“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” —Buddha

How many times have you seen phrases like “we can offer you”, “we will develop” or “we have created” on a web site?

Verbs like can, will, and have take your web copy out of the present and either put it in the future or the past. Using future tense and past-tense phrases is one of the biggest mistakes you ‘can’ make in writing web copy. Use present tense phrases to activate your content and leave your readers with the perception that your business is busy and vibrant. Offer them immediacy using active verbs. In short — Can the ‘cans’.

When you write sales copy, always go back over it before you publish it and check to be sure that you have removed any unnecessary text. Every word of your copy should work for you steadily and actively advancing your prospect through your sales process.

Popularity: 7% [?]

The “eye-candy” of your website is very similar to the “curb appeal” of a house. It looks good and it says “Come in - you’re welcome here!” Be sure that before you invite your visitors inside, you’ve finished your interior design as well as the view of your front door.

Writing good web content is all about giving your visitors an “easy chair”. Make them feel comfortable enough to stay awhile, come back again, and ‘bring’ a friend next time. One simple sentence will put you on the road to success.

“Every person is his own protagonist.”

Every person is the central character in his or her own life. Your visitors come to your website, not to see what you have, what you know, or what you can do, but to accomplish their own goals and fullfill their own needs.

How many times have you seen something similar to this on a homepage?

“Our company is the cutting edge resource for those in the (fill-in-the-blank) business, using state of the art technology to help our customers achieve their goals.”

Who cares?

The truth is that, people don’t care what you know, have, or can do except as how it directly provides a benefit to them.

Using your website presence as your sales presentation, it’s your job to show your customers that you understand that their success is your success and why; show them that your company is the best choice to provide solutions to their ‘unique’ problems and help achieve their goals.

Start by focusing on the unique needs of your target market. Take the “our” and “I” out of your website content and write for your customers using “you” and “your”.

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At most of the sites that I frequent on the web, my name is Shyflower. If you know me now, you might wonder, “Why Shyflower.” These days I’m pretty outspoken but, believe it or not, back when I was given the name, I was quite the shrinking violet!

In 1997 I purchased my first computer. I was awed by the fact that it had a one-gig hard drive, 16 MB of RAM (whatever that was) and a Pentium processor. It came with Windows 95 pre-installed, and since the salesman showed me where the power button was, I was there!

The computer also came with a couple of graphic arts programs. They were great! After all, a person can only play so many hands of Hearts before they drop dead from boredom! So I played with the programs; I did a few graphic renderings and found that I liked computer work— both writing and designing.

I wanted to learn more and I reasoned the best place to do that was from people who were already doing what I wanted to do. So I “hooked up” to the Internet.

I discovered Internet chat. The first time I entered an Internet chat room, I had to have a handle. I decided on “Lonely Lady” because, after all, that’s what I was. Big mistake! So big, in fact, I think I can hear you laughing right now! After about a dozen would-be Romeo’s messaged me (in private) and asked me why I was lonely, I decided to change my name to Shy Lady. Huh! That wasn’t a whole lot better. Finally, I met someone who appreciated my problem with names and he suggested the name shy and flower (because I like art, color, and flowers). So I became Shyflower.

Poetry has always been a passion for me. I have written poems and lyrics for songs since high school. When I became “Shyflower”, the anonymity of the name gave me the release I needed to put some of my deepest emotions and desires into verse. Over the years, the shy flower has evolved into into a person who isn’t fearless, but is in control of her phobias.

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The universe is full of space of one kind or another. If you’re a writer (like me) or a typist, you’ve heard of single-space and double-space.

When we connect on the Internet, we find each other in Cyber Space.

Outer Space, as described by Carl Sagan, is the place for “billions and billions of stars” and as described by Captain James T. Kirk, it’s “the final frontier”. A Journey to the Center of the Earth or a Voyage to the bottom of the Sea might be the real “final frontier”, but it was Jules Verne’s description of Inner Space.

The movie, Innerspace gave the human body a whole new dimension and looking at it from a different perspective, Inner Space could be what we keep in mind.

So… What is Older Space?

Older Space is my new dimension and a spot to share freelancing ideas, freelance business tips, freelance articles, writing tips, and web & product reviews. I hope you enjoy Older Space and I look forward to reading your comments.

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