7 keys to making more moolah from your copywriting

Nashville entrepreneur is invested in vinyl records
http://eat-healthy-every-day.blogspot.com/

Before you write one single word!

#1: Know what the heck you’re talking about. In other words, do your research. Spend time getting into the mind of your prospect.

Convince yourself this is the best product ever and everyone needs to know about it. Use the product!

I always request samples and use whatever I’m working on (with the exception of the male potency stuff. Doesn’t work for me and my husband swears he’ll never need it).

I want to see and feel a difference the product makes on ME. In other words, I’m convincing myself before I try to sell anybody else!

Many times, I’m so certain the product works, I write my own testimonial in my package!

If you’re working on a product and don’t believe its value -- do yourself a favor and turn down the job. The odds of failure are great — and why do you want to sell a crappy product anyway?

#2: Work with a few clients – and really get to know their business! I’m in my 8th year as a freelance copywriter. And I’ve found the years I worked with just 2 or 3 clients produced more revenue than when I worked for 6 or more companies!

Of the 14 packages I wrote last year, 9 were from one client. They were a variety of nutritional products – but all were going to the same demographics and files! That means I knew immediately whom I was writing to.

I didn’t have to “learn” my market every time – just had to get into the benefits of the product. And because I was familiar with the company, I knew their risk tolerance. That helped avoid a lot of edits from the legal department!

How to handle “writer’s block”:

#3: Stop staring at the blank screen! If ideas aren’t coming to you, get up and do something else. Give yourself permission to goof off. When I’m stuck, I take my 96-year grandmother to Wal-Mart...tackle a new recipe in my favorite crock-pot cookbook...or take a nap. Sounds contrary to SPEEDwriting, doesn’t it? Well it’s not. Here’s why...

Before I enjoy these diversions, I tell myself, “Ok, Carline, you can take a break, but you need to come up with a headline, or lead.” Then I get up from my computer.

What I’ve done is given my subconscious a direct order to start working. While I’m “goofing off”, my subconscious is free to be as creative as possible.

Many times I’ve burned a recipe because right in the middle of cooking, an idea pops in my head. I start writing it down and am usually back at my computer and raring to go!

Don’t believe me? Then read the book, "Psycho-cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz. You'll discover how to unleash the power of the subconscious mind. Then, try it for yourself. I promise—it’ll work for you!

#4: Never start with a blank screen! You get writer’s block ‘cause you don’t know what to say. Plus that blank page can be very scary!

So the first thing I do when I start writing is to quickly fill up the blank page. For example, you know you’ll need an order form, guarantee, testimonials and other static elements—so go ahead and cut and paste some standard ones into your document.

Then write the words, “Big freakin’ headline goes here!” – Hey, look, you’ve already got at least 3 pages of copy — and you haven’t even written a word yet!

Don’t worry, you’ll eventually tweak your original headline and make it stronger — but at least for now, you’ve got something!

#5: Take rest breaks: Tell yourself you’re only going to write for 15 minutes and then you’ll take a break. That’s easy right? What you’re doing is called “baby steps” – take a huge project and break it down into easy to handle segments.

After 15 minutes, you can take a break. But most likely, you’ll find you’re writing for 30...45...even an hour or more!

#6: Don’t reinvent the wheel: Ask clients if they have standard elements of a package they prefer to use.

For example, one of my clients uses a standard order form for his promotions. Why spend time writing a new order form when it’s going to get dumped and replaced by the standard one?

Instead, focus your time on writing a strong headline for the order form and killer copy for the positive acceptance statement (the “YES! I want to ... section of the order form).

#7: Minimize distractions: When you’re in heavy-duty writing mode, keep your momentum by eliminating distractions.

In the movie, “The Pursuit of Happiness”, Will Smith’s character found out he could save 8 minutes a day just by pushing the button instead of physically hanging up the phone after every sales call. And he saved even more time by not drinking water so he wouldn’t have to go to the bathroom.

What he did was maximize productivity by minimizing distractions. You can too.

Put your phone on mute while you’re working. Contact your client and request any additional info by e-mail only...let your neighbors know you really do have a job and not to “pop in”...and post a sign on your door that says “WARNING: DON’T BOTHER ME UNLESS YOU’RE BLEEDING!” In other words, do whatever you need to protect your writing time!

I know I promised you 7 keys to speedwriting. And I hope these are helpful to you. But a good copywriter always delivers more than promised. So here’s probably the real key to my success...

#8: Love what you do and “niche your passion”. When I first started copywriting, I took whatever job I could get. I needed the money and the experience. But I didn’t achieve real success until I focused on just one area and made myself an expert.

I love the alternative health field and I love writing about nutritional supplements. So now, 90% of my projects are for the nutritional health field.

I turn down projects that push me too far away from my niche. That way, I stay focused on the pulse of my market...and write faster, more profitable copy!

