Are you losing business because of your website? More and more customers are logging on to Web to decide where to spend their money because it is quick and convenient, and they can jump from site to site instead of walking from store to store. Web savvy customers don't need to be patient, studies have shown that you need to engage a potential customer very quickly by giving them easy, fast access to information they need. Otherwise they will simply move on to next site.

Appealing design and speedy functionality are important but they don't ensure that your site is well structured (intuitive) or well written (clear).

Write First The real message on most websites is in writing, and so it makes sense that writing should determine structure. Unfortunately, this is not usual case. Most businesses choose structure and design of their site first and then try and fit writing around that structure. This flies in face of commonsense. When you speak to someone, you structure your speech around your message, you don't decide on a structure then change message to suit. So you need to plan what you want to say before you create site. Maybe even write whole thing first and then use message to determine structure.

When deciding what to write, think about what your customer wants to know rather than what you want to say. It's a subtle difference, but it is key to engaging a potential customer.

Company newsletters can be an amazingly successful marketing technique. Whether you want to up-sell or cross-sell, establish your brand or establish your authority, or simply reach a wider market, a newsletter can do job for you. You just have to make sure you write it right.

Television, radio, and print advertising are often too expensive for many businesses to justify – especially small businesses. Fortunately, there is an alternative. Today’s internet and email technologies make company newsletters a very inexpensive, yet surprisingly effective, form of advertising. When it comes to newsletters, big companies and small are finally competing on a level playing field.

So what is an email newsletter? An emailed newsletter serves much same purpose as a traditional company newsletter. Think of it as a short newspaper – but instead of relating to a town, city or country, it relates to your business. You can include articles on new products or services, awards, recent success stories and case studies, promotions, specials, share price rises, company events, research… And if it’s a quiet month, you can simply write articles that might help your customers out.

10 Steps to Success Follow 10 simple rules of thumb, and you’ll soon be writing great newsletters and reaping rewards…