As you know, I’m not a designer but I’m a big WordPress fan so I recently attended a meetup about WordPress themes and learned a few tips I thought were worth sharing…

Whatever you need, WordPress can do it. Need a contact manager? Or to create a classified ad, job board or membership site? For virtually anything you’d want to do, there’s a theme for that.

Go ahead and take it off. According to Craig Tuller of Studio Press, it’s OK to strip off the promotional information (e.g. “Created by xxxx with a link) for the thememaker at the bottom of the webpage template. The biggest exception to this is Thesis, which requires you to pay for the theme if you want to eliminate that.

In my opinion, keeping the promo is the courteous thing to do if it’s a free theme–the backlink to their site is an always appreciated thank you. I just noticed the person who set up my free theme took it off though so I can’t throw stones at you if you do the same. But in short, it’s your call.

Only download free themes from a reputable repository (such as the Wordpress theme directory). There are a lot of sketchy directories out there where the themes have hidden backlinks to spammy and other non-desirable sites–which will come back and haunt your search engine rankings.

Theme customization is easier than ever. Apparently 99% of themes for sale these days have an options tab where you can change colors, the number of columns, and other basic formatting items to personalize your site in a snap.

You’ll soon see plug-ins built directly into WordPress. They’re moving toward integrating some widely used plug-ins into the main WordPress code so you don’t have to add them later. But to keep these “core plug-ins” from bogging WordPress down, they’re working with plug-in makers to strip out any little-used functionality. (Thank you!)

Did you find a custom blog design you love? You can use a FireFox add-in called Firebug to reverse engineer the theme and recreate it for yourself.

Parent and child themes are the new trend. A parent is a theme that provides the overarching framework for a site and has a lot of built-in functionality to boot. (For example, including SEO functionality.) You can use it solo if you’d like or you can add a child theme.

The child theme provides a different look and it’s also where you do all your work and design customization. That means you don’t have to worry about losing your posts, your settings or anything else breaking when the parent theme needs updating.

Each version of a theme adds improvements. But sometimes the new versions make a big leap in functionality. With a standard theme, you’d have to move your site over to that new theme to get those extra benefits. But a parent theme should be able to make those kinds of leaps without problems. For examples, check out the Genesis theme framework from Studio Press.

Want to add a sales page to your site? Maybe you’ve had the same issue I have–where you find a sales page template for WordPress then realize you can’t simultaneously use more than one theme on the same site. Apparently, the trick is to just create (or have someone create) a new page template for your current theme and select that page when you need it.

Moving your site to a new theme? This is something I’ve long wanted to do but have been afraid to because my blog wasn’t set up properly by the person I hired to do it. So I’m afraid I’d click to publish the new theme and the site would just implode. Instead, the safer route apparently is to create what’s called a development site.

Just create a new subdomain in your site’s cpanel. Install WordPress on the subdomain (which most hosts make super simple–just click on the “Install WordPress” option they offer) and install the new theme. Export your current site to the development site and see what happens. If all goes fine, you can just move that site to the main domain.

In fact, a development site is a great way to test drive any major changes you’re planning on making to your site.

Note:  The link to the Genesis framework is an affiliate link. If that bothers you feel free to go directly to the Studio Press website.

Photo courtesy of Flickr, originally uploaded by Peregrino Will Reign

If you liked this, you may also like…

• SEO for WordPress–WordCamp Part 2

• 5 Ways to Get Others to Create Blog Content For You–Wordcamp Part 3

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One piece of copy found on virtually every web page (or it should be, since your website should have an ezine sign-up form on every page except sales pages!) is the call-to-action aka “submit button.” But the last thing in the world it should say is “submit”!

Let’s look at the definition of submit from The Free Dictionary:

submit–to yield or surrender (oneself) to the will or authority of another

Not exactly a positive thing, is it?

Submit is a holdover from the days of DOS programming but the word itself has negative connotations for most people.  In fact, it’s really hard to think of any PG-13 rated instance where “submit” has a positive feeling associated with it.

And it can take a big toll on your conversions. According to Marketing Sherpa, “submit” has gotten fewer clicks than any other copy in just about every time they’ve tested button copy.

