nick usborne's blog

Nice testimonial from a Web Content Café member...

Most of the testimonials I receive are pretty short. Something along the lines of “Love it! Thanks!”

So it’s nice to receive something a little more detailed and descriptive from time to time.

Thank you, Fernando Labastida, for sending in the following:

"I know Nick Usborne is an excellent web copywriter and copywriting teacher, but I was sceptical at first that a membership site with new content ideas would be worth the subscription cost, since it wasn't organized as a course.

However, what I discovered was that each and every content idea Nick had was new, fresh, and valuable. I applied several of his ideas to my own site that I maintain in Spanish (http://latinitmarketing.com). Yes, content ideas are portable between different languages!

For example, I had been writing for my audience only, forgetting about SEO. However, I found that the key words I was using did not attract the most visitors. I took Nick's idea to check Google Analytics and Wordtracker, and found that I was missing out on a big opportunity.

I wrote a few posts with the new, more popular terms (still keeping my audience in mind), and attracted so many new viewers from Google searches that I set a new record for a new post. I realized that by adding seemingly insignificant but impactful details provided by Nick to my writing I could generate a greater impact on the results I get. Thanks Nick!"

Learn more about the benefits of receiving a new web content idea daily, with Web Content Café membership...

 

 

New coaching service: 40-minute calls to help you with your website.

The core of my coaching services focuses on helping my clients build a solid and profitable freelance business. For these clients I offer one-month or three-month coaching options.

But recently, more and more people have been asking if they can pay for just a single call about creating and writing their websites.

The website could be for your freelance business, or it could be a money-making website on a topic that interests you.

Either way, if you need help in deciding on how best to structure your site, craft your main messages, write your body text, or promote you site, you can now schedule a single 40-minute call with me.

Do I know what I’m talking about when it comes to creating and writing websites? I think so. As well as helping my individual coaching clients, I have been hired to do exactly this kind of work by companies including Yahoo!, Disney, the J. Paul Getty Trust, John Deere, Novartis and many others.

The price is just $200 for the call, with a couple of follow-up emails included.

If you would like some help with your website, but don’t need a month or three months of coaching, this could be perfect for you.

If you would like to schedule a call, email me at nickusborne@gmail.com, and include the phrase “website coaching” in the subject line.

Ask your boss to pay for a year of Web Content Café Membership.

If you write web content for your employer, or a regular freelance client, ask them to cough up for a year of Web Content Café Membership.

There are now over 70 web content ideas posted in the members-only area. Each of these could inspire one or more new pages for any site you are working on. Plus you get a new content idea every day, five days a week.

How can you pitch this to your boss? Send them this short slideshow on the benefits of adding fresh content to any website on a daily basis.

(And don't forget to mention that an annual membership gives you 12 months of access for the price of 10. Nice saving.)

Learn more about the benefits of Web Content Café Membership...

6 Reasons why it makes sense to add new content to your website daily.

This brief slideshow presents the main reasons why it makes sense to add quality content pages to your website on a regular basis - preferably daily.

Learn more about the benefits of Web Content Café membership…

Lucky you. You’ll get immediate access to 49 web content ideas on the first day of your Web Content Café membership.

The people who signed up on the day I launched Web Content Café were the brave ones.

They had to take it on trust that I would deliver useful web content ideas, every morning, five days a week.

It’s a much easier choice today.

You still get a fresh idea served daily. But you also get access to the 49 ideas already there in the archive.

That’s like getting a free book of web content ideas as a gift on the day you join.

And let’s say, conservatively, that just 10 of those ideas inspire you to write a new page for your website. That’s 10 new pages which will start attracting new readers and, either directly or indirectly, begin earning you extra revenues.

Content is the lifeblood of any website, for almost every online business model. And the focus at Web Content Café is on creating quality content.

Quality content is what will differentiate your site from others. Quality content is what drives you up higher in the search result listings.

So you might ask me, “Nick, why don’t I wait until there are 100 content ideas in the archive before I sign up? Then it would be like I’m getting two free books.”

Well, you could do that.

But I think you’d do much better to start adding more new pages to your website starting today.

Quality content leads to cash. It makes no sense to wait.  

Learn more about Web Content Café member...

27 Web content ideas so far - and the next one coming at 6:45AM EST tomorrow.

At web Content Café I add a new web content idea every day, five days a week.

That means you can sit down each morning and find the inspiration to write a new page for your website.

- Some of the daily post link to tools you can use to identify page topic ideas.

- Some make suggestions as to the type of content you should be adding to your site.

- Some focus on a content best practice to apply.

- Some help you build strength in new areas, like social media, SEO, content marketing etc.

What is the value of adding a new page to your website each day? Well, you don’t need me to answer that question if any of the following apply to you:

- You want more search engine traffic coming to your site.

- You want your readers to come back to your site more often.

- You monetize your site with affiliate programs.

- You monetize your site with contextual ads like AdSense.

- You want to engage your readers until they are ready to buy.

Quality content is the lifeblood of pretty much every website. You need more pages. You need to attract new readers. You need Google to love your site. You need to engage your readers more frequently.

You know all this. But you also know it’s not always easy to keep coming up with new ideas for quality pages.

Well, that’s what Web Content Café is about.

Learn more about Web Content Café here...

Web Content Café -- 20 Great web content ideas, and rising daily.

My new Web Content Café site has been up for almost three weeks now, and as of today there are 20 web content ideas posted.

Plus, over the last week alone, 5 new content best practices articles have been added to the dozens of articles already on the site.

In other words, the site is growing daily.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can now become a member and get immediate access to all those web content ideas and articles – and get a new content idea every week day from now on.

Why sign up?

Because content pages are the lifeblood of every website.

The more quality content pages you have, the more visitors you will get from the search engines.

The more pages people find, the deeper your engagement with your readers.

And, ultimately, the more pages you have, the greater the potential for increased revenues, whatever your business model.

A couple of changes since launch day...

I have added an annual subscription option. Subscribe for a year and you’ll get 12 months for the price of 10, when compared to the monthly subscription option.

This is a great choice for anyone, and particularly for those who have their employer or a client pay the subscription. Paying just once a year just makes things simpler.

I have also added a bonus for every new subscriber. Subscribe now and you’ll get a free copy of Writing Rituals, my popular guide to increasing your writing productivity.

Combine the lessons from Writing Rituals with the daily content ideas from Web Content Café, and you’ll be adding new pages to your website in record time.

This is a must-have subscription for anyone who writes new web content pages on a regular basis.

Learn more and become of member of the Web Content Café...

It doesn't happen often, but I feel proud and excited about this.

Wow! (I very rarely say Wow).

This really is exciting. (I hardly every get very excited about stuff.)

A little over a year ago I wrote a new program, How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites. It was published by the folks at AWAI, who did a great job.

Naturally, I hoped I had written something that would help people make some extra money by writing a website on a topic that interested them.

That was the promise of the program.

Well, the thing about writing a program is that you rarely get a ton of feedback. Sure, you get a few emails. But I never expected to get to know so many people who purchased that program, or to see so many of the websites they created.

Things changed when we created a membership site for everyone who got the program, and then we started a series of webinars to help people get started and stay on track.

The outcome has been amazing.

Those of us with access to the membership site have been able to see hundreds of people working on their sites. It’s an amazing, diverse community, alive with questions, answers and encouragement.

And now we have created the first edition of a catalog, to highlight some of their work.

Take a look at the How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites catalog here.

(Best viewed in full screen mode. You can download it as a PDF as well.)

I really am excited to see people creating so many great websites.

And although such feelings don’t come naturally to me, I feel proud to have been able to provide the spark and some of the knowledge to help so many people get started.

Feels good. ; )

If you use testimonials, should you worry about the new FTC guidelines?

I received an email yesterday, with following question:

"Your son's website business and abilities seem to be just about what I need, and I very well might be taking him up on his services sometime soon.

Just wondering, though, doesn't he need to be concerned about the FCC ruling I'm hearing so much about online?  And if not, why not?"

My son’s website is called MidnightDonkey and he has some testimonials from happy customers featured in the right column of his home page.

Should he be concerned about the FTC guidelines, which come into effect tomorrow, December 1st?

I don’t think so.

From what I understand so far, the FTC is not worried about testimonials of this kind.

What they will be targeting is testimonials like any of the following:

“I lost 30lbs in 30 days!”

“I made a million dollars in 30 days!”

“I beat cancer in my sleep!”

When they are being half-way honest, companies typically take the very best results their products or services have achieved, and highlight that best result in a testimonial. What the FTC guideline requires is that these companies also declare the typical result achieved. It is no longer enough just to say that “results may vary” or something like that.

This guideline, which is a good one in so far as it will hopefully cut back on some of the more outrageous and misleading claims in advertising, is currently causing many marketers some headaches.

For instance, I sell some products of my own. I can no longer use a testimonial which talks about how someone took my course and then started making a six-figure income within six months – unless I also declare what the TYPICAL results are. The trouble is, I have no way of measuring or knowing what the typical results are. I just don’t have access to those figures. All I know is what people choose to tell me.

My situation is shared by thousands of legitimate marketers, both online and offline.

Anyway, returning to the original question – I don’t think testimonials that simply praise the quality of someone’s services are going to be a concern for the FTC.

And certainly in the short-term, the FTC will be using its resources to target the big fish who are genuinely and deliberately misleading their readers.

Some generous reviews of my book, New Path to Riches.

“In this brilliant book, Nick Usborne lays out a proven path to passive income with niche websites.  His chapter on how to make readers like you is solid gold and worth 100 times the cost of the book. You really can do this and Nick’s book is your perfect roadmap.” – Michael Stelzner

"I recommend Nick Usborne's New Path to Riches for many reasons, but - most important - I respect its realism and restraint.

For too long, the majority of books about Internet marketing have included the word "millionaire" in their title. Nick's book, however, makes no such claims.

Instead, it describes how he created a part-time, "enthusiast" site that earns him $4,000 a month in passive, or residual, income. This is a far more realistic approach that doesn't oversell prospective readers." - Roger C. Parker

"This little book is just fantastic! It has completely opened my eyes to the huge opportunity that lies in creating income-generating websites about topics I'm already passionate about.

In fact, it has enabled me to pinpoint why one of my websites has always struggled to make money. Using Nick's ideas and strategies from this book, I will soon be reworking my entire strategy and approach with that site.

If this economic downturn has taught us anything it's that depending on just one source of income (your employer) is foolish. In this book, Nick shows you how to develop a passive income stream that will help you diversify how you earn a living, giving you more freedom, choices and peace of mind." - Ed Gandia

"A lot of people talk about making money on the web, but only a relatively small number actually do it, and Nick is one of them. A lot of people publish their writings online, but only a small percentage of them actually make a profit from it, and Nick is one of them. In this book, he reveals a specific and proven model for making money on the web with your writing. It is different than the method I use and teach, and it works. Get the book, read it, learn it, do it." - Bob Bly

More about New Path to Riches...