If the messaging on your website content, press releases, brochures or other marketing methods aren’t getting you results, then change it. Particularly with online content, its remarkably easy to switch up calls to action or sales pitches at the click of a button. As this video shows, the same principle holds for your business copywriting as for the guy who’s holding a sign on the street.

Marketing in it’s purest form is not about selling, it is simply a form of communication and as such is a neutral concept that can be used for good or for evil.

I’ve had newsletter subscribers tell me that even though they are not in business or marketing, they read my newsletters cover to cover and always find something that helps them. From the librarian who wants kids to know about the many fun, educational programs they can become involved in, to the kindergarten teacher who needs parents on board with her classroom policies, they find ideas on improving communication and getting better buy-in whatever their valuable, beneficial message.

Have you used a “marketing” tool or idea in a non-marketing context? I’d love to know about your experience. Leave a comment.

We’ll be talking about how to use your website, blog, newsletters, sales letters, press releases and more to promote your business.

This upcoming session is already sold out. Of course, if you didn’t manage to register for this back in February but want to learn more about how we can help your business with professional copywriting services, give us a call for a consultation

Your website is the hub of your online business marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling widgets, providing a range of B2B services or hunting blood-crazed Nosferatu – your website must provide customers with the information they need to make a purchase.

This series will tell you what sort of content you need to have on your website and how to make that content effective in reaching your target audience. While the information is very useful for freelance vampire hunters, business owners and entrepreneurs from a wide range of markets can also apply this information for their own online marketing campaigns.

Staking Out the Heart of Your Website

“I just don’t get it,” complained Steve van Helsing in a gloomy lament. “I’ve already got a whole bunch of vampire kills under my belt. And the job last month was really high-profile, too. We were all over the World Weekly News. But still, most of my new business is coming from word of mouth and referrals. When is my website going to start paying for itself?”

We were meeting in the Waves Coffee place at West 10th and Main for an early morning website content audit consultation. I’m a big fan of the free wi-fi, so it’s become my default office away from home. Also, Steve assured me that he’d never seen any undead at that particular location, so it worked well for both of us.

Shifting my gaze from Steve’s frown to the only slightly more dismal sight of his business website, I tried not to show my own disappointment. But it was tough.

His website was of the old static bulletin board variety. No blog. No case studies. The service offerings were generic at best, mostly focused on the technical aspects of killing vampires instead of the benefits that set his small firm apart from all of the other vampire-hunting operations in the world. And it looked like no one had updated the site with fresh content in years.

Even his contact information was inadequate; how were terrified village folk supposed to get in touch with Steve when he didn’t even list a business phone number? The form he had up was hopeless.

“Steve, I’m going to take you through what you need to do to reach your target market,” I said. “I’m going to be brutally honest. Your website needs a big chunk of new content for your customers to find you online. But after we’re done, you’ll have a website you can be proud of. More importantly, you’re going to need a boatload of garlic and wooden stakes to keep up with demand. Are you with me?”

Steve didn’t seem terribly convinced, but his frown had at least transformed into a grimace. He nodded. “OK. You’re the copywriter. Tell me what I need to do.”

To be continued in Part 2: Website Content that Gets More Bites from Customers

That’s the reason I should hire this guy instead of the other ten thousand realtors who want my business? Because he’s up all night, ever night, singing “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “Faith of the Heart”?

Yes, I know; the point was to get across that he’s available for his clients when they need him… in which case, how about this slogan? “I’m here for you.”

That way, he gets across that he’s available and will probably have to take fewer drunk-dialing home-selling clients at 3 am.

The ad is an utter failure.

The advertisement is for a course that will get students thinking about God, spirituality and the meaning of life.

The problem is that the photo in the advertisement doesn’t match the content. I look at the image of the guy embracing the awe-inspiring sight of nature unbound.

Based on that, my immediate answer to the question in the ad is “No. There’s nothing more to life than this. Clearly, this beautiful material world is what it’s all about. I have nothing to learn from a course on spirituality or religion because the meaning of life is all around me.”

Just to clarify, that answer above is not my usual view of religion and spirituality. The ad persuaded me to respond in this way. So, how to fix it so that it will actually work?

The fix is simple, actually. Change the line from “Is there more to life than this?” to “Is there more to life?”, cutting out the last two words. The person looking at the ad suddenly conflates spirituality and religion with the wonders of the world.

On the other hand, you could make the ad way better by changing it to something like this:

I took the liberty of checking out the speaker bios and realized I also had the chance to provide a bit of a teaching moment. To wit, How To (And How Not To) Promote Yourself In A Bio On A Website:

First, showing how not to do it, we have Dave McClure of 500 Startups. Dave decided to take the quick attention-getting route of making himself out to be kind of a weirdo. I’m not sure it paid off for him, unless you subscribe to the idea that all publicity is good publicity — which hasn’t really worked out that well for BP, Conrad Black or the junta in Burma.

(And before any of Dave’s friends start talking about stones and glass houses, I know very well that I’ve crossed the line on a number of occasions using this very strategy [examples here and here]. So yes, I’m a hypocrite. Such is life.)

I’ve highlighted the, uh, best bits:

Dave McClure is a greedy, blood-sucking venture capitalist & founding general partner at 500 Startups, an internet startup seed fund and incubator program in Mountain View, CA. He likes to hang out with entrepreneurs, and occasionally help or invest in their startups if they are foolish enough to let him. Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years, and has worked with companies such as PayPal, Mint, Founders Fund, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, Twilio, Simply Hired, O’Reilly Media, Intel, & Microsoft. Years ago he used to do real work like coding or marketing or running conferences, but these days he mostly does useless stuff like sending lots of email, blogging, and hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.  Dave also likes to play ultimate frisbee when his knees don’t hurt

As I said, I’m not too fond of the above. But what do I know? I just put words together for a living.

Next, to show what I think is a good example. To compare, I’ll use Clarity Digital President Leonard Brody’s bio. It’s a bit long, but it works. Again, I’ve highlighted the parts I like — phrases that focus not so much on who he is as what he does and why he appears to rock the flock:

Leonard has been called “a controversial leader of the new world order”. He is a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author and a 2 time Emmy nominated media visionary. He has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or sale of five companies to date. In 2004, Leonard co-founded, and was CEO of, NowPublic.comnamed by Time Magazine as one of the top 50 websites in the world, was inducted into the Newseum in Washington and was recently acquired by the Anschutz Corporation. Currently Leonard sits as the President of the Clarity Digital Group responsible for overseeing one of the largest online news conglomerates in the world including Examiner.com and NowPublic, which between them, share over 20 million unique visitors a month and over 200,000 contributors. which is a pioneer in the field of citizen journalism. The company was

I see the difference. Can you see the difference?