Build a Boutique Agency In Your Spare Room

A boutique advertising agency is small but nimble, offering a variety of services to an array of clients, each of whom wants something different. To become a successful service provider, working out of a spare room over the garage, takes hard work, innovative, on-going promotion and quality word of mouth (WOM).
So, if [...]

Media Kits: Downloadable Advertising

Fortune 500 companies have press kits available on their websites. So do most of the sites that comprise the Russell 2000. Even small, one-person service providers make press kits available in the hopes of getting some free “ink.” And why not? Print media needs green content just as much as web sites so, if you [...]

Add Value To Your Writing: Add Pictures

Snap Some Pix, Land More Jobs

If you own a digital camera, or want to invest in one, you can land more writing gigs. And you don’t have to be a great photographer. If you can take a few, decent product shots to go along with your product description copy, you can charge for [...]

Expand Your Writing Menu: Writing Scripts

 
Writing words that people read is very different from writing words that people hear. When reading, the reader can go back and re-read a section. Not so with words that are heard (at least not without a rewind button).
 
But there are plenty of writing opportunities that’ll change your style to one people hear instead of [...]

READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!Writing Newsletters That Get Read

A lot of site owners use newsletters for a lot of different reasons:
– They make good bait for opt-ins.
- They contribute to the “value-added” equation of a suite of products.
- They keep you and your site before the eyes of consumers.
- They encourage repeat visits to the site.
- They deliver current, up-to-date, utile information.
If [...]

Once You’ve Landed The Gig: Now What?

Stay In Close Touch With Clients

You finally get an assignment. All of your marketing has finally paid off with a paying assignment. Most excellent, and good for you. But now what?
How do you engage the client, define the project parameters and discuss the difficult topic of payment – something even the best client hates to [...]

Writing For The Latino Market: Hablamos Inglés

 
 
 
 
On the web, whether you’re Amazon or Fred’s Hub Cap Center, every sale counts and while we may spend endless hours and countless thousands of dollars on optimizing our web sites for search engines and improved conversion ratios, how many web site owners have overlooked the fastest growing segment of the American marketplace – Latinos.
Latinos [...]

Hiring A Web Writer: 10 Tips

Your website is often your first (and only) introduction to a potential new buyer. That’s why it’s critical that everything on the site look and sound professional. Good product pictures, easy-to-navigate tool bar, a simple few-step checkout and, yes, good copy.
You might not think professional copywriting is important. You could do it. Or maybe your [...]

Engaging Your New Client: The Discovery Phase

 
Congratulations! You landed a web writing gig and you’re about to discuss the project with your new client. Usually these chats take place by phone since your client could well be a few time zones away.
 
Now, during this initial conversation – sometimes called discovery – your objective is to ask the right questions and take [...]

Writing Sales Copy That Sells

Don’t Push The Sale!

We’ve all seen the long-form sales letter, usually touting a course, webinar or ebook download that’s going to turn around your life. These endless piles of steaming hype are everywhere on the W3, all reminiscent of Dr. Whizbang’s Medicine Show.
The problems with these long-form sales letters are many. Let’s look at a [...]