Essay Online

When reading your article a reader can get warmed up and react on your article in several ways. A responsive reader will want to:

1) Visit your website link in the resource box

This is probably the most common response people seem to go to, even if it is the wrong one. People are so fixated with wanting their readers to go to their websites and buy straight away.

Tell me something, how many strangers on the Internet have you brought something from because they just told you a great story? None right?

You have to preheat (or presell your readers) the oven before you can ask for their credit card details.

Sending your readers to your website will usually result in a lower sales percentage straight off the bat. That is of course if you are selling them anything at all.

If you were selling them something, the best bet would be to send them straight to your newsletter signup link in your resource box.

But if you are sure you want to send them to your website, the best way to do that is to tell your readers (in your article) that if you go to your website (in your resource box), there is a free gift (of value) they can get, just by visiting your site.

Make sure if you do this, it’s not a blatant plug for a product and the gift is of real value, or very few publishers will publish your article, and fewer readers will respond to you in the future. No one likes being sold straight off the bat, and by giving them a free gift, or getting them to give you their email address some way is the best way to go.

2) Visit your affiliate link

This one is quite tricky.

For starters, some publishers don’t allow you to put affiliate program links in your article at all, and if you do, they have to be completely in context and it must be one brilliant article, but that’s not a problem.

You can of course put an affiliate link in your resource box, which would be allowed straight away.

3) Subscribe to your mailing list.

This is one of the better options. Why, because when they sign up for your mailing list, they are giving you permission to contact them via email on a regular basis.

It would be very hard in your article to announce your mailing list in context of the article, as it would come off as a blatant plug, so the best bet would be to include your subscribe email address in your resource box.

Send them to a splash page where you can capture their email address. Or let your readers to send a blank email to your autoresponder/mailing list email address and subscribe from there. Give them a free gift, something of value.

4) Refer your article to others

If you want your readers to refer your articles to other people, here is what you do.

(This is a good idea if you have affiliate links in your article)

You send them to a website, with a refer a friend script. This website also has your previous articles on there as well in an easy to use site.

You see how many possibilities there are.

By giving them something in return with value, like a free 5-day course, you get them to refer your article/website to their friends.

5) Contact you personally

If you want people to contact you personally, don’t make them dig through a website to find your contact details. At the very least, put your email address in your resource box, if not your business phone number.

Freelance copywriting already covers a wide range of media, such as television, radio, magazines, brochures, direct mail, and SEO copy. In fact, every word in every brochure, advert, website and leaflet you see is written by the copywriter. Before, copywriters were restricted to being in-house or by marketing / PR firms; but now, many freelance copywriters offer their services globally.

Working on a freelance copywriting job can be stressful. Just like all freelance jobs, freelance copywriting means you have to sell or market yourself, meet all deadlines or complete a job on time and on budget by making use of your skills and knowledge.

Being a copywriter enables you to choose a specific or particular market sector or product. To become a successful copywriter, you should have the ability to research a certain topic, while understanding your clients and target customers.

Aside from having excellent research skills, you also have to have imagination and creative flair to keep your ideas running while keeping your clients happy.

BECOMING A COPYWRITER

As with writing many types of copy, there are also different types of copywriters with various specialties in the market today. Some copywriters specialize in specific forms of copywriting, such as direct mail or ad copy, while other copywriters take a more general approach by writing copy on general topics for no specific type of client.

Today, freelance copywriters are known to write different forms of copy and clients expect them to handle a larger workload. Despite being demanding work, freelance copywriting can be a lot of fun and one of the best ways to make a steady income if you have the skills, the connection, and the drive to be successful.

Aside from being an avenue to earn great income, freelance copywriting also offers you the ability to work from anywhere via Internet. If you are planning to become a freelance copywriter, here are some tips to help you do the job:

1. Educate Yourself. If you want to delve into the world of freelance copywriting, then consider getting a writing degree in English, Journalism, Communications, and the like. Having an education or a background on the career you wish to pursue can be a strong step in finding work as a copywriter.

