Content Magician, Freelance web content writers

Online Social Networking – The Right Way

by Marsha Maung

I have been receiving SMS messages from this beauty center that I go to this month and it’s amazing that they keep doing that. You know why? It must be costing them a bomb to just send out these messages through the conventional text messaging system. They could be saving themselves tons of money every month if only they knew more about things like Twitter and Facebook.

Sigh….

Online social networking is the new word of mouth marketing, albeit, in the electronic format. It is like you giving your friends a call and telling them about the amazing beauty treatment that you just got or you could be telling them about this amazing promotion going on…all free of charge, except for the amount that you are paying for your internet services.

But we all have internet services nowadays anyway, so the extra cost is basically ZERO.

The cost comes in the form of the number of seconds it will take you to type out your message on the online social networking website and then clicking the submit button. That is it.

In fact, online social networking is so incredibly powerful and cheap that more and more companies are beginning to hop onto it for the sake of their businesses. The downside to that is that not many of the businesses know how to optimize the full potential of such online social networking sites. What they are doing is keep telling their friends to visit them, telling them about a promotion…using the old method of pushing products and services instead of pulling.

A balanced method of using the push and the pull marketing on online social networking sites is the only way to do it. People are smart and they don’t like it when others talk about nothing but just ‘buy me, buy me, buy me, I am good, I am good, I am cheap, I am cheap’.

Boring.

Online SOCIAL networking is a social site. You need to socialize and make friends. That way, you win fans, you win friends, you win business. There’s nothing, like they always say, like doing business with someone you like and know.

The Personal Opinion Essay

By Peter Paulus

(Ed Note: This is a rather lengthy one but if you take the time (or have the time to read this, it might be useful)

When people are asked a question concerning what they like or dislike, or when they are asked to state what they think about a given topic, the answer will be their opinion. An opinion is their view or impression, their thoughts, feelings or conclusions on a particular topic. An opinion does not deal with the idea of right and wrong, correct or incorrect; rather, it deals with people’s reasons for thinking that way and how they came to their conclusions. Hence, the name: personal opinion essay.

As the writer, you are looking for agreement from the reader, and the reader is looking for something with which to agree. This is not a research paper based on scientific evidence and statistical facts. It is a relationship built between the author and reader, based on personal understanding.

Desired Outcome

The desired outcome is that you develop your ability to write clearly and make your opinions understood. You are also expected to reach a certain standard of quality in your writing. Your goal is to express yourself effectively and within the accepted parameters of the English language. This personal opinion essay is the first type of essay you need to master in writing; after all, the word essay embodies the concept behind personal expression.

<click on Read More to…well, read more>

Spend 3 minutes writing the skeleton of your article

Any writer can tell you that they can start off writing one thing and then they end up with something completely off-track. Don’t worry, beginners, it is a very common problem with writers. To control this problem, what we do over here is to spend a few minutes researching the web for good content, write out in point form and then form a skeleton of the article.

The skeleton of the article will serve as a guide – like the railway tracks for a train, it keeps you from derailing and moving in the right direction.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to write out a skeleton, trust me. All it takes is a few minutes and you don’t have to spend too much time editing.

And oh, the editing process is the most hated exercise in the whole writing process.

By writing out a skeleton for your article, you know where you are going and what you are writing. When you are done with the article, you are left with a more-or-less intact one that requires little or not editing.

Some people ask, ‘Do you write the title first or write it last?’

There is no right or wrong answer but here’s what we, web content writers at www.contentmagician.com do. We…

• start out with a title,

• write the skeleton of the article,

• write the article,

• edit the article

• and then we rewrite the title.

Five simple steps to writing an article easily. The same way we are doing for this article, anyway and it took us less than ten minutes to write this.

Suggestion: give it a try now. Find a topic…OK, let me help you jumpstart this. Start writing about what you did in the morning and why you did what you did.

5 Ways to Write Faster Articles

by Lisa Mason

When it comes to writing articles, many of us find that we need to write them faster. Whether you are a freelance writer with client work, a stay at home mom or dad looking to earn some income selling your articles online or maybe an article marketer looking to promote your business, more articles = more opportunity.

You can’t get more articles if you don’t learn to write them faster. Most of us live really busy lives already. Some of you may even have full time jobs that you have to juggle. So getting more time to write may not cut it. Instead, you need to learn how to write more articles in the time you do have. The best way to do this is by writing faster articles.

Here are 5 ways to write faster articles:

1. Use article templates. There are many available or you can create them yourself and they will dramatically shorten your writing time.

