Just because you are not a writer, it doesn’t mean that your business has to suffer. Instead of pulling out hairs over that business manual or press release you could outsource your project to a writing professional.
What is outsourcing?
Outsourcing or contracting is when you obtain a company or individual (outside of your organization) to complete a task or series of tasks.
Why should you outsource your writing projects?
1. You want great results – Writing great copy is a skill that everyone does not possess. Why give your business a mediocre image when you can have a high quality one? When you outsource your writing projects, you are handing your project to someone who is skilled.
2. You don’t have time to learn how to write great copy- You have to check your email, go to meetings, plan the budget, meet with clients, shop for supplies; do you really have time to write content? When you outsource your writing project, you simply make a phone call (or send an email) and you no longer have to worry about completing the task.
3. You don’t have the resources to hire an employee- Hiring employees can get expensive. Not only do you have to have office space, a computer, and other supplies; but you also have to pay for taxes, medical expenses, vacation time, workers comp and other operating costs. When you outsource you save money by eliminating the expenses that come with employees.
4. You don’t like to write- If you wanted to be a writer, you’d be in a different profession. Why suffer through writing documents when your time could be used tending to an aspect of business you enjoy. When you outsource you are enabling someone who loves writing to complete the task. And who would you rather trust? An employee who would rather be doing something else or a professional who loves what they are doing?
What kind of writing projects can be outsourced?
Just about any writing that you need done can be outsourced. This includes press releases, web copy, web content, brochures, manuals, presentations, handbooks, flyers, sales letters, ezines and more.
Suggestions for outsourcing:
A true professional will invest in their own website and domain name as opposed to using free hosting. This shows that they are dedicated to their craft and it’s not just a hobby.
A true professional has a portfolio (either online or off) and they will be more than willing to show you examples of their previous work.
A true professional will ask you questions. Frequently companies who are new to outsourcing don’t quite understand that they have to be somewhat involved in the process. Someone who delivers high quality work understands that they cannot guess what you want.
A true professional values their worth and can prove why they are worth the price. It will be quite easy for you to find a contractor who charges less than minimum wage. However, you must keep in mind that you get what you pay for. If you are expecting high quality work, you are going to have to pay for it.
Why You Should Outsource Your Business Writing Projects
Writing And Blogging For Your Business
The key to online marketing is quality content. To get ahead of your competition, you have to be prepared to write well. The ability to write well is an advantage in terms of social media marketing and search engine marketing. In addition to written content, Video and audio are effective online marketing methods.
The best online marketers are experts at getting other spread the word about their products or services. Dedicate yourself to provide remarkable content to empower others to help you get the word out about your business. Take advantage of the inherent viral make up of Internet.
Write Articles
You can significantly increase your visibility when you write articles in your area of expertise. Be sure that your articles are informational. Don’t waste anybody’s time with commercials disguised as articles. The key to successful article writing is to provide value. People will notice when you have something of value to say.
Articles deemed valuable are; posted on article directories; e-mailed in newsletters, embedded in e-commerce site. In most cases, the author receives a link to his website. The links help in a couple of ways. One, they generate traffic to the site. Second, links help to improve your search engine results. The more links you have pointing to your site the better. Search engines view links to your site as a vote of confidence. The more links you have pointing to your site the more valuable your web site becomes.
You can contact website that might benefit from your articles, and offer your articles. Just ask that a link to your website and a one-line description of what you offer be included with the article. Articles offer an effective "viral" approach that can produce hundreds, or even thousands, of links to your site over time.
Practical Example: As you become a prolific author of articles related to your service you build reputation. Through your articles, you enable you customers to find your website indirectly. A business owner may find one of your articles while searching for marketing advice online. After she reads your article, she may click the link to your site from within the byline. Because you have already provided her with value, she is more likely to become a customer.
Start a Business Blog
Your business blog is one of the best ways to get others to link to your site. A blog is less formal than an article and more conversational. You have the power to make your industry interesting to your readers through conversational writing. The blog is not about you. It is about providing value for your customers. If you offer outstanding content and regular industry comment, people are likely to link to it, increasing your site's link popularity. Remember, links are good.
Practical Example: When you blog you are elevating your status to expert level. People are rather buy from experts than sales people. Provide valuable content to your visitors, and they will spread the word. If you have a blog about fly fishing, your readers are more likely to buy from you than another business that simply lists fly fishing equipment on their site. In addition to becoming customers, they will recommend your business to others, in essence become your unpaid expternal salesforce.
Writing Articles Can Be A Profitable Business
In the world of today, job satisfaction scores over most other factors. They are less inclined to become cogs in the wheel if they can help it. Moreover, one can do so much more today. The growth in the field of communications has opened up many opportunities. More and more people have begun to give up their day jobs in favor of more flexible work-from-home routines. The unprecedented rise of the Internet has been one of the major factors that have made this possible.