If it’s impossible for you to earn a degree, try to earn a certification in a specialty (such as marketing), or take non-degree courses that teach copywriting (or technical writing) basics offered by many colleges. Having a background in copywriting can serve as a credential once you venture into freelance work.

2. Get a pro bono work. If you don’t have any other experience, writing copy or an article for free will provide you with the experience you need. Writing pro bono copy for clients can also serve as sample copies once you market yourself as a freelance copywriter.

3. Intern. An internship from a recognized business or establishment in your field will add credibility to your skills. Aside from giving you experience and first-hand knowledge, an internship may also lead to permanent employment with the company.

4. Pursue various opportunities. Since the industry is booming, there are lots of freelance copywriters who serve as your competitors. If you are really into freelance copywriting, then you should always research businesses and agencies that may need copywriting services, both online and offline.

An excellent resource to learn about launching a freelance career is Andy Anderson’s book or audio book, “How to Make Money from Home as a Freelancer,” published by PaydayPublishing.com.

COPYWRITING JOBS

The number of copywriting jobs is enormous. If you did a keyword search on “copywriting,” you would find 500-plus jobs. This is only a small part of the market, and you could find many other copywriting jobs on other websites as well, such as FreelanceWriting.com. With the evolution of the Internet, there are more and more jobs available to write good web content among other things on the Internet. Often many freelance copywriting jobs can be found where you will find a plethora of advertising agencies. A good example of this would be in New York. Within your area, there will be a good number of smaller marketing agencies where you may be able to find work as a copywriter. The number of opportunities for a freelance copywriter is very high and this is a great field to work in.

Freelance and staff copywriting salaries usually range from $41,000 a year up to $85,000 a year or more. This is a rough gauge on what you could potentially make as a freelance copywriter.

Copywriting jobs are out there for the taking. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, copywriting jobs will grow in line with the general economy over the next decade. This means you will see about average growth for the industry but you could see enormous growth if you focus on Internet copywriting.

The comma is the most frequently used internal mark of punctuation. Of all the marks of punctuation, it has the widest variety of uses.

Using commas with dates, addresses, greetings, names, and large numbers

* Commas are used with full dates (month, day, and year) but omitted with partial dates (month and year):

1. Gas has been first used by the Germans on October 14, 1914, when they fired a prototype of modern tear gas from artillery near Pyres. &ndash Paul Fussel

2. In June 1985 Beth Henley was working on her fifth play.

Exception: No comma is used to separate parts of a date that begins with the day.

The atomic bomb was first dropped on 6 August 1945.

* Commas are required between most of the elements in place names and addresses:

1. Miami, Dade County, Florida

2. Writing Lab, University of California, Riverside

Exception: # Do not use comma to separate street number from the name of the street:

15 Amsterdam Avenue

# Do not use comma to separate a state from zip code:

5625 Waverly Avenue, La Jolla, California 92037

* In complete sentence, a comma must follow the last element of place name, addresses, or dates:

1. He shot himself twice, once in the chest and then in the head, in a police station in Washington, D.C., with the cops looking on. &ndash Red Smith

2. July 4, 1776, was the day the Declaration of Independence was signed.

* Commas are used to set off the names of someone directly addressed in the sentence:

A few years ago, Mr. Taplow, I spoke to you about the possibility of a summer job.

* Commas are used after the greeting in a friendly or informal letter, and after the closing of the letter of any kind:

Dear Mary,

Sincerely,

Yours truly,

* Commas are used to set off titles or degrees after a person’s name:

Barbara Kane, M.D., delivered the commencement address.

Exception: But Jr., Sr. may be written without commas:

Sammy Davis Jr. started his singing career at age four.

* The comma is used after the last part of a proper name when the last part comes first:

Lunt, George D.

* Commas are used to mark groups of three digits in large numbers, counting from the right:

Antarctica is 5,400,000 square miles of ice-covered land.

Using commas with conjunctions

* The comma is used before a conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) linking two independent clauses.

Canadians watch America closely, but most Americans know little about Canada.

Exception: Some very brief independent clauses may not require a comma.

1. We dickered and then we made a deal. &ndash Red Smith

2. I have seen the future and now I’m tired of it. &ndash Gerald Nachman

* If one or both independent clauses have internal punctuation (especially commas), a writer might choose to separate two clauses with a semicolon and a coordinating conjunction so that the reader can easily see the main division of the sentence.

