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Casual Articles - How To Write More Powerful Online Text
So you've finally decided it's time to create your own Web Site. After all, your friends and business associates have one and you don't want to be left behind on the Information Super Highway.Great Web Sites all have a few common elements about them, and that's what I'll be discussing here. It's usually a good idea to plan the site out on paper before even touching your PC. It can be difficult to come up with content when staring at a blank computer screen, so get out an old fashioned pen and paper and let those creative juices flow. You want to be sure to include all there is to know about your products and/or services.Once you decide on the main topics you'll be using, it's time to plan out the navigation. You need to make it simple and easy for visitors to find their way around your site, otherwise they'll get frustrated and leave. Keep the navigation consistent on all pages so your guests don't have to re-learn the menus from page to page. Graphic links are usually more effective than plain text, but make sure you use something readable and easy on the eyes.Make sure the color of the hyperlinks coordinate with the rest of your site. You should include your contact information at the bottom of every page - at the very least, an email address. Businesses should also include phone, FAX, and company name. Not everyone enters a site through the front door and if you fail to include this information, they won't know where they are or how to get in touch with you with comments and/or suggestions. If you surf the Net for any length of time, you'll be amazed at just how many sites fail to include this vital information.Including a FeedBack form is a good way to add some interactivity and makes it easy for people to ask questions without having to pick up the phone.Graphics make a site visually appealing, but if you use the wrong ones you can leave a bad impression. If you must use a background, make sure it's not so busy that text cannot be easily read. Surfers are an impatient bunch, so make sure the graphics are compressed as much as possible so they download quickly. There are many online utilities that will perform this service for Free. One is located at http://www.webutilities.com/services/index.htm This Free compression service offers support for Gif, JPG, and PNG. You should save simple graphics in a 16 color format rather than 256.If your site is large you might want to include a search mechanism to help visitors f
Well, although I don't exactly read it a story and kiss it goodnight I'm bound to feel pretty close to my computer (and the messages it displays) especially as I often spend more hours a day with it than I do with my family. The moral? When you're writing online text, in fact online anything, respect the close relationship people have with their screens. Knock before entering, then be the perfect guest. Be direct, don't waste their time, but remember to say please and thank you. Then leave before you've worn out your welcome. That's the way to ensure not only that you make a good impression, but also that you'll get invited back.
E-mails
The one huge problem nobody seems to have solved yet, as I see it, is how to ha
Enter at your own risk! The flammable hazard signs with their bright red flame graphic and danger wordings say it all. You are now entering a restricted area...Many people have a natural fear of chemicals that catch fire easily. In fact, I know of some people who became so nervous whenever they have to come into the chemical areas that they lost their concentration and fumble about with their activities, visibly shaken. It is as if the whole place is going to explode in their faces anytime.However, if this natural fear is allowed to paralyze us, there will not be any oil refinery, oil wells or even petrol stations anywhere. Industrial processes will literarily grind to a halt. People will be so afraid to handle these chemicals in their work.This article tries to eliminate this natural fear by explaining the properties of flammable chemicals so that people will treat flammable chemicals with respect but not with fear.Flash PointChemicals that are flammable will usually have a low flash point. What is this low flash point? It's the temperature at which the chemical will give out fumes sufficiently enough to catch fire when a lighted flame is brought near to it.This means that a chemical having a lower flash point than room temperature will give out fumes capable of catching fire even though it is stored at normal room temperatures.Thus, gasoline with flash point of -20 degree Centigrade will already be able to catch fire at normal room temperature if a light flame is present, while kerosene with flash point of 38 degree Centigrade will not burn when it is kept at a room temperature of 30 degree Centigrade.Well, that's not totally correct either. In order to burn, three things must be present at the same time: fuel, oxygen and heat. When we talk about flash point, we are talking about the heat to generate sufficient gaseous fumes that can burn, but the chemical will not burn until a higher temperature is reached. That temperature is the ignition point.Ignition PointThe ignition point can be reached if a lighted flame is brought near to the combustible fumes, or it can be from a sparking electrical contact or even from sparks produced from mechanical impact. Very often, it can even come from sparks generated by static electricity.Even when all these conditions have been reached, fire will not start if there is not sufficient oxygen to support the combustion. This is a very important factor to consider especially when storing flammable chemicals.Although there are significant differences among the various types of online communication, there all have one critical thing in common - they're read off a screen. There are substantial benefits, too, in that while your message is on someone's screen usually it has their undivided attention. You are genuinely "one-to-one" with them and that's something you must respect - you are literally "in their face" and encroaching on very personal territory. The bad news about online communications is that your message can be "disappeared" faster from a screen than with any other medium.
