Finding The Right Copywriter

Why did you hire your copywriter? It's a fairly safe bet that your answer includes one or two of these reasons:

• You needed someone with experience
• You needed an expert in their field
• You don't have time to do it yourself
• You don't have the right skill set to create effective copy
• You wanted to make sure your copy worked

Basically, what it comes down to is that you're serious about making your business a success and the best way to do that is to surround yourself with experts who can make it happen for you.

What does your copywriter do?

Have you ever asked that question?

Not many people (other than copywriters) understand what it takes to create amazing copy. So, what happens after you've briefed them?

Well, they will spend a lot of time getting to know:

•  You
•  Your company
• Your style
• Your products/services
• Your target market and their needs
• Your brand  

Then they'll research your competitors and what's happening in your market. If necessary, they'll make suggestions about how to tweak your original brief to ensure optimum results.

 

Once all the background has been done, they'll use their experience and expertise to create your copy, using tried and tested techniques to get the most out of the words.

 

They'll go to great pains to make sure the writing is firmly focused on the reader, providing them with everything they need to counter any objection they may have and to reach a buying decision.

 

The writing will then be shaped and laid out for optimum effect.

 

I'm sure you'll agree that's a lot of value.

 

The first draft arrives

 

You receive your first draft and, in light of all that I've said above, why oh why do you turn round and say…

"Oh, I think it would be better like this…" 

…and promptly make changes to the layout, wording and, worse of all, fill it with ‘we' and ‘me'?

Granted, there may be a few things that need amending, but you hired a professional writer because they understand how copy works, and how to use it to convince your readers to buy.

To illustrate this point, let's say you were about to have some plastic surgery done. After your consultation, during which time your surgeon outlines the procedure that will take place and how the surgery will be performed, would you say…

"Actually, don't you think it would be better if you did…?"

No, you wouldn't because they are an expert in their field and you trust their judgement.
Make sure you do your homework first.

Rather than leaving your search for a copywriter until the eleventh hour, plan ahead and look around.

Have a search through Google and see who you can find; ask for referrals from trusted local businesses.

Make a short list of people you think you could work with, and then phone them for a chat. If you get on, invite them in for a meeting so you talk over your project face to face. Ask for samples of their work - and don't be put off if they don't have anything to show identical to what you need. They don't need to be experts in your industry - that's your job. Their job is to create copy that sells.

As you are going to be working closely together it's essential you ‘click'.

As for their fee - let's put it this way, if they'll do all that you ask for the price of a tea bag, you're looking in the wrong place.

 

Good copywriting isn't cheap, but it is an investment that will continue to work for your business for as long as it's ‘out there'.

 

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.

So, when you next need expert copywriting help make sure you find the right person for you and trust them - they know what they're doing.

By Sally Ormond

NJ Woman Prosecuted for Facebook ID Theft

Although there’s been a lot of discussion about the potential for criminal prosecutions arising from online impersonation, New Jersey is one of the first states to see an actual prosecution for identity theft on social media. The lucky winner is Dana Thornton, a somewhat unbalanced-seeming 41-year-old woman from Bellville, NJ, who is accused of creating a fake Facebook page to defame her ex-boyfriend.

And defame she did, if the accusations are true: apparently Thornton used photos and personal information about her ex-boyfriend, a narcotics detective from northern New Jersey, to create a Facebook page where she then posted extremely unflattering statements supposedly made by the man himself. For example, the profile proclaimed that the individual in question liked to spend money on prostitutes, had herpes, was “high all the time,” and summed it all up with this sweeping self-indictment: “I’m a sick piece of scum with a gun.” As there’s no leniency for catchy turns of phrase, Thornton faces up to 18 months for fourth-degree identity theft, “for the purpose of obtaining a benefit for himself or another or to injure or defraud another.”

While this might strike the casual observer as just another colorful slice of New Jersey life, the court case is actually important because of a decision already rendered by the court -- specifically, the ruling that the case can proceed under existing identity theft law, even though the statute doesn’t specifically include electronic media as one of the venues where identity theft may occur.