Genetically, we are nearly identical to mankind fifty thousand years ago; and some of us delight in the continuity represented by this, while others may be appalled. &ndash Edward Hoagland

* Comma alone should be used between two independent clauses (comma splice):

“I plan to travel to England”, my friend said happily. “I want to visit Shakespeare’s birthplace.”

* When a conjunction adverb joins the independent clauses in a compound sentence, it is preceded by a semicolon:

Petra was absent on Friday; consequently, she missed the chemistry test.

* The use of a comma to join coordinate clauses is more common in novels, stories, and some types of journalistic writing than it is in serious expository prose. Although it is hard to make general statements here, it is safe to say this practice is the exception, not the rule. The comma is used by most writers to join coordinate clauses in the following situation:

# When the series of sentences takes the form of a climax:

1. I came, I saw, I conquered.

2. The leaves are turning to gold, squirrels are fattening, hunting time is near.

# When the statements form an antithesis, or are arranged in the “it was not merely this, it was mainly that” formula:

1. It was more than an annoyance, it was a pang. &ndash Winston S. Churchill

2. To allow the Mahdi to enter Khartoum would not merely mean to return the whole of the Sudan to barbarism, it would be a menace to the safety of Egypt herself. &ndash Lyton Strachey

A few years back, I found that the process of writing articles really isn’t a process at all &ndash it’s an art, and it’s a very elegant one.

There are so many ways to make an article easy to read for your audience it’s mind-boggling.

While a debate rages on about whether articles should be dense and conversational or sparse and easy-to-read, I find myself in the middle, happy to write conversational articles with loads of impact.

The fact remains: People aren’t going to read something that looks like it might take a long time to read. I’m a professional writer and I don’t even like to read long articles. (To me, long ezine articles it shows a lack of discipline on the part of the writer.)

Here are a few maxims I’ve discovered and they’ve served me well in the past:

● Keep articles to anywhere between 400 and 700 words &ndash anything more than that and you’re asking for your article to have single-digit page views. Who wants that?

● Use sub-heds. Short for subheadings, these breaks in the content are mini-paragraphs that move the reader along in the story. I only employ these when I’m writing case studies or articles that approach the 700 word mark.

Note: I only write these after I have written the entire article. I take a good look at the text and then I try to insert a sub-hed every two or three paragraphs. This technique works wonders in making an article appear more readable.

● Use bullets, numbered lists, and bold sentences whenever you’re writing the advice portion of your articles.

Quick Tutorial on Adding Status Boosting Advice to Your Articles

It’s a must to have advice in your articles. This sets you apart as an expert in your field and makes you likable because you’re helping to solve the problems of your prospects.

Here how I used advice in my articles:

● Make sure the advice is actionable &ndash something to reader can do right now to reach a goal, eliminate a problem or become more efficient.

● Include the most important items at the top of the list and the least important ones at the very end.

● Finish strong with a final piece of advice that is not in the numbered list, bulleted list, or bold sentence category. I usually structure the sentence like this one: “Bottom line: Follow a set format to make writing articles easier.”

This allows the reader to leave your article with the one nugget of information that he can finally use to solve whatever problem may be hanging over him at the moment.

Now article writing can be fun because you have the right tools to ensure readers will want to read your articles.

Bonus! How to Put This Concept to Work in Your Articles

Write your articles out without thinking about these tips I just mentioned. Just empty your brain of all the information you have about a particular problem facing your audience and how they can solve that problem.

Then walk away from the article. Don’t look at or think about it for at least three hours or so. Next, insert sub-heds to break up the paragraphs into bite-sized pieces. Format your advice into bullets, numbered lists or bolded first sentences.

You’ll be surprised at how well your articles will look to someone who’s first viewing it.

Doing this, in combination with a phenomenal headline, will send your article views through the roof. People will clamor for your articles and publish them both online, and in ezines.

All of you who have been thinking of publishing articles probably seem to be noticing a lot more ads showing up when you search Google for article submission sites. So what does this all mean for you?

