Should You Hire a Famous Writer or Write Your Own Articles?
March 31, 2007
Proven and Exceptional Click-Through Results
Testing has proven again and again that promotional articles generate more click-through traffic than standard ezine advertising. And it is much cheaper than standard ezine advertising, even if you are paying someone else to write and distribute your articles for you.
Promotional articles that are distributed with free-reprint rights get published regularly in ezines and on websites and the results are long-term. Both publication outlets generate results, although both outlets generate different patterns of traffic to your site.
Creating Content
Either you know that you are capable of writing your own articles or you feel that you might need to hire a ghostwriter to help you with your task.
If you need a ghostwriter to help you create articles to promote your program, there are literally dozens of companies and hundreds of freelance writers out there that can help you complete your task.
Tips for Selecting Your Ghostwriter
One of my clients asked me the other day whether they should use their own in-house writer to develop their articles or whether they should hire a famous writer to write their articles for them.
Stimulate Your Sensebuds…and Wave Goodbye To Writers Cramp!
March 31, 2007
When you get stuck for ideas, and the words won’t flow, invariably it’s because one, more or all of your senses aren’t being stimulated.
Staring at a blank screen or sheet of paper really doesn’t help. The best way to stimulate all your senses in one hit is to provide an inspirational space you can work with.
Lots of Feng Shui arrangements appear in western homes these days, and they’re great, but outside those four walls of your writing space, there is another world bursting with enlightenment and inspiration.
Of course you may have to work at it a little, but hey, we all need some exercise sometimes!
Whether you have a balcony or a backyard, you can very simply build a natural living world to plunge into whenever you choose. If you have neither, consider renting a small patch of land or sharing a garden with someone.
Gardening conjures up all sorts of hard work images; tools, backache, blisters etc;. but it’s only as hard as you make it. Start small and design your garden on paper first. Decide where you want herbs, flowers - and even vegetables, if you have the space and inclination!
Tell the World About You
March 31, 2007
You have a new website, or a new business, or both ? or your site isn’t getting the kind of traffic you want and need. How are you going to tell the world about what you have to offer and where to find it?
If you have deep pockets, you can start buying ads in newsletters and ezines and hope somebody reads them. If you have even deeper pockets, you can have press releases sent out in major markets all over the country, even around the world. (Actually, those are not deep pockets ? they’re more like mine shafts!) OR…
You can write articles for other people to publish in their ezines and newsletters. Who, me? Write? Right. It isn’t that difficult, assuming you have an average command of the English language. Or, more correctly, the American language, which is quite similar yet substantially different from English. George Bernard Shaw said, “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.” But, enough of that.
The Internet is awash in “gurus”, the vast majority of them self-appointed. I make no such claim. I am a practical writer and editor who believes the primary goal of this kind of writing is clear, concise communication. On that basis, I offer some advice and tips:
7 Big Ticket Copywriting Secrets I Learned from Ted Nicholas
March 30, 2007
I recently sponsored and attended Joel Christopher and Ted Nicholas’s Double Birthday Bash and Interactive Marketing Summit in beautiful San Antonio, Texas.
There was a fantastic lineup of speakers including John Assaraf, Joe Vitale, Brad Fallon, George McKenzie, Shawn Casey, Alan Bechtold, Tom "Big Al" Schreiter, Brian Keith Voiles, Rosalind Gardner, and Sydney Johnson.
And, of course, both Joel Christopher and Ted Nicholas presented as well.
Don’t know who Ted Nicholas is?
Ted is a living legend in the offline direct marketing world. He’s considered the "King of Print", the "Copywriter’s Copywriter", the "Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur" and the "GodFather of Direct Marketing".
He’s known as the "4 Billion Dollar Man" because that’s how much of his own products he’s sold using offline marketing methods.
Ted’s business card says: "I help people turn words into money".
Anyway, it should be clear that Ted knows a lot about marketing and especially copywriting.
Copywriting is simply selling with words. When someone reads the "copy" or words of an advertisement or sales letter and is compelled to respond to the offer, then you know your copy is effective.
You Dont Need Inspiration!
March 30, 2007
Or do you?
Writers write. You shouldn’t wait around for inspiration to come. But sometimes, there are days you can’t get anything written down. Or you’re at a loss for words. You can’t think of anything to write. You don’t have any idea what to write about.
And then you end up believing you’re having writer’s block.
You end up believing it too much, you stop writing altogether. You might even think of yourself as not a real writer.
And all because of what? You think your muse deserted you? You think you have writer’s block?
Think again! You don’t need inspiration to write! What you do need are prompts to help get your writer’s mind working and your hands writing or typing.
These prompts are your beginnings; the glimmer; the little sparks that you can shape and fashion into stories, articles, essays and features.
