Writing Inrochester

If you want an almost foolproof way to generate great headline ideas for your copywriting promotions quickly and easily, without struggle or pain…then this article will show you how.

Not long ago I was working on a very important copywriting promotion under an almost impossible deadline.

And at the “11th hour″ before the deadline, the entire ad was finished — except the headline.

For whatever reason, coming up with a good headline was not happening for me.

It was a nightmare. I had two hours to go and the hundreds of headlines I had written were all but useless.

What to do?

Well, all I could think of was to “remove″ myself from the situation and find something unrelated to the task at hand. Doing so had worked wonders for me before when I couldn′t figure out the answer to a problem, just never under a deadline like this one.

Not sure what to do, I logged online and started surfing around.

One of the first sites I went to was a discussion forum for people who own dogs (my mom’s dog was sick at the time and I was looking for answers).

And I noticed there were certain posts in that forum with an incredible amount of views and replies compared to the majority of posts.

And then it hit me.

All these people reading and responding to these particular forum posts were obviously caught up by the words and ideas of the post titles.

If you’ve ever read an online discussion forum you know what I’m talking about.

You can see a list of all the posted topics (or titles) and their respective number of replies and views. And some of these titles are so irresistible they’re literally impossible not to read or reply to.

Anyway, with no time to lose, I immediately went to some forums related to the product I was selling, hoping maybe I could get some ideas for my headline by reading the most-viewed posts.

It was a miracle.

The first forum I went to had four or five posts with over a thousand views. The other ones I visited had even more.

And I copied each and every one of the “most-viewed” forum posts, and played around with the different combination of words, ideas, themes and phrases they contained.

Half an hour later I had the headline for my ad, and made the deadline.

Anyway, online discussion forums are gold mines of information when you want to know what your market is talking and thinking about.

They reveal the worries, interests and desires of people in a (mostly) relaxed, informal atmosphere. It’s the next best thing to going to a convention of your prospects and eavesdropping on their conversations.

And if you simply pay attention to the things people are talking about in forums related to what you′re selling, you won′t be able to help but get great ideas for your headlines and ads.

Ben Settle is a direct response copywriter and author of “The Copywriter’s Cheat Sheet″ — which contains over 300 pages of advanced copywriting secrets and rare swipe file ads not easily found anywhere else. You can bensettle.com/ get a free copy of his book and read his latest copywriting ideas and tactics at bensettle.com/ bensettle.com

Maybe you are thinking about it. Maybe you don’t know it it’s worth it. A book coach can help you save time, frustration, and money down the drain because you will stop book writing, publishing, and promotion mistakes before they start.

Here’s some common mistakes and how you can avoid them.

One. Emerging authors don′t know their book’s purpose. Answer the question why your are writing it? For fame, fortune? To answer a challenge? To brand your business and make money? To entertain?

Two. Emerging authors don’t know what their preferred audience wants. They just have an idea and start writing in a kind of automatic voice. If fiction, who is your audience? Do they mainly want entertainment? If self-help, what benefits will your reader get after they read your book? Where is your audience so you can promote to them? Online?

It’s always best to write the book your audience wants rather than write a book and hope others will buy.

Three. New authors think they need to write a print book of 200 plus pages, need an agent and a publisher. But today’s audience is Online and wants a short book with just the key points. They don’t need so many stories because their reading time is limited. They want it fast and easy. They will be happy to buy and print out a short electronic book under 100 pages, and as long as they get answers, they don’t care if you have a publisher.

Four. Emerging authors leap into an introductory chapter all about THEIR story. You audience wants what you can do for them first.

Five. Writers don′t realize they need to write the easiest chapter first. If they pick a difficult one, they get stuck fast, and either give up or go more research.

Six. Emerging authors think they need to research a lot. Really, what you know is already in you about one particular topic. Make a short list of questions on one topic in your book.
Then, answer them. Now you have part of the middle of your chapter.

Seven. Both emerging and professional authors write on and on without giving their reader a break or a reason to read on. Get your readers to turn pages and keep turning to finish when you put headlines up in your non-fiction work.

Eight. Authors forget to use a hook at the beginning of the chapter and after each heading. They launch on telling their reader all kinds of info they didn’t set the reader up to want.

Nine. Authors don’t realize a hook includes a few questions about where your audience is now. Or, some wild facts that affect your reader. Just not including your reader.

Ten. Non-fiction authors forget to put a finish on the end of the chapter. Maybe action steps. But always a last paragraph that gives the reader a reason to turn to the next chapter. Remember benefits sell.

