Knowledge is Power

If you’ve decided to become a copywriter, you’ve made one of the best decisions you can possibly make. There was a time when it seemed that most writers were broke, starving artists. Not today. Yes, many of them still are; however, those who have become freelance copywriters who consistently repeat certain successful practices, have a different story to tell.

It’s like an epiphany when, as a writer, you realize you don’t have to be a writing slave for someone else until you get your big break, which may never come. Actually, freelance copywriting requires consistence and persistence, but it’s not grueling. And the sky is the limit when it comes to how much money you can earn. You set your rate. You decide how many hours you are willing to work to earn X number of dollars.

To top it off, your quality of life improves immensely. Your work environment is whatever you want it to be. If you want to stay in your pajamas and work on your laptap in your bed, you can. If you prefer to sit in your backyard, or walk your dogs and record your copy on your cell phone’s recorder, you can. The choice is yours.

There are three things a successful freelance copywriting business must have, and they are: time-management, motivation and a commitment to marketing your freelance business.

Time Management

Set aside a number of hours per week for your business. Divide this chunk(s) of time into smaller chunks of time and allot a task to each slot. The tasks could include things like: sending out a newsletter, tweeting, blogging, real life networking, social media networking, drafting and mailing sales letters to prospects, cold-calling, learning and applying the latest copywriting techniques and, of course, writing copy for clients. The point is that you want to be certain that everything that needs to get done to keep your freelance business up and running ends up in this schedule you devise.

Motivation

There are many ways to get motivated. One way is to stay in touch with the industry; that is, join the newsletters of successful freelance copywriters. Listen to their webinars; read their blogs, white papers and other information; and drop by their forums and expos or conferences. Stay current with what’s going on with their copywriting businesses and the copywriting industry overall. Many of the leading copywriters share their experiences and reveal how they’ve dealt with certain issues that you may have. A lot of them also talk about their triumphs and tell you exactly how they got there. Moreover, they impart very useful knowledge and let you in on secrets that you would never get from a competitor at a day job. Copywriters are generous like that, and the more successful they are, the more they divulge. If you are genuinely interested in the freelance copywriting, this will help you stay focused and, equally important, motivated.

A Willingness to Market Your Freelance Copywriting Business

Putting a marketing plan into action is not hard. Creative people tend to recoil when they hear the word marketing. However, to be a successful copywriter, you will need to market your business, but it’s not as grueling as you think. The great thing about marketing your copywriting business is that there is a marketing method that suits every personality and every style of work. If you are shy and not a people-person, but don’t mind talking on the phone where no one can see you, you can do cold calling. If you prefer not to speak at all, you can send out a sales letter and sales emails. If you are sociable and like meeting people, there are scores of networking groups, mastermind groups and business groups, many of which offer a great number of opportunities to promote your freelance copywriting business. Of course, there is a right way to network and many wrong ways, so it behooves you to check out one or two articles written about the optimal way to network off line and on line.

Becoming a successful copywriter is not hard. Simply remember to manage your time wisely, stay in touch with the industry so you can stay motivated, and market your business consistently. If you wanted, you could even have a freelance copywriting business up and running in the next 60 days.

Stacey Mathis Copywriting/Consulting: Guiding New Copywriters to Successful Freelance Careers. Your Free Information-packed Special Report is available at http://www.staceythewriter.com

Do you have an online business? Congratulations! There are so many exciting new ways to market your service or product, as you may already know. Or perhaps you’ve been hired to write articles for a client’s online business, and want to make sure you’ve thought of everything. This article outlines the key actions to take in writing professional, well-written and engaging content for an online business.

Action #1: Most online businesses have a matching online newsletter that comes out on a regular basis. Others are retailers who sell both on line and in stores, and use both email messages and hard copy catalogues. In every case, the articles (and other content) are focused on the benefits to the client. Your article may be about what you sell, but it must definitely tell the reader what they can do with the product and/or how the product will help them. “Our furniture is made of solid oak” doesn’t work as well as “Furniture from the Orchard Studio is made of solid oak that lasts for generations.”

Action #2: Begin your article with some intriguing statement or anecdote, as a way to draw your reader in.

Action #3: Remember that an article in a newsletter is not a sales tool, but a way to provide useful information to your clients and prospects. Over all, your newsletter should have only 20% promotional material-the other 80% should be informational. The purpose of the newsletter, especially its articles, is to be helpful and to demonstrate the depth of your knowledge. The more your clients see how expert you are, the more likely they are to trust buying from you.

Action #4: If your articles are to be published in an enewsletter, with the use of an email service provider, keep them quite short-200-300 words. People reading on line scan, rather than read carefully, and only read small portions of the content. If you believe that your content is important, while too long for an online newsletter, simply provide the first paragraph or two in the enews, and then provide a link to the rest of the article on your website-which is where you want them to go, anyway!

Action #5: If you send out a hard copy newsletter as part of your marketing plan, even though your business is entirely on line, you are free to use much longer articles. For example, Upton Tea Imports, in Holliston, MA, does almost all of its business through the web, but they also provide a 20-page combined newsletter and catalogue. The articles in the newsletter, highlighted on the web, educate the reader about the history of tea, its harvest and curing, and the many different ways it has been sold over time. Since Upton’s readers, as tea-drinkers, have a special interest in the subject, this makes good sense.