Among the groups who are benefiting from this expansion in communication are writers. The world of magazines and ezines are a vast area is open to all. In fact, anyone who can string a decent sentence together can now think of seriously think of writing professionally. These days, anyone can become a writer with a little investment and a certain degree of writing skill. Of course, it is not be all that easy when you are starting out. But once one does, the money will just keep coming in.
Marketing one's skills becomes very important if one is looking to rake in the profits by writing articles. If one is planning to send articles to a bunch of magazines, it would be prudent to study the magazines and understand their specific styles. Having done that, one can commence writing articles that would appeal to those styles. Look at the case of someone who has to write about a spot of historic importance. His approach will certainly differ based on whether the article is intended for a business magazine, a travel blog, or a tourism website.
Writers must have the objective of selling the articles. One must write articles that will encourage more and more readers to go through them. Being able to place good content within the framework of a well-written article is a skill that writers need to develop.
Writers, in general, must bear in mind the fact that they have to write regularly if they want to improve. Practice makes perfect, and the more one writes, the better the writing becomes. It is advisable to read books and editorials that will broaden one's horizons. It is necessary to be familiar with a large number of concepts so that if you required to write on some unusual topic, the idea will not be too difficult.
At the same time, one must learn to edit one's own work. Typing errors are a fact of life. A single mis-type can change the meaning of a sentence. A spelling mistake might make the reader get the impression that the writer is incompetent. Thus, before attaching and mailing an article, it becomes essential to read through it thoroughly. Even a cursory proof-read could help one cull out a number of errors. Remember, when selling an article to a client, one must make sure that it is completely free of errors. To ensure that, one can also invest in some of the editing software that may be found quite readily.
Now, online writing may not result in a windfall. A client who needs a number of online articles is not likely to pay more than a small fraction of what an offline magazine might pay for an article with a similar word count. However, there is far more certainty if you are writing for the online world. The delays that are part and parcel of the offline magazine world are few and far between in the world of the Internet. One may not get a huge sum of money for a single article. However, one might manage to get paid a decent sum for a large number of articles. Also, most online articles are relatively short in length and tend to not require intensive research. Thus, a writer who is fairly quick can make quite a bit through this mode.
Another issue is being credited for the articles that one writes. Getting a byline may not be an option for amateurs. In fact, one might have to start out by ghostwriting for someone else. Even so, the point is that one is being able to hone his/her writing skills and receive payment for it. With time, one should be able to establish one's credibility as a writer. Then, getting a byline might just be a cakewalk.
A large number of such writers start off by subscribing to some of the many freelance writing sites. This may prove useful in the case of someone who is unfamiliar with the working. Additionally, it is a good idea to acquire a website of one's own from which one can carry out one's article writing business. It is likely that the start will be slow, but writers have to keep trying. Once the offers start trickling in, and one starts producing good articles, there is no looking back. You could even hit the big time pretty soon.
Writing Business Articles? Follow These 5 Steps To Business Writing Success
Business articles are a great way to let readers searching the Internet know everything about your new or existing company, and what you can offer them in your unique products and services.
You may be a company that only does business on the Internet, or a Brick & Mortar retail store that would like to increase their online presence via your web site to create additional exposure internationally or worldwide, and increase your customer base.
No matter what type of business approach you take, you will realize that finding a variety of marketing avenues to reach new potential customers is one of the most important components for the growth of your new or well-established business.
When you finally decided to test the waters in article writing because you wanted to add it to your overall marketing plan, I’m sure you will quickly realize that this is a very powerful, yet cost effective way to reach enormous amounts of targeted traffic!
However, in order to reach your desired traffic online, you must not only create value added, informative and creative articles, but you must place them on the Internet for people to find and read. If you’re not sure where to start, you can use my 5 simple article-writing steps as a guideline, and create your own writing style and article distribution plan that will work best for you:
Tip #1: Have a complete understanding of the business you’re in, the product and services you offer, and don’t over sell and underachieve your readers!
I’m surprised how many times I read an article where some company is telling me they will offer you the world, and when you visit their web site, it looks like they actually do offer you the world, a lot of dirt, and the some of that smelly stuff.
Example: Company XYZ expresses that they’re #1 in customer service online, and when you provide a link to your site for your readers to view your claim that you wrote in your article, the reader navigates your site, and quickly they notice you have no access to a live customer service chat service, any toll-free numbers to reach a customers service specialist, and all you’re providing them is an email address saying that you may get back to them sometime after the summer beach season is over. If you don’t offer the best customer service on the Internet or planet, don’t even think for a minute to convey that message to your readers.
