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New home-study
course with personal feedback...
Become a Certified Web Site
Marketing
Makeover Consultant - or Just Learn to
Improve Your Own Site, Top to Bottom
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"Before: Confused users leave a site.
After: Satisfied users stay and do business." - Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., web usability guru, praising
Marcia Yudkin's book on web site
makeovers
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In a few months of
part-time study, learn to transform
any web site from miserably performing to spectacularly successful.
Whether it's a single-page pitch for one
product, an online store featuring many
products, or a multi-page profile of an
organization's products and services,
discover how to construct a site around
the customer's information needs and
purchasing psychology so that it
generates leads or orders. The
Web Site Marketing Makeover Course
dramatically increases your earning
power.
If you complete both training
components (Basic plus Advanced), you
can call yourself a Certified Web
Site Marketing Makeover Consultant, enjoying a new stream of revenue, helping to overhaul badly constructed, poorly worded web sites.
If you select just the Basic training option,
you still finish with the strategic and
writing tools needed to turn your own
site or others' from a dud to a sleek
profit puller.
My name is Marcia Yudkin, and I'm an expert in turning words into money. I'm the author of
15 nonfiction books, including four on publicity and marketing for small businesses: 6 Steps to Free Publicity, Persuading on Paper, Internet Marketing for Less than $500/Year and
Web Site Marketing Makeover.
The last of these titles, published by Top Floor Publishing, applies long-established marketing principles to the distinctive environment of the web.
Since 2001, I have
served as an official site reviewer for the Webby
Awards eight times, I've judged the Inc. Small Business Web
Awards, and more than 250 clients of
every size and type have trusted me to
provide expert feedback on their web sites.
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Incredible
Value, Enabling Me to Increase
My Profits
"This course was a revelation. There were so many things that I would never have thought of. Marcia taught a way of critical thinking, and her years of experience pointed to things that most of us who have web sites never consider. I still feel there's tons to know, but I now know lots more than most people do."
- Steve Frederick, Skokie, IL |
Like all the
testimonials on this site, the comments
on this page were provided without
compensation, incentives or rewards.
What's a Marketing Makeover?
A marketing makeover
involves a complete headline-to-order-form metamorphosis so that
the marketing piece better accomplishes
its goal. For a
web site, changes usually include
restructuring and rewording, but not necessarily redesign in the sense of changing the graphic elements
or the overall look.
If you're already a web designer, the marketing makeover training equips you not only to freshen the look of a creaky site but
more importantly to redo the copy so that an ecommerce site truly sells, a subscription site gets signups, a professional firm's site attracts new clients and a nonprofit organization wins over more
hearts and wallets. If you're
like me and not proficient in design, don't worry. Your makeovers can concentrate on improving the marketing messages and
information flow through the site,
boosting clarity and response.
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Coming
Soon: Higher Revenues From
Useful New Analytical Tools
"Critiquing a web site is much harder than it looks. And I had no idea navigation could be such a complicated issue!
After the course, it's difficult to look at any website - including my
own - without noticing what is wrong. I now feel more confident working with web designers who do not have an understanding of how my clients need to use their sites as a marketing tool. I have specifics that I can use. I believe I will be able to increase revenues based on what I learned - not only with an additional revenue stream (web makeovers), but I will be able to pursue clients who have more complicated web site needs than I have handled before."
- Nancy Waring, Alameda, CA |
Whether you enroll in
just the Basic training or also do the
Advanced course, the Web Site Marketing
Makeover Course teaches you to fix:
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Boring or misdirected
copy
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Illogical
navigation
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Confusing ordering procedures
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Design that
obstructs visitors'
comprehension
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Missing elements
needed to build trust
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And many other
epidemic web site mistakes
Besides learning to
perform web site marketing makeovers,
you become equipped to critique web
sites and provide a plan for improvement
- which in itself can be either a paid
service or a lead generator. You
even get advice on how to make sure
clients appreciate your suggestions.
How This Course is Distinctive
Hardly anyone teaching
web copywriting works on both
single-product pages that pull out all
the stops to sell and corporate sites
that persuade people to pick up the
phone or email to inquire about becoming
clients.