Well it leaves you the choice of where you wish to submit your article to. Lately new software is out that can let people get an article directory up and running in just a couple of hours and it seems every little fish wants a piece of the action.

So how do you choose the correct article directory for your article submission?

Here are a few tips to get you in the right direction:

Design - You probably are asking yourself why the design of the article directory has anything to do with how good this directory is for you. Well it is, it shows how serious the owners of the site are taking it - the more professional and maintained it looks the longer the site will be online and the more popularity it will gain.

RSS Feeds - Make sure the article directory you are submitting your article to have RSS feeds, this is what is going to be driving the traffic to your website. Many small websites pull the RSS feeds from the bigger sites, usually from certain categories that there site deals in, with this you article will gain even more exposure.

SEO - Check on the directories indexed pages on Google, MSN & Yahoo - why not also check out there rankings for important keywords like “article submissions”, “articles directory” or “free articles” - if they are ranking high you can be sure that these sites are getting good exposure and a high traffic volume.

Summary & Keywords - Make sure you can add these when you submit your articles, these are what the search engines will look for the most when caching your article page on the articles directory website.

Guidelines, TOS & Privacy - The website should professionally display all this information, again this is a tell tale sign for a serious article directory or not.

Contact Form - Make sure the website has an online contact form so it will be easy for you to contact them if you require any assistance.

I hope all of this information helps pointing you in the right direction for your article submission needs.

Imagine the power of a website dedicated to Independent authors and their books. A place where readers could find over a million Independently published books at one online location. The time has come for Independent authors around the world to join together on the Internet at one location to sell our books. There is tremendous strength in numbers and with an estimated five million Independent authors worldwide the power of that one destination would change the face of publishing&ndashforever! Even with just 20% of those titles, that combination of forces would be a serious contender to booksellers around the world.

The key to improving our exposure to readers and increase book sales is to combine the efforts of Independent authors on a global scale at one online marketing platform. This will attract consumers interested in books not found in the traditional major bookstore or mass merchant. The website can market to readers and offer a selection of Independently published titles not found in combination anywhere. The future for book sales is the Internet, the only growth area in publishing is the Independent author, and the market is international.

The biggest problem for Independent book sales is a highly decentralized marketplace. This marketplace includes dozens of websites that sell books and services to other authors, as well as hundreds of thousands of author websites and is exactly the kind of environment that depresses our effort to market and sell books to a mass audience.

The six biggest New York publishers will always control the Barnes & Noble’s and Wal-Mart’s of the traditional bookselling world. They will spend whatever it takes and will never allow an Independent presence into their retail accounts. Let them continue spending their money in a market that has been consistently shrinking since the early 1990’s.

When Independent authors organize and guide readers to a central Internet location where books not found in bookstores are available, we’d start to see changes in the way books are purchased, on a massive scale. We will have created a market that the big publishers can’t touch. This would be an Independent marketplace, not controlled by a single online bookseller who takes up to 60% of our cover price.

There is a website that provides Independent writers and authors an opportunity to market their writing to readers who otherwise would not be exposed to our work and: (1) Offers a single global platform for Independent book sales, and (2) Gives the writer real independence from other online web sites in the traditional marketplace, thus giving the author tremendous exposure to readers and a far higher return on each book sold.

The website exists; in order to attract readers and increase sales we need to add more Independently published authors and their books. It takes lots of titles to draw book consumers to a single online location. That’s why it makes more sense to join forces globally rather than continue to divide an already highly fragmented market.

You’ve spent many nights working on your book. You’ve rewritten it, edited it, and you used a professional proofreader to proof it. Your book is done &ndash finally — and you’re ready to send your precious manuscript off to a publisher, thinking that writing it was the hardest part.

In reality, getting your blood, sweat and tears published may be the hardest part of the whole process. You’ll need to decide if your book requires a publisher, or if you’d rather self-publish your book. Both venues have pros and cons, some of which I discuss below.

