Learn to Copywrite

Archive for the ‘copywriter’ Category

I think they deal with same task: writing, but once in a job advertisement I noticed that the company looked for both a writer and a copywriter, so it means they are diffrent.

writer is the author of the piece. They do the research, write it, revise, edit.

A copywriter, writes the copy for the book. Copy is industry lingo for advertising. So a copywriter writes some blurbs, writes pitches to book stores, works with people in production on posters. They might also write press releases to be sent out to reviewers (the people that rate the books in magazines)

Having been in the HR and Business Development roles, I have no working experience of any sorts or a portfolio to show off to prospective employers but I really want to be a copywriter. Can anyone suggest what I should do to land myself a job as a copywriter?

Copy something

And more specifically, where do all positions the creative ad departments start and move up to, what positions are in charge of this that and the other etc. Because it seems like the degrees for copywriter art director creative director, graphic designer etc. are all different, yet these positions seem somewhat interconnected if not interchangeable. (Forgive my ignorance I’m just learning the basics of the ad business and trying to make some decisions at the same time)

Kieffer,

The copywriter can naturally climb the corporate ladder within the organization of the ad agency as described below—to the extent that the person doesn’t reach a level of incompetency (see Peter Principle in the source section below).

So how an ad agency is organized?

From top to bottom, here is the organization chart of the Creative Department (as you go down the hierarchy, branches are multiplying):

—Strategy Review Board (SRB)
—Executive Creative Director (ECD)
—Creative Director (CD)
—Associate Creative Director (ACD)

Then there are Creative Teams under the ACD’s or CD’s responsibility:

—Copy Supervisors
—Copywriters
and
—Art Supervisors
—Art Directors (graphic designers)

Then there are Production Teams:

—Online Media (web)
—Offline Media (print, Broadcasting)

So a Copywriter can become a Copy Supervisor, then be responsible of the whole creative team as an Associate Creative Director, and so on.

Note: In online marketing (i.e., Search Engine Marketing), the copywriter is working for the Interactive Marketing Director and can work for landing pages, web sites, marketing collaterals, etc.

—Pascal

You can hire a ghostwriter to quickly and easily make money online. Your most important task is to find a ghostwriter who writes good content, reliable with their delivery time, reasonable with their fees and someone who you can communicate comfortably with. Using their ghostwriting services, you can’t fail to make money online. I’ll show you how.

5 Ways To Use A Ghostwriter

1. Creating An Information Product

You can ask the ghostwriter to research and create an information product for you. It can be as short such as 20-40 pages.

It would be even better, if the ghostwriter can create the sales letter, minisite design, squeeze page and thank you page for you. Don’t underestimate these tasks. They can take you weeks doing it by yourself.

Alternatively you can outsource these to another person or company, but it takes time to manage them and explain the requirements. Using the same ghostwriter for these tasks will make things a lot simpler and more efficient.

A good ghostwriter can create a valuable information product which you can profit from. Something you are proud to put your name on and build your list of customers.

Once this book is selling well, you can ask the ghostwriter to create another one for you on a related topic. Then you can sell it to existing customers and of course new prospects. Continue with this model until the next time you create an information product, there are thousands of existing customers, eagerly ready to buy. This all depends on how good your past information products were.

2. Writing Quality Articles

Your ghostwriter can research and write quality articles which provide valuable information to readers. The articles are researched and search engine optimized so that they rank well in the search engines and generate traffic for you.

With a quality article, you can market your website to a wide audience, build your name as an expert, drive targeted visitors to your website and get contacted for more information/JV requests etc…

Submit these articles to article directories and wait for the traffic to come. A good ghostwriter will write the content so that it will guide the reader to read right through to the end and click on your resource box.

Ghostwriters with this task in mind don’t write articles fast. Research and thinking goes into writing each article so the prices for these articles will not be cheap. However quality articles are able to generate targeted visitors to your website for years. The investment is worth it.