2. Plan head for your articles. When you have the extra time, plan ahead for your articles and next time you sit down to write, they will go faster.

3. Use article mapping. This is a great way to plot out what you plan to write about and you can use it to chart your progress, too.

4. Time yourself writing one article and gradually get faster with it. Egg timers or stop watches are a great way to do this. Start by shortening a minute or two off your time and keep progressing until you write faster articles of the same quality.

5. Shorten your articles to be more precise. If you tend to write long winded articles, it’s a good idea to shorter them. Stick to a tight topic and if you want to say more, use a new article to do so.

I have to create content for my clients and also marketing articles for myself that stand out from the crowd, offer something unique and valuable to the reader and that don’t get buried amongst all the other regurgitated crap out there.

I have been frustrated before to have an article that I worked hard on and that I felt was very valuable to the reader get buried below hundreds of articles on similar topics that basically all sound the same.

When I offer my advice to other article writers, I always say “write as many as you can without losing quality”. For some, that may be 100 in 100 days, for someone else that may be 30 in 100 days.

You need more articles to keep up with the people who are trying to scheme the system by rewriting the same content over and over but you need to also offer something of value so that you stand out in the sea of “authors” as a true expert in your field.

Yet we still need to find a balance in quality and quantity. When writing more, you shouldn’t get sloppy in your writing or create poor articles. With these tips, you can write faster without sacrificing quality. Happy writing!

*** *** ***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Mason is a freelance writer. with a specialty in Internet content and SEO articles and the author of How to Earn a Living Writing for the Internet as well as two poetry anthologies and a how-to poetry book. She has written thousands of articles, hundreds of ebooks and thousands of website pages and related content in her 10+ years as a professional writer.

Confused About Ebiz? You’re Stuck in Analysis Paralysis

written by Chris Malta

If you’re starting or running your own home-based online business and you’re confused and frustrated, and don’t know which way to turn for real answers, you’re not alone. There’s so much information coming at you from so many directions! Product choices, store platforms, social marketing, merchant accounts, search engine optimization… where does it all end? How do you make sense of it all?

Well, the first thing you need to know is that it’s normal. If you’re not confused, you’re not an Entrepreneur. Confusion is the natural state of a small business owner. The second thing you need to know is how to get through it.

I’ve started and run many businesses in my 35 year Entrepreneurial career. Yes, it gets much easier along the way, but there is always an element of confusion when you venture into a new field. You can’t help it; that’s just the way it is. Nobody’s born knowing this stuff.

The most important thing you can do for yourself and your business is to take things one step at a time. An online business is made up of four basic things:

• Get Legal
• Find a Product to Sell
• Pick a Storefront
• Market the Business

Of course, within and in between those simple sounding steps are hundreds of little things that need to be done and learned. Meeting and working with people who are already running online businesses is critical to your success. I know a lot of people who have done really well online and made lots of money. None of them did it in a hurry, and all of them sought help from trusted, experienced people in the business community.

Working by yourself in a vacuum is the hardest way to do this, and the quickest way to get confused, frustrated, and end up wasting your time and effort. In most cases, your friends won’t understand what you’re trying to do, and your family will worry about what you’re trying to do.

The first time I left a high-paying job behind to strike out on my own in a business that I started, I didn’t hear the end of it until my business started making more money than my job had! Trying to do this alone is also the best way to get caught up in the thousands of online scams out there. Professional scammers are predators, and they just love to find their prey separated from the safety of the flock!

So slow down, take things one step at a time, concentrate on one part of your business at a time, and seek out someone who can help you.

*** *** ***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

About the Author - Chris Malta has been an Entrepreneur for 35 years. He’s the Founder and CEO of WorldwideBrands.com, an EBiz Radio Talk Show Host, a published EBiz Author, Contributing Editor to eBay Radio, and the creator of dozens of instructional EBiz videos and free EBooks. His company is recognized as the best in it’s field by businesses including eBay, Yahoo, Amazon, Intuit, UPS and many others. Chris Malta personally Trains and Mentors new EBiz owners through his Personal EBiz Workshops at http://www.ChrisMalta.com/Workshops. Chris is a well-known crusader against internet business scams. Save yourself a tremendous amount of money in your online business - get Chris Malta’s FREE EBiz Scam Report now at http://www.ChrisMalta.com.

Keep At It – Twitter, Facebook, Blogging And Writing

There is a very good reason people hire ghost bloggers and freelance writers to tend to their websites, web content and blogs and that is to keep things fresh and updated. What’s the point?

OK, let me illustrate this with a real life experience.

