Copywriter and Contributing Editor, Mequoda Group, LLC
Robert W. Bly is an independent copywriter and consultant with more than 20 years of experience in B2B, high-tech, industrial, and direct marketing. Robert has written copy for over 100 clients including Network Solutions, ITT Fluid Technology, Medical Economics, Intuit, Business & Legal Reports and Brooklyn Union Gas.
Robert is the author of 60 books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Direct Marketing and The Copywriter’s Handbook. He writes sales letters, direct mail packages, email marketing campaigns, websites, and other marketing materials for his clients. He consults on marketing strategy, mail order selling, and lead generation programs.
Robert has presented marketing, sales, and writing seminars for various associations, including the U.S. Army and the American Marketing Association. He also taught B2B copywriting and technical writing at New York University.
Harvard has opted not to use a traditional landing page to sell the Harvard Health Letter.
Instead, the main sales page for the Harvard Health Letter is a minimal transaction page with the barest of copy and graphics, and is devoid of the selling effort one would normally expect when promoting a paid subscription publication online.
Knowing the smart marketers at Harvard, we have to believe that this is a deliberate choice. As we recall, they don’t use this “bare minimum” approach in print promotions: their paper direct mail that we’ve seen consists of strong, long-copy sales letters that sell the publication and its benefits, and sell it hard. Why then would they opt for this “bare bones” approach online? This review really addresses a broader, more important question: are online and offline copy fundamentally the same or fundamentally different? … Continue Reading »
Mequoda Group provides research, training and educational services exclusively for the publishing industry. Our mission is to help publishers succeed online by providing them with free daily tips, free reports, online seminars, live events, consulting services and software services.
We have brought together publishing industry veterans and information architecture experts to create a unique road map for creating successful websites. We combine the benefit of 30 years of experience in periodical management with a cutting-edge knowledge of Internet marketing and publishing.
Mequoda Educational Services: Discover the best practices for online media management and Internet marketing strategy through private and public training workshops.
Mequoda Consulting Services: Transform your business into a profitable online publishing company in 12 months or less with intensive coaching from Don Nicholas and the Mequoda Research Team.
Mequoda Software Services: Outsource your website system design, development and support to Mequoda’s software team for a fast and economical strategy for building your online marketing program.
Mequoda Clients: Learn more about the publishers who have chosen the Mequoda system to help them make more money on the Internet via the sale of information products, sponsor revenue and lead generation.
Contact Us: Please reach out to learn how we could help you launch your online publishing and marketing initiative. … Continue Reading »
The same high quality copywriting and design elements can be used for online, email and postal mail sales pitches.
Multiplatform publishing in the 21st century means offering users many products on many platforms, and using the Internet to recycle, reuse and republish information in many different formats.
This involves taking the same information and turning it into any format a user could possibly want—from e-books to streaming video to email newsletters. Publishers not only save on material costs, but the same information is being cheaply repackaged and sold in a multitude of formats to maximize customer satisfaction and revenue. … Continue Reading »
Sales letter landing pages pre-date the Internet in that they resemble traditional direct response sales letters.
A sales letter landing page is a conversion landing page. Its objective is to convert the casual visitor into a paid customer.
Sales letter landing pages are traditional direct response sales letters designed to maximize the conversion rate for a paid product. Often, the very same sales letter landing page, with minor but significant modifications, can be used in both email and postal direct marketing programs. … Continue Reading »
Every website landing page should be designed with a complete organization, labeling, and navigation scheme that enables users to fulfill their goals effortlessly. But where do you start?
Learning how to increase landing page conversion rates can mean the difference between the success and failure of your Internet marketing program.
You can have first-class products and create a beautiful website, but if your site is difficult to use, it will be nearly impossible to get casual visitors to become loyal buyers. … Continue Reading »
Use this simple process to make your Internet marketing system a continuous improvement machine that produces ever-increasing revenue and profit
About 80 to 100 times a year, I get hired to audit or review the Internet marketing strategy for a publisher who has a website that is making money. The goal of the review is to find five to ten changes to their current Internet marketing system that will make more money. … Continue Reading »
Strategic Profits is looking for a Director of Marketing to take responsibility for this rambunctious group, help them grow, and continue getting the outstanding results we are used to.
We are looking for someone that can handle acquisition and retention marketing efforts designed to drive website traffic and sales. These include paid and natural search, affiliate programs, partnership marketing/content integration programs, email marketing acquisition, and retention programs. … Continue Reading »
There are dozens of goals shared by Internet marketers across the globe.
Somewhere at the top of almost everyone’s list is “increase visits to the website.”
It is probably on your list, but is your website ready for a surge of visitors?
As we discussed yesterday, not every website is.