Most clients tell me that they receive the value of the coaching costs and more when they get coaching.

Judy Cullins ©2005 All Rights Reserved.

Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Judy is author of 10 eBooks including Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast, Ten Non-Techie Ways to Market Your Book Online, The Fast and Cheap Way to Explode Your Targeted Web Traffic, and Power Writing for Web Sites That Sell. She offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, “The BookCoach Says…,” “Business Tip of the Month,” blog Q & A at bookcoaching.com bookcoaching.com and over 185 free articles.

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Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com Judy@bookcoaching.com or mailto:Cullinsbks@aol.com Cullinsbks@aol.com
Phone: 619/466-0622 — Orders: 866/200-9743

Article marketing is especially useful for screening out the looky-loos and the other people who will never buy from me. You see, I am not involved in a non-profit, although if I were, I think article marketing would still be extremely useful. The bottom line is, I am in this to turn a profit, and therefore want to get in front of as many people as possible who are ready to buy, or might be sometime soon.

For example, if my goal is 100 new subscribers per day from writing articles, then if I get 1000 page views and only 100 opt in, that is OK with me. I have done what I set out to do. The other 900 don’t really count. They wouldn’t be much use to you anyway, because since they didn’t opt in, in some way they have disqualified themselves from you and your style. They didn’t want to be on your list anyway, so who cares?

I do not care how many I lose – I just want the interested people who might buy something from me on down the road. That is the important thing to remember about article writing for traffic or subscribers.

So how does this create credibility? Well, the process itself creates the credibility. You don’t have to do anything other than write articles from your heart. Simply write what you know about. For those who click through, you already have established credibility.

Article writing and submission naturally breeds this idea of selectivity and screening – and I find it very good for my bottom line – profits.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here:

An ezine is a newsletter that goes out to a very targeted (you hope) audience. If you’re interested in that audience, an ezine represents an advertising vehicle worth examining. Here’s a few tips on how to succeed with ezine advertising.

Pick the right ezine. The best way to do that is to read it – and not one issue but several. You want to be sure that quality of the ezine is consistent with the audience your want to attract and the image you want to assert. Also make sure you know the reach – how many subscribers – the ezine has.

Talk to the ezine publisher. They know they’re subscribers better than anyone else. Take advantage of their knowledge. Probe what type of offers work best with their audience and what type of placement yields the best results.

Double whammy. When you take space in an ezine, maximize its effect. Make two offers: an offer for your product or service AND an offer to get on your list.

Test. With any new advertising medium, it’s a good idea to test. Give consideration to testing the same ads in two ezines at a time to get an idea of which audience works better. Then test premium giveaways and physical placement of your ad within the winning ezine.

Build your brand. Don’t forget that an ezine, like any advertising medium is an opportunity to assert your brand in the eye of the market. Don’t miss that opportunity. Make sure your marks and value propositions are totally evident.

Do the math. Lastly, since you know the audience for the ezine, calculate what response, both click-through, and click-to-act, is necessary to achieve a breakeven on your offer. Make sure you do this in advance and then validate that the needed response rate is achievable.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here:

Do you know how to get and stay in the flow so you can write more articles? You will when you read and use this article.

Once you get started writing articles you need to stay in the flow. You need to keep it going. You need to write regularly.

As an article writing and marketing coach, I have found that for some people the most difficult article to write is not the first, it is the second. You complete the goal of writing an article, get your first one done, and then relax. This is human nature to rest on our laurels.

To be wildly successful though, you need to do all the things that got you to your goal and more. Because this is a numbers game, there really is no finish line.

Remember this is a numbers game. The higher your article volume numbers, the higher all your other numbers are going to be.

In the article writing protocol I use, I am not done with an article once I have submitted it to the article directories. I don’t consider my task complete until I have begun the next article. At least begin the outline of the next article and save it.

What you will often find is since you are on a roll, once you outline the next article, you often end up just moving forward and completing that article too. This is getting in the flow.

This is how you write one great quality article after another.

Would you like free access to two of my Article Writing Templates? You can download them by going to TheArticleGuy.com/bonustemplates.htm TheArticleGuy.com/bonustemplates.htm

Would you like to get in on our free weekly Article Guy TeleSeminars? Visit TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com to get started today!

From Jeff Herring - The Article Guy

If you are the owner of a web based business enterprise, or a venture that operates in the brick and mortar world, you need develop a complete and comprehensive marketing a promotion plan. As part of that program, you will want to consider press release marketing.

What is Press Release Marketing?

