Dale King: Today I'm interviewing copywriter, target market and branding expert, Anne Moss Rogers. Hello Anne Moss, how are you?

Anne Moss Rogers: It’s not cold outside so I’m doing well. Southerners don’t like cold weather. We can’t drink lemonade on the porch. And you?
 
Dale King: I'm fine, thank you. Anne Moss, would you mind explaining exactly what it is that you do?

Anne Moss Rogers:  I’ve been a copywriter for 24 years and started freelancing about 16 years ago. I started out at a traditional advertising agency after graduating from the University of North Carolina with a Journalism degree. My specialty spans everything from print ads and television spots to comics, web-based marketing initiatives and creating websites. I often act as a consultant on the macro view of creating and generating ideas for overall marketing and advertising campaigns that will span different media. 

My clients range from national brands to small local businesses and I tailor a brand message or image to appeal to a target audience. This message has to set that brand apart from the competition and give it a unique position in the marketplace.  It’s up to me to create that message and make it compelling and memorable. And to get to know the target market better, I like to step in their shoes, walk around in them to find out who they are and how they think. I really love the web because I can find out about a target market from blogs and forums. And it opens up so many creative marketing possibilities.

Dale King: Anne Moss, tell my readers how and when you got started copywriting and marketing on the Internet.
 
Anne Moss Rogers: I first became interested in the web in 1992 when I was asked to create some print ad concepts for an ISP, one of the first. I met with one of the IT guys who was so excited about this thing called the internet. At that time, there was no GUI, graphical user interface, just a gopher. You’d type a question and it would find the answer. I thought of it as a huge library. Which it is. But then it’s so much more.

I guess the power of the internet really came to life in 1999 when I was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. It was the only place I could find any in-depth information and I was starved for it. After 2 craniotomies and a cranial reconstruction which resulted in successful removal, I used the web to help other patients with rare tumors navigate the information, healthcare and insurance confusion that often goes with having a rare condition. It was a tough time for me since I’d given away all my clients and was going to have to rebuild what had been a thriving business from scratch. Helping others made me feel productive at a time when I felt like I was more of a burden than a contributor. From there I was hooked on the internet and designed my first website in 2000 between surgeries. I needed to keep stimulating my brain so the synapses wouldn’t get too lazy and decide to pack up and leave for a more inspiring brain environment. Once back in gear, I redefined my focus and contacted some web shops. I ended up getting plum projects and learned even more from being on a team of knowledgeable web experts. Since my background was advertising, it was a natural inclination to start creating a new brand of copywriting for the web. I also enjoyed designing sites and learned html and then .css.

Dale King: Some Internet Marketing experts advise newbies to steer clear of certain areas of Internet Marketing, like selling e-books on how to make money, advertising services, SEO services, copywriting, etc., because those particular niches are deemed to be "too competitive." Do you agree with that assessment?

Anne Moss Rogers: Not really. A competitive market is what separates the true entrepreneurs from the rainbow chasers. Many come to the internet with the thought that a vault of cash will simply fall in their laps the moment they add a “buy it now” button to their website.

Newbies just need to understand that a competitive internet market requires more creativity, persistence, or great connections in the IM world. The key is to create that market or carve a place in an existing one. You have to isolate a target market who will pay or value your product the most, and everything needs to talk to them. So few do this, it offers an enormous advantage to those who do. And that’s how you earn a competitive edge.

Dale King: How is Internet Marketing different now, as opposed to when you first got started online?
 
Anne Moss Rogers: What’s different is that you always feel like you need to run to catch up. Once I got the hang of print, I saw other possibilities with it but it wasn’t quite as 3-D and it doesn’t change significantly. The internet changes FAST. Advertising on the internet used to mean banners. Now it means everything from paid bloggers to ppc, flash embedded buttons and advertorials. You Tube, video and audio streaming, the list goes on.

At first, people could be successful putting up a generic site and not applying what has always worked in the more traditional advertising venues because it was not as competitive. Now you have to apply the marketing strategies and lay out a plan. And I have to tell you that now that it’s become more competitive, my branding knowledge has become more valuable and I get more calls. I already had a strong foundation of how the branding process works from experts in the traditional media. All I had to do is rework it in a way that worked on and with the internet which is what I’ve done for the past 9 years.

Dale King: How important has goal-setting been to your overall success?

Anne Moss Rogers: It’s really key. The internet is distracting. Although I’m very focused, even I feel pulled to stop and take a look at something and then find I’ve not completed anything. So I have had to apply more self discipline.

Dale King: How important has reading been to your overall success?

Anne Moss Rogers: Crucial. I don’t spend enormous amounts of time reading copywriting and marketing books although I just ordered my first one in 10 years. I’ve been copywriting for over 20 years. The copy just emerges and sometimes I can’t type fast enough. I actually spend more time reading people and books about people. I like both fiction and nonfiction. I love books about neuro-linguistic programming, reading faces, and things like Freakonomics. Those are the types of books I get more out of. Novels are an escape but it works for me in that I sort out the structure of why it does or does not work in my head as I read. I don’t stick to a genre and enjoy the variety of reading all kinds of books.

Dale King: If you could recommend one book that all Internet marketers should read, what would it be?

Anne Moss Rogers: Freakonomics. I know that’s an odd recommendation. But I think a trip in the human psyche is really key to learning how to hit that visceral nerve and connect to an audience. So if this one doesn’t do it for you, try NLP, psycho analytics, “Blink”, “Tipping Point” or “Unmasking the Face”. It’s only once you know this part that you can move to the mechanics of affiliate marketing which you can read in a blog or buy numerous books about.

Dale King: What should a new internet marketer avoid doing?

Anne Moss Rogers: I think he/she should avoid chasing the next get-rich-quick-scheme, learn from their failures and focus on something. Resist throwing money at marketing if they’ve not created the foundation for making conversions. Defining a target market and speaking to them is the part that inspires conversion. It’s the part that most directly affects your bank account. And oddly enough, it’s the most overlooked. If you spend time planning your internet approach, you have an enormous advantage over the floundering followers who continue to throw darts at clouds hoping to hit the pot at the end of the rainbow. So study it and keep at it.

Dale King: In your opinion, what technology has changed Internet Marketing the most over the last 5 years?

Anne Moss Rogers: Connection speed. And You Tube. If I could only produce You Tube ideas as fast as I have them.

Dale King: What new technology do you see changing Internet Marketing over the next 5 years?

Anne Moss Rogers: PDAs, iPods and other handhelds. Portable computers like laptops.

Dale King: What person or persons have influenced you the most in your lifetime, and how?

Anne Moss Rogers: First of all, you learn from every human being you meet if you take the time to notice. Everyone contributes something and I think everyone should recognize that. People you’d never suspect would have an amazing story, often do.

My role model is Dean Smith, the legendary UNC basketball coach. He stood up in the face of segregation as a new coach when it wasn’t popular. He always persevered and stuck to what he knew was right. He came under fire numerous times for it and was even burned in effigy twice on campus. Basketball was a conduit through which he taught lessons about life and teamwork, loyalty and the value of hard work. He held to his beliefs and now he’s a Hall-of-Famer but it wasn’t easy and it took guts.

Dale King: If you could give my readers one piece of advice, what would it be?

Anne Moss Rogers: Persistence.

Dale King: Thank you very much, Anne. I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview.

Anne Moss Rogers: Thank you and I appreciate this opportunity. You are a very gracious person and it shows.
 

Anne Moss Rogers website: http://www.annemoss.com

Anne Moss Rogers Blog: http://www.webpreppro.com




This interview is the exclusive property of Anne Moss Rogers. It may not be republished in any format - period.