There are a few more stark facts about online communications that significantly influence how your message is received. One, according to the world-acclaimed web expert Dr Jakob Nielsen, is that 79% of online readers don't read - they scan. That's a little like the way people browse through brochures. What it means is that your message must be delivered in a way that allows key points - and benefits, of course - to be picked up at the same speed as readers scroll and scan.
Secondly, Dr Nielsen has also calculated that when people read from a screen they do so at a rate 25% slower than they read print on a paper page. That's because, despite high-resolution screens and all the other technological wizardry, on-screen text is harder to read. For this reason your messages have to be very much more concise than they do for printed media - some experts say screen text should be just half the length of its paper equivalent. In my view, therefore, there are two very important things you have to remember if you're going to get the best out of online text.
Firstly, go with the flow of the physical restrictions and write so you minimize their effect. Also, create your text so it works well for scanners (human scanners that is) by highlighting key points in bold - not italics or underline because people think those are links. That way people get the gist of your message while scrolling, although of course they will stop and read more carefully when an emboldened section really does catch their eye.
Secondly, bear in mind that even in its short little life the internet has already started to put its early folklore on a nostalgic pedestal and this plays a key role in determining what works online now. Having begun its days as an electronic kaff?e klatch for individual tekkies the net has developed a very personal informality and straight-talking ethos that, miraculously, is being preserved and perpetuated with considerable success. And that's all the more astounding when you consider the vast commercialism that's replaced the early net's endearing woolly-sweater-and-sandals innocence, na?vety and honesty.
Never mind, though. There are other good reasons why brief, straight, plain - even blunt - speaking is a sensible style to maximize the success of your online text. Obviously it helps overcome the physical restrictions (see above) and also works well in such a personal, one-to-one medium that is, literally, in your face.
Today you only have to think how emotional people get over the issue of receiving "spam," to understand just how firmly the PC or PDA or other forms of electronic screens have established themselves as part of their users' personal space. "You don't just use a computer," my late mother used to shout when she came by my office to see if I was still breathing, "you wear it."
Well, although I don't exactly read it a story and kiss it goodnight I'm bound to feel pretty close to my computer (and the messages it displays) especially as I often spend more hours a day with it than I do with my family. The moral? When you're writing online text, in fact online anything, respect the close relationship people have with their screens. Knock before entering, then be the perfect guest. Be direct, don't waste their time, but remember to say please and thank you. Then leave before you've worn out your welcome. That's the way to ensure not only that you make a good impression, but also that you'll get invited back.
E-mails
The one huge problem nobody seems to have solved yet, as I see it, is how to ha
In the seventies I worked in an office, and although we were fairly busy, there was downtime. When things got quiet, several of us would play “the game.” We didn’t have a real name for it, but we all knew what “the game” was.At the merest suggestion of quiet time, we would immediately pull out a lined tablet and beginning with a line at the top we would write an “A” at the far-left and continue down the page to “Z” with each line representing a letter of the alphabet. Then we would divide the page into columns. If there were three of us playing, there would be six columns. It there were four of us playing, there would be eight columns. Each column would be given a heading like “rivers” or “politicians.”Before starting “the game,” we would agree on a time limit. We would take turns answering the phone. We would all stop when work had to be done, so that no one had an advantage.The object of the game would then be to write down as many rivers as we could that began with the letter “A” then “B” and so forth down the page. The winner would be the person who had the most correct answers. We all acted as a judge and we threw out all duplications. If two of us wrote down “Amazon River” neither one of us got credit. This was incentive to go beyond an easy answer.Choosing the heading for the column was always important. Each person got to choose two headings. Generally, you want to choose a subject that you are familiar with, so that you have an edge in playing the game. For example, one friend had spent much of her early life in Eastern Washington, so she would sometimes choose “Washington counties” or “small towns in Washington.” In Washington State the Cascade Mountains divide the state into Western Washington and Eastern Washington. Most of the population is located in Western Washington along Puget Sound where I grew up, but the larger geographic area is Eastern Washington.Two friends were older than I, so I would sometimes find myself trying to come up with “popular songs from World War II” or “radio programs.” What’s interesting is that after playing “the game” for a while, you learn the answers . . . and even obscure headings become familiar. You can learn much from playing a simple game. And I remember fondly our quiet time busily filling up the pages of lined tablets.Since playing “the game” I have used it as a brainstorming tool. When my wife and I began selling business training products in 2001, I was overjoyed to find a three-ring binder, Pen and Paper Games For Training,
Secondly, Dr Nielsen has also calculated that when people read from a screen they do so at a rate 25% slower than they read print on a paper page. That's because, despite high-resolution screens and all the other technological wizardry, on-screen text is harder to read. For this reason your messages have to be very much more concise than they do for printed media - some experts say screen text should be just half the length of its paper equivalent. In my view, therefore, there are two very important things you have to remember if you're going to get the best out of online text.