Instead, you should replace submit with copy that either reinforces what you want the the visitor to do and/or the benefit they’ll get from clicking. For example…

• Click Here to Get Your Free Report Now!
• Subscribe Me Now!
• Order Your Sanity-Saving Guide Today!

It’s a little change that can add up to a big difference–especially over time.

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Did you ever have a crush on someone back in school and no matter what you did (or talked your friends into doing for you!) the object of your affections didn’t seem to even know you were alive?

So one day, when you were really down in the dumps and moping about it, you broke down and told your mom. But instead of revealing the magic secret that would finally win your crush over and give you the happy ending worthy of a Pretty in Pink sequel…

…She said you were a very pretty girl (or handsome boy) and she’s sure there are plenty of others who DO like you.

Turns out, mom would have made a pretty savvy marketer.

Because over and over again, small business owners keep beating their head against a wall trying to win the hearts of those who aren’t interested–after all, everyone should or could need their service–while overlooking the prospects who already WANT what they have to offer.

After all, we all know people who need to lose weight, stop smoking, change jobs, redo their website, get organized, get that roof fixed–but they don’t, right?  (It might even be us!)  But needing to fix a problem isn’t enough…they have to want to fix it enough to invest the time and money to do so.

So stop trying to capture their attention and “educate” them into wanting what you offer–and wasting a lot of time, money and energy in the process…

And start homing in on the prospects who already know they have a problem they can’t (or don’t want to) handle on their own and are already seeking some type of solution.

So Who Wants You?

The first time you go through these questions, think about the clients you’ve had …

• Which ones were quick to sign-up and didn’t need much convincing?  Do they have anything in common?
• What drove them to contact you?  Are there any common themes or events?
• Who are your “heavy users” that frequently use what you offer?
• What other products or services would a client buy to go along with yours? (e.g. someone seeing a nutritionist may also hire a personal trainer)
• What other solutions did they try before?  This includes courses and workshops they attended to learn how to do it themselves.

Then, go back through and answer the questions by brainstorming other possibilities that weren’t in your client list.

Remember too–we often talk about targeting prospects by gender, professions and industries, but you can target based on a behavior as well. For example, people who have had a certain life experience or bought items that are compatible with yours.

But regardless of how you do it, take mom’s advice and focus on the people who want you–it’ll simplify your marketing and dramatically boost your results while saving you a lot of time, money and gray hairs along the way.

Related posts to read:

5 Marketing Lessons from Online Dating

Pull the Trigger on New Clients

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Saying “yes” to the  TV producer who wanted the CEO to anonymously work on the company’s front lines was a risky marketing move for Waste Management (WM).

Especially since reality TV is all about drama…and the company was given no control and no say in what would air. So you can be sure they’ll choose the worst issues and problems you find.

But it was a smart risk to take.

Because people crave authenticity these days. And whether you do it via copywriting or more visual media,  showing that you don’t pretend to be perfect helps demonstrate that.

In fact, exposing flaws can help build that all-important Know, Like and Trust factor that leads to more clients and more loyal clients in two key ways:

• When you pretend your business, product or service is perfect, most people can’t help thinking, “Okay, what are they hiding?” So acknowledging flaws helps quell the fear that it’s too good to be true.

• Have you ever heard someone gripe, “She’s just so perfect I can’t stand it!”?  It may be a catty comment but the reality is we tend to like (and like to buy from) people who are “like us.” So acknowledging flaws makes it easier for a prospect to connect with you.

Of course, what those flaws are is important. If the flaws could prevent your customer from achieving the results they’re looking for, you may need to rethink what you’re offering. And it also helps if you can show how you’re addressing or compensating for those flaws.

A Risky Marketing Move Pays Off

On the first episode of CBS’ new reality TV show Undercover Boss, WM CEO Larry O’Donnell  learns what life is like for the hourly folks at the bottom of the corporate ladder as he goes about working in recycling centers, cleaning porta-potties and picking-up trash.

While the venue of reality TV itself isn’t very authentic, the problems he discovers along the way are. Fortunately for the company, the issues involved unfair management policies that make the company look a little bad, but they’re certainly not PR nightmares.

(Of course, it would have been a whole different story if he’d found, say, employees rummaging through trash to steal identities or a big safety issue that was jeopardizing workers’ lives.)

