Small Business Owners: Are You Making These 3 Deadly Website Copywriting Mistakes?

It’s a common question. “What copywriting mistakes should I avoid?” There are many, but the 3 I chose might surprise you. Why? Because while these can potentially cause the greatest amount of damage they are not ones most copywriters talk about.

Why? Because these aren’t the “sexy” copywriting mistakes. They aren’t the quick-fix aspects. They require thinking and judgment and work! However, they are the ones that – when implemented correctly – can drastically boost the performance of
your copy and content whether that be a blog post, article, web page, email or other forms of text.

Copywriting Mistake #1 – Writing Without a Plan

Regardless of what you write, you’ll get better results if you perform due diligence with a little prior planning. In fact, if you go through the planning phase of copywriting, chances are the copy will all but write itself. How so?

Because research allows you the opportunity to get to know your target customer, organize your thoughts, outline features, benefits and end results, get your creative juices flowing, and much more. It also allows you to overcome what might otherwise become copywriting mistakes.

Take this article, for instance. When I started, I didn’t just lay fingers to keyboard and begin rambling on. I thought about the topic I’d like to approach. I looked into keyphrases that might be a good fit. (For this piece, I chose “copywriting mistakes” and “copywriting mistake.”)

Then, I gave some thought about what – specifically – I’d like to accomplish in the article. What, precisely, did I want to communicate to you? Those became the “3 copywriting mistakes” mentioned in the headline as well as the outline for my writing.

All that was left to do was fill in the blanks.

The same applies to writing website copy. When you follow a process for outlining features, benefits and end results, researching keywords, and creating a skeleton of what the page should accomplish, it all falls into place much easier.

Copywriting Mistake #2 – Writing About Your Company/Product Instead of To Your Site Visitor

One of my biggest pet peeves – and one of the most common copywriting mistakes I see – is ignoring your site visitors. Indulge me for a minute as I climb on my soapbox.

If someone walked into your office, shook your hand and asked how you could help them, you would not immediately begin to rattle off everything you believed to be a strong point about your product or company. No. What would you do? You’d start getting to know the customer.

You would ask questions. You would find out what their problems/challenges are. You’d get details on specifically what they want to do/accomplish and then you would address their exact issues.

Instead of “we do this and we do that and our company, let us help, we, we, us, us, our, our, our, blah, blah, blah” you would speak to the customer who is seated in front of you. Instead of “we-ing all over yourself,” you’d say something like this:

“Mr. Smith, you can get to where you want to go. It’s not as hard as you think. You can improve the image others have of your company and help reinforce your brand with a system that offers 3 important advantages. First, you’ll find that ____________________________….” You get the idea.

Does that mean you can never use “us” or “we” or “our?” Certainly not! But keep it to a minimum. I’d venture to guess you should you those words less than 10% of the time. After all, it’s not about you. it’s about the ones who have the money: your customers.

Copywriting Mistake #3 – Thinking Copywriting Only Happens on Your Web Page

If you plan to write search engine optimized copy, you’ll have to understand that your copy actually begins in the search engine results pages (SERPs). The title tag and the META description tag create a little advertisement for you in Yahoo!, Google, Bing and the other engines.

Let’s say a surfer types in “black cowboy boots” (for example). The very first exposure that customer has to your web page is what they find in the SERPs. Which of these tag sets grabs your attention?

Black Cowboy Boots – Black Cowboy Boots
Black cowboy boots are manufactured by all of the major cowboy boot makers. This most popular boot comes in various styles depending on your needs.

Black Cowboy Boots – Free Shipping and Return Shipping
Buy cowboy boots with a price guarantee and top rated customer service. You can compare multiple … Dan Post Boots Eel Cowboy – Black (Men’s) $249.95 …

Western Spurs, Tshirts, Western Wear, Art, Posters Black Cowboy Boot with Spurs keychains . Black Cowboy Boot with Spurs Key Chain by White_Wedding. praying cowboy pet clothing praying cowboy dog shirt …

I don’t know about you, but I’d be clicking that free shipping one with the price guarantee!

You have to write your title tag and META description tag as an advertisement. Tell the surfer why they should click to your page as opposed to the other 10,000 in the SERPs. What’s in it for them if they click to you?

So, now you know. And now that you know, you can avoid making the 3 most deadly copywriting mistakes small business owners make.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

Glaxo Settles Defective Drug Suit for $750 Million

GlaxoSmithKline Plc agreed to pay $750 million to settle a U.S. government false-claims lawsuit over the sale of defective drugs.