Tip #2: Don’t get business article writing mixed up with a press release!
Writing press releases are a good way to get the message out that your company offers a unique and exclusive product in the market, and you want to introduce it with a bang, or that your business just hired a top executive that will drive your company shares straight up in the stock market. Writing your business article is slightly different, you want to use your article to express your company’s best features and benefits offered.
Write about how you can save time and money, or give them a better lifestyle, how about your products/services offer customers that give them complete “Peace-of-Mind”. Believe it or not, people do searches to find your products and services to either solve a problem, or possibly to fill a desired need they have. You have to tell them how you’re going to solve their problems, and fill their needs, and put it in writing.
Tip #3: Find out who your readers are, and write your article in their language!
Nothing is worse than when I come across an interesting article, and I find out halfway through, there is a completely different language that I don’t understand. There are many business writers that have a technical writing background, and when they communicate their message in the article, readers may stumble on your article that is saturated in technical mumbo jumbo that only tech savvy individuals understand.
When you start preparing to write you article, think about your people you want to reach, and who will be interested in reading your information, because if you’re writing for the non-technical person, and you put a ton of information that the average individual won’t understand, your message will definitely be lost and your readers you’re trying to attract will move on and find another article that is easier to read.
Tip #4 Once you have written the perfect article, now you want to know how to reach your targeted readers!
You wrote the perfect article, and it is jam packed with your features and benefits. You’re telling your potential readers how to reach you, but they won’t be able to reach you if you don’t take the steps to get your article out there on the web.
The best way to get your company article distributed is through ezine and article distribution directories. You may decide to only submit your articles to a select few of the top article directories that offer a high volume of traffic, but I would suggest that you consider also submitting to a variety of smaller ones, because you never know where they will be picked up from and prominently placed for inbound traffic.
One of the biggest changes happening with article directories is that you will find more niche targeted business content distribution sites that focus on your related themes. Highly consider these sites, because they not only offer you more category options, these sites will eventually be classified as an authority site on your specific business topics.
Tip #5Your Author Bio can make or break the goal of your article!
Believe it or not, but your Author Bio is probably the most important piece to your article puzzle! You worked very hard on your article, and you took the time to make sure your message was clear and to the point, but what I find with many well-written pieces is that they end with a very weak author bio. It’s like winning your customer over with a knockout presentation, and then not asking for the sale.
The same goes with your Bio, you should not over sell, but you definitely should let your readers know you’re the expert, and that everything you talked about in your article will be explained in more detail once they click through your hyperlinks. If you’re talking about a specific product or service and you have several pages with more information, normally most directories will allow you to place up to a maximum of three links including your main index page. Take advantage of this, and always maximize your links that will give you many optimizing opportunities.
These tips are pretty straightforward, and most of you would consider them to be common sense, but even the best article writers sometimes get off track, and may forget some of the fundamentals of writing. It’s always good to get some outside tips to get you right back on track. Take my advice and use it as a tool to help you design your own writing style, and before you know it, your article will be flooding the Internet with business flair!
Business Writing Tips For Professionals
Effective business writing skills can help you win that million dollar contract, earn a promotion, resolve a dispute, or generate a significant increase in new business leads. Poor business writing, on the other hand, can never be undone; it can cause you to lose business to your competition and even cost you your job. Here are 11 easy ways you can improve your business writing skills:
1. Before you write a word of copy, make sure you know who your target audience is and what specific result you’d like to achieve. If it’s an important business communication, take five minutes to visualize yourself in the shoes of the recipient and imagine what this person’s world is like.
What does their typical day look like? What are their unique needs, goals, and challenges? What problem is keeping them up at night? The more thought and research you invest in understanding your target audience and how you can help them, the more powerful and effective your business writing communications will become.
2. Avoid using your company acronyms and buzzwords. While they might seem cute and clever to you, it’s very annoying to a busy executive who has a pile of documents and proposals to read. Avoid using academic language like ‘ergo,’ ‘henceforth,’ or ‘so to speak,’ and as a general rule of thumb avoid use of technical jargon. Simplify big words: write use instead of utilize, send out instead of disseminate, fair instead of equitable, etc.
3. Use a strong, active voice instead of the impersonal, passive voice. “The meeting agenda could be discussed further” is passive. “Let’s discuss the meeting agenda” is active. Express confidence and decisiveness in your business communications. Instead of writing, “I intend to write a report on sales performance measures,” which comes across as weak and indecisive, write: “I’m currently writing a report on sales performance measures for completion on or before end of the second quarter.”
4. Write in a conversational tone instead of alienating your readers by being too formal and bureaucratic – unless you’re writing to a bureaucrat or someone who prefers formality. Know your audience!
