5 Ways to Know You Need a Copywriter

Small business boomers:
Where does Web page content come from? Yes, Virginia, there are experts who can help you with this. As a writer myself, my perception is that many, if not most, expert entrepreneurs have very little patience for putting their messages in writing, often with disastrous results. I'll give you a few quick examples.

1. "They'll get it--it makes perfect sense to me!"
I've worked with all kinds of consultants--from financial services and risk management wizards; to human resource, benefit and retirement plan experts; to green building aficionados. These people are whip-smart in their fields, but many are lazy and impatient when it comes to writing up their findings. They slap something on the page using elaborate, often mysterious jargon, arguing that everyone who might read it already understands these things. So why write advisories or market your service at all? Who needs it? Everyone already understands everything. Except--studies show that people turn to the Internet to educate themselves, not to be mystified.

2. It would just take too much time to explain all this!
Doctors, acupuncturists, optometrists, psychologists--these experts don't have time to sit and fuss with the written word. They already have too much paperwork, and packed schedules, too. Rare is the professional who will sit down to write a journal article or op-ed piece, let alone write informative copy for a website. One client set up a blog at my suggestion--to educate people interested in acupuncture and make her site more dynamic. I wrote the first few blogs, then she took over--and the frequency of posts slowed way down. So much for a dynamic website.

3. I'm too busy starting my business--I can't be bothered with a website!
Surprisingly, given the enormous amount of activity on the Internet, more than 40% of small businesses have not even bothered to put up a website. Of course, it's not really all that surprising, given how confusing and time-consuming it can be to do just that. Even if you decide to invest in a full-service Web host, you're still going to have to organize what you know, what you do, and what you offer into a compelling written presentation. And if that seems overwhelming, how would you find a copywriter, anyway? And if you did, how much would one charge?

4. I put up a website--been there, done that!
I know a dynamic entrepreneurial couple who have a website they worked very hard to put up, and their business has done quite well until it began to fall off this year. However, that was years ago, when they were just starting out, and since then nothing on their site has changed. They still a have gateway page with a lame logo animation. Gateways are rarely used anymore--they tend to irritate or discourage visitors. The site has no photos for visual interest and no handy contact page--buried somewhere at the bottom of a page is a telephone number. You can't click on the logo to instantly get in touch with them. The options they offer are not clearly and simply presented. Though their business relies on frequently updated technology, their website reflects old-style text and graphics, giving an impression of stodgy performance--yet nothing could be further from the truth. If only visitors could see what a wonderful business theirs really is!

5. I don't have the time or the patience
This attitude can afflict all of us, even writers. However, the way to get past it if you are a budding entrepreneur is to get some sound advice--and fast. Find and hire an Internet marketer/content expert who will get excited about your business and guide youto a professional-looking website--and then keep it vibrant and updated as you build your enterprise.

Work-Life Balance: If Not August, When?

Small Business Boomers:

I'm tempted to feel guilty about not blogging more often this month, but then I remember how great it is that lots of families are away, enjoying the last two weeks before school starts. Stuart and I have our own mini-vacation this week: free use of the neighbor's beautiful new, chlorine-free swimming pool. It's 94 degrees today with a "feel" of 104 with the humidity. Right after work, we're there!

Life is but a dream...

Work-life balance is something we all talk about but few of us satisfactorily accomplish. There's always some pressing need, something that needs to be done at work. I'm old enough to remember Weekly Reader mini-newspapers in elementary school--all these upbeat articles about how all the new inventions would create shorter and shorter work weeks in the future, and we would be hard-pressed to figure out how to use all our leisure time. Well, the future is now, and the reverse has happened: we all work more, not less.

Set Your Limits Right From the Get-Go

I remember, also, a more relevant life tip from a nineteenth-century female entrepreneur (The Dutchess of Duke Street) who opened the first upper-class hotel in London. She broke all the rules: rich people didn't stay in public hotels, women didn't run such businesses, certainly not unmarried women. Her mantra was: I shall begin as I intend to continue, which is to say, she was not going to make any compromises today so that she could succeed tomorrow. She was going to set the rules of her success today--and she did. And she was a tremendous success.

What's the use of succeeding with your start-up if you're going to make yourself miserable in the process? Right from the start, when it seems you simply cannot do too much and are overwhelmed by a list of very important tasks--set your limits. Start as you mean to continue: to have your own business that you love to work at, and love to profit from as well, both in terms of money and control of your own time.

Your time is one of the few things you really can control, so prioritize it realistically and daily.

Otherwise, you will be swamped, whether you have too few customers or too many. What are your goals? Why did you begin this business? What do you want and need for yourself? How can you be fair to your family? These questions are just as important as deciding when and where to advertise or picking a logo or improving customer service. And late August is just the time to think about your answers.

10 Ways to Optimize Freebies and Model a Great Monetizer

Small Business Owners and Solopreneurs:

It's time to update my review of the VistaPrint site. I spent last week purchasing new business cards and matching accessories. And I do mean purchasing--because nothing is quite free on VistaPrint. Its business model and methods of monetization are very carefully worked out and--don't get me wrong, VP offers a good deal on business printing--as a business buyer, you must read all the fine print, and be aware of VistaPrint's marketing game.

1. Play the Waiting Game

Roving the VistaPrint site, there were many interesting marketing avenues to pursue: not just business cards but Premium business cards; free matching websites; free matching e-mail marketing programs; free logo design; inexpensive hats, t-shirts and address labels--all with a newly created, customized logo.

