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The Right Words Can Make You Wealthy

by: Hermas Haynes

Imagine you're in a darkened movie theatre watching a suspense thriller, and the scene you are engrossed in shows a beautiful woman walking alone on a dimly lit, shadowy street. The only sound is the rhythmic noise of her shoes against the pavement.

The camera moves in for a closeup of her feet, revealing black fishnet stockings that disappear into stylish, expensive, red shoes. Then, slowly, the camera zooms out, retreating along the street from where she just came. The sound of her footsteps fades as she recedes into the distance.

A scrap of paper comes into view, tumbling over itself. It continues its lazy somersault through the air encouraged by a gentle breeze, then slides along the street until it is abruptly halted, trapped between the pavement and a man's muddy boot. Immediately you realize the woman is being stalked.

Suddenly, from the back of the theatre a loud, authoritative voice shouts: "Fire! Get out!"

What would you do? Would you shrug your shoulders and wait for the movie scene to play out, or would you respond to your survival instinct and get out of there as fast as you could?

The answer is obvious. Those three little words would move you to vacate the theatre immediately because they connected with your natural impulse to avoid danger.

That's the kind of response great copywriting evokes. It uses the right words to reach the audience on an emotional level, then gets them to behave according to the wishes of the writer.

Copywriting is as much technique as it is art, and is perhaps the single most important contributor to a profitable online business.

It is what separates your Web site's promotional copy from the competition's.

It is the riveting subject line that gets your e-mail opened and read.

It is the classified and banner advertisement that people click.

It is the clever business slogan or tag line that everyone associates with you.

Words are powerful tools and can be arranged to impact the reader however you wish. They can be forceful, compelling, subtle, persuasive, instructive or hypnotic. They can lead your reader to a buying decision or turn them away.

When developing promotional copy for your Web site, it helps to include snappy action words, paint pictures, create images and tell stories. Explain how easily your product can solve a user's problem, or save time, or make the job easier. Highlight your product's benefits.

Any writing style can work. Your approach can be serious, funny, whimsical or introspective. And you don't have to be bashful about showing aspects of your personality in your writing. That could help your readers relate to you.

Also, it is always important to write with your reader in mind. Let the nature of your product and the audience you are targeting, guide you on which writing style to use.

If, for example, you were promoting a software application designed to help highly educated college professors manage the dissertations of their doctorate candidates, you could probably elevate your writing style and language to match their academic and intellectual level.

They may find it a turn-on and be more receptive to your message.

On the other hand, if you were trying to interest teenagers in your latest interactive game, your copywriting style should be much more relaxed, informal, and sprinkled with the vocabulary and expressions gamesters use.

Words form the basis of our communication and the way we use them never fails to leave an impression on the reader or listener. That places copywriting high on the list of effective marketing tools currently available.

In today's bustling Internet marketplace, amidst a world of imitators and look-alikes, all it takes for you and your business to stand out in the alphabetic soup of marketing methods, is a little imagination, courage and the right words. With them, you could literally write your way to wealth.

This article is free for republishing

Hermas Haynes is an Internet marketer and Webmaster. He offers an informative and compelling blueprint on how to create and manage your own profitable online business in six simple steps. You can download a free preview at: http://SixFigureProfits.net.

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More Article Pages 1 - 2

Creative Writing Tips - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
by: Nick Vernon

In the beginning of your story you have to grab your readers� interest and sustain it till the end. Our hook is our character. Readers keep on reading to find out more about the character. To see what he�ll do in the story; how he�ll solve his problems. What his goals are and whether he�ll achieve them.

And because our character is the reason readers become hooked on our stories, establishing him at the start is a must in a short story. And it is essential to establish him at the start because we don�t have the capacity in our limited word length to introduce him at our leisure.

The bond between readers and character has to be developed almost immediately.

You might have a few characters though. How do you decide who your main character will be? A main character is one that drives the story.

Think of it this way� If we were to take him away, there will be no story because it�s his story we are telling. The story will unfold by what is happening or what has happened to him.

When you establish who your main character will be, the next thing to do is to find which of your characters is in the best position to tell the story. Will your main character tell his story or will you give that role to another character?

This is what we call Viewpoint and what we�ll see in more detail in proceeding chapters.

Your main character isn�t necessarily the one who is telling the story; he might not even appear in our story �physically� but will be there through the thoughts of others. So the viewpoint character might be a secondary character.

Whoever is telling the story is the viewpoint character.

The viewpoint character gives the coloring of the story. Whatever this characters says, we will believe. It may or may not be true, according to the main character, but because he isn�t there �physically� to voice his opinions, we will have to take the viewpoint character�s word for it.

In a novel you can play around with viewpoint. You can have several viewpoint characters. In a short story it works best with one.

So your main character, whether he�ll be telling his own story or someone else will be doing it for him, has to be established at the start of your story.

Having said that, let�s see the reasons why the main character may not be telling his own story...

Perhaps our main character is one that readers won�t sympathize or empathize with.
Or the main character will not view highly with our readers
Or the viewpoint character knows all the facts and can tell the story better
Etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me give you an example of a secondary character telling the story of a main character�

Let�s say your secondary character is a psychiatrist and the main character is the patient. Depending on what�s going to go on in the story, we�ll have to choose who�s in a better position to tell it. In this case, I will choose the psychiatrist.

I�ve done this because the patient is confused, being the one with the problems. The psychiatrist knows all the facts and his opinions will make things clearer to readers.

So, as the secondary character (the psychiatrist) unravels the story, we�ll become involved in the main character because it�s the main character�s story that is been told.

This may get a little confusing to the beginner writer. As they write they will have to keep in mind that the secondary character, although he�s telling the story, is NOT our main character.

The secondary character is there to do perform a task. He�s only the voice. It�s the main character we�ll become involved with.

A secondary character doesn�t play such an important role as a main character does. Therefore, information about secondary characters should be kept to a minimum. It�s not his story � it�s the main character�s story and the spotlight must, most times, be kept on the main character.

Take the above example for instance. It�s no relevance to the story how the psychiatrist started his career or where he received his diploma � what�s important, is what he has to say about the main character, his patient.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Introduce your main character straight away, as close to the beginning of the story that�s possible. Enable your readers to form a bond and that will keep them hooked.

Is your main character established at the start of your story?

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