Archive

Archive for the ‘Writing & Speaking’ Category

Freelancing

February 2nd, 2009

Sir Walter Scott, a renowned Scottish historical novelist and poet, first coined the word ?freelance?. In his first book, Ivanhoe, which he wrote in 1819, he referred to a medieval mercenary warrior as a “freelancer.” The term has since then shifted and gained many more meanings. In the 1860s, freelance became figurative, and in 1903, the Oxford English Dictionary officially recognized it as a verb.

The word “freelance” can now be used many different ways: It can be used as a noun (freelance or freelancer), or it can be used as a verb (a photographer who freelances), and it can be used as an adverb (he works freelance).

Working freelance has become a career and lifestyle choice in many different markets, including copywriting. It has given more copywriters a variety of benefits over regular employed positions at advertising agencies and firms. These copywriters feel that freelancing is the best career option because of the flexibility and control they have over their work.

Here are some reasons why copywriters are becoming freelancers:

* Many Different Kinds of Projects. Freelance copywriting allows copywriters to work on different kinds of copywriting than if they were at a firm or agency. The Internet also offers more opportunities to freelancers: It helps copywriters gain access to more opportunities, better projects, and a higher income. Freelance copywriters can also work on different jobs at once. Meaning they could be writing a sales letter for one client, while they are writing web content for another.

* Fast Turnaround on Projects. Most freelance copywriting jobs are time based, meaning there is a time limit within which you have to complete your project. These jobs are usually done fast and allow freelance copywriters to move on to new projects quickly.

* There is More Freedom and Flexibility in Freelance Copywriting. Freelance copywriting allows you to pick when and where you work. Even though there are contracts involved, freelance copywriting is a no employee-no employer working relationship. Freelance copywriters don’t have to be stuck to a 9 to 5 schedule because they can dictate their own schedule. Freelance copywriters have more time to pursue other interests or take on more jobs. Many freelance copywriters also feel that they can spend more time with their families and work their schedule around their lives.

* Better Income. Freelance copywriters usually have a higher income over regular copywriters. Their special skill and talent help make freelancers marketable while they don’t have to give any of the money to an advertising agency. Income for freelance copywriters can vary, but most freelancers still make a great salary. Freelance copywriters can charge by the hour, day, or per-project. Some use value-based scales instead of a flat rate and payments are arranged based on agreements between the copywriter and client. Payments can be made upfront, staggered, or when the project is completed.

The Internet immensely helps freelance copywriters today. It helps copywriters and clients do business with each other from all over the world. Projects range from writing short articles to web content or sales letters. You should do some more research into freelance copywriting to see if it is right for your life.

About the Author:

Copywriting

Swipe File Secrets

January 30th, 2009

Gary Halbert was both a great copywriter and a great teacher of the art. He had a knack for making the process of creating great ads simple.

A great lesson Gary taught was how to use winning advertising and business models. Instead of creating your own from scratch. Pretend you decide to write a special report on horse racing.

How could you make things easy on yourself?

Well, maybe you can study horse racing. Maybe you can spend years around the best horse trainers to find out what their secrets are. Maybe you can get in with the inner circle of horse racing. But is all of that time, work and stress necessary? Not at all. There is a much more hassle-free method to getting everything you need to know about horse racing.

Forget about all that work. It won’t pay off any more than taking the easy road. Gary’s advice would probably be to acquire all of the best books and report written about horse racing. The hot selling ones. Read them and note all of the exciting little secrets horse racing fans want to know.

Take your notes and write that report on horse racing. And this report will contain the best of the best tips, secrets and tricks that you took out of the books and reports you read. The final result is a valuable report packed with great information horse racing fans will love.

Smart.

This lesson applies to crafting promotions. You can shortcut the entire process and create great space ads… websites… and… other forms of advertising quickly.

What we’re talking about here is referred to as swiping in advertising circles. The process simplifies everything for the ad writer. Halbert was big on swiping. He taught it during a copywriting seminar in the mid 1990’s. Almost the entire even was about the process of how to swipe to create your own profitable ads.

