Do Your Morals And Values Affect Your Writing?
Ghostwriting -- Is it morally right? If so, when is it and when isn't it?
Celebrities such as 50Cent, Barak Obama, and Britney Spears recently revealed they hired writers and others to add content to social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Guy Kawasaki furthered this debate when he spoke at a conference about having other employees update his Twitter account as well as using Twitterhawk and CoTweet to promote Alltop.
Twitterhawk brings up the issue of spamming. In my opinion, having someone else run your account for you is no different. I can understand that these people are busy. I can even see them avoiding these types of platforms purely for safety reasons. After all, you never realize what you have revealed to the public until it’s too late. However, I honestly feel that if you are going to brand these things as personal rather than as a general business thing, having someone else do all the work defeats the purpose.
Ghostwriting is not a new idea. It’s a popular form of writing that happens all the time, and it has been around for years. I would estimate that 95% of all the writing I do is under someone else’s name.
Is it morally wrong? No, but it depends on several variables. What image is that person projecting? What points are they trying to make? Today’s world is all about transparency and honesty, and if you haven’t got that, you are going to be left behind..
If someone offered the right amount of money, would I write content for a celebrity to send out on Twitter or Facebook?
I would like to say no, but I’m not sure. It would really depend on how the material was being presented. If it was no secret that writers were supplying the information or if there were a few personal posts or tweets in between and others knew. I could live with that.
When would I refuse a writing project?
Adult content pays a lot of money. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot more than any other topic, generally speaking of course. Would I take these projects? Anyone who looks at my copywriting services page knows I won’t take adult content. I also won’t take anything that could wind me up in jail.
I’m no prude and I even enjoy the odd romance novel (ok, ok, more than just the odd one…Ok, fine, pretty much any of them that gives an image of Fabio on the cover. If he’s wearing chainmail and swinging a sword, all the better.) I just would never feel right about writing them myself. Also, in my opinion, there is a big difference between a romance novel and all-out porn.
I have nothing against the porn industry. I mean, if you are involved either in the production or on the buying side, that’s fine. It’s completely your choice. It just isn’t something I choose to be involved in.
For me, it’s all about morals and respect. Think about this: you’re in the middle of writing some smutty article and you look up to see your kid standing right there…yeah. It just isn’t going to happen.
I had trouble writing for a women’s lingerie company. Still not something I write with my kid around, but my opinion on lingerie is that it’s all about building self-confidence in the women who wear it; it has nothing to do with guys.
What about you? Do your morals and values enter into your writing? Does it dictate what you write about something, or what subjects you take on?
(image for today’s post taken by striatic)
Secrets of Successful Freelance Writers
This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the top online colleges. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com. Holly taught elementary for two years before becoming interested in writing full time for a variety of online publications with venues in education and nursing. She has a special interest in writing and journalism and spends much of her time writing.
A successful freelance writing career takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to cultivate. Although it is not the easiest field to break into, it is far from impossible. Getting started on the right foot is the most important thing when it comes to being successful as a freelancer. What follows is a brief list of best practices used by professional freelance writers that will ultimately yield results if practiced regularly.
Learn a Variety of Styles
With the internet, it has never been easier to learn a wide variety of styles and techniques employed by successful writers. There are many places dedicated to web copy writing, article writing, and eBook writing. So many avenues for getting your writing out there exist that it’s really up to you as a writer as to how and where you want to focus your abilities.
Get Organized
It is of paramount importance that you get yourself organized as a professional freelancer. Whether it’s using to-do lists, sophisticated electronic productivity software, or using post-its, you must find a method that works for you and stick with it. Organization, especially when the projects begin to roll in, can make or break your career.
Produce Prolifically
When you are first getting started, you will need to work hard on creating a large catalog of work to have at your disposal. Examine what is popular each day and try to create one article based on that topic. Besides that, work on carving out your niche and develop articles and stories based on your area of expertise.