But the appearance has certainly paid off publicity-wise…

• Last night’s debut had about 38.6 million viewers–the 3rd largest post-SuperBowl audience ever
• O’Donnell and 2 of the employees appeared on Oprah last week to promote the show
• And numerous stories featuring O’Donnell’s appearance have run in business and lifestyle media over the past week

I won’t even try to calculate the value of the media coverage the company has received, which has been overwhelmingly positive.

WM was savvy enough to try to capitalize on the publicity by adding a special feature front and center on their home page that speaks directly to show’s viewers about the company’s sustainability initiatives. (Although I think they could have done a much better job with that.)

For the record, Undercover Boss producers say none of the companies paid to be on the show and none of the employees including O’Donnell were compensated by the show.

Photo from CBS.com

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…

I saw the movie Up in the Air recently and thought it made a few interesting points about writing good copy

Plot Summary: The main storyline is about Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a “career transition counselor” (aka hired hatchet man) who’s always jetting off to fire employees for companies who don’t want to do the dirty work themselves. While most of us would probably lose our minds in a job like that, he doesn’t seem to mind it.

But just when he’s about to finally reach his treasured goal of earning 10 million frequent flyer miles, a young whippersnapper named Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) threatens his job and road warrior lifestyle.

She convinces his boss (Jason Bateman) that it would be much more efficient for the company to replace him and his colleagues with minions who fire via script and webcam. After Ryan protests, his boss assigns Natalie to accompany him on the road to learn the ropes.

(Writer-director Jason Reitman obviously overlooked the fact that getting a company to make such a drastic change–much less one proposed by a chick right out of college–is less likely than Elvis coming back from the dead. But anyway…)

Now On with the Show…

Soon we see Ryan in action, delivering the bad news with an air of practiced empathy and self-help panaceas about looking to the future. While it’s certainly not going to give anyone a warm-and-fuzzy feeling, it’s a stark contrast to Natalie’s “just the facts” approach when given her turn to lead the firings.

Even when the situation demands some kind of empathetic response, she’s totally at a loss for what to say. The result–without empathy, her words lose the little credibility they may have had and the employees’ responses go from bad to worse.

Granted, marketing messages are usually much less dire (thankfully!) than that. But inexperienced copywriters tend to make the same mistake Natalie did of relying completely on logic to persuade the audience.

People want to know you understand what they’re going through. They’re thinking if you don’t “get” where they’re at right now, how can you possibly know what the right solution is for them?

Copy Lesson #1: A little empathy goes a long way in getting the response you desire.

Next, Reitman originally scripted the firing scenes as satirical. But by the time he finished filming, the country was knee deep in recession and he was smart enough to realize that wouldn’t play well in Peoria (or anywhere else in the U.S.)

But instead of rewriting the scenes based on tales from the newly unemployed, he went out to capture real, unscripted reactions from ordinary Americans who had just lost their job in the faltering economy. The result–gut-wrenching scenes that hit home because they didn’t just feel real, they WERE real… to these people and to us.

Obviously, screenwriters are used to writing for a bunch of different voices. But even the most talented ones would have had trouble coming up with such a wide range of unique phrasings and verbal stumblings that oozed authenticity and underscored the gravity of the message.

Copy Lesson #2: Imagining what your prospects might say will never be as convincing as letting them speak for themselves–either in testimonials THEY write, not you, or when you incorporate their actual words and phrases into your copy.

My two-second, two-bit movie review…

Up in the Air is definitely a good movie with some darkly funny points about air travel and the corporate world. But the hopelessly bleak ending was enough to make me ready to jump off a bridge (figuratively speaking). If I’d known that ahead of time, I would have skipped it. After all, I can stay home and watch the news for that!

Related articles to read:

Infuse Emotion into Your Copy

Get Out of Your Head

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One way to make writing your own marketing materials easier to start creating a “swipe” file of things you like as you see them.

Often people talk about using a swipe file to save examples of copy they can “borrow” ideas or words from later. (Of course, there’s is an art to swiping copy effectively–especially for sales letters–you can’t just willy nilly cut and paste sentences and paragraphs you like together.)

