The never-ending question: article marketing – does it work, or not? Wanting to create more passive income, I decided to give article marketing a REAL try. The following are results so far (this is Part 3 of a 5-part series).
Following are more of the sites I’m consistently submitting articles to. I chose them because they had good PR and Alexa rankings.
What are PR and Alexa rankings? For explanations of these, as well as details on the beginning of the experiment, see the 10/26/06 post on InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com.
11. SubmitYourNewArticle.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 62,309.
You must create an author account to submit. They approve your account pretty much immediately.
The submission process is a breeze and the site offers article stats, primarily, how many times the article has been downloaded, how many times it has been sent to friends, and how many articles you’ve submitted (a tracking feature).
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At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?
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12. Amazines.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 16,710.
I love the ease of this site. Once you create an author account, you can start submitting. They also have a bulk submission feature, which allows you to submit more than one article at a time. This site also has a tracking feature, so you know what you submitted, and when.
One of the coolest features of this site is that it shows you how many articles are in each category. For example, as of this writing, the WRITING category had 1,090 articles, while EZINES has only 25.
If it’s a toss-up as to what category to submit to, this can be a handy guideline.
13. GoArticles.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 2,407.
You must create an author account to submit here. A really progressive feature of this site is the feed they set up for authors (many directory sites now offer this). This makes it easy for readers to get your content.
This site also has a tracking feature so you can keep track of what you’ve submitted. And, it provides individual article stats (how many words the article is and how many times it’s been downloaded), but you have to click on the author’s name to get this information.
In my opinion, this is a bit odd because it took me a few minutes to figure out how to find the article stats.
But hey, with its Alexa and PR ranking and the sheer number of articles (almost 300,000!), it’s a site you can’t afford to overlook.
14. Isnare.com: This directory has a PR rank of 5 and an Alexa rank of 5,323.
I love the ease of submission of this site – once you create an author account. BUT, it takes a while for them to approve your article for publishing – unless you use their paid submission feature (Platinum account).
Eg, I submitted an article on 10/19, and as of today (11/1), I’m still waiting for that article, and subsequent ones, to be published.
What does their Platinum account include? Among other things, article distribution to over 40,000+ publishers and hundreds of article directory sites for a fixed amount per month ($59.95). I have to say, it seems like a good deal – especially when I consider the amount of time I'm spending each day just submitting to 25 sites manually (about two hours).
If you're busy, this is a huuugggeee chunk of time (see what I do for you guys?!). Once I finish my little case study (on 11/18), I will be looking into paid submission software/services, and this is one I’m seriously considering.
Besides the absolute horror of manual submission, I'm considering using this site's submission service because it has a testimonial from a name I recognize and trust, Jenna Glatzer, Editor-in-Chief of Absolutewrite.com.
15. NetpreneurNow.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 49,423.
This site can be a bit confusing when you log on, eg, where is the “Submit Article” button? You have to click on Article Directory (left hand side of home page) and then you see a link that reads “Post a new article.”
You don’t have to create an author account to use this site – tres cool! BUT, it also doesn’t offer any tracking features or article stats. So, you’re on your own here (eg, get out your article tracking pad and resign yourself to submitting and forgetting).
You’ll have to check your server logs to see if any incoming traffic was generated from articles posted here.
What are server logs? Basically, they are reports you can get from your web host that tells you where visitors from your site came from, eg, a click from an ad on Google, a link from an article on IdeaMarketers.com, etc.
Again though, as this site has good rankings, it’s worth it to submit.
COMMON PROBLEMS WITH ONLINE ARTICLE MARKETING
Delayed Publishing: Many article directories take days, even weeks, to publish your content. This is a double-edged sword. On the positive side, ostensibly, it means that articles are being reviewed and there is more quality content out there; eg, less garbage on the web as a whole.
The negative is that it takes longer to get the word out about your product/service. So, figure this into your marketing timetable if you are rolling out a new product/service.
Tracking the Effectiveness of a Directory: It is highly unlikely that you will have time to do this with any degree of detail, unless you have major chunks of time on your hands. As noted throughout this series, some directories have tracking features and provide article stats, some do not.
In my opinion, time would be better spent targeting highly trafficked directories, submitting to them, and judging the “overall progress” of your article marketing campaign “over a period of time – eg, a month, a quarter, half-year, etc.”
BE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
I once read an article that said, especially with Internet marketing, it’s not the immediate results you’re after (although I have been pleased with this aspect of my little campaign so far), but the long-term benefits of establishing yourself as an expert.
Once you establish your abilities and your trustworthiness –- and this comes from prospects seeing you in many different places across a period of time – it will be that much easier to make the sale.
As with any business venture, article marketing can garner profound results, but it takes time and effort, effort and time, to get the long-term rewards.
WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE MONEY?
Holding steady at about 2.5 times what I was making (per day) before I started this experiment.
READER QUESTIONS
As I've been getting quite a few inquiries from readers, I will devote Monday's (11/06) issue to answering all of them. So, send in yours.
In the meantime, be sure to catch the rest of the case study. I've been an online marketer for a while and am learning a lot! As a matter of fact, I will be conducting a similar study with online groups/forums/message boards next (details coming after 11/18).
Stay tuned for Part IV tomorrow.
P.S.: Send in your questions. So we all benefit, I'm trying to wring every bit of useable data out of this experiment that I can. As with any study, it's input from many sources that yield the best results.
