Educate and Inspire Yourself

Every writer needs inspiration to produce innovative and original writing.  Alot of times this means "thinking outside the box" which also means educating yourself and learning about new things. 

Some easy ways to do this are:

READ READ READ! Read books, read blogs, read articles, magazines, etc.  

Participate in Forums or other social websites.  Hearing and reading what other people say can help spark something. 

Talk to your Friends.  Most likely, your friends have varying views on life and can give you a different perspective on certain topics.  

Del.icio.us.This popular bookmarking site is a great place for great articles, blog posts and other resources. Browse through these links to find examples of great writing by others. While you can't copy what they say, you can often use ideas to spark something of yours. 

Brainstorms. This is a GREAT way to get ideas and there are many ways to brainstorm which will be a blogpost of its own shortly. Just let your craziest ideas out!

Flickr.  Flickr.com, is a website dedicated to amazing photography. Just browse through to find some inspiration with an image to go with it.   

Breaking your routines. This one is HUGE! This will also get its own blogpost, but basically that means doing something, going somewhere or talking to someone DIFFERENT.  

GOOD LUCK! 

Marketing Yourself! It's OK to be Self-Centered!

I've basically started my blog out pumping information to you in order to ensure you have the basics to understand what I'm talking about and be able to apply what you are learning.   This blog WILL NOT be as boring as it was all last week =).  Now that you understand what SEO is and how to promote your work, you can now focus on what exactly you are going to write about.

Unfortunately, it can be really really difficult to find inspiration.  It is extremely important to know that in SEO and Internet Marketing, (just like Advertising and Product Development), you HAVE to be creative, fresh, and innovative. Not only do you have to write about something that the person wants to know about (keywords keywords keywords) you also have to keep them in suspense and enjoying what they are reading.

Successful copywriters are great at relating what they are writing about to each individual reader.  Wow! Talk about pressure! Most importantly, as a copywriter, it is important to do some self marketing and getting your name out there as a credible source for information.  A great way to do this is to write some Informational Articles and post them up on sites like:

http://ezinearticles.com/

http://www.1888articles.com

http://www.articlefeeder.com

Even if you are working for someone else, chances are you won't be working for them forever. Therefore, as a copywriter it is your job to prove yourself to be a credible source and writing articles is a great way to do this while also promoting your company, service, or product.

I'd like to use my blog to offer out writing tips, SEO advice, and short diary like stories about life. 

Feel free to leave a comment with topics or questions you have!

What The Hell is Twitter?

What Twitter Does

Whether it’s breaking news, a local traffic jam, a deal at your favorite shop or a funny pick-me-up from a friend, Twitter keeps you informed with what matters most to you today and helps you discover what might matter to you most tomorrow.

The timely bits of information that spread through Twitter can help you make better choices and decisions and, should you so desire, creates a platform for you to influence what’s being talked about around the world.

Just remember, how you use Twitter is completely up to you. Follow hundreds of people. Follow a dozen. Post every hour. Post never. Search for your favorite topics and create lists. Or not. You are in control on Twitter.

Twitter for Businesses

Twitter is a simple tool that helps connect businesses more meaningfully with the right audience at the right time.

Businesses and organizations of all shapes and sizes are now able to stay connected to their customers. It can be used to quickly share information with people interested in your company, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your business.

For real world tips and case studies from businesses that have effectively used Twitter to build their brand and connect more personally with their customers, check out Twitter 101 for Businesses, which is Twitter's guide to doing business on Twitter.

3 Tips for Better Copywriting or Blogging

Tip #1 -  REMEMBER your target audience

One of the most important parts of copywriting is addressing your intended audience. This is true for absolutely every type of writing out there, without exception. Consider for example that you’re a writer specializing in culinary writing. No matter how good your writing is, it means nothing if the person who is reading it has no interest in what you are talking about.


Tip # 2 – Keep it Short and Sweet

The web is a fast-paced environment. Technology has increased the speed at which machines can present information, and as a result people expect to be able to process that information faster. With so much out there available so quickly, why would anyone linger on an article that takes too long to get to the point?
Write concisely, focusing on your topic and keeping the content to a targeted word count. Ensure that each section is no longer than necessary, to prevent boredom and disinterest.