In simply terms, press release marketing is the use of free media to generate interest in your business enterprise. Press release marketing is used to drum up interest in the products or services that you market through your business venture.

Targeted Press Release Marketing

One of the key elements of crafting a successful press release marketing program is to understand the importance of targeting your communications to the media. Quite like in marketing generally, it is important that you target your press release marketing efforts to a particular audience. For example, if you are in the business of providing certain products or services that are used by senior citizens, you will want to make certain that your press release marketing efforts focus in on those publications and other media outlets that are accessed with regularity by older men and women.

When all is said and done, press release marketing is one of the most effective ways of promoting your business enterprise. In this regard, you might be well served considering retaining the services of a professional to assist you in developing a meaningful press release marketing plan and campaign. Retaining such a professional can be a solid investment in the future of your business enterprise

Want to learn more about it? Download the free ebook,

A common theme for many romance novels is that they use characters being torn between two people at the same time. A good example to describe a love triangle would be the relationships between King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and first knight Sir Lancelot. Both men love Guinevere; her confused heart loves both men back. In real life, we certainly don′t look forward to situations such as this; it never makes for a happy or healthy home. However, in books readers crave excitement and unexpected twists. The love triangle is a device that provides tension, causes drama, and adds spice to whatever other plots might be present.

Let’s talk about some reasons why authors use ‘love triangles′ in a romance story.

Why have the characters compete against each other for love?

Good romance stories often use conflicts and overcoming obstacles to keep their readers in suspense. Inserting a love triangle is an easy way to complicate the relationship without sacrificing the romance. The indecision of the character in question could have your readers connect with the story and the events taking place. It’s much more than just a story when readers find themselves emotionally invested in the character’s choices and what will happen to them because of those choices.

Why does someone become more attractive once they are unavailable?

For some reason there are people who find others more desirable or attractive when someone else is already taken. It could be that the ‘chase’ is what they find most desirable. People want what they cannot have. They sometimes don’t notice what has been under their eyes the entire time until someone else points it out. It’s like when stock goes up, suddenly everyone wants a share. Since this often happens in reality, it seems natural when it happens in story, making it easy for the readers to relate to both sides of the coin.

How do you resolve a ‘love triangle’?

If characters are involved in a love triangle, obviously someone’s feelings have to change. Your readers are going to want a resolution to the problems occurring. If the story stays the same and you end the story with the character still uncertain of who to choose, then there’s no real progression. You can’t build the readers expectations up and then never satisfy them with a proper conclusion. They won’t be pleased with the outcome. As your story progresses, the readers could change their opinions about who they want the character to be with romantically. If you are the writer and are in doubt about how to resolve the triangle, then you may want to let the characters’ interactions lead you to the surprise ending! We may not welcome indecision when it comes to love in real life, but it’s easy to realize why we welcome them in stories.

Lexi is an author on Writing.Com Writing.Com which is a site for lexijewlgia.Writing.Com/ Creative Writing.

FORWARD

The 188 stage Hero’s Journey (Monomyth) is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the hundreds of Hollywood movies we have deconstructed (see URL below) are based on this 188 stage template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters. This is the template you must master if you are to succeed in the craft.

[The terminology is most often metaphoric and applies to all successful stories and screenplays, from The Godfather (1972) to Brokeback Mountain (2006) to Annie Hall (1977) to Lord of the Rings (2003) to Drugstore Cowboy (1989) to Thelma and Louise (1991) to Apocaplyse Now (1979)].

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY

THE 188 STAGE HERO′S JOURNEY:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharses, of which there are usually four).

d) Tells you what to write. For example, at a certain stage of the story, the focus should be on the Call to Adventure and the micro elements within.

ABRIDGED TIPS, EXCERPTS AND EXAMPLES:

(simply go to heros-journey.info/ heros-journey.info/ for full details)

*****First Trial Inner Cave - No Going Back*****

A number of things happen in the Inner Cave of the First Trial. One element is the No Going Back. In Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Blanche wants out but Buck (and therefore she) can’t get out because he has killed a man.

*****Third Catharsis*****

With the Antagonist vanquished, his allies and lieutenants slip away. In Lord of the Rings (2004), the enemy armies disappear in smoke. In The Matrix (1999), the other agents run from Neo after he defeats Smith.

Learn more…

WRITE THAT SCREENPLAY!

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at clickok.co.uk/ clickok.co.uk/ or managing-creativity.com/ managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

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Kal Bishop, MBA

Want your articles to get picked up and reprinted by top name brand ezine publishers?