Carline Anglade-Cole

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How To Make Money Creating Corporate Theme Songs

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http://enthem.com/

Don't come to Enthem if you're looking for your average ten-second jingle. The San Francisco company writes and records full-length corporate theme songs, some running longer than three minutes.

Founder Stan Oleynick, 23, a Russian immigrant with a head for business and a penchant for aphorisms, creates the songs with a motley crew: a composer from his church, a teenage virtuoso, and a country singer who lives in New Jersey. He initially intended to go it alone, but the admonitions of friends convinced him otherwise.

"I love music, and music loves me back," he says. "Except for the singing part."

Enthem.com has attracted the attention - "and the hearts," Oleynick intones with a thick accent - of more than 100 small companies.

He hopes to use the business to raise $1 million for a future startup; as of January, he was 5% of the way there.
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Postal-Rate Increase Could Actually Save Businesses Money

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While many businesses are bracing for the postal-rate increase scheduled to take effect May 14, those that make smart use of the new pricing system could actually see their costs reduced.

The new postal rates contain hidden surprises -- and therein lies the opportunity for business owners. While the cost of mailing a first-class letter weighing one ounce will increase by two cents, to 41 cents total, rates for other categories actually will be reduced, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

Letters weighing up to two ounces will drop to 58 cents -- five cents less than the 63 cents they currently cost. Businesses that reduce the frequency of their mailers by combining them stand to gain. A small business mailing 5,000 such letters would save $250 more than what it would have saved before the rate drop.

Businesses often send letters in unwieldy shapes and sizes in an effort to get noticed in a pile of junk mail. However, it is more expensive for the USPS to process these pieces of mail. A two-ounce large envelope will now cost 97 cents to send, which is a 53 percent increase from the earlier 63 cents. A possible solution for businesses? Reconfigure the mailing to a standard envelope size and pay just 58 cents to post it.

Undelivered mail also costs the USPS money to reroute and deliver to the new address or back to the sender -- almost $2 billion a year. To counter the cost, the USPS has proposed penalizing bulk mailers with inaccurate databases, by reducing their bulk discounts.

For international mail, the USPS will now offer only four types of service -- Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International, First-Class Mail International -- instead of the current eight categories. The average price increase for letters sent overseas will be 13 percent.

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Taking Your Invention to a Trade Show

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Trade shows offer inventors and entrepreneurs the opportunity to reach a large number of potential buyers and retailers. They also provide a marketing-sales double whammy: You'll meet buyers seeking products like yours, and even if you don’t make a sale on the spot, your presence creates awareness about your product. You should also use trade shows to scout out similar products, make new contacts and gain general knowledge about your industry.
Here are some strategies for maximizing your trade show experience.

Find Shows That Fit

The most important thing you can do before attending a trade show is to make sure you choose the right one. You need to make the most of your time and money, and a poor choice can be a waste of both. Be sure to make your choice based on the potential returns. To choose appropriate trade shows, consider the following:

• Ask your best customers (or target customers) which trade shows they attend. For example, if your best customer is a locally owned housewares store, ask the owner which trade show she attends to choose her products. Chances are, there'll be other buyers like her there from around the region or country interested in your product, too.
  
  
  
  
• Consider cost. Smaller, regional shows are often less expensive than larger, national ones. Your booth rental can cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the show. Historically, my company has paid about $1,000 per 100 square feet at trade shows (primarily juvenile and housewares shows), but major shows can charge up to $10,000 for a booth. That said, less may not be more. When you consider the time and preparation involved, a bigger, more costly show may be a better investment.
  
  
  
  
• Examine the nature of the attendees. Some shows, for instance, may be dominated by buyers who represent regional or independent stores, while others may be mainly attended by mass retailers. Still others will target niche buyers like grocery or drug stores. Be sure your product is a potential match for the buyers who’ll be attending.

To find potential trade shows in your industry, visit www.tsnn.com, where you can search by industry, show name, date or state. You should also visit the website of the industry association related to your product; most sponsor trade shows for members and buyers to come together.

Make the Most of Your Booth

So you’ve chosen the show you’d like to attend. Now you need to determine what you’ll do when you get there. It’s important to maximize your booth space by presenting a professional, eye-catching image. While your booth design doesn’t need to be elaborate, try to creatively make the most of your space.

In a basic package, the trade show will probably supply you with a table and skirt and some chairs. You can add stands and shelves you can buy at a discount store to further display your wares. Bring pretty tablecloths to cover boring tables. Create signs, banners and graphic elements to convey your brand and your products. You don’t need to spend thousands on high-end panels--there are many thrifty ways to make your booth stand out.

For instance, we bought $79 white wooden shuttered closet doors at The Home Depot to use at our first show and placed them directly behind us in our booth space. I was able to display my packaged products by hanging them from S-hooks on the doors, similar to how they’d be sold in stores. I then spent the majority of our budget on high-resolution graphics of our products, which I also hung around the booth. The result was a professional-looking booth in a homey setting at a relatively low cost.