You don’t need inspiration. All you need is an idea.
And here are a dozen seeds you can try out for yourself:
1. The first typewriter was patented on July 23, 1829. Interview some of the writers in your group and find out how they write. You can develop this into a light-hearted articles about writers.
How to Build Your List ? 7 Powerful Strategies
March 30, 2007
If you have been an internet marketer, or had any type of online home based business, for more than a few days, then you will no doubt have heard someone say, “if you want to make money online, you have to build an opt-in list.”
Take that advice very seriously, because it’s true! It took me a long time to finally let the list building advice sink in, so I didn’t start doing it until I had my home business for quite a while. However, once I started building my list, I realized just how important it truly is. My only regret now is that I didn’t start a lot sooner.
There are numerous ways to build an opt-in list. However, some are much more effective than others. So, I decided to share seven of the most powerful strategies to build a targetted opt-in list.
Here are seven tips for building your opt-in list, in no particular order:
1) Free Newsletter ? Offering a free newsletter from your website is one of the most common, and effective ways to build an opt-in list. It is also one of the best strategies for building trusting relationships with your list.
Think Bigger When Doing Article Marketing
March 29, 2007
You’ve already agreed that putting some of your best articles into distribution is a great way to build your brand, grow your targeted traffic and get oodles of free quality back links to your website. You publish a small handful of articles and submit them to the major article distribution sites and then wait? but nothing happens or your results are depressing. What went wrong?
Ten years ago, if you were doing this strategy, a dozen to 20 articles was all that you needed to get all kinds of traffic from your investment in this strategy. Today, you need 200+ articles to begin to get the same return.
Note: For this article, we’re only going to examine the amount of traffic that article distribution sites can deliver to your website from your articles. Normally you can expect other sites and ezine publishers to pick up your articles and that would expand the traffic ROI from this strategy.
Let’s Talk Page Views:
(1) Page View = (1) human viewing your page.
Write Possibilities
March 29, 2007
We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. We dictate actions. We control destinies.
We can make two completely opposite people fall in love with each other, and we can create family feuds that can last for centuries.
We can make our heroine travel back in time to rescue her soulmate, and we can give the most villainous person the punishment she deserves.
We can take our characters to the most exotic places and give them their own adventures.
Simply put, we writers can create our own possibilities. In our world, nothing is impossible.
Try creating your own possibilities using the given prompts below.
There are 4 givens: theme, setting, character and key object. Randomly pick 1 from each and use these to start off your piece.
Themes: deception, irony, love lost, infidelity, rejection
Characters: chemist, divorced woman, doctor, teacher, singer
Key object: yellow bag, pen, knife, shoe, fuse box
Settings: space colony, gym, park, lab, retirement home
Here are a few examples using the above prompts:
7 Writing Muse Kickers to Fill Up That Blank Page
March 29, 2007
Nothing is more daunting for any writer than having to stare at a blank sheet of paper.
When we stare at a blank sheet of paper, we often think, “What am I going to write?” A few minutes later, it becomes, “Oh my goodness, I can’t think of anything to write!” And several minutes later, it turns into something like, “Write, dangnabit! Write! Write! WRITE!”
Some writers call this writer’s block. But I call it the “Writing-Muse-Needs-A-Kick” syndrome.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to do with your writing muse gone truant. We’re going to kick her back into gear so you can fill up that blank page.
Here are 7 writing muse kickers for you to try right now:
1. First Line: Begin a story with “There was once a chance I didn’t take…”
2. Cliche Starter: Weave a story or poem around the cliche, “keep your powder dry.”
3. Power of Metaphor: What does “a string of laughter” make you think of?
4. Proverb Mix: “Beauty breaks the camel’s back.”
5. Story Words: Use the words “pianist, pencil, high-rise building, running shoes” in a story.
Headline Writing Can Lead To Fortunes: Here Are The Basics Of Writing Headlines
March 28, 2007
Headlines attract attention. Headlines generate interest. The time spent writing headlines can pay you back many times over.
Do you have a product or service to sell? How do you attract new customers, clients, prospects, leads or patients?
Most likely you attract them through the written word in some sort of advertising, articles, or press release. In each case you need a headline.
In fact, every printed document you publish should have a headline on it. Yes, even including your business card, if you have one!
So, what should go in your headline? Below are seven headline ideas that have proved profitable in the past. Remember the goal of the headline is to stop your reader dead in their tracks and get them to read further in to your sales copy.
1). Answer the question, “What’s In It For Me?” Offer the reader a big benefit or promise of they continue reading. Here are a few examples:
* The Secret of Making People Like You
* Who Else Wants A Screen Star Figure?
* You Can Laugh At Money Worries - If You Follow This Simple Plan
* How to Win Friends and Influence People
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