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Articles from Karon Thackston | Selfgrowth.com
- “Super Adjectives” Boost the Power of Your Copy - by Submitted on Oct 05, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.learn-copywriting.com Pretty or elegant? Good or scrumptious? Nice or delightful? There is power in the adjectives you choose. Just like Clark Kent and Superman or Bruce Wayne and Batman, some adjectives are plain, ordinary, everyday words. Others are alter-ego Super ...
Views: 2952 - Case In Point: Designing A Site That Demands High Traffic - by Submitted on Jan 10, 2011 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston ?2002 http://www.ktamarketing.com Marnie Pehrson may not be well known for driving traffic to Web sites, but she should be! Her ability to get literally hundreds of thousands of page views a month is simple astounding! (NOTE: I said “page views,?not “hits.?BIG difference!) ...
Views: 2374(4 votes) - Is Your Ad Killing Your Brand? - by Submitted on Jan 10, 2011 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston ?2002 http://www.copywritingcourse.com It’s funny to me how companies spend thousands of dollars to develop a brand only to wreck it when they create their advertising campaigns. They pour over colors, fonts, logo designs, Web site creation, USPs, and target audience ...
Views: 2353(4 votes) - The Mystery of the Magical Keyword Density Formula - by Submitted on Jul 12, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword Keyword density. When it comes to SEO copywriting, this has to be one of the most talked about subjects. Why? Because keywords are the very foundation of search engine copywriting. Without keywords we wouldn’t even have SEO copywriting. ...
Views: 2241 - Case In Point: Get A Full-Page Magazine Ad Free - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2002 from Karon Thackstonhttp://www.ktamarketing.com As you know, I am continually on the look out for innovative marketing ideas that bring a high return on investment. This one is truly creative! Thanks to Roosevelt Best of UK-based Naturally First and Astrology First for sharing his ingenuity – and his results – ...
Views: 1738(1 vote) - Pop-Up Windows: A Nuisance or a Gold Mine? - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2002 from Karon Thackstonhttp://www.ktamarketing.com How many times a day do you see them as you surf the Web? Pop-up and pop-under windows have become a widely used marketing tool. But do they work? Are they just a nuisance, or are they really the gold mine that all the “gurus” claim? After doing a good deal of ...
Views: 1711(1 vote) - Opening Sentences That Close the Sale - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2006 from Karon ThackstonIt's one of the best pieces of copywriting advice I've ever been given. "As often as possible, start your paragraphs with sentences that hook readers and drive them deeper into the copy." Why? Because - after the headline - the first sentence in any paragraph is what gets read most often. ...
Views: 1607 - Your Target Audience – Who Are They & What Do They Want? - by Submitted on Feb 10, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com It still amazes me. When I write copy for a company, I always ask about their target audience. I have to know who I’m writing to in order to create a message that will bring a response. But about half the time, the client is absolutely stumped about ...
Views: 1495(1 vote) - Review: The Step-by-Step Copywriting Course - by Submitted on May 03, 2005 from Karon ThackstonJill Whalen © 2005 http://www.highrankings.com/copywritingcourse I've spent the past couple of weeks reading Karon Thackston's copywriting course, and boy-oh-boy is it a winner! Karon spent five long months putting down on virtual paper everything that she's learned in her 20+ years as a ...
Views: 1476 - Case In Point: Article Promotion Is Not Just For Ezines - by Submitted on Dec 19, 2002 from Karon Thackston© 2002 http://www.ktamarketing.com Almost everyone on the ‘Net is familiar with ezine article promotion. However, Business Essentials subscriber Steve Watson (of Watson’s Streetworks http://www.watsons-streetworks.com) has found a way to get some “free ink” in national paper magazines, too. ...
Views: 1439(1 vote) - Is Your Ezine A Wealth of Information or A Sales Trap? - by Submitted on Dec 19, 2002 from Karon Thackston© 2002 http://www.creatingezines.com Ask successful ezine publishers what draws subscribers to their ezines, and you’ll be told one very important thing. Content, content, content. However, many would-be ezine publishers focus more on selling than they do on valuable information. They turn ...
