by: Anthony L. Davenport

We are were guilty of it at one time or another. Getting too caught up in our website design.. making sure links work...checking our site in different browsers and resolutions etc.

We see cool templates we want to use to make our site more 'razle-dalze'....and cool animation scripts, etc. (Yes, I my self am guilty on multiple accounts ^_^ )

Then we get caught up in writing/finding quality articles to put into our auto-responder sequence..and so on and so on.

Now don't get me wrong ALL of these parts of eBiz are EXTREMELY important....

But, what ultimately makes sale?...

let's see:

WebSite: This is your store front yes, and first impressions are IMPORTANT, so no, you don't want to skimp on professionalism of your site. However what your website does is direct your visitor---to purchase your product.

eZine: Your autoresponder is an INVALUABLE part of your eBiz...ultimately this will be your way to make more sales...

But what MAKES sale all time?

We all know...it's your Sales Copy.

If you're experiencing a slump in your income streams/sales, and you've tested and tweaked your advertising..and your getting a better response..but your sales are not rising...

..then this is time to check your sales copy.

Below is a check list to ensure your sales copy pulls maximum sales possible:

Know your market--

Yup, good 'ol research..ya I know, bummer. But if you want your sales copy to be successful you need to truly know who you are targeting... Then write specifically to them.

This is probably hardest of things to do for your eBiz, and it is human nature to be lazy and put things off...However, you want to succeed right??

Sorry, but in order to do that , your gonna have to 'put in work'

Now there are many ways to do this. 1--if you already have a list: simple survey them and ask them:

--why they didn't buy your product

--what don't they like about your sales letter

--what do they like about it, etc.

by simply doing this, you can immediately evaluate your copy and optimize it, to pull in more orders.

But if you have yet to build a responsive list...well that's where newsgroups come in... It's 'same-o-same-o'..check around, see what everyone's problems are... then re-write your sales copy to emphasize how your product solves that problem..

Get reader on your side:

You have to build a certain level of rapport with your readers, they have to trust you/ like you if they are going to buy from you.

A great way to do this is by educating them...on why you created your product...what you went through to produce it, problems your product solves.. things of this nature.

Answer The visitor's question: "What's in it for me?"

Nothing builds credibility more than YOUR willingness to provide valuable, fr~e information to your visitor. By doing this in your sales copy, you will establish yourself to them as someone who genuinely wants to help them.

Make sure your copy is easy to read.

This is so important...really, if your visitor can't follow your sales copy, they will not bother sticking around to finish it.

It's true! In fact, if you learn some basic principles, you can drive thousands of visitors to your website without spending any money on advertising. Publishing articles not only establishes you as an expert in your chosen field, but also allows you to fly under natural "radar defenses" your prospects have against advertising.

But, beware! My experience as a syndicated newspaper columnist has shown me that people who would otherwise succeed massively promoting with articles actually fail because they consistently make one or more of these five critical mistakes!

Mistake #1 - NOT Defining Your Target Audience

Many article authors make serious mistake of not clearly defining a niche audience before writing their article. Successful article authors always know exact "niche" audience they want to reach before they write first word.

When targeting your audience, remember this rule: Narrow and Deep! Always pick an audience with a specific, pressing, or major interest in a narrow topic!

Mistake #2 - Spamming Ezine Editors

In their desire to cover as much ground as possible, many article authors resort to spam techniques for submitting their articles. Instead of tightly targeting appropriate ezines that cater specifically to their audience, these authors try to hit "everyone."

By trying to save time, they actually waste every minute spent writing their article because most ezine editors will just delete their submissions as spam!