3. Creating Viral Reports

You can hire a ghostwriter to write a short report (10 pages) and offer it as a bonus to be downloaded when they subscribe to your newsletter. Your ghostwriter can even create the squeeze page for you to build your list of prospects.

To make this report viral, you can put a comment in the book which tells the reader they have the rights to forward this report to their friends or email lists, provided that the content is not altered in any way.

Your report can also contain your affiliate links to generate back-end sales. Give these requirements to your ghostwriter and they should be able to create a good viral report for you.

4. Writing Press Releases

Press Releases is one of the best ways to launch your website and information product. You can hire a ghostwriter to write a good press release for you. Your ghostwriter should also be able to advise where you can submit your press release for the best results.

With a press release, you will get an initial surge of traffic and also good search engine rankings since press release websites are authority sites and have good Google Page Ranks.

5. Writing A Sales Letter

You can also hire a ghostwriter to write your web sales letter for you. A good sales letter will ensure that your information product is advertised effectively so that people will buy your products.

While a professional copywriter will cost thousands of dollars to write a sales letter for you, a ghostwriter with reasonable copywriting skills can create one for you much cheaper. It is because they don’t advertise themselves as a copywriter and therefore they can charge much less.

Make sure that the ghostwriter has experience in writing web sales letters and you can get this part of the product creation done without spending a lot of money.

In conclusion, a ghostwriter can make you a lot of money online if you know how to use their services properly. I have just shown you 5 ways how you can effectively use a ghostwriter. It is up to you to find a one that can meet all the requirements above. The secret is to be able find and hire a ghostwriter who can help you.

Alan Cheng
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/hire-a-ghostwriter-5-methods-to-making-money-with-a-ghostwriter-675482.html

To have a successful Internet business, you need only three things:

1. Product
2. Copywriting

It really is that simple. If you have those three things competently performed, you will have a successful, profitable Internet business. Let’s talk about competency in each of those three areas and how you can quickly master each one.

Product

You need a product that people want. Don’t fall in love with a product just because you think it’s cool. I’ll go into details in a future article, but I look at two things to determine if a product is wanted enough for me to sell it:

1. Are there people searching for that product (I use the Overture tool)

2. Are fellow marketers willing to pay a significant amount of money for traffic for that search term because people are buying (I also use the Overture tool).

I multiply those two numbers. If the result is higher than the result for the product “air guns”, I’m willing to get into that market. Why “air guns”? It was simply my first profitable product. Can products that score lower than “air guns” be profitable? I’m sure they can, but there are enough markets that score higher than “air guns”, I’m not willing to chance it.

BTW, don’t get too hung up on the product. It is the least important of the three items. Copywriting and traffic are infinitely more important to your business. Don’t spend two years developing a product. For more details go to www.free-ad-system.com. There are already thousands of products available on the Internet that you can market and earn a percentage as an affiliate. Choosing your product should take no longer than a half an hour, not two years. You can run the numbers for 6-10 product ideas in less than half an hour and make your decision. Then start concentrating on what really matters which is

copywriting

Now you need to describe your product. You will do this in many ways. You will create a sales page on a web-site that will describe the product and try to sell it. You will write small text ads to run on PPC search engines. You will write similar one and two line descriptions to enter into affiliate networks. You will write articles and resource boxes for those articles. For more details go to www.internet-marketing-online-goldmine.com. you may even write a signature line for use on forums.

The point is that copywriting is what conveys the message about your product. It is simply some words. You can sometimes use pictures and videos, but it is generally the words that actually do the selling. Don’t forget that you are in the business of words.

How do you decide what words to use? You have three choices if you are a beginner:

1. Hire a high priced copywriter. Generally you will want to pay $5,000-$10,000 per sales page for a decent copywriter. Drop me a note if you want referrals. I know two of the best.

2. Use copywriting software that scores words. I recommend Glyphius which you can read more about at Glyphius.com. It scores your prospective ad copy against a massive database of profitable ads. You can simply make up some copy and click the score button. Then change it and click the score button again. Pick the highest scoring text after you have worked with it for awhile. You’ll have copy that the pros will envy and more importantly copy that will convert that traffic into customers.