To work with a book publisher, you’ll need to send out query letters and/or a book proposal. This is a letter or a few pages briefly describing your text, why your book is unique, characteristics of your target market, and how you can help market your book. Most publishers don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you’ll need to convince them to read yours, or find a literary agent to represent you. If a book publisher requests that you forward your entire manuscript, you have one foot in the door. Be prepared to send more than one query and don’t expect a response next week. An excellent software program to help format your manuscript and create a book proposal is called Wizards For Word at .wizardsforword.com

Publishers look for three things: platform, hook, and execution. This means a writer should have a built-in audience (ideally, a national platform such as a radio or TV show or a column in a major publication), an interesting hook, and strong writing skills.

The problem if you’re an unagented author is that most publishers won’t take your call or read your proposal. Then even if they do, you’ll have a tough time creating a bidding war or running an auction to get the best offer, and you also won’t have leverage negotiating the important deal points, such as ancillary rights and royalties.

There are writer’s guides that serve as excellent resources to find publishers and literary agents who specialize in your particular genre. These guides list the percentage of new authors published as well as the percentage of sales they pay. You may find pay rates ranging from 5-10% of sales. Some pay on wholesale sales and others on the retail amount. Do the math. Perhaps your book will retail for $14.95 and the publisher will pay 6% on retail. This means you will earn 90 cents per book sold. Of course don’t forget that the publisher is doing all the printing, distributing, and marketing of your text.

Another route you may want to consider is self-publishing. Self-publishing requires you to print, distribute and market your book using your money, but you will also retain all profits. There are book printing companies as well as companies that specialize in assisting self-publishers through every step along the way.

Many authors debate which method is better, using a publishing company or self publishing your own book. You know your situation and you know what will work best for you. You’ll want to consider how much time or money you have to invest in the project. That should give you an idea which route to take. Using a publisher takes less time on your part, but you’ll forfeit some of the royalties by using this method. If you self publish, you’ll have to pay “up front costs” and do the initial legwork to begin generating sales for your book. Either way, publishing is your call. With persistence and hard work you can get your book in the marketplace.

iPods seem to be taking over the world. One sees them everywhere one goes, being used by adults and children alike. One sees them on the television and in the movies. It seems that people are going insane over them! It is actually not surprising that this little device is attracting such fanatical devotion; it is indeed a fantastic device; it might even be the coolest thing to show up ever!

The iPod is a pocket sized, ultra light hard drive based audio player, designed and marketed by Apple Computers. All the iPod models are user friendly in design, and can be used even by young children. They offer a simple user interface and a scroll wheel to browse the navigation system. Unlike the other portable cassette or CD players, the iPod stores media on in-built memory. What this means is that you do not need to insert a CD or cassette.

An iPod is practical, functional, and cute as well! There are three different sizes and shapes to choose from. There is the skinny little iPod shuffle; the slightly larger but even skinner nano, and the most popular regular iPod that can play all your favorite TV shows and favorite songs.

Some of the other Mp3 players available might have disadvantages if compared to the wonder of the iPod. It is not only a question of how many songs they can hold; the overall quality and the cute look of the little machines are truly matchless. They can hold thousands of songs and pictures, they are so tiny, and they come in such wonderful colors. The iPod mini came in green and pink and blue and other lovely colors. The nano and the iPod now come in white and black. All the colors are hot and look great.

What it has come down to is that when you want to go in for a new music player, you may consider to get an iPod. It will hold hundreds of songs; the battery life is great. You can play it for more than twenty hours before you need to charge it again.

When you buy the iPod, the iTunes software is included in it. This software uploads music and photos in the iPod and it has been likened to a jukebox. The function of this software is to play, store and organize all the music and video files on the iPod. With iTunes, you can connect to the iTunes Music Store and buy music files for playing on the iPod. Although iTunes has been developed by Apple, it will work with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. ITunes is also freely downloadable on the web.

Apple Corporation released the iPod in October, 2001. Since then, the iPod has become the biggest selling portable hard disk player. It has sold around twenty million units in 2001-2005. The way the iPod was initially marketed also contributed to its enormous popularity, with excellent ads playing the coolest tunes in the background.

