Brian Clark of CopyBlogger has just released a completely free 29-page report called, “How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines“. Are you interested in ranking higher in the search engines for your content?

If so – you should download this completely free report (there’s no registration needed and no obligation to do anything to get it) from Scribe. It’s called How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines.

Topics include:

• Why SEO Copywriting Still Matters
• How Search Engines Work
• Why You Have to Spoon Feed Search Engines
• The 5 Essential Elements of Keyword Research
• How to Create Cornerstone Content That Google Loves
• Five Link Building Strategies That Work
• Five Areas to Focus On for Effective SEO Copywriting
• Why Writing for People Works for Search Engines
• How to Make SEO Copywriting Simple

I’d highly recommend taking a hour or so to go through Brian’s report to learn how to improve your SEO through better copywriting.

The following is an excerpt of an article that I wrote for Issue 10 of Feedfront magazine, the official magazine of the Affiliate Summit conference.

Basically, I wrote it out of frustration after seeing the hyped-up promotion approach so many affiliate marketers, especially newbies, take then wonder why the heck their copy doesn’t convert to sales and commissions.

As an affiliate marketer, you’re far too smart to fall for a line like “Make $100 Million (Lose 20 Pounds, Score a Hottie, Cure Your Acne) by Tomorrow – Guaranteed!!!” Right?

Well, if you’re under the mistaken impression that your prospects are somehow less savvy than you, or that the best way to promote products online is by mimicking the copy that shows up in your spam folder, it’s time to reconsider your approach, as all but the most indiscriminate and unsophisticated buyers are sick and tired of hype.

Like you, they have endured “snake oil” pitch bombardment for years. And with less money to spend in this down economy, smart shoppers are even more resistant to blatant sales copy. Write just one word to make the needle on their B.S. detector flicker ever so slightly and you’ve killed the potential for a sale. Worse, you have also lost the opportunity to build a profitable long-term relationship.

If you really want “killer” conversion rates and “eye-popping” commission checks, learn to tone down your “amazing” promotional vocabulary and kick the hype habit with the following 5 tips.

Read the rest of the article…

I recently received a joint venture invitation from a Internet business products merchant that suggested I should ‘grow a pair‘ and promote their upcoming launch.

To sweeten the pot, affiliates could win an XBox or a collection of cool videos that included “Dumb and Dumber”. (Oh goodie!)

Oh… and the email addressed me a ‘dude’,  as have so many others that I’ve received in the past year or so.

If you don’t see the humor in that, let me share something with you — I am a woman fast approaching the big 5-0H.

Would you call your mother “dude”?

If you have, you might recall the ‘what planet are you from?’ look she gave you.

That’s because we hear the word “dude” according to its original meaning (and official definition as per the Oxford English Dictionary) – an American slang term which refers to men – despite the fact that Wikipedia states that the word “dude” has evolved to become more unisex.

Do you understand then how I might think that your JV invitation  wasn’t really meant for me?

Or, are you thinking “go with the flow, dude”?

I could, but your unisex argument completely fails with the ‘grow a pair’ remark and toys for boys prizes — and having seen “Dumb and Dumber” once is more than sufficient.

OK, I do get where you’re coming from.

I know that the vast majority of affiliates on your JV partner list are young men like yourself. You want to motivate them to promote for you and challenging them in a manly way really gets their juices flowing… especially the drool over the prospect of winning a toy with which to play.

But don’t you care if one or two Super affiliates who don’t fit your mold choose not to promote on that basis?

If that’s the case, consider this…

The market in which you play is HUGE, appealing to all regardless of race, creed, color, age or gender. By encouraging sales by a specific demographic who might take your tack and appeal to the same  demographic, you might be limiting availability of your product to a smaller, less affluent market.

When you exclude one or more Super Affiliates with wider audiences, you could be tossing 10% or more of your possible revenues. Ten percent of 50K will get you a BOSE(R) Lifestyle Home Entertainment System or all the Xbox goodies your little heart desires. And 10% of half a mill is what — a downpayment on a house?

It PAYS to learn to write copy that addresses widest possible audience.

Take tips from the copywriting giants, such as Dan Kennedy, Yanik Silver and Joe Vitale — guys who know how to make each reader feel like the email copy was written just for them.

Or check out this great little ebook “Confessions of a Copywriter” by Lenny Eng and endorsed by Joe Vitale. One of Lenny’s points is that “Nothing increases conversions like your offer”… and when you send a JV invite, you’re making an OFFER.

How do you choose the products you buy? Do you simply accept as gospel truth all the good things a merchant says about their own product? Or, do you ask your friends’ opinions and look for independent product reviews before opening your wallet?

If you’re a savvy consumer (which of course you are), then you put more stock in your friends’ opinions and independent product reviews.

As affiliate marketers, we become much more successful when we approach our site visitors as friends and take the attitude that they too are savvy consumers.

From that standpoint, an affiliate’s real work is to pre-sell our merchant partners’ products by writing fair and balanced reviews, also known as endorsement letters.

Sure, writing a review for each product takes a little time and effort, but it’s an activity that sets the super affiliates apart from their less-super counterparts in terms of rewards… read ‘income’.

Product reviews can be either stand-alone or comparative. The first type focuses on a single product, while the second is an evaluation of similar items that allows readers to choose which product best suits them.

Before you begin to write a product review, you’ll need to evaluate the product. (Nothing like stating the obvious, eh?)

I prefer to endorse products that I’ve actually used. However, buying a product isn’t always feasible. If that’s the case, affiliate managers will often grant ‘proven’ super-affiliates access to products for their review. That’s especially true of information products and services that are delivered online, such as internet dating services.

But what if you’re not yet a super affiliate, and can’t fathom a basement full of treadmills to review for your exercise site?

Well, do what your customer would do if product reviews didn’t exist on the Internet – go to the store and test those treadmills out!

And how do you review acne medications for your skin care site if you don’t have acne? Surely, you have some friends with (previously) pimply-faced teenagers… ask them to tell you what worked for them.

If you can’t find out that way, search Google for “consumer reviews” + “acne medications”. Read as many as you can to come up with three to five effective products (that have affiliate programs).

Once you’ve collected information about the product, it’s time to start writing that product review.

The structure for a product review is simple, containing an introduction, overview and summary.

The introduction consists of a few sentences outlining the problem and introduces a possible solution for the reader, without going into detail. The overview describes the product’s promise, a description of how the product is used, as well as its effectiveness and value. The summary is almost a repeat of the introduction, and contains a strong recommendation for purchase based on your conclusions.

To simplify the review-writing process, I ask myself the following questions when writing product reviews for my own affiliate sites.

1. Who is my reader and what is their problem?
2. What does the product promise?
3. How well does the product solve the problem? What does it do? How does it work?
4. Does the product offer good value? (Would I buy this product?)

Let’s look at each question in turn.

The first question asks, “Who is my reader and what is their problem?”

If acne is your reader’s problem and your site visitors are adults, you probably want to avoid terminology like ‘Zap those zits!’ and use more age-appropriate language.

Remember too, that ‘zits’ aren’t really the problem. The real problem is how your reader feels about having pimples all over their face and how that affects their life.

If you’ve experienced the problem yourself, say so. Describe your experience, and show understanding and compassion for the reader’s plight. Speaking from real experience earns your readers’ trust which always improves sales rates.

If you have trouble figuring out how your reader might be affected by his problem, then you can research that online too.

For example, I searched Google for “hate acne” and came across Acne.org, where one young woman lamented, “My sh%tty skin is seriously ruining my social life and my relationships with men. I’m avoiding it all just cuz I don’t want to show my face. Its really sad. I also spend a lot of money on make up. I’m not even asking for the most perfect skin (even though it would be nice) but even if I was limited to just a couple zits….and then it would take me under 30 mins to get ready….I would never be home, and I would go back to living the life that I ohh so miss.”

That gives you a pretty clear picture of how she feels, right?

Now address those concerns using emotive terms and you’ll improve your conversion rates.

Here’s an example.

Rather than say, “Product A will cure your acne”, start with a question that appeals to your reader’s emotion, such as “Is acne ruining your social life? Scared to leave the house – or even show your face? There IS a solution to your plight.”

That introduction brings us to the next question which is, ‘What does the product promise?’

Does the product cure the problem? Does it work faster, or with less hassle and expense?

You found answers to that question during your product research. In this section you simply summarize your findings.

Next, answer the third set of questions, “How well does the product solve the problem?”, “what does it do?” and “how does it work?” based on your product research.

Results are the most important information, so it’s not necessary to provide nitty gritty details about how you use the product or what it’s made of or how it is packaged, etc. unless the merchant does not supply that information on their site, and you consider the information of importance to your reader.

Too, we’re all aware that no product is perfect, so don’t go overboard and write a completely glowing, one-sided review. To make the product review balanced and fair, detail what you do and don’t like about the product. If you want to avoid negative statements when outlining your dislikes, try phrasing the sentence like “although I’d prefer a slightly less greasy formula…” or “although the bottle lacks a pump dispenser…” and finish on a positive note.

Lastly, make a value statement. For example, “While Product A and B both eliminate most acne problems in 30 days, Product A wins our ‘best value’ award priced at $20 less per bottle. Or, if you’re writing a single product review, you could say something like, “Acme’s Acne Product would be great value even at twice the price, but at this price it can’t be beat!”

For even better conversions, be sure to include a product graphic on your product review webpage, and a testimonial or two from users that you solicit through your site or use with permission from your merchant partner’s site.

In summary, tell your visitors what you would say to a friend if you were telling them about a product that you found and liked. That approach will make writing reviews easier and your friendly attitude will push your conversion rates through the roof!