Look, if you don’t want to become a top notch copywriter and don’t have time to learn all the formulas, etc. then swiping is the way to go. All you have do is learn how to do it right.

Learn to swipe and life gets easier when preparing ads…

** Thing’s like writer’s block will no longer plague you. Everything you need to begin writing a great ad will be there in the swipe. Blundering your way through thinking about what to write won’t be a problem either. The swipe contains everything you need.

** You’ll write promotions at warp speed. Swiping allows you to write faster. Again, part of the reason is because you wont have to guess. You can look at a great ad and almost fill in the blanks with your copy.

** Your copy will be up to 300% more effective. Whenever you model success the odds of success are on your side. When modeling a successful ad you stand a much better chance of writing a winner.

The moral of the story is: start swiping.

About the Author:

Copywriting

Freelance Copywriting Essentials

January 29th, 2009

Freelance copywriters are in high demand these days. The Internet has made it easier than ever for copywriters and clients to find each other, which has opened up a whole new marketing world.

Freelance copywriters can find plenty of work. They are needed in every market to help catch customer attention and increase product sales.

Freelancing is not only thriving, but also competitive. This means that in order to become very successful, freelancers must make a name for themselves and firmly establish themselves in the market. If you’re interested in freelance copywriting, here are some tips to help you stay competitive:

Advertise Yourself

Self-advertisement is extremely important. You could be the best copywriter in the world and not have any clients because no one knows about you. Therefore you should do some research into how to best advertise your business. Don’t be afraid to spend some money on advertising either because it is a needed and worthwhile investment. Go to seminars and network with other copywriters, build a website and portfolio. Just do whatever it takes to get your name out in to the market.

Always Do Good Work

In order to establish a good reputation you need to do your best work all of the time. Your writing will form the basis of your business. You’re success will directly correlate with your ability to consistently produce quality copy.

Establish A Sound And Solid Reputation

A good product isn’t the only thing that goes into your reputation; your personality also affects it. You need to treat people well. If they feel that you’re cold or harsh, then eventually you’ll lose your clients. People like to work with friendly people. Therefore, be personable and nice. Let them know you’re always available for contact and interview them on the phone. You must also practice good work ethics and be a person of integrity. You also need to manage your time well and meet your deadlines. Failing to meet deadlines will singlehandedly stunt the growth of your business.

Proactively Look For Projects

You can’t just wait for people to give you work. You need to look for assignments yourself. Be vigilant and start looking for jobs before you’re done with your current work, this will insure a steady workflow. As your success grows, finding projects will become easier and easier.

One great way to find work is by asking for referrals from people you already know. This way you can start building a client base from pre-existing relationships.

You can also find projects through freelance Internet marketplaces, such as elance.com. These sites help clients and copywriters find each other. You can create a profile, post examples of your work, bid for projects, and have new project-listings automatically emailed to you. These sites make it really easy to start finding work as a freelance copywriter.

This article was supposed to help you learn a little more about freelance copywriting. Hopefully you found it helpful. Freelance copywriting has many great benefits that set it apart from most other careers and is well worth it. If you think you’d like to pursue freelancing further, then you should do some research to learn more about it. It could be a perfect career move for you.

About the Author:

Copywriting

Meet Your Deadline With A Custom Essay Service

January 26th, 2009

When you are overloaded with school work and finals are just around the corner, consider custom essay to bail you out.

If you are like 90% of college students, you put those papers off until the last minute because you just don’t feel like sitting down and putting the work in at that time. Next thing you know, weeks have passed you by and your paper is due at the end of the month. You still put it off figuring you can knock it out in a couple of days when all of a sudden another professor drops a short term bomb on you and now you are dead. There is no need to panic though, what you need to do is consider a custom essay service to get you out of the jam.

Custom essay writing services are aimed at only one thing, bailing students out when they get jammed up on work and don’t feel as though they can get it completed in a timely manner. Regardless of the length of paper, they will deliver you a quality product that can save you from academic hell.

If you are not familiar with a custom essay service, all you need to do is go on the internet and do a quick search. You are going to be surprised at how many sites pop up on the hit. There are literally hundreds of companies that specialize in exactly this. Do a little digging and you can find the one that fits you best.

