The Built Write Blog

By Tess Wittler Every PC user knows that spell-checkers in  word processing programs are lousy at catching words out of context. For instance, a major accounting firm recently sent a proposal to a Fortune 500 client. On the cover they identified themselves as: “Certified Pubic Accountants.” Oops! So how do you find an effective way [...]

By Tess Wittler Did you catch this Facebook news last week? Facebook’s famous “like” button is now available for anyone to use on their web site (as you can see, I’ve already added it to my blog). According to this article from Advertising Age: “Facebook’s new tools, including the like button … are designed to [...]

Part I: The Bait Piece (aka white paper) Never do a lead-generation promotion – ad, banner ad, email, direct mail – without a “bait piece.” The “bait piece” is an informative booklet, white paper, or special report addressing some aspect of the problem your product or service helps the reader solve. For example: Fala Direct [...]

By Tess Wittler According to catalog consultant Stephen Lett, the most effective catalog and multi-channel offers are: Free shipping. Dollar amount off. A percentage off. A free gift with purchase. Lett notes that free shipping can increase catalog sales by 20% or more. Dollar discounts work better than percentage discounts because, says Lett: “Consumers can [...]

By Tess Wittler “Keep your home page language simple,” advises master web copywriter Nick Usborne. When visitors arrive at your site, they are in a hurry to find out if you have what they want. Your copy needs to communicate a great deal, quickly, and demand very little. In other words, don’t make your visitors [...]