What you’ll learn

You may already be utilizing standard press releases, but you may not be generating the results you want or expect from a press release marketing campaign. As Senior Editor of Ping! Zine Web Hosting Magazine, I recently published an article detailing the major differences between standard and optimized press releases.

Why you should read the article

Take a few minutes to read the article. You’ll learn cost vs return on investment, ranking high in search engines, longevity vs quick traffic, how to track results, and much more. As a professional writer, I have written dozens of successful optimized press releases for clients. And all have achieved remarkable results: generating leads, traffic, and increasing revenue. You too can take advantage of press release marketing to boost your revenues. It’s worth the investment and you’ll be able to see results immediately. But you need to read the article to find out how you can achieve more traffic and revenue for your business.

How to get the article

There are three ways you can read the article.

1. Download the PDF version of Standard Press Releases vs Optimized Press Releases.

2. Read the full HTML version in the Young Copy Resource Center on the Press Releases – Standard or Optimized? page.

3. Visit Ping! Zine Web Hosting Magazine, download issue 33, and turn to page 49.

Unless you have been using IBM System i software, you may not be familiar with Profound Logic’s products and services. To give you an incredible overview of what Profound Logic does and how they help their customers save hundreds of thousands of dollars, take a look at the case study Young Copy wrote.

The case study features Western Power Sports (WPS), one of Profound Logic’s customers who experienced tremendous success by using RPGsp. WPS is a wholesaler and distributor of power sports parts and accessories with corporate headquarters in Boise, Idaho.

View the Profound Logic/WPS Case Study.

Why it’s worth your time

I know you’re busy and time is valuable. But did you know that case studies can generate dozens of leads for your business? We’re not talking about leads worth only a few dollars each, we’re talking about leads worth thousands of dollars each. Not just any case study will do. You need a case study that’s written to educate the reader on why and how your business helped a customer. And you must have the data to back it up.

For example, Western Power Sports generates $250,000 in online orders a day since using Profound Logic’s RPGsp software. With over 14,000 orders a month, that’s serious revenue. The case study takes you through the growing pains WPS experienced, then gives you insight as to how and why Profound Logic’s solutions helped them grow beyond their previous capabilities.

Why your clients and future clients like case studies

The clients you use for case studies can enjoy the benefits of public relations – all because your products and services help them save money, streamline processes, and generate more revenue. When you have a well written case study about your clients, you can publish it on your website, distribute a press release and publish the release on your website, blog about the case study, and even tweet about it on Twitter. You can even include a mention of the case study in your newsletter. Your prospective and current clients get to see what you’ve done for other clients. They will want you to do the same for their business. It’s a great way to increase exposure and grab your audience’s attention. Bottom line – you increase your revenue.

Promotional writing services can increase your revenue

All successful businesses have successful stories about their clients. Successful stories tell how clients have achieved remarkable results using the company’s products and services. Your company is no different. So why not take advantage of a well written, highly qualified, lead generating case study for your business today. Young Copy can help you achieve remarkable results with your case study. Take advantage of Young Copy’s case study writing services today and watch your revenue increase. Everybody wins.

About the “Writing for Revenue” session

This is exciting. Not only is this the first-ever virtual conference for web hosting companies, but it’s Young Copy’s first-ever conference presentation. I write compelling website copy daily for clients all over the world. And I help clients achieve amazing results. Even though I specialize in the hosting, software, and technology industries, anyone who owns a website and needs great copy should attend. Plus it’s free. However, seats are limited so register now. Attendees will learn directly from me the types of website content, copy, and motivation techniques they should include as part of their overall marketing communication strategies.

About Web Host Boot Camp 2009

Web Host Boot Camp 2009 is the first-ever virtual conference exclusively for the web hosting industry. Attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and guests come together for a day to discuss and learn the latest trends, tips, and techniques for developing a successful web hosting company. Web Host Boot Camp will help you attract more customers, increase your profits, and run your hosting company efficiently. Web Host Boot Camp gives you the opportunity to speak directly with industry experts, advertise your business, and network with people just like you who want to build the hosting industry’s leading web hosting company.

