I started attempting to make money online sometime around 1995-’96. I was 13 or 14. I didn’t make a dime until I was 17. I did it by taking my hobby (magic tricks), writing a short report teaching some of my favorites, using free software to turn it into a .pdf file, and selling it from my website.

Most of the tools I used back then are either no longer available… or I simply wouldn’t use them now. Here are the tools I would use to recreate that business…

Create A .PDF file: PDF files are the standard format when selling information. It’s getting easier and easier to create .pdf’s these days. Many programs can do it, but I use the Open Office Writer that is a free program similar to Microsoft Word. You simply write the report like you would write any paper, then click a button to quickly convert it to a .pdf file.

Domain Name: Your website will need a domain name. You can purchase one from either GoDaddy or Namecheap. I use them both and have had no problems.

Web Host: You’ll need a place to “point” your domain name to. That place is a “web host” where your web page files are stored. For this, I use MeWebHost. They have some extremely affordable options and great customer service, 24 hours a day.

Accept Credit Card Payments I’ve used Paypal to accept credit card payments for close to 8 years. There have been a couple problems during that time, but for the most part they’re the best way to get started accepting credit cards online. (And it’s free.)

Of course there’s more to it than just these 4 resources. You’ll need to actually write the report, create an advertisement for it, and start sending traffic to your advertisement. But we’ll get to that soon.

In the meantime, remember to bookmark this blog or subscribe to the RSS/email announcement lists.

I decided Stephensblog.com wasn’t the best domain for my business. My name (Stephen) is kind of hard to spell. Many people spell it wrong. And it’s spelled differently than it sounds.

Ideally I’d move to StephenDean.com, but that domain is not available and likely not for sale. Apparently there’s a French artist with the same name as me who got it first. (I have emailed about it, but never got a response.)

So what to do…

CopywritingDean.com makes a lot of sense to me.

* It does have my last name in it “Dean.”
* It contains the keyword I’m targeting most.
* It kind of has a double meaning. Copywriting Dean, or Dean of Copywriting. You know?!
* And it better explains my site.

This site currently gets a lot of search engine traffic, and I don’t want to leave it all behind. So I’m going to keep it up for a while and see what I can do with the traffic.

Hopefully I’ll be able to build up links to http://www.copywritingdean.com quickly. If you already have me in your blogroll, I’d really appreciate it if you changed the URL to copywritingdean.com.

If you don’t have me in your blogroll, I’d really appreciate it if you added me

Again, thanks for reading everyone.

The other day I got to talk to Robert Plank on Skype about how I optimize my blog for profit. We talked for 30 minutes and had such a great conversation about blogging… that many times I forgot that Robert was recording the call!

We shared our favorite strategies, favorite plugins, our favorite marketers, and more. I came at it from a copywriter’s perspective, which is something you probably haven’t seen before. (So let me know what you think)

In the future, only people who join my email list will get access to this interview. And while I hope you have signed up to receive announcements, I am going to let you access the recording today with no restrictions.

Here it is: http://www.stephensblog.com/robertplank

Hope you enjoy it, and don’t forget to check out Robert Plank’s blog. He set a goal to make $30,000.00 for the month of February and he’s almost there. I’m sure he’ll let you know if he makes it at the blog.

PS In the video I talk about using testing, multivariate testing and some plugins. A while back I made a video showing how to do all of these things. I’m going to do a 24 hour special for the video tomorrow; it’ll be for $15.

But as a thank you for reading this entry, you can get it now for $10 through the Paypal button below.

The 4 point plan was to exchange links with me, comment on my posts, link from a post of yours to mine and to follow me on Twitter.

Many of you did these things and I greatly appreciate it. I’m also glad to see you’re being proactive.

But I am disappointed with 2 things.

One, no one has exchanged links with me. I know, cry me a river. But I’m really trying to make this Wordpress Link Directory work. My next post will be on how to set it up on your blog just in case you’re unsure how to do it. And then hopefully you’ll exchange links.

Two, some of the comments that have appeared since I invited you to comment for SEO reasons have been, I guess predictably, skeptical. There were a couple that forced me to make a decision on whether or not they were spam or legitimate comments by a reader.

I want people to get some link love back to their sites, but I also want comments that constructively add to the conversation.

So here’s what we’re going to do.

I’ve changed the “DoFollow” plugin I’m using. It’s now Lucia’s Linky Love and it only changes your links from “nofollow” to “dofollow” after you’ve made 5 comments. This will protect the blog from drive by commenters.

At some point, I may raise the barrier to 10 comments before you receive link love from me. But for now it’s 5.