Even if you are writing a marketing communications piece that will be read by several thousand potential readers, make your writing as inviting and personal as possible. You can accomplish this feat by writing to one specific person who you can visualize as an ideal customer. Pretend you are sitting down with this person in a bar and having a casual conversation. Write your piece with this one person in mind and you will positively engage thousands of readers who will feel that you are writing directly to them!
5. Replace hyperbole with solid facts and reputable testimonials. Phrases like, “We’re #1,” “We’re the leader in our field,” or “We provide the best service,” aren’t going to get you anywhere. Instead, use a fact such as stating that the President of a leading association ranked your company with the highest quality score out of 500 certified companies.
6. Convert product features into benefits. Mentioning that you provide automated billing or an automatic domain name renewal service does not engage your customer emotionally. Here’s an example of benefit oriented copy: “Our automatic domain name renewal service will provide you with the added security and comfort of knowing that your domain names will never be hijacked by your competitors while freeing up your administrative time to focus on growing your business.”
7. Don’t rely on editing all your important business documents from your computer desktop. Print out your document and read it out loud. If you encounter any awkwardness in speech it means you need to re-write your piece to make it more conversational and flow better.
By reading your document out loud, you will also be able to spot typos and errors that your computer spelling and grammar check program might not have detected. As an example, you might have written ‘echo friendly’ when you really meant ‘eco friendly.’
8. In writing a business letter or business proposal, it is vitally important to write from your customer’s perspective and what will interest them. Start off by writing about how great your customer’s company is and what specific attributes you like about the company instead of bragging about how great your company is. Too much use of “I,” “me,” or “our company” is a sure sign of ego getting in the way of business. Make sure to generously use “You” and “Your” in your business copy if you want to make more sales.
9. Business writing is very different from writing poetry or literature. Don’t meander or get carried away with flowery language. Write the most important point you want to make in the first sentence. If you are writing a sales letter, you can significantly increase sales by simply including a powerful P.S. at the end of the letter that summarizes the main point in a fresh way, creates a sense of urgency, or adds further credibility. Here’s a powerful example: “P.S. I’ve been invited to speak at your association’s annual conference this coming Friday and hope to see you there.”
10. Be clear, concise, and to the point. Don’t assume readers will know what to do. Guide them by including a specific call to action: “click on the link to get your special report” or “call me to set up a no-cost 15 minute consultation.”
11. Use word pictures to get your point across. Can you imagine the thrill and excitement of driving a rocket-fast, cobalt blue Porsche 911 Turbo as it whisks you to your desired destination? A well-written article or report can be like that Porsche and generate a ton of new business in half the time with more fun! After all, what’s more exciting, cold-calling prospects or having them call you? (If writing is a challenge, consider hiring a professional).
Home Business Idea: Ghost Writing
Ghostwriting is writing content for others and assigning all rights to the content to the person who has paid you for it. This means that your name will not appear on the published work and you’ll gain no public recognition for it.
Are you hoping for a home business that will let you use your creative writing gifts to generate an income? Ghostwriting may not be for you.
Just Kidding! Actually there might be some truth in it. A love for creative writing doesn’t automatically transfer into ghostwriting talent. Creative writing usually involves writing about topics that feed your personal interests. Ghostwriting on the other hand is writing about topics that other people choose and embracing writing styles that might not appeal to your personally.
If you do write well, have a strong command of language and grammar and also happen to enjoy researching a wide variety of topics, ghostwriting may indeed be a perfect business choice for you. But to succeed as a ghostwriter you’ll have to shake some of your expectation and embrace a professional business plan.
Ghostwriters serve a community of authors, speakers, internet marketers and website owners who need original content created that they don’t have the time or perhaps even the talent to create on their own. Ghostwriters pen articles, special reports, ebooks, web copy and even full length books for their clients.
Ghostwriters earn anywhere from $7 per article on the low end to thousands of dollars for a full length book. Obviously to get started, you’ll gain more clients by offering your services at a lower price. As you gain experience you’ll be able to command higher prices.
Providing miscellaneous writing services to others will often involve deadlines but at the same time it gives you some flexibility in a work schedule. You can write anytime and pick up where you left off from day to day. There’s very little need for telephone calls or venturing out of the home for appointments as most work will be assigned through emails.
Are You Writing Articles to Boost Your Business & Explode Your Sales?
For many years search engine marketing has been the most popular advertising strategy on the Internet. But, as you know, strong competition makes it extremely difficult to get high rankings in search engines. So, what is the solution to get placements in the top 20 listings in search engines?
To get the top ten rankings which receive the lion's share in attracting traffic to websites has almost been impossible for most businesses because of the insane competition. That's why online business owners and marketers are striving hard to find solutions to this problem.
