One of the most effective, yet least expensive ways to promote your company is through the creation of company brochures. Yes, it is possible to hire someone else to write it and design it and it is recommended that you have them printed professionally. Before getting your brochure to the printer, it might be wise to take matters into your own hands and create your own brochure. Making your own brochure is a good way to save money, while increasing the potential to earn money.

Start with the Message

Be sure you know what it is you want to say to your potential clients. How is it that you want your products described? Some ways to go about this are to think about what you would say to friends or family to get them excited about your product or service, what would make you want to buy something from someone else and who you want to target with your product or service. “Everyone” is not an option for this last concept because not everything will appeal to everyone- a specific group or target audience should be considered before creating, let alone promoting an item.

Create Content

Catch the reader’s eye. Make sure that the headline is a strong one meant to capture an audience’s attention. Be sure the headline does not include jargon or other marketing language; it needs to be relatable in order to get people interested and turn them into customers. It is often helpful to break up the main content into subheadings as well. These should be just as compelling because it is common that people will only read headlines or subheadings to make a purchasing decision; often skipping the main content altogether.

Do Not Neglect Design and Layout

Content is the priority in putting out a company brochure, however, it is still important to make sure that the pamphlet is visually appealing. The best ones are made up of clean lines with pictures and logos as ornamentation, not as the main attraction. It is also important to note that a brochure can be done nicely without a lot of colour and that there should be no more than three font types per brochure.

Putting together an effective marketing message begins with having a variety of marketing materials and the printed brochure cannot be neglected. It is a very handy way to share information with readers and can be placed in many locations like coffee shops, doctor’s offices and community centres. There may be plenty of competition, however, so make sure the brochure has a clean, attractive design and compelling copywriting that will catch a person’s eye.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Write Valuable Content

There’s really no other way of putting it. On the web, content is king – but only if you’re writing really valuable content. Don’t think you’re going to throw up a website with a few subpar articles stuffed inappropriately with keywords and still get results. Every single word you write needs to be valuable to your readers. It needs to be easy to understand and have a great, eye appealing format. If not, it’s pure garbage.

Use Extra Formatting

When writing for the web, the shorter your pieces of information the better. This means you shouldn’t write paragraphs that are a page long. That type of writing isn’t easy for the eye to scan and read. Use bold faced type, italics, bullet point lists, and short paragraphs so that your reader can scan for pieces of information and take it in small bits at a time.

Don’t Forget about Linking

On the web, writing an article is one thing but having it properly promoted is another. Internally, you’ll want to make sure you use your chosen keywords to link back to other informative pages on your own site. Externally, you’ll want to try to find some sites that are willing to link back to you and, at the same time, you’ll occasionally want to link back out to other valuable resources. You need both incoming and outgoing links for the search engines to take you seriously.

Use Formatting Tags

When writing for the web, use the H1 tag to highlight your titles as often as possible. We’re not sure why, but search engines take this type of title tag very seriously. Use your keywords in the title you’re highlighting and make sure those keywords or title words are elsewhere in the article as well. Use the H2 tag on subheadings (like the ones in this article) and Google will love you even more.

Don’t Stuff Keywords

The keywords you target in your writing are important – yes – but if you don’t use them naturally your content will sound spammy. Use your keywords in the beginning of your article, a few times throughout the body, and once at the end. Maintaining a natural keyword denisty won’t draw negative search engine attention and, in the end, your writing will be cleaner and easier to read.

Remember – writing for the web is a lot different than writing a book or print advertisement. Every word you write counts. The more focused you are, the more likely you are to get real results!

All the best,

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert

I love a good laugh as much as the next guy but when it comes to writing ad copy humour is one thing you should absolutely avoid. Yes, humour will earn you some attention but, in reality, is it the right type of attention?

Let’s just say you write a really funny ad. It gets clipped from papers and hung on walls; people talk about it; and you might even get a few phone calls with inquiries. The problem with a humorous ad, however, is just that – it’s humorous.

People won’t take you seriously.

They’ll agree you’re a funny guy but deep in their subconscious minds they’ll be questioning whether or not you’re the right person to do business with. Will you treat their companies and concerns seriously – or turn them into jokes?

Humorous advertisements are likely to win awards for the guys who write them but often do nothing more. Avoid humor in your copy and stick towards enticing, concrete facts. You’ll be more successful in the long run.

All the best

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Motivational Speaker – Sales Expert

But how do you increase the reach of your article? How do you get your readers to refer more readers back to your page? This is where linkbuilding and SEO copywriting go hand in hand. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Write for Social Media Networking

If you have an awesome headline you will attract more readers to your articles. They’ll love your content and click on the links to recommend your article in Stumble, Digg, or some other social media site. When others see your compelling headline they’ll want to read your article, too. Get it? It’s in the headline. Make sure you include easy one-click links at the end of your SEO articles so that your readers can easily reach their favourite social media sites.

Giving to Get

I know you want to get links back to your copywriting, especially if you’re writing sales pages, but one of the best ways to do so is to link out to other sites. You’ve got to give in order to receive. Link to websites and blogs relevant to your own website and sales page and you’re more likely to be noticed and receive a link in return.

Guest Blogging

One of the best ways to gain attention is to act as a guest contributor on other websites and blogs. This is, of course, easier if you have already built relationships with those other blogs. Simply propose a guest article that fits with the blog you’d like to contribute to. At the end of your article you can include some information about yourself and your proejects with a link back to your sales page.

Copywriting is about more than writing a simple sales page and letting it work for itself. Once the hard work is done you can have fun putting those copywriting and SEO skills to the test in order to promote yourself. Everything you write should be geared towards driving more traffic back to your main sales page.  Are you prepared to deal with all of the new visitors you’ll receive?

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert

Do You Know Your Target Market?

Do you know your target market – aka the people you’re writing to? If so, it’ll show in your writing as you’ll be able to speak to them directly. If not, your reader will feal as though he’s simply reading a cold sales letter and you won’t get the results you desire.

What’s the Difference Between Your Product and Product X?

Everyone has competition. Chances are, your potential client has heard of or considered using the products or services created by your competition. What have you said in your sales letter that clearly outlines why your product is different and/or better than the one produced by your competitor?

What are Your Credentials?

Simply writing a letter about your product is all well and good, but why should the person reading your letter believe you have the authority to make claims or sell a product? How will you set yourself apart from the fraudulent salespersons that have approached them before? Back yourself up with statistics and facts.

Does Your Product Have Multiple Benefits?

Make sure you share all of the benefits of using your products, not just the ones you think are the best. If your product has 10 distinct benefits, why would you only list the three biggest? Chances are your potential client may really need a solution that one of the other benefits provides and he’ll never know about it. Always include a complete list of benefits.

You should, of course, review your sales copywriting to make sure you’ve answered any potential objects and have included a call to action, but those are issues we’ll cover at another point in time. In short, you need to make sure you are addressing your audience directly, not writing a letter for a magazine or newspaper. The more your readers feel as though you’ve personally connected, the better your chances of making a sale!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert

The first thing your readers, prospects, and customers will see when they get an email or piece of advertising material from you is your headline. If that headline doesn’t grab their attention you can pretty much forget making a sale because your audience isn’t likely to read the rest of the advertisement or post.

The trick to writing a wonderful headline is to remember that the headline is just as important as the body of the message. It actually needs to be able to stand alone as a message of its own. The headline alone needs to make your reader stop and say “You’re right, I do need to (buy that, read that, subscribe to that).”

There are several different types of headlines you can use in copywriting. Today I’m going to give you five to consider:

The Direct Headline

The direct headline tells your reader exactly what you have to offer up front. It’s not funny, it’s not silly, and it’s right to the point. Example: Free e-Book with Subscription to Sean McPheat.com.

The Indirect Headline

Indirect headlines are pretty clear in what they have to offer but don’t give all of the details up front. They’re a bit more subtle in the way they deliver their messages. Example: Why Copywriting Headlines are Essential to Success.

Asking a Question

Use your headline to ask a question your readers can relate to or would really be interested in seeing the answer to. Example: Are You Ready to take Your Business to the Next Level?

A List of Reasons

It’s really no secret, but lists are incredibly popular. Put together a list of reasons or ways for a person to do something and you’re sure to grab your audience’s attention. Example: 21 Ways to Increase Your Response Ratio.

Be Commanding

Simply tell your readers what you think they should be doing. Use strong verbage combined with a clear direction. Example: Subscribe to SeanMcPheat.com Today!

Be creative with your headlines and I can guarantee you’ll get a better response from your print advertisements, emails, and even blog posts. Give it a try and let me know how things turn out.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat