle the articles together to create an ebook. But, that will need to wait for another day!

Recommended Reading
Article Magic