When looking to hire a custom essay service to do your term paper, price is a concern, but it should probably be your last concern. The one thing that you do not want to do is hire a service for the sole purpose that they are cheaper and then end up with useless paper in your inbox. You should be more concerned about the quality of their work and also with the amount of positive reviews that you can find from them.

Most sites will actually have a tab right on their home page that will present you with either a daily sample or a group of samples. Now these should not be papers that they did for other students, they are meant to be random topics that they have one of their writers do to show the quality of work that they can deliver on any topic. Root through them a little bit and see if you can find one that is similar to what you have to do. If you read through it and are comfortable with the quality of work, you have just found your custom essay writing service!

While price is not your main concern, you don’t have to be stupid about what you are doing. If you wait too long, you will find that you have to pay as much if not more than 3 times the rate if you would have given them ample notice. Nobody can argue that shelling out $100 to get a 10 page paper is not worth it to save your grade. But if you wait until the last second, you may be paying well over $300 for the same service.

You will know if you are on a sinking ship pretty early on and when you do recognize that, it is time to start looking for your custom essay company. The earlier you can give them the assignment, the more money you save. For the most part, you will find that if you give them a week, you will get rock bottom prices. This is not to say that they won’t be able to deliver in a day or as little as 12 hours, but you are going to pay dearly for that one.

While a good student should never farm out their work, sometimes you just don’t have any other choices. It could be for a wide variety of reasons, but you find yourself in a hole and you know you are going to fail if you don’t get some help. This is when you can take advantage of one of the many custom essay services and bail yourself out.

About the Author:

Writing & Speaking

Article Writing for Beginners

January 26th, 2009

Does the thought of writing articles that millions of people could read over the Internet intimidate you? If your answer was ‘yes’, then I can assure you, you have lots of company.

A number of things hold people back from even attempting to write their first article. To begin with, they are not sure about their subject matter. Some people write strictly for pleasure and for them they would write about those things that they were passionate about and that interested them the most. However, many people wish to have their articles published to help them generate leads for their business. If that is the case, they would want their article to be able to easily relate back to their business and their website.

A stumbling block for many is the feeling that they just don’t have enough material. This is probably the easiest hurdle to overcome. If you just Google search your subject, you will come up with thousands of postings dealing with that very subject. I suggest you read quite a few of these postings to get a general idea as to where you would like to go with your particular article. A word of warning here though…..it goes without saying, that you would not copy another persons material.

There is nothing under the sun that has not been written about before. Nobody holds a patent on their thoughts and ideas, so you can get as many ideas from other people as you think you need. Even though many people might have the same or similar ideas, you will find that each person expresses them in a unique way. The very things I am writing about here in this article have been written, I am sure, hundreds of times before. However, no one has expressed them in the same way that I have. If you can get over this particular stumbling block, you will be well on your way to completing your first article.

It is recommended that an article be between 400 - 600 words. This is certainly nothing like trying to write a book. Perhaps you could compare it to writing just one page of a book! I can assure you that you will not get writers block while writing 400 - 600 words. In fact, you might find yourself trying to cut the article back somewhat, because it went too long.

The first paragraph should grab the reader’s attention. The middle portion of the article is quite often scanned by the reader. From there they jump to the last paragraph. It is here that you have to wrap everything up nicely for them. My suggestion is that you try to write as you speak. You want the reader to see your personality pop off the page. If you were to oursource your articles, it would be very difficult to create a personality through the writing, because there would be a number of different writers involved.

I would highly recommend that you give article writing an honest effort. The rewards are fantastic. Without any prior writing experience, even my first article got on the first page of Google. Remember, people are reading your article to receive information. They are not there to critique your grammar. You are not writing the article for your English teacher, but for a public who are thirsting for solid information. Give them what they are looking for and they will be happy…and so will you!

About the Author:

Writing & Speaking

Writing - Make Money with Private Label E-book Resell Rights

January 26th, 2009

In the United States, there are millions of Americans who are classified as disabled. While many of those Americans are able to go about their normal activities, such as working, there are others who cannot. A disability does not mean that you shouldn’t be able to generate income or support yourself; however, it does mean that you may have to find other ways to do so. One of those ways is a business opportunity that is taking the internet by storm, private label resell rights.