Finally, they have found one affective strategy to get top rankings in search engines. They are now writing informative articles on any subject they know well. Then, they send their articles to hundreds, even thousands of online and offline publications, including newspapers, magazines, newsletters, e-zines, journals, online portals, websites and weblogs.
Utilizing this marketing strategy helps marketers expose their offers to multi-millions of target audience in related categories worldwide, attracting tens of thousands of potential customers to their websites, helping their target audience receive information, learn many things in their favorite categories, or learn the most powerful advertising
methods to grow their businesses fast.
So, articles provide the authors with opportunities to expose their offers to millions of target audience, having many of them visit their websites. You know, more traffic generates more sales. Their readers get information on the subjects they have interest in, getting answers to the questions they have in their minds, learning many methods to boost their businesses.
In fact, both authors and their audience benefit from articles in many ways. This makes articles valuable tools serving millions of people online and offline.
Because great number of people benefit from articles, search engines evaluate articles as valuable tools, too, giving them high credits when evaluating websites. This way, articles play a great role in getting higher search engine rankings.
But, most probably you are a busy person, don't have enough time to send your articles to hundreds of distribution points including magazines, newsletters, e-zines, journals, weblogs, websites. Besides, you don't know how to submit articles to those publications, you have no idea about their rules.
How could you possibly benefit from article marketing when you are unable to send your articles to any publication. To reach herds of people, millions of target audience you have to send your articles to thousands of popular publications, high traffic websites, and you are simply unable to do it!
Don't worry. There are many nice people out there to distribute your articles to hundreds of best places and popular publications for you to reach millions of target audience in a specific category. Most of these wonderful people would even do it without any cost on your part.
These are the links to the websites of free article publisher and distributors:
1. Ezine Articles.com
2. ZapContent.com
3. ArticleRich.com
4. iSnaire.com
5. Marketing for Success
6. The News
7. New Free Articles
Your original articles sharing useful information with the readers will enhance your credibility and reliability which are essential values to keep your existing customers in your business, while attracting many more potential customers to your website. Keep writing.
Article Writing: Can It Help My Virtual Assistant Business?
Question: I’m a Virtual Assistant. Can I use articles to promote my business?
Signed, Eager VA
Dear Eager VA,
Virtual Assistants are springing up all around the internet. It’s a very viable business option and more work at home moms are jumping on the bandwagon every day. The real go-getters will whip up a “business card” website right away with their contact information, ‘about me’ information, and their rates and services offered.
But, then that website sits and collects dust while they wait for the traffic to roll in. So, what’s a Virtual Assistant to do to generate traffic to their website?
Oftentimes VAs overlook one of the best methods of marketing their websites – article writing. Virtual Assistants can write about all kinds of topics – how to organize emails, customer service, hiring or firing a VA, ways a VA can benefit a business, or accounting among other things. Then, they can share the articles, just like any other website owner to drive traffic to their websites and establish an expert status in their field.
If you’re a VA who’s new to article sharing, it’s actually quite easy. You write a helpful article and include your author bio at the end. (See the end of this article as an example.) Then, you submit your article to Article Directories where hungry website owners, blog owners and ezine publishers eagerly grab your article to publish it on their sites.
Now, there is stiff competition so it’s not quite that easy, but that’s the gist of how article sharing works. And, you know it works because you’re reading my article that I’ve written and shared with article directories. There’s my URL in the author bio and you’ve found my article because someone has published it on their website, blog or in their newsletter. If it works for me, it can work for you, too.
Article sharing is underutilized in the Virtual Assistant field and I hope to see that change in the coming year. Go grab that free traffic and grow your VA business. Not only will your VA business grow, but you can share this method of marketing with your clients and blow them away with your knowledge of internet marketing. Best wishes.
Article Writing Basics - How To Make this Lucrative Business Work
There is tremendous demand for quality articles on the Internet and in the brick and mortar world. An individual who is interested in making headway in the arena of 21st century article writing needs to fully understand the article writing basics. Through this article, you are presented with some of the article writing basics that are most important to success in the copywriting field today.
Like many people, you may be looking for an online business that will prove profitable for you. In this day and age, one of the most lucrative and profitable types of online businesses that you can engage in is article writing. Through this article, you are provided with an overview of how people have found success in article writing online today.
First of all, an online article writing businesses relatively inexpensive to start. In fact, you really don't need any money at all to start your own online article writing business. You can begin the process by developing your own simple website.
Another immediate step that you can take to start developing your own online article writing business is to sign up at a freelance website. Many individuals have begun profitable online writing businesses by garnering work through freelance websites.
In addition to being inexpensive to start an online article writing business, you can maintain and build your online writing business without having major overhead. In fact, through referrals and recommendations, you can grow your client base with relative ease and no expense.
