I’m sure you know the importance of a list.

No?

OK – quick run down – the best way to market your business is through a list of people who have signed up for your newsletter. But to get people to part with their email address, you have to give them something. For example, it can be a free report, eBook or ‘How to…’ article -something of value.

Right, now that’s explained let’s tackle a problem I know many people have head on.

I need more subscribers!

Let me guess – you’re list isn’t growing. You’ve listed your website on every free advertising site there is out there and you’re even paying for advertising, but the new sign-ups aren’t forthcoming.

Well, you’re not alone. To grow your list you need to employ a long term strategy. One of the best ways of doing this is through article marketing.

Every website and blog owner out there is looking for new content to share with its visitors. A lot of these find what they are looking for from article directories which are a bit like libraries full of free articles they can use (so long as they give due credit to the original author). You’ve probably heard of sites like these – one example is Ezine Articles.

All you need to do is write and submit quality articles to these sites (which, by the way, also generate those all important one way back links to your website which will help your search engine optimisation).

Once you’ve written your article and completed your author biography (like the one I’ve added at the bottom of this post) make sure it links back to the page where you have your sign-up box.

Now, when someone reads your article and wants to know more about you, they’ll follow the link in your bio. This will take them to your page with your sign up box and, with a bit of luck, they’ll like what you have to say and enter their email address.

As a result your list will go and your reputation will spread. And that’s how you can get more subscribers.

Sally Ormond, Briar Copywriting, is a professional freelance copywriter with extensive experience in both b2b and b2c markets. For more information on how her copywriting services will help your business grow, email her at sally@briarcopywriting.com for call on +44 1449 779605.

If you want to rocket propel your business into cyberspace you need to blog.

Before you roll your eyes at the screen, blogging departed from the geek platform a long time ago. Practically everyone has a blog these days – so don’t get left behind.

You might think that just because you have a website, you have all the exposure you need. That’s fabulous if it were true. Where does your site feature in the Google rankings? Page 1? 2? 3? Lower?

Help your rankings go into overdrive

Using a blog to promote your business helps in two ways:

• It allows you to have a ‘conversation’ with your customers – a great way to pass on knowledge, tips etc.
• It helps you build valuable one way back links to your website which are vital as part of your SEO strategy.

Make a connection

Today, marketing isn’t just about selling; it’s about building relationships. The easiest way to do that is to set up a blog to inform people about your industry. As you’ve already guessed by now, this blog is all about freelance copywriting. When my readers come here they know they’ll get great information and tips on copywriting and marketing. Find any copywriter and they’ll probably be doing the same.

You can do the same for your business too. You can use your posts to tell people about industry news, your views on what’s happening, announce new products or give product reviews.

Unlike regular adverts, blogs have the ability to spread your news to a global audience, not just the readership of your local magazine or newspaper.

As readers subscribe to your blog they’ll get to know you as an expert in your field. Your reputation will grow and the traffic to your main site will increase. And here’s how…

Build links

When you make a post on your blog (a bit like this one) and write about a particular subject, try and use your key phrases within the text. Then, when you use the word(s) – for example freelance copywriter – create a hyperlink (like the one you’ve just seen) which will take your reader back to your main website.

Not only will this drive traffic to your main site, it also creates a back link. These are vital for your search engine optimisation. Basically Google looks at links as a way of judging the authority of your website. The more relevant sites that link to you, the more authority your site is judged to have and the higher your position in the search engine results.

Therefore, blogging will help your business. So what are you waiting for? Get blogging.

Being a great freelance copywriter isn’t all about putting your fingers to a keyboard and creating magical copy that makes everyone go “ooooo” and “arrrhhh” when they read it.

Actually that’s the last reaction you want. Your readers shouldn’t even notice your writing – it is the product or service you are writing about that you want them to focus on.

Writing “invisible” sales copy is quite an art.

Can you hear me?

Have you noticed how many sales messages you are faced with every day?

From the moment you crawl out of bed you are bombarded by messages. They are on the news, the radio, buses, TV, in emails, on the internet….I could go on forever.

Your sales message has to break through all that background noise and grab your readers attention. It has to cling to them and convince them your product is the one they’ve been waiting for. And it mustn’t let go until they’ve handed over their credit card.

What’s your creative muse?

Generating a creative flow can, at times, be like pulling teeth. Just because I’m a copywriter doesn’t mean creative ideas are constantly flowing from my finger tips – I wish!

Everyone has their own way of stimulating creativity – it can be anything from reading other websites within your clients industry to more extreme measures. Next time you’re stuck for ideas try one of these:

• take your dog for a walk
• work out at the gym or go for a run
• read a book, magazine or newspaper
• just write – nothing in particular, just anything that comes into your head. And keep writing.
• imagine yourself as the reader, think about what they want to know
• have a change of scenery and work somewhere different – try outside if you can
• brainstorm keywords and produce a mind map of your product or service to generate new and interesting ideas

Everyone has a different way of coping with creativity lulls – what’s your favourite technique?