Private adjudge resell rights are offered on a number of different products. These products most commonly include, but should not be limited to, e-books, software programs, and content articles. If you are looking for a relatively cushy way to generate income, you are encouraged to further examine private adjudge resell rights for e-books. Depending on your disability, you may find that this is the business opportunity that you have been searching for.

To take part in this opportunity, you must first find an e-book author who is willing to sell you the rights to their work. This can easily be done by using the internet. Simply by performing a standard internet search, with the words private label e-book resell rights, you should be provided with links to various different offers. Each of these offers will vary; therefore, it is important to fully examine them. In addition to examining the cost of obtaining the e-book’s resell rights, you will also want to examine any restrictions imposed by the original offer. These restrictions are most commonly listed in a user agreement or a contract.

As formerly mentioned, many of an e-book offers we will come opposite will vary. There have been a series of authors who cite which we leave their work as is as good as with their name as an author. In many cases it is usually a request, though we contingency determine to follow these conditions if they have been summarized in a user agreement or contract. These sorts of offers might concede us to have some-more income since we can change an e-book to emanate countless versions, all of which we can simply sell online.

One of the many reasons why obtaining the resell rights to an e-book is a good idea, especially for those with a disability, is because of the demand of travel. For many disabled workers, the hardest part of working is getting there, especially if extra accommodations need to be made. With selling e-books, which you have legally obtained through private adjudge resell rights, you do not have to leave your home to work, unless you want to. Not only can you buy the resell rights to an e-book online, but you can also sell that book online.

In addition to travel accommodations, you may also find it easier to work at your own pace. Whether or not your disability limits your performance ability, you do not have to respond to orders from a superior. By making a living buying resell rights to an e-book and then selling that book to consumers, you will be working as your own boss. It is true that the more you work, the more money you will make, but, that does mean that you have to put in long hours. In fact, many e-book resell right buyers are more than happy only working part-time and you may also be.

Limited transport as good as singular work hours have been usually a couple of a many reasons since offered e-books might be an extraordinary as good as potentially essential commercial operation venture. Of March any a single can have income shopping a resell rights to an e-book, though if we have been disabled, we might be means to reap a many benefits. If this sounds similar to a commercial operation event which we have been meddlesome in, we have been speedy to get researching. There have been a vast series of e-book resell offers now available.

About the Author:

Writing & Speaking

The Benefits of Freelance Copywriting

January 24th, 2009

Regularly employed copywriters are finding it difficult to generate enough money to meet the rising cost of living. This has caused many copywriters to look for new forms of income. One such alternative is freelancing.

Unlike other career transitions, freelancing allows you to continue practicing your current work. Which is nice because you don’t have to build new skills from the ground up, you already have some experience as a copywriter.

The flexible nature of freelance copywriting has attracted many. Unlike other jobs, you get to control your work schedule as a freelance copywriter. You don’t have to stick to a strict 9 to 5 schedule; you just have to get your work done on time. This is nice because you can mold your schedule around your life. When you have a lot going on, lets say family is coming into town, you can just work harder before and after they show up and do less work while they are in town. It’s very liberating.

Freelance copywriters work on a project-to-project basis. This means that they acquire projects from clients and complete them by the agreed upon date. Generally, the faster you can get projects done, the more money you can make. You have to manage your time well though. But this system allows you to work on more projects at once, maximizing your profits.

Some copywriters are employed and work freelance at the same time. This can work for some, but it’s generally not a good idea. First off, it’s a little dangerous. If you not extremely proficient at managing your time yet, your schedule can get overloaded and you can completely miss out on the liberating benefits of freelancing. On top of that you can miss deadlines, which can hurt your career greatly. Secondly, your freelancing business will always be handicapped until you devote yourself completely to it. It may seem really scary, but you won’t see great success until you cut your ties and work solely as a freelancer.

