Bullets are important to good sales copy. Bullets break up your copy into short, readable bursts. People tend to scan copy before they read it. Breaking your benefits into bullets increases the chances your copy will "catch the eye" and thus get read.

Do you need specific answers to your questions about copywriting and marketing? One way to get those answers is to join my Quantum Leap coaching program, where I will answer unlimited emails from you (you get my "Ultra Secret Email" address). However, that program is closed right now (it's at full capacity). Another option…

I'm at Armand Morin's Big Seminar in Atlanta, and I just enjoyed a very special moment as I watched Dr. Andrew Jones (my friend, client, and student) win $25,000 in the AM2.0 “Better your Best Contest”. Not only did he win the cash, he also got a brand new laptop computer.

Let's assume you're writing your own copy (maybe you can't afford to hire a professional, or you just love writing copy for your own products). One of your first tasks as a copywriter is to break down the skepticism that your prospects (readers, site visitors, subscribers) are feeling, and get them to believe you – even just a little bit.

It's one of the most common mistakes in all forms of selling – not asking for the sale. Hard to believe? Maybe. But it's true anyway; people just don't want to ask for the order.

Have you ever read a website and it just seemed to "stiff" or "formal" to you? Or you felt like they were talking over your head, using a lot of buzzwords and lingo you didn't undertsand?

"Wimpy copywriters have skinny kids." That's what my good friend Michel Fortin (a great copywriter) says, and he's paraphrasing the great sales trainer Zig Ziglar (the original quote was "Wimpy salespeople have skinny kids.").

Here's what I have in common with Papa Hemingway: I love words, and I'm a writer. When it comes to writing ads (and when I say ads, I mean everything from web pages to emails to postcards!), it's hard to find better advice than Ernest Hemingway's Four Rules of Writing.

Here's one very effective use of video to sell online. The bar has been raised.

I hear from so many people who feel overwhelmed by the complexity of starting an online business. There are only a few simple things you need to get started making money with your own internet-based business.

Tom Peters: “I am unalterably opposed to ‘kid leashes', and especially when the situation is as I described it. “

Many people say email marketing is dead. It's easy to agree with this idea. Spam and the spam filters it has given rise to make it harder than ever to get your email delivered. It's even hard to receive email we want. How many times have you been frustrated because a friend, co-worker, or relative was supposed to send you an email that never arrived… only to discover that email in your “junk mail” or “spam” folder?

If you're just starting your library of copywriting books, there are four books that I recommend to get you rolling. Each of them is relatively short. The first two are easy reads and the second two are a little bit more difficult for modern readers to get through, but they are worth the effort. Here are my four recommended copywriting books:

Ryan Healy tagged me with this meme: “5 Reasons Why I Blog”. I read Ryan's blog on a regular basis, and I appreciate him including me in the fun.

I have to be honest. I don't believe in “writer's block”. You shouldn't either. I think it's a myth. Worse, I think it's an excuse for just not doing your job. I’m not saying that it isn’t sometimes difficult to sit down and start writing. It often is difficult, for one reason or another.

There are a number of products available that offer copwyriting “templates” (which most take to mean “fill in the blanks”). Do these templates work? And are they a cost-effective alternative to hiring a copywriter (or becoming a better one)?