Tip # 3 –  Catchy Headlines

Attention spans are reducing even as our ability to process information increases. People want quick, catchy information and they want it now. Too late, they’ve moved on. A headline is a key point in catching someone’s attention. A good headline should convey just enough information to let them know what you are talking about, yet be vague enough to generate their interest to want to read further. Humorous headlines can be very effective, as can dramatic or ironic statements. Practice with headlines, and make them an essential part of your writing, rather than an accessory.

#1 Secret To Googling

Did you know that you can avoid sorting through thousands of pages of search results?

It’s easy and it's called:  Google Search Modifiers.

To find reports that are often meant to be hidden away, but Google still has found and indexed, simply add “filetype:pdf” to any search term. Looking for a Powerpoint presentation? Add “filetype:ppt” to any search term.

Example: Internet Marketing filetype:pdf

Basically, Google will return only pages that have PDFs or PowerPoint Presentations. Usually these files are easier to find rather than going through a bunch of commercial website pages. PDFs and PowerPoint Presentations are a great way to get a quick overview of a specific topic, and a way to discover great bullet points that you can rewrite and use in your copy! 

Bonus Secret: Even if you don’t own Microsoft PowerPoint software, you can download a free Windows PowerPoint viewer.


And for help finding definitions or synonyms, you can use the “define” query.

Example: Define: Internet Marketing 

The SEO Importance of KEYWORDS!!

When it comes to internet writing, blogging, marketing, etc., KEYWORDS are extremely important.

Keywords are basically the words in your copy that match what people are searching.  As you know, millions of searches are conducted each day on popular search engines by people all around the world.

Fortunately for you, most major search engines provide a way to glimpse into the web's query stream to discover the most popular search keywords or topics. These are just a few:

• Ask IQ: See top searches at Ask.
   
• Dogpile SearchSpy: Choose to see either a filtered or non-filtered sample of top, real-time search terms from this popular meta search service. Sister site MetaCrawler offers a similar MetaCrawler MetaSpy service.
   
• Google Trends: Allows you to tap into Google's database of searches, to determine what's popular. View the volume of queries over time, by city, regions, languages and so on. Compare multiple terms, as well. See our review: Google Trends: Peer Into Google's Database Of Searches.
   
• Google Zeitgeist: What people are searching for at Google and its associated specialty services in a variety of categories. There are versions for various countries, as well.
   
• Lycos 50: Long-standing service showing top searches at Lycos each week.
   
• Yahoo Buzz Index: Shows you what's hot and what's not in terms of search topics at Yahoo.

 
 It is important to actually search a couple of these sites before even starting a new blog post or whatever copy you are planning on doing.  That way you can ensure you are writing about something current and interesting in the minds of the majority of people.

DOING THIS COULD EVEN SUPPLY YOU WITH SOME INSPIRATION! YAY!

I also found this GREAT site http://www.seomoz.org which has some very helpful SEO resources you might want to check out as well. 

This particular page is actually telling you where the search engines are "crawling" or searching for keywords the most, which is basically where you want to focus your keyword attention on. 

http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors#on-page-keyword-specific-ranking-factors

Promoting Your Blog Through Social Media and Networking

Promoting yourself, your business or your blog on social networking can be extremely profitable if done right.

Before you can find your customers on a social networking site, you have to be involved in that social networking site. Which means establishing a page on Facebook, My Space, You Tube, Twitter etc.  Adding a photo so people get a sense of who you are. Just basically introducing yourself, your interest and your business.

For example, every time you write a new post, post the link on facebook.  This way it will come up on your friends' "news feed" and there is a very good chance someone will click on your blog from there! 

Now having "friends or followers"

• Let the networking site go through your email list and see who else that you know or have had communication with also has a page on the site. You can then decide if you want to link up with that person.

• Put an announcement on your website with your social network site information and ask people to join you.

• Join groups that have been established on the site that are relevant to your business interests.

Why you "Need" Friends: 

• Your email list will generate a list of people you already know that you can link up with.

• The site announcement gives people the opportunity to be part of your list.

• People who have joined a group have announced their interest in speaking with other people about the subject of the group.

• Use a search query that searches the interests people have identified in their profiles.

Give your social media creativity a try. It will help you build knowledge of your market and who is out there, it will give you closer connections with potential customers, and hopefully higher sales or hits as a reward for all of your hard work!