While there is no shortage of authors willing to give their articles away for free with hopes of attracting ezine publishers who will pick up your article to send to their list as supplemental content or ‘guest expert’ - there is a gap between two very different types of articles:

Type 1: Those That Get Reprinted
Type 2: Those That Get Passed Over

Article marketing can help you achieve fame, traffic, credibility, sales, referrals and much more, but not if your articles don′t make it into viral distribution.

Here are the top 5 factors that ezine publishers look for when they decide which articles to publish:

1) Does the article have zero self serving links in the article body? If so, good.

Loading up the body of your article with affiliate links or other obvious self-serving links is a liability. Your short-term thinking or scarcity based thinking (that you need to get an immediate return from your article) will keep your article from ever seeing top results.

2) Does the article have no more than 2 self serving links in the resource box? If so, good.

Your resource box at the bottom of your article should be short, sweet, succinct, to the point, and be less than 10% of the total word count of your article. Ezine publishers don’t mind giving you name credit and a link for sharing your article with them, but they don’t want to look like a fool by being required to reprint a short novel about all of your websites and accomplishments.

3) Is the article short (250-700 words)? If so, great.

We live in a ’sound byte’ economy. No one has time to really go deep when it comes to reading email newsletters. It’s proven that the shorter articles achieve a much higher distribution than the longer ones.

4) Does it deliver quality original content with numbered lists, bullet points or easy to glean information that their audience would find valuable? If so, good.

Key point: Make sure your articles are 100% original content. Anything less is really an insult.

5) Is the author well recognized or respected within their market niche. If so, excellent!

Ezine publishers have an ego just like you do. They want to use articles in their email newsletters that make them look good. The more you use your articles to help yourself gain credibility for your unique expertise within your niche, the greater the chances you’ll find your articles getting picked up by your ezine publishing peers.

Hint: You’ll need to write at least 100 or more articles before a top dog takes your credibility seriously. The greater majority of authors think they can put 1-6 articles into distribution and that’s all that they will need to make it big. How erroneous their thinking is… You can quickly separate yourself by putting 100 more articles into distribution before this quarter is over. Yes, it is possible; Yes, it has been done; and Yes, you can do it.

There are many other considerations that ezine publishers look for, such as:

Relevancy of the article to the ezine publisher’s core focus
Timing of the article and its relevance to current market dynamics
Grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure are perfect
Simple, clean, neat and no abuse of the bold/italics/underline attributes
Formal approach to the article vs. blogging loose style
How well referenced the article is

About The Author:

Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best quality original articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic EzineArticles.com/ EzineArticles.com/ expert author community. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: EzineArticles.com/submit/ EzineArticles.com/submit/

(c) Copyright - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

The obvious answer is to sit down and just do it. Yes, but there is a technique to it. There are things that you need to do in order to be successful. I don’t mean make tons of money, but to have a sense of accomplishment. There is nothing worse for a writer then to spend all day trying to create and feel like they have gotten no where. Writing needs to be an enjoyable experience not one that makes you go, “Do I really have to do it today?” The answer to that is yes.

It is recommended that you write every day, even if it is only for 30 minutes or so. Writing needs to become habit, and it needs to be “perfected”. Your style of writing evolves over time. It is a combination of your personality, your reading choices and to an extent the choices that you will make while writing. Look at it like golf. You don’t go out and hit 12 under par if you don’t practice. The point is that you need to become comfortable with writing is not just something you do; it is a part of who you are.

There are several techniques a writer can use to start writing. Ultimately though only you can decide how you will start. Some people use life experiences to spark their writing. When looking for an idea some people consider their emotions, or how they are feeling at that moment they sit down. You can look at a picture and describe that picture on a piece of paper, either for what is in the picture or the story behind the picture. You can turn the journey a leaf takes falling to the ground into a beautiful poem.

Some people keep journals. They write about their days, dreams they have had, events that they don’t want to forget or personal feelings that they need to get out and express they just don’t want to do that with a person. You can journal as a way to help start your writing. Sitting on a bus, or in a restaurant start writing about what you see. If you are a parent, write about your kids. Write about your spouse or significant other. Maybe you have a favorite childhood memory, write it down.

In the beginning there is no need for you to worry if your writing is good or bad. You aren’t writing to get published, you are writing to simply be writing. Write everyday about something or nothing but write. The only way to improve your style and be comfortable with writing is to just sit down and do it.

Publishing pro and author/filmmaker Barry Sheppard has written and published many books with hundreds of reviews in newspapers, TV and radio. He is now concentrating on eBook writing/publishing and starting his own television station.

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