Small business owners wear many hats. They have to be chief company officers, project managers, lead generators and much more. When budgets are tight, it can be hard to find the money to hire a quality copywriter. And if you’re going to promote your business, you need good copywriting. Many small businesses just slap some copy into an ad or brochure and call it good. But with the right copy, you can garner a lot more attention and sales for your business.
And that’s where Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps by Susan Gunelius comes in. Step-by-step, Gunelius shows you how …read more

For a small business, a blog is to the 21st century what the direct mail flyer was to the 1990s. The only trouble is that so few small business owners realize this amazing marketing tool even exists. Imagine, that for the price of taking a home-made flyer to Kinko’s 15 years ago, a business can now reach its entire client base on a daily basis.

However, just because your neighborhood florist can arrange a stunning bouquet and your vet can keep your dog healthy and fit, doesn’t mean that they can write–or have the time to do it. That’s where you–the …read more

My buddy, Kristen King, who writes BizChicksRule asked if I’d remind you about the Copywriting Success Summit 2008.
If you want to become a copywriter you should seriously consider attending this. I’m tempted even though I’m not particularly interested in it.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.
Image from http://www.sxc.hu

I rarely endorse writing classes, but if I wanted to learn copywriting or become a copywriter I’d sign up for Copywriting Success Summit 2008. Here’s why:

I know it’s possible, even quite possible to earn a ton of money copywriting – I’ve seen people do it. I ghostwrite which is another area of writing altogether.
I know or recognize most of the instructors. I mean how can you go wrong with Brian Clark, known in the blogasphere as Copyblogger, Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers fame, or Peter Bowerman who knows how to keep writers and self-publishers well-fed. Of course, Robert Bly, …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
We end this week with 69 Writing, Blogging, Editing and Translation Jobs.
That’s a total of 154 writing, blogging, editing and translation jobs – not too shabby considering Monday was a major holiday here in the States.
If you’re new to applying for freelance writing jobs or need a refresher, How To Apply For A Freelance Writing Job may help.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.
Image from http://www.sxc.hu

Brian Clark who does such a great job over at CopyBlogger, has managed to boil his years of copywriting experience down to 5 simple looking steps: Prepare, Organize, Write, Edit, Review
For sure he knows good simply copy writing isn’t simple, but the way he’s broken it down does give a newcomer to the art a way to approach a copywriting job because he details exactly what each section actually needs. He even links to a questionnaire he uses to prepare.
If you’re interested in copywriting or just want a great review, this post is perfect.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance …read more

Chris Garrett challenges copywriters to Check Yourself for These 7 Symptoms of the Copywriter’s Curse. Believe me, these symptoms are not restricted to copywriters – every freelance writer I’ve ever known has suffered from at least some of these at one time or another.
The nifty thing is Chris has some great suggestions about how to let those curses go. I particularly like his comments on perfectionism.
The way I let go of the drive for perfection was to realize I wouldn’t know perfect if it walked in the door and introduced itself! I have absolutely no evidence procedure to determine …read more

In theory I blog at least twice a day… that doesn’t always happen, particularly on the weekends.
Today my head is full of cotton, hay, and rags (Tin Man of Oz?) so instead of writing or talking with clients or even doing the dishes, I’ve been prowling around some blogs.
Walter Burek, copywriter who blogs at Inklings has a great quote today. Titled strangely Copywriter’s Quote of the Week 12, it’s by H.G. Wells and I’m going to make you go look at it.
The reason I like it so much is that sometimes I’ve written with a committee, and it’s hell.
Write well …read more

For a long time I considered any writer who got paid for their writing to be a professional writer. It was a simple definition that worked will until the internet and Google adwords.
With the push for search engine optimized articles at rates like $1 and $2 for 500 words, I have to rethink what I mean by professional.
Carol, who blogs at the Writing Junkie, has a great post about professionalism called You Get What You Pay For.
But there’s more to the story. Back in October I kicked off a two-part series that probably should have been called The $4 Article. …read more

Over in our forum, there’s been some discussion of how to pick a writing specialty. (It shows up in a category about copywriting.) The advice mostly runs to finding your passion or your interests and writing about that.
I’ve recently run into another approach through the marketing class I’m taking from Mark Silver, who owns The Heart of Business. Roughly it works like this:

Pick two or three of your favorite clients… those you really felt good about working with.

Figure out what their problem was, from their point of view.

Notice what you did to solve their problem.

What surprised me is that although …read more