Entries Tagged 'copywriting' ↓

Marketing is always changing and evolving.

It wasn’t that long ago that the staple diet of the professional marketer was newspaper ads and Yellow Pages entries. Today, if you want to be found you have to be on line.

The age of the web has developed the art of copywriting to a new level. Now copywriters have to be able to create compelling copy that convinces people to buy and spiders to rank them within the search engines. The art of the SEO website copywriter is one that is mystical and magical – it is no longer about writing nicely. Today you have to know what keywords to use, where they should be put, how you should link effectively between websites and web pages… they truely are magicians of the modern day.

If you don’t keep up with the changing fortunes of marketing your company will be left high and dry.

Keeping up with the copywriting ‘Jones’s’

Whether your company has its own inhouse copywriter or hires a freelance copywriter – hang on, you do use a copywriter don’t you?

You don’t? You could be heading for trouble then.

A recent post from Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg & Associates on What Marketing Skills Will be Needed in 2010 and Beyond? highlights the importance of the copywriter.

Copywriting is vital for businesses to survive in an increasingly competitive market place. I illustrated this in an earlier post called 4 Reasons Why Copywriting Servcies Work.

In this post I talked about the Kelloggs effect:

During the depression of 1929-33(ish) Kelloggs in the USA (whose cornflakes were a health food at the time) continued to promote as heavily with adverts, posters etc as they had been doing before that. By the time the depression was over there were no other breakfast cereals that anyone had heard of and Kelloggs achieved almost instant market domination, a position they’ve held ever since.

So what are the 4 reasons why copywriting services work?

1. They keep your product/service visible in the market place and therefore in the forefront of your customers’ mind.
2. Well written copy will increase your credibility within the market place.
3. Professionally written persuasive copy will help you by increasing your sales through targeted leads and web traffic.
4. By hiring a professional to write for you will free up your time to do what you do best.

Therefore it is a no-brainer. To make your company thrive and stand out in the market place you need to invest in professional copywriting services.

One question I am frequently asked is how I got started in the world of freelance copywriting.

Whether you’ve worked as a copywriter in an agency or company or whether you are looking to break into the industry from another direction, the thought of going it alone can be very daunting.

• Where do you find your clients?
• How do you get a steady stream of work?
• How do you find leads?

A bit about me

This is how I got started.

Before writing for a living I’d worked in the financial industry and charity world. Writing had always been a bit part of these roles, especially learning how to take on someone else’s voice. But it was my time with the charity that lead me to discover a talent for direct mail and persuasive writing.

While my children were small I did a BA(Hons) degree in English Language and English Literature with the Open University. That was the hardest 6 years of my life – trying to juggle studying with small children. But I graduated in 2007 with First Class Honours and it was at that point that I decided to take the plunge.

I wanted to work but, with a young family, I also needed to be around for them – becoming a freelance copywriter was a perfect fit.

How do you start without a budget?

Yes, I was in that boat too.

The one thing I realised (even with my limited knowledge of the internet) was that I had to be online if I was to succeed. All I had was a lap top.  So I invested some time into building my own website – without any HTML knowledge – boy was that fun! Talk about a verticle learning curve (can you have a vertical curve?) but with a bit of perseverance I got there.

Then I began researching every freelance profile and directory site and listed my details anywhere and everywhere. I didn’t realise it at the time but this would help my SEO later because of all the backlinks I was creating.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, work began trickling through. And I do mean trickle – this suited me, I didn’t need a huge income straightaway. That wasn’t why I began this venture. For me, my copywriting business is about helping people – the money is almost secondary. I get a lot out of helping other businesses – especially when I can see how much better their website would perform if it was professionally written (or their brochures, emails, newsletters etc.).

As my business grew I was able to invest in a new website and the rest is history.

The word of the blog

It wasn’t long before I realised that the best way to build content and links was by blogging. My initial tentative steps into blogging was using a wordpress blog. That was fine as far as it went, but after a huge wakeup call courtesy of WordPress, I realised I needed to get my own blog with my own URL – hence this blog.

The effect was amazing. It had only been going for about 6 months when it was picked up by oDesk in their top 100 freelance blogs. The resulting link catapulted my website onto the front page of Google for several of my keywords.

My blogging and article writing had positioned me as an expert in my field. People could instantly see I knew what I was talking about and my business grew rapidly.