Firstly, go with the flow of the physical restrictions and write so you minimize their effect. Also, create your text so it works well for scanners (human scanners that is) by highlighting key points in bold - not italics or underline because people think those are links. That way people get the gist of your message while scrolling, although of course they will stop and read more carefully when an emboldened section really does catch their eye.
Secondly, bear in mind that even in its short little life the internet has already started to put its early folklore on a nostalgic pedestal and this plays a key role in determining what works online now. Having begun its days as an electronic kaff?e klatch for individual tekkies the net has developed a very personal informality and straight-talking ethos that, miraculously, is being preserved and perpetuated with considerable success. And that's all the more astounding when you consider the vast commercialism that's replaced the early net's endearing woolly-sweater-and-sandals innocence, na?vety and honesty.
Never mind, though. There are other good reasons why brief, straight, plain - even blunt - speaking is a sensible style to maximize the success of your online text. Obviously it helps overcome the physical restrictions (see above) and also works well in such a personal, one-to-one medium that is, literally, in your face.
Today you only have to think how emotional people get over the issue of receiving "spam," to understand just how firmly the PC or PDA or other forms of electronic screens have established themselves as part of their users' personal space. "You don't just use a computer," my late mother used to shout when she came by my office to see if I was still breathing, "you wear it."
Well, although I don't exactly read it a story and kiss it goodnight I'm bound to feel pretty close to my computer (and the messages it displays) especially as I often spend more hours a day with it than I do with my family. The moral? When you're writing online text, in fact online anything, respect the close relationship people have with their screens. Knock before entering, then be the perfect guest. Be direct, don't waste their time, but remember to say please and thank you. Then leave before you've worn out your welcome. That's the way to ensure not only that you make a good impression, but also that you'll get invited back.
E-mails
The one huge problem nobody seems to have solved yet, as I see it, is how to ha
There are a number of techniques you can use online to build a mailing list of targeted prospects. In most markets, you usually have to have to bait your prospects to sign up. You're going to have to lure them in with something. Usually this is done by offering some sort of incentive in exchange for permission to e-mail the prospect. Depending on the target market, this incentive is often a newsletter, an e-course, or a special report of some kind. But no matter what the incentive is, the principle is the same--offer the prospect something of value for free in exchange for their e-mail address. But even by offering a good incentive, there is a key question that still remains. Namely, the following--how do you get prospective customers to view your web site where you are offering this incentive? In other words, how do you drive traffic to your web site?Without question, the single best way to drive targeted traffic to your web site is to use Google AdWords. So by extension, the best way to drive targeted prospects to your incentive page is to use Google AdWords. AdWords is Google's pay-per-click system whereby you as an advertiser pay Google for sending you targeted prospects. Incidentally, the reason I keep saying the word "targeted" is because these people are specifically looking for information you have to offer. As an AdWords advertiser, you bid on a specific set of keywords that you think people will type into the Google search engine. When a prospect types a keyword that you're bidding on, your ad will surface along with the other sponsored links on the right hand side of the page. And if you know how to write a compelling ad, prospective customers will click on your ad and be taken to your web site where they will be offered the incentive.Incidentally, this page that offers the incentive is commonly called a squeeze page. So when a prospect clicks your ad, they will be taken to this squeeze page. Again, a squeeze page is nothing more than a simple HTML page that tried to get the prospect to opt-in to your mailing list. The squeeze page is usually very short, just highlighting the benefits of joining your list. Of course the squeeze page also hypes up the incentive as something of value and something that your visitors shouldn't pass up. Not all markets are created equal though. So depending on the market, you may find that you have to give away quite a bit to get people to give you their e-mail address.In summary, the reason why using AdWords to build a
Secondly, bear in mind that even in its short little life the internet has already started to put its early folklore on a nostalgic pedestal and this plays a key role in determining what works online now. Having begun its days as an electronic kaff?e klatch for individual tekkies the net has developed a very personal informality and straight-talking ethos that, miraculously, is being preserved and perpetuated with considerable success. And that's all the more astounding when you consider the vast commercialism that's replaced the early net's endearing woolly-sweater-and-sandals innocence, na?vety and honesty.
