6. Have you checked and cross-referenced your facts amongst your various sources.

7. Have you decided on length of article? Have you checked length is suitable for publication you are sending it to?

Tip: Do not waste editors time by sending a 2000 word article to a publication that requires articles between 500-750 words. 8. Will you use quotes in your article? Quotes and antcedotes bring a story to life. Are quotes from a reliable source and have you double checked that quotes used are acurately recorded?

9. Do you have a good lead, middle and ending?

10. Have you proofread and edited your article to achieve best possible version through re-writing your drafts to arrive at your final version?

Have you made all corrections and necessary changes, have you checked spelling (this includes people and place names) grammar, punctuation etc?

11. If feature is to be visual - have you provided appropriate photographs, art work, line drawings, or other graphic illustrations to compliment your feature?

This increases payment amount you can expect to receive especially if you are a feature photojournalist or travel feature writer who can offer original photographic perspectives of your subject topic.

Finally...

12. Have you included everything in your envelope before sending your article to publisher (including photos properly packaged) or, if magazine or newspaper excepts online submissions have you given everything a final check before hitting send button?

A - Incite action. Put a limited time frame on your offer and tell them how to order. Make it as easy as you can to purchase. Give them a number of options.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Copywriting, whether it's offline or online is still all about YOU (or client, that is). Write in a direct "me to you" way. Use twice as many "you's" as you do "we's". This forces you to step into readers' shoes and by doing that you're helping them relate (really relate) to what you're saying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Break it up! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

There's nothing that will make people click away faster than long, tedious paragraphs and long sentences. Break up those sentences. Break up those paragraphs into one or two sentences (at very most).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Put those HOT words in lights! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Every time you move on to a new point include a subheading. This breaks up copy and makes it much easier to read. It also enables people to scan your piece. With a good web piece you should be able to scan just subheads and be able to pick out major selling arguments in order so you can get a good gist of what piece is about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Use strategically placed links to expand on points ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

In situations where some readers may need to find out more about a certain point, instead of including a description in main body of your online sales letter, include a link to an explanatory paragraph. This enables you to include all copy you need to sell something WITHOUT watering down power of your main piece.

It might be simply a description of meaning of a certain term.

It might be links to additional research which proves that your product delivers results.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Weave testimonials throughout your copy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Testimonials SELL. Gather as many testimonials as you can from clients and feature them in a variety of different ways. Have a testimonials or "what clients say" section. Feature these testimonials as case studies AND use them as part of copy when making a particular point.

Eg. Your car will be so shiny it will look brand new AND be worth $000's more.

Margaret Smith of Smith and Co. Balmain agrees:

"I wanted to sell my 1995 Ford and to be honest it had been a little neglected over years. I was given an initial trade in price from a dealer and after being rather disappointed with price I thought I'd arrange for your detailing services. My gosh. What a result! I hardly recognised it. It looked like a brand new car. I then took it in to another dealer and they offered me $5,000 more. Thank you so much!"

This is a brief overview of how to write powerful web copy. There are a number of other key copywriting principles to consider. You can find more copywriting browsing our site.

Just remember - no matter what sales vehicle you're using, recipe for copywriting success is same. It's just tone and length that changes.