Young Copy wrote the copy

So I’m presenting at the conference. But did you know that I also wrote the copy for the website? Zachary McClung, president of Web Host Boot Camp, contacted me back in January. He specifically wanted someone with years of promotional writing experience. Zach contacted the right person as I am a 10 year hosting industry veteran. Yeah, 10 years – that’s a good bit of experience. Within a couple of days, I wrote nearly all the content you see on the Web Host Boot Camp 2009 site. Has it worked? You bet. People have been registering daily, filling up limited seating, and now they are waiting to view presentations from some of the industry’s leading consultants, vendors, and hosting companies.

Again, it’s completely free so register today! It’s not too late to reserve your seat for the Young Copy “Writing for Revenue” session. You’ll be glad you attended. Don’t miss out.

If you can’t attend, don’t worry

I know, you’re busy. Me too. But I’ve spent a lot of time preparing an incredible presentation that you’ll find useful for your marketing objectives. It’s worth every minute. And it’s free. What better way to receive valuable information than to watch a one hour (or less) presentation on how to generate more traffic, build loyal customers, and increase your revenue?

If you can’t attend the presentation next Wednesday, no problem. You’ll have access to view the presentation after the convention. However, if you register for the conference, you’ll be one of the first to view the presentation. Either way, invest an hour of your time and learn how you can create compelling website copy that attracts visitors and converts them to customers.

Have the videos been successful?

You bet. Even though the first three videos have only been online for over a month, the Young Copy Client Video Testimonials page has approached the top 10 most viewed pages on the entire website. Client video testimonials are powerful, very powerful. In today’s Internet world, it’s time to go beyond just testimonials in text. Don’t get me wrong. Testimonials in print and text are still great, but nothing beats the power of video marketing using live, human interaction.

Top SEO rankings in Google

If you have spent any amount of time on the Young Copy site, you know that we provide SEO copywriting services and SEO top ranking services to our clients. We’ve achieved amazing results for our clients. And we have achieved top rankings for the Young Copy website. But since this post is about client video testimonials, I thought I’d share with you that today, we currently rank top 10 in Google for video testimonials and client video testimonials. In fact, we’ve reached the #1 spot depending on which Google server your browser uses when you search for one of the key phrases.

Isn’t it your turn?

We’re professional writers. But we’re professional writers with marketing expertise and serious revenue generating skills. I lead a team of highly qualified, brilliant and talented writing and marketing geniuses. We’re good, very good. And we think it’s your turn to get started. It’s time to take your enterprise to another level. So whether you need Young Copy’s promotional writing services, technical writing services, or all-out professional SEO copywriting services, contact us today and start increasing your revenue. Oh, we can even film, edit, and bring your client video testimonials to life.

Check it out at http://www.dotnetpanel.com.

About the DotNetPanel design, copy, and SEO

Young Copy is known for professional writing services including promotional writing and technical writing. However, I have worked with top designers for over a decade, developing websites that are designed to attract and convert visitors to customers. DotNetPanel already had a website, but asked us to redesign their website with multiple goals in mind:

• Increase sales
• Increase conversions
• Optimize for search engines
• Educate visitors, prospects, and customers
• Showcase the differences between each DotNetPanel product
• Professional design
• Copy and design that represents the DotNetPanel brand

Prior to designing the new DotNetPanel website, we had already been managing a successful optimized press release marketing campaign, email newsletter campaign, and a series of banner and magazine ads. All professionally designed with high impact copy that builds brand awareness and ultimately, generates sales. We’re still working on the copy and search engine optimization (SEO).  And we plan to achieve monumental results, much like we do with all our projects.

Since the launch of the new DotNetPanel website, we have already broken records in terms of daily visitors. That’s right – daily visitors. When you break records, you know you’ve done something right. But we’re not stopping at breaking daily traffic records. The number of people viewing the DotNetPanel demos has increased drastically. Our Google Analytics goal conversions have increased significantly.

Want to know if we broke sales records? Subscribe to the Young Copy blog. Once we have compiled the data, we’ll write about it. After all, that’s what we do. We write about our results, results that increase revenues through professional writing services.

Why did I choose to include video testimonials on the Young Copy website?

I have spent more than 10 years working in the hosting, software, and technology industries. Over the last several years I have witnessed tremendous success with video testimonials produced by clients and friends of mine in those industries. Aaron Phillips, then vp of marketing and sales at LayeredTech, said the video testimonials published on the FastServers.Net website was one of the most popular pages on the entire site. The page received thousands of visitors and inspired a new wave of customers to signup for the dedicated server hosting company’s services.

