Content marketing tools and training.
You’ve likely heard of the need for a “unique selling proposition” (USP) in order to be successful in business. In essence, a USP is something that you offer customers or clients that your competitors do not.
Another way to think of your USP is as a “remarkable benefit.”
In direct response copywriting, the USP runs throughout the sales letter. It’s the unique promise that is
Eric Mattson is an American marketer living in Stockholm, Sweden. He’s decided to do something very interesting with his blog.
Eric’s goal is to perform 1,000 interviews with people involved in marketing and social media. For example, earlier this month he interviewed Richard Edelman of Edelman PR about blogging and why the social evolution of the web is the great equalizer for public relations.
Now, with such an ambitious goal, you’ve got to expect some filler. So following up his chat with Edelman is an interview with . . . yours truly.
Seriously, I had a lot of fun talking to Eric about a whole range of subjects, including SEO, internet marketing, blogging, and copywriting. He’s a great guy, and the podcast came out pretty well, especially when you consider that he was on Skype and I was on a cell phone.
Check it out, and you may also want to sign up for the feed to catch future installments.
I’m sure Eric will get back to interviewing important people soon. 
Just when you thought it was safe to get really excited about the fantastic possibilities of the Internet again, a dark cloud looms. The Internet as you have always known it is facing a serious threat that requires your attention.
The issue is Net Neutrality. If you’re not sure what that means, I’ll try to succinctly sum up its importance to you.
All of your current Internet marketing plans depend on Net Neutrality. And likely, a lot of what you do online outside of the scope of business depends on it too. Net Neutrality allows everyone to compete on a level playing field and is the reason that the Internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech.
So who are the Four Horsemen looking to destroy the Internet as we know it?
The reformed AT&T wants the power to allow big corporations that pay Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web to muscle out startups and entrepreneurs. The little guy will be left in the “slow lane” with inferior Internet service, unable to compete.
Comcast would just love it if they could favor their own services, so you won’t be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your office.
Could Big Media partner with companies like Verizon to put bloggers out of business and silence the threat to their content monopolies? It would be simple under such an arrangement to skyrocket the costs to post and share video and audio clips—silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets.
Likewise, when Time Warner Cable has the ability to steer the choices of your customers (and you) to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc, your business and your freedom are history.
This is not a conspiracy theory.
The US Congress is pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment. Network neutrality currently prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner from deciding which Web sites work best for you — based on which site paid them the most. Without Network Neutrality, the scenarios outlined above are just the beginning. And it will affect people all over the world, not just in the States.
To learn more, and get involved, you can do several things:
They WILL win if we are apathetic. Do something, or find a way to earn a living that doesn’t involve the Internet.
UPDATE: In a surprise victory, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would require broadband providers to abide by strict Net neutrality principles, meaning that their networks must be operated in a “nondiscriminatory” manner.
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What in the world could Hollywood heart throb Owen Wilson have to do with the effectiveness of your blogging? And how, exactly, do his lips come into play?
It all ties together (I think). Let me know if it does at the end, OK?
As you might imagine, I’ve got a bunch of copywriting books and courses.
It’s been said that selling with words is the most financially lucrative skill one can possess. That’s true for me, even when factoring in law school.
You can always make money if you understand good copywriting, and as long as we have the Internet or a postal service, it doesn’t matter where you are, what you look like, how you dress, or where (or if) you went to college.
Imagine… by the end of this post, you will be a more effective blogger, all because you learned two very important words, and the specific reasons why those words are so crucial.
Actually, both words can be found in the preceding sentence, along with hints related to their importance.
Did you catch them?
If not, keep reading, because all will be revealed.
Did you find the opening sentence compelling? If so, why?
Or the better question is, who was the first sentence focused on?
Well, let’s consider this. Have the words “me” or “I” appeared in this post before now?
It’s certainly ironic that a medium often used as a self-absorbed journaling platform would now need to be overwhelmingly focused on the reader in order to be effective. But if you’re blogging for marketing or public relations purposes, your every post should be purposefully aimed at the needs and wants of others.
You only benefit when readers benefit first.
When it comes to writing engaging content, “you” is the most powerful word in the English language, because people are ultimately interested in fulfilling their own needs. It may sound harsh, but the fact is your readers won’t start to actually care about you at all until you’ve repeatedly offered them exceptional value with your blog.
But once they do start to care about you, look out… because wonderful things can start happening. Things like viral buzz and customer evangelism.
The same substantive content will be more effective with the focus shifted toward the reader. One of the easiest ways to do that is to maximize the use of “you”, while minimizing or eliminating “I” and “me”.
Every time you finish writing a blog post, check the focus. How many times does you and its derivations appear? What about I and me?
Got the count? Good. Now, adjust accordingly.
Try it, and you’ll be amazed at the results.
One of the most important characteristics of compelling, persuasive content is specificity. The more specific you are, the more credible your points, arguments or sales pitch.
There are many ways to be specific in your writing. One of the best is simply giving a reason why. And the most effective transition word when giving a “reason why” is because.
The power of because has actually been documented by social psychologist Ellen Langer, as told by our old friend Robert Cialdini from the Blog Triggers series. Langer performed an experiment where she asked to cut in line to use a copy machine.
She tested three different ways of asking, and recorded the results:
Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?
60% said OK.
Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?
94% said OK.
It appears that giving the “reason why” of because I’m in a rush boosted the effectiveness of the request immensely.
But here’s the kicker:
Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?
93% said OK.
The trigger word “because” is so powerful that it didn’t really seem to matter that the “reason why” provided was something you might expect to hear from a four year old child.
Be specific in your assertions, and always give a reason why, especially when you want people to take some form of action.
Not because I said so, but rather because it will work wonders for you.
About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger, CEO of Copyblogger Media, and Editor-in-Chief of Entreproducer. Get more from Brian on Google+.
