We are pleased to present this fundfindr.tv production of one of the most engaging panels from Internet Marketing Conference Vancouver 2008.  While the panel is from a few months ago, all of the insights and tips are very valid today.  Well worth a look.  Please note, the video does run 40 minutes.

The panelists included writing experts Crawford Kilian, Elizabeth Southall, Monique Trottier, Tom McNamara and Jim DelaHunt.  For more on this panel, click here. Other tips and advice on Internet Marketing are available at the tag IMC.

One of the other panels that intrigued me and we are going to be pleased to webcast soon on fundfindr.tv was the Writing for Web panel.  The idea of being able to replay the events or see the sessions missed on an event video platform drew applause from the attendees - yay.  The overall themes were brevity, clarity and activation.  Here are some highlights:

Monique Trottier - Boxcar Marketing

1.       Don’t send stuff from info@.  Build trust and intimacy in your From line.

2.       Subject line 25-40 characters – no Free or all caps, descriptive, “tips” good.

3.       Newsletter subject line should match a heading to avoid disconnect – reflect promise.

4.       Scannability – heading, subheading, blocks, bulleted lists – to drive attention.  No big blocks of text.

5.       Avoid more on, click here, etc.  use call to action as the link, e.g. “Find out three ways to ….”

Monique’s partner in Boxcar is James Sherrett who also heads the start-up Adhack.  Loved her closing one-liner.   “Be brief, be brilliant and be gone.”

  Elizabeth Southall – Killer landing pages   Powerhouse copy

Landing pages are of course the page where visitors land when they respond.  Elizabeth covered how this is the entrance point to sales funnel.  Your goal is to to make a sale, or get email to make future sales.

Elizabeth then shared examples of the 6 elements a successful landing page must have:

1.       Headline

2.       Subhead

3.       Product shot or image

4.       Body copy

5.       Opt-in box

6.       Call to action

Tell people exactly what you want them to do, e.g.  Type your email here.  Use landing pages not just the home page for campaigns.

Jim Delahunt covered some interesting ground about writing for the cultural web - e.g. accounting for the fact that many viewers have other primary languages which he proved with a crowd show of hands.  Had a good chat with Jim and he makes a savvy point for us all to consider although I am still not sure what the basic principles of this approach are.  

Crawford Killan Writing for web 3.0

Crawford wasn’t the youngest but he was like the old shop teacher that scared hell out of you but man did you learn from him.  Not to say he was scary, or that old.  I guess he just reminded me of my old shop teacher.  Anyways….  Liked his Idea of ex-formation.  Don’t include writing that the audience already knows.  E.g. spelling out IT.

Find out where ex-formation is for your audience.  Figure out appropriate social relationship with your readers.  Write long. Cut short.  Write 150. Cut to 75.

Concise writing and display of text.  No paragraph should be over 5-6 lines long and 5-6 sentences long. Maximize hot spots.  Beginning and end of paragraph.  Not in middle.  Crawford recommended a site www.readability.info to tell you how readable your text is.