Action #6: Your articles, whether long or short, should be well-written. This means following all the rules of grammar, and proof reading for typos. Read the article aloud to yourself-a great way to spot rough patches-and ask someone else to read it over for errors. Remember that spell-check doesn’t catch everything!

Copyright (c) 2010 Jane Sherwin. You may reprint this entire article and you must include the copyright info and the following statement: “Jane Sherwin is a writer who helps hospitals and other healthcare facilities communicate their strengths and connect with their readers.”

Learn more about Jane at http://worddrivecommunications.com/index.htm. Subscribe to Jane’s free monthly e-newsletter at http://tinyurl.com/2enrdqx for practical tips on communicating effectively with customers, clients, employees and the public.

Here are 10 mistakes that writers tend to make when writing articles for newsletters or magazines. Keep the list nearby and rely on it to help you produce your best work, making your editor and your readers happy!

Mistake #1: Your article is too long, or too short

The right length of your article depends on context: How long is your newsletter? Readers who count on a 12-page hard copy newsletter will expect your lead article to be 1000 or more words. Readers expecting your monthly e-news will, on the other hand, count on your key article to be no more than 300 words, if that.

Mistake #2: Your paragraphs are too long

Despite the rules you learned in middle school about paragraph structure, it is always possible to break your paragraphs into two, or three. Just be sure that those three paragraphs have valuable content, rather than repetition.

In the long run, paragraph length has more to do with layout than with content. Again, the appropriate length of your paragraph depends in part on context. If your article is in a 2-inch column it can be 15 lines long without wearying the reader. If, on the other hand, your article covers half your newsletter’s front page, 15 lines may be stretching it. The purpose is to keep the reader reading, and this is more likely to happen without a wide swath of type.

By the way, paragraphs can never be too short, just like this one, especially if you want to highlight the content.

Mistake #3: Your title is inappropriate

It’s not about your subject, thus misleading the reader. It’s too long (try to stick to about 5-7 words). It’s boring-needs some color, using verbs. It helps to invite the reader in, by suggesting interesting content.

Mistake #4: You refer to readers in the third person (they, them) rather than the second person (you).

Your newsletter is about your readers. Refer to them directly, e.g. “Our patients are our key concern. We value your opinion and your good word (not ‘their opinion and their good word’).”

Mistake #5: Your opening is of little interest, rather than gaining the reader’s attention with an anecdote, or a startling fact.

For example, if you are writing about a patient’s recovery from heart disease, don’t start with a general statement about the causes of unhealthy hearts, such as “Heart disease is often related to lack of exercise.” Instead, begin a story about the patient, e.g. “Henry Smith had always thought exercise was a waste of time, until he experienced chest pains one autumn afternoon in 2009.” Work into your article some information about causes of heart disease, along with Henry’s own treatment. Conclude your article with a description of Henry out walking his energetic new dog.

Mistake #6: You’ve provided lots of facts, with no sources given. People want to know what you base your statements on.

Newsletter articles are not generally scholarly papers, so you don’t need detailed footnotes with bibliographic information. But, you do need to tell readers where you have learned the information you provide. For example, if you’ve discovered at Jakob Nielsen’s site on the Internet that users have time to read 20 percent of the words on an average web page, simply tell your readers that this is according to Jakob Nielsen at useit.com.

Mistake #7: You’ve not proofread or spell-checked your content.

This one should go without saying, right? But, it’s easier said than done! Try to include these steps:

Use spell-check and grammar tools.

Print out a copy and read it aloud, looking carefully for typos and other errors like “manger” instead of “manager.” Spell-check will not find everything for you!

Ask someone else to read your draft.

Remember that spelling and grammar can make a huge difference in your reader’s impression of your content.

Mistake #8: You’ve written for the wrong audience.

Oops! I was once asked to write an article for low-income seniors about staying healthy in wintertime, and my editor sent it back saying “This needs to have shorter sentences and simpler concepts so our readers can follow what you are saying.”

Always, always start by considering your audience. Stop for a minute and imagine your reader, seated at a desk, or in a comfortable chair, or waiting in a car. Are they old, or young? Harassed, or at ease? What are their interests-and their reading level?

Mistake #9: Your article doesn’t meet the requirements specified by your editor.

Oops, again! If you are your own editor, you are presumably following your own directions. If your editor has sent you a set of instructions for the newsletter, be very sure that you understand. Even if you think the instructions are clear, it’s wise to send a message with an outline, in your own words, of what you think the editor is looking for.

Mistake #10: Your article is boring.

Even if your reader has absolutely no interest in your content, you can make your article interesting. Keep your words and your sentences short. If you have data to provide, do so in brief chunks. This is a newsletter you are writing for, not a technical report. Use anecdotes. Describe the location where you’ve gone to learn about a new medical device, or the office of a new employee you are interviewing. Tell your readers why your information is significant to them.

Copyright (c) 2010 Jane Sherwin. You may reprint this entire article and you must include the copyright info and the following statement: “Jane Sherwin is a writer who helps hospitals and other healthcare facilities communicate their strengths and connect with their readers.”

Learn more about Jane at http://worddrivecommunications.com/index.htm. Subscribe to Jane’s free monthly e-newsletter at http://tinyurl.com/2enrdqx for practical tips on communicating effectively with customers, clients, employees and the public.