Copywriters who
specialize in one-product sales pages
have no experience with straightening
out a tangled navigation system or
adjusting their writing tone for the
desired image of a company.
Copywriters who specialize in corporate
sites have no experience creating
user-friendly, clear order procedures or
keeping a reader absorbed in a long,
every-objection-considered
presentation.
I regularly work on
both types of sites, and in this course,
you learn to improve any type of web
site - even blogs (which usually badly
need to become more user friendly).
Second, most web
copywriting mentors lack the fine-tuned
sensitivity to words that comes from my
25-plus years of writing for publication
for some of the most demanding editors
in the U.S., including those at the New
York Times, Cosmopolitan, Business 2.0, HarperCollins,
Penguin USA and more. You get insights into
choosing and arranging words that you won't
find written down anywhere.
And in both the Basic
and Advanced components of the course, you receive my frank,
constructive feedback on at least two
written assignments. (In the
Advanced part, you also receive feedback and
guidance on two full web sites that you
rework.) You learn
your strong and weak points so you can
focus on where your skills and knowledge
need the most improvement.
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Deep,
Detailed Course, Worth at Least
Twice as Much as It Costs
"Marcia delivers way more than what I see from marketing consultants who charge corporate clients tens of thousands for far less. Her editing skills are extraordinary, focused and complete. Point after point, the class brought home things I had read – and many I hadn’t – in a more meaningful way for me. It’s like a masters level (MBA) course. I find listening to
each class on the iPod 2 or 3 times is beneficial - the classes are so full of good content that one listen through is not sufficient. I cannot tell you how many doors have opened for me from the principles I have learned and already used to my advantage with potential partners."
- Henry Bruce, Stratford, CT
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Third, I regret to say
that my emphasis on persuading honestly
and without hype is rare. Many web copywriters subscribe to the
principle that whatever improves
response without directly breaking any
law is best. I disagree, and I
teach only copywriting principles that
respect readers and contribute to
long-term customer satisfaction.
Finally, in my course
you learn through practice. You
not only work on focused exercises
relating to actual web sites, you listen
to a discussion of those sites and in
many cases, view a variety of approaches
on how to fix their problems.
Everyone who's taken the course quickly
realizes there's a world of value in
having to identify specifically what's
working and what's not and proposing
solutions for the problems.
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Encore
Value; Lessons That Apply
More Widely Than to Websites
"This is the second course of Marcia’s I participated in, and again I found her feedback both interesting and very instructive. She certainly demonstrates her expertise while also being willing to consider other points of view. Listening to the recorded lessons gave me the flavor of being in class, because so many times those who were on the live call asked or answered questions as I might have. The course not only taught me how to look at website effectiveness, but also how to
be direct, look at everything through the eyes of the consumer, and
simplify - which are applicable to most businesses, not just copywriters or websites."
- Kevin Worthley, West Kingston,
RI
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How the Home-Study Course Works
Everyone goes through
a self-paced curriculum of eight
lessons, each with assignments,
discussion and instruction, and receives
my feedback on two of the assignments - that's the
Basic program. Those who choose to
continue in the Advanced program must then
satisfactorily complete two full web site
makeovers on their own, one for a
single-product sales page and one for a
multi-page web site.
To do that, Advanced students get my assistance in four one-hour,
one-on-one phone sessions focused on
their work, along with as many email
exchanges back and forth as necessary to
get the work up to a professional level.
Advanced participants finish off with a
final one-hour phone discussion on how
they can best use their new finely honed
skills.
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Now I Can
Provide Higher-Level, More
Lucrative Consulting
"The course helped me become more attuned to common but deadly website flaws that I wouldn't have recognized before. Now I'm able to speak more intelligently to my clients about website layout, navigation, order forms, etc. I'm quicker to perceive flaws in websites and find myself doing it almost instinctually these days, even when poring over a site for non-work purposes. With the course behind me, I expect to be able to act as more of a website consultant and provide effective, educated feedback on clients' websites - beyond just copywriting - so that their sites perform better. And raise my rates soon, too."