There is a consistently high demand for copywriters. More and more companies are hiring freelance copywriters because they can offer a more specialized product at a cheaper price. This shift to freelance copywriters has created a great new demand for freelancers. There is also great job security as a freelancer. No matter the condition of the economy, businesses will always need to advertise their products, meaning that they will always need copywriters.

The Internet has opened up a wide range of opportunities for freelance copywriters. First off, since more and more products are being sold on the Internet, the demand for good copywriters has increased. This is an entirely new advertising platform and companies need copywriters in order to help them create good web content for their products. Secondly, the Internet gives freelance copywriters more freedom with their time. As long as a freelancer has a connection to the Internet they can work whenever and wherever they want. Thirdly, the Internet has helped freelance copywriters find projects. The Internet has opened up doors for freelancers that have not existed previously. The Internet has also helped freelance copywriters make an income that rivals and even surpasses standard copywriting jobs.

Hopefully you found this article helpful. Freelance copywriting gives you more control over your life and can help you make more money. If becoming a freelance copywriter interests you, then you should do some more research to see how to make a painless transition into freelance copywriting.

About the Author:

Copywriting

Consultants: How to “tag team” charities to get paid BIG TIME

January 23rd, 2009

Know about the psychological principle of commitment and consistency?

If not, heres what it boils down to:

Once a person commits to an action (no matter how small) that person feels compelled to continue to act consistently with that initial action.

So what? How can you use commitment and consistency to generate an income stream into your business?

There are as many ways as your imagination can stretch.

But here’s just one way I’ve used the commitment & consistency principle with a prospective client for my copywriting services.

The prospective client contacted me and said he was eager to hire me for my copywriting services but he wouldnt be able to scrape my fee together for another 4-weeks or so.

He said, “Is that cool?”

I said, “Sure, but I am very busy and so if you want me to take you seriously theres a couple things you need to do:

1). Ship me the product you want me to write for.

2). Send me a cheque for 20 pounds but DON’T make it out to my name. Instead make it out to Blankety-Blank charity; and I’ll forward the cheque on to the charity on your behalf.”

Why do this?

Not because I wanted to look over his product (12 Internet Marketing DVDs) whilst waiting for my copywriting fee to arrive.

Also, notice I didn’t ask him to make out a cheque to me. That would have made me look like a cheapskate only after his money. Instead, I asked him to make it out to a local charity I support.

So, let’s examine what happened:

I got him to commit to hiring me by sending me his product.

I also got him to commit to hiring me by sending a nominal amount of 20 pounds - which I forwarded onto a charity. This also leads to the consistency principle of him sending me my copywriting fee (i.e., I got him into the process of sending me money).

Also, by saying the money was going to a charity - it made it very difficult for the prospective client to decline without losing face. As my fee for his project was multiple thousands of pounds; if he backed out from sending 20 he’d be proving (by his actions) he wasnt serious.

Long story short

The prospective client DID happily send his product and charitable donation; he DID hire me; he DID pay my full fee; and he WAS very happy with the results I produced for him.

I think the above illustrates a good lesson for any consultant / coach / copywriter etc., who has been let down by prospective clients who say theyre for real but, only -

Play you like a fool.

So the solution is:

Get them to commit to sending you a cheque (for a nominal amount of your fee) made out to a charitable donation of your choice.

That will separate the talkers from the doers.

Try it and see!

Anyway hope you start thinking about how you can use the psychological principle of commitment and consistency to your advantage in your business.

Warmly,

Michael Silk. The Cash Flow Generator.

About the Author:

Copywriting

Infos - Make Money Selling Private Label Software Programs

January 23rd, 2009

Being infirm does not indispensably meant being cramped to a circle chair. Those in circle chairs have been classified, in most cases, as disabled, yet there have been alternative forms of disabilities. If we have been personal as disabled, there is a great possibility which we might be incompetent to work. There have been a series of disabilities which can extent a person’s capability to perform. In further your opening ability, we might additionally find it formidable to find a job. Unfortunately, even yet this shouldn’t be function it is. Instead of perplexing to find a pursuit operative for someone else, we have been suggested to be your own boss.