Another example is PEER 1, one of the largest peering hosting companies specializing in dedicated servers across the globe. PEER 1 has video testimonials describing how their services helped customers handle millions of visitors monthly without any incidents or major hiccups in server uptime. I highly respect PEER 1’s marketing team, led by Rajan Sodhi, vp of marketing, and have witnessed first-hand how important his customers’ video testimonials are to the overall PEER 1 marketing strategy.

Other high-end hosting companies have published their own set of client video testimonials. RackSpace and LiquidWeb are at the top of the list. In addition to hosting companies, major software as a service (SaaS) providers have been launching their own set of client video testimonials. 37Signals, developers of project management tool Basecamp, customer relationship management tool Highrise, and a few other leading collaboration projects, is raising the bar high with their client video testimonials, available on the 37Signals homepage.

Up close and personal – does it work?

Meeting with happy clients face-to-face is one of the best things you can do as a business owner. When I set out to interview my clients for the Young Copy video testimonials, they were more than ecstatic to spend 15-20 minutes chatting with me about the successes they achieved by using Young Copy’s promotional writing services and technical writing services. Fortunately, I was able to personally interview six clients in one gathering – HostingCon 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.

Even though these executives were busy showing current and potential customers their own products and services, I was able to put together a list of interview questions, specific to each client, and send it to them prior to the show. That way each client could spend time preparing for the interview, without any surprises or hidden agendas. The interviews were a success. I got to sit down with each client and learn why they chose, and continue to choose, Young Copy as their preferred marketing, writing, and technical communications company.

It’s your turn to get personal

So take a few minutes and view the first three of six Young Copy client video testimonials. And go ahead and subscribe to the Young Copy blog so you can be the first to view the next three video testimonials when they become available.

What is an optimized press release?

An optimized press release is just like a standard press release, but written and formatted for search engines. The average press release is about 400-500 words, depending on what you have to say for that particular release. For approximately every 100 words, you include a text link back to your website using a variety of keywords and phrases that your customers use when searching through their favorite search engine. Remember, Google counts for the majority of your traffic. (If you disagree with me on that, talk to me.)

Do optimized press releases work?

You bet they do. I’ve seen clients move to the top of search engine rankings by utilizing our optimized press release writing services. We distributed them too. You’ll get an instant boost in traffic (if they are done right). And you’ll see some of your lower ranking keywords and phrases move up quickly in the search engines. When you distribute an optimized press release, Google picks up your content because it’s fresh, newsworthy, and … it’s filled with keywords that attract your audience.

The Upside

You get links back to your site instantly. Initially you’ll get a surge in traffic with each release. However, the links stay out there in cyberspace for a long time. Thus you get the benefits of link building. Trust me. It works.

Build momentum

In order maintain your marketing momentum with optimized press releases, you need to distribute often. How often you ask?

How often should you send a press release?

People often ask me, “How often should I send a press release?” I tell them, “As often as you can as long as it’s newsworthy.” You can see results by sending at least one a month. But if you have newsworthy topics that require more than one release per month, send no more than one a week. That said, anywhere from 1-4 releases per month will really help your branding, traffic, and SEO results.

What not to do

Some companies (not that I’m going to mention any names) will send a press release every other day. Yes, it helps with branding, but guess what? They are not listed at the top of the search engine rankings, especially in Google. Want to know specific examples? Send me an email, call, or post in the comments section to find out.

Tell me what you think

Have you utilized optimized press releases for your company? Did they work? Did they meet your expectations? How often did you send a release? Agree/disagree with me on anything I’ve written in this post or any other post?

I want to hear from you. I’ll write a featured post on your company and your campaign. You can send me an email, call, or post in the comments below to get started.

4.8 million views and counting

The Wario Land: Shake It! video has been viewed over 4.8 million times since its launch (as of today’s posting). Impressive? You bet. But what are the numbers on increase of sales or exposure to the game itself? Although the video is cool and the effect from a marketing point is right-on in terms of creativity, metrics above all are most important.

Interviewing the Wii marketing executive

If you follow my blog (if not subscribe today), you know that I frequently interview executives from CEOs to VPs of Marketing/Sales. Hearing the results and experiences of the executives who develop brilliant marketing campaigns, intelligent software that’s user-friendly, or just all-out cool businesses, is one of the best ways to learn what works and what doesn’t when it comes to achieving your successes.