Now I don’t want you to leave a bunch of “junk” comments in order to hit the 5 comment barrier. So if you don’t have 5 comments yet, don’t worry! You can still get some link love from me by exchanging links in the link directory It’s here: http://www.stephensblog.com/dir

And if you want to start boosting your comment count now, why not let me know what you think about this policy? Leave a comment

And if you haven’t signed up on Twitter, I recommend it. It’s a great way to make friends, keep in touch with your visitors/readers/customers, and drive traffic to your site. In some ways, it’s almost like a free list management system.

Some people have a hard time understanding why anyone would use Twitter. So I wrote a blog entry explaining why I use Twitter.

Other people aren’t sure HOW to use Twitter. So this article explains how, at least I, use Twitter and what you can expect to see when you follow me.

Here’s what you’ll get when following @StephenPDean.

1. You’re going to meet my friends. Assuming social media is a “big party”, I @reply to my friends on Twitter most every day. Hopefully you’ll get something from our conversations. And I hope you’ll check out my friends’ profiles and maybe follow them as well.

Because you know what? If you @reply to people everyday, others will check out YOUR profile and follow you. It’s part of being at a party. You mingle and look for the conversation that interests you, then join it!

2. You’re going to discover what type of music I like. LOL! Everyone is different and you should take advantage of your personality while building relationships. So for me and twitter, you’re going to hear what music I like.

I use blip.fm to find songs that I then listen to while working. Every time I find a new song and “blip” it, my Twitter account is updated to let you know. I listen to a wide range of music, but most of them are pretty easy going (or else I couldn’t work to them).

You’ll find out soon if we have similar tastes. Hopefully you’ll listen to a few songs with me. And if not, at least you got to know me more.

3. You’re going to get free copywriting advice. I’m a copywriter and constantly browsing for more tips, tricks and tactics for improving my craft. When I find something good, you’re going to see it in my Twitter feed.

4. You’re going to know when I make a new blog post or release a product. Not always, but most every time I publish a new blog post here, I send out a message on Twitter letting you know. I do the same when I release a product. Many of my Twitter followers automatically jump over and check out what’s new… and I hope you will too!

Again, you can follow me on Twitter here: @StephenPDean

And if you’d like to share how you use Twitter with your business, please leave a comment!

Justin Brooke just wrote a great blog post called “The Formula For Failure.” It shares several failure secrets. Check it out!

He just got a new golden retriever puppy. Talk about cute.

Growing up our golden retriever once had 13 puppies that we got to watch grow up. Watching them walk out of the dog house one by one, single file and line up in front of the fence was an AMAZING experience.

Speaking of amazing experiences, have you ever had to potty train a puppy? Oh boy, that’s what my brother is dealing with now.

The last time I was visiting he told me he searched Google for how to potty train a dog. And he was having trouble finding an answer.

He did find one page and this is how he described it…

“I was reading it and it kept talking about all this stuff I didn’t care about. Then they were trying to sell me a bunch of different products and all I wanted was some tips to potty train my dog.”

I knew right away that he had found a sales letter. And one that did NOT work.

I decided to trace his steps so I could learn from the process.

* He searched Google for “how to potty train my dog.”

* He clicked on a sponsored link that is ABOVE the search listings, without knowing it was an ad.

* He read or skimmed most of the copy… even though that meant clicking through 3 different pages… and even though he didn’t understand why they were telling him all this unnecessary information. (It lacked a clear logical argument that mattered to him.)

* He saw a ton of bonuses (which were unnecessary) and thought they were trying to sell several products, when all he wanted were some tips to potty train his dog.

* The order link was finally on the third page, but with no call to action.

* He didn’t buy.

I have no clue why the site owner made the prospect click through 3 pages. Sometimes I’ve seen this done strategically with good results, but this was done very poorly and hid the solution my brother was looking for.

Lesson #1: Keep your sales copy on one page unless you have a good reason.

Lesson #2: Make sure to craft a strong logical argument in the copy that FLOWS from the conversation going on inside the prospects head… and not a logical argument that flows from the copy formula you saw someone else use once for a product in a completely different niche.

Lesson #3: You don’t need to have 10,000 bonuses ever. And you don’t need to have a half-dozen bonuses when your prospect is trying to solve one specific problem. You’re just confusing the prospect.

Lesson #4: Your copy can’t just give a couple compelling arguments for why they should buy, then drop them off at an order link. Finish the job. Build up the value of the product. Explain why they’re getting a good deal IF they act now. Then tell them how to act (usually clicking an order button).

1. Exchange links with me.

A while back I told you that I set up a link directory using “Wordpress Link Directory.” There was a problem with the plugin, but I found a way to fix it (leave a comment if you want me to send the solution).