2. Define "Free," Please

When you visit your shopping cart, you may be in for a nasty surprise--all this free stuff costs money! So, okay, you added to or upgraded most of the "free" offerings. And given other printing operations, VP is still quite reasonable. You get quite a bit of highly sophisticated customization and a level of creative control that you won't get, sad to say, from most local print shops, which deal almost completely in set templates. However, once you've made your selections, that is the time to leave the VistaPrint website--before buying anyting. Just leave, and let your Cart "rest" for a day or two.

3. Within 24 Hours Make an Offer Prospective Customers Can't Refuse

Is your business this responsive? VP knows you've paid a visit, considered some stuff and gone away. VP wants you back and will now offer you more things for free or deeper discounts. If you go back to your original Cart, all the original prices are there. But if you click on, say, Free Premium Business Cards in the marketing e-mail they send you, there will be a new Cart, and your prices will have been automatically discounted.

4. How Much Time Will You Devote to Haggling?

Having done the waiting thing, as I went to check out, I got a message that the matching address labels I had bought for $5.99 were now $3.99. So I clicked and added the $3.99 labels. But there was no way to remove the $5.99 labels! So I had, in effect, just added $4 to my total. How much patience do you have? I actually emptied my Cart and started over, including redesigning my business cards--but then that's something I consider fun. My husband Stuart, faced with a similar dilemma, simply picked up the telephone at that point and spoke to a VP customer service rep--that's how he managed to get 250 two-sided, full color cards on heavy stock for $12.99 shipping.

5. But Your Time Is Money, Remember?

After I redid my Cart, taking advantage of all the new lower prices, my order page looked much better because it was filled with hot orange type announcing that I had gotten a slew of 25% discounts, a matching hat for $1.50, not $11.40, labels for $3.99 not $5.99, saved a couple of bucks on my "free" logo (which costs about $20 if you want to download a copy to work with and own and was now $18.74). The $20 premium cards were now $15, and the heavy stock and back printing $9.74 instead of $12.99. My total order was about $15 less than my first attempt. Would I save even more if I called a customer service rep or waited another 24 hours and redid my Cart again? Maybe, but I decided to select the slowest shipping (21 days, $9.15, down from $9.50) and get this done!

6. Simplicity

Stuart kept his order simple--he only needed basic cards for special purpose networking; he already had business checks, address labels, etc. He chose a standard business card template. (Most of them are amateurish looking, but he selected a very dignified style and customized his colors and fonts.) Then, as I say, he got on the phone and talked his way into free printing on the back and free heavy card stock, paying only $12.99 shipping. On the other hand, when he went back, after receiving his cards--to see if he could make a couple of changes and get another 250 for $12.99--VP was having none of it, he was going to have to pay for all the extras. VP has monetization down; obviously, it has spent some years nailing it, but I'd say that the site hits a perfect balance between freebies and discount pricing, and that the marketing strategy is impeccable. And you'll be okay as long as you read all the fine print...

7. Control

Unlike Stuart, my primary goal was to get a simple logo done cheaply. I had already checked that out, and you can actually get a real human designer to create 3 logo choices tailored to your business for $67. At VP, however, I chose a template logo and selected the colors--it's a little generic, but with some imagination, its simple elements of a sphere with three white bars conveys World Wide Web and digital and text fairly well. If I left it to VistaPrint to imprint this logo on everything for me, it would have been free. As it was, I spent $18.74 for a logo I can use on e-mails, website, even create my own letterhead with--so I consider that a great deal.

8. "Free" Websites Are Not Really Free

Read carefully, only matching your logo is really free. VistaPrint has many offers that are free for 30 days, and then you pay monthly. In my opinion, their website offer is not truly competitive. Matching the style is a great idea, but the samples using my logo were unimpressive, to say the least--more like depressing. Also very important, VP provides a weird URL ending in "vp," not a dot com. And the pricing is $14.99 per month, and up. GoDaddy and BlueHost are both much cheaper and less tricky. Also, as a small business, you need to be aware of SEO (search engine optimization services), visitor tracking and ad testing, none of which were mentioned by VistaPrint. Google offers much of this, truly free.

9. "Free" E-Mail Marketing Plans

I looked at this for awhile and decided it was much too generic for my purposes. Besides, I don't have a large enough list at this time to make it worth the monthly costs. I ordered my logo, so I'll be able to customize my own e-mails. When I generate a large-enough list, I may look at this option again. After all, only the initial setup is free; after that there is a fee schedule, so make sure that this option will be worth it to your business.

10. What's Worth It, What's Not, and the Downside of Control

• Stuart's cards turned out nice, but you need to be aware that while paying for a "proof" to be e-mailed to you is not worth it, you must proofread extremely carefully--have at least one other pair of eyes look at it for you before you sign off, and proof again and again after every change you make.

• Stuart's design has white type popping out of a dark teal background--gorgeous, but the font and size he chose make the printa little too spidery to show up well: It needed to be sized up or bolded.

• If you don't know anything about color palettes (choosing two to six colors that harmonize and sticking to them), get help from someone with design or printing experience. (VistaPrint offers this, too.)

• The "foil" option isn't worth it--it's tacky and adds cost.

• The heavier stock is nice but not absolutely necessary.

• If your business is mostly localized, car magnets from VistaPrint can be a great marketing investment and may even earn a tax deduction for your car.

• Do-it-yourselfers should follow this one rule: The safest way to get an impressive result is to keep your business materials Simple and Consistent.