3. Fail for a long time while you are learning. Don’t laugh. Most Internet marketers choose this path. If you are persistent enough, you will learn what works and what doesn’t.

Guleria
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/overview-on-internet-marketing-business-690800.html

Making money as an actor can be a tough gig - but voiceover work is one of the few ways you can top up your acting income without resorting to a ‘proper’ day job. This short article gives you 7 tips to getting more voiceover work.

Many actors achieve great success in this industry. Its fun, they make great cash, and they keep getting work over and over again. Then there are others who are struggling to even get one gig. After many years as a copywriter working with successful (and a few not-so-successful) voiceovers, and founder of online voiceover directory - I’ve been studying what makes certain voiceovers successful. Here are 7 tips:

1. Is your demo good enough?

You can promote yourself as much as you like - but at the end of the day, it comes down to your demo. You’re competing with some very talented people out there. An “ok” demo is not good enough.

2. Call back immediately. If you get a message that someone is trying to book you for a gig, don’t wait a minute. Ad agencies are usually up against very tight deadlines, and if you take too long getting back to them, they’ll simply book someone who is answering their phone.

3. Do a special offer Offer a producer in an ad agency that you’ll do a free gig - IF it’s for a charity ad. Or you could try something like giving concession tickets of a show you’re acting in to a producer or copywriter. These things don’t cost you money, but they spread good karma, and hopefully drum up some business for you in the future.

4. Get some training. If you are inexperienced, try to go on a training course. It’s a small investment in comparison to the amount of money you can make doing voiceovers.

5. Pick someone’s brain. If you are inexperienced, go for coffee with a more experienced VO and pick their brain. Ask them everything about what to expect when you do a gig - from the minute you walk in to the minute you leave. Sometimes just knowing what to expect will calm the nerves when you’re doing your first gig. You can also take a few scripts along to this coffee and ask them to crit you doing a read.

6. Spam yourself Create a database of ad agency copywriters and producers and send them a link of your voice sample. This takes time, but doesn’t cost you a penny.

7. Get a Dictaphone. Buy yourself a Dictaphone and recite and record scripts for practice. (Some mobile phones also have voice recorders.) Sometimes it’s amazing how great something sounds in your own head, but only once you hear it out loud can you really figure out which bits need improving. This is fantastic exercise - schedule ten minutes a day to practice.

You can find the full 25 Things the Successful Voicover Artist in Ebook called 7 25 Things the Successful Voiceover Artist Knows (that the Rest of the Plebs Don’t)

peter lawless
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/7-things-the-successful-voiceover-artist-knows-that-the-rest-of-the-plebs-dont-673344.html

Let’s face the facts. People are inundated with advertisement all the time. It’s becoming more and more difficult to get their attention, and keeping their attention until they read your offer to the last word. If you plan to send mailers to a list, you need to understand how it works, if you want your prospect to read your offer.

First of all, you need to visualize how a prospect reacts to the mail he gets every day. Put yourself in his place - what do you do when you receive a bunch of mail from the postman? You separate the mail into 2 sections - “to be opened” and “to be trashed”. It’s true - a lot of mail lands straight into the bin without even being opened. And with it goes all the creativity, the fancy graphic artist’s work, the copywriter’s teaser copy, et al. So the first thing you want to do is make your prospect open the envelope. To open it, he has to be convinced that it is not a junk mail.

My first tip is to use a plain envelope that only has a return address. This address should not be a P O box, it should be a real address. Additionally, if your company name is something like “John Reese Direct Mail Service”, I would advice not to mention it at all, just put your complete address. The moment your prospect suspects that it is a direct mail letter, he will trash it. Do not use fancy teaser copy on the envelope, like “special offer 25% off” or “lose weight now” or “make easy money” etc. Your job is not to attract him, just get the damn thing opened! While teasers sound attractive, they don’t change the fact that such mailers are trashed more often, unless the prospect is specifically looking for this product / service and was desperately waiting for someone to offer it to him. While these could be a small percentage, don’t count on it.

