Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy [Paperback]

Nick Usborne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 2002

A guide to creating copy that connects with customers­­and makes the sale

Advertising and promotion professionals have long known that, while bells and whistles may grab a customer's attention, words make the sale. Yet, nearly a decade into the Web revolution, E-commerce professionals are just now waking up to the fact that the usual high-tech, graphics-heavy approach to site design is bad for business.

Net Words explores the reasons why and makes a strong case for a revolutionary new approach to copywriting tailored to the unique demands of a powerful new medium. With the help of dozens of examples of successful and unsuccessful on-line writing, author Nick Usborne shows readers how to harness the power of the written word for the Web. Readers learn how to imbue a business with a distinctive on-line "voice" and use it to forge lasting bonds with customers, increase market share, and close sales.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Bells and whistles may grab a customer's attention, but words make the sale

"The ancients rightly distrusted rhetoric that made 'the worse argument appear the better'­­an underhanded trick that business has often been guilty of. But rhetoric is also the craft of clear and persuasive communication, which online business needs desperately today. Nick Usborne's insight into this craft fills a surprising gap in the online marketing toolbox."­­Christopher Locke, author of Gonzo Marketing: Winning Through Worst

Practices, and co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto.

"The best book I've seen on writing for the Web."­­Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today

"Nick Usborne, shows us how to write powerful and compelling copy that fully leverages the communications power of the Net. Nick knows the Internet ­­and Nick knows copy."

­­John Audette Founder & Publisher, The Adventive Knowledge Exchange

In Net Words, emarketing guru Nick Usborne introduces you to a revolutionary copy-centered approach to online marketing. He explains what works and what doesn't and shows you how to create copy for websites, enewsletters, and email campaigns guaranteed to:

• attract customers and hold their attention
• differentiate your business from its competitors online
• dramatically increase sales from your site
• build customer loyalty
• breathe new life into your customer services

Net Words offers corporate decision makers an inexpensive, proven, low-tech cure for their ecommerce blues. It is also a how-to guide for copywriters thinking about taking the leap into online marketing, as well as for Web professionals who want to increase their sites' usability and appeal.

About the Author

Nick Usborne has written hundreds of articles on the subject of marketing and online writing. Many of these can be found by searching the archives of Clickz.com and Business 2.0. Nick is also a highly respected consultant and much-requested speaker for conferences and corporate meetings and seminars. More details are available through his site at www.nickusborne.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071380396
• ISBN-13: 978-0071380393
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nick Usborne has been writing for a living for over thirty years, the last ten of which he has devoted to writing for the Web. He is the author of the book Net Words, 2001, which he wrote to help writers and copywriters better understand the different approach required when writing content and sales pages online.

More recently he has been focusing his attention on helped not just professional writers, but anyone who enjoys writing. His most recent work focuses on helping anyone with a web browser to become an online writer.

More information is available through his site at nickusborne.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good for sales and promotion, bad for education, September 3, 2004

By 

Sym Wong A. Ton "Landscape Photographer" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy (Paperback)

If you are looking for a book that teaches you how to write web copy, this isn't it. After going through many of the author's articles on the web, I was expecting more from this book.

The author starts out promoting copywriters and how important writing good copy is. He constantly keeps repeating this point in several chapters. After reading the first few chapters you might tell yourself: "Hey, I do not need convincing that my website needs good copy! Get on already with telling me how I can go about writing good copy!" However, this never occurs. The author does give some examples of good vs. bad copy, but never gets to the point of telling you what route to take to better your own copy. There is no concise guidance in this book.

"Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy" consists of pieces of information put together to form chapters without following a clear line. The focus lies too heavily on explaining the problems copywriters encounter while trying to do their job, rather than on teaching the reader how to write online copy. For example, the author writes about how copywriters do not have enough freedom to properly do their job, how they are not held in high regard by content managers, and how they need support and respect of the development team and managers to succeed. This book doesn't teach you how to write good online copy like its title pretends it will, but rather tells you what you can do to make the life of copywriters in your company easier so that they can produce their best work and consequently improve your website and marketing strategy.

So if you have a website and need convincing that writing good online text is important, and if you have the money to hire a professional copywriter, then buy this book. Otherwise, save your money and read the articles on the author's website; they are much more informative and educational.

52 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not much of value, January 6, 2003

By 

Susanna Hutcheson "Copywriting for the Discri... (Midwest U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy (Paperback)

This is more of a survey of copywriter's woes and the general state of online copywriting for Web sites and newsletters and for email. Not much meat and not much that can be of any real value to anyone short of those with very limited experience on the net.

If you're an experienced copywriter or someone who knows their way around, don't waste your money on this book.

I found it amusing how Usborne said that hyperlinks on the web page distract the visitor and should not be used while the author of Persuasive Online Copywriting by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg, Lisa T. Davis is all for it.

In fact, there are no hard and fast rules and we copywriters are not at all sure which way works. My personal belief is that each site is different and that hyperlinks can and do work if you write your scan words just right. But neither book addresses this issue.

A novice would be, I think, better served by reading Bob Bly.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Place to Start for Those New to Writting Online Copy, April 18, 2005

By 

Eric Graham "The Conversion Doctor" (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy (Paperback)

For non-copywriters, Nick Usborne provides a great foundation for understanding the fundamental differences between writing offline copy and writing for the web.

As an experienced online copywriter, I didn't learn anything new or groundbreaking. However for those transitioning from offline copywriting to the online environment, or for those who are simply looking for a set of guidelines to help evaluate the abilities and understanding of copywriters that they are considering hiring for an online project, Net Words is effective and easy to read.

Nick does provide a great overview of how the history and evolution of the net as a communication medium has influenced the most effective ways to write online copy.

The book also addresses the need for developing a consistent, customer focused voice across all channels of online communications, from your web copy to your emails. This is a critical point to understand, as most of the copy I find online, is far too distant and company focused (what Nick calls "Corporate Speak".)

If the only thing you take away from this book is the need to write copy in a more customer focused manner, you will have received your moneys worth.

All-in-all, even though it was not as in-depth as I would have liked, I found the book well worth the time I invested in reading it.