Glaxo, the U.K.’s largest drugmaker, and the U.S. Justice Department announced the accord today, resolving a lawsuit first filed in 2004 by Cheryl D. Eckard, a former global quality assurance manager for the London-based company.

“This is not something I wanted to do, but because of patient safety it was necessary,” Eckard, 51, told reporters following a Justice Department press conference in Boston. As a whistleblower, she will receive $96 million from the settlement money.

Glaxo was accused in court papers of selling tainted drugs under false pretenses. The medicines, made at a Glaxo plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico, were misidentified as a result of product mix-ups, according to papers filed in federal court in Boston. The affected drugs included the antidepressant Paxil CR and the diabetes treatment Avandamet.

The settlement includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $150 million and a $600 million civil settlement under the False Claims Act and related state claims, the Justice Department said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate corporate attempts to profit at the expense of the ill and needy in our society -- or those who cut corners that result in potentially dangerous consequences to consumers,” Carmen M. Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney in Boston, said at today’s news conference.

Guilty Plea

SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc., a Glaxo unit, agreed to plead guilty to charges relating to the manufacture and distribution of adulterated drugs made at the now-shuttered plant, the Justice Department said. Glaxo said in July it had agreed in principle with the U.S. to pay 500 million pounds ($791 million) to resolve the investigation.

“We regret that we operated the Cidra facility in a manner that was inconsistent with current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements and with GSK’s commitment to manufacturing quality,” PD Villarreal, a Glaxo senior vice president, said in an e-mailed statement.

Eckard’s take is the largest ever for a single whistleblower, said Patrick Burns, spokesman for Taxpayers Against Fraud, a nonprofit Washington group that publicizes the use of legal means to combat fraud against the U.S. The federal government will receive $436.4 million from the settlement and participating states will split as much as $163.6 million, the Justice Department said.

‘Serious Deficiencies’

Other drugs made at the plant include Kytril, an anti- nausea medication, and Bactroban, an ointment used to treat skin infections, the Justice Department said.

“The false claims arose out of chronic, serious deficiencies in the quality assurance function at the Cidra plant and the defendants’ ongoing serious violations of the laws and regulations designed to ensure the fitness of drug products for use,” the government said in court papers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005 seized some Paxil CR lots after it was discovered that the pills sometimes split inappropriately, according to court papers. Some of the pills lacked an active ingredient.

“We did not uncover any evidence that patients were harmed from these adulterated batches,” Ortiz said today. “It is critical we keep pressure on companies to follow FDA standards and play by the rules.”

Eckard’s complaint was joined by the states of California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia, Chicago and New York City.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

5 Step Introvert Guide to Getting More Clients from Your Industry’s Top 20 Influencers

When I first became familiar with the professional coaching industry in the late 1990’s, I quickly became a follower of Thomas Leonard, credited with founding the coaching industry as we know it today. One of the suggestions that Thomas offered for growing a new business was to develop a Team 100 List. To complete this list, you were required to brainstorm the names of 100 business owners in various industries with whom you were acquainted who would be willing to help you promote your business, send you referrals, etc. The goal was to share this list with all of your Team 100 members so that you all became ardent referrers of each other’s businesses.

As an introvert, I always found this task overwhelming.

One, I didn’t know that many people across all of those industries. I might be able to fill out a fourth of the list on a good day. Two, having to go out and connect with the other 75% to complete the list was never going to rise to the top of my To Do List because connecting with others doesn’t come easily for me. In fact, I often find the notion quite nauseating.

However, as a business owner, I’ve come to realize that it’s not what I know but rather who I know that will determine my success. Trust me, as an introvert, that is a bitter pill to swallow, as we tend to value knowledge over relationships..:) The reality is that proactively reaching out to marketing partners will create business opportunities that you will otherwise miss.

So, how could I accomplish this same objective but use my introverted strengths? Here’s how introverts can get referrals and more clients from the top 20 influencers in their industry.

1. Create a manageable list. To prevent overwhelm, create a list limited to 10-20 of the top people in your industry with whom you want to develop a relationship. These are people you don’t currently know, but who have the capability of being able to make strong referrals for you to your ideal client or endorse you in some way. Your list might include members of the media, prospective clients, association leaders, industry-leading decision makers, or anyone else you want to include.