The tiny size of the iPod is its biggest advantage, and you can take it with you wherever you go. This can have its problems, as the iPod is delicate, and the screen and case are prone to scratching, even during normal use. So now a huge market has opened up, offering cases for your iPod to protect it from damage so that you can take it literally anywhere. The cases have options for clips and straps, so your iPod need never leave your side, until you want to put it away yourself.

There are basically three options for getting your book published. You can try to get your book proposal accepted by one of the industry giants like Penguin or Random House but that’s a tough road. Those companies only work with proven authors or those who already have huge platforms and salivating audiences. Having said that, if you manage to get accepted, you’ll end up with a huge implied endorsement and a ton of indisputable credibility.

On the other end of the spectrum, you could self-publish your own book. The nice thing about this approach is that the only person who has to approve your book is you! If you want to publish your own book, go right ahead. In fact, given the advancements in technology, you can do exactly that and order as little as one book at a time. The downside is that the credibility is far lower than with a major publisher.

These two options seem to be on opposite ends of the continuum and indeed have plenty of differences between them. Luckily, there’s a third category that sits comfortably in the middle. It’s the category of smaller independent publishers and there are thousands of them. They range from very small mom and pop operations to well-established significant publishers. They tend to specialize in one genre or another and often become leaders in their area of expertise.

Soliciting the independent publishers is a great way for a new author to break into the market. Find one that specializes in your particular area and visit their website. They will tell you exactly how they want to be solicited and you’re well advised to follow their guidance. Find out exactly what they’re looking for and then cater your proposal to their specific requirements.

It’s not necessary to have a Literary Agent when soliciting independent publishers. Don’t get me wrong. Having an agent is always a good idea. But you do have some additional options when dealing with the niche players and many will accept proposals directly. Most want you to send it to their Acquisitions Editor but I recommend checking with their website before addressing the envelope.

Getting a book advance is less common when dealing with independent publishers. It’s not impossible but I wouldn’t bank on it. The upside is you’ll have more access to the people reviewing your proposal and that’s half the battle. Don’t pester them. They probably get a few hundred proposals each month. But a polite and well placed phone call rarely hurts and it gives the editor a chance to hear your speaking voice at the same time.

Becoming an author is something you only do once. Once you’ve published your first book, you will forever more be an author. And it can change your life, not to mention your career. Don’t waste your time approaching one of the industry giants when your odds of being accepted are significantly less than 1%. Instead, find an independent publisher that specializes in the subject you’re considering and target your efforts accordingly.

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Most established writers have deadlines to follow. They are either pressed to complete an article by a certain time or they have a novel or non-fiction book that must be handed in by a deadline. In each case they have either a mandatory of self-imposed daily word count they need to complete in order to finish on time.

The primary components to time management for writers should encompass several things.

1. Writing - By actually identifying what your purpose is you take the first step in making sure it is included in your thinking.

2. Research - Take the time to conduct research on your subject matter, if you don’t factor time for this you have to borrow from other categories and you will likely fall behind in your writing.

3. Market Research - When you research the intended audience for your work it can help you more closely guide the work in the right direction.

4. Rest and Recreation - If you don’t factor time for these two things they will get lost. At the root of recreation is re-create. Our creative juices are revitalized in down time. If we spend all our time writing we will likely lose perspective and our work will suffer.

5. Family and friends - This is a close cousin to the last time management component, but your work should never trump your family. If you borrow too much from this category the damaging effects can be long-term.

The old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is true. Most of the zeal you have for writing is to express the very things that life has brought your way. If you have no life because of your writing you may well lose the zeal you have for writing. It is a cycle that many writers have encountered when they placed so much emphasis on the writing that the other categories of time management went bankrupt.

Balance

Finding a balance between life and writing is a hard task. However once you understand writing should be a component of your life instead of the dictator you can assimilate your writing into a schedule that has more than one category.

Writing Goals

It is important to set writing goals, but they should be done with the understanding that even writers need a life. Know your limits and always try to work within those limits.

Of necessity, deadlines are important component in the process of publication. A smart writer will learn to gain a clear perspective on their abilities and refuse to put something together at the last minute. They will also make room for life in the midst of their writing.

“Every man dies &ndash not every man really lives.” &ndash William Ross Wallace