To be a successful online entrepreneur today, you have to be NetSmart. You have to understand how the masses communicate and be able to anticipate the ever changing needs that arises. These business people are generally very intelligent and perceptive, able to adapt to the high change frequency of the Interweb. And these are exactly the same people who can think of a way to improve the entire world, and pull a profit at the same time.

So to all the brilliant entrepreneurs out there trying to discover the next big thing, do spare a little bit of your brain processing time. Saving the world might not be something accomplished in one weekend, but with enough people going at it, it is something definitely achievable. And with the entire planet as a potential market, the profits might just be extremely lucrative. Why entrepreneurs and not scientists? Because realistically, nothing is going to happen without a profit being made. Now if there is an army of business-minded scientists, that would be quite exciting.

The term “Saving the world” is vague at best, but it can be defined as generally helping humanity. Here are some areas to start with: decreasing poverty, creating cheap and renewable energy, supporting human rights, ending conflicts, propagating education globally, increasing health care technologies etc etc.

Making it Measurable

Saving the world is not something easily marketable to the average person. It is something that seems impossible to reach, so why bother to even try? The first task would be to convince enough people that it is achievable, by setting a series of milestones to the end goal. A number perhaps, in how many people are helped.

Look at past examples such as distributed computing projects for SETI or Protein Folding. There are viewable progress measurements for your part in the calculations. Each milestone wasn’t quickly accomplished, but it makes it a lot easier to understand with a progress bar. Or even with website donation goals, having a milestone set visibly will allow donors to see the change that they have caused. It’s difficult to see the difference one person can make most of the time, but it is now possible with the level of tracking and communications made possible online.

Creating Momentum

If there is one thing that social networks have taught people, it is the art of propagating information to your friends. Once progress is measurable, momentum can be quickly built through social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. Dissemination of information on these networks are unparalleled in terms of speed, reach, targetability and cost.

Celebrity gossip and political warfare are spread, discussed and discarded in the span of hours. The level of empowerment is there but without a globally recognized goal in place. In the current time of the Obama, we can build upon the intentions for improvement. People are rallied from their place of complacency by economic turmoil, and are now open to suggestions. Now is the perfect opportunity to create new dynamics and goals in society through online networks.

What you can do

One person can now make a massive difference. That is the key idea here. Think of a way to fill the immediate needs of people, yet will ultimately empower people to make further changes. Not many people will drop everything just to do a good deed, but if it is convenient for them and creates an extra sense of moral gratification, it will succeed. Some might think this is an overly optimistic belief, but I believe in the basic goodness in people. We just have to get the ball rolling towards a brighter future.

1. Don’t add fluff words.

People hate advertising. I work in advertising and even I hate viewing it. So don’t make your writing sound like an Ad please, even if it actually is. Here’s an article with funny examples:

Executed from a formula adequate to meet the perspiration breakdown byproduct odor offensiveness detection threshold reduction requirements associated with masculine subbrachial cutaneous excretions, marketed to a target audience of the opposite gender.

Simplified Version: Strong enough for a man but made for a woman.

It may be funny but it’s surprising how many people still use too many words to say something that was originally simple. If you want to learn more about simplifying your writing, Angela at Girl Meets Business wrote an excellent article about writing concisely and sparingly.

2. Write less.

Don’t write an essay. Nobody has the time to read lengthy copy about what you’re selling. You’re not going to have their attention long enough to stuff all 10 concepts down their throat. The point is to communicate just 1, maybe 2 points to them strongly. If you try and get too many points across in a message, by the time they get to point #3, they’ll start to forget point #1 already. You’re in a hurry to make money, and they’re waiting for you to get to your point.

3. Show Pretty Pictures

Now that you’ve cut down significantly on your writing length, add something even simpler. Visuals. In combination with simple and direct words, visuals can complete the imagery in their minds without taking more than a few seconds. Even if you’re not at the point of sale, the simple combination will keep your product fresh in their mind for longer. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. (Especially if they are properly ALT tagged)

4. Talk to them as a friend.

That’s right, time to get off your high horse. It’s all about being real and community sharing lately. If you can talk to them as a human being, instead of acting like you know what’s best for them, they’ll actually like you and buy your junk. Also use words that are conversational and try not to sound like an ad. After you write, read it back to yourself and see if it sounds like a greasy car salesman. If so, start over.

5. Sell to the right people.

Figure out which market segment would actually like to use your products, so when you speak to them, you would genuinely have their best interest in mind. You wouldn’t sell something useless to a real friend would you?

This may sound logical, but most companies still try to sell to the wrong people. Now that you know how to write sincerely and picked your target group, think about how your product will actually help them. Genuinely try to improve people’s lives with your product, and they will give you their loyal support. Imagine that, loyal customers in this day and age.

6. Create a two way dialogue.

Write and persuade your audience to give you feedback. With the internet, this is easy. You no longer have to include prepaid-postage envelopes to gather feedback, all you need is a widget or two on your site. (You can practice this by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post) The internet changes quickly, with the assistance of regular feedback from your customers though, you will be able to stay on top of trends. This doesn’t have to be a multi-million dollar marketing effort. A well-placed button on a website is all that it takes.

7. Online: Use high traffic keywords

Here’s an extremely effective SEO trick for Internet writing. Go to Google’s keyword suggestion tool here. Enter in a few keywords related to what you are writing. Find relevant words that have high search engine traffic. You don’t need to spam the keywords, just sprinkle the words here and there. It’s not cheating, it’s just making it easier for your potential customers to find you.

By following these writing tips, you’ll be able to create a good relationship with your customers, be a responsible citizen, and then increase your business revenue. Using any of these tricks already? Know any other good writing tips?