In any case, it’s WORKING NOW. So why haven’t you added a link to your blog from mine? It’s a free backlink that will deliver clicks AND increase your search engine rankings.

To get to the link directory, click “Recommended Links” at the top right corner of this blog.

And it doesn’t matter what topic your blog is. I have a category for “Other,” so feel free to put any website you like there. (Within reason, you can imagine the sites I will not approve.)

2. Leave A Comment

Want to know another way to get a link from me? Leave a comment.

I DO-FOLLOW on this blog, so when you leave a comment and include your URL, it WILL count for search engine rank. You may also get clicks from my blog to yours.

Also, I use a plugin called “CommentLuv” that will ALSO create a link to your last blog post.

That’s 2 links to add to your incoming links total and 2 opportunities to get clicks.

3. Link To A Blog Post Of Mine, From A Blog Post Of Yours

When you link to one of my blog posts from a post on your blog, it’ll show up as a “trackback” on my blog. Essentially, it’s another link from my blog to yours that again appears in the “Comments” section.

And, once again, because I do follow it’s another chance to improve your search engine rankings AND get a few clicks from my blog visitors.

So if I write a post that you like, respond with a post on your blog and link to mine. Bang! We both benefit.

4. Follow Me On Twitter And @StephenPDean Me

To the right, in the sidebar under “Socialize” you’ll find me on Twitter. Follow me!

(If you haven’t signed up for Twitter, it’s fun. Try it. And download Tweet Deck to manage who you follow.)

Then when you follow me, respond to my tweets. Start a tweet with @StephenPDean and I’ll be sure to see it and respond.

When I respond, everyone who follows me (around 640 people now) will see your twitter name and might click over to see who you are.

They might click the link that you listed in your twitter profile to check out your site. Or even better, they might follow you. Then you can post to twitter about new blog posts, and many of your followers will click over to get to your blog.

This method is an increasing source of traffic for this blog. Try it!

How much time would these 4 steps take? Not very long. Why not try all 4 methods this weekend?

What does everyone think? Please leave a comment.

Title: Message To New Copywriters
By: Stephen Dean

If you’re a new copywriter, this is my message to you.

Hi. I used to be where you were at. I started writing copy for others 5 years ago. At the time, I had just enough copywriting know-how to pass myself off as a copywriter.

Because my copy skills were very young, I barely charged anything. Only $97 for my first few sales letters. Then $197. Then $297.

(That pattern is important, but I’ll get back to that.)

At that rate, my clients were essentially hiring me for manual labor. This was good because I knew I wasn’t ripping anyone off. I didn’t want to claim to be the best copywriter in the world and charge thousands…

…when I was still learning the trade.

At the time, I was pretty much the only copywriter working for so cheap.

HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

Now everyone seems to be starting a copywriting career.

While people were shocked to see me offering copy services for so cheap, it’s now commonplace to see people writing sales copy for $197.

And actually, now that the economy is worse… these same copywriters are DROPPING their prices. I’ve seen offers for writing copy for $50!

Listen. As a copywriter you should know better than to compete on price. “Cheap” is not a benefit of strong sales copy. More sales is the benefit!

Instead of positioning yourself as a “cheap copywriter,” use your copywriting brain to come up with a unique angle that doesn’t COST YOU MONEY. An angle you can CHARGE FOR!

If you pick a niche, you can charge more than the guy who brands himself “the cheap copywriter.”

If you offer more bells and whistles than just the sales copy (emails? graphic design?), you can charge more than the guy who brands himself “the cheap copywriter.”

If you come up with a strong guarantee, you can charge more than the guy who brands himself “the cheap copywriter.”

DO pick a unique angle, but don’t try to sell your services based on price. It’s bad from a sales perspective and it’s bad business in the long run.

On the other hand, if you want to start at $50, go ahead. Maybe you’re working at manual labor prices… but you need to consistently raise your rates!

When I first started, I often DOUBLED my prices from one month to the next.

In fact, I once double my rate from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 without any drop off in work!

Sure, start small and charge less. But treat your clientelle well, stay in touch with them after you finish, and keep raising your rates.

Continue to IMPROVE your skills by reading classic copywriting books like “Tested Advertising Methods” and “How To Write A Good Advertisement.”

Read my blog (http://www.stephensblog.com)

Read Michel Fortin’s blog (http://www.michelfortin.com)

Read Clayton Makepeace’s blog (http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com)

Whatever you do, don’t keep the same price from one year to the next. It’s like running on a hampster’s wheel. And you’re better than that.