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about freelancing in the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
How Article Marketing is Significantly Increasing My Income (Part 3 of 5)
Case Study: How article marketing is significantly increasing my income (Part 2 of 5)
Following are the latest details on my experiment – article marketing (does it work, or not?). Listed below are more of the sites I’m consistently submitting articles to.
See Part I of this series for how and why these sites were chosen.
6. Alumbo.com: This site has a PR rank of 5 and an Alexa rank of 64,317.
You must sign up for an account to submit here. I find their submission process awkward and a bit confusing. Eg, you have to choose what category to submit to, and this is not easy they way they have it set up because you’re not sure if you’re choosing the right thing.
Also, no article stats are provided here – not even a page that lists the articles you’ve submitted. Without this, it makes it hard to keep track of what you’ve submitted already. In my opinion, this is a basic because if you write a lot and submit to a lot of directories, you need some type of tracking mechanism to stay organized.
NOTE: In most of the directories, you have to choose a category, but it is pretty simple and straightforward. This is not the case with Alumbo. You’ll just have to see for yourself what I mean.
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At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?
Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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7. ArticleCity.com: This site has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 6,630.
You don’t need to create an author account to submit here. The process is very easy and straightforward. No article stats are provided though (bummer!).
You can click on your name and find out which articles are live on the site, but there is no way to find out which articles you’ve submitted already. This is important because they take 15-30 days to approve an article for publishing, and if you don’t keep track, you won’t know if you submitted a piece already, or not.
One cool feature of this site is that you can submit articles in bulk (more than one at a time). There are stipulations, but being able to do this makes submission so much faster.
8. Zinos.com: This site has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 6,630.
Zinos is not an article directory, but a digest of eZines on the web. You must create an author account to submit and it provide a list of articles you’ve submitted, but no article stats.
The one thing I don’t like about this site is that they assign you an Author ID, which you must use to sign in. I don’t like this because most of the time, once you’ve created your account with a directory, your username is your email address and your password is something you create.
As they assign you an Author ID, I can never remember it, so I have to stop, locate it and put it in. It’s a small thing, but it interrupts my flow of work. When you’re manually submitting to many directories, this is a major time buster.
9. WebProNews.com: This site has a PR rank of 7 and an Alexa rank of 3,980.
This is a news site for e-business professionals. Although this is not an article directory, I had written an article that fits well with their content and I knew it had a good chance of being picked up.
FYI, this site only accepts articles related to “eBusiness, search engines, information technology, or web development.” So, I haven’t submitted every article I’ve written to them, because all of my articles don’t fit their guidelines.
Tip: To dovetail on the above, only submit relevant content to directories/sites. The one thing you don’t want to do is get banned from a site for submitting content that doesn’t fit their guidelines and/or submitting poorly written pieces.
Most article directories have sufficient categories that you will easily be able to find one that fits your material. If a site is not an article directory, then look for guidelines that tell you what they do accept.
10. Buzzle.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 5,835.
You must create an author account – then wait. With most directories, once you create an author account, you are able to log in instantly, after clicking on a confirmation email that they send to you.
With this site, you have to wait to be approved – it only took a few days, but compared to other sites, it’s a little hitch that makes you go “rats!”. Worth the wait though with their rank and all.
This directory provides limited article stats and it’s easy to submit once your account has been approved.
Questions from Readers
Q: Are you posting the same article to each of these different directories?
A: Yes. This is how article marketing is done.
Is this seen as spamming? To be honest, I don’t know. All I can say is many times I have found one of my articles in a directory that I did not post to. I can only assume that some directories pull from others.
Q: Are you posting to each directory every day?
A: Yes, which makes it so time-consuming.
Many of the directories are similar, but some allow HTML, while others do not. So, I create an HTML-coded version of the article, and a plain text version. Then, I simply copy the version the directory accepts into the box.
How the Money is Shaking Out?
Right now, running about 2.5 times/day what I was making before I started this experiment. FYI, I’m doing a day-to-day comparison (eg, Sept 30th to October 30th earnings). At the end of the experiment (11/18/06), I will compare 10/18 thru 11/18 to 9/18 to 10/17 for this year and for last year.
Building Your Brand — Getting Name Recognition
Before I started this experiment, when I typed my name into Google, the count came back at between 700 to 800. Yesterday, I googled my name and the count came in at 11,200. Last Friday (10/27), my name returned 14,200 results!
Why is this important? Simply put, the more visible you are, the more credibility you build. Remember, most prospects have to see your ad 7-28 times (depending on the source you cite) before they will buy from you.
So, while this may not lead to direct sales, when a prospect is looking for what I’m selling (my ebooks if I can ever find time to get them onto ClickBank.com), my name will hopefully be top of mind (at least in the top 3).
Stay tuned for Part III tomorrow.
P.S.: Please send in your questions. So we all benefit, I'm trying to wring every bit of useable data out of this experiment that I can. As with any study, it's input from many sources that yield the best results.
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Monday, October 30, 2006
Case Study: How article marketing is significantly increasing my income (Part 1 of 5)
Last Thursday, I reported on an article marketing experiment I am in the midst of conducting. Specifically, I wanted to create more passive income, so I decided to give article marketing a real try and see how it went.
All this week I will be dispensing details about this on-going experiment. For details on the beginning, click here.
Following are the sites I’m consistently submitting articles to. I chose them because they had good PR and Alexa rankings. If you don’t know what a PR or Alexa rank is, it is explained briefly below, with links to other sources for in-depth information.