But as a marketing savvy small business owner, you should include other items in your swipe file as well, such as…

• Layouts and graphics you like
• Clever promotions and marketing ideas
• Sales pages for competing products and services
• Ideas for new products and services
• Even research and stats related to what you sell

Sure, you can put these web pages in your browser’s bookmarks, but I’ve found using the Delicious social bookmarking site works even better because you can make notes, tag items and access them wherever you have an Internet connection.

Here’s how:

• If you don’t already, get a free account and install the Delicious button or toolbar in your browser. (Which usually involves just clicking a link and possibly restarting your browser afterward.)

• Then, just click on the icon to bookmark a site when you find something you want to save

• It’ll bring up a small page with where it’s already filled in the URL address and page title. Use the Notes text box to jot down information such as what you particularly liked about it, any performance information you may know, or what project you want to use it for later. (If you’ve ever tried to remember why you bookmarked a site later, you’ll realize just how handy this is!)

• In the Tags box, add keywords like “swipe,” “productidea,” “ebookproject” or whatever you might want to search for later. Company or product names may be helpful too. (Note, these should be space separated–no commas–so two or more words in a single phrase will be typed as all one word.)

• If you don’t want others to see what you’re saving for your swipe file (I usually don’t) then click to check the box next to “Mark as Private.” You’ll be the only one who will see it listed in your account.

• You can also email the page to, say, your web designer by clicking in the Send box and entering the appropriate information. Twitter’s available there too if you should want to tweet it.

And there you have it–an annotated swipe file full of marketing and copy ideas you can access anytime, any place!

One note: if you don’t expect the page you’re saving to stay up long (perhaps it’s a limited time offer) you may want to take a screenshot and save that on your computer as well. I use the free version of FireShot to do that.

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People often use dating analogies when they’re talking about getting clients and when you think about it, a ton of similarities exist.

So here are some marketing lessons from an online dating site…

1. Whether it’s an online profile or your website, visitors usually don’t know a single thing about you–and they’re pretty skeptical. After all, everyone’s been burned by reality that didn’t end up matching the hype.

Double-Duty Tip: Being authentic and real will go a long way in winning them over.

2. Identifying a specific target audience is a smart way to focus your efforts and avoid wasting so much time with people who are a bad potential fit.

And no, you’re not limiting yourself because regardless of what you say you’re looking for, some people who don’t fit that but are truly interested will contact you anyway. Even if they’re old enough to be your grandfather.

Double-Duty Tip: Being specific will get you more of what you DO want, and people who are still really interested in working with you will contact you anyway. So it’s basically a win, win situation all around.

3. You get four types of messages from other members of a dating website:

• All about me–a recital of the many reasons why the sender is so great
• Mass mailings–the generic “let’s chat and see if we’re a good fit” copy where they don’t show any knowledge of you
• Personalized–sender specifically references something you’ve said or they know you’ll be interested in

And of course, you see the same types of email messages from businesses.

Double-Duty Tip: The more your message feels as if it were written just for the recipient, the more response you’re going to get.

4. Unless you have a super talented photographer, it’s hard to get a good sense of what someone (or something) will really be like from a picture.

That’s why you need copy that reflects your personality to establishes a connection with the reader.

Double-Duty Tip: Pictures are a great addition, but copy taps into logic and emotion to seal the deal.

However…

5. Copy can NOT make up for a flawed “product.” The best copy in the world can’t overcome a product no one wants or one that comes with much too high a “price.”

Double-Duty Tip: A creep is still a creep. A product no one has a use for is still useless. And anything that seems to have a cost far exceeding its perceived value isn’t going to sell. There’s little copy can do to overcome all that!

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Then join us for the Raleigh JV Alert Impact Hookup on Thursday, December 3!

Where:  Tripp’s
3516 Wade Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607

When:  December 3, 2009, 7-9 PM

It’s the first meeting of the Raleigh area Impact/JV Alert Hookup to provide networking, fun, and a chance to meet others top-level local Internet marketers interested in joint ventures and affiliate relationships.

We’ll mingle and discuss what would be most helpful to you when it comes to creating savvy partnerships to grow your business. Who knows…you could find someone brilliant and put together your first (or next!) million dollar joint venture deal.

Started by veteran Internet Marketer Ken McArthur, JV Alert Live is the wildly popular series of events where Internet Marketers come together to help each other discover new partners and new opportunities to skyrocket their business. Now, it’s going local with Impact Hookup chapters around the world.