2. Keep the list in front of you. Make sure your list is visible to you at all times, whether it is tacked to the wall next to your desk, sits on your computer as a desktop wallpaper, or is visible as a file on your cell phone. By doing this, your list stays top-of-mind at all times. And, if you come up short of 20 influencers, this action will make you take notice of other potential influencers you can add to the list.

3. Get contact info. You can use both online and offline contact methods, so gather the following info for each contact: email address, social networking profile info, blog URL, and snail mail address. Add this info to your contact list.

4. Determine your reach out strategy. Now that you have your list, how and why are you going to contact the person? You could:

–send an email commenting on something you like on their web site

–mail a card offering congratulations on a recent accomplishment

–post a thoughtful response to one of their recent blog posts

–retweet or comment on a social networking update

–respond by email to something that you found interesting in a recent ezine issue

Remember, this is all about making a personal connection. Reach out to your list members in a way that is genuine and authentic for you.

5. Start reaching out daily. Each day, reach out to the top person on your list. Once you’ve completed this, move that person to the bottom of your list, and the #2 person then becomes your new #1. The next day, reach out to your new #1, and then move that person to the bottom of your list. In this way, you’ll continue to rotate through your list, reaching out to each person once every 30 days or so.

In order for this strategy to work for you, it is imperative that you become disciplined and follow through on this task every day.

Look upon your Team 20 list as your “Dream Team” of influencers who could have significant impact on your business through their advice, introductions, and referrals. Follow this strategy daily, increase your sphere of influencers, and watch your client list grow!

Source : sitepronews.com

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

Dubai's next black hole?

The United Arab Emirates' new crackdown on business with Iran will no doubt draw applause in Washington but alarm in Dubai.

New regulations preventing transactions with Iranian banks means trade between the two nations has all but come to a standstill in recent weeks, according to those affected.

In 2009 total trade was worth an estimated $12bn, making the oil-rich Arab nation Iran's top trading partner.

But the reality is that only one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE federation has been responsible for the bulk of Iranian trade and is thus regarded as Tehran's backdoor to the West – Dubai.

For years, Dubai has been seen by the West as dragging its feet on rigorous enforcement of UN sanctions - an accusation it always denies.

But Dubai's much publicised debt problems, which required a $20bn lifeline from the emirate of Abu Dhabi next door, has changed the power balance in the UAE.



Abu Dhabi has limited trade with its Persian neighbours across the Gulf and is highly concerned at the prospect of them becoming nuclear-armed. Abu Dhabi is desperate to show the US that it is an ally that can be relied upon.

When the UAE Central Bank (based in Abu Dhabi) moved in June to freeze 41 bank accounts and businesses believed to be linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, there were few complaints from Dubai.

Nobody made the case that any of those banned were innocent legitimate companies but the new restrictions don't seem to distinguish between the intended targets of sanctions and those earning an honest living.

So just how much damage will this cause to Dubai's already strained balance sheets? Quite a bit, according to Robin Amlot, managing editor at CPI Financial.

"We're now saying total trade could halve. That's obviously got to hurt, if you knock $6bn in terms of money coming through the emirate off, that's got to cause significant issues for the Dubai economy," Amlot said.

"Over the course of the past couple of years Iran's been steady business and that steady business is now going to go away but it's been the one constant that has carried on throughout the course of the financial crisis."

The hardest hit will be Iranian businesses in Dubai; some have been operating here for decades in what they say is purely legitimate trade.

Over the past six months, I've spoken regularly to Morteza Massoumzadeh from the Iranian Business Council about the changing dynamic he's facing.

His usual positive outlook was clearly waning when I visited him this week. He's hoping for a "miracle" that things might change but warns the economic impact is going to be severe.

"There is no doubt if these circumstances continue for the next six months, hundreds of companies here will close down. Those companies are not necessarily Iranian-owned, they can be of any nationality who established their businesses in this country aiming to supply goods to Iran," Massoumzadeh said.

An ominous cloud on the horizon for anyone hoping Dubai had already weathered the worst of its economic storm.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

French strike 'costing billions'

Finance minister gives warning that long-running action against pension revamp is costing country up to $562m a day.