Never mind, though. There are other good reasons why brief, straight, plain - even blunt - speaking is a sensible style to maximize the success of your online text. Obviously it helps overcome the physical restrictions (see above) and also works well in such a personal, one-to-one medium that is, literally, in your face.
Today you only have to think how emotional people get over the issue of receiving "spam," to understand just how firmly the PC or PDA or other forms of electronic screens have established themselves as part of their users' personal space. "You don't just use a computer," my late mother used to shout when she came by my office to see if I was still breathing, "you wear it."
Well, although I don't exactly read it a story and kiss it goodnight I'm bound to feel pretty close to my computer (and the messages it displays) especially as I often spend more hours a day with it than I do with my family. The moral? When you're writing online text, in fact online anything, respect the close relationship people have with their screens. Knock before entering, then be the perfect guest. Be direct, don't waste their time, but remember to say please and thank you. Then leave before you've worn out your welcome. That's the way to ensure not only that you make a good impression, but also that you'll get invited back.
E-mails
The one huge problem nobody seems to have solved yet, as I see it, is how to ha
I just fired my Internet design team and I think you should avoid the mistakes I made. So, as a public service, I’ll convey my lessons in an attempt to help you in your search.I have been in advertising for over 35 years, but when my wife and I conceived a new online business, I needed help in producing the site. Sure I could create the basic screen shots and writ e the copy, but the HTML, PHP, or SQL, required was just a myriad of alphabet soup. So, being the savvy guy I am, I went surfing for a reliable Internet team to make the site happen. With so many to choose from, I figured that I could use a local group that had a nearby presence. Therefore, I did a citywide search and narrowed down the firms. After reviewing their sites, paying particular attention to their years of experience and portfolios, I called one for an interview.Getting an answering machine should have been my first indication (warning sign 1) that disaster was looming. But I left a message anyway and waited for a return call. When it finally came, we agreed on meeting at his office. When I arrived, I realized it wasn’t exactly his office. It was an executive suite with a conference room that they rented to save money (warning sign 2). When the young man (around 30) showed up in shorts, I was a bit uneasy (warning sign 3) but gave him our background anyway. He appeared confident about being able to produce the site in a timely manner and sent my wife and I a fairly professional proposal via email. The timeframes and costs seemed appropriate and we decided to give his company a try.After emailing him my screen shot for the front page, he sent a note asking if they could redesign it. Mind you, I have been a professional designer and consultant for over three decades. But I consented and received something we hated and I told him as much. He emailed back that he was insulted by our response and knew far more (at age 30) than us about web design. He changed our colors, which we finally acceded to, but we remained firm on the artwork. Eventually, we got what we wanted and moved forward. It was nearing Christmas, and work came through like molasses. His “guy” that was doing the majority of design took three weeks off for Christmas and our project sat dormant the entire time. (warning sign 4)“Hey, it’s the holidays,” he explained. “What do you expect?”I expected our site to be finished, which is what I paid for. After the first of the year, we asked for a meeting to discuss the problems getting it finished. He said he woul
Never mind, though. There are other good reasons why brief, straight, plain - even blunt - speaking is a sensible style to maximize the success of your online text. Obviously it helps overcome the physical restrictions (see above) and also works well in such a personal, one-to-one medium that is, literally, in your face.
Today you only have to think how emotional people get over the issue of receiving "spam," to understand just how firmly the PC or PDA or other forms of electronic screens have established themselves as part of their users' personal space. "You don't just use a computer," my late mother used to shout when she came by my office to see if I was still breathing, "you wear it."
Well, although I don't exactly read it a story and kiss it goodnight I'm bound to feel pretty close to my computer (and the messages it displays) especially as I often spend more hours a day with it than I do with my family. The moral? When you're writing online text, in fact online anything, respect the close relationship people have with their screens. Knock before entering, then be the perfect guest. Be direct, don't waste their time, but remember to say please and thank you. Then leave before you've worn out your welcome. That's the way to ensure not only that you make a good impression, but also that you'll get invited back.
