Freelance Copywriting, marketing and social media tips

Me? No, I don’t need a copywriter. Why should I? I mean I don’t write huge reports or white papers or anything. All I have is my website and newsletter. I do all my customer contact through email so I don’t even use sales letters!

No, I absolutely do not need a copywriter.

WRONG!

You absolutely do need a copywriter because you are in business and a copywriter writes to sell.

Just think for a moment. Every written communication you make represents your company. Every email, newsletter and hit on your website is a sales opportunity.

A freelance copywriter is a professional sales writer. Every word they write counts towards another sale. They know how to craft your website copy to make it interesting and compelling whilst search engine friendly.

As spring approaches now is a great time to review all your marketing materials (both on and off line). Be honest, could they do with a spring clean? Are they looking a bit worn around the edges?

Breathe life into your marketing and ignite your sales with persuasive marketing copywriting.

Have you wasted valuable time and money trying to promote your online business? If you’ve spent hard-earned cash buying ads on ezines or on websites, you may have been disappointed with the results.

There’s a better way to advertise your business or website – article writing – ideal for those who want great benefits that don’t cost anything. That’s just about everyone!

By submitting quality articles you’ll get lots of exposure and publicity without a financial investment. You’ve probably realized by now that the internet is about information, so content brings visitors to your site. That’s a no-brainer.

Consider the possibilities of regularly writing for the internet:

• Your work may be seen by millions.
• Your articles can quickly appear on over 100 websites.
• Search engines are constantly looking for new content – make it yours.
• Your targeted traffic will increase.
• By writing regularly, you can reach affiliates or joint venture partners who can help your sales’ potential.
• Your articles can be permanently displayed on the internet.

Your reputation can spread all over the internet and beyond. Think of the reach just one article can have!

As you submit your work to ezines and article directories (such as ezinearticles), keep in mind that top-ranking sites are crawled by Google more often than other sites. When these sites publish your writing, you’ll soon see results.

With each article you submit, your reputation will grow. An author’s work is often kept permanently on websites, so one keyword-rich article can bring thousands of hits for years to come. Plus Google will love the one-way links you’ll achieve.

Your published works prove you’re an expert – at least in the eyes of readers who view you as knowledgeable. You also establish credibility and trust. Your words can create your own brand for your website and business.

So there you have it —

Writing articles can open surprising doors to success!

This blog concentrates on the mechanics of writing a sales letter. Copywriting is a skill that has been around for donkey’s years so what I am about to impart is not rocket science, but rather age old skills and techniques that are well tested and proven.

A sales letter has 3 main components:

Headline

If you don’t grab your reader’s attention immediately you may as well give up now. Your headline is what will draw your reader into your sales later.

Don’t be gimmicky or clever – the best headlines will sell the benefits of your product/service and arouse curiosity. Make your headline specific, include: what you are selling, its price (only if this is one of the key points that makes your product/service attractive), what’s in it for your reader (the benefits) and finally what will happen if it doesn’t work.

Wow, that’s a lot to take in, but here is an example that really works. It is from Domino’s Pizza:

Hot Pizza Delivered to Your Door in 30 Minutes or Less of it’s Free

Brilliant! Your reader knows what they are going to get, when they will get it and what will happen if something goes wrong.

Oh, just one other thing – don’t end your headline with a full stop. As you know that particular punctuation mark tells you to stop reading and that is the last thing you want your reader to do!

Offer

This makes up the bulk of your sales letter.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your reader already knows what you are talking about. Be explicit – tell them how your product/service is going to benefit them -‘it will save you time’, ‘it will save you money’…get the picture?

Although you need to sell your product/service, if you are too salesy you’ll turn them off. Keep it light and interesting. Make them believe they need your product, motivate your reader to take advantage of the offer that you’re presenting right away (limited to 50 places, offer ends 31^st March…).

Call to Action

This is soooo important. If you don’t have one you might as well have been writing a postcard to your nearest and dearest.

The CTA is crucial in any sales writing. Make it clear, simple and concise. Don’t confuse your reader now. Hopefully they are ready to get out their credit cards and buy so tell them what they have to do – buy now, call now etc.

The slightest bit of ambiguity will see them swim off in someone else’s direction and you’ll lose the sale.

So as you see, don’t try and reinvent the wheel. The key behind successful copywriting is to use the formulas that have been developed but put your own spin on what you’re writing.

Last night I gave a talk on copywriting and the 5 Simple Steps to Sensational Marketing to my local WIRE networking group in Bury St Edmunds.

During the talk I mentioned how important it is to get your website optimised and the content written so that it not only attracts traffic to your site, but keeps them there and sells to them. Believe me, that’s no mean feat but it is possible with well written and powerful website copy.

It is becoming more and more apparent that Google is taking over from the Yellow Pages, the Phonebook and local papers. Soon everyone will be searching for what they need through Google so it is vital that your website content is effective, powerful and persuasive.

Take a look at your website now – does it talk to your customer? Is it easy to read? Is there plenty of white space, headings and keywords?

Now would be a great time to revise your copy – if you are unsure of what needs doing call in a website copywriter. The investment will be well worth it because a well written site (SEO’d to the max) will get you great Google rankings and plenty of extra business.

That can’t be bad.

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Article writing can be seen as one of those boring tasks that are a throw-back from school and university days. But in business the writing of article is an effective marketing strategy to deliver targeted visitors, increase your rankings and boost sales.

If the thought of it still fills you with dread, the good news is that after learning a few simple steps, writing your own articles isn’t as hard as it appears.

What to write about?

This is probably the biggest hurdle most new writers face. The easiest way to begin is to write about things you are interested in and preferably passionate about.

Once you have decided on a general area, a good way to narrow the topic down is to focus on the problems that people have. Typically, people read articles because they want to be entertained or they want information.

A guiding principle is to expect the readers to be looking for “What’s in it for them?’ You may already know the common problems that people have in the particular field, but if not, a good source of information is to look at related online forums and note the most common questions asked.

Chunk it

Most people don’t like to read large documents from the Web, so articles tend to be around 400 words long. If you break the article into an introduction, a small number of sub-headings and a conclusion you may only have to write about 50 words in each section.

For your eyes only

The first draft should be for your eyes only. Don’t try to produce a final copy as you write. It tends to be much quicker to get your thoughts down and come back to edit later. The final, and most important step in the writing process, is to proofread your article.

Get it out there

Once you have written your article you may want to add it to your own website as an item that search engines love – a piece of original content.

By adding an ‘About the Author’ section with a link to your website, you can also submit it to article directories. As other websites publish your article you receive another thing that search engines look for, one-way back links.

After writing your first few articles you will find it is not as daunting as it first appears. You never know, you may even want to offer your services as a freelance writer on the Internet as a way to make some extra income.

See also: 4 Ways to Make Your Article Creative and Interesting

The 5 Benefits of Article Writing You Might Miss

Article Writing – How To Write Quality Articles Quickly

Can Article Writing Help Me Get More Newsletter Subscribers?