1. EzineArticles.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 552.
This is perhaps the number one article directory on the net. You can submit across a number of categories and the submission process is very easy.
You must create an author account to submit. The thing I like the most about this site is that you can track your articles and it gives you a wealth of information like how many ezines picked up the article, how many hits it’s gotten, when you submitted, etc.
To me, the best part of this directory is that they post your article within 4-6 hours, once you’ve achieved platinum status, which is not hard to do.
POST CONTINUED BELOW
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.
Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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2. ArticleDashboard.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 3,461.
Again, you must create an author account to submit. It’s easy to submit once you do this. This directory also gives some article stats (eg, how many times the article has been downloaded, emailed to others, etc.).
3. IdeaMarketers.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 8,897. You must create an author account and article stats are provided.
4. EasyArticles.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 52,143.
You must create an author account to submit. Beyond providing a list of articles you’ve submitted, this directory doesn’t provide article stats. The submission process is very easy once you’ve set up an account.
5. PowerHomeBiz.com: This site has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 25,152.
NOTE: This is not an article submission site, but a small business portal of sorts. I submitted to this site because they don’t publish “fluff” articles. There is a certain level of professionalism that you must have to get published on this site. They don’t publish just anything and it gives you a certain level of prestige if you’re lucky enough to be published here.
I got good e-zine subscription rates from an article that I had published on their site a couple of years ago. The article was entitled, Why You DON'T Need National Media Attention to Grow Your Biz.
In the article, “What Is Page Rank?” by Kimberly Bodane, she describes why page rank is important, as well as what you can do to improve yours.
You’ll also find a detailed article on problogger.net (“Google Page Rank Explained”) with helpful feedback from other readers.
Alexa Rank: An article on e3Server.com, What is Alexa Ranking, describes Alexa rankings as “a very powerful tool of viewing and comparing web site traffic for one site to the rest of the web.”
The lower the ranking, the better. Sites that rank 100,000 or lower are considered extremely popular.
To learn more, type “alexa ranking” in the search engine of your choice and do some reading. You’ll be able to get a full understanding by reading a few articles of detailed information.
Why I Used PR and Alexa Rankings as Markers for My Article Marketing Campaign
To be honest, I’m an SEO (search engine optimization) neophyte. I don’t like learning about technology – I’m a writer; all things technical bore the bejeezus out of me.
BUT, I have read enough about these two tools to know that they are important and that if I was going to use article marketing to create passive income, I needed to rely on getting the word out to as many as possible. This only happens via sites that are extremely popular.
How do you measure the popularity of a site? Via its PR and/or Alexa ranking are two viable ways.
It seems to me that when I didn’t update the site as regularly, it’s ranking was fine, but as soon as I started to fiddle with it, the rankings went in the crapper. I’m sure some experts can tell me why. From what I understand, Google sometimes changes its algorithms, and that can cause site rankings to shift significantly.
To find out your site's Alexa's ranking: Go here: http://www.Alexa.com.
Show Me the Money!
Okay, all of that is fine you may be saying, but what about the money? During the first few days of my experiment, my Google Adsense earnings quintupled. That’s what got me so excited.
Well, my earnings have cooled off, but I am still, on average, doubling what I was making before I started this experiment.
Further, I said that I was submitting an article a day (excluding weekends) for 30 days to 25 different sites. I've missed one day so far and since not all sites were appropriate for certain articles, on some days I've submitted to only 20 or so sites. For me, this was enough to be considered "significant."
Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Thursday, October 26, 2006
Case Study Details: How article marketing is significantly increasing my income
Coming Monday: More details on my article marketing experiment, eg, which sites do I submit articles to, how do I select them, why did I select them, money earned to date, etc.
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I recently wrote an article entitled, Article Marketing: Long or Short Articles -- Which Is Better?. As you know from my current little article marketing experiment, I've been submitting to a lot of sites. Hence, reading a lot of submission guidelines.
Guess what? It seems that I'm not the only one to realize that longer articles are better. I remember when I first started marketing with articles about three years ago, guidelines generally called for articles between 400-600 words. Many did NOT want you to go much over that.
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program! Before year's end our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank. Stay tuned for details.
Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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Many of the sites I'm currently submitting to now request articles of AT LEAST 500 words. One even had a minimum requirement of 700 words. I think this bodes well for the quality of material to be found on the web.
In reading submission guidelines, I got the distinct feeling that directory owners were sick and tired of the poor quality of many articles.
So, you may be thinking, how long should an article be?
Personally, I've found that between 700-900 words allows you to cover a topic in-depth enough to give the reader enough information so that they feel like they've learned something. Or, at least to make you feel like you've dispensed some helpful, useful information.
Now that article marketing seems to have settled in as a viable marketing tactic, and many are using it, how do you differentiate yourself from the pack? I covered this in the previous article, but following is a quick recap:
1. Sincerity: It can be sensed, even via the written word. Human nature can sense when someone is dumping a load of bull on them. Quit thinking about what you want to sell a prospect and think about how you want to help them.
Ostensibly, you created your product/service because it fills a need. So, look to why you originally started doing whatever it is that you do. Spell out the benefits the customer receives (eg, it will make you happier, save you time, etc.), not the features you want to sell them (eg, it has a fancy top, it goes really fast, etc.).