There is NO FEE to attend the networking event. Just be sure to bring plenty of business cards and be ready to network. We’ll be sitting so everyone who wants to order dinner can do so, but that’s not required.

Tripp’s is conveniently located on Wade Avenue, just off of 440 and 40 and has plenty of free parking.

If you’re a serious business owner who wants to significantly increase market reach, break down barriers to entry in your market, or simply generate substantial revenues in a shorter amount of time, you’re welcome to join us!

To RSVP, just reply in the comments below or email me at info at compellingcomm.com.

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I was reading Robert Plank’s Time Management on Crack 2.0 this past weekend and was thrilled to see a comment in the sales page section about remembering to include features in your bullet points.

Because features have apparently become the Chucky doll of copywriting.

It started out innocently enough. Well-meaning copywriters started spreading the word that you need to stop focusing on features and focus on benefits.

And that’s true–far too many companies think their tech specs, coaching process or whatnot is going to dazzle the masses into buying from them…while most buyers have no clue what those things mean and could care less.

But like the “small” hamburger that’s now dwarfed by all the super-sized-Whopper-Thickburgers in fast food land, we tend to take everything to excess. To the point that now I often see strident proclamations from pseudo-copywriters that you should NEVER talk about features in your copy.

Um, there’s one teensy problem with that…

Most people have this “odd quirk” about wanting to know what they’re actually, physically getting for their money.

I was considering a product recently from a well-known marketer and while there were tons of benefits and teasers about what I’d learn, there was nothing about how it would be delivered. A manual? CDs? Smoke signals? I was mystified.

Don’t make me play Nancy Drew. Tell me EXACTLY what I’m going to receive–how many pages the manual is, how many CD’s there are, or how long the videos or teleclasses are.

It just takes a sentence or a quick set of bullets toward the end of your sales page to enlighten your prospects but it’s important because it makes what you’re asking them to shell out money for more tangible…creating that “thud factor” in their minds.

(“Thud factor” refers to the weight of a book or package when it’s dropped on a table. People usually feel they’re getting more for their money when they’re buying something with a big thud factor.)

For information products and courses, the sections and lessons you plan to cover are important features as well. Prospects want to see how much will be new to them and how well it’ll solve the problems they’re facing right now.

Just inserting your table of contents from a product or giving the titles of the classes in the teleseminar series is a good start. Of course, I’d recommend taking the opportunity to highlight several important things they’ll do or learn in each one as well…

In short, wow prospects with lots of bullets showing how they’ll benefit. But don’t forget to tell them what they’re actually getting as well.

Liked this? Then check out these as well:

Better Bullets Make Better Copy

4 Powerful Ways to Persuade Your Prospects

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Your English teacher probably called them passive verbs but I think “victim” paints a clearer picture of what they’ll do to your copy. It also nicely sums up what you’re looking for—sentences where something is happening TO the subject, instead of the subject making something happen.

But whatever you call them, victim verbs make your copy blah, wordy and harder to read. And that’s never good when it comes to marketing.

To give you a better idea of what I mean, here are two examples…

Passive:  The ghost was chased by Scooby.

Active:  Scooby chased the ghost.

And…

Passive:  By then, the sandwich will have been eaten. (The sentence implies who’s doing the eating.)

Active:  By then, Shaggy will have eaten the sandwich.

See the difference?  Here’s a hint–you probably have a victim verb if:

• The word “by” closely follows the verb

• You have “been” or some form of “to be” combined with another verb

Either way, just rearrange the sentence to eliminate those words and you should be good to go.

Here’s another tip–your word processing software may tell you how many victim verbs you have.

In Microsoft Word (2003 and before), go to Tools, Spelling & Grammar and check the box for Readability Statistics. After the grammar check runs you’ll see a bunch of stats including the percentage of passive sentences.

In Microsoft Word 2007, go to the Office menu (top left), click on Word Options, then Proofing, check the boxes next to “Check grammar with spelling” and  ”Show Readability Statistics.”  Click OK, go to the Review tab and click on Spelling & Grammar.

Of course, none of these tips are foolproof (including Word’s grammar tool) but they should help you put a bunch of victim verbs to rest so your copy is more alive and persuasive.

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