The location of your booth can also be critical to your success. When registering to exhibit, get a map of the show layout to choose your preferred locations. Here are a few things to remember when scouting your site:

• Locations near the main entry are typically highly desired.
• People tend to veer right after entering rooms.
• A corner location can benefit from traffic coming from multiple directions.
• You can request placement near specific vendors at some shows. Avoid being placed near a huge booth that will dwarf yours, near direct competitors or at dead-end points in the traffic pattern.

Working the Show

A few weeks before a trade show, you can start creating some pre-show buzz. Send a letter or postcard to key prospective customers to let them know you’ll be at the show. Include your booth number and information on what you’ll be exhibiting. Also, consider including a promotional element to entice them to come visit your booth--a drawing for a prize or a small giveaway to all visitors.

Once you're at the trade show, make the most of your time. Engage with potential buyers as they pass by. Appear friendly and interested and offer a quick product demonstration. Develop some show specials, such as free shipping or discounts for orders placed at the show. Remember that at your first show, your goal is to establish new relationships and open new accounts--not make a killing on profit. Don’t sacrifice a potential long-term relationship for a few dollars.

Tools of the Trade

Remember to bring these key items to the show:

• Receipt book
• Order forms
• Stapler
• Organizer or folder for orders
• Product sell sheets
• Business cards
• Product samples
• A bowl of candy to entice people to stop
• A promotional giveaway, usually a small, inexpensive item with your logo
• Supplies including packing tape, scissors, pens, a dolly and a small broom

Can’t-Miss Tips

We’ve also learned a few additional lessons along the way about dos and don’ts for exhibiting at a trade show.

• Wear comfortable shoes. The high-heeled Jimmy Choos may look fantastic, but your look of anguish at the end of the day will surely undermine your sales efforts.
• Bring someone along so your booth is never unattended. Take occasional breaks to walk around the show and regain your energy.
• Don’t eat in your booth.
• Try not to chat too much with your booth neighbors, especially when they’re speaking to potential buyers.
• Consider doing a prize drawing giveaway. Think of what’s hot and what people would want to win and consider your audience. Giveaways to bring home to the kids are always popular.
• Look into travel deals negotiated by the trade show for hotels, car rentals and airlines. Then search on your own for potentially better deals through discount travel sites.

Keep it in Perspective

While trade shows can be a great way to make sales, be sure to set realistic expectations. A trade show should be one component of your overall sales plan. In other words, don’t expect to make your entire investment back at your first show. In addition to potential sales, remember to value what else you can gain by exhibiting at a trade show--new contacts, industry knowledge, feedback about your product, and product and brand awareness.

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Tamara Monosoff is Entrepreneur.com's "Inventions" columnist and the founder and CEO of Mom Inventors Inc., a product development and manufacturing company. She's also the author of The Mom Inventors Handbook: How to Turn Your Great Idea Into the Next Big Thing (McGraw-Hill).

Copyright © 2007 Entrepreneur.com, Inc.

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Internet Scams or Internet Fools

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It is common knowledge that there are a lot of scams on the Internet, but there are many more great opportunities to start your own Internet Home Business as well. Signing up with a proven system to start your own Internet Home Business is a great way to start, why would anyone in their right mind want to start from scratch, while the tools are already there for you to shoot out of the starting blocks.

A proven System has another powerful advantage, branding this is the most powerful marketing strategy there is. Take a moment and think about Mc Donald's, who started with one small outlet and developed a business strategy based on branding and a house style that has been duplicated thousands of times over to become a worldwide brand.

In the heading I used the words Internet Fools, without being disrespectful to anyone I would like to elaborate on this. There are a number of people looking to start their very own Internet Home Business who then decide to sign up for a program to make themselves a great deal of money, they are not fools for doing this as long as they find a program that suits them, as they are the ones that will be doing the work.

But then, they sit back and do nothing, expecting the money to roll in so fast that they have to open a second bank account because the first one is overflowing, and does it?... Wake up call! NO it does not; believe me this will never happen. They then complain that the system they chose does not work and in some cases the system gets labeled a scam. They then go off and do exactly the same thing all over again and start with another Internet Home Business Opportunity, now this to me is foolish to say the least.

"For the system to work, you must work the system"

Remember when choosing a system; be sure to choose one that suits you, as you will be doing the work to make your business successful. For the system to work you must work the system, To me this is good business integrity you are given all the tools you need all you have to do is implement them.

My mind will not allow me to understand why some people think that making money should in tale: no effort on their part, no investment, just a lot of earnings. Wow do we not all wish this was a possibility! Or do we?

Ian Lovelock Internet Home Business owner http://www.goldincome4u.com - The best thing we ever don
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