Make Your Mark Upon Humanity

The greatest gift you have to give to yourself and humanity is the book, the song, the poem the artwork or invention that is locked away within your consciousness.

All of us have this gift that needs to come out. A one line peace of wisdom written on a napkin from the restaurant that comes from the heart has just as much value as a Picasso. Just the right words written by a street person living on the side of the road can have more impact on society than those of a trained phd that has been writing for years. A few scribbles written by a beaten women can change the way other women are treated. A short paragraph in a suicide note can save the lives of others.

All of us have something to write about when it comes from the soul. It has nothing to do with being a writer or a published author. It’s about letting it out and not holding it in, it is a release.

It doesn’t have to be about sad things or struggles either. It is just as important to write about accomplishments and successes. The urgency is the same and before one dies it is important for the ego and the soul to release this energy.

How To Write Powerful Headlines

I want to tell you how I go about writing headlines. I like to keep swap files of headlines around for future use. And how I go about doing it goes something like this…

I’ll find a headline I like, wherever it may be, and then I don’t copy it word for word, instead I’ll use a “fill in the blank” approach. That way I get a generic headline that I can apply to almost any business.

For example, I find a headline I like that goes something like this:

“Give Me 5 Minutes And I’ll Show You How To Put An Extra $1000 Into Your Pocket!”

In my swap file I would write it down using a “fill in the blank” approach:

“Give Me _____ And I’ll _____!”

I could now take this generic headline and apply it to almost any business…

Car insurance for example:

“Give Me 60 Seconds And I’ll Show You How To Slash Your Car Insurance Cost In Half Every Single Month!”

Do you follow me…?

Money Trails for Writers

I’m willing to bet that quite a number of you once had to debate (or discuss) the saying: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” If you were arguing ‘for’, you would have been able to come up with many examples of how words triumphed over muscles.

The fact is, words can triumph over just about anything. Even if you acknowledge the occasional truth of another saying, “A picture paints a thousand words”, any picture has its limitations. If the viewer is not certain what the picture is about, it takes words to explain. It also takes words to theorize about what led up to the picture, what happened after the picture was taken, drawn or painted, and the many reactions that the picture might prompt.

Visualize a website you’ve visited recently. Imagine it without pictures. Could you still find out what you wanted to know - or order the product you were after? The likely answer is ‘yes’. Now imagine it without words. What’s the situation this time? You’d be floundering.

What has this got to do with your writing career?

Everything.

15 Questions To Instantly Help You Write A Tips Booklet

1. What is the single most compelling subject from your experience or knowledge that you want the world to know about? If there are several topics, consider which one you are most passionate about.

2. Can you identify the single most outstanding thing you want people to know? Think about whether it is a new skill, perspective, attitude, or expansion of general knowledge.

3. Why do you want to write a booklet? It may be an altruistic gesture to spread the word about something. It might be a marketing tool for a business or book you have or want to have. The booklet can be a profit center for you. Maybe you would you like it to be both a marketing tool and a profit center.

4. How would you divide your subject into segments? Look at the possibility of those segments becoming additional booklets to develop into a series, or as mini-chapters of one booklet.

5. What are you often surprised by that people do not know about your subject area? There could be something that seems so ‘common sense’ to you, while being highly helpful or enlightening to others.

Business Letter Etiquette

Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon courtesy and politeness between business personnel. Etiquette, and especially business etiquette, is a means of maximising your potential by presenting yourself positively.

Writing a business letter is not simply a matter of expressing your ideas clearly. The way you write a letter and the etiquette you employ may have a significant impact on your success or failure in business.

Failure to observe correct business letter etiquette can result in you adopting an inappropriate tone, causing offense or misunderstandings, lack of clarity or purpose and hostility or soured relations.

The foundation of good business letter etiquette is ‘Think before you write’. You should be considering who the letter is addressed to, how and why? This will then influence style, content and structure.

Here we cover some of the main issues relating to good business letter etiquette:

Addressing the Letter

Always make sure you have spelt the recipient’s name correctly. It may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how many people fail to do so. The recipient’s name should include titles, honours or qualifications if deemed necessary.