Views: 1419(1 vote) - Limited Time Only (Shh! It's A Secret) - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2005 from Karon ThackstonKaron Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Under normal circumstances, you'd shout it from the rooftops. After all, when you have something urgent to say, you want others to know about it, right? But when it comes to “limited time only” offers, lately I've noticed a disturbing ...
Views: 1398(1 vote) - Case In Point: Developing An Ezine Built To Last - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2011 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.creatingezines.com Jill Whalen is well known for her search engine optimization talents. She’s equally well known for her ezine, High Rankings Advisor. From its inception in 2000 until today, she has built an exceptionally loyal subscriber base of over 15,000 that would ...
Views: 1385(1 vote) - Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection - Part 1 of 2 - by Submitted on Jul 30, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com One statistic shows that over 80% of all buying decisions are emotional. That means your copywriting should be, too. This is something I firmly believe in and have preached for most of my copywriting career. However, all too often, I find people ...
Views: 1365 - “Super Verbs” Really Move Your Copy - by Submitted on Dec 08, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.learn-copywriting.com Run or hustle? Eat or devour? Move or scurry? You can boost the power of your copy by boosting the quality of verbs you use. Verbs show action, and the way you describe that action can have a dramatic bearing on your readers. Why would you want to ...
Views: 1356 - Subtle Emotion - The Key To Copy That Works - by Submitted on May 30, 2005 from Karon ThackstonKaron Thackston © 2005 http://www.marketingwords.com Say the word "emotion" to a man, and he'll immediately jump out of his seat and run from the room! Utter the word "emotion" to a woman, and she begins to conjure up thoughts of romantic, long talks centered around feelings. However, speak ...
Views: 1336 - How To Write Persuasive Subject Lines - by Submitted on Oct 05, 2005 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Three seconds and 40 characters. That's all you usually have to work with when trying to get and hold the attention of someone reading email. And, with user behavior changing so much in response to overwhelming amounts of spam, the ...
Views: 1322 - Features vs. Benefits vs. End Results - by Submitted on Apr 29, 2005 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com If you've been in the copywriting realm for very long at all, you've heard the phrase "features vs. benefits." It's a fundamental copywriting principle and driving force behind much of what we, as copywriters, create. But there's ...
Views: 1310 - Is It Time For A Copy Facelift? - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2011 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com I just had to laugh! During a recent conversation about how often you should change your copy, I had one person tell me “Well, if there were any *good* copywriters out there, they’d be able to write it once, and it would work forever!” Oh really? ...
Views: 1281(1 vote) - How To Write Little Tiny AdWords Ads That Bring Giant-Sized Profits - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com It seems to be a phenomenon. You try Google AdWords Select, your ad gets “disapproved” by the powers that be at Google, you count your losses and give up. It doesn’t have to be that way. There are two primary factors to succeeding at Google AdWords. ...
Views: 1280(1 vote) - Increasing Conversions Through Action-Oriented Copywriting - by Submitted on Feb 10, 2005 from Karon Thackston© 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com I do site reviews. Needless to say, I see a lot of Web copy. One thing that always befuddles me is the lack of focus many site pages have. It's as if the writer assumes the site visitor will read the copy and automatically know what to do next. The ...
Views: 1275 - Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection - Part 2 of 2 - by Submitted on Jul 30, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com In part one of this article series we began looking at the Cruise Vacation Center site: a travel site whose copy was sorely lacking in emotional appeal and visual imagry. (You can see the previous version of the copy here: ...
Views: 1248 - Case In Point: Building a Web Business Doesn’t Have To Cost a Fortune - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.ktamarketing.com Ask Bobette Kyle about building a Web business on a small business budget, and you’ll be amazed what she’ll tell you about planning and coordination. By getting to the heart of the online business structure, Bobette saves small businesses lots of time and ...
Views: 1247(1 vote) - Understanding the Buying Process Can Increase Your Sales - by Submitted on Mar 26, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Most marketers don’t give a lot of thought to the buying processes of their customers. That’s a shame. Lending due attention to the buying process can have a dramatic effect on your sales. What is the buying process? Where does your customer fall ...
