Yep, this is the place to post your best stuff and let the world make you a better writer. Got the guts? Tired of talking about it?
Post your blog address and let us take a peek at what you got.
Or post right here already and take that first step. And remember, NO POETS.
Come on, wannabes. This is where you get good.
editor@webwordslinger.com
Oh, come on.
How do you know if you have the chops to cut it as a web writer – someone who works in his/her slippers feeding the beast (search engines) with green content.
Are you telling me that you don’t have something to show the world or me? Look, you want to do this, it takes guts. That’s what a web writer is – a geek with guts.
So post it here. Or leave your blog link so we can all see what you got.
To be something you’ve never been, you have to do something you’ve never done.
So do this. Yep, it’s scary, but what’d you expect. It’s writing, for crissake.
So post it. Here. Now.
We’re waiting.
editor@webwordlsinger.com
I guess I’ll be the first, feel free to take a look at the blog and would love any feedback:
http://www.ignite-media.com/marketing-blog/
Hi, Ignite Media,
Great looking site and the content reads well – engaging and informative.
My only suggestion is to reconfigure and add more navigation tabs. For example, while examining your tiered-packaging page I resorted to the site map to get back to the home page.
Tabs could be labeled Home, Services (add a little detail here to sell the services), tiered-price packages (very smart for buyers and you), etc.
The content is absolutely worth a read. Ignite Media, regular contributors to SEOmoz.org, has good content and offers a lot of services for start-ups and established e-business.
The only thing I’d consider is accessibility of information. How many clicks does it take for the visitor to find the desired info?
Finally, you’re very brave about going first. Thanks. First-rate site and blog. Please stop by.
PL
I found you on Twitter and finally am checking out your blog! It looks great and the topics are widespread and informative. I’m defrosting my blog from a long winter (or 2008) of very little activity.
http://www.webwritinginfo.com
You can check mine out – we are using the same tempate:)
Can you give me any tips on how to get people to subscribe to my blog – I am getting quite a few visitors and a few comments to my bog (it’s about 2 months old) but none of them ever subscribe by email (or to the feed I think.) Even my friends and a newsletter mailing list of friends with 150 people refuse to subscribe as they are too scared of privacy issues and spam! Doh, and I already have their email addresses anyway! I am using Feedburner…
Because I think this is a fear issue I have set up a separate page on my site to try to convince people of their privacy etc
http://inthehotspot.wordpress.com/subscribe/
But still no bites. It’s as if I am trying to get people to share a hypodermic needles with me or have unprotected intercourse or something! Crazy!
Good luck with it all and keep up the wicked writing.
Hi, Annabel,
Thanks for the opportunity to check out your blog. Good stuff.
A few suggestions:
1. Add a tag line to the blog’s name that includes “Australia” – Tales from Australia or some such. This’ll get you picked up by search engines for that keyword.
2. Narrow your editorial focus, or define it. If you plan to cover diverse topics you’ll lose some readers who will still load your blog in to their readers and read the stuff that interests them.
3. The reader always wants to know “What’s in it for me?” Try to provide practical info, i.e. a link to the zoo, contact info for the zoo, etc.
4. Once you’ve posted, flare the post on all social media sites: Announce on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, FiddleWiddle, etc. WordPress even posts your latest blogs in your Linkedin profile.
Try to create connectivity with as many contact points as possible.
5. Syndicate blog posts on helium, ezine, goarticles and other content syndication sites. Here your post is downloaded by site owners with a link back to your blog.
6. Submit your blog to blog catalogs and directories with a short, but compelling, description of the content.
7. Keep at it. You’ll gradually build a following who show up every day you make a new post (so post often).
Excellent writing style and highly entertaining content, all.
Be sure to stop by Annabel’s blog. Who ‘roo!
editor@webwordslinger.com
Hey, Paul.
This is me taking a deep, deep breath…
…and saying, take a look and give it to me straight:
http://kenbgrindall.wordpress.com/
I’m a proven solid copywriter but just started blogging literally 29 days ago (employed full-time 14 years, just landed in a big mass of layoffs).
My focus has been all about getting some posts in there and setting up a clean, easy site. I’ve also hedged my bet with some job hunting, so there’s a “hire me” letter. And the “ask me” page just covers the very basics I’ve already had to do with my first few clients…
I’ve got loads of time and energy to invest, so how ’bout a few suggestions? I firmly believe I’ve got what it takes to write for a living on my own. Thanks a million.
Hi, Ken,
First, quality stuff. You’re a pro, no doubt about it so we can skip the “write like you talk” stuff and get down to business.
Welcome to the W3, the imaginary place you’ll be earning money with words. The web consumes content by the metric ton so good copywriting is in demand because it’s cheap and ephemeral. Any BS with a degree in English is an on-line writer.
The key is to now market yourself by creating contact points – places on the web where people can follow you, learn about you, read some samples and drop you a line. So my suggestions:
1. Keep blogging and, if you haven’t, burn a feed with Feed Burner. Flog new posts on Twitter, etc.
2. Create numerous profiles on every social networking site out there. And make sure all of these profiles are connected some how (linked). This creates a larger web presence.
3. Position yourself as a value added copywriter who brings years of marketing experience to the table. You’re pushing the same buttons, just a different delivery system,
4. Learn all you can, as quickly as you can, about search engine optimization, search marketing and ecommerce in general. This will enable you to deliver optimized content without clients having to pay extra. Check out my other blog for SEO articles – easy to understand.
5. By all means open accounts at Elance.com, guru.com and other outsourcing portals. Start with low-ball bids until you have 10-15 positive feedbacks. Then slowly increase your price as you demonstrate quality. Fewer gigs but better paying assignments for clients looking for quality.
NOTE TO READER: BOYCOTT CONTENT SPAM
Sorry, personal hot button.
6. Open accounts on ezine.com, goarticles, helium and other site syndication portals. These sites equip site owners to download your pithy piece on SEO with the only requirement, a link back to your web site or blog or LinkedIn profile, etc.
7. Answer questions in the answers section on LinkedIn and Yahoo answers. These get picked up by search engines and other websites while building your expertise ranking on the sites. You’ll also meet some nice, like-minded folks.
8. Think of yourself as a graffiti artist with a box full of spray cans. Tag anything and everything with your name and blog addy. (I recommend building a small website so you at least own the domain. Cheap advertising.)
Your goal is to tag LinkedIn, Elance, twitter (10 times a day) ezine, MySpace, your blog, your website, other blogs where you post – and connect all of these tags together creating a much larger net.
If you google webwordslinger you’ll see what I mean. It’s guerrilla marketing at its most primal – using the resources of others (LinkedIn, eLance, et al) to further your own campaign. And all of these sites want you to use them!
So, use your marketing background to start marketing your on-line brand. It should take a few months but once you learn about SEO it’ll go much faster, and you’ll have a value-added advantage over a plain vanilla copywriter.
Good luck. You’re a brave soldier for posting your blog link. Readers, take a look. Good, funny stuff on Ken’s blog.
http://kenbgrindall.wordpress.com/
Paul
editor@webwordslinger.com
http://www.webwordslinger.com