• Clarity, not persuasion techniques or marketing jargon, is how you grab a prospect's attention.
• Three common mistakes to avoid: Writing copy that feels like the prospect is being sold to, corporate puff jargon that puts your reader to sleep, and "web 2.0" copy that gives too little information and has a premature call to action.
• The point of your marketing should be to "engage your prospects in 'conversation' about the thing they’re thinking of buying…and keep the conversation going until they buy."

From the article:

YOU KNOW SELLING IS HARD. And icky. Which is a combination sure to demoralize you in a short space of time.  I mean, have you tried cold calling?

The same is true on the web and in email. Although we know we have to convince customers to buy what we’re offering—or we’ll go under—we dread having to write sales copy of any kind.

We loathe getting up in print and schmoozing, conniving, greasing, bamboozling, and doing everything in our power to persuade prospects to click on our call to action buttons.