“Yes, it is”, you reply, “I can go to any major search engine and find everything I Need to Know about almost anything.”

Perhaps you can. If you have the necessary research skills — and the time! And that’s the killer. Time is the one thing we can’t get more of. It’s finite. There’s only so much available. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Period.

You’ve likely heard the cliché, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” The reason it’s a cliché is because it is 100% true. Everything comes with a price tag attached. You’re going to pay with either money or time.

If you’re looking for information to write an article or report, or tools to assist in constructing a sales letter for a product you’re marketing, you’ll either have to spend money to acquire the info or tools from someone who has what you need or spend your valuable, irreplaceable time researching and obtaining them. Once you’ve located the info or tool you’ll still have to determine that it’s the right thing; that it’s the best fit in your particular situation.

Before arbitrarily deciding it’s better to spend time than money, or vice versa, do everything possible to determine which will provide the better value.

If you have abundant time and no money, the decision is obvious; if you have money and no time it’s also an easy call.

What happens if you have some money and some time? The decision isn’t as clear. It then becomes a matter of cost vs. benefit. Analysis will show you the way.

Example: You have a new product. You know you need to sell it. Do you hire a direct response copywriter to develop a killer sales letter or do you write it yourself? To promote the product you need to write articles and submit them to article sites. Write them yourself or have them written? Are you a product developer or a writer? Perhaps you’re a bit of both. Great!

Example: You’re a Direct Response Copywriter or an article writer. You may be an affiliate marketer. You need information and tools. Do you spend hours and hours looking for what you need or do you find a source where for a reasonable one-time payment you have access to a vast, comprehensive and extremely well put together collection of tools and information you can immediately put to work? It might just be the “no brainer” of the month, if not the year.

And, speaking of that collection of tools, John Ritskowitz, also known as “John Ritz”, a well established Direct Response Copywriter, has released his, long-in-the-works, Copywriters Toolkit.

The absolute first thing I do when reviewing any product is read the sales page. Like many of you I look at the details, promises, claims, testimonials and, neither last nor least, the price.

Along this little journey I ask myself questions. Questions like: Who wrote it? Do I know the author; either personally, or, by reputation? Is what they’re offering something I really need. What benefit(s) will it provide? Will it save me time and/or money? Is there a money-back guarantee?

To get the answer to all of these questions plus more read my complete review of The Copywriter’s Toolkit.

In Internet Marketing of anything from lug nuts to information products knowledge of any number of skills is necessary. These skills include, but are not limited to, website building, graphics and writing.

Perhaps chief among them is writing. The web is often thought of as a visual medium. To a point it is. We like pretty pictures and flashy video. They attract our attention. After the whiz bang stuff has grabbed us, what do we usually do? Yep, we go looking for words.

Words that will explain things to us, enable us to understand, to educate us and to provide us with usable knowledge. No matter how cool and flashy the page is we’re going to read something, on line or off. The words we’re looking for are written by, that’s right, writers.

On the promotional side of marketing there are two types of writers. Copy writers and article writers. Both have, as all writers do, an agenda. Article writers are the referrers. They write about gizmo’s, gadgets and programs in glowing terms. They rarely, if ever, ask you to buy anything. They attempt to attract you and to interest you in a product. If they’ve done their job well you’ll click the link, which they’ve thoughtfully provided, that’ll take you to the product’s website. This is where you’ll meet the copy writer.

The copywriter’s sole job is to get you to buy the product. Period.

Copywriters are the sales force of the Internet. They will explain the product in great detail. Every feature will be exposed and every benefit made plain. Professional copywriters will do this with words and sophisticated layout techniques. They use color, font size, selection and layout to inevitably, if they’ve done it right, assist you in making the “buy decision”. Or, of equal importance, if you’re selling, maximize your conversions.

In a nutshell: Direct Response Copywriters will make you money!