- Susan Landry, Pawtucket, RI |
The Basic program
costs $1,297, and the
Advanced program,
which continues after the Basic program
concludes, has a fee of $1,700 (divided into two installments), for a total
Basic + Advanced fee of $2,997. The
Basic tuition includes two of
my books, Web Site Marketing Makeover
and Persuading on Paper (if you
don't already own them), CD recordings
of eight
one-hour interactive class sessions, extensive
handouts and personal feedback.
Shipping the course to you is free,
wherever you live in the world.
If you choose to take
just the Basic program, you finish with
mastery of new analytical and writing
skills for a wide range of web
sites. If you want to go on, you
can take a break of up to six months
between the Basic and Advanced programs.
Satisfactorily completing the Advanced
one-on-one training lets you call yourself a Certified Web
Site Marketing Makeover Consultant - and
you receive a certificate to that effect
that you can frame and hang in your
office.
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Solid
Teaching, Invaluable Learning,
Greater Confidence
"In a day and time in which one finds hype, over-promising, and under-delivering, I was lucky to find a teacher who would assess my work honestly and make me work hard to learn. From the first lesson on, I learned that the clarity you see on a well-organized web site comes from the clarity within the site owner's mind. If you do not know what purpose your site serves, if the focus of your business is unclear, your web site will also be unfocused and confused. The course was a lot of work,
yet definitely worth it. I still have a long way to go. But what a great start!"
- Joe Polivick, West Chester, OH |
Before getting to the
nitty-gritty logistics, let me explain
in more depth some of what you learn the
Basic course:
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Constructive
Insights and a Priceless New
Tool
"Marcia’s style is warm and friendly, and her message is professional with plenty of practical guidance and advice. The timing of events during classes is polished. Her criticism is delivered in a
non- threatening manner and always highlights where I can improve. I now have an understanding of which
web site elements to avoid and which are a must.
Marcia also unlocked a key tool for me that gave me a way to determine whether or not I was conveying my knowledge in a clear and precise manner, lifting a longtime source of frustration for me about my writing."
- Nick Lyttle, Christchurch, New
Zealand
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Logistics for the Basic Course
Now here's how the Basic course works.
Although it was originally delivered as
a teleseminar (a learn-by-phone class)
in eight weekly lessons, you can study
and complete the eight lessons at
whatever pace works best for you.
Plan to read both Web Site
Marketing Makeover and Persuading
on Paper before tackling the first
assignment.
For each of the eight
lessons, you
have sections of one or both of those
books to review, along with a written
assignment to complete at your own pace. The
assignment might ask you to diagnose the
flaws in a web site or web page,
reorganize information or rewrite a
page. Allow 3-6 hours for
completing each assignment.
Then you're ready to
listen to a class session on CD, in
which participants discuss the lesson
from many points of view. Sometimes
the discussion brings to light that
there's more than one legitimate
solution to a web site challenge.
With all this practice and discussion,
you find your understanding of web site
effectiveness becoming deeper and
deeper.
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The Remote Learning Method With Feedback Works Well
"I listened to most of the course via the recordings and appreciated the sessions better in my own time this way. Marcia's feedback was very valuable as it allowed me to improve my skills and put into practice what I was learning. Thank you!" - Isabelle
Gelderblom, Somerset, UK |
After Lesson 2, you
email a web site review to me for my
feedback, and after Lesson 8, you email
me your draft of a sales page for an
information product and again receive
thorough comments from me. That's
the Basic course.
All the quotes on this page come
from people in the Basic course that
you'll hear on your home-study CDs.
View
testimonials from graduates of the
certification program, who completed
the Advanced course.
For greater mastery
and to receive the Certified Web Site
Marketing Makeover Consultant
designation, you would go on to work
with me privately after completing the
eight-lesson, $1,297 Basic
program.
Logistics for the Advanced Option
The Advanced course
begins at some point after you
satisfactorily finish the Basic course. You can either start the
Advanced program right away, or delay
getting started on it for up to six
months. For those of you
who are feeling financially stretched,
you should be able to finish the Basic course, put your new skills to work for
paying clients and earn the additional
$1,700 needed to continue for
certification.
