Writing for the Web Archives - Page 13 of 26 - Courses and Coaching for Freelancers

Differentiate your writing services with an area of technical expertise.

precise skill set working with watch repair If you are a freelance writer or copywriter, you probably have a fairly broad skill set.

If I asked you what you did, you might say one of the following:

“I’m an online sales copywriter.”

“I’m an online content writer.”

“I’m a social media writer and marketer.”

There is nothing wrong with those descriptions, in so far as they describe a general area of expertise. Behind that claim you could have a ton of training and professional experience.

The limitation of describing your value in these broad terms is that you will find yourself lumped together with thousands of other people who describe themselves in exactly the same way.

For example you could be a terrific online copywriter. But when someone hears you describe yourself with those words, they might think, “Yep, you and a thousands of other people like you.”

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What I hate about web content. And how to make it better.

by Nick Usborne

I hate the race…the pressure to add more and more pages of content at an ever-increasing rate.

A few years ago millions of rubbish pages were being uploaded to the web every day. Then Google put a big dent in that approach with its Panda updates.

Unfortunately, the race is still being run, but with a slightly improved quality of content.

It’s still a race.

And I hate that.

I want to publish content according to my own calendar, not because I feel I have to compete with everyone else.

And I want to publish content that has a purpose, not simply because “more content is good”.

And that’s the nub of it. It drives me nuts when companies and individuals upload content simply because “more is good”, and “fresher is better than older”. There is an element of truth to both of those reasons, but the downside is that everyone gets into a race to upload truck loads of content that is just “good enough”, and created simply to satisfy the call for “more content”.

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4 Weeks to Content Marketing Mastery with Brian Clark

by Nick Usborne

Nick Usborne and Brian Clark talking about content marketing Although I don’t usually promote other people’s programs on my site, I’m happy to make an exception with Brian Clark and his program on Content Marketing.

Why? For a couple of reasons.

First, although I have written a couple of ebooks on the topic of content marketing, I have never written a full program on the subject.

Second, if you were to ask me to name the most knowledgeable practitioner of content marketing online today, I would immediately point to Brian.

I have known Brian Clark for a long time now, although we didn’t meet face to face until about three years ago. And it wasn’t until earlier this year that we actually got to sit down together and talk to an audience about writing for the web and content marketing.

During a break between my own presentations, I sat down and listened to Brian give his talk on content marketing. From the outset it was pretty clear to me that he was sharing the core secrets behind the phenomenal success of his own business, Copyblogger Media, which now generates $7 million in revenue a year. It was an amazing presentation.

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Copywriters: You can’t bully your prospects into saying Yes.

by Nick Usborne

copywriters shouldn't bully As a copywriter you are placed in an adversarial position with your readers.

This happens whether you like it or not.

The relationship is adversarial because you are trying to get your reader to change in some way. Change their brand of toothpaste. Change their diet. Change the software they use. Change the coffee they drink. And so on.

It is our job as copywriters to drive a change in behavior. Or, if you are writing to existing customers, it’s our job to prevent change from happening.

Either way, there is an adversarial element to the relationship.

If you don’t think there is anything adversarial about trying to persuade someone to change a behavior, pause for a moment and think about the last time you tried to make your spouse or one of your kids change their behavior.

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Whatever you’re selling, imagine you know nothing about it.

by Nick Usborne

don't assume reader knowledge One of the things every copywriter learns is to do plenty of research.

Whatever the product or service you are selling, you need to dig deep and learn everything about it…before you start writing your sales copy.

If you don’t know…and I mean REALLY know…what you are trying to sell, your sales copy will feel thin and lacking in any persuasive oomph.

I experienced this myself recently while reading a draft written by a youngish copywriter. The copy felt thin. I didn’t get a deep, reassuring feeling for the product being sold. So I emailed the copywriter and asked him about the research he had done before putting pen to paper.

It turned out that he had simply worked from the information provided by the client and had done no additional research of his own. And that was a bit silly, because the client had provided contact information for the person who created the product. The client had assumed the writer would get in touch with this person and grill him for more information. Didn’t happen.

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