2. Be Yourself: Nothing sells like personality. Personality helps in developing a relationship. People buy from those they know, like and trust. Once a relationship is developed (no matter how peripheral at first), these sentiments can easily be built upon.
When you consider that most prospects have to see your ad 7-28 times before they will purchase from you, then the sooner you can start that relationship, the better.
So, if you're quirky, let that show through; have a wicked sense of humor, bring it on; have an interesting hobby, are a world traveller -- let readers know a little about you!
A recent post explains how to go about this: Increase Your Freelance Income by Finding Your Unique Voice.
3. Give details, details, details: Some studies cite that up to 86% of web surfers are looking for information when they go online. Don't disappoint by glossing over a subject. Give details -- and this includes recounting what DIDN'T work, as well as what did.
If you follow these three rules, you will create a loyal following of readers who will be happy to not only see your article in their inbox, but forward it to their readers. And that, after all, is what you're after.
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Article Marketing Experiment: Does It Work, or Not?
I was going to give an update on this next month, as I'm only a week into my experiment, but I got so excited about the results so far that I wanted to share.
Also, I posted a comment (listed below) on another blogger's site. As it so happens, he had conducted a similar experiment in March of this year.
What was the experiment? Article marketing. I've been a user of this technique to a limited degree for the last 3 years or so. Wanting to create more passive income and having read so much about article marketing, I decided to give it a real try.
What prompted this whole thing is that I've been so swamped with projects this fall that I'm literally at the point where I realize that to keep the same income (gotta pay the mortgage!) and still have a life (ie, work less), I need to create more passive income.
With all that being said, read on for the results.
Be sure to click over to Yaro's blog to read a lot more on this if you're really interested.
POST CONTINUED BELOW
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank!Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?
Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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Yaro,
I read your post with great interest because I am one week into doing this very same test. [Note: I started the experiment on October 18th. I don't submit on the weekends and have missed one week day so far.]
I have been a freelance writer since 1993 and have been had a niche site online since 1999.
I’ve been a part of the Google Adsense program for about a year and a half. I’ve made decent pocket money with this program, without putting any effort into it. All I did was slap the ads on the pages and forgot them.
I’ve also been marketing with articles for about 3 years now — submitting to a few major directories a couple of times a month (mainly ezinearticles.com and ideamarketers.com).
Upon deciding that I wanted to create more passive income, I decided to give article marketing a REAL try. I decided to submit one article to 25 top-rated directories for 30 days straight.
Only a week into it, my Google Adsense income has quintupled (increased 5 times) and my subscriber rate has increased 3 fold. And this is after ONE WEEK.
Now, my site has been around a while, but my Alexa rank sucks (although my site does have a PR rank of 6).
[NOTE: The highest ranking I've ever enjoyed in Alexa is in the 800,00s. Now it's at 6,000,000+. But, I've never really understood SEO and don't worry about these things.]
Anyway, given these very early results, I’d say that article marketing does work. BUT, you only get out of it what you put into it. I’ve been submitting articles manually and it does take up a chunk of time — about 2 hours a day.
I’m always skeptical of “easy” money-making techniques, but I’d read so much about article marketing and had experienced newsletter growth from limited efforts with it in the past, so I wanted to see what it would be like if I really pushed it.
Now, if I could just get some feedback from users on which article submission software to use — that would be great.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I wanted your readers to have a complete picture so they could understand my conclusion about article marketing.
Continued success to you, and thanks for the post.
Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black,
PubliserInkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Increase Your Freelance Income by Finding Your Unique Voice
If you want to increase your freelance income, find your unique voice. What do I mean by this?
A personal story: About three years ago, I started to market myself as an “conversational” writer. Meaning, my writing connects with readers, not by polished so that it sounds like business speak, but by being conversational in tone, as if the customer were sitting right across the table.
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank!Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?
Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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I enjoy this type of writing; it fits my personality. Hence, it flows more easily. And, you know what, my income has increased because of it. I can’t attribute this change to so-called better work, but because it flows easier, I’m able to work faster and with more creative juices flowing.
Sure, I can still do “business speak” pieces. But, I enjoy the conversational, more chatty pieces better because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 40 years on this earth is that people want -- and need -- a human connection. And, this usually occurs in the simplest of ways – a dash of humor here, a universal anecdote there.
Big words, pie charts and spreadsheets all have their place, but people buy – whatever – because a human connection is made, hence, a relationship can be developed.
So, how do you differentiate yourself from all of the other freelance writers who may be smarter, more experienced, better educated, etc.? Your personality. It’s what makes us all unique.
To give a couple of examples, I get sucked into Jenna Glatzer’s articles every time I run across one of them. Her sense of humor is outrageous and she tells you all kinds of quirks about herself on her website. She’s the Editor-in-Chief of absolutewrite.com, a good freelance writer’s resource, by the way.
Darren Rowse over at problogger.net is a bit more reserved online, but his genuineness (eg, trusthworthiness) as a person is very evident throughout his blog.
The last few days, I’ve been wrestling with starting a personal blog. I started thinking about this because a few weeks ago I mentioned on my site (InkwellEditorial.com) that I was running my first marathon in November. Since then, I’ve received personal inquiries (eg, how long have I been a runner, where is the marathon, how old am I, etc.).
So, I started to think, should I start a personal blog? And, if I did, how personal would I want to get. I still haven’t quite figured it out yet, but I know I’m somewhere between Jenna and Darren.
NOTE: I mentioned the marathon because I wanted to explain to readers why I was putting off publishing a promised e-course.