Can you write in such a way as to create an emotional bond with your reader?

Now there’s a question for you. You can probably guess that I am going to say “yes you can” otherwise this will be one of the shortest blog posts in history!

Building rapport with your customers is something that requires a bit of work and a lot of thought. I wasn’t born a copywriter, this was one of the many skills I have learned. It’s easy to connect with someone face to face, but when it comes to the written word things get a little trickier.

Show you care

“Hey. I’m hired to write sales copy not get emotionally involved with my readers.”

Well if that’s your attitude then perhaps copywriting isn’t the career for you. A copywriter is a sales person – they just sell through words rather than customer interaction. If your copy doesn’t sell, you’re not doing your job.

If you still don’t get it, think back to all the sales people you’ve come across over the years. Some would have been helpful and bent over backwards to help you; others would have been disinterested. I bet I know which one you bought from!

By showing you they understood your concerns they built rapport with you. You began to trust them because they could see where you were coming from. They weren’t pushy; they listened, they gave advice and they took your order when you were ready to sign on the dotted line.

Find out their concerns

Of course, before you can create sales copy that shows you understand their concerns, you have to work out what their concerns are.

Put yourself in their shoes – you don’t have the luxury of being able to ask every customer, but what you can do is research to discover the most common issues.

For example, if you are writing sales copy for a bouncy castle or soft play company you know you can tune into the concerns of parents – is the equipment safe? what tests have been done? does it come up to recognised industry standards?

It only takes three little words

The fastest way to build rapport within your copywriting is by using three small but very powerful words:

“As you know…”

For example:

Dear Mr Brown,

As you know, it takes more than a good grasp of politics to be an effective Prime Minister…

As with all aspects of sales writing, it will take practice to master this. It’s almost a conspiratorial way of writing – you are whispering to your reader, telling them that you both understand this, they are intelligent and have a good grasp of the requirements…

Flattery will get you every where – especially when you are trying to sell. Confide in them, make them believe that you understand their fears and that they know how to overcome them.

Try it out in your next sales letter – see how you get on.

How does asking questions strengthen your copywriting?

Humans are naturally curious creatures. From an early age we learn to questions – why? If you have children you’ll know what I’m talking about!

If you were in a sales position with your customer physically in front of you, it would be easy to keep their attention. You can maintain eye contact, you could take them to a side room to chat undisturbed, you can use body language and intonation.

But what happens when you’re not in front of your customer? What happens when you have to communicate to them via a brochure, website or sales letter?

Don’t panic – it can still be done. As a freelance copywriter I use a simple technique to stimulate a ‘conversation’ with reader even though you are not physically with them.

Question time

Asking questions is the best way to get a conversation going. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to write in this style before. If not it can seem a bit contrived but bear with it because the results will be worth it.

If you ask your reader a question they will come up with an answer – because it’s human nature.

There are all sorts of questions you can ask within your copy:

• Closed – these are the ones you are likely to answer yes or no to. The best time to use these is when you are trying to close a sale because they force the decision process.
• Open – these have no fixed answer. Once asked your customer has conversation control. People love to talk about themselves so asking this type of question can provide you with a lot of information.
• Limited – these engage people. A limited questions gives a choice e.g. do you prefer PVC or wooden doors and windows? They can be a good precursor to introducing more open question.

It can take a bit of practice writing in this ‘open’ style but it’s worth persevering.

If it helps, imagine your customer is sat in front of you while you are writing. What would you ask them to get them to reach a buying decision? Use your imagination – you might surprise yourself with the results.

Writing a diary for yourself is one thing – the only audience is you (unless someone takes a sneaky look at your inner most thoughts) so the process of writing is fairly straight forward. But writing for other people is a different ball game. You have to make your opinions and views entertaining and interesting enough for them to take time out of their day to read them.

When writing for publication you are putting yourself forward as an expert in your field. That comes with a lot of responsibility. What you write has to be of good quality because there’s a lot of competition on the internet.

If you are serious about article marketing it is important you are aware of one of the key elements to successful article marketing – high quality articles and lots of them.

How to write articles quickly

You’ve all heard the old saying that you should only write about things you have actual knowledge of. So that seems a good place to start.

This is a good way to gain confidence and quickly gather a library of articles that can be used on various sites. But before you begin, even if you are writing about something you know well, research your subject. That way your writing will be factually correct.

As your confidence grows you’ll be ready to tackle other subjects. But if that worries you, look at your own field and write articles about every aspect of your experience, comment on industry news and other articles. You’ll find a huge amount to write about before you even have to consider another subject.

Knowing your subject is one way of being able to produce articles quickly. The other is practice.

Writing regularly will not only help develop your writing style, it will also help your confidence grow.

Of course, article writing also calls for organisation. Make sure you adopt a cohesive structure. This blue-print will then be the basis for all your articles:

· An introduction to the topic

· Paragraphs that deal with the topic

· A conclusion to the topic

It sounds really simple but it is a winning formula that lets you convey your message properly to your readers.