Product endorsements are great, but you’ll also want to put informative articles on your and other webmasters’ sites. With Jim and Dallas Edwards’ simple “Turn Words Into Traffic” system, your articles will soon be all over the Internet attracting visitors to your website like bees to honey… even if you think you can’t write.

Are site ‘gizmos’ detracting from your sales messages?

Then forget the 3D logo. Toss the animated graphics and pictures of pretty women. Cool scripts don’t help you much , and music will kill the deal.

Unless your objective is to showcase your talent as a web designer, those elements contribute almost nothing to your bottom line. In fact, they often clutter and detract from your real objective which should be to sell products!

Use Words, Not Gizmos

To get the message out about your product, you use words, not gizmos. Your words persuade people to visit your site, subscribe to your newsletter and buy your or your merchants’ products. How you use your words makes the difference between your site’s success or failure.

Here are two examples of how words are used to sell real estate:

1. Lakefront home on 60 feet of beach in Kelowna. View.
2. Once in a lifetime opportunity to own one of Kelowna’s premier lakefront homes with approximately 60 ft of soft sandy beachfront. Awesome view down lake.

Which listing would persuade you to to call your realtor?

If you are like most of us, you respond emotionally to the words ‘premier’, ‘sandy’ and ‘awesome view’. The ‘opportunity’ to live a ‘premier’ lifestyle, and feel the sand between your toes as you enjoy your awesome view appeals to your senses in a pleasurable way. Appealing to your readers’ emotions is critical, and just a few choice words can skyrocket your conversion rates.

You don’t need to be a seasoned writer or an established author to make your words sell more of your products. Writing is a skill that can be learned like any other. When you combine your desire to improve your writing skill with experts’ books, courses, and seminars – copywriting becomes easier and much more fun.

Best of all, just a little effort to improve your writing will reap huge financial rewards. Just ‘tweaking’ one paragraph can double or even quadruple your current conversion rates.

Try it – The rewards you gain by learning to write copy well are worth much more than a few bucks and a couple hours of your time.

To communicate on the Internet, you’ve got to write. To SELL on the Internet, you’ve got to… copywrite!

I feel like I’ve let you down…

Not entirely and certainly not on purpose.

You see, you’ve probably heard me talk about the importance of copywriting. The power of writing words on paper or on the computer screen and getting people to send you money (sometimes lots and lots of money). Of course, you know sales copy is important and I bet you even have a few resources on the subject.

Trust me, I’ve seen, read and studied just about everything under the sun when it comes to copywriting and I really didn’t think there could be anything new out there.

But I was wrong!

I bought Yanik Silver’s Ultimate ‘At-Home’ Internet Copywriting Workshop and it’s fabulous. I know that might sound like I’m being over the top – but this package is truly incredible.

Look, this is one of those times when I truly wish I could just grab your mouse and force you to click over to this page and check it out for yourself:

Yanik’s Ultimate ‘At-Home’ Internet Copywriting Workshop

I’m serious, it’s that good – and here’s why…

First off, the package is massive.

I talking over 30 lbs. 3 huge 3-ring binders, 12 DVDs, and a pile of CDs and extras. I’d estimate at least 1400 written pages of material. (You should have seen me trying to drag this sucker in from my porch)

But it’s not just bulk.

Yanik actually made my life easy because now whenever I want to sit down and write a kick- butt email, ad or sales letter – I can just flip right to the section I need. Everything is tabbed so you can quickly and easily find ‘swipe files’ for any sales copy you need. It feels like cheating! He’s put examples of every single thing you’d need for your Internet business (emails, pops, endorsements, web sites, headlines, guarantees, PPC ads, etc).

Truth is, I have just about every other copy course out there but this one sits right next to my desk!

The ‘proof is in the pudding …

Here’s a testimonial for Yanik Silver’s ‘Ultimate Copywriting Workshop‘

“…At first I was very skeptical that he could help us but I took a chance and was absolutely amazed at the results. We went from $1,200 a month to our highest month of $44,000 online in just 5 months. Thanks to his sales letter training we filled our Boot Camp, all 90 spaces (10 more than we wanted), in less than 3 weeks. People from all over the country, and even from Australia, are coming to attend. And, we have only ever written one sales letter to date for this one event!”

– Jon and Carol Tuttle, Sandy, UT

It doesn’t matter if you have your own product, sell other people’s product as an affiliate or whatever business you’re in – copywriting is by far the #1 skill you need to create more sales, more profits and more of just anything you ever want…simply using a pen or your keyboard.

Listen, it takes a whole lot to impress me and this product not only impressed me – it comes with my highest recommendation.

Others paid $3,975.00 for this information you’ll pay a fraction to…

…”Sneak Away With Every Single Trick, Tactic, Formula, Shortcut, Strategy and Jealously-Guarded Secret The Internet’s #1 Most-Celebrated Copywriter Uses to Create Huge Piles Of Cash At Will” Advanced Training

Check it out here:Yanik’s Ultimate ‘At-Home’ Internet Copywriting Workshop