Anyway, my point in this post is, figure out what voice you’re most comfortable with and carve out a niche for yourself doing that type of writing – even if it’s just a small niche. It will pay off simply because you’ll enjoy those types of assignments more.
Now that you know why you should find your unique voice, how do you go about it.
How to Find Your Unique Voice & Capitalize On It
Follow these 3 simple steps to find your unique voice.
1. Assess your sense of humor: OVERALL, is it dry, sarcastic, witty, self-effacing, dark, etc.
2. Ask 3-5 close friends to describe your personality: Sometimes, the way we see ourselves is completely different from how our friends view us.
3. Write freehand: When you're writing just to write -- just for you -- what is the general tone of it?
By doing these three simple exercises, you should be able to get a pretty good idea of the kinds of writing at which you would excel.
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Freelance Writers: 14 Tried & True Ways to Make More Money (Pt 2 of 2)
Continuing yesterday’s post, Freelance Writers: 14 Tried & True Ways to Make More Money:
8. Do a Freebie: When all else fails, this is a great standby.
As a personal example, I recently decided that I wanted to do some work for a local government agency (I’ve seen some of their material and it’s not up to par, and I also have several more ideas that could increase their visibility in the community).
So, I’m currently working on a brochure that I plan to present to the communications manager, whom I happen to know from networking (see, “Why Every Freelance Writer Should Join a Chamber of Commerce” on InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com).
Now, I’m doing this “freebie” because I know that if I can get my foot in the door, I can get more work from other city agencies.
So, when all else fails, a freebie can be your calling card.
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank!Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?
Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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9. Create a Backlog of Material: There are days when I just want to write. I don’t want to market, I don’t want to do follow up calls, I don’t want to do interviews – I just want to write.
Sometimes, I have the luxury of giving in to this. I may turn out 5 or 6 articles and come up with ideas for a dozen more and create outlines for those.
This is why I always have a backlog of material. On days when I don’t feel like writing, I will market the pieces I’ve written. The point is to take advantage of whatever mood you’re in, as long as it’s not throwing in the towel.
NOTE: The following are what you might call cerebral ideas, but you have to get the brain moving before anything else can work, soooooooo:
10. Stop Procrastinating: We all do it – but have you ever stopped to figure out how much it’s costing you in real dollars?
When freelancing, time is money, so if you can cut down on the surfing, answering email, talking on the phone – whatever it is that sucks up your time – and churn out one more marketing task a day, think how that can add up over weeks and months and by year’s end.
11. Pay for Knowledge: Many times, we get so stuck in our own world that we don’t take the time to expand our skill set. And I’m not talking a grave amount of time here.
Eg, how long would it take you to learn how to build a simple website? Learning how to do this can add a whole other revenue stream to your business. I falter on this myself.
I ordered a new software almost two months ago and have yet to open it. I bought the program because it would allow me to add another revenue stream to my business, but I have yet to get around to opening the box.
I tell this story to make a point – if you are a real do-it-yourself, then by all means, e-learning and/or figuring it out yourself might work for you.
HOWEVER, if you are extremely busy and/or a procrastinator, take a class with an instructor. You will get the knowledge you need and are more likely to use it than let it sit on a shelf and collect dust (note to self: open the box!)
12. Create a Dream Life: What do I mean by this? Think where you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years and ask yourself if what you are doing at that very moment is propelling you toward that life.
This has snapped me back in line on hundreds of occasions. When I get unmotivated, lazy, and/or find myself doing something other than what I should be doing during the hours I set aside to devote to my “business,” I remember that I want to have the option of retirement at 55, that I want to travel 3 months out of the year, that I want to be debt free in 10 years, etc.
Your goals may be different. But when you make your dreams a priority, not a distant “someday goal” to achieve, your every action will be oriented towards making it happen.
Nothing succeeds like perseverance – there will always be those who are smarter, faster, funnier, wittier – whatever. But, a field you can always compete on is perseverance – most don’t have that.
13. Become an Optimist: Although this may sound a little new agey, we really are what we think.
If you start to dwell on how hard freelancing is, how frustrating, how underpaid you are, how many rejections you received – and believe me, I KNOOOOOWWW the feeling – you start to internalize those negative feelings. This stops the natural flow of ideas.
So, by all means, eat that pint of ice cream when yet another client cancels a project, but don’t grab a cookie too. Grieve and move on.
I’ve come to embrace my failures as much as my successes because invariably, I can pinpoint a success on a failure. What I mean is, I can look back and go, wow, if that [bad thing] had never happened, then this [good thing] never would have.
It is absolutely uncanny how life works. Life is a series of yings and yangs. Learning to appreciate this will only make your life easier – on all levels.
14. Do Something Completely Different: And I’m not just talking about projects – I’m talking about life. Try bungee jumping, motorcycle riding, hang gliding – the point is to recognize something you’ve always wanted to do and finally just do it!
Have you ever eaten the Raisin Bran? You know how after a while the raisins settle in the bottom of the box and you have to shake it to get them to come back to the top.
Well sometimes you have to do that to life – that is, shake it up for it to offer you its best. Even if the only thing to come out of it is one more thing you crossed of your life’s “to do” list, then, you’ve gotten your two scoops out of life – if only for a day.
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May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Freelance Writers: 14 Tried & True Ways to Make More Money
1. Subcontract from Others: Many freelancers forget this strategy, or don’t use it because they are reluctant to contact other freelancers because they are the “competition.”