Oil-refinery workers around the country have been on strike for more than a week over the pension overhaul [AFP] Long-term action against an overhaul of France's pension system is threatening to derail the economy and could be costing as much as $562m a day, the government has said. Christine Lagarde, the finance minister, gave warning on Monday that an estimated 200 to 400 million euros was being lost each day as workers continue to go on strike. "Today, we shouldn't be weighing down this recovery with campaigns that are painful for the French economy and very painful for a certain number of small and medium-sized businesses," she told Europe 1 radio. She said that images broadcast around the world of demonstrators clashing with riot police and of industrial sites blocked by protesters had cost France in terms of its international image for investors. "It's the attractiveness of our territory that's at stake when we see pictures like that," she said. Lagarde said that the ongoing strikes at refineries and fuel depots were also taking a toll. "It's obvious that the petrochemical sector in particular, which needs large supplies of hydrocarbons, is suffering." Sarkozy popularity dives Unions and students have been holding strikes for more than a week in an attempt to pressure the government to scrap plans to raise the age of retirement from 60 to 62. Politicians are expected to sign the bill, which the government says is necessary to save money in the face of a deficit crisis, into law this week, after the French senate approved it last Friday. Despite raids by riot police last week, France's 12 refineries were blocked again on Sunday, as were ports in Marseille and Le Havre, where dozens of tankers are still anchored. Workers voted to end a strike at one of the fuel depots on Monday, the AFP news agency reported, while Reuters said long-running raily sector strikes were beginning to wane. Some 9,000 tonnes of rubbish has also piled up on the streets of Marseille, a Mediterranean port city and its suburbs, due to garbage collectors joining the strike. Ongoing demonstrations have brought millions onto the streets, and open-ended walkouts by railway and petroleum workers have wreaked havoc on commuters and travellers. Polls have shown the vast majority of French people support the strikers. Another survey, published in Sunday's Journal du Dimanche newspaper, showed that only 29 per cent of the 1,828 people questioned were satisfied with the performance of Nicolas Sarkozy. That was down three per cent from September and was the French president's lowest rating since taking office in 2007. It was also among the lowest approval ratings of any French president in recent memory, the newspaper said.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

US drilling moratorium lifted

Almost six months after the Deep Water Horizon oil rig exploded killing 11 workers at the start of the worst environmental disaster ever in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration's lifting of its six-month moratorium on new deep-water oil and gas drilling permits ... six weeks early!

The White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said:

"This is a process that starts permitting process again. Somebody can drill only when they satisfy the government that they have a process in place to deal with a worst case scenario."

For three months from April to July - the BP oil spill fouled delicate marshlands, holiday beaches and damaged the summertime economies of all five US Gulf States.

The ban on new deep-water drilling permits included deep-water sites off the US coastline in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska and Virginia.

The Obama administration sold the idea as a window of opportunity to review safety but, fearful of thousands of lost jobs, the State of Louisiana took the government to court and temporarily blocked the moratorium.

A new one was swiftly drawn up but on Tuesday the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said:

"There will always be risks with deepwater drilling but we have now reached a point where in my view we’ve reduced those risks."

Environmentalists disagree accusing the administration of chasing votes in a slumped economy - ahead of the imminent mid-term Congressional elections in November.

Greenpeace issued a statement saying:

"This is pure politics of the most cynical kind. It is all about the election season, not safety and environmental concerns."

More than 30 drilling rigs were affected by the ban of which 18 were exploratory wells.

The Interior Department says new permits can be swiftly approved and drilling should resume by year's end.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

UK banks 'aided Nigeria corruption

High street banks in the United Kingdom could have helped fuel corruption in Nigeria by accepting millions of dollars in deposits from dubious politicians in the west African nation, an international corruption watchdog said.

In a 40 page report released on Sunday, Global Witness said that five leading banks have failed to adequately investigate the source of tens of millions of dollars taken from two Nigerian governors accused of corruption.

"Banks are quick to penalise ordinary customers for minor infractions but seem to be less concerned about dirty money passing through their accounts," Robert Palmer, a campaigner at Global Witness, wrote on the group's website.

"Large scale corruption is simply not possible without a bank willing to process payments from dodgy sources, or hold accounts for corrupt politicians."

Global Witness acknowledged that in accepting the money, Barclays, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC, as well as Switzerland's UBS, might not have broken the law, but noted that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) must do more to prevent money laundering through British banks.

"The FSA needs to do much more to prevent banks from facilitating corruption. As yet, no British bank has been publicly fined or even named by the regulators for taking corrupt funds, whether willingly or through negligence," Global Witness said in the report.

"This is in stark contrast to the United States, where banks have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars for handling dirty money."

'Deeply disappointed'

HSBC dismissed the allegations in the "International Thief Thief" report, saying that it had taken the lead in tackling holes in the financial system, particularly regarding funds from "politically exposed persons" (PEPs) deemed to pose a higher money laundering risk.

"As a bank that has been at the very forefront of developing global PEP guidance over the last decade, we are deeply disappointed with these misguided allegations," a spokesman for HSBC told the Reuters news agency.

"Rest assured, rigorous and robust compliance procedures were followed diligently. To ignore this is to ignore the facts."

Barclays, HSBC and UBS are all members of the Wolfsberg Group, an international body set up in 2000 to try to improve global anti-money laundering procedures.

Global Witness said its findings were based on court documents from cases the Nigerian government has brought in London in an attempt to get funds returned that it said were stolen by two former state governors: Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa state and Joshua Dariye of Plateau state.

Alamieyeseigha was accused of corruption after he was caught with about $1.6m in cash at his London home. He was briefly jailed in Nigeria after pleading guilty to embezzlement and money laundering charges two years later.

Dariye was arrested in 2004 in London and was found to have purchased properties worth millions of dollars even though his legitimate earnings amounted to the equivalent of $63,500 a year.

He returned to Nigeria, where the anti-corruption agency has accused him of looting public funds. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Corruption ranking

The report did not provide any evidence that the funds accepted by the banks were the direct proceeds of any crime.

Africa's most populous nation is regularly ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It ranked 130th out 180 nations in Transparency International's list of country's perceived as most transparent in 2009.

Most of its 150 million people survive on $2 a day or less, yet the country is one of the world's top champagne importers and its wealthiest residents are among the continent's richest.

Nuhu Ribadu, the former head of its anti-corruption agency, has estimated that corruption and mismanagement swallow up about 40 per cent of Nigeria's annual oil income.

"Without access to the international financial system, it would be much harder for corrupt politicians from the developing world to loot their treasuries or accept bribes," Global Witness said in its report.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad

Google to unveil driverless cars

Google is planning to introduce driverless cars in an ambitious project that has already seen the cars secretly driving through busy California roads, clocking a total of 1,000 miles without any human intervention.

The California-based company said on its website the cars have done more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.

According to an official Google blogpost by Sebastian Thrun, the company's software engineer, one car even successfully negotiated San Farncisco's Lombard Street, one of the steepest and curviest street in the US.

But Thrun believes that the self-driving cars are still about eight years away from mass production.

The technology developed by Google enables the automated cars to drive themselves using video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic, as well as detailed maps.

Self-driving cars have been around for over four decades, but a breakthrough came in 2004 when they were tested in a series of Grand Challenge events organised by the US government.

Following the failure of the first contest, a Stanford team led by Thrun built the car that won a race against a vehicle built by a Carnegie Mellon University team. And within two years, another such event showed that self-driving vehicles can successfully negotiate busy urban roads.

The 'google edge'

Google's street view data gives it an edge with photographs of every street in the US, UK, Ireland and many major world cities, enabling the cars to plan their routes by seeing junctions, roads well in advance, according to data from the company.

Safety has been of prime concern for Google in this robotics research experiment hence all such vehicles
have been manned by a trained safety driver as well as a trained software operator.

According to Google engineers, only one such car has been involved in an accident to date when a Google car was hit by another car from the back while stopped at a traffic light.

Technologists believe that autonomous cars will change the way cars are used in everyday life, allowing drivers to be more productive by doing other things during the time they would have conventionally spent driving their vehicle.

The cars are also likely to be built lighter thus consuming less fuel and will be eco-friendly.

Through this initiative, Google is hopeful that this technology will help decrease the number of road accidents by 50%.

According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1.2 million people lose their lives every year in road traffic accidents.

The cars can be programmed from "cautious" to "aggressive" personality types.

What lies ahead?

This project is a clear indication of how Google wants to transcend all boundaries and be more than just a search engine.

But Google does not yet have a business plan for the driverless vehicles and hopes it might profit from selling technology and navigation systems to autonomous vehicle manufacturers - just like its android technology that it sold to mobile phone companies.

The only major hindrance in introducing this piece of robotics to everyday life are the legal issues around computer-controlled cars.

It is not clear who would be held responsible in case of an accident - the person behind the steering wheel or the software developer?

Experts say that the software is likely to be more accurate as unlike a human, it will not be sleep deprived, in a hurry or just plain careless.

Read More... Résuméabuiyad