If you are interested in becoming your own boss, there are a number of different ways that you can go about making money. Many of those ways involve the use of the internet and working from home. This is why you and other disabled individuals may enjoy starting your own business or participating in an existing business opportunity, all because you can work from home. Working from home will not only allow you save money on travel expenses, but depending on your disability, it may eliminate the hassle of getting to and from work.

One of the many money making opportunities you will find online involves the buying of private adjudge resell rights. Resell rights can be obtained for a number of different products. These products may include software programs, a mass collection of content articles, or e-books. Of course, you can choose any product that you want, but you may seriously want to think about purchasing the resell rights to software programs. Many software programs are needed by everyday individuals, large companies, and small business owners. The popularity of most software programs should enable you to make more money, when it comes to reselling private adjudge software.

To get started making money with private label resell rights, for software programs, you will need to find an individual to do business with. In most cases, you will find that the individual you are doing business with was the original creator of the software program. Most of these software designers and developers do not have the time or the knowledge needed to sell their own products, therefore, they rely on someone just like you. They do this by selling you the resell rights to their software programs or other software products.

If you are able to financially afford the cost of purchasing software resell rights, you are encouraged to take part in this amazing opportunity, even if you only give it a chance. For many with a disability, this is the perfect way to make money. To make money with private label resell rights, you must sell your newly acquired product. There are a number of different ways that you can do about doing this. It is likely that you will find that many of these selling methods require a small amount of time and a small amount of effort.

Popular software selling methods include the creating of a product website, the use of online classified ads, the use of local classified ads, and the use of online auction websites. If properly used, all of these methods may be healthy to help you generate income for the software program, which you legally obtained the rights to. Despite the fact that these selling methods are typically successful, it does not guarantee that you fill find that same success.

Whether you are confined to a wheel chair, unable to socialize well with others, or unable to work long hours at time, you may be healthy to make a substantial amount of money selling private adjudge software. Hundreds of disabled individuals have found success with this type of business opportunity and now you can too.

About the Author:

Writing & Speaking

Start Your Story With Writing a Killer Paragraph.

January 20th, 2009

When it comes to writing an intro, what comes to mind is writing a small introductory passage. However, this is not all that’s to it. What you need to do to engage reader interest is to bring out your story in the right way. In order to do this, you need to encapsulate the spirit of the entire story and bring it out through an example. When you do this you have to be careful because capturing the story essence alone is not enough, you need to grasp the main point of the story, else the purpose of the story is lost.

The important point about writing an intro is that it must be short. When you write a headline and then put content below it, your reader will expect the headline to correspond to the story below. Readers really won’t give much time to an intro which talks about sports, when the headline talks about vacations.

Furthermore, you may have captured the essence of the story very well in the intro, but you have to ask yourself the question.. is the intro short enough to engage reader interest before the content return to elaborating on the subject a hand?

In this piece above, you can see that the intro is pretty short. This is the kind of intro that works with the audience because the reader is aware of what they are reading and absorbing it fully. The reader knows what the article is about in a broad sense and therefore they know what to expect inside the story.

In short, if you give an introduction that is really long, but which has not connection to the headline, you could be putting down your story like nothing else and this really spoils a good story.

Another point is when you use anecdotes. You should let your reader know before-hand how your anecdote relates to your topic before you tell it to them, else the reader will leave out your topic, even before you begin to elaborate your point.

Furthermore, what is really necessary is to put the spirit of the story in as few words as possible. The aim behind the introduction is to bring across the boarder meaning of the topic.

So, what you need to do is think about your intro is a broader sense and then bring out details that will help to bring this forth clearer and omit those which don’t. It’s better to leave out details such as dates, names, descriptions and diversions when they are not relevant to the main point presented in the anecdote, as they will not distract the reader from the real point you wish to make.

For more details and my inspiration for this article you can visit my site mentioned in the Author field.

In order to gain reader attention, you have to write out a good introductory passage by giving it that much thought and consideration. It is how you present the introduction that leads the rest of the story for the reader. So, think about our intro carefully and only put into it those details which help to do this and leave out those that don’t.

About the Author:

Writing & Speaking