Maintain Your Own Blog or Site
If you maintain your own blog or website, you are in control of what is published. You can begin to make a name for yourself by regularly creating posts and articles and then publishing them for readers. Use social networking tools and get the word out. You are in control, so take the reins and take charge of your destiny and your reputation as a writer.
Actively Seek Out Work
Whether it’s writing copy for a local business advertisement or creating “Top Five” articles for bloggers, try to always have a project in the pipeline. Treat each one with the dignity and respect it deserves, whether it pays you five dollars or five-hundred. This will help to ensure that you are giving all of your writing endeavors the time and attention they deserve.
Everyone’s a Critic — How to Deal with It
Netta from WordWebbing.com wrote an excellent post on how writers are their own worst critics and how to deal with it. I am guilty as charged. I am have always been a harsh critic of myself. In fact, I’m harder on myself than I would ever consider being on anyone else. (Instead of treating others how you want to be treated, maybe writers should reverse that?)
Writers suffer from the same ailment as musicians, artists, actors, and actresses — our work is under intense scrutiny from the client right from the beginning. Then, every single person who reads what you have written will further critique the content, concept, and technical aspects of the piece. Will they like it? Not like it? Part of it? Is it enough? What do you do when someone shares their thoughts and opinions?
Be Open Minded
Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. The important thing is that you keep your mind open enough to truly hear and understand opposing views and ideas. Instead of thinking of it as criticism, look at it as the ideal opportunity to discover how others think and learn from it and expand your horizons. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with any of it.
Consider The Source
Keep in mind that everyone has an opinion regardless of whether that person knows anything about the subject or not. Just because he or she chooses to share it doesn’t mean it should automatically determine your choices and decisions. When you receive positive or negative criticism, take from it what you can and let it go. This doesn’t hold true in all situations. If your customer makes some criticisms of your work, you don’t necessarily have to translate this into your other work, but do as they ask and keep that feedback for future use.
Don’t Take It Personal
This is likely the most common reason for conflict between critics/editors and writers. When someone provides feedback, it is nothing more than an opinion about your work that may or may not contain helpful information to make it even better. Even though it can be a tough thing to swallow, it isn’t a personal attack. In fact, the other person wouldn’t say anything unless they wanted to see the piece improve. Hence, this is a good thing.
It doesn’t matter if you are looking at a Rembrandt painting, watching a Shakespearian play, or reading Robert Browning, all of them have withstood criticisms. We are subject to it eventually. It’s what we choose to do with these criticisms that make the difference.
What do you do? How do you deal with criticism?
25 Of The Best Guides For Online Writing Techniques And Writing Styles
Every writing style has its own set of rules and fine points that make it effective. To learn them, or just to brush up on your skills, you need quality guides that will help you discover what they are and what the finer points really are. For some of us, it’s purely the desire for information that causes us to follow, bookmark, and absorb the information contained in these posts. At the bottom, I included sites to complete courses you can take free of charge on almost anything you’d like to learn.
This collection only includes some of the best guides for beginner and expert online writers that I’ve come across so far. If you have any to add, feel free to add them in the comments, or write a response post and send the link.
Press Releases
1.The 7 Deadly Mistakes People Make When Submitting Press Releases ebook from Online PR News is excellent for writing and submitting releases.
2.How to Write an Effective Press Release from Quick Start SEO has a thorough guide that talks about style, mood, and other finer points as well as the SEO aspects.
3.How to Write an SEO Press Release from Green Doc is another you’ll want to browse through before getting started.
Web Copy
4.Web Copy Style from Provenance Unknown.com has great in-depth guide for anyone writing content specifically for web pages. It includes how to deal with style as well as the technical side of the style including capitalization, grammar, and punctuation.
5.How To Write Effective Web Copy from isitebuild.com has a great step by step guide through the process of actually using the style.
