The reason: we can write – and right now we can’t afford to pay someone to do something we can do ourselves.

This argument is understandable. But it’s flawed.

You see copywriting is not like regular writing. And everyone can not do it – however competent their spelling and grammar; however florid their prose.

In reality, copywriting shares more with selling than with literature.

And just like any sales rep, it should be forced to justify itself – in terms of market awareness, leads and revenue.

Unlike your regular sales reps however, who may talk only to one customer at a time, copywriting can speak to 1,000s – through your website, advertising, direct marketing and PR.

Ineffective copywriting can cost your business big – resulting in missed opportunities and, worse, creating a negative brand image for your company.

Is this really a chance you can afford to take – now of all times?

More specifically, I refer here to the procession of wanna-be ‘information marketers’ who have invested £100s – and sometimes even £1.000s –in the myriad ‘systems to success’ espoused by the likes of Simon (“I was a lowly BT engineer – now I own Kent”) Coulson and Andrew (“I was working 29 hours a day, now I hibernate six months a year under a sapphire encrusted duvet”) Reynolds.

Herein, I bring you – in five hype-free bullet points – an exec summary of the business that lies behind the meretricious marketing and hyperbole surrounding “the information marketing opportunity”.

And I use the term “opportunity” advisedly – for such it is.

Information marketing is neither a scam nor a get-rich-quick panacea. Au contraire: like any business opportunity it demands a product, a ready market – and the talent to align the two.

The gentlemen mentioned above – and many more like them – have indeed become multimillionaire info marketers thanks to their acumen, creativity and hard work. And they are to be respected for that.

What troubles me, therefore, is the way in which they now downplay their own capabilities, leading their ‘protégés’ – buyers of their DVDs, books, training courses, and so on – to believe that “if I can do it, you can do it”.

Which, frankly, is unadulterated bilge.

Everyone can NOT be a success in business – be it information marketing or any other.

Given this undeniable truism, I marvel that – in all the marketing material I’ve seen, by and about Messrs Coulson et al – their business concept invariably remains a thinly veiled secret.

In fact, it barely gets a mention.

Instead, the emphasis always is on aspirational imagery and on Dick Whittington style narrative: on “one average chap’s journey from a damp and lonely bedsit in Hull to a multimillion dollar villa In Puerto Andraitx”.

Tugs at the heartstrings doesn’t it? And also the purse strings: appealing, as it does, to the 100,000s of folk who, thanks to a succession of criminally incompetent financial institutions, now find themselves unemployed and on the metaphorical breadline.

To those poor benighted souls I say: hang on to your redundancy cheques (assuming you were lucky enough to get one). And resist the urge to part with £75.00 or more for a poorly shot DVD courtesy of The Entrepreneur Channel (which at best will reveal only the bare bones of “the system” – before enticing you to part with way way more to get the full story).

Instead, put 50p in a collection box (for the charity of your choice) – and permit me to “blow the gaff”; to outline the basic info marketing model – and its shortcomings.

The process goes something like this:

1/ Decide on a topic for a new ebook: a ‘niche’ subject which may not have been tackled elsewhere, yet has a ready audience of paying customers; test your concept using keyword research.

(Err… easier said than done, I think. The web is a big and busy place; and original ideas are at a premium. Still; you never know…)

2/ Create a web page to promote your ‘forthcoming’ ebook and capture prospective customer data (possibly by offering a free report or other incentive); set up and run a pay per click ad campaign to properly gauge demand.

(Uh-oh; do you have the necessary technical, creative and marketing skills to write design and code a web page and write a series of ads – or the cash needed to subcontract those tasks?)

3/ Assuming that demand exists, commission a writer to create your ebook, selecting from the 10,000s of low cost overseas freelancers to be found on Odesk and the array of similar outsourcing web sites; expect to pay between £200 and £500!

(Well, good luck with that, because I’ve yet to find a journo worth her salt who’s willing to write a book for £500 or less – wherever they happen to live.)

4/ Create your Internet sales page; promote that page via pay per click advertising and affiliate marketing.

(See Point Two, above.)

5/ Giggle all the way to your Swiss Bank.

Simple, huh?

Well, as a business model: yes – it’s brilliantly simple.

In practice, however, information marketing is like any other sphere of commercial endeavour. It requires time, cash, hard work and initiative.

If you lack any of those things, it’s not for you – however good an ad campaign I might write on your behalf.

Also widely referred to as “China’s eBay”, Alibaba is in fact a far cry from the popular auction site.

Whilst eBay offers genuine financial protection for buyers, its Chinese counterpart offers…. almost none.

Hence one of my clients’ surprise and dismay when – having purchased from a registered Alibaba user – he was left over £1,000 out of pocket for product samples that never arrived.

I learned today of a similar story from a regular importer who – heeding the personal assurances of Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma (who holds that “a focus on customers above all other stakeholders is the central tenet of our business”) summarily found himself similarly disadvantaged, to the tune of over £15,000.

Realising the potential savings to be gained by procuring stock from China, he – like many others before him – took a chance on a company which, prima facie, appeared reputable, established and ethical.

Though the company was ‘unable’ to accept (eBay owned!) Paypal, credit card or export payments (the three means of payment that would have afforded him some protection), he decided to trust the amiable Chinese sales rep.

It was a decision he, like my client, came to regret, when – on receipt of his transferred funds – the company emptied its bank account, deactivated its Alibaba account, and disappeared without trace (no doubt to remerge, just a few short weeks later, under an all-new trading style).

Finding himself with no recourse either to the supplier, or to Alibaba, that gentleman – like my client – now refuses to do business with the network’s principally Asian supplier base.

As he says, “A small business like mine can’t afford to take this kind of hit.”

To my mind, then, the lesson is clear: until Alibaba follows eBay’s lead, and begins offering genuine protection to its customers, you’d be advised to avoid the network at all costs – whatever the ads say to the contrary.

Because, fact is: when Alibaba’s left the building (as it is clearly wont to do at the first hint of trouble) it seems all that remains… are the thieves.

Enabling the search engine to index more sites, and a wider variety of content, more quickly, the programme is particularly good news for nimble and responsive firms which – unencumbered by complex sign-off procedures and multiple tiers of bureaucracy – are able to produce timely, relevant content ‘on the fly’.

Now, thanks to Caffeine – and its predecessor, ‘Mayday’ – a weekly ‘tweak’ to your home or landing pages will no longer ‘cut it’ in the natural search stakes.

Instead, securing top billings in the increasingly competitive, increasingly cluttered, results pages will demand ongoing updates to your entire site. Which means companies who are able to regularly refresh their copy, videos and images have been handed a major advantage.

As have those with a coherent social media strategy.

Google was of course the pioneer of blended (or universal) search – incorporating media releases, blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook pages, et al. And Bing has been quick to follow.

Consequently, the battle for page one rankings is now fiercer than ever. And the case for an integrated online ‘comms’ campaign, combining your blog posts, Tweets, media releases, Facebook pages and video, is clear — for web users, who are assured ever more relevant and up to date search results.

And for switched-on SMEs – who now have a real advantage over their bigger budget, but less agile, competitors.

His reason for calling: to commission me to develop new content for his website.

How much, he wondered, might I charge to write – say – a dozen original articles each month?

That depends, I advised, on the nature of the material: the topic itself; the amount of research that might be required; the number of interviews to be conducted, and so on.

That said, I continued, the average newsletter that I produce for my clients typically contains around six-eight topical, industry specific – reasonably in-depth – articles, and costs at most a few hundred pounds.

Ah, said he, with admirable optimism; we were thinking of, perhaps, £50.

Politely pausing while I spat a mouthful of tea across my desk, he continued: we’re not too worried about the quality of the articles; chances are, they won’t get read anyway; we just want to make sure they contain plenty of keywords – to help maintain our search rankings.

Reluctant to converse further with anyone professing such scant regard for his clients’ experience of his website – or indeed the value of his company’s brand – I directed the fellow to Odesk and wished him well.

Would that he were alone in his barrel-scrapingly low literary standards.

Alas, he is not.

As regular users of Elance and its ilk will attest: the number of Asian and Filipino writers who are now ‘freelancing my skills in the global world’ is growing apace.

Accomplished polyglots they may be – and I have nothing but respect for their undeniable linguistic capabilities. But the fact remains: they are not native English writers.

Consequently, their efforts invariably resemble a cross between a particularly complex law suit, and the original unedited manuscript for ‘The curious incident of the dog in the night time’.

Given this, I hope my regular clients will forgive me for not dropping my rates in these uncertain times – and for continuing to deliver engaging, timely and relevant copy that people actually wish to read.

Other, less discerning, marketers may be interested in Lordyll Pechardo’s while stocks last(?!) ‘12 articles for $50’ deal.

Given his professed ‘articulacy in the contemporary English’ you really can’t go wrong.

Google’s recent agreement to include tweets in its search results has, of course, given Twitter a huge fillip. But there are myriad other ways to harness the power of micro blogging in your business.

For instance, it’s ideal for tracking what people are saying about you, your competitors or your industry – allowing you to search relevant keywords at Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com). Or to take advantage of purpose-built widgets such as TweetBeep which – like Google Alerts – send you regular emails containing discussions involving your chosen Twitter accounts or topics.

Twitter is a terrific primary research tool too; just send a link or question to your followers, and watch the feedback flow in.

Above all, used properly – for which read: innovatively – Twitter is a supremely effective vehicle for driving traffic to your website.

Witness the success of Amazon.com affiliate Twitterlit.com, which now runs twice-daily games challenging Tweeters to guess the title of a book based on its opening lines. And to click an accompanying link – to the company’s Amazon site – to check their answers.

Along similar lines, Buy.com’s Tweet n Seek campaign – an online scavenger hunt – encourages the company’s followers to trawl Facebook, Twitter, Fandango, YouTube and of course Buy.com, to find answers to a series of questions, which are then posted on Buy.com‘s Facebook wall.

With prizes including unlocked iPhones, Slingbox set-top boxes, and $500 movie gift certificates,  the campaign was designed to expose new and existing customers to as many of Buy.com‘s products as possible.

It succeeded. Buy.com Inc. President and CEO Neel Grover said, “Buy.com has earned new fans … from our Tweet n Seek contests. With each [campaign] we added new components and new companies. That is what’s great about social media—it allows you to tweak campaigns each time, keeping them fresh and timely, which is essential during a time of immediacy for news.”

Rightly so. Comscore reports that 2009 saw 18% growth in UK online video audiences, with 35.6 million people taking in an incredible 6.7 billion videos.

No surprise then that YouTube alone is on track to earn a cool $1 billion during 2010.

For marketers, too, video represents a huge opportunity.

The use of multimedia makes for more engaging website experiences – and a marked increase in customer conversions.

Proof if proof were needed:

Sixty four percent of respondents to a 2009 AOL/Google survey – conducted by TNS Research – said that, after viewing an online marketing video, they have taken action, either visiting a website or physical location, requesting more information or making a purchase.

And the really good news is: video doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Although I’ve written ‘feature length’ scripts for clients with £150,000+ production budgets, I regularly create 30-60 second ‘talking heads’ style pieces for smaller firms too – the majority of whom produce their own videos using a web cam and Windows Movie Maker (which is a breeze to use, and completely free) .

As importantly, with Viddler, YouTube et al to take care of hosting and streaming, there are no extra bandwidth costs to consider – which means there really is nothing to deter even the most cash strapped businesses from capitalising on the trend.

In the UK, Royal Mail claims that consumer direct mail volumes fell by 5.6% during 2008 – fuelled in large part by the onset of the recession.

By contrast, Econsultancy reports that over 50% of companies now invest at least £10,000 each year on email marketing. (Over ten percent spend in excess of £100,000.)

But are these tech-savvy marketers missing a trick?

Like email, ‘traditional’ direct mail is personal, capable of infinite customisation… and it works.

Indeed, in its December 2009 report, the Mail Media Centre found that “49% of ABC1s have done something in the past 12 months as a result of the direct mail they’ve received”.

Similarly, in its 2009 study, research firm TGI concluded that “adults who respond to mail via the Internet are 145% more likely than the average UK adult to buy online once a week”.

Ah, you say; but what of direct mail’s environmental impact?

It’s a good question – with a surprising answer.

The only comprehensive assessment of mail’s carbon footprint was conducted in August 2008 by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management (ECCM) – an independent emission-evaluation specialist.

