Copy Writing for your website!

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Have you ever looked at an advertisement and wondered what product was being sold? If so, you’re not alone. Writers Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin thought the same thing and concluded, after 30 years in the marketing and advertising business, that the creative trend in ads has gone way too far. They believe modern companies should follow the advice of legendary ad man Rosser Reeves, and focus on their Unique Selling Proposition.

Thomas Stanley and William Danko are professors of sociology who have made studying wealthy Americans their specialty. They have performed extensive statistical research to profile who wealthy Americans are, how they acquired their wealth, how they live, and how their families function.

From the inception, Stanley and Danko make it clear that the image of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” has nothing to do with the lifestyle of most wealthy Americans, especially first-generation wealthy Americans. Contrary to the belief of many people who believe most wealth is inherited and “you can’t make it in America today,” eighty percent of America’s millionaires are first-generation rich.

Copy Writing for your website!

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1) How a big client, an Elephant, can help your business grow;
2) How to select and win a big client;
3) What is required to manage and build a major account; and
4) What five killer mistakes to avoid when a high-profile client
rules your revenues.

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In this blogcast, you will learn: 1) How the Internet has changed marketing and public relations; 2) What new techniques maximize Web-based marketing; and 3) What roles blogs, wikis and list serves play.

Brief Chapter Overview:

We seem to be a species of seekers, forever seeking out new ventures, new adventures, new opportunities, the continual search for self. With all these hours waged in the pursuit of personal identity, clearly we’ve come to appreciate that it’s an important pursuit, at that. So, if the definition of self-identity is so highly valued, wouldn’t the same expedition apply to our business venture? Chapter 3 deals with “Brand Identity,” a clear and conceivable description of you and your business…one that will cultivate a very specific perception of your business practices and Mission Statement, if you will. As briefly discussed in Chapter 3, the jury is still out on a “catch-all” definition of brand identity. Suffice to say that the your brand, is you, so don’t take it’s creation or re-creation lightly!

An effective Brand Identity incorporates three fundamental vehicles of communication:

• Visual Component – this is the aesthetic piece of your brand identity, incorporating graphics and images utilizing an effective and catchy color palette that best captures your business.

• Written Component – The written component includes font types and sizes, writing styles and creativity. Remember, the fonts and writing styles you select should consistently reflect your overall image…in other words, it should “make sense”.

• Verbal Component – The foundation of this component is your “30-second elevator speech”. This is your opportunity to relay your brand verbally in a short, succinct and subtle verbal description of your Mission Statement.

That being said, if your Brand ID is doing it’s job, it has successfully encapsulated the purpose and function of your business, what clients can expect from you and your business, formulates a positive image of your business in the minds of your clients and begins laying the groundwork for relationship building with your clients. Your Brand Identity should create an authentic desire in the minds of your potential demographic, that, “yes….this is a company/individual I want to do business with”!

2. Bulleted Helpful Tips:
   Now that you’ve rolled up your sleeves and have settled into the task of identifying your business brain-child, don’t be swayed by what may feel like a daunting pursuit. Developing an effective Brand Identity is a serious activity, and the time and energy invested in the study can make or break your business venture. Buck up friends and never fear…you need not face the job alone…their exists a plethora of businesses who’s sole purpose is to help you actualize yours. One Stop Print Shop works diligently to help small and medium-sized businesses discover, re-discover or uncover your unique brand identity, and creates a promotional strategy, putting your unique brand identity to work by providing an number of effective promotional items baring your style. Regardless of whether or not you opt to hire a company in the know, or to go it alone, here are a few pointers to keep in mind before plunging in:

• Take into consideration the image or project you want to project;

• What style would you like to communicate to your clients? Are you conventional, hip, nostalgic?

• Who is your demographic, who are you targeting your services or product to? Youth, middle-class families, the elderly, women, men? I think you get the idea!

• How will your Brand Identity set you apart from your competitors, and while we’re on the topic, what are your competitors doing, anyway?

• How will your Brand Identity reflect your mission and the wants and needs of your client-base.

• Remember VVW! An effective Brand Identity should always include a verbal, visual and written component.

• Ralph Waldo Emerson contended that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”. Suffice to say that when it comes to Brand Imaging, there is nothing “foolish” about consistency, in fact, one may say it is the skeleton of your marketing campaign, clearly it’s not Emerson’s!

3. Real-Life Example:

Sales for Hunt’s Boston varied office products was waning. The company realized that they needed to update their brand identity with a “hip,” new look to boost sales and reassert themselves in the market of inexpensive and fashionable office product, but did not have the luxury of marketing funds.

Working with an outside organization to help with copy and aesthetic, Hunt’s Boston implemented a new color strategy for their imaging. These changes were immediately applied to all their current product, as well as their promotional materials and administrative tools (i.e. letterhead, envelopes, invoices, etc.). In collaboration with their consultants, the lifestyle trends of their buyer demographic were surveyed and an effective color palette was generated. These new palettes reflected a new demographic Hunt’s was eager to appeal to, the youth markets. Their research revealed that a younger demographic was most interested in the small home-office environment or SOHO. As such, Hunt’s shifted their color palette and font palette accordingly, seeking to appeal to the 20-something’s in their market. The effort proved highly successful and inexpensive.

Hunt’s brand identity and it’s color “face-lift”re-established them as an innovative “trend-setting” company. Their brand awareness was increased and retail sales increased 30% across all Boston products.

4. Final Words (Where to get more info):

Great, so you’ve been armed with an appreciable amount of information about Brand Identity, but, as I’ve mentioned, this undertaking is not for the faint of heart…”knowledge is power” (can’t seem to avoid punctuating with quotes, can I)? So arm yourself with as much information about developing an effective Brand Identity now, before you get started, and while your at it, you may want to consider a bit of research into affordable organizations and/or individuals who’s own Mission Statement includes developing effective imaging for small businesses. I thought I’d give you a little jump start:

• www.youronestop.com

• http://www.womeninconsulting.org/consultants/articles/improve-brand-identity.html

• http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingglossary/l/bldefbrandid.htm

• Designing Brand Identity: A Complete Guide to Creating, Building, and Maintaining Strong Brands by Alina Wheeler

• The Brand Gap: Expanded Edition by Marty Neumeier

In this Blogcast, you will learn:

1) Who citizen marketers are;

2) How they are transforming media, corporations and marketing; and

3) How social media will affect you.

My wife owns about about 50 domain names…all these names reflect my passion on a particular topic of interest in her life. For the last several years she has believed that her efforts would begin to payoff over time…a nice conservative investment. She was right. You can pick up an unregistered domain name for under $10…She has even spent as much as a few thousand for some.

The trick is to make a steady income from developing these sites and driving customers to them (www.gettingthewordout.com , www.511tacticalwny.com and www.youronestop.com) or reselling them after developing a concept (www.understandingothers.com and www.nowstarringbaby.com) .

The longest running site and most profitable is www.youronestop.com (YOS). I have had YOS up and running for about 4 years but it hasn’t been until the last 3 years that I learned how to maximize my site potential and actually make significant money from it. The name alone has generated interest because of it’s highly generic nature. Seven years back I was offered almost $20,000 ($17,500) for it. Had I been offered $20,000 for it I would have sold it…thank god I didn’t because I now believe it worth 10-20 times more that much. Just this past year alone(2007), I have made several time more then the original offer adding up to a significant 2nd (almost passive) income.

Here is a great article i recently read (put out by buydomains.com) that I wanted to share that highlights this little know money making trend:

Domain Names “An Oasis” in Tough Economic Times?
Recent Press Coverage in NY Times and Elsewhere Points to Strength of Domain Aftermarket — and an Evolution in the Marketplace.
A recent New York Times story points to a significant evolution in the domain name aftermarket. “The practitioners’ fundamental assertion — that names of Web sites can be valuable, cash-generating assets just like stocks, bonds or property — appears to be gaining a broader acceptance…”

Why is there such interest in this active marketplace? The Times story quoted a domain investor as saying: “This industry could probably be an oasis, in the grand scheme of things, relative to the rest of the economy…”

At the high end of the market, headliner sales over the past two years include: Diamond.com for $7.5 million in 2006 and CreditCheck.com for $3 million in 2007. And big-ticket sales aren’t slowing down: there were over 100 sales over $100,000 in 2007, up from only 70 in 2006.

What Does This Growth Mean for Business Owners?

So how does the “commoditization” and mainstreaming of the domain name aftermarket affect the small business owner?

The headliner sales are just the tip of a large “domain” iceberg. A recent Investor’s Business Daily story cites the growth in “direct navigation” as contributing to the jump in domain prices. Direct navigation is where Internet searchers put “something” dot-com or dot-net directly into the navigation bar of the browser instead of typing a query into a search engine like Google.

The story notes that analysts estimate 15% of Internet searches are conducted in this fashion. The article also notes that year-over-year growth in online advertising topped 60% in 2007. This is because consumers are increasingly moving online, and businesses are following. With a continuing growth in web traffic and a true globalization of online commerce the audience for small, online businesses continues to expand and a great web address has the potential to reach ever-growing numbers of consumers in a cost-effective manner.

BuyDomains customer Braden Pollock of LegalBrandMarketing.com sums it up well when he says: “Never underestimate the power of the internet. I’ve reallocated a significant portion of my advertising budget to purchasing domain names. I find it much more cost-effective in the long term by purchasing domains that provide ongoing direct navigation traffic. The traffic is free and the domains appreciate in value.”