Blogfeeder - The Copywriting and Marketing Blog from Wordfeeder.com

How to Write with Energy

by Dina Giolitto

Do you want to stir people to action with your words? The majority of web articles and blog posts come across in that sing-song drone. "I like cats because they are cute and furry. My cat is so funny he is always eating my socks."

Okay, this is gross exaggeration – but I'm trying to make a point here! Low-energy articles bore people to tears. High-energy writing inspires action. Web surfers lack patience. If they don't care for what they find on your site, all it takes is a click and they're gone, gone, gone.

If you have a business website, and you'd like to avoid publishing the "I like cats" type of article, then you must find a way to maintain high energy in your writing voice. A few quick tricks...

(Continue reading "How to Write with Energy")

Announcing Our New E-Guide: Start Up Your Own Writing and Editing Business On the Web

Are you a writer, copywriter or editor who's always dreamed of working from the comfort of home? Finally, after serving clients via the web for more than 8 years, Wordfeeder is creating a long-awaited guide book to help you do just that.

Get ready for The Nitty Gritty of How to Start Up a Writing or Editing Business on the Web!

I used the phrase "nitty gritty" because I'm a practical person. I like to get to the meat of the matter, and that's what I'll be sharing with you. You know... those confusing little details about online business that nobody bothers to tell you about without a lot of prodding and struggling on your part!

Some things you'll learn from our e-guide:

• The critical difference between web and print copywriting
• How to organize, categorize, and present your writing samples for public viewing
• The secret to getting people to your website who already want what you have
• Email newsletters 101: yes, those new marketer mistakes can really hurt you!
• Social networking tactics to blast your good name out to the world and bring you more clients than you know what to do with
• HTML survival basics to give your web content an extra push
• Coping skills for challenging clients (and how to attract the best ones to your front door)

And much more!

Be one of the first to hear about the launch of our long-awaited e-guide, The Nitty Gritty of How to Start Up a Writing or Editing Business on the Web. Sign up for our list below.

 

 

Should You Tell People You Work with a Copywriter?

Lots of people who hire copywriters like me prefer to keep this information on the DL. They would just rather have their audience ONLY picture them doing all of the communicating. Of course, we know that smart business owners can't do everything themselves, and that those who DO hire copywriters to handle their web content development, online newsletter management, sales letter writing, etc., are generally a lot happier. They also come across as more professional. But none of this is here nor there. The question is, should you tell people you solicit the services of a copywriter, or should you keep quiet?

That really depends on the type of person you are. I respect the anonymity of my clients. If they seem not to be mentioning to others that I'm their copywriter or their website/blog marketing person, then I don't talk about them to anyone, either (at least not by name. I may use an example from our work together to teach others about marketing in my blog or articles). But on the other hand, if they're someone like my landscaper client, Diane Downey, who is always ready with another public testimonial, then I'm happy to also refer to her by name.

There are advantages to both situations. If you don't tell people that you use a copywriter, then they can never turn around and accuse you of not writing your own stuff (but who cares if you don't write your own stuff? Everyone knows that marketing is marketing, and it's not like your copywriter is impersonating you on email, talking to your clients directly). On the other hand, if you do go public with your professional relationship with a copywriter, you can enjoy the reciprocal benefit of having that copywriter openly cheer for you in places like their blog. You can enjoy the exposure you get when the copywriter puts your story on the Success page, or you may get some good professional referrals to people like website designers, graphic artists, or pretty much anyone in any industry who the copywriter may know and who you might benefit from using their services.

I find it refreshing when people are open enough to admit to others that I write and/or edit their marketing materials. It shows that they're bold, fearless, and not afraid to tell the truth. I honestly believe that when you let go of fear is when your business and success really take off. I do.

But on the other hand... if they'd really prefer I not mention that I work for them, this is just part of being a copywriter. We're behind the scenes... that invisible marketing technician, here to make you look and sound more professional. We don't care if you never mention to anyone that we tuned up your copy for you. All we really want is to be fairly paid for our God-given skill.

Need professional website content written? Email dina@wordfeeder.com for more information. We won't tell anybody if you don't want us to!

Your Most Popular Content

I find it interesting that my "most viewed" content actually has nothing to do with copywriting or marketing. I attribute this to the fact that, well, does anyone really give all that much of a crap about marketing or copywriting anyway? Maybe not. There's a lot of competition in this area, and it's highly likely that if you're writing about these topics, most of the people who are reading are actually in the same business as you are. So in all probability, you're probably talking to your future customers a lot less frequently than you think you might be.

This may be the reason why so many copywriters and marketers try to sell how-to kits, online memberships and such, to OTHER copywriters and marketers. It's kind of funny, really. It's something I probably should do but haven't seem to get all that great of a taste for it. If you're really hungry for product, I guess you can go visit this page but if not... hey, whatever.

I took a quick look at the page views of this blog and saw a lot of action on the "Batman Smells" post. That was a little coffee break I took one day - pretty irrelevant, mainly just a stress reliever. So, there it is, getting all these hits... and what can we learn from this? Pretty much that the "topic" of your blog isn't so much important as a traffic driver as the actual TITLE of the post.

Other articles of mine that get great numbers of clicks are the Moon in Scorpio article I submitted to EzineArticles.com, and another one about worms in dog poop. I'm sad to say that neither of these have brought me new copywriting business as far as I know... but hey, at least some people out there are benefiting from the information.

Do you have certain blog posts that get more clicks than the rest? Which ones, and why do you think that happens?

Web content is a curious thing indeed.

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

"We build websites that get you more business!"

Why 1,000 Word Web Articles Are No Good

As you many know, the planet is busily churning out expert articles with the intention of posting them on blogs and in article directories where they will be syndicated.

People are also posting articles in large collections on their websites. I myself do this as a means of driving traffic to my copywriting site. It's a smart thing to do - publish content on the web.

But here's why it's NOT good to publish long (800-1,000 word articles or even longer ones) on blogs or websites.

First, because information overload is a prevalent thing. People are weary and don't want to read long tirades. I'm guilty of making my own copywriting articles too long. If I break them up, I'll have more pages and more search engine love. So will you.

Remember that on the web, you need more PIECES of content - like a candy bar, broken in half and eaten in 2 servings instead of one.

I find it difficult to make my copywriting clients understand this. But if you have 2 blog posts, filed under the category of productivity, then you have 2 links and 2 votes from Google on that term. It's exponential - even better to take 50 long articles, and break them up into 100. Add keyword links, and you're on your way to an excellent website rank.

You're losing out every time you painstakingly write a long article. Best to break it up. One long page of content doesn't get you far. Five medium-length pages does. (I say medium length because I don't believe that 'short' provides much value, if yours is an information-based field).

Does this make sense? I'm starting to get all hot and bothered over it.

Thanks for reading.

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Sneaky Trick from the Copywriting Bag O' Goodies

I Googled someone the other day and found myself confused at the sheer volume of websites where they appeared. Mind you, exposure like this can only be good for your business, HOWEVER, there is one small issue.

The problem comes when people try to find a website associated with your name - YOUR website - but all they can come up with is a horrifically long list of everyone else's website but yours.

How do you resolve this? You've got to be strategic about linking your own name back to your website.

The concept is pretty simple. Think of your name as a keyword. Every time you include it in a link, and point that back to your website, like this: Dina Giolitto, give yourself a point toward good Google rank for your name.

Article marketers have made this easy to accomplish. They link the "by line" of the articles you submit back to your author account on their sites.

However, if they wanted to be REALLY nice, they'd link your name back to YOUR SITE. But face it, no one is that generous, so here's what you have to do. Take back the power of your own name.

Start creating an article archive on your own website. The articles should be original works that you wrote yourself (or paid a ghostwriter to write on your behalf). At the top of the article, you MUST create a live link of your name that goes to your website. Then, keep on adding articles each month. You can go with 1 or 2 per month, in addition to the scraps you throw to the article directories... but why do that when you can shoot for high volume and ass-kicking page rank for your market niche?

So that's the secret reason why other websites are coming up for a Google search on your name sooner than your own website is. They have more pages linked to your name than you do. Fix it.

Another foolproof solution is to link your name in the copyright line on every page so that it "points" to the homepage of your website. Every single page that you publish, whether it's an article, product page, sales letter, service page or what-have-you, counts toward the total number of pages with your name linked on them.

Hope this makes sense. Now what are you doing still reading? It's time to start writing and linking!

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Quick Tip for Re-Publishing Articles on Your Blog

I received a question recently from a copywriting client who wanted to know:

Should I publish the same articles in my blog as I do on my website?

The answer to this question is NOT EXACTLY.

There are two ways you can use a blog. One, you can host it directly on your web server and publish entire articles there - the blog is actually your article collection, in that case. So you would not need to publish articles once on one page of your website, and then again on your blog. In fact - I strongly recommend that you do NOT do this, as it will hurt your Google rank.

The other situation would be where the blog is hosted on someone else's server - for example, many people house their blogs on Typepad.com. In that case, you're using your blog to DIRECT TRAFFIC into article pages on your website.

In which case, yes, you do want to divert attention FROM your blog BACK TO your website, but there's a proper way to do it. You should introduce the article with a lead-in on your blog. Just a short paragraph or two that will pique their curiousity. Then, add a link that your reader can click to continue reading about the topic, which of course is the article that you published on your website.

WHY is this necessary? Because Google is COUNTING every link that comes into your website from the outside. Even better if the link includes the keywords you're targeting with your marketing effort.

Want more great tips like this one? Sign up for our copywriting and marketing newsletter!

- Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Trouble Purchasing the Article Power Ebook?

Recently I've received emails indicating that people are unable to click the BUY NOW button on my Article Power E-book. This glitch has been corrected, and I apologize for any inconvenience or emotional hardships that may have been the result of this disappointing realization! ;)

If you'd like to learn how writing and marketing with articles can grow your web business and earn you a sterling reputation in your industry, then check out Article Power at http://article-power.com.

(It's my e-book with the goofy name that really gets people excited and empowered to start hammering out high quality web content as a means of building their brand.)

In fact - I'll even give you a sneak peek at the table of contents and first 11 pages of the e-book... so you can get an exact picture of what you're getting. Not bad if I do say so myself!

For those of you who write copy for a living like I do, let me give you my personal reasons why you should be marketing with articles. (You guys get your own sales pitch - click it).

ARTICLE POWER: Create Dynamite Web Articles and Watch Your Sales Explode!

Brought to you by Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Into the Copywriting Zone

Over on Christopher Knight's article writing blog, they're discussing How to be Fully Present in the Moment when writing your web articles. Why is this important? Because in order to pull off all the little grammar musts and writing tricks I've been telling you about these past few months, you've got to be "in the zone." I personally cannot have any distractions when I'm writing for clients. (My feeling on this and life is, do it right or don't do it at all.)

To those of you who have yet to venture over there, the EzineArticles.com article writing blog is worth the visit. First off, if you're marketing a web business then you should really be sending original, high quality articles out into circulation every month as a means of brand- and credibility-building. EzineArticles.com is the place to do that.

Second, it's just a good place to have your questions about article marketing answered. Things like how often to submit, what constitues an article versus a press release, how to produce articles faster, how much link love can you give yourself without being self-serving, writing tips, and that sort of thing.

Finally, you should visit and leave your comment if you've got something intelligent to say in the realm of marketing a web based business and/or you write copy for a living like I do. Chris has his crop of regular EzineArticles.com blog flies, and yet it's by no means an exclusive hangout. Newcomers are always welcomed into the conversation. Just a good vibe and great place to learn about marketing with articles in general.

Sooo, back to what I was saying earlier. As with anything, the secret to copywriting/article marketing success is, as Chris says, to be fully in the moment or laser-focused on the task at hand.

And to me, that's a given. I mean seriously - is there any other way to be other than obsessive and driven? ;)

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing

Are you looking for the linking opp?

Do you self-manage a blog on the web? If so, you may have a few interesting tidbits in the sidebar of your blog. Links to this and that, resources, friends, and that sort of thing.

Linking to others is great. It's all part of the "shared community" blogosphere thing. Helps keep your online relations friendly.

However, I do want to point out something. If you're linking to your own material, i.e. articles that YOU wrote, you should really link to YOUR OWN WEBSITE.

Case in point: a few clients of mine recently decided to add links to their blogs which go to their articles on IdeaMarketers.com.

This would be okay if the links were from a single post - perhaps a friendly "shout out" to IdeaMarketers.com for all the great service they provide.

However, if they're permanent links, i.e. in the sidebar, they should point to your own stuff. YOUR website. And there should be keywords in the titles of those articles - keywords that you want people to "ding" on and follow to your main website.

Google knows ALL the keyword links that point from "other sites" (and if your blog is hosted on Typepad, then that counts as an "other site") back to yours. It "counts" all those keyword links. Later, when outsiders type your keywords into Google, if you have a lot of link love, you pop up on page 1, 2, or hopefully somewhere in the top ten.

So it makes sense to link strategically whenever possible.

You need much more link love than the big websites out there. So DO remember to link "in" from the outside. This is your goal - ALWAYS look for the linking opp in everything you do online.

The Big Daddy Websites are always giving you pats on the back for linking to your stuff on THEIR websites, because THEY KNOW THE SECRET. When you keyword-link to them, they go higher on the search engines.

And now you know the secret too. So the next step is to use the information. In fact - this is not a request. THIS IS AN ORDER.

1. Get your website together - organize it, make it beautiful, keep adding articles

2. Keyword-link to those articles from your blog and other places.

Okay?

Thanks!

Dina at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing (note the keyword link)