I have quite a few friends who are in the search engine optimization industry. I do help my clients with SEO articles but I make friends with my competitors for a very good reason: HELP. One can only take so much when you are a ghost blogger and freelance writer. One needs help once in a while.

I get quite a lot of queries about work relating to SEO so yesterday, I got an enquiry about a SEO project. Here’s what I did. I messaged a friend….the friend who kept the closest contact with me, one who consistently spoke to me, and gave me projects, someone who was basically more than just a competitor. In reality, we were competitors but friends at the same time.

Here’s the thing about being in business in this technolgically-charged era. Be everywhere. Despite having so many friends in the same business, I can only remember two of them because they are there in my twitter and facebook. They update their stuff often, they blog and share stuff with me…stuff that I can understand.

The moral of the story is simple and that is that you have to constantly remind people of what you do or at least tell people that you are still around. As long as they remember you via your twitter, facebook or other online social networking sites, your name will be the first that they dig out when they or someone else needs your services.

Blog often, tweet often, update your facebook and write consistently to tell people that you are around. Because if you don’t, people unintentionally forget about you when something good comes up.

*** ***

This article was written by Marsha Maung for an online web content blog that she runs with a group of energetic (crazy), enthusiastic (temperamental), creative (PMS), and talented (incredibly unpredictable) bunch of people. But ah well….

Do You Think Your Headlines Are Persuasive?

By Richard J. Newman

What is the main job of a copywriter? Well of course, clients pay you to write content for their websites, blogs, newsletters, and sale letters to start with. The whole aim of which is for you to persuade viewers to buy whatever they are selling and increase conversions. To do this you need good headlines of course and written content throughout the articles. However while you might pride yourself on being a great writer there may be a chance that you could improve headlines and therefore boost the sales of your clients. How can you do this? Copywriting software is an easy way of finding the right and most effective key phrases and sentences in your written content.

Copywriting software in the form of key sentences tool helps you to improve headlines and so increase conversions for your clients by showing you a score of your good headlines. If you think you can improve headlines, then simply alter the phrase or sentence in the software, which is browser based, and find out in seconds if this simple alteration works better. With software behind you, it takes all the guesswork out of writing when looking to improve your written content.

Never be stuck again wondering if you are providing your clients with the most effective phrases and sentences in your written content, be confident that you are producing great effective work. When using tools this way you gain more confidence, which shows, in your content. The more confident you are and the more success you achieve for your clients, the more work you may get. Clients will use you repeatedly when they need content if they see great results from you. If you are not selling their products and services, chances are they are going to turn to another copywriting company who will be able to do so.

You are able to use copywriting tools such as the key word sentence tool in any form of writing. For example, you may see success when:

• Writing SEO content articles

• In sales letters

• Promotional materials

• E-mails

• Call to action on websites

• Any web page written content

• Headlines

• Sub-headings

• Ads

• Much more

Before this software existed finding effective keywords and phrases in good headlines was a matter of guessing. You might think that you have hit the nail on the head perfectly only for the client to be disappointed and find that they do not increase conversions. You would have to struggle to improve headlines, but with the introduction of the keyword sentence tools all the stress and guesswork is taken away. You stand a much better chance of fitting in keywords effectively and of course, you are able to use the software in your browser anywhere you happen to be working. There is nothing to install so whether you are working in the office, on the train or at home, your copywriting software is right there at hand.

*** *** ***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author has been working more than ten years in copywriting. He has created some tools as copywriting software, for example. You can test the copywriting tool on his website.

Powerful Copywriting Tips - Long Copy Verses Short Copy - Which is Best?

Knowing the right time to use long copy or short copy will prove to be very useful if you’re looking to get the best response with your copywriting. Many people who write copy make the big mistake of using the wrong length of copy with their offers and end up getting a poor conversion rate. When you understand the best situations for long copy and short copy then you’ll effectively know when to use them.

So I encourage you to read this entire article because I’m going to reveal some special copywriting tips to help you sky rocket your response. Starting with…

1. The Advantages and Pitfalls of Long Copy

Being able to write long copy will be a skill that you’ll want to possess. Because one of the great advantages of writing long copy is with it you can command a higher price for your offer.

The more you educate your reader the more money you can demand. Also long copy has it’s uses when selling unusual or new items. You must go into detail about things your reader wouldn’t know about…

But you might ask yourself, “Who is going to read all that copy?” The answer is the people who are most likely to respond! Real prospects are hungry for information and the more you give the more likely they are to respond. But using long copy in the wrong situation can prove to be fatal to your conversion rate. There are specific mediums and marketplaces where your reader’s attention span is very short. And using long copy might bore them to death!