In time, as you continue to focus on your article writing efforts, you can develop an expertise in particular areas. As you develop your expertise, you'll be able to attract even more clients.
Finally, when it comes to article writing basics, focus is also of paramount import. One of the most common complaints in regard to articles that are written is that they simply do not stay on point. A write rambles away from the topic at hand and brings in extraneous material that is neither relevant nor appropriate. Proper article writing demands that a writer stay focused and absolutely stay on topic at all times.
Article Writing: Can It Help My Direct Sales Business?
Question: How can I get long-term advertising for my Direct Sales website without spending a fortune?
Signed, Direct Sales Mom
Dear Direct Sales Mom,
Very often, people in Direct Sales don’t realize they can benefit from the same methods of internet marketing that other online businesses use. Writing and submitting articles is one of those methods of marketing that is extremely effective for Direct Sales businesses.
If you’re unfamiliar with the way article marketing works, basically, you write and give away helpful, informative articles. Why would you work so hard and give away your information? Look at the bottom of this article. There you’ll see my name and a brief bit of information about what I do. I didn’t pay for that advertising. It’s free.
So, how does it work? You write an article about a topic that you are interested in – usually one that relates in some way to your business. If you sell makeup, there’s no point in writing about forest fires. So, show your expertise and share your love of what you do in a brief article. Then you’ll want to find article directories that will accept your article. You’ll submit your articles to the directories, including your author bio and a link to your website.
Website publishers, blog owners, and ezine publishers will search the directories and find interesting articles to share with their readers. When they use one of your articles, they’ll include your author bio at the end with a clickable link to your website. Voila. You just scored some free traffic.
As long as your company allows you to link to your website, (and I realize that some don’t) – you can use article writing to grow your customer list and your team.
If your company does not allow links to your website, you may be able to set up a lead generation page to get people’s information. Or you can send them to a newsletter sign up page where you can get them on a list where you may talk more freely about your products in your newsletter. Just be sure to check with your company policies and procedures before investing too much time and energy into writing articles.
Now get writing!
9 Essential Items Your Website Copywriter Must Know About Your Business BEFORE Writing a Word…
…And if he’s not asking, you don’t want him writing for you.
It’s pretty much a given…when you hire a copywriter for your newly designed web site, your getting someone with above average writing skills. But the best copywriters are more than merely good writers. They are expert interviewers, researchers and marketers. Before sitting down to compose those lead generating or sales gems, they must completely understand all the benefits of your product or service, your goals for the project, what makes your customers tick and what distinguishes you from the competition.
If your copywriter is not covering these topics and asking these questions before he begins writing your copy, you will not get the biggest bang for your buck.
Website copywriting components:
· Project Objective
Is the purpose to make a sale, educate your customers, raise market awareness of your product or service, enhance your company image…or perhaps , internally, excite your sales force, improve company esprit de corps, build company loyalty?
· Target audience:
Who is the customer to whom we are writing? What are their sex and ages? What jobs they hold? What about their social status and economic circumstances? Where are your customers geographically concentration? What motivates them? What if anything do they already know about your product/service?
· Product description:
What are all the product’s features; its specifications, components, its manufacturing and delivery process? What efforts have een made to market it to date?
· Customer benefit:
Why should the customer buy your product or service? Can you quantify savings in time, money and/or effort? What is the relative importance of this product/service to the customer?
· Support for benefits claims:
What proof is available to support your product/service claims; in the form of test data, focus group reports, testimonials? We are looking for specific, quantifiable facts here, not subjective generalities.
· Competition:
Who are your competitors in the marketplace? How can I get an objective assessment of their features and a comparison to your product or service?
· Creative consideration:
What are the limitations and constraints for the promotion; such as budget, schedule, and overall requirements?
· Distribution:
How do you intend to market this promotion? What is the planned marketing campaign…ad runs when and where, brochure distribution and mailing plans?
· Unique Selling Proposition:
What specifically makes your product/service unique in the marketplace? What separates you from the competition?
Copyright Alan Richardson
9 Tips For Writing Better Business Letters
Copyright © Shaun R. Fawcett
It’s quite amazing how often business people fail to follow basic guidelines when it comes to writing their business correspondence. That might explain why so many people come to my writing help Web sites looking for help with their business letter writing. Just as businesses need to be focused and efficient to thrive and succeed, so too does the primary tool of most businesses — the business letter.
Following are a number of tips and guidelines that I have compiled while reading and writing many hundreds of business letters over the past 25+ years.
1. Limit Them To One Page
By definition, business letters should be short and to the point, preferably one page in length. Studies have found that busy business people do not like to read beyond the first page, and will actually delay reading longer letters. So, if you don’t want your letter to gather dust in an in-basket, keep it as short as possible.
