It's July 4th in the Unites States, and you know what that meansâ€"hot dogs, fireworks, sunburns' and one or two people might drink a bit. But let's not forget what else this day signifies. That's right' The Fourth of July is the day President Bill Pullman declared the world's independence day from those pesky alien invaders from outer space, thereby rallying the troops and horrifying international film critics . Apparently,

There's been a debate every since blogging became mainstream about how long blog posts should be. Many bloggers may read one or two discussions on it, and try to conform to that â€" never revisiting the issue again for as long as they blog. This can be a mistake. For a definitive answer, following are three things to consider when you're trying to decide how long your blog posts should be. 1.

Emily's OnceWed site offers a free listing service for )mostly( women to search/buy used wedding gowns or sell gowns to make back a little coin. Sounds like a smart deal for everyone in these tough economic times. Since the service is currently complimentary, she's looking for sufficient traffic to attract and generate ad revenue. She sees this site as a jumping off point to other wedding/bridal industry online media. Product Summary: Free,

In the world of selling, you can use testimonials â€" among other techniques â€" to take advantage of the principle of "Social Proof." According to this principle, all of us look to others to help us decide how to act. The more people doing it, the more correct it seems. I illustrated this idea recently in part 1 of this series, Testimonials and Teenagers Whizzing in the Bushes: The Power of Social Proof . Few people, however,

As promised, I've done a review of The Ultimate Desktop Copy Coach from Clayton Makepeace . The course just became publicly available about 30 minutes ago, and there are lots of extra bonuses thrown in for those who move fast )including one from me(. The short answer is' it's a great A-toZ copywriting course taught in an accessible style. At over 1,000 pages of comprehensive copywriting knowledge, it's likely the only course in copywriting you'll ever need.

Once you decide to learn more about online copywriting, you quickly find out there are two schools of thought. One school hammers the reader with red headlines, yellow highlighting, and aggressive copy that grips the reader like a terrier shaking a squirrel. The other school develops a compelling personal voice, nurtures a relationship with the reader, and uses soft-sell techniques to nudge the reader down the path to purchase. So which one is right? They both are.

Some people write to sell, and other people write to tell stories in novels and film. Pretty cut and dry, right? A copywriter is the selling type' she uses her talents to promote a person, place, thing, or idea. That copywriter chooses words to make the subject look and sound great so that a desired action happens. It's all about marketing, sales, and conversions. But great copywriters are also storytellers.

Whether you enjoyed his material or not, George Carlin was a gifted writer and performer with a particular talent for language. Not only in his wonderfully rhythmic word choice, but also in his ruthless linguistic dissection of the symbols we take so seriously without a second thought. Eleven days ago, Psychology Today Senior Editor Jay Dixit interviewed Carlin by phone. Dixit went into great depth with Carlin,

As a content marketing strategy, what's the most powerful aspect of blogging? Which psychological trigger is most likely to inspire the click, whirr purchase decision you're hoping for? Is it reciprocity , social proof , or authority ? What about scarcity or commitment and consistency ? Well, it's all of those combined. But the most powerful additional thing about blogging is an aspect of human nature that doesn't require a psychology degree to understand.

In earlier posts, I talked about how to use emotional benefits to drive reader interest, and gave you some sample headlines you could use as a jumping-off point. Emotional benefits trigger the "me-want" response. They create desire for our offer. But creating desire isn't usually enough. Unless you're selling a purely emotional product like fashion or music, you also have to give your reader enough logical ammunition to justify the purchase to himself.

Guest post by Mike Figliuolo. As mentioned recently here on Copyblogger, Narcissus is alive and well , even as his marketing campaigns die of thirst. It's too common a problem. One of my all-time favorite quotes came from Dennis Miller: "You see' I run everything through this narcissistic little prism and ask 'how does this affect ME?'" While this approach is self-satisfying, it tends to leave your audience less than fulfilled.

After hearing he had a torn ligament and a double stress fracture of his left tibia two weeks before the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods looked at the doctor and said , "I'm playing in the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win." Win he did, which is amazing in it's own right. Even more remarkable is the level of dedication and focus Tiger had to play 91 holes over five days on a severely injured knee that was getting worse.

We're all the best. I don't know one single person who tells a prospect, "I suck at this. Don't work with me or buy from me, because I can't do a good job or deliver a quality product." No, of course you wouldn't say that. You're great. You exceed expectations. Is it enough? Most likely not. Prospects are tuning out "best". They've heard it before. They don't care.

Back in 1976, the music industry was in a full-tilt disco craze. All the smart money was chasing new disco acts based on the success of tunes like The Hustle and Jive Talkin' by the Bee Gees in 1975. Rock was dead they all said, and this is even before Saturday Night Fever brought disco to middle America. But then just another band out of Boston turned that wisdom on its head. Boston founder Tom Sholz struggled to get a record deal. And even after he signed with Epic,

Raise your hand if you know who Gary Vaynerchuk is. For those of you with non-elevated arms, Gary Vaynerchuk is the host of Wine Library TV , a daily online video show on wine that serves a promotional tool for the local and ecommerce wine business he's involved in. Gary's web fame has landed him in The Wall Street Journal and Time , and he's appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Ellen . So what's the big deal?

How do you take basic, boring facts and turn them into compelling content that attracts and holds attention? Content so compelling that it also sparks a social media conversation? Ira Glass is the host of NPR's This American Life , and in this video he lays out how to produce compelling video, audio, and text content. Notice his use of the word "bait" for those who think link bait is only about controversy and nastiness.

Last week's post talked about why emotional benefits are critical to persuasive copy. But it's one thing to talk about general concepts like "connection" or "fear," and another to actually get these ideas into your writing. In honor of Friday the 13th, I thought I'd give you 13 actual examples of emotional benefits you can use to persuade your readers. These emotional triggers have been used effectively in countless promotions,

Are you a victim of narcissistic marketing? That's when a marketing and copywriting strategy is based on how the marketer prefers to be marketed to, rather than exploring what works with the target audience. This happens all the time with entrepreneurs and small-business owners who create their own promotions, but it's even worse when professional marketers offer narcissistic marketing advice.

Testimonials add power to your copy. How? Let me answer that question by telling you a little story about a rabble of bladder-challenged teenagers whizzing in the bushes along an Interstate near my home. Trust me. There's a connection. You see, some time ago, my wife and I were on our way to a party when traffic slowed to a standstill along a stretch of highway. Nine out of ten cars were filled with teenagers,

Want to become an unbelievable headline writer? Well, taken literally, that's not a good thing. If your headline isn't believable, it's not credible. In which case, your response rate goes down, not up, no matter how fantastic a promise your headline makes. See, making outlandish claims with your headline in order to attract attention is a sucker's game. Even if you manage to score the click,