Next, I would advice you to manually write the name and address directly on the envelope and not type it. This is because a handwritten address gives the impression that it is coming from a known person. I know it is a daunting task but it is certainly worth the effort - after all, your interest is to get the mail opened every single time, isn’t it? If you have to mail millions and prefer not to take this advice, I would recommend you to at least get the address typed directly on the envelope and not on a label. This is because labels are used by the majority of the direct mail companies and you do not want to give the impression that you’re also one of them!

If you can afford it, I would advice you to send your mailers by first class mail and not bulk rate. This will boost the authenticity and perceived urgency of the letter. I would also advice you to stick stamps on the envelope and not get it franked. This way you will add to the impression of being a personal letter. A tip here is to stick several smaller denomination stamps instead of one big denomination stamp - don’t worry if it covers a lot of surface area!

OK, we’ve reached to the point where the receiver opens your mail. But remember - he is not entirely unsuspicious and once he opens your envelope, you don’t want him to see the brochures, discount coupons, order form, etc and throw it in the trash. You want him to read the offer. So how do you do this? Simple - you just place all your color brochures, order form, coupons, etc in another envelope, seal it, and write something on it like - please open this envelope only after you have read the letter. You then place this envelope along with your “personal letter” into a larger envelope, one that you will be mailing out!

This “personal letter” should be a normal plain typed letter that first addresses the prospect by name. If you can afford one, get a good copywriter to draft this letter. You can begin the letter with the greatest benefits that your product / service offers. It should preferably solve a problem, give pleasure, help save time or money, help make money, or do something that the prospect would love to experience. End the letter with a call to action of opening the sealed envelope that contains instructions for ordering, claiming discounts, etc. This method is very effective because your letter has put him in the right frame of mind to buy your product / service. Once you have him all worked up, it’s very easy to get the order as long as your offer has value.

If you cannot afford a copywriter, I recommend you to visit http://www.bharatbhasha.com/author.php/Nirjara%20Rustom where I’ve written several articles on copywriting, sales and marketing, and other business growth tips.

Nirjara Rustom
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/how-to-get-all-of-your-direct-mail-opened-and-read-every-single-time-you-send-it-out-671999.html

Let’s face the facts. People are inundated with advertisement all the time. It’s becoming more and more difficult to get their attention, and keeping their attention until they read your offer to the last word. If you plan to send mailers to a list, you need to understand how it works, if you want your prospect to read your offer.

First of all, you need to visualize how a prospect reacts to the mail he gets every day. Put yourself in his place - what do you do when you receive a bunch of mail from the postman? You separate the mail into 2 sections - “to be opened” and “to be trashed”. It’s true - a lot of mail lands straight into the bin without even being opened. And with it goes all the creativity, the fancy graphic artist’s work, the copywriter’s teaser copy, et al. So the first thing you want to do is make your prospect open the envelope. To open it, he has to be convinced that it is not a junk mail.

My first tip is to use a plain envelope that only has a return address. This address should not be a P O box, it should be a real address. Additionally, if your company name is something like “John Reese Direct Mail Service”, I would advice not to mention it at all, just put your complete address. The moment your prospect suspects that it is a direct mail letter, he will trash it. Do not use fancy teaser copy on the envelope, like “special offer 25% off” or “lose weight now” or “make easy money” etc. Your job is not to attract him, just get the damn thing opened! While teasers sound attractive, they don’t change the fact that such mailers are trashed more often, unless the prospect is specifically looking for this product / service and was desperately waiting for someone to offer it to him. While these could be a small percentage, don’t count on it.

Next, I would advice you to manually write the name and address directly on the envelope and not type it. This is because a handwritten address gives the impression that it is coming from a known person. I know it is a daunting task but it is certainly worth the effort - after all, your interest is to get the mail opened every single time, isn’t it? If you have to mail millions and prefer not to take this advice, I would recommend you to at least get the address typed directly on the envelope and not on a label. This is because labels are used by the majority of the direct mail companies and you do not want to give the impression that you’re also one of them!

If you can afford it, I would advice you to send your mailers by first class mail and not bulk rate. This will boost the authenticity and perceived urgency of the letter. I would also advice you to stick stamps on the envelope and not get it franked. This way you will add to the impression of being a personal letter. A tip here is to stick several smaller denomination stamps instead of one big denomination stamp - don’t worry if it covers a lot of surface area!

OK, we’ve reached to the point where the receiver opens your mail. But remember - he is not entirely unsuspicious and once he opens your envelope, you don’t want him to see the brochures, discount coupons, order form, etc and throw it in the trash. You want him to read the offer. So how do you do this? Simple - you just place all your color brochures, order form, coupons, etc in another envelope, seal it, and write something on it like - please open this envelope only after you have read the letter. You then place this envelope along with your “personal letter” into a larger envelope, one that you will be mailing out!

This “personal letter” should be a normal plain typed letter that first addresses the prospect by name. If you can afford one, get a good copywriter to draft this letter. You can begin the letter with the greatest benefits that your product / service offers. It should preferably solve a problem, give pleasure, help save time or money, help make money, or do something that the prospect would love to experience. End the letter with a call to action of opening the sealed envelope that contains instructions for ordering, claiming discounts, etc. This method is very effective because your letter has put him in the right frame of mind to buy your product / service. Once you have him all worked up, it’s very easy to get the order as long as your offer has value.

If you cannot afford a copywriter, I recommend you to visit http://www.bharatbhasha.com/author.php/Nirjara%20Rustom where I’ve written several articles on copywriting, sales and marketing, and other business growth tips.

Nirjara Rustom
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/how-to-get-all-of-your-direct-mail-opened-and-read-every-single-time-you-send-it-out-671999.html

Anyone and everyone claims to be an expert today. All it takes is a little money. You must have come across various websites offering online degrees and PhD’s, so how does it really matter?

The only way to prove your expertise on the internet’s public domain is to publish the evidence of it. By writing article son your subject of expertise and publishing on the internet, you can reap rich rewards by not only enhancing your stature as an expert but also by earning a lot of money in the process. You might not necessarily write thesis on the chosen subject but at least you can show your knowledge and experience in the field through this medium.

What If you cannot write?

Not able to write, especially in English can be a definite disadvantage on the internet. You may be a real expert in oil refining, but if you cannot express in writing, how does the world recognize this. There are a lot of people who do not write, not because they can’t but because they are afraid to. A lot of psychological problems like dyslexia etc also exist. Well, not to fret. There is a way out too.

There are a lot of people out there who know how to write and they do it for a living. You can hire a copywriter, explain what needs to be written and ask them to write. Although you are unable to write, you certainly can judge a good writer by his or her writing skills.

You could also try buying a few PLR articles or source your articles from various article directories across the internet. These articles are built in a way to appeal to the search engines. All you need to do is to edit them and make them suit your purpose. You could do this yourself or again take help of a hired copywriter.

This process also known as ghost writing, can be used with your byline or resource box that points to your URL, thus driving traffic to your site while enhancing your expert status with search engines.

What are Article Directories?

You may come across sites that offer free content on the internet. These are directories that have articles written by experts in various fields. They are normally classified and offer good quality content. You can use the content from article directories on your website, but keeping them intact along with the resource box that may have a link to the site of the author. The only hitch is that you are having some other expert’s article on your site with a link that may drive your customers to them.

Using the article directory, the other way round is more profitable. You should submit batches of articles in your field of expertise on these directories and let customers come to you through others websites that may use your articles for content.

Using article directories either way, is always profitable depending on your field of expertise and business plan.

Richard Cunningham
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/article-directory–how-to-use-an-article-directory-to-prove-your-expertise-94376.html