State Superior Court Judge David Ironson brushed off an argument to that effect from Thornton’s lawyer, who said that the case should be dismissed because the statute didn’t mention electronic media. In his ruling Ironson wrote: “The fact that the means of committing the crime are not set forth in the statute doesn't lead to the conclusion that the defendant didn't commit the crime.” The NJ legislature is currently considering amending the identity theft statute to explicitly include electronic media. Currently only New York and California have laws explicitly banning online identity theft.

by Erik Sass,

What is Quality Score?

According to Google, Quality Score is Calculated from:

• The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) of the keyword and the matched ad on the Google domain; note that CTR on non-Google sites (such as AOL.com) only ever impacts Quality Score on our search partners - not on Google
• Your account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account
• The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group
• The quality of your landing page
• The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group
• The relevance of the keyword and the matched ad to the search query
• Your account’s performance in the geographical region where the ad will be shown
• Other relevance factors

101 Types Of Mobile Social Alerts

by David Berkowitz , Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Ever since Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), the coverage I've read has been far more excited about the forthcoming alert upgrades in iOS, Apple's mobile operating system, than the iCloud launch or hundreds of other updates. As more prominent alerts lead to even faster adoption of various mobile services and technologies, mobile social media should be disproportionately affected.

If you wonder why, remember that the Internet was always designed to be for communication above any other purpose. Mobile devices are similarly designed around communication first. We're social creatures, and we'll always pay the most attention to what other people are doing above all else.
To get an appreciation for the potential for how alerts can be used through Apple's mobile devices for social purposes, here are 101 possible examples. These are largely culled from current use cases, or potential use cases for existing apps -- but with a little more time and creativity, this list could reach 1,001 examples before long.

Here are 101 types of mobile social alerts:

1.     Someone is calling you
2.     You miss someone's call
3.     You receive a text message
4.     You receive an instant message
5.     You receive email
6.     A friend starts a video chat with you
7.     You're invited to a group chat
8.     A group chat's information has been updated
9.     A friend joins a group chat
10.  A friend leaves a group chat
11.  A friend is near you, based on their mobile device entering your area
12.  A friend explicitly checks in near you
13.  Someone with whom you share mutual friends checks in near you
14.  A friend plans to attend the same event you're planning on attending
15.  A friend plans to be in the same city as where you are or where you're going
16.  A friend follows multiple stages of an itinerary you have shared
17.  A friend earns a badge for their check-in activity
18.  A friend becomes the mayor, duke, or other leadership title of a venue
19.  Someone steals the mayorship or other leadership title of a venue you used to "own"
20.  A friend responds to an event you posted
21.  A friend sends you a recommendation
22.  A friend shares a recommendation with you based on a product they scan
23.  A friend seconds your recommendation
24.  A friend adds a recommendation to somewhere you've been
25.  Your status jumps to a new level because people like enough of your recommendations
26.  Your recommendation leads someone to purchase what you recommended
27.  A friend requests your recommendation on something they're considering buying or doing
28.  Responses arrive for a recommendation you're seeking
29.  A friend proactively shares a tip to help with a program or project you're involved with
30.  Someone responds to a question you asked through a question and answer service
31.  Someone rates your answer as helpful
32.  You become an expert for a given topic or location through a Q&A service
33.  Someone responds to a poll you asked
34.  Someone requests that you answer their poll
35.  You receive a photo or video
36.  You are tagged in a photo or video
37.  A friend updates their photo
38.  Someone posts a photo of the event or location where you are
39.  A friend takes a photo of the same person, place, or thing you previously shot
40.  A friend likes one of your photos or videos
41.  Someone responds to one of your photos or videos with a photo or video of their own
42.  A friend invites you to listen to their music playlist
43.  A friend sends you an application
44.  A friend sends you an e-book
45.  A friend sends you a virtual gift
46.  Someone tweets you
47.  Someone direct-messages you on Twitter
48.  Someone you follow tweets
49.  Someone on a list you follow tweets
50.  Your tweet is retweeted
51.  Someone tweets using a search term or hashtag you're following
52.  Someone follows you
53.  Someone sends you a friend request
54.  Someone accepts a friend request
55.  Your friend shares a status update in their social network profile's feed
56.  A friend likes your status update
57.  A friend comments on your status update
58.  Someone has viewed your profile
59.  Someone invites you to play a game
60.  A friend makes a move in a game you're playing
61.  A friend reminds you to take a turn in a game you're playing
62.  A friend beats you in a game
63.  A friend beats your high score in a game
64.  A friend reaches or surpasses your level of achievement in a game
65.  A friend helps you out in a game
66.  Someone shares a deal with you
67.  A friend invites you to take part in a deal that can only be redeemed if you both participate, whether virtually or in-person
68.  A friend sends you a progressive coupon that becomes more valuable the more it's shared
69.  A friend buys you a drink or another gift you can redeem in-store
70.  A friend offers to split a bill or tab with you
71.  A friend's contact information is updated
72.  Someone shares a contact with you
73.  It's a friend's birthday
74.  A friend becomes an expert of a product or category based on their barcode scanning behavior
75.  A friend invites you to collaborate on a document
76.  A friend updates a document you're both working on
77.  A friend sends you a file
78.  Someone updates traffic information in your area
79.  Someone updates weather information in your area
80.  A friend records having a better night's sleep than you did
81.  A friend comments on the page of a brand you like
82.  A friend likes a photo of a dish you ate
83.  A friend changes their relationship status
84.  Someone has a crush on you, such as through a dating site or app
85.  A potential relationship match is in the same venue or general vicinity as you
86.  A food truck or other mobile business you follow enters your area
87.  Your friend tunes into the same TV show that you're watching
88.  Your friend posts a comment to a TV show you're watching or interested in
89.  You or a friend earns a reward for regularly watching a TV series
90.  A friend joins you virtually for a run or another exercise program
91.  A new potential relative is discovered via shared connections on a family tree or genetic matches
92.  A certain number of your friends shared the same link
93.  A blog you read is updated
94.  Someone comments on a blog you read
95.  Your social influence ranking changes
96.  A friend installs the same app you're using
97.  Someone contributes to a crowd-sourced program you're running or participating in
98.  A friend bookmarks something you shared
99.  A new friend is added into your search engine's social search results
100.    A friend searches for something you've recently searched on as well
101.  The public sentiment of a trend you're following materially changes

Remember, this is just the beginning. Also keep in mind that not all mobile alerts are social. Alerts will tell you about sales, travel updates, game updates, and plenty more, but the ones that will really get people to pay attention are those focused on other people. If your mobile program includes communication at its core, you're setting yourself up for success.

5 Website Redesign Tips

Going through a website redesign? Keep these 5 tips in mind and use Lazworld.com Web development Services to help you through the process.

1. Goal = more visitors and leads. The reason you are redesigning your website is to impact your business, not because you or your CEO are bored with the design. So, focus on the results you want: more visitors, leads, and customers and make decisions based on these goals.
2. Avoid pitfalls. Inventory your assets and protect them. A website redesign can negatively impact your results by unintentionally removing the assets - website pages and links - that are driving the most leads for you. Make sure to figure out your most powerful pages and links and protect them during the redesign process.
3. Invest in remarkable content that attracts visitors and converts them into leads. A fancy design does not necessarily bring results. Focus on function over over form. Create an ongoing content creation strategy (this means blogging!) to add more content to your website over time.
4. Create conversion opportunities with calls to action and landing pages. Once you have visitors coming to your website, give them the opportunity to give you their contact information in exchange for content. This means using landing pages - and having control over your landing pages - as you build out your new website.
5. Measure the impact on visitors and leads. At the beginning of your website redesign process, you decided you wanted to increase visitors and leads. Did it work? Make sure you have the website analytics in place to measure your progress towards your goals.

A business website is a business tool and should deliver business results. Leave the works of art to the galleries and museums. Your career and your company will thank you for it.  To learn more about how Lazword.com Inc., can help you analyze your website, create content, and capture more leads contact Lazworld.com today.