However, many successful freelancers often get overwhelmed and need help. To make the contact professional and “non-threatening”, say something like the following:
Dear Ms./Mr. Smith:
I noted from your website that you are a copywriter specializing in corporate finance. I read several of your articles and your list of clients. I was impressed with the quality of your work and the breadth of your experience.
I’m contacting you today because I would like to form a mutual alliance, eg, if you are ever in need of help on a project, or need a reliable person to outsource work to, feel free to contact me.
FYI, I am a copywriter specializing in general finance. I have written on everything from mutual funds to personal wealth management (samples at http://www.mywebsite.com/). A list of references attesting to my professionalism and reliability can be forwarded at your request.
If I ever come across a project I can’t handle, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black
P.S.: I advise contact via email, and a follow up with a phone call after about a week.P.P.S.: The first paragraph of this correspondence is particularly important. You want to establish that you know what they do and have taken the time to review their website and several samples of their work.
This does two things: 1) it lets them know that you are not just collecting addresses and sending out a form letter to everyone; and 2) by doing this, it shows your professionalism. For added measure, you may even want to mention the title of several pieces of their work that you have read. This makes them much more likely to contact you.
NOTE: When you subcontract, the pay is probably going to be much less than what you’d make if you’d garnered the assignment on your own, but hey, it’s a job – a job that you didn’t have to market for.
POST CONTINUED BELOW
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank!
Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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2. Build Basic Websites: With all the “ready to go” software available now, there is no reason that freelance writers can’t build basic websites for clients.
Most clients just want a web presence. Template software makes it as simple as clicking and adding text (which you already provide anyway). As a one-stop resource, this is aneasy service to add to your existing business.
Nervous about delving into this realm? Don’t know HTML from a hole in the ground? Don’t want/need to learn anything about building websites? Guess what? You don’t have to.
Team up with a web design company and/or another freelancer who offers this service and outsource it. You can pay them the full fee, or get a cut off the top of every client you refer to them. Either way, it’s a good vehicle for bringing in more clients.
3. Target a Business Niche: Most freelancers know that the real money to be made is in the business community, ie, commercial writing. But, with so many types of businesses to target, it can be hard to focus.
Solution: Target a niche. For example, I target realtors and mortgage brokers. Why? Because I have been both in my professional career. Hence, I know a lot about these markets.
The best way to find a niche is to start with your professional/personal background and write down all of your skills and knowledge in each particular area. If you don’t find a suitable niche from this exercise, try your hobbies.
No luck in hobbyland? Try what you would like to learn about/have an interest in. What makes freelance writing so exciting these days is that with the advent of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to research a particular niche and gain a wealth of knowledge in a relatively short period of time.
So, no matter where you are skill wise, don’t let lack of experience be a barrier to targeting a market.
4. Have More than One Income Stream: However, try to make your second income stream compatible with your first.
Eg, build websites; create an e-book and sell it via Clickbank.com, or on your own website; create your own line of writing paraphernalia (eg, t-shirts, cups, mouse pads) on cafepress.com do logo design – the possibilities are endless.
5. Become a Resource for Others: I forget who said the following, but to paraphrase:
“To get what you want, help others get what they want.” Ie, become a go-to resource. How?
Build a website with helpful resources and links
Participate in forums and ask questions
Have a helpful Q&A on your website
Publish an industry “must know” list
Create a forum on your website
The list is endless on how to go about this.
But, once you are known for being a resource, you become the go-to person, the industry “guru.”
NOTE: This is a roundabout way of getting business and takes a longer time, but over time, the amount of business it can bring in is immeasurable. Projects will seem to come to you effortlessly once you build up this kind of reputation.
6. Develop a Marketing Plan: When I first started freelancing, I was doing a lot of work in the legal field, because that was my background.
Not relying solely on freelancing, I just kind of took what came my way, eg, I didn’t devise a marketing plan. Once I decided that I really wanted to make a go of it, I finally did this.
Drawing on all of my experience and what I liked to write about, I decided to target the real estate and mortgage industries. I wrote 5 articles within each specialty and developed brochures and postcards introducing myself as a freelance copywriter specializing in newsletters for real estate and mortgage professionals.
Focusing my marketing efforts did two really important things for my business: 1) it DECREASED my advertising budget; and 2) it INCREASED my income. How?
Focus helped me to hone in on a specific market. Not trying to be everything to everyone, I could deliver a concise message to a defined group. Therefore, I spent less.
I increased my income by being more productive. I could sit down and pump out 10 articles at a time because I knew the industries I was targeting. I always had a cache of new material on hand. And, the old material I had could be rewritten with a different slant, then sold.
As demonstrated here, writing for a defined market saves time (eg, reslanting old material and writing numerous articles at once). This goes directly to the bottom line, which leads to my next point.
7. Market Incessantly: When freelancing, time literally is money. You should always be marketing for new clients. When you are busy, it’s easy to forget this.
The one thing I like about writing for a defined market is that you have so much more time to market for new clients, because, as outlined above, the work flow is so much smoother.
In conclusion, the problem many of us have when we encounter a list is that we try to do everything on it and wind up not doing any of them well.
So, take 1-2 ideas from the above and really own it (work it!) and watch your income increase.
TOMORROW'S POST: Part 2 of this article.