2. Be Reader-Friendly
Always try to focus on the needs of the reader and make an effort to see things from their perspective. Put yourself in their position and imagine what it would be like for you to be receiving your letter. Anyone can do this, since we are all “customers” of some other business in some part of our lives.
3. Keep The Tone Formal And Factual
Generally speaking, the tone and content of business letters should be formal and factual. Feelings and emotions do not have a place in business letters. So, avoid phrases like “we feel” and use “we believe” or “we think” instead. A cordial, friendly approach is fine. Just keep it businesslike, but avoid overly formal terms like “heretofor”, “as per”, “herewith”, etc.
4. Carefully Plan Your Letter
Before writing the letter, take a few minutes to list all of the specific points you need to cover. Sometimes it may even mean a phone call to the recipient or his/her company to confirm a specific point. Remember, the purpose of the letter is to tie up all of the details on the subject at hand, so that more letters won’t have to be written back and forth.
5. Make It Clear, Concise And Logical
Use a clear and direct writing style that uses simple words and straightforward phrases. Make sure that your flow follows a logical progression, first identifying the main subject, elaborating on it, and then drawing the logical conclusion.
6. Accuracy And Timeliness Are Key
By their very nature, business letters need to be accurate and timely. They almost always have financial implications and related impacts on other businesses and/or people. Double-check all of the facts stated in the letter, and make sure that any future dates specified give others enough time to realistically complete what is expected of them.
7. Relegate Technical Details To Attachments
Often it is necessary to include detailed technical information as part of a business letter package. In such cases, use the main letter as a cover letter that lists and briefly explains and references the attached (or enclosed) documents.
8. Use Non-Discriminatory Language
Make sure that you avoid language that is specific to gender, race, or religion in all business letters, either to other businesses, or to customers. For example, use “workforce” instead of “manpower”, or “chairperson” rather than “chairman”. Most style guides contain detailed lists of the offensive terms and some suggested substitutes.
9. Eliminate Redundant Words And Phrases
There are certain words and phrases that one often sees in business correspondence that tend to make the language more complicated and cumbersome than necessary. For example, instead of the phrase “in spite of the fact that” use “although”, or instead of “in the normal course of events” use “normally”. There are many such redundant phrases, so review your letter and eliminate them.
If you are running any type of business in which business letters are important communication tools, you would do well to take careful heed of the above tips and advice. Remember, the business correspondence that you issue is a direct reflection of the overall products and/or services offered by your business. Poorly-written, amateurish, and/or shoddy business letters will surely result in lost sales.
Business Proposal Writing: Don't Fall Into The Trap!
In business, there is a question that no sane person wants to hear: “Could you write me a proposal?”
Proposals are traps, ways to build up and break down dreams. Sound dramatic? It’s not. In many cases, writing a proposal is a waste of your time and effort. According to Tom Ranseen, of NoSpin Marketing, there are three reasons why proposals are known as traps:
1. They waste precious time that could be used looking for other prospects or providing other productive work to current clients.
2. They give pricing/packaging information to mere tire-kickers and then to the competition. You just become a number standing in line without a dance partner.
3. They give you a false sense of security that you’re doing something positive and productive in your sales process-that you’re busy and making progress-and maybe that’s worst of all.
Does this mean that all proposal requests are useless? No—what it does mean is that you have to be able to choose which are worth your time and which aren’t. Below are tips to help you make that choice:
1. If a potential client wants a proposal but has not given you a clear idea of what they want/need and do not seem able to make up their minds, the best advice is to pass.
2. Is the potential client shopping around, or looking into other prospects? A part of you will want to create proposal just to solidify your abilities ; however , be careful: a client who is unable to choose companies may not be worth the effort it takes.
3. Did your potential client demand a proposal right away? In most cases, the quicker a proposal is demanded, the more likely the client is to back away. Watch for impulsiveness.
4. Is the client unwilling to talk to your directly to review the project and /or proposal? This typically boils down to indecision or wavering interest. It is best to pull out while you can and not waste time.
5. Ask the important questions before accepting the offer to write a proposal. Make sure that the client is qualified to carry through with their plans. Are they committed? Are they financially secured? The worst thing you can do is have a client who loves your ideas but simply can’t afford them or commit to them.
6. Use common sense. Take all things into consideration before writing a proposal; it will save you time and allow you to devote your abilities to other projects.
The proposal trap is a common one in business; many hours have been wasted and many dreams shattered after falling into it. Take the time to review these suggestions and learn when to write a proposal and when to walk away.
Writing for Television
People think that writing for television and film is the same but on the contrary both the industries are different. The main elements of the television industry are networks, studios and production companies. Writers are basically hired by a studio to write for a particular network or channel. They even have the rights to sell the material elsewhere. This material is then used by the production companies to bring the script into action.