E-mails
The one huge problem nobody seems to have solved yet, as I see it, is how to ha
Finding The Right FranchiseWhether it’s hamburgers, pizza, telecom, coffee, Internet, muffler parts, or seniors’ services, there are Franchise opportunities available to evaluate. There are great Franchise systems, good Franchise systems, and bad Franchise systems. The challenge is to ask the right questions to find the right system that will fit your goals and dreams. The key is to ask the questions – and listen closely to the responses. Only then can you determine if the Franchise opportunity is the right fit for you. So whether it’s food services like burgers or coffee, professional services like telecom or IT, or manual services like cleaning or oil changes, ask the questions and record the answers.What’s The Challenge?Do you look forward to Friday afternoon or Monday morning? Perhaps that’s the true litmus test of happiness. If you’re thinking about the fact that there’s only one day to go before the weekend, when you just got back from lunch on Wednesday, it may be time for a change. Maybe your day-to-day activities simply aren’t all that fulfilling. Maybe you’re in a rut, and it feels like you have to crawl up the side of the Chrysler building to get out.I seem to carry a certain amount of guilt on weekends because I’m always looking forward to Monday morning. I know the next challenge resides there. Although I certainly enjoy my leisure time, it seems that I’m always looking for the next opportunity to rev up, and meet the next challenge of being in business. It is my belief that the vast majority of us, all members of the same realm of humanity, miss the opportunity of feeling that motivation in our work.On average, each of us gets about 3 billion heartbeats. We all have to determine what to do with them. If you’re suffering through 35 to 40 hours a week in a job that offers no challenge, perhaps alternatives need to be examined. Perhaps that’s a lot of blood being pumped nowhere.Now that’s not to say that many jobs don’t offer that challenge. Many of society’s best producers are employed, and through that employment, they help their companies achieve great things. If that’s you, then these humble thoughts don’t address your situation.On the other hand, if it seems like it’s just past a million o’clock, and it’s really just before your morning break on Tuesday, then it’s probably time for a re-think. Speaking of breaks, I think the last formal break I took was in 1977. I find that breaks aren’t as much fun as the business at hand, so why bother? Now that’s got to
Well, although I don't exactly read it a story and kiss it goodnight I'm bound to feel pretty close to my computer (and the messages it displays) especially as I often spend more hours a day with it than I do with my family. The moral? When you're writing online text, in fact online anything, respect the close relationship people have with their screens. Knock before entering, then be the perfect guest. Be direct, don't waste their time, but remember to say please and thank you. Then leave before you've worn out your welcome. That's the way to ensure not only that you make a good impression, but also that you'll get invited back.
E-mails
The one huge problem nobody seems to have solved yet, as I see it, is how to handle the vast amount of e-mails that most of us receive every day. Even I, as a humble one-person-band little business employing no-one other than myself and my two rescued dogs who spend most of the day asleep under the desks in my office, receive between 50 and 100 e-mails per weekday. Some clients of mine receive double that. No doubt busy business people I don't know receive even more. How do you prioritize those? How do you decide which ones to read now, which ones to read later, and which ones not to read but to dump?
Ah, ah, I hear you say, what's that got to do with writing? Let me tell you. If you're writing a personal e-mail to a friend there's no problem, particularly as you're more likely to send it to their personal e-mail address than their business addy. But what about business e-mails that you want the recipient to take notice of? How do you make the best of the medium when your e-mail is likely to be surrounded by at least 49 others all shouting for the same person's attention?
In the earlier days of the internet, if you were smart and could write a snappy short phrase you could attract attention in the subject line, perhaps including the words "relax, this is not spam." Now though, the spammers have cottoned on to that one and if you see a subject line in your e-mailbox saying "not spam" it almost certainly is - to the extent that this is the first thing looked for by most of the spam filters you can get.
Spam filters will also choke out all the obvious spammy words like "free" and "opportunity" and "give away." And you can't be believed if you write something really homely and innocent sounding like "message from your cousin Marianne" because that's what all the porno spammers do. So what's the answer?
Or, so what's the problem? If the recipient of your e-mail is likely to know you and knows that what you have to say is usually interesting, they'll open it and probably sooner rather than later. It's when they think your message is not likely to be of use, relevance or interest to them; that's when you're relegated to the delete tab.
So what's the most efficient way of ensuring people open your e-mails? You have to be interesting. That's what's in it for them, and their previous experience of your being interesting provides them with the incentive to read your new e-mail.
It's also a good idea to confirm the fact that you're interesting by getting over "what's in it for you" in the first few lines of the text. If you don't readers are often tempted to move on without going further, especially if they have 27 other e-mails to read. However here we risk straying into pure online marketing areas and once again, there is an impressive selection of reading matter available that goes into chapter and verse about that. But I do want to emphasize this point about being interesting.
Whereas the e-mail marketers might be agonising over how to write subject lines that get through the filters and get people to open the e-mail, a fair few of them may be missing the point that it's not the subject line that matters so much as the name of the sender. If the recipient doesn't know the sender it doesn't matter how cuddly the subject line is, they won't open the e-mail for fear of being sold some ugly garden furniture or pornography or even a virus. If they do know the sender but also know that he/she/th
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