May be reprinted with the following, in full: Copyright, 2000-2050, Yuwanda Black, Publisher, InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Friday, October 20, 2006
Email Marketing: Improve Your Open Rate by Up to 60%
Did you know? According to the latest issue of WebProNews, a report issued by InternetRetailer found the following:
Email openings improved by 45% if the advertiser used dollar amounts instead of percentages eg, save $20, as opposed to save 15%.
Email openings improved by up to 60% if a branded subject line was used.
Imagine the effects on your bottom line if you improved your e-campaign marketing rate by even a fraction of this!
Monday's Topic: Freelance Writers -- 14 Tried & True Ways to Make More Money (as always, specifics, specifics, specifics will be discussed)
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative?
Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing.
**************************
InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank! Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How?
Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Freelancers & Small Business Owners: What to Look for in a Chamber of Commerce
This post has moved. Same great content; new site design.
Why Every Freelance Writer Should Join a Chamber of Commerce
This post has moved. Same great content in a new site design.
Monday, October 16, 2006
When the Word “Freelancer” Can Kill Your Sales Pitch
There are times when the word “freelancer” can kill your sales pitch. Just like location, location, location in real estate is everything -- in the uncertain world of freelancing, perception, perception, perception is the golden rule.
So, following are three instances when you should refer to yourself as something other than a freelancer.
1. Networking Functions: I’ll use a personal example here. I attend many networking functions in pursuit of business. When I do my elevator speech*, I usually refer to myself as a freelance business writer.
However, when I do my follow-up, I use the phrase “business copywriter” or “copywriter.” Why? Simple. In a group, many ears are listening and freelance conveys an overall idea of what I’m all about. The broad groups gets the broad message. BUT, when I follow up, I use the more specific term, ie, business copywriter.
POST CONTINUED BELOW
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank! Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book.
Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!****************************************************************
Usually I will forward/will have forwarded samples of my work to prospects so that when I contact them, they have some reference point from which to judge. This is why it is important to target a niche and market to that niche, ie, I’m a real estate writer, a technology writer, a finance writer, etc.
While you can ostensibly write for many different markets, it is much easier to become successful as a freelance writer if you target a niche and market the hell out of it! (See the article, How to Develop a Niche with NO Experience & Make it Profitable for Years to Come, on InkwellEditorial.com for more on this).
*Elevator Speech: A 10-second commercial you can repeat in your sleep potential prospects. Every professional – and too many writers don’t treat their livelihood as a profession – should have one of these.
Mine is, “I’m a business writer with particular focus on marketing and real estate issues. I produce copy for everything from brochures to websites to direct mail pieces.”
2. Direct Mail/Sales Materials: Why wouldn’t you want the word “freelancer” on these?
In my experience (and we’re talking 19+ years in the editorial industry), using the word freelancer conveys the message – cheap/will work for free/will work for food/can write about anything and will do so for chump change.
Sorry, but this is just my feeling – and my experience.
When you define what you do in specific terms, ie, legal writer, direct mail copywriter, it immediately adds more prestige to your image. It conveys a message of “I have some experience here that is worth paying for.” Not, I’m a starving hired hand.
When you put your image out there – particularly if you are paying for items to promote your business – ie, brochures, postcards, etc. – you want prospects to immediately connect with what you do.
Nike Your Way to Success!
A good example, Nike. While there are tons of sneakers – Nike separated itself by being the shoe of ATHLETES. It’s not the first shoe you think of when you think of style, but if you think of running, golf (thanks to Tiger), basketball (thanks to MJ), I’ll be Nike is in the top three.
And, that’s all you can hope for.
“Freelance Writer” doesn’t convey any specialty – there’s nothing to make the skill stick to.
I understand why many freelancers do this – they’re trying to attract as many clients as possible. But again, lest I sound like a broken record, take the time to define and go after a niche and hang your hat on that. You’ll be much more successful much quicker than trying to target everyone with your services.
3. Seminars/Presentations: If you are lucky enough to speak to a group of people, remove the word freelancer from your presentation (almost).
When I speak, I always address the issue of freelancing” I usually say something along the lines of:
"Yes, I’m what most consider a freelance writer. But, what I’m going to talk to you about today is my real job, how I became a self-sustaining, work-from-home, business writer."
Usually, I get a few confused looks. And I go on to explain that:
"There is a difference. The difference being that freelancing is usually not thought of as a business."
I further explain that I think of, and conduct my writing career as, a small business -- a small business that provides business writing services to a myriad of clients. I clarify for them that I believe that my success can be attributed to this fact.
That’s when I usually grab their attention.
Then, I go on to say that they may refer to me as a freelance writer, but I refer to myself as a business writer/small business writer/business copywriter. This gives them something else to add to “freelance;” it gives the word freelance something to stick to.
Why would you want to give the word freelance something to stick to?
The Power of Qualified Referrals: When prospects think of you, or think of recommending you, you want them to refer people who can actually use your skill set – and to whom you will have to do little actual selling.
If you tell someone that you’re a freelance writer, but don’t tell them what you specialize in, they may refer you – but it will be someone you can’t work with. This damages you in two ways:
a) First, it may make people hesitate to refer you again because they don’t have a clear picture of what you do. When people are unsure, they don’t act. So, make sure what you do is crystal clear so that when people refer you, they can also rave about you!
b) Makes you look incompetent: As a writer, your job is to get a message across. If you can’t even get your own marketing message across, how can you possibly convince a client that you can make their message crystal clear?
