Learn to Talk on Paper: The Art of Effective Business Writing
September 27, 2006
Rudolf Flesch, a specialist in writing skills, ran classes for over thirty years for civil servants, lawyers, bankers and the like, on writing business correspondence.
Two tips he stressed over and over again in his classes.
The first: move heaven and earth to wean yourself from the inhibitions and nervous habits that your schoolteachers, bless ‘em, have bequeathed to you. Leave no stone unturned to rid yourself of the awkward, stilted and artificial writing styles that have been reinforced daily since your early childhood.
The second: when you write a letter or the like - even if it’s a business letter you’d normally place in the “highly formal” category - imagine that the addressee were sitting right there, on the other side of your desk.
Relax. If you really believed the recipient was with you in the room, you would never have the effrontery to begin with “please be advised” or “we wish to inform you”.
Incidentally, I’ve a confession to make. I’m a fairly experienced writer, but time and time again, I find myself committing the very offences that would make Rudolf Flesch cringe.
Adsense Authors: Who Are These People?
September 27, 2006
Adsense is a program designed by Google to help publishers monetize their websites using high contextually-accurate ads. Adwords is the other side of the coin which allows any person to create an account with Google and bid on keywords or key phrases to have their ads appear in either the search results ad placements, or in content sites that display Adsense ads.
Over the past few months I’ve identified a group of authors, writers, and publishers that I call: "Adsense Authors."
My definition of an Adsense Author: Any author that uses article marketing as a strategy to drive traffic to their website in order to drive their adsense ad revenue sales.
These "Adsense Authors" really understand how to fully leverage article marketing as a strategy like no other group of authors.
Here are the commonly shared traits of these authors:
Is Traditional Book Marketing Getting you Down?
September 26, 2006
“Are you disappointed and tired of time and money down the drain using traditional book marketing? How would you like to sell more books than you ever dreamed of in less time and never have to leave your office?” Would you like to do it all for free?
“Discover How in Only Four Months You Can Quadruple your Monthly Book Income to Reach 10,000 to 100,000 Internet Users Who Want your Information-GUARANTEED- To Move You to Top Profits You’ve Been Dreaming About.”
Suppose you could sit at your computer, promote your information product either in print or eBook format to thousands of prospective buyers Online weekly. And spend only six to nine hours a week by simply writing short articles or tips and submitting them to major opt-in ezines and top web sites in your field?
If you’re like me, and love your business, you certainly want to be successful! Whatever product, you will be pleasantly surprised by how easy and fast this #1 way to market–the Internet! One big benefit is that is won’t cost you a dime. (Yes, you can combine traditional marketing with this one)
Plotting Problems - Episodic Writing
September 26, 2006
The rejection letter says: “Your story, on the surface, appears to be well-told and has appealing characters. However, the writing is episodic; the story lacks direction.”
You frown. Huh? The story lacks direction? How could it? Your main character is on a quest; how much more of a direction could you have than that?
Clearly, this editor doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Oh well. It takes all types… you bundle up your manuscript and send it out to the next publisher.
Six rejections later, you feel more than a bit miffed. This is a good story; everyone in your writing group says so. Your writing style is smooth and accomplished (even a few editors have said that).
So why the heck do they keep rejecting it? It’s something to do with the plot; that much is clear. But what?
If you’re lucky enough to get feedback, look for clues in the comments that have been made. The moment you see the word ‘episodic’, that is the biggest and best clue you could have. Not all editors will use this term. They might say things like ‘what is the story question?’ or ‘the character has no clear-cut goal’ or ‘there is no character growth’. All of these things can point to your story being episodic.
Writing Technique: The Restaurant Syndrome
September 26, 2006
Picture this scene.
Your hero is sitting in a bar. He’s thinking about things… life, death, taxes, the way he’s being chased by a serial killer… whatever.
While he thinks, he sips his beer/Jim Beam/wine/etc.
Sip.
He thinks some more.
Sip.
He makes a casual comment to the barperson.
Sip.
He looks over his shoulder and sees the killer in the doorway and beats a hasty retreat to the men’s.
Thank goodness. Because at least this means he leaves the darned drink behind!
Of course, the scene isn’t written in quite such a bare-bones form as the one you see above. But the reader gets bored anyway. The problem is, the author hasn’t made an effort to show the character doing something other than drinking. (Yes, I know that’s probably why he’s in the bar in the first place… but your job as the author is to think about what else he might be doing.)
Example
Tony sipped at his beer and thought about what to do next. The guy wasn’t going to give up; that much was obvious. How come he knew so much? Where Tony worked, his weekend routine, his sister’s address…
Three Tips For Magnetizing Your Copy
September 25, 2006
The difference between good copy and great copy is the number of actions it generates. The more actions the copy drives, the greater the copy is.