Views: 1240(1 vote) - Nip and Tuck – Three Quick Tricks for Writing SEO Copy - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Have you ever been to one of those sites that has obviously been written to get high search engine rankings? You know the ones… they have copy that sounds like this: “When you buy quality silver jewelry from us, you know your quality silver jewelry is ...
Views: 1236(1 vote) - Segmenting Your Target Audience Through Your Copywriting - by Submitted on Jun 08, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Ask any copywriter what the first commandment of copywriting is and they’ll quickly tell you “Know Thy Target Audience.” In order to write effectively you have to know this one group of people and know them well. I guess that’s why many people get so ...
Views: 1234(1 vote) - Getting More Sales From Your Order Page - by Submitted on Mar 10, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.ktamarketing.com It’s the gold medal of e-commerce. Getting that coveted sale is what every online business owner hopes and prays for daily. It’s why we fight for good search engine positioning. It’s why we battle with our copy, making it “just so.” It’s what pays the ...
Views: 1228(1 vote) - Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy - by Submitted on Sep 25, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.learn-copywriting.com Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don't get your readers’ attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. But headlines ...
Views: 1212 - Does Your Copy Look "Fake" To the Search Engines? - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword From the early days of search engine optimization, keywords and content have always been vital to achieving your goals. Starting back in the days when we used to shove every slightly relevant keyword into our Meta tags, it has been obvious that ...
Views: 1201 - SEO Copywriting Makeover: Good Rankings but No Sales Part 1 of 2 - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2005 from Karon ThackstonKaron Thackston © 2004-2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com It's been a myth for as long as the Internet has been in existence. Get good rankings and your site will be successful. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that has never been the case. What you get when you achieve good ...
Views: 1197 - Calls-To-Action: Making Them Fit Makes All the Difference - by Submitted on Aug 21, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.learn-copywriting.com It was going so well, so what happened? Many copywriters get off to a wonderful start: The headline is compelling, the body copy is benefit-filled, but then comes the call-to-action and the whole thing falls apart. Why? It could be a dozen different ...
Views: 1193 - Copywriting and Your Five Senses - by Submitted on Jun 25, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com In its most basic form, copywriting is, among other things, the art of conveying a message in writing for the purpose of persuading someone to do something. This is especially true when writing descriptive copy. Why? Because your customer’s five senses ...
Views: 1193 - Copywriting Is Not One-Size-Fits-All - by Submitted on May 15, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com I was in shock. Honestly, I shook my head when I read his email. I meant no disrespect; I just couldn’t believe he really felt that way. “Karon, I want you to write the sales letter for my site. How much will it cost me?” read his note. After ...
Views: 1189 - Five Sections of Your Copy Guaranteed To Get Read - by Submitted on Mar 01, 2005 from Karon Thackston© 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Only about 20% of your copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned. I'm sure you've heard the statistic before. It's nothing new. While it might sound frightening or frustrating, it's a fact of copywriting life. So what do you do ...
Views: 1188(1 vote) - SEO Copywriting Makeover: Finding the Right Trigger - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2005 from Karon ThackstonKaron Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com You've got a great product or service. Now, how do you make buyers sit up and take notice? How do you get them excited about what you're offering? You have to pull the trigger. There is at least one trigger for every product or ...
Views: 1188 - Your Site Map: Spider Food or Just A Light Snack? - by Submitted on Aug 03, 2005 from Karon ThackstonKaron Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Mechanical spiders have to eat. In fact, they usually have bigger appetites than the real-life spiders you squish under your shoe. What spiders am I talking about? The automated programs sent out by search engines to review and index ...
Views: 1187(1 vote) - SEO Writing Strategies for Graphic-Oriented Sites - by Submitted on Oct 03, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com As a copywriter, I’d love to tell you that every site on the Web needs tons of copy. However, the simple truth is not all do. Many sites simply produce better sales when they use more graphics than words. Since search engines are hungry for words you ...
