New copywriting site live

About 10 months ago, David Brooks reorganized my copywriting site and he did a great job. I've added to my portfolio and made some changes to my copywriting services so I reorganized my direct response copywriting site.

The new site is here.

Still some tweaking required but I'm happy with it.

Of course, what I think is mostly irrelevant! Will it help me achieve what a website MUST achieve? The site follows as many of the rules of direct marketing as applied to websites.

I've written, in this blog among other spots, that if you put a group of the best direct marketers in a room and ask them to critique each other's work, the marketers will implement the recommended changes. Every serious direct marketer is constantly striving to get more response.

Take a look at my site and if you have tweaks you think you I should make, contact me and, for your time, I'll send you a new special report I just published...Eight Ways to Keep Visitors Glued to Your Website.

If you're looking for a great direct marketer, go to Rome

Every copywriter, every direct marketer, can learn something from the young American woman in Rome...

I was fortunate to visit Rome several years ago. On the last day of the visit, I went to the Colesseum then across the road to...well...it's not really a site like the Colesseum but more of a collection of ruins, rocks, and tourists like me who were wandering around trying to sort through the rubble. It's essentially the site of ancient Roman politics. It think it was the Parco di Traiano perhaps...anyway...it was a bunch of rocks and pillars to me!

As I was wandering around cluelessly, starting to think about dinner, a young woman came up and said that she would make a 15-minute free presentation explaining what went on here. She gathered quite a group, about 200, in fact.

Speaking eloquently to the group in front of one of the more distinguishable ruins, she brought the place to life, telling us about the ancient Roman politicians and even performing some Shakespeare...Caesar's speech just before he got done in, I think. This 'freebie' was brilliant and you could have heard a pin drop when she was speaking.

Just before the end of the presentation, she said, "Tomorrow, I'm giving a tour of St. Peter's and I'm going to show you places not on the normal tours and I'm going to tell you about the artists, many of whom were tortured souls who gave everything for their art...and the tour is just $30 and it's limited to just 20 people. Come see me now. It's first-come, first-served."

If I hadn't been leaving the next day, I would have paid the fee.

Looking back on this, what great marketing!

She went to a target-rich environment...hundreds of clueless tourists wandering around aimlessly wanting to know more...

She provided salient FREE information...what on earth are all these ruins?

Her presentation was totally flawless and she provided great information...it was a SHOW! You definitely wanted more.

And then her sales pitch for the "upsell" was perfect. Good price point. Exclusivity. More great information. Tease...BUY NOW!

It was textbook.

What can we learn?

If you're not getting a lot of people who want your information (or what you have to offer) to your website, get them through old-fashioned badgering, search, adwords, whatever. Provide some free information to prove what you have to offer is good/great and satisfies a need. Then provide the next step, preferably with some exclusivity.

I don't know if that young woman is there today but I'd like to take her tour of St. Peter's.

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My new website, by hook or by crook, goes live tomorrow. For now, go to my Krop portfolio here.

Copywriter stops talking and...writes!

Had the pleasure of speaking today at a direct mail boot camp Scott Concannon of PCI Group put on today here in Charlotte. Instead of simply talking about direct response copywriting, I conducted an experiment, trying to WRITE the copy for a direct response letter in about 20 minutes. I asked for a volunteer from the audience then wrote, or at least started to write, a direct a letter to sell their service.

I spent the first ten minutes asking the volunteer some questions (the research) then wrote a headline, the PS, then some benefits. I think it was a much more useful exercise than simply talking about copy. I was a bit overambitious so next time I speak, I'll take an existing letter and dissect it but I know actually writing the copy was better than simply babbling on.

My goal was to get the audience members to look into the head of a direct response copywriter. Yes...I know that's a dangerous place to be but the audience seemed to enjoy the adventure.

Every person who attended got a copy of my personal direct response copywriting checklist. If you'd like it, leave a comment and I'll be in touch.

Some serious direct marketing people were in the room and it was great to see them nodding their heads in agreement with everything I said. There's little that's really new in direct response...we all simply do what's worked before.

Copywriter listens to advice from fellow direct response professional

This morning, I met with a client to go over some copy. My client also works with Chestin Salisbury who attended my April marketing boot camp and is a direct marketing expert. Earlier in the week, I asked Chestin to take a look at my YouTube video. He liked it but said I was missing something...AN OFFER! It's such a basic direct marketing ingredient yet I totally forgot it...so I'll be reorganizing my video to include an irresistible offer.

When someone who really knows what he/she is doing offers advice, are you willing to listen? I am. Are you willing to do what it takes to put the advice into action? I am. It's what success is all about, especially today.

I was listening to a Dan Kennedy podcast the other day and it reminded me of something extremely important...look at what successful people do then do what they do. It's easier said than done I know but the road map is always there.

I'm a direct response copywriter. Here's my current website. Here's Chestin's site...one of them!

UPDATE...just got a ton of feedback from a direct response fanatic who contacted me through Elance. I agreed with all his feedback and will start to make the necessary changes...a direct response copywriter MUST have all the boxes checked when it comes to marketing.

Two new copywriting projects

A couple of recent direct response copywriting projects came out well. A squeeze page for a company in Worcester, England. And a local roofing company.

Direct response copy for a local roofing company; click for larger version.

[caption id="attachment_193" align="alignleft" width="231" caption="You should have seen what this squeeze page looked like before the total makeover."]
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For my copywriting site, go here. For my portfolio, go here. To see me on YouTube, go here.