Finally, I am constantly harping on about the important of keeping it simple. If your article is easy to understand it is more likely to be read so resist the urge to use complex words and sentences. Just keep it simple.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

Ask any copywriter what one of the most important aspects of their job is and they’ll probably mention focusing on your reader.

It is the reader you have to convince that the product you are writing about is the one they have been waiting for. Understanding them is vital if your writing is going to succeed. If your writing is to be persuasive you must use a convincing tone of voice and the right choice of words in punchy sentences.

So before you begin, clear your mind. Forget about your rumbling stomach, the night out or what you’ll be cooking for dinner – there is only one thing that should be in your mind when you’re planning your writing… YOUR READER

Every word you commit to paper must mean something to your reader. I’ll illustrate my point with a fishing analogy – if your line of words is taut, your fish (the reader) will stay hooked, let it go slack and they’ll swim off.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Sticking with the fishing analogy, your first sentence or heading is vital because it is the hook that will grab your reader and hold on to them.

Your reader is only going to be interested in your product if they think there is something in it for them. It has to provide a direct benefit to them that is irresistible. If you can get this in your copy at the start it will hook them and reel them in to the main sales message.

This whole post is about focusing on your reader so it makes sense that your writing addresses them directly. What better way to focus on them?

Treat your writing like a conversation. Imagine they are sitting opposite you as you write. How would you talk to them? This conversational writing will engage them and keep their interest – after all you are telling them directly how your product will help them.

Why am I telling you this?

If you don’t grab their attention and engage them you’ll run the risk of losing them. They’ll focus away from your message and on to one of your competitor’s.

Article marketing is an excellent way to promote your business and elevate yourself to expert status within your field. With that comes trust and increased sales - but it doesn’t happen over night.

As it is one of the cheapest ways to market yourself, it seems mad that so many businesses shy away from it.

Getting started

The hardest part of article writing is getting started. How do you come up with ideas? When you have the idea, how do you start the article?

If it’s any comfort, once you’re over those hurdles you’ll get a great feeling when you’ve finished it.

One reason many people put forwards as an excuse not to write articles is that they don’t think their writing is good enough. But remember, it’s only an article - you’re not trying to bag yourself a huge advance for the next best selling novel series.

Don’t put so much pressure on yourself - no one is perfect. Yes, I hate to admit it, but I am not perfect – pretty damn close though.

Discipline

However much you hate that word, discipline is important if you are serious about article writing and marketing as part of your marketing. Without it, nothing will get done or written. Having discipline causes any writer, especially those who write articles for the internet, to think clearly so the focus is on the output and not on the ego. Basically it helps you leave the creative writer at home so the business writer can focus clearly on the subject and how they want their reader to react to the article.

Discipline helps to:

• Maintain focus
• Break a topic down – smaller subject chunks are easier to get your head round
• Let go – don’t force your writing, natural writing is easier to read
• Write – ignore distractions
• Stop you editing as you go along– your first draft is the place to let your ideas flow. Editing comes at the end of the process.
• Make you read and review the article
• Relax – leave the article for a while after writing it for at least a day, it’s best reviewed with fresh eyes

Discipline will help you make article marketing a regular and effective part of your online marketing strategy. Whether it is for a company blog or publishing on article sites, working on best practice will help your confidence and sales.

Sally Ormond – freelance copywriter

Before I get going let me get something off my chest…

KEEP YOUR COPYWRITING SIMPLE!

That’s better. If there’s one thing I hate to see it is web copy, or any kind of sales copy for that matter, that is littered with jargon. Why???

Sales writing must be accessible to everyone who reads it so please don’t cram it with jargon or long winded words and sentences.

There are no prizes for the longest word

I’m sure I’m not alone when I recount the number of times I have sat down to read what I thought was going to be an informative article, sales brochure or website only to be bored to tears. The sad thing is I probably didn’t even get past the first few sentences.

As a copywriter, the most important thing to remember is that you don’t want your reader to know what a great writer you are.

Confused?

Well it’s true - to be able to pull off that oxymoron you have to be a good writer, but that’s no reason to shout about it. I know the creative within you will be desperate to break free, take over your fingers, and create something incredibly flamboyant and arty. Don’t let it.

Your writing is a vase in which you show off your client’s flowers. Your readers want to be able to smell and appreciate those fine blooms without being distracted by the vase.

Keeping it simple

As a writer it can be very tempting to slip in your own personality into your writing. But when creating a sales masterpiece for your clients you can’t afford to.

To help you supress your creativity, here are three things to remember before putting your fingers to keyboard:

• Ditch any arty similes and metaphors that come to mind - concentrate on telling the reader what it is, what it does and why it will benefit them.
• Ditch the jargon – only use it if it’s absolutely necessary but keep it to a minimum. If possible, leave it out completely.
• Be short and concise.

The final thing I want to mention us keep your writing simple and conversational. If you manage that you’ll effortlessly build rapport with your reader.

Your sales copy has to act like a friendly arm around the shoulder; someone they can trust. If you can achieve that your sales copy will sell.