Moving forward, I will try to secure an interview with the executive behind the Wario Land: ShakeIt! video and see what the metrics are and what the return on investment (ROI) is for the campaign.

Tell me what you think

Did you like the Wario Land: ShakeIt! video? Do you think it will prove to be a successful marketing campaign? Have you come across other cool internet marketing ideas? Or have you implemented a cool Internet marketing idea at your organization that achieved great results?

I want to hear from you. I’ll write a featured post on your company and your campaign. You can send me an email, call, or post in the comments below to get started.

1 billion pageviews, that’s a lot

First I noticed the “1 Billion” in light green. Against the dark patterned background, the green text stands out. It’s bold. It’s nice. And “1 Billion” is enough to grab anyone’s attention. Okay, so connect with over 1 billion what, you ask? I’ll show you a bit more, but without revealing the ad in its entirety. The third line of copy says, “Pageviews.” If you know anything about site traffic (you should be studying your Google Analytics reports), you know that one billion pageviews is a lot of traffic. That doesn’t equate to visitors as each visitor could view dozens of pages. And if you are getting visitors that view dozens of pages, you’ve got potential customers, especially when it adds up to a billion pageviews. But in how long? A week, a month, a year?

1 billion pageviews a month, wow!

It’s a month. One billion pageviews a month is some seriously good traffic. Of course you have to convert at least the industry standard of 1-5% of those visitors to customers. Can it be done? Yes, if you target the right audience, but that’s another blog post or one for the Resource Center. I know, our Resource Center is lacking a few hundred articles. When I’m not busy helping clients increase their revenue, I’ll throw down a few hundred words or so and post a new article. Until then, let’s stay focused on this awesome advertisement.

Are they kidding?

And then they add “Really. No Kidding.” Absolutely brilliant. It’s so matter-of-fact. I’m still intrigued at who or what the brand is behind the scenes. But they don’t reveal the brand until the last piece of the ad is in place, hidden in the lower right-hand corner against a white background. The designer changed the contrast from white copy/dark background to dark copy/white background. Sort of nice, don’t you think? It stands out. It’s obviously designed by a professional.

Time to reveal the complete ad

So far there’s no mention of the brand. No company name. No website address, phone number, or email. You probably wouldn’t need the website, phone, and email address. After all, you just click on the ad itself and go right to the website. So what’s the brand? What’s the site? I want to know. Time to reveal the ad in its full glory.

deviantART. That’s the brand. I’ve never heard of deviantART, but I like the name. Dictionary.com defines “deviant” as “–adjective- deviating or departing from the norm; characterized by deviation: deviant social behavior” or as “-noun- a person or thing that deviates or departs markedly from the accepted norm.” Already I’m a fan. If you know me personally, or read my newsletters and other blog posts, you’ll know that I too am deviant. That’s what makes a great writer, great marketer, and just all-out great company.

Too big for a newsletter ad

You may be thinking, “this ad is huge for an email newsletter.” You’re right. I’m presenting the ad to you in full size. The size, in addition to great ad copy and ad design, helps grab your attention. I clicked on it right away. When I read email newsletters, I skim the headlines (make sure you utilize headlines in your newsletters). I skimmed over the headlines and before I could finish, the deviantART ad caught my attention.

I’m not affiliated

I’m not affiliated with deviantART in any way, but I would like to know the metrics on conversion rates for this ad. Hopefully I can get an interview with them in the near future and report back to you. That should be interesting. Make sure you subscribe to my blog using your favorite RSS reader to get the latest updates.

Tell me what you think

Like the ad or hate the ad? Does it draw your attention? Can you show me one that’s better? Post your feedback in the comments below.

The bottom line – you save money.

The article explains how you save money by outsourcing to a team that provides technical writing services. You may be thinking, “A team – that will cost a lot.” But in reality, a team of expert technical writing consultants will save you money. Consider the costs associated with hiring one in-house writer (insurance, benefits, paid leave, office space and supplies, hardware, software – the list goes on). When you outsource to a company that specializes in technical writing services, you pay for what you need, when you need it the most.

Young Copy has written thousands of pages of software technical documentation. We’ve written documentation for multiple software companies that are experts in their field. They prefer to rely on the expertise of a reliable outsourced technical writing services. Everybody wins. You can too. So take 60 seconds of your time and read the 10 Reasons to Outsource Technical Writing Services article. You’ll save money in more ways than one. And you’ll look good doing it.