Does your writing fulfill these five basic tasks?

~~~ Notes from Minnesota ~~~

Hey Freelancer,

So… I’m cleaning the my office at the Filbert Publishing world headquarters (OK. Quit giggling and pointing) and what do I find? A BUNCH of CDs and books. As I dug through the contents and listening to the CDs I thought, “Hey! This is pretty fun stuff!”

Ah, the joys of cleaning, sorting, and organizing.

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‘Til next time,

Beth 🙂

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5. Jumpstart Your Writing Career and Snag Paying Assignments

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Let’s talk shop!

It’s the last week for the Two-Fer!

Get last month’s issue of the Creative Entrepreneur (all about publishing your book via Amazon’s KDP program) as well as the newest issue (covering on everything you need to know to publish your books “wide,”) if you join the Mocha Club by Friday.

Heck, it’s only 4.99 a month. AND this month’s issue is a jumbo edition! I had so much to share it’s expanded by two solid pages.

Freelancing is ever evolving… unrecognizable from when I began during the Internet stone ages.

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Let’s hang out at the Mocha Club.

Get more info here (and download a complementary issue of The Creative Entrepreneur Newsletter. Just click here.
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Want to sell your writing? Make sure you complete these five basic tasks…

Beth Ann Erickson
http://FilbertPublishing.com

If you want to sell your writing, you need to understand a few fundamental truths. These include:

1. Every writer needs to learn the basics of copywriting

You need to identify your writing’s primary benefits, zero in on them with a laser focus, and absolutely nail those benefits using active language.

2. Keep the reader on the page

Readers drop boring writing fast. In fact, in the Internet age, you have less than a couple seconds to snag a reader’s attention and draw them into your message.

3. Pique interest

The reader is concerned with one thing: WIIFM. That stands for “What’s In It For Me.” While it’s impossible to address every person’s self interests, a competent writer will take the time to get to know their audience, poke around enough to know their primary concerns, and will address these… and how you can solve them… using concrete, active language.

4. Communicate using the language of the reader

This is exceedingly important.

Many times, the natural inclination is to describe their product in a logical manner, teaching their reader why they should hire them/buy from them. That’s a mistake.

You have to turn the conversation 180 degrees and focus on your reader’s concerns.

5. Copywriting is salesmanship in print

A good writer will adjust language, communication style, even the visual representation of their words (font, images, and such) to conform to customer expectations. For just a few moments, they turn into the potential customer, address their concerns, explain how your product/service will solve those concerns, and will help your customer become excited to make the purchase.

Final thought: Solid copy not only describes your product/service, it sells it in an effective, lively way. Each word carries weight and propels your reader towards the next word, phrase, paragraph. It speaks the language of your reader and closes strong.

If your sales materials fail to do this, it may be time to study the art of copywriting.

(Editor note: Now you can get a huge resource to help with that! Three full volumes, five audio CDs shipped direct to your mailbox, five bucks off with the coupon: THCPAP
Here’s the link.
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You can use any of these articles free of charge on your own website or zine. Just don’t make any changes and be sure to include this byline:

This article is courtesy of Filbert Publishing. Make your writing sparkle, write killer queries, get published. Subscribe to Writing Etc., the free e-mag for freelancers and receive the e-book “Power Queries.” http://filbertpublishing.com

Enjoy!