Web Copy Workshop Day 3 With Matt Furey and Andrew Palmer
Dear AWAIer,
It was a “right brain/left brain” kind of day.
First off, the “right brain” …
Matt Furey – “Zen Master of the Internet” – just delivered a powerful presentation that had us laughing, crying and writing emails Furey-ously! Listening to Matt’s session was truly an enlightening (and surprisingly emotional) experience.
One of the things Matt emphasized is the law of practice. In order to perfect anything worthwhile and really become successful at it, you must continue to practice – even after mastery – or you may lose the skill.
But Matt didn’t just preach the law of practice. He gave us his personal 11-point email system and then put us to work.
To encourage our creative flow for this portion of the class, Matt started out by teaching us a deep-breathing technique, along with visualization excercises, that he said form the backbone of his success in writing money-drenching emails.
Then, he gave us 15 minutes to craft an email that ended with a strong call to action. Afterwards, he had us read them in front of the entire group. In all, we ended up writing three emails, again with only 15 minutes to write each one!
After listening to the persuasive emails written by my fellow attendees, I could see how with just a few simple guidelines, you can become a successful email copywriter … no matter what your skill level as a writer.
Marketers happily pay $250 to $500 a pop for emails just like the ones we wrote in 15 minutes today. That’s at least $1,000 for only one hour of work!!
I’m pressed for time now, so I can only share the first five of Matt’s email copywriting secrets. But according to Matt, these are the most important and impactful secrets to really learn first – in order to make your email copy powerful …
- Have a mental picture of yourself writing something that pops – that really stands out.
- Have a mental picture of your audience as you write – and see yourself connected to them.
- Have a mental picture of your audience liking what you write so much they pull out their credit cards to buy.
- Make sure your email is clear, it flows, and it does not contain superfluous or weak words.
- Use stories and metaphors which are simple and easy to understand, yet are powerful
If you’d like to order Matt’s email copywriting program, AWAI has arranged for you to get a special discount during the Web Copywriting Workshop. If you do nothing else for the web, don’t pass up what I feel is the easiest form of copywriting!
And now for the “left brain” …
As if that weren’t enough, Andrew Palmer just finished teaching us how to profit from thinking like Google …
This was the nuts and bolts information I’ve needed the most. Not because it’s my favorite subject, but rather, because it’s what I know the least about!
One of the things he covered was the importance of testing your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
Why is testing so important?
As Andrew said, it’s just like direct mail on the web … without testing, your PPC campaigns are doomed to fail.
Here are his eight essential tips for testing your campaigns.
- Test one thing at time.
- Make your tests big.
- Tests must be statistically valid.
- Clarify what you’re testing.
- Record results.
- Assign unique tracking codes.
- Manage expectations.
- “Shotgun” at no additional cost.
And that’s it for today! Next up, the latest SEO tactics from Heather Lloyd-Martin …
Until tomorrow,
Laurie Cauthen
Copywriter and AWAI Roving Reporter
P.S. I just got wind of some huge news today. Make sure you look out for my report tomorrow. I’ll be sure to cover it just as soon as I confirm all the details!!
Published: August 7, 2008
