Entries from April 2012 ↓

This is one from the archives, but still very relevant…

Content is everywhere.

Some of it is great – informative, funny, attention-grabbing, persuasive, powerful…some of it is, well, pants quite frankly.

You would probably be hard pushed to recall a great ad or piece of copy, but I bet you can remember the bad ones.

As a copywriter or online marketer, you’ll want your copy to be remembered for the right reasons.

To avoid falling into the trap of producing bad copy, I have compiled a list of 20 sins that you should avoid.

1.  No attention-grabbing headline

2.  No sub headings

3.  No benefits

4.  No guarantees

5.  Spelling and grammar mistakes

6.  No testimonials (believable ones, anyway)

7.  No features

8.  No conversational writing or questions

9.  Over complex and long sentences

10.  No deadlines

11.  No strong call to action

12.  No free trials

13.  ALL IN CAPITALS

14.  Very few ordering options

15.  No visuals (all text is a bad idea)

16.  No comparison against competitors

17.  No emotional appeal

18.  Way too much jargon

19.  Text is either too small or too big

20.  Not enough white space

I’m sure you can provide further examples, if so I’d love to hear about them.

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn has grown from a fledgling platform with 4000-odd members to hundred million strong global users. More and more members are now discovering its scope as a networking channel. If you have checked LinkedIn off of your social media radar, you need to take a fresh look at the platform now!

Though it cannot surpass the obvious benefits of Facebook fan pages and more recently, those of Google+ brand pages, it can certainly help small businesses and entrepreneurs connect with potential clients. LinkedIn is not only your online resume; it is a chance to woo clients!

Here are a few tips on using LinkedIn as a marketing tool:

Join groups

Groups are the simplest way to communicate with people who share similar interests. Use the LinkedIn search feature to find groups to participate in. If you’re a freelance social media consultant, join social media marketing groups such as Social Media Marketing, Social Media Today, and Digital Marketing.

Participate in discussions

Participating in group discussions helps you network with other users and increase your list of connections. A lot of business owners also visit groups, either to keep updated with industry news or to find people to work with.

In either case, group participation helps you build trust. It also helps you in proving yourself as a subject matter expert, thus helping prospective clients make an easy decision about hiring your firm.

Think of it as a networking opportunity, similar to what you’d do in an offline environment. Use groups to sell your skills, not by direct upselling, but through creative, thought provoking, and logical discussions.

Understand that groups are visited by a global audience – keep your replies gender neutral and don’t include any racial biases.

Get recommendations

Recommendations are a clever way to demonstrate client feedback and testimonials. They tell people about your work style and what makes you different from other people with the same skills.

To get a recommendation, choose the “Recommendations” link under “Profile”. Select the role you want a recommendation for, decide who among your connections would be the best person to ask for a recommendation, and send them a message.

When selling a service, showcase recommendations from as many clients as possible. Recommendations are an opportunity to tell people about the work you do, how good your skills are, and what an amazing person you are to work with.

Write a great profile

Your profile is the first thing people see on LinkedIn and if you want them to read the whole thing, you have to make it interesting. Don’t copy information from your resume; create a short, enticing bio about how you can help them and what makes you different from your competition.

While the purpose of a LinkedIn profile is to list your abilities and credentials, don’t make it all about you. Clients are not visiting your profile to read about you, they want to know how you can help them and what you can do for them. Give them what they are interested in.

These simple tips will help increase your visibility on LinkedIn and get you more clients!

Author Bio: Joe Linford contributes on behalf of social shopping sites Broadband Genie and Crowdstorm 

The author’s views are entirely their own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas. 

This is a departure from the usual blog posts on copywriting, marketing and social media that you usually find here.

But after being asked to review a new book on internet safety, I felt compelled to write this.

It’s so easy for parents to think…

“That’s OK, I don’t need to worry about what my kids are up to online. They know right from wrong; I don’t need to look over their shoulder.”

If you really think that, take a look at a few of these statistics:

• About a  quarter of the 1000 reports per month received by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) relate to online grooming
• In a CEOP survey (2011), one third of children said they have received unwanted sexual comments online or by text message
• In May 2011 the FBI issued a statement warning parents that there’s an estimated 500,000 paedophiles online at any one time
• 1 in 3 11-16 year olds have experienced some level of cyberbullying (BeatBullying report 2011)

That’s pretty scary stuff, and when you consider 61% of parents know less about the internet than their children do, it’s time to stop burying your head in the sand.

Make sure you keep up and stay informed

These statistics are just a few that are mentioned in “I Can’t Keep Up!” – A ‘Clear as Crystal’ guide to keeping your family safe online by Charles Conway, an internet safety consultant with Clear as Crystal Training based in Wrexham, and an associate member of the UK Council of Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS).

As a mother of two teenagers (and prolific user of all things tech), I like to think I’m fairly switched on when it comes to the internet and potential dangers. But, I have to say, that Charles’ book certainly taught me a few things I wasn’t aware of.

Most parents think they have a firm handle on their children’s internet. But have you thought about what goes on when they are away from home?  I can’t keep up runs through all the dangers of the internet and the variety of ways your children can be exposed to it, whether that’s through e-readers, games consoles, free wi-fi zones, mobile phones etc. – oh yes, I bet you hadn’t considered half of those before, had you?

It’s not until someone spells the potential out to you that you really begin to understand the dangers.

But this isn’t a guide designed to frighten the living daylights out of you. It’s an education into what can happen; an explanation of cyberbullying; information about social networking, parental controls, internet predators and how children can be lured to inappropriate content on the web. It takes you through each element and explains what it is.

It tells you, in simple terms, what can happen (with some examples that really make you stop and think) and what to look out for if you think your child is a victim of cyberbullying and what you can do to prevent it. Plus, there’s a very useful list of recommended websites where your children can learn about how to stay safe online.

If you have children, work with children or care for children, I Can’t Keep Up! Is an essential guide that you must read. The only way we can keep our children safe online is by being educated ourselves.

Remember, the internet is not regulated, there is no one patrolling its cyber alleyways to make sure no harm comes to your child. If you want to your child to enjoy the internet and all the good it can bring, get smart and get educated, and get yourself a copy of I Can’t Keep Up!