Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy

by Nick Usborne

Overview

A guide to creating copy that connects with customers­­and makes the sale

Advertising and promotion professionals have long known that, while bells and whistles may grab a customer's attention, words make the sale. Yet, nearly a decade into the Web revolution, E-commerce professionals are just now waking up to the fact that the usual high-tech, graphics-heavy approach to site design is bad for business.

Net Words explores the reasons why and makes a strong case for a revolutionary new approach to copywriting tailored to the unique demands of a powerful new medium. With the help of dozens of examples of successful and unsuccessful on-line writing, author Nick Usborne shows readers how to harness the power of the written word for the Web. Readers learn how to imbue a business with a distinctive on-line "voice" and use it to forge lasting bonds with customers, increase market share, and close sales.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071415774
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	12/17/2001
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	354 KB

About the Author

Nick Usborne has written hundreds of articles on the subject of marketing and online writing. Many of these can be found by searching the archives of Clickz.com and Business 2.0. Nick is also a highly respected consultant and much-requested speaker for conferences and corporate meetings and seminars. More details are available through his site at www.nickusborne.com.

Foreword

A few days after I finished reading the manuscript of Net Words, I happened to visit the web site of one of the major airlines. "…our mission is to ensure that our customers accomplish theirs…" The company's CEO greeted me "We are committed to continually improving our brand product and focusing on customer service. Every employee has been trained to deliver our unique brand of customer service. Our Customer Service Plan is specifically designed to assist us in reaching this objective for every customer on every flight."
Boy, could they use Nick Usborne's book.

Why can't they talk like real people? (and what's a "brand of customer service" anyway)? As Nick would point out, this type of generic corporate speak is not going to work. Especially not online where your voice is the main thing that sets you apart from the crowd.

Of course, words don't live in a vacuum. I've had a couple of bad experiences with that particular airline, so when I read what the CEO had to say about their commitment to customer service, what went through my mind was: "Yeah, right". A reader's reaction to your words depends on everything from how she was greeted by your receptionist to what she heard about you from her friends.

Can good writing cover up for bad service or a lousy product? Usborne says it best: "Great copywriting cannot be used as a bandage to obscure the way that you really are." When your customers compare notes via email, chat rooms and newsgroups, you can't hide what's really going on.

But great copy can make a difference. The words that you use online are in fact a critical part of the user's experience, and Nick packs the book with examples of how to do it right. How to write online text that is funny, personal, engaging, informative. In short - how to write text that people actually want to read.

I hope that someone from that airline will read Net Words. I hope that everyone who writes online will read this book. We could all learn from it. As I read the manuscript, I found myself re-writing emails I was about to send out, and changing some text on my web site. Usborne will make you think. And he'll remind you of some basics that so many of us tend to forget when we write: be personal, keep it simple, be specific.

What I love about this book is that it's a practical guide, not a manifesto. Usborne provides his own useful advice, as well as words of wisdom from other people in the trenches. The book lists new rules along with some old ones. What do they have in common? They work and they make sense. Nick's objective is not to shock us, but to help us do a better job. In the process, he's written a terrific book that should influence the way companies communicate with their customers online.