The study concluded that the full carbon life cycle of an ‘average’ direct mail piece, taking into account production, delivery and disposal, is actually relatively modest at just 36g per item (2.8kg annually).

That’s the equivalent, according to the Carbon Action Rationing Group, of half a cheeseburger per year.

By contrast, email is dependant for delivery on the global Internet infrastructure, which is known to have a CO₂ footprint of many tens of millions of tonnes.

Indeed, whilst no one has yet been able to attribute an accurate ‘share’ to each email, it’s reasonable to assume – factoring in the much greater volume of emails sent compared with direct mail – that the e-comms industry actually has a sizeable carbon footprint.

So direct mail diehards’ consciences remain clear.

Moreover, while the weakness in the economy may have contributed to declining direct mail volumes, the cost of producing and posting direct mail is lower now than it was in 2005.

Savvy marketers take note.

A recent Georgia Tech survey revealed that, whilst more than 80% of all Internet users find new websites through search engines, very few of those users are prepared to venture past page one.

The university’s findings are echoed in a 2008 study by JupiterResearch, which concluded that 68% of people would rather try another search if they didn’t find what they were looking for on the first page of results.

And by iProspect, whose survey that same year found that 92% of web users either clicked a link – or abandoned their search – on or before page three.

The case for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is clear.

Optimising a website, to ensure it achieves the highest possible rankings, gives website owners a real competitive edge – helping them to raise their business’ profile. And slash their online marketing costs.

No surprise then that, according to eConsultancy, the SEO market in the UK grew by 14% during 2009, to a value of £376 million – with the total market for Search Engine Marketing (i.e.: SEO and Pay Per Click combined) exceeding a staggering £3 billion.

Given all this, you can be confident: your competitors are investing heavily in SEO. And you should too.

SEO? PPC? What’s the difference..?

In an industry beset with TLAs (three letter acronyms!), it’s all too easy to become confused. So, to clarify:

PPC (Pay Per Click) ads, or ‘Sponsored Links’,
are featured at the top, and to the right, of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
As the name suggests, these listings are paid for.

The remaining listings – which account for the bulk of the listings on the page – are known as organic (or ‘natural’) listings.
These listings are free – hence the attraction of SEO.

So: which is better – PPC or SEO?

The answer, of course, is: both have a part to play. Whilst paying per click enables you to generate web traffic right away, SEO is a slower process. But it’s well worthwhile in the longer term.

Not least because organic listings tend to deliver more visitors.

According to Tamar’s 2008 Search Attitudes Report, 91% of web-users prefer using natural search results when looking to buy a product or service online. And, to paraphrase Mark Knopfler: them clicks are free!

In reality, the two disciplines complement one another. It is widely believed that having both a paid and natural link on a given results page increases the likelihood of the web- user clicking the natural link.

Moreover, Pay Per Click bid values (the amount the company is prepared to pay for a click) are determined in large part by the destination page’s ‘quality score’ – meaning an optimised page is likely to attract a lower cost per click.

SEO is much more complex than paid search (which is little more than a sophisticated form of media buying). And it’s a longer-term strategy: you’re unlikely to achieve top rankings, for your chosen key words and phrases, overnight.

If at all. Google alone utilises more than 200 ‘ranking factors’, of varying importance, to determine a site’s prominence. But its underlying algorithm – like that of the other search engines – remains a closely guarded secret. Thus SEO remains a combination of educated guesswork – and experimentation.

We do however know – beyond doubt – the three factors that will enhance your site’s SERP rankings above all others.

These are:

* the relevance and timeliness of  your content,
* the quality of your underlying code, and
*  the volume and ‘authority’ of your inbound links

All three topics are addressed, in detail, in Steve’s free-to-download White Paper: “Search Engine Organisation – Helping your business to achieve top billing in the leading search engines’ results pages.”

To download your copy – without charge or obligation – visit the Download Centre at http://resource-centre.stevecalder.com/download-centre/

The statistics never lie: In May 2009, the total number of unique UK Internet users reached 36,820,000. That’s 72% of the population – over 22m of whom visit the Internet every day, spending an average 35 hours per month online [Source: comScore, May 2009].