Email Marketing Copy
6. How To Write Effective Emails from PowerHomeBiz.com has lots of great tips for marketing style in general as well as email marketing copy.
7. 7 Steps to Effective Email Marketing from cd email solutions is an excellent guide as is the next source:
8. 10 Tips for Effective Email Sales Letters from the Street Directory.
SEO Style and Article Marketing
SEO Content Solutions has some great resources for beginner copywriters.
9. The Bare Bones Basics of Writing SEO Copy is a straightforward post on…well…the bare basics of SEO.
10.Article Marketing Writing Technique SEO Copywriters builds on the basics for those starting into article marketing.
11.Search Engine Copywriting: Comprehensive Guide For Beginners To Content Writing For Search Engine Optimization is an excellent guide for the actual writing process.
Blogging
12.How to Write the Perfect ‘About’ Page (by Numbers) by Skelliewag.org offers a step by step guide for a great about page.
13.How To Blog: A Beginner’s Blog Publishing Guide by Master New Media helped me start my first blog.
14.You Need a Blog Strategy from Problogger is one of many in this bible for bloggers.
Proofreading Tips And Hints
15.Can I get away with it? 12 common grammatical errors YOUR probably making! Recently published by Divine Write is a great grammar guide that won’t have you snoring after the first paragraph.
16.14 Foolproof Proofreading Tips for Bloggers from Copyblogger doesn’t get to the nitty grity of proof reading, but it definitely helps. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself.
General Writing Style
17.Guide to AP style from Dr. Michael S Sweeney of Utah State University doesn’t contain all of the rules and guidelines, but it is certainly a good start and a great companion to the AP stylebook.
18.Cute Writing has an excellent series on punctuation use which includes great posts on using semicolons, brackets, capitalization, and much more.
19.Paramedic Method: A Lesson in Writing Concisely from Owl is great for those who want to brush up on the ‘concise’ area of their style.
20.Juicy Studio wins for an informative set of posts on writing style. It contains information on grammar, style, and ‘zero tolerance’ you will find interesting.
Miscellaneous Resources
21.50 of the Best Websites for Writers from EduChoices has one of the best collections of reference sites I’ve seen. If you fact check, are interested in general writing sites, fiction, non-fiction, or freelancing (which should basically cover everyone) you’ll want to bookmark and refer to this site. (They have free biology/science courses underneath that I plan to get to eventually.)
22.12 Free Online Class Sites from The Times They Are A Changing is an info addict’s paradise.
23.50+ Open Courseware Writing Classes from the World’s Leading Universities from College Degree.com will fill in where The Times They Are A Changing left off.
24.100+ Free Open Courseware Links for Writers from MatchACollege.com is fabulous.
25.Online Copywriting 101: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet from Grokdotcom.com has a goldmine of various sources for writers including tips for headlines, email marketing, blogs and more.
What Divorce Taught Me About Business And What You Can Learn From It
This isn’t going to be the type of ex-spouse bashing post you might expect. The truth is I’ve been faced with three situations in recent weeks. The combination has caused me to do a lot of soul searching and looking back. While I’ve been able to see the breakdown of my first marriage as more positive than negative for quite some time, I realized that it benefited me and helped build my copywriting business even more than I originally thought.
Never Rely On A Single Source Of Income
This was perhaps the hardest lesson of all to learn, but it was also one of the best. Allowing one client or one source of business to supply you with your entire income will have devastating results. It isn’t a matter of if, but when. When something does happen, you are left scrambling without an income and bills still piling on the table. As a general rule of thumb, limit customers to no more than 20% of your income.
What Really Matters When Mistakes Are Made
When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter who did what, when, where or how. Defining the real problem and finding the solution becomes the most important thing to focus on. You can’t change what’s already been done, so chin up, buckle down, and ‘fix it.’ That’s the only way anyone will get anywhere. You may be surprised with the results.
Beating A Dead Horse Never Has Positive Results
I’m not a quitter, and have a terrifying fