Nick Usborne

Monday Spark: Make the most of your upbeat, positive moods.

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positive feelingsAs a freelancer I have my good days and my bad days. And on my good days I am three or four times as productive and creative as I am on my bad days.

So what constitutes a bad day? What are the symptoms of bad days? For me it’s largely a matter of mood. I’m either feeling upbeat and positive in my outlook, or I’m feeling down and negative.

The scary thing is, during a bad day, the cause of the negativity may have nothing to do with my work at all. Its root might lie in something I read in the news, the dream I was having when I woke up, or some bad family news.

In other words, negativity impacts my work, whatever its root or cause.

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The power of the human touch in web copy and content.

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the human touchSome copywriters know that adding a human touch to their copy can help their readers relate to the product or service they are trying to sell.

Some consultants and coaches insert elements from their personal lives in their business writing, because it helps prospective clients get to know them as real people.

Some hard-core business-to-business writers know that interviews and case studies can help humanize the “corporation”.

But only some.

Most of the time, when I read content online, in the form or articles or posts, that human touch is missing.

Why? My guess is there are a couple of reasons.

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Monday Spark: Start your day with a smile and a light heart.

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dog and deer as friendsToo often we start our days with the weight of the world on our shoulders.

We have work worries. We have family worries. We have money worries. And all that is overlaid by the bad news we have just read on cnn.com or foxnews.com.

In other words, we are buried under a mountain of stress, anxiety and bad news.

So how is it possible to start the day with a smile and a light heart? And what good would it do anyway?

Well, to address the first question, watch this short video.

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Believe in your gift as a writer, and don’t let anyone take it away.

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paulo cohlo writerMy gift is that I can write.

Looking back, this has been evident since I was about 10 years old. But the first time I truly believed in this gift was when I was 22 and started working as a trainee copywriter at an ad agency in London, England.

After a few weeks working there the Creative Director told me I was truly gifted as a writer. Soon after that, I received a big pay rise to dissuade me from moving to another agency.

I was lucky. I really was. Many people have a gift, but never have it validated in the way I did. As a result, they are never quite sure, and never fully believe in the gift they have.

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Monday Spark: Perform at a higher level by connecting with other freelancers.

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I’m at a conference right now, preparing to give a full day of presentations.

I’m surrounded by dozens of freelancers, busy talking with each other about their lives, their work and their hopes for the future.

Some are meeting each other for the first time. Others are catching up with people they have met before.

And all of these people are creating for themselves an advantage over freelancers who stay at home. They are not marketing themselves. Nor are they picking up new clients. But what they are doing is invaluable. They are creating relationships with other people who also work for themselves, and spend most of their time at their desks at home.

Why is this important?

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Don’t write too many McHeadlines.

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burger McHeadlineThere are plenty of content writers out there who know how to write a good headline.

These are the folks who know that certain types of headlines are more likely to hook a reader’s attention.

They write headlines that jump out and grab you, and make you curious enough to click through and start reading. These headlines not only work well on the page of content itself, but also drive high clickthroughs when they appear on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Of all the headline-writing techniques used by these canny writers, perhaps the most common is the use of numerals at the beginning of the line.

For example, “5 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Exam Results” is the kind of headline that grabs attention. The digit catches the eye, and the promise of 5 ways to do something that is important to the reader holds attention.

There are variations on this approach, including:

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