Just a quick post today for any bloggers out there.
If you’ve been considering buying the ProBlogger book from Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett, I highly recommend it. As I mentioned in a review recently on my freelance writing blog, it’s worthwhile even if you’re an experience blogger.
Read the full review to find out what you may learn from the book.
I know there are plenty of “serious” online ventures. At the same time I think there are infinitely more webpreneurs, webmasters, bloggers, etc. who are essentially running online businesses but not taking them seriously as such (and of course I’m only talking about the ones blatantly trying to make money here - a blogger on a personal journal-style blog doesn’t count). Why is this?
I think the biggest problem is that it’s extremely easy to set up an online business, and there’s little to no startup capital required for many of them. Therefore it really is possible for “anyone” to start an online business these days.
However, being easy doesn’t make it any less of a business, and there are a few benefits to taking your online business seriously from the start:
Here are a few basic things you should consider doing to take your online business more seriously:
What else do you think people can do to take their businesses more seriously, and what other benefits do you see in doing so?
My primary work is still PR, but I also do freelance business writing. One of the most common things I do is write marketing copy for business websites. I also network with a lot of newer writers, and see them bombarded with copywriting “tips” like “always use long-form sales copy,” or “no, long-form copy doesn’t work.” I always want to slap the people I see giving that kind of advice.
The truth is that most types of marketing copy work! If they didn’t, they wouldn’t still be around. What you need to figure out, as either a copywriter or a business owner / webmaster, is what kind of copy will be most effective for what you’re selling to the specific audience you’re targeting.
So please… stop simply copying what everyone else seems to be doing in the moment, and start taking time to understand your audience and what motivates them to act or buy. Test different types of Web copy, or even test different language choices. Watch what happens to your conversions.
And remember, the best copy isn’t necessarily the type of copy you think you want going into a project. You may want something touchy-feely, and find out that it’s not what actually sells to your audience (what they tell you they want and what makes them buy aren’t always the same thing - that would be like asking any of us if we want commercials playing during our favorite TV shows). Or perhaps you want something flashy, but your audience would respond better to a serious case study. The audience comes first. Then comes testing. Then, and only then, comes your amazing, high-converting copy.
Here’s something else to keep in mind: Just because something “works” doesn’t mean something else wouldn’t work better. Don’t stop testing and tweaking just because you’re satisfied for now. Would you really be happy with a 20% increase in conversions if a different style of copy could net you an 80% increase? Just saying….
I have a series of e-books that will be released on one of my sites, with the first e-book coming out in a few weeks at most. I’m looking at both E-junkie and Clickbank as possible sales platforms to handle delivery and affiliate programs. Any thoughts on which would be best?
I know Clickbank seems to have the better-known affiliate program and likely more built-in affiliates. They also seem like it would be more hands-off to run an affiliate program through them, whereas I’m getting the feeling with E-junkie that it’s more manual. Am I getting that right?
My concern is that I don’t plan to launch the affiliate program until the e-book has been out for a few weeks (when I’ll be raising the price, as I’ll have tapped most of the market members I’m directly involved with). Can Clickbank work well in that kind of situation, or should I go with E-junkie if that’s what I want to do?
Currently I only use Clickbank as an affiliate, and I’ve sold one e-book through E-junkie, so I’d really love some feedback from those more experienced if possible.
I haven’t posted to Jentrepreneur in quite some time, so I thought a good place to start would be to post an update on some of my Web-based projects:
As always, there’s a lot going on (and obviously I have client work on top of that), but I think that about sums up any current developments.
Subscribe in a reader
Or, subscribe via email: 
Posts
