My eldest cherub and I — and 50 of her closest friends from Musical Comedy class, plus 1 teacher and a few other parents — are hopping an early bus to NYC to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway tomorrow. I never miss a chance to head “home”, even if it means chaperoning a tonnage of teens on a frosty Saturday am.

In light of my big Broadway plans, here’s a little of flotsam and jetsam I’ve received personally in my very virtual and physical mailboxes. Enjoy!

Item #1: From Direct, November issue

A Bill Me Later/Ipsos Insight survey found that more than 12 million Americans admitted to shopping online while on work-related conference calls. Not just on scheduled and shall we say, non-scheduled breaks. Nope, during those dull-as-dishwater conference calls that go on forever. (My husband usually just texts me when he’s bored in a meeting. Maybe I should be encouraging him to shop more because I think he may be lagging woefully behind the curve. According to the same survey, more men secret-shop than women.)

Item #2: SearchEngineGuide.com

What Every Search Engine Optimization Company Should Know About Keyphrase Choice is an article just as valuable to SEO, related web content copywriters, as well as clients who really need to think beyond raw traffic. Excellent info worth printing out and referring to during your next client meeting.

Item #3: Yahoos from Yahoo Email

You may remember that I also own AdoptShoppe, an online gift and bookstore. I get all kinds of mail, but this one was special.

I was wondering if you have the heart, to be able to send me a beautiful Couple With Two Children Sterling Silver Charm Please ?
I suffer from depression, anxiety, phobias and very bad panic attacks, due to this I am unable to work so my finances are not good.
I would appreciate it so much !

So, she’s too stressed to work but wants me to send her a $17 pendant to Australia? I’m sorry, but I’m way too stressed FROM WORKING to respond. :/

• Enjoyed this post? Get free updates by email or RSS
• Need a copy critique or a consult? Contact the Maven
• The ultimate guide to writing and designing effective landing pages, Marketing Sherpa’s Landing Page Handbook, 2008 (aff)

[tags] secret shopping online, direct magazine, search engine guide, scott buresh, yahoo [/tags]

Today, of course, there’s been an explosion in marcomm writing, both print and online. One of my favorite copywriting “line extensions” are case studies. These client “success stories” are relatively easy to write, 1-3 pages of concise writing, don’t take a huge amount of time, easy to repurpose, and can be pretty lucrative — and I’ve been writing a bunch lately.

My first podcast!

I thought, therefore, it might be fun to talk and swap stories with a case study expert. So I asked my colleague, David Leland, Mr. Case Study himself and author of the ebook, How to Write Case Studies That Sell (aff), if he’d agree to be my first interview right here on Copywriting Maven.

Give a listen here: [display_podcast]

$1500 a pop - that’s the average copy fee for a case study!

If you’ve been thinking about adding case studies — and at an average fee of $1500 per, of course you are! — but weren’t sure how to begin, I encourage you to order How to Write Case Studies That Sell (aff). Be sure and print it out, perhaps snap it into a 3-ring binder so you can keep it handy. David’s “Creative Brief” section alone is worth the price of admission.

Transparency Alert - I do participate in David’s affiliate program, but only very recently. David actually sent me a gratis copy hoping for a simple review. Well, before I reviewed it, I used it to evaluate a client’s case study which, having read the book, I knew 1/how awful the original study really was and 2/how to make it a lot better.

(Note: There’s a little unedited garbage on the front/back ends of the recording (not enough time to learn the “super-easy” mp3 editor), but not enough to squelch your enjoyment.)

Let me know if you enjoy the interview and I’ll add more of them to the “Maven Mix” throughout the year.

Maven’s Maxim
Plump up your value proposition and volumize your revenue with case studies. Every client you now have surely has several great success stories to tell. Be the one to tell ‘em. Get the book here: How to Write Case Studies That Sell (aff)

• Enjoyed this post? Get free updates by email or RSS
• Need a copy critique or a consult? Contact the Maven
• Get a free subscription to Website Magazine (aff)

[tags] david leland, how to write case studies that sell, writing case studies, mr case study [/tags]