The writers face two kinds of deals, a development deal and overall deal. Development deal requires the writer to write for only a single project. Only a single story is being developed for which the writer gets paid from $30,000 - $50,000. Overall deal requires the writer to write on a long term basis and the income is more than development deal.
After the initial filtering, about 4-10 writers are selected and they are placed in hierarchy. Showrunner is at the top and is the program creator. They are the ones which have maximum experience in writing and receive an Executive Producer status and earn up to a million. Later in the hierarchy of writing team are co-executive producers, supervising producer, producer, co-producer, and executive story editor and at the end is the staff writer, also known as baby writers as they are the starters.
Aspirant writers should start by joining classes which are taught by experienced TV writers. The classes help to get the basics right and the same time helps increase the friend circle, which will be of help at some point of time. Beginners can get a break by hiring an agent which has contacts as most of the shows don't hire baby writers and it would take about three years to get the break. But at this level originality of work is what matters. Original material relating to screenplays or even a sketch material will be of good help. One can also work on spec. Specs are trailers which give the outline of the story. This shows the grasping power of the writer. Plays should be carefully chosen when writing a Spec. Do not choose a series just because it is hot or is based on fiction. While choosing a play the writer should keep in mind what he finds interesting and what he wants to work on in future. After preparing the spec, send it to the showrunner of the same show, because the showrunner will be under the assumption that no one knows his show better than himself. It is advised to send the spec to showrunner of a similar show. Specs reflect the writing ability, the grasping ability, the scene structure sense, story narration style of the writer.
With these entire qualities one can land up as a writer's assistant and if a showrunner hires the starter, it would be a good boost to him. An assistant can also witness the actual proceedings of the show and the basics get brushed up .One must never quit writing. Even if a writer doesn't get anywhere for a short period of time at least he will improve his writing skills which will be of great use in the long run. The writer should meet the deadlines when on job. Sometimes the deadlines can be short too. So constant writing can train in that aspect too.
The writers have the greatest power. He can play with the mind of the viewer. He is responsible for the shaping of dreams of millions of viewers and all this can be achieved by constant practice.
Writing your first Screenplay
Introduction to the story, characters, location and time frame should usually be the start of the screenplay. Setup is an important part as the audiences have knowledge about the movie or the performance. It's better to start with a picture rather than an unknown voice on a blank screen as that will be good to absorb the audience into the story. The image can be of anyone, either that of the actor who plays the central role, or any place like his hometown, whatever conveys the theme? Like in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a snake is shown crawling which later gets killed by Potter in order to save himself and the students.
Starting with characters interaction is also a good idea as the audience concentrate on them for a while to decide whether they want to pursue them or not and also keep them wondering about the plot of the story. But it's very important that whatever is portrayed in the first few scenes or the first ten minutes should be directly related to the story. If any irrelevant stuff is being displayed it will simply confuse the audience and can also make them lose interest.
After gaining audience's interest the next ten pages should explain about the unfolding of the story and at the same time holding the suspense of the story. Most of the characters can be introduced, environment can be created, past events can be enacted and the villain can also be introduced but that isn't a must. To build the suspense the villain can be pictured as a good guy but his reality comes to light after a bad incident or when he caught red handed by another character. But this shouldn't take long to test the patience of the viewers.
Next is the catalyst or the inciting incident which creates a twist in the movie. The normal flow of the story should be disrupted. The audience should be kept on their toes so as to retain their interest in the story. Questions like what do the characters want and what is obstructing them should be answered here. After these questions are answered the next question will be very important, that whether the evil-doer will win in his plan. Until this question isn't answered the audience waits for something to happen, they wait for some action or they wait for the climax of the movie. If the antagonist doesn't win the story will have a happy ending and the characters will live happily ever after. But if he does win, then the story will have a tragic end and sometimes will result in the death of the main character. This is known as the first act of the movie.
The catalyst or the inciting incident can be depicted as small scenes which when linked creates a mystery or with the receiving of vital information by some character or as a clash between the good and the bad characters. In the movie "Disturbia" the hero watches reports on the television about missing girls and were later found murdered. In another scene, the hero hears a scream of a girl from his neighbor's house, who is also the antagonist of the movie.
Plot point one is the climax of the movie. It occurs after the first act. They are usually meant to surprise the audience with something unexpected with the occurrence of a pivotal event. The main lead takes a risk and faces his opponent. And if it's a happy ending kind of a movie, the main lead gains victory over the villain by either killing him or making him learn a lesson. And if the story is supposed to have a sad ending, the villain gets away by causing harm to the good character. The last page should give an idea about what the future will be for all the characters and if it's a sequel, it should keep the audience guessing about the future.