Conversely, if your message is seamless, you can use your own site/brochure/newsletter as an example: ie, remember when you went to my website? Could you tell immediately what my message is? Well, I can make sure that your message comes across just as clear.
Boom – contract signed!
In conclusion, it has been my experience that people listen peripherally, UNTIL you hit on something that appeals to them. So, while using the term “freelance” can garner you some initial interest from prospects, being specific is what will bring in the money.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Article Marketing: Long or Short Articles -- Which Is Better?
Most online professionals know that article marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote a product/service. However, when marketing with articles, which is better, long or short articles?
Most experts say that articles should be between 400-600 words, give or take 50 on either side. However, in general, I disagree. Why? For the following three reasons:
NOTE: There are times when shorter pieces -- eg, Tip of the Day, Just an FYI, an editorial/opinion piece -- are justified.
1. Not Enough Detail: Many articles are written to sell something. So, a business owner may pay someone to write a general article on their topic to drive traffic to their site. This is fine, but as a reader, when I’m searching for information, I usually want details that go beyond what a general article will dispense.
It's frustrating to just get the tip of the iceberg – ie, information I may already know – and not get the meat of a subject.
This is a big turn-off for me. And when I visit a site, if it’s filled with a lot of these what I’ve deemed “common sense pieces,” with no “meat” information, I conclude that the site owner is more interested in selling me a product/service than educating me on a particular subject.
Education leads to knowledge which leads to trust, which THEN leads to SALES. If more online sellers would realize this, they’d do better.
POST CONTINUED BELOW
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Coming in January.
At the end of this one week, five-step course, you will have a concrete business and marketing plan for your freelance enterprise. Even if you've been a freelancer for years, this course will help you "laser focus" your efforts and exponentially increase your income. Via this course, secure your first client within 30 days -- or your money back!
Make Money with Our Affiliate Program: As of this month, our e-books will be availabe via ClickBank! Learn everything you need to know to work from home as a Freelance Writer, Editor, Proofreader, etc. How? Order an InkwellEditorial.com E-book. Receive 7 EBooks in All! Delivered right to your inbox immediately upon payment!
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I don’t know about most surfers, but when I look for information, I want the personal experience – how you did it, what worked for you, what didn’t work – and why. This is the real benefit of the Internet. It allows a true exchange of first-hand information.
When you’ve used a product, built a business, found an effective technique – and can back it up with a personal story (eg, this is what happened when I did “x”), it gives sooooo much more validity than just spouting off what can easily be found via official sources.
And again, this leads to knowledge, which leads to trust, which THEN leads to SALES. Why? Because people get the feeling that you know what the heck you’re talking about.
INSIGHT: I particularly like personal stories that detail what didn’t work so well? Why? Two reasons: a) It saves me from making the same mistake; and 2) allows me to brainstorm about how to do it better. It also lends an air of truth (hence, validity) to whatever sales pitch you’re making.
This leads to my final point – failure.
3. Don’t Tell Me What To Do, Tell Me What NOT to Do: Many articles begin with “How To.” And, this is fine most of the time. But, also take the time (eg, expand the word count) to tell me what NOT to do.
To digress a minute, I don’t know how/when we became a nation of people afraid to admit failure, but that’s almost the first lesson of success. It takes failure to get to success.
I’ve failed at so many things (especially businesses) that I just have to laugh as I look over the list (yes, I keep one). But you know what, I wouldn’t know half of what I know now if I hadn’t failed so often.
When you gain knowledge via failure – you’ve earned it – that’s like money in the bank. You can move forward confidently because you know what, for sure, DOESN’T work.
Why "Failure" Increases Sales
When a writer drones on and on about this, that and the other, I’m searching for the grain of truth, for the human element of failure. Admitting to failure does three things:
a) It tells me that you’re passionate about your product/service: When you’re persistent enough to keep trying something after failing at it – you’re either just plain crazy, or passionate about it. This passion will always be translated to your end user -- you just have to trust me on that.
b) It tells me that you’re human: Part of connecting with a customer is making them feel like you understand their situation. If you excel at something all the time – well, I just can’t relate to a person like that. If I can’t relate to you, you’re going to have a harder time selling to me. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible, it just means you’ll have to work that much harder.
c) It tells me that you care: When you fail – and put it out there for the world to dissect – it tells me you care enough about me, the consumer, to want me to avoid the same mistakes. And you know what, I’ll like you for that, trust you for that and BUY FROM YOU because of that.
Sincerity can be sensed and if you have page after page of obviously canned material on your site, re-evaluate why you are really in business. Remember, article marketing is not about dispensing information – it’s about dispensing helpful information -- and that usually calls for more than 500 or 600 words.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Food for thought for those of us who love the English language
Publisher's Note: The following was forwarded to me via email from a family member. I don't know who the author is, but it is hilarious! Enjoy the weekend upons us.
Best,
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
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English is a crazy language. Proof?
Why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth?
And if teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes, I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all; that is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
P.S.: Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "Quick?"
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InkwellEditorial.com E-Course: Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Because of my extremely busy work schedule and a personal goal I'm working towards (I've been training for my first marathon and will do it on Thanksgiving Day in Atlanta), I've put off publishing the e-course until January.
As a freelancer, you have to take good fortune when it comes. Once it quiets down in early December, I'll have time to put the finishing touches on the course. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I promise it'll be worth the wait.
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NEXT POST: TUESDAY, October, 10th.