Clearly the web is no longer the domain of geeks, gamers and precocious teens. In fact, according to research from insurer AXA, retired Britons spend more of their leisure time online than they do gardening.

Consequently there’s very little, these days, that can’t be sold over the Internet. And in the unlikely event that your products can’t… a web presence is still essential, since the Internet is, frequently, the first port of call for jobseekers, investors, journalists, business opportunity seekers… and, of course, consumers.

In its November 2009 survey, iPerceptions reported that 38.6% of web-users visit ecommerce sites to research products and prices – and to gather information – before making a purchase (which, often, takes place offline).

Those findings are echoed in the May 2009 PayPal report – compiled by Experian – which concluded that seven out of ten consumers (that’s 33.6 million people) gather as much information as possible online before committing to a purchase.

Even more interesting: 62 per cent of the online shoppers surveyed believed that the best deals are only available online.

So, whether you’re a sole trader or a multinational conglomerate – a speciality retailer, or a ‘man with a van’ – if you don’t have an effective web presence, you’re losing business to companies that do.

Not so level playing field

Back when online was in its infancy – the early 1990s! – the web was widely expected to ‘level the commercial playing field’, allowing savvy SMEs to compete on equal terms with their larger competitors.

The reality is rather different.

Money still talks. Larger firms are able to invest in the latest technologies, the finest creative talent, and the most robust architecture – creating compelling ‘interactive experiences’ in-keeping with their prestigious ‘household name’ brands.

Now the good news. This guide will help you to focus your more finite resources on those areas which deliver maximum return on your online investment. And who knows? You may actually find yourself at an advantage over your cash-rich competitors.

‘Big company sites’ can have a tendency to be overdesigned and over-engineered: employing the latest technologies for their own sake, whilst ignoring the basic tenets of usability – alienating their less ‘technically sophisticated’ customers into the bargain.

The reality is: an uncomplicated site, with compelling, audience-focussed content and a clear call to action will outperform a more complex, design-driven ‘experience’ (almost) every time.

That being the case, you may ask (with some justification):
Why can’t I do it myself?

To paraphrase Internet Marketing author Nigel Packer: being an expert sometimes means using an expert. This is one of those times.

When you’re facing a lawsuit, you visit a lawyer. You don’t reach for a copy of ‘Contract Law for Dummies’.

Similarly, if you want to get real results from your website – and create the right impression for your target audience – then: banish from your mind all thoughts of ‘doing it yourself’.

Professional business websites require a broad set of skills – skills that simply cannot be emulated with an Idiots Guide and a copy of Dreamweaver (currently the most popular website authoring programme).

Indeed, as you’ll soon come to realise, you’re unlikely to find all the skills you need in a single developer.

About the SMART Start Guide to Website Planning

As it says on the cover, this guide is written in plain English – not by ‘techies’, but by experienced business people, who view the Internet as a means to an end. And not the end in itself.

Its goal: to help you achieve measurable commercial goals:

•    Raising your business’ profile;
•    Generating new, and better qualified, leads;
•    Closing more profitable sales;
•    Slashing your service and transaction costs; and
•    Building customer loyalty for the long term.

Within these pages you’ll find the hard-won knowledge you need to commission the website that’s right for your business.

We’ll explain what’s achievable on even the most restricted budget – thanks to the plethora of readily available no- and low-cost tools and technologies. And we’ll help you navigate your way around the myriad tank traps that await the unwary.

Most importantly, this eminently practical guide cuts through the jargon – enabling you to translate your business strategy into a detailed technical and creative brief, describing:

•    Your SMART (that is: Specific – Measurable – Actionable – Relevant – Timely) website goals
•    Your most profitable target customers
•    Your available content (text, images, video and audio)
•    Your desired functionality
•    Your preferred visual style
•    And a customer-centred navigational structure

The SMART start guide to website planning is structured in such a way as to provide non-technical readers with all the information they’ll need to plan their next site; to put that site out to tender; and to commission a suitable developer – constraining the related costs, and maintaining control throughout every stage of the building process.

For more information – and to order the SMART Start Guide in total confidence, thanks to our no-quibble money back guarantee – visit www.smartstartguides.co.uk.