Copywriting Watch Blog

What's KFC Fishin' For?

Why is KFC selling fish?

I'm sure this isn't because of a bird-flu thing. Right?

Technorati Tags: KFC, Avian Flu

Free Report on Link Love

Brian Clark at Copyblogger is offering a free 30-page report, Viral Copy:Trading Words for Traffic. Great stuff!

In it, you'll find spot-on accurate tips on getting link love. It's not some dry report either. Great quotes and plenty of chuckles with Brian's style of writing.

There is a catch, however. After you read it, Brian asks that you bookmark this page at del.icio.us. What to do after reading the report? Rinse. Repeat.

Technorati Tags: Copyblogger, Viral Copy, Link Love, Publicity

Career Intensity on Fire

David Lorenzo is offering free advanced reading copies of his book, Career Intensity. They're going fast.

We'll be offering copies to hose who register for our Iowa Business Blog Workshop (only 15 copies/seats left), but Dave is also offering free copies from his site.

I've had the privilege of reading the book, and have shared Dave's insight with others. Some of my favorites:

• Chapter 1 - Three Lies of Career Limitation. Learn how to blow the roof of your career ceiling. See page 24
• Chapter 2 - "Act As if.." has been a mantra of mine for a long time. As an employee, a manager, and a developer of communities. See page 37.
• Chapter 3 - Plan for Contingencies - Now I know what the "C" is in Plan C.
• Did you folks know I used to drive a cab? Yep (Loved it!). The story on Page 86 was how I operated. Wait until you read that story!
• Chapter 6 - Mastering the Random Encounter. Nobody will ever be a stranger again.
• Chapter 8 - Generate Buzz. The author practices what he teaches.

A cross section of the Zig Ziglar's love for life and Tom Peter's lust for life.

Seth Godin got it right on the cover when he said, "The first chapter of this book might just be the most important thing your read this year."

If you're not coming to the workshop - better get your copy. It won't be on the shelves until May.

Technorati Tags: Career Intensity, David Lorenzo, Seth Godin, Blog Workshop, Workplace, Entreprenuership

Plans this Weekend? Change This

Update II (weeks later): The Change This manifestoes now available.

Update I: I may have spoke too soon - the downloads aren't working yet. Watch for another update when they are.

My "To-Do" list just changed for this weekend, thanks to the Change This team. Just noticed four new manifestoes, including one (hundred, eleven!) by Tom Peters.

Here's the lineup:

• The Care and Feeding of Your Network by Bob Allard
• Thinking Through Problem Solving by Valarie A. Washington
• True Team Building: More than a Recreational Retreat by Kevin Eikenberry
• 111 Ridiculously Obvious Thoughts on Selling by Tom Peters

Find out more about the Change This business model (if you can find one), or submit your own manifesto. Or vote on proposals in the queue.

Related: Start 2006 Inspired: Change This

Technorati Tags: Change This, Tom Peters, Problem Solving, Team Building, Networking, Sales

Four Hire! Falling Short

I love the idea of Four Hire!, a Young Professionals Connection (YPC) contest that pits 12 college students in The Apprentice-like battle for one of four positions at Principal Financial, Allied Insurance, Wells Fargo, or The Des Moines Register.

But why is this potentially great idea falling short of its promise? Lack of communication.

Why no RSS feed available on the Four Hire! site? Why aren't the candidates blogging about the experience? Residents and readers of Des Moines are NOT asking, "What is RSS?" What's the hold up?

The Register offers feeds and blogs. The Juice, which has close ties to many YPCers, has a single post about the contest. Where is the buzz? Where are the feeds? Where is the leadership?

Maybe next year. Maybe AvoidTheRush will implement feeds before the rush.

Technorati Tags: Four Hire!, Des Moines, Principal Financial, Allied Insurance, Wells Fargo, Des Moines Register, YPC, Des Moines, Iowa

Laura Delaney - Volunteer Extraordinaire

Congratulations to Laura Delaney, for being named American Lung Association (LungUSA.org) Volunteer of the Week.

Last year, Laura was honored with the ALA of Iowa's Opal Fagle Award, the Association's highest honor for outstanding volunteer service. She was also the 2005 CampSuperkids Camp Director and is on the Board of Directors for the Des Moines YMCA.

If you're up for 41 flights of fun, join the 801 Grand Power Climb on Sunday (Feb. 26). Here's more info:

The 801 Grand Power Climb is a 630-foot ascent to the top of Iowa's tallest building. Challenge yourself to a vertical race up 41 flights of stairs to the summit of the capital city. Climbers take off in 15-second intervals, creating staggered starts beginning at 8 a.m. 801 Grand Power Climb is a "ChampionChip" timed event. Water stations are provided in the concourse area and throughout the stairwells.

Technorati Tags: American Lung Assocation, Iowa, Asthma, Volunteer

4 Steps To Better Online Sales

Dan Tudor at Landing the Deal points to a survey by Experience, Inc., a career service for students and alumni.

Most telling stat: "52% of respondents said they have purchased a product or service based on an online advertisement."

Ealier this year, DoubleClick's Touchpoints III (pdf) found that 10% of respondents find a product/service for the first time through online searching.

Thinking back to last year's DoubleClick survey (pdf), that showed that 54% of respondents do research online up to two weeks in advance of purchase.

1. Be Findable.
2. Present Your Offer.
3. Make Purchase Easy.
4. Promote in Advance.

An example? I've changed the button for the Iowa Business Blog Workshop. The workshop is already findable. The previous button just had "Click to Register" and I didn't have the offer for David Lorenzo's book up.

Be Findable. Present the Offer. Make Purchase Easy. Promote in Advance.

Related: Alert Box - The Slow Tail:Time Lag Between Visiting and Buying

Technorati Tags: Online Sales, Iowa, Blog Workshop, Career Intensity

FeedBurner Question at Converstations

I've posed a question/suggestion regarding FeedBurner feeds over at Converstations. If your using FeedBurner, I'd value your thoughts and feedback.

Pizza(zz) in Your Headline

Scheduled to meet with my friend Mark True tonight, he sent an email today with a mouth-watering headline. And he sent it during lunch hour.

Pizza?

The word alone draws a picture, the sender is proof & promise enough for me, closes with a killer offer. Count me in!

Mark is THE Brand Warrior at REL Productions.

Flickr photo by Abdul R

Iowa ABI Extending Borders

The Des Moines Register is reporting that The Iowa Association of Business and Industry is gearing up for their annual convention, This year, it's in Nebraska.

Attendees will be meeting, eating, or sleeping in a Nebraska hotel, and they'll have the opportunity to play golf at a sponsored event in South Dakota.

ABI says its organization has been the voice of Iowa Business since 1903. Here's their Mission Statement (emphasis mine).

"To foster a favorable business, economic, governmental and social climate within the State of Iowa so that our citizens have the opportunity to enjoy the highest possible quality of life."

The theme of this year's event is an apology - "No Boundaries, No Borders, No Limits." Talk about going on the defensive out of the shoot. That's spin speak. I'm not buying!

I understand Sioux City is a regional business center. Quad Cities and Omaha/Council Bluffs too. But at least hold the meeting in a hotel in Iowa.

Right now, Chuck Watson at University Gear is probably shaking his head. He's tried to get a few business groups going in Council Bluffs, always to be directed to Omaha by City and Chamber officials.

Two Iowa Gubernatorial candidates will be speaking at the event. Nice. "Good morning fellow Iowans and welcome to Nebraska."

Time to tweak the mission statement, ABI.

Hat Tip to The Happy Circumstance

Technorati Tags: ABI, Iowa