10 top tips to get started

So what are my 10 top tips to break into the world of freelance copywriting?

1. Get online – make your website eye-catching and get your copy right. If your copy doesn’t sell you, how will you write powerful copy for your clients?
2. Start blogging
3. Submit articles to directories
4. Build backlinks
5. Join social networking sites and participate in forums
6. Start tweeting
7. Get out and network with local businesses
8. Get to grips with SEO – it will help you and your clients
9. Don’t be afraid to write for an industry you’ve no experience of – you’ll bring something fresh and new
10. Grow a thick skin

That’s just my story. Today I work with companies all over the world over a vast range of industries. My leads come through this blog and my website plus referrals. I no longer have to go out and find work – it comes to me.

I’m thankful to be able to do something I love, get paid for it, and know that it is helping other businesses (of all sizes) succeed too.

A resource for new writers

Has my story inspired you?

You may also be interested in a guide I recently came across called  Freelance Superstar by Monika Mundell and Gobala Krishnan. It is a complete guide to get started with freelance writing. If you are just starting out it will give you some handy tips on how to set up, find business and cope with the freelance way of life.

Good luck – and if you need any advice just drop me a line.

Sally

Producing a regular newsletter for your business is a great marketing tool.

Whether you write the content yourself or you hire a freelance copywriter, you must ensure the content is something your reader will want to read. If not, you’ll be buried under an avalanche of unsubscribers.

What makes a good newsletter?

This might sound obvious, but the clue is in the name – newsletter.

Yes, you’ve got it – news.

Tell them something they’ll be interesting in such as the latest industry news, tips that will be of use in their work, articles that are relevant to their industry etc.

This will help strengthen your relationship with your customers.

What makes a bad newsletter?

A newsletter that bangs on constantly about your achievements, your products and your services.

You walk a fine line because you’ll want your newsletter to generate business for you but you also want to build strong relationships.

How do I achieve the ultimate balance?

You provide information that is useful and relevant and within that copy you weave references to your products and services. Within this context they will appear as being of service to your reader rather than self-serving.

What kind of articles can I lead with?

It’s always a good idea to have a lead article for your newsletter. If you have too many subjects within one issue you’re reader may be left confused. Some great ideas for this are:

• Latest industry news
• Advice
• Analysis on a new topic or product
• How-to article
• Case studies because people love to read real life stories

Your additional material could be things like – product updates, news about upcoming events, general information or reminders and teasers for the next issue

Of course – the final thing to remember (as with all email communication) is to include an opt-out option.

You might think that a heading such as ‘Tips for writing for web readers’ is a bit odd – after all, who else would you be writing for?

Well with everyone concerned about search engine optimisation (and quite rightly so), some companies fall into the trap of writing for the search engine spiders rather than their readers.

Looking back through this blog you’ll find a few posts relating to this exact topic but I find it’s always useful to get someone else’s opinion on something.

Keyword stuffing is a prime example of people getting their website copywriting wrong. The only thing this achieves is filling your web pages with a load of nonsense that people won’t want to read and Google will pick up as stuffing and walk on by.

One of the key factors when writing your web copy is to write naturally to your reader. I came across a post on dailyblogtips by Debbie Dragon who expands this point further by giving 6 Tips for Writing for Web Readers.

Check it out and see where you can improve your web copy.

Further reading:

8 Tips for Great Web Copy

7 Basics to Make Your Website Readable

The Ego Website

Website Copywriting – 6 Steps to a Sticky Website

I’ve spent a lot of time in this copywriting blog talking about content for websites, brochures, emails etc. Normally I concentrate on stuff such as keyword placement, headings, subheadings, calls to action, layout…

No one likes to see solid blocks of text, they are a bigger turn off than watching Kim Woodburn eat a witcherty grub on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

The art of creating interesting text is in its layout – and especially the paragraph.

These little fellows often prove problematical to writers. When used incorrectly the reader can be left all at sea and not really sure what you’re talking about.

They can even be repititious – a sure sign the writer has run out of things to say but is desperately trying to hit his word count.

Whatever writing you are involved with (sales, promotional, business or journalistic), perfect paragraphs are paramount.

As an avid fan of Copyblogger I really enjoyed this post by Jo Morrow extolling the virtures of The Art of the Paragraph. This is a ‘must’ read for any writer out there who doesn’t want to fall foul of the “National Society of Writing Snobs”.