Views: 1179(1 vote) - Case In Point: What You Need To Know About Link Popularity - by Submitted on Jun 23, 2003 from Karon ThackstonLink popularity. The term has flooded the ‘Net over the last year, and everybody is in a buzz trying to build link popularity for their sites. But do we really understand what link popularity is, and how it works best? If not, you’re about to find out. Debra O’Neil-Mastaler of Alliance Link ...
Views: 1174(1 vote) - Are Keywords Destroying the Flow of Your SEO Copy? - by Submitted on Sep 08, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004, All Rights Reserved http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword With all the shuffling that’s been seen in the search engine world within the last year, the issue of obvious optimizing has become a hot button. The current line of thinking is that most engines (especially Google) are on the ...
Views: 1169 - Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly - by Submitted on May 21, 2005 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors and the engines in order to create pages that will rank highly. However, sometimes there can ...
Views: 1169 - Choosing Keywords That Bring the Best Results - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com As a search engine optimization copywriter, I’ve seen my share of keywords. When working with me, clients choose their own keywords (or have someone else choose them) and then send me the list to include in their copy. I must admit, sometimes I’m just ...
Views: 1158(1 vote) - Writing To Overpower Your Competition - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2005 from Karon Thackston© 2005 http://www.learn-copywriting.com "We don't have any competition. We're a truly a one-of-a-kind company." I've heard that line from clients for years. I wish it were true, but it's simply not. In fact, it wouldn’t matter if you held a monopoly on your particular product or service; ...
Views: 1146 - Is Your Copy Upside Down? - by Submitted on Apr 19, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com As a professional copywriter, I’ve seen my share of copywriting mistakes. One that seems to be particularly common is writing copy that’s “upside down.” When you do this – when you don’t relay your message in the correct order – you lose your audience’s ...
Views: 1145(1 vote) - Optimizing Online Catalog Copy for the Search Engines - by Submitted on May 18, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.marketingwords.com It only makes sense. You have an e-commerce catalog site. You want lots of visitors to come to your site and buy. The best (and most cost-effective) way to do that is with great search engine placement. However, search engines are text machines, and most ...
Views: 1144 - Are You Asking the Right Questions in Your Copy? - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2004 from Karon Thackston© 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com It’s a common approach to writing copy. You begin by asking questions. Why? To evoke thoughts in your readers' minds, to stir up emotions, and to get customers thinking in the way you want them to think. But have you ever thought about how you phrase ...
Views: 1131(1 vote) - Copywriting Tips for Sales-generating Brochures - by Submitted on Dec 15, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Brochures have held an important place in marketing plans for longer than most of us can remember. There is no doubt that they have the ability to generate sales and increase revenues. Why then do so many of them fail? There are several aspects of ...
Views: 1126(1 vote) - How To Ruin Your Press Release in 3 Easy Steps - by Submitted on Dec 17, 2003 from Karon Thackston© 2003 http://www.marketingwords.com I see it almost every day. People who want to generate a press frenzy, but go about it in just the opposite way that they should. There are some definite strategies you need to use when writing a press release that gets results. There are also some ...
Views: 1123(1 vote) - Copywriting Makeover: The Value of Being Crystal Clear: Part 2 of 2 - by Submitted on Mar 10, 2006 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston © 2006 http://www.copywritingcourse.com In Part 1 of this series (http://www.marketingwords.com/articles/copywriting_makeover_providerwatch.html), you were introduced to Provider Watch, a company whose site copy was a bit confusing. (You can see the original copy here: ...
Views: 1121 - One Product, Three Customers, Three Different Ways To Write - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2006 from Karon Thackstonby Karon Thackston © 2006 My soapbox is just about worn out. I've been preaching the necessity of knowing your target audience for at least 10 years. "You can't write effectively to someone you don't know," is how my spiel would normally go. When one day someone asked me to show him what I ...
Views: 1116 - Rules, Regs, and Recommendations for Search Engine Copywriting - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2003 from Karon Thackston2003 http://www.copywritingcourse.com Copywriting is a primary factor when it comes to achieving good search engine placement. However, many times all that is done is to include keywords in the tags of a page and to include a few keyword mentions. While not extremely difficult, writing for the ...
Views: 1110(2 votes)