Please note that I
reserve the right to tell you that I
don't think you're a suitable candidate
for certification if you haven't shown enough mastery in the
assignments you handed in for the Basic course or for any other
reason. As I stated above, the
Basic course covers everything you need
to perform site critiques and marketing
makeovers of web sites, so you still
would have had a valuable educational
experience in that case.
For the Advanced
program, you perform two
comprehensive copy makeovers, one for a
one-page sales site with an order form
and the other for a lead-generating,
multi-page company web site. You
would normally use your contacts to line up
these sites to work on (I may be able to
help out if you are having trouble
rustling up volunteer clients), and whether you
do this for them at no charge or you
charge them for these makeovers is up to
you.
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Took Me Out
of My Comfort Zone, Gave Me a
New Direction
"Marcia has given me an approach/methodology to analyze sites, and I felt a critical faculty start to emerge. Having a knowledgeable, experienced mentor leading the way helps you get up the learning curve quicker. I now have a better feel for marketing and web site design, which I can apply immediately at work. The course also stretched me (which is valuable and important to me) and started me on a new road for something I can do in the future – all amidst a safe learning environment." - Bob Winfield, Perry Hall, MD
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We'll have four
one-hour, you-and-me-only phone sessions
to work through these two makeovers and
as many additional email exchanges as
needed. You probably need to do
several drafts of each site until I'm
satisfied with what you've done.
We then have one more private phone
consultation to talk you through your
strategies for finding and working with
clients after your certification.
After that, you
graduate with a framable
certificate showing that you are a
Certified Web Site Marketing Makeover
Consultant, and you then have the right
to use that designation in your bio and
promotional materials.
View
testimonials from those who graduated
from the Certified Web Site Marketing Makeover
Consultant program.
Payment Details and Refund Policy
If you get started in
the Basic course and
decide this learning experience is not right for you, you can
request and receive a refund of your
initial payment after you ship back all the
course materials. You have the
right to such a refund up through 48
hours after you receive my comments on
your web site review assignment, or for
a full six months after you enrolled in
the course, whichever comes first.
After that, there
are no refunds.
The $1,700 tuition for the
Advanced program gets charged in two equal
installments, the first half when you
get started in the Advanced course and the
second half before you begin working on
your second of two web site
makeovers. The Advanced tuition is non-refundable.
We accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, checks, money orders
and bank wires. If you have the
opportunity to get reimbursed for the
tuition by your company or by some sort
of grant agency (yes, one person
received a grant for her tuition!), I'll do my best to help
with any paperwork needed for
this.
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Feel Tons
More Prepared for Wider
Challenges, Better Results
"What a great workout
this course was! I got a much firmer grip on crafting the working parts of a website together
to capture the customer's attention and win the sale.
There's a lot a home page needs to get
right, and so many site owners are
clueless about what that page should do.
The lesson on shopping carts was priceless.
I learned how you use them makes all the difference between a confused buyer who bails out and one who gladly buys.
It was also very helpful to get down in the weeds and see exactly what blend of emotion and facts we need in sales
copy to connect with the buyer.
As a result of the course, I'll have more confidence selling
my copywriting services for a respectable fee."
- Joanne Masterson, Alexandria,
VA |
Grab Your Spot!
Because your purchase
of the Basic course commits me to
feedback on your assignments, I am
keeping a close eye on sales of this
home-study course and reserve the right
to suspend further enrollments at any
time. So if you want to master
the art of writing persuasive web site
copy and either be earning good money
helping clients improve their sites or
simply have the wherewithal to make
your own site hum along with a hefty
return on investment, sign up
now for $1,297.
We no longer
offer this course as it is a bit
outdated.
Got questions?
I'll do my best to answer. Just email
me.
Marcia Yudkin, Creative Ways, P.O. Box 305, Goshen, MA 01032. Phone: (413) 563-4134. Fax: (413)280-0996. E-mail: marcia@yudkin.com.
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