You can’t be boring with your marketing and copywriting. That’s another thing you should know about long copy. If you can’t keep your reader interested all the way to the bottom then your long copy will fail. Unless you’re a master at grabbing and hooking attention throughout your copy, you should stick with short copy when faced with those type of situations. Which brings us to the next powerful copywriting tip…

2. The Advantages and Pitfalls of Short Copy

The advantage with using short copy is it’s quite easy to write and it’s less imposing to your reader. Let’s face it. The majority of society cringes when they see that they have to read a lot. So when you use short copy it’s less intimidating and your reader is more at ease with reading it.

Also short copy is useful when it comes to selling an offer that’s on the low price side. Unless it’s an unusual item, a new item or you lack credibility, then you don’t have to overly inform your reader for an offer that’s pretty cheap.

Now the pitfall of using short copy is similar to long copy. Using it in the wrong medium or marketplaces will prove to leave you with a poor conversion rate. So in the end proper research must be done. You have to find out whether long copy or short copy will work best with your offer. If you do the necessary research, you should get it right most of the time.

In conclusion…

I encourage you can take these powerful copywriting tips and use them immediately towards your success! Don’t hesitate to implement what you learn right away!

About The Author

If you’d like to discover more profitable copywriting tips and how you can turn any idea into major profits then I encourage you to check out my blog here copywriting blog. Also if you’re looking to build a highly profitable online business, where you can bypass all the struggles of trial and error, and watch money steadily flow into your bank account, then I encourage you to check my services (initial consultation is FREE!) available here Profit-Pulling Copy.

The More You Blog, The More Will Come

One of the biggest problems with blogging is that sometimes (well, quite often, really) the well runs dry. I mean, it’s hard to try to conjure up interesting ideas about what to write. And if you have been doing for ten years, the well WILL run dry. But here’s the thing with professional blogger circuit…you learn how to find inspiration from others. Yes, it’s true. These professionalers bloggers aren’t really your competitors unless you see them that way. They are actually your allies and source for material to write about.

Let’s face it, every one of us live different lives. We experience different things. When one blogger blogs about how his car was towed away, you are reminded of your own experience as well. There you have it, something to blog about!

And if you want to stick to your ranking or pull in extra traffic, you’ve got to do the extra finger work and blog away because here’s a reality check….the more consistent you are, the more blog entries you write, the bigger the traffic leap. I’ve had many blogger friends who are professionals and some do it for leisure as well, who saw a spike in traffic whenever they increased the number of times they post stuff up in their blogs. The upswing is very noticeable.

Of course, I am not saying that we should make it a habit to copy others. NO, never copy works of others. Everything that you blog about should be completely original and let this be known: people who copy and paste stuff should include the credit. If not, they should be hauled to court. In due time, there should be a system up for that.

Anyway, if you have dreams of being a professional blogger, the secret is to be creative in finding materials to blog about. You need your camera and your notebook because these will be essential tools to help you gather information and material on which you can base your new blog entry about. Seriously. You will be amazed at how random materials can be turned into a very good blog entry.

So, althought this ’secret’ is nothing new, I’ll say it anyway – if you want to be a professional blogger, blog consistently, blog constantly, and blog creatively.

Web Content Development Is The Long Term Game Plan

Learning how to create content for your business website is fantastic but in order to see the results of your hard work, you need, first of all, patience. And then you need another dose of persistence. Just because you don’t see the result that your web content development strategy should be bringing you within the first few months, does not mean that it is a failure. There is no reason to find another plan yet.

What you need to do, instead, is to formulate a game plan and consistently perform research on the most searched related keyword, what your competitors are doing and what new ways you can employ to bring more traffic to your website. Yes, the information you gain from the research will, somehow, change your web content development strategy little by little but there is nothing constant in life. Everything changes, including your business and how you market it. And we are talking about the internet too – nothing changes faster than on the internet. One minute, twitter is the big thing, the next minute, something else is the big thing.

So, hang on to your web content development game plan.

You have to believe that the more content you develop for your business website, the more exposure you are gaining. And most search engines places importance on having links out there coming into your website. You need to develop that slowly. Every day, you pump new content into your website, one fine day, you are going to have enough web content in there to make big search engines like Google think that your website is worth a good ranking.

If you are not good at writing or creating content for your website, hire someone who can. It is an investment that will yield fantastic results in the long run. Every article that you create and post, is a new step in the right direction. Believe in that and move on slowly. One step at a time, one web content at a time.