Effective Collaboration - Working With Your Ghostwriter

Using a ghostwriter to craft your free reprint articles and marketing materials is an excellent way to maximize your time and profit. The fastest and most effective way to find a freelance ghostwriter or editor is to post your writing projects on an on-line service like Freelance Work Exchange at http://tinyurl.com/3v69r. This allows interested writers to submit their proposals to you. It makes short-order of a needle-in-a-haystack task.

If you’ve already posted a writing opportunity, you’ve probably received several proposals and/or bids from interested writers. Whether you’re already working with a ghostwriter or still considering potential candidates, you want to develop a working relationship that is both professional and congenial as well. This will allow you to maximize the benefits of having your own ghostwriter.

Working with your ghostwriter should be an easy and productive experience. After all, removing the pressure of not having time to write and still gaining exposure through marketing with articles is your purpose for even considering a ghostwriter. It may take a few projects and a little time to develop a good working relationship with a regular ghostwriter, but there are several ways that you can help the process along from your end.

Top 10 Reasons to Use a Blog to Publish Your Ezine

Blogs are the hottest thing going these days when it comes to marketing on the Internet. A blog is a delivery medium. Here are 10 reasons why you should deliver your ezine articles via a blog.

1. A blog is web based so you can update and post new articles anywhere, anytime. It’s a dynamic medium that can be updated on a moment’s notice.

2. Subscribers can subscribe to your RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed and have your content delivered straight to their desktop. This delivery system bypasses spam filters and readers get exactly the content they want.

3. No web site to mess with. It’s very inexpensive way to set up a web presence for your ezine. There are several sites where you can set up a free blog and others are very reasonably priced for the massive exposure you can get.

4. You can set up links for ads and your affiliate programs in side columns so you don’t have to include them in your ezine format.

5. You can set up a subscription form and send emails to your subscribers when new content is added.

Don?t Distract Readers from What They are Doing

I’m working on a report for a company that puts out a newsletter on a monthly basis.

Their open rate and clickthrough rate are somewhat above industry averages. But I still wonder if they could do better.

Here’s what’s happening. Their newsletters have a purpose. Each issue promotes various services and provides links to more information on their site. And the writing is excellent. The tone is both personal and informative. The text is engaging, respectful and does a great job of building interest and then providing a clear, descriptive link forward.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that I think a great deal of their clickthrough is derived not from these links to the services they are selling. I think much of the clickthrough comes from other links on the page.

Let me explain. All this great copy is surrounded by dozens of other links and clickable images to other parts of the site, few of which are directly related to the services being promoted.

The layout of the newsletter is a little like a web page. At the top and to the left of the first screen of the newsletter, about ten different links shout out for your attention.

Create the Writing Life You Want

Ah, writing. For those of us who love to play with words, it’s like standing in front of a smorgasbord, agonising over which delicacies to try. You can potter about with your writing as a thoroughly delightful hobby - writing wedding speeches, penning dreadful doggerel for people’s birthdays, or writing stories to entertain your children. Or you can work at it, hour after hour, determined that your book is going to be the next bestseller. You can choose the writing life that’s perfect for you now, then change direction later, as your circumstances change and your experience grows.

HOBBY OR CAREER?

I’m going to work on an assumption here - that you actually like writing. (I can’t imagine any other reason you’d be reading this article. If you don’t like to write, why are you being such a masochist? There are thousands of other jobs out there that will suit you better. Stop reading this and go find one.) So, given that you like to write, you should now ask yourself: ‘Do I like writing enough to do it full time, or do I want to keep it as a hobby?’

How Writing Radio Can Help You Become a Better Writer

Knowing how to write, and write well, is a skill that will come in handy in all sorts of situations. And if you combine good writing skills with the persuasive selling tactics found in, say, copywriting, you’ll be that much more ahead of your competition.

Of all the different types of writing I’ve done in my life (and believe me, I’ve tried practically all of them) writing radio has made one of the bigger impacts on my writing style.

Below are three ways writing radio can help strengthen your writing style. (Oh, and these tips will also help you write better radio copy too.)

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