To ensure that your website is ready, a system has to be in place that directs users to webpages that are designed to answer their needs. … Continue Reading »
Attend SIPA’s June conference and take home practical methods to make your company more profitable.
SIPA’s 31st Annual International Newsletter and Specialized Information Conference is set to be three days of discussing the most powerful industry trends and best practices. It is being held from June 3 to June 5 in Washington, DC, and will feature more than 45 sessions and 56 roundtable discussions on the latest online publishing and newsletter information. … Continue Reading »
Our Mequoda editor-at-large, Peter Schaible, says he has identified three types of seminar attendees.
The prisoner doesn’t want to be at the event; the boss has assigned him to attend, but the prisoner is too arrogant to think he should learn anything new.
The vacationer is physically in attendance at the workshop, but he’s not fully engaged. He enjoys visiting new places and having a few meals out on the company expense account, but he is too lazy to learn new skills that challenge his old habits or take him out of his comfort zone. … Continue Reading »
The first rule of the Mequoda Internet Marketing System is to make it as easy as possible to start a customer relationship—and give something away. Don’t ask for the money right away. But BusinessWeek.com gives away volumes of priceless content without even asking for an email address in return. … Continue Reading »
The first thing you need to have to create great landing pages is a basic understanding of the seven types of landing pages used by Internet marketing professionals. With that in mind, we think your odds of increasing landing page conversion rates will definitely improve. … Continue Reading »
EarlyToRise.com Pays Homage to Benjamin Franklin by Making its Owners Wealthy. Twenty-first Century Publishers Take Note: There is Wisdom in Adopting this Business Model
Financial independence has many rewards beyond the monetary. Or so I would like to believe. In the case of Michael Masterson, who prior to reaching age 40 sold a $135 million business and retired, one of the rewards is a bully pulpit on which to pontificate about anything and everything to anyone who will listen. Or more precisely, anyone who is willing to subscribe to his free email newsletter and read it. … Continue Reading »
Reviewing a website published by Jakob Nielsen is a little like giving driving lessons to your father. It feels as though the roles ought to be reversed. Nielsen has a Ph.D. and holds 78 U.S. patents, most of them on ways for making the Internet easier to use. I, ahem, do not.The New York Times calls Nielsen “the guru of webpage usability.” U.S. News & World Report calls him the world’s leading expert on web usability.” A popular German publication calls him “the world’s leading expert on user-friendly design.” … Continue Reading »
Doctor Douglass’ Real Health Breakthroughs Landing Page by Agora Demonstrates How Traditional Long Copy, Captivating Headlines and Effective Story Telling Convince Readers to Buy … Continue Reading »
The Daily Reckoning Website, a Network Hub for its Financial Newsletters and Services, Demonstrates Effective Website Design and Site Architecture that Supports User Tasks and Goals … Continue Reading »
An eBook author and publisher I met at a recent Internet marketing conference is a big fan of a simple $97 software program called eCover Generator that makes eBook covers, software boxes, CD covers and covers for just about any other information product you can name. … Continue Reading »
Discover how one publisher was able to increase landing page conversion rates 23 and 27 percent by re-purposing his direct mail sales letter copy. … Continue Reading »
Few occupations are as romanticized and misunderstood as the field of professional writing. The term “freelance writer” often conjures up images of tweed jackets with arm patches, briar pipes, cozy garrets and a rural mailbox stuffed with royalty checks. The fact is, though, that writing for a living requires a certain amount of preparation and training. … Continue Reading »
You might know, and subscribe, to one or more products from information marketing juggernauts like Bottom Line Publications, Agora, Healthy Directions or Philips Investment Resources. More importantly, you may study their strategies and creations like an aspiring artist studies the work of the great masters. … Continue Reading »
he Mequoda Landing Page Scorecard™ encourages you to score your own landing page using each of the 12 Mequoda Best Practice Guidelines, add them together and arrive at a cumulative score. The goal is to emphasize the importance of effective landing pages that sell. Your landing page should achieve respectable scores in all areas, rather than over-emphasizing a single area or two, or omitting other areas completely. … Continue Reading »
If the advent of the World Wide Web and the superabundance of information it puts within easy reach has done anything for me, it’s made me a much better consumer of medical services and a greater participant in my own healthcare. … Continue Reading »
The Key to Creating an Aesthetically Pleasing Landing Page is to Know your Target Market and Create an Appearance that Conforms to your Visitors’ Mental Model … Continue Reading »
Many subscribers prefer to “print and read,” rather than read on screen. But, often, printer-friendly pages appear only marginally better than the original web page. … Continue Reading »
Like immutable laws of nature, some rules are ironclad. Follow these directives and you can expect to succeed. Ignore even one of them and your business and personal achievements will be significantly diminished. … Continue Reading »