My friend John Reese, a master at simplifying what we often tend to unnecessarily complicate, says it best. He says the only metric you should ever really count on is this: “Yes” or “No.”
That’s it.
Now, what makes great copy nudge people into action requires a variety of different things — things I often find missing with most of the copy I critique.
So let me share with you three powerful elements that can help you turn your not-so-good copy into good copy, and your good copy into outstanding copy.
1. Give Reasons Why.
Great copy proposes a series of benefits that the prospect will enjoy once they respond. But this is the area most people struggle with. What makes a good benefit? Heck, what makes a benefit in the first place?
A feature is what the product has. An advantage is what that features does. But a benefit is what that advantage means to the reader specifically. It’s the specific motive to which that feature caters. In other words, a benefit is the reason why the feature exists and why it’s important to the reader.
Build Links and Your Brand: Article Marketing Delivers
September 25, 2006
Many online marketers have crowed about the value of writing and publishing articles for branding and credibility. A few have mentioned the effects articles can have on the links to your site and therefore your search engine rankings.
None of them, however, have made a distinction between what I see as the two article marketing methods. In this article we’ll look at both “the fast way” and “the thorough way” of article marketing as well as something crucial that no other article I’ve read includes - a complete list of the 82 article directory submission sites that pass PR.
The fast way focuses solely on link building and should get you a decent number of links to your site - I estimate at least 12 per article - in a relatively short period of time - about three and a half hours for writing and submitting to directories plus a month of waiting for the next update.
The thorough way focuses on understanding your industry’s media as a whole and establishing relationships with the key players there. Getting your article published in the right place will not only give you a great link from a high PR site - it can give you a level of perceived expertise and credibility that can increase your company’s sales in short order.
The Magic of Layout in Your Story
September 25, 2006
“The Magic of Layout…”???
Okay… “magic” might seem a bit over the top when you first read this article title. But believe me, although it doesn’t involve incantations or bubbling cauldrons, careful selection of layout does work magic on the reader.
Picture book authors understand this (as do parents and others who read a lot of picture books aloud). By moving a sentence - or even a word - to the next line, the author can add a lot of impact to the text.
When a word or sentence is moved to a new paragraph, the reader automatically pauses before reading it. This might be a physical pause, if the story is being read aloud, or it might be a mental pause. This can create tension, or set the reader up for a humorous twist, or add emphasis to one word alone.
Let me demonstrate.
TAKE ONE
Why Arent You Using CGI?
September 24, 2006
The very name CGI used to send chills up my spine. Foryears I put it in the ‘too-hard-basket’. But like mostthings in life, CGI is not as scary as it seems. Ifyou have a cgi directory on your website and you knowhow to FTP files, chances are you can have a CGIscript up and running in less than 20 minutes.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is not a programminglanguage but a standard that allows visitors tointeract with your website. CGI scripts can be writtenin a number of different languages but most arewritten in Perl (Practical Extraction and ReportingLanguage).
This article gives you details of five free CGI scriptsthat will do the following:
1. Mail out your Newsletter from your server 2. Track the number of times your free E-Book is
downloaded 3. Rotate banners on your website 4. Create your own auto responders 5. Allow visitors to recommend your website to friends
At the end of this article are details of where todownload these 5 free scripts. But first, here aresome basic guidelines on how to configure and installCGI scripts:
1. CGI programs usually come in a zip file. Unzip thefile and open the README file. This document will giveyou instructions for configuring the program file.
How To Avoid Viewpoint Slips
September 24, 2006
Sit back, and imagine what it feels like to be you. Now that shouldn’t be too hard - you’ve lived in your own skin for a long time.
- Do you feel happy or sad?
- Do you feel on edge or relaxed?
- Do you feel tired or energetic?
- Do you feel angry or calm?
Now think about how you know these things.
You have various bodily symptoms that accurately represent your feelings. “Happiness” feels light and contented. You might be sitting there quietly humming a tune. You might be suffused with a quiet feeling of well being.
“Sadness” is different. If you’re sad, the world suddenly seems a grey, cheerless place. There’s a heaviness in your chest, and maybe even a silent cry of despair that you’re aching to let go. Perhaps you have a lump in your throat from trying to hold back the tears; trying to keep a stiff upper lip.
That’s what it FEELS like to be you when you’re happy or sad.
Now imagine you’re going to nip across into someone else’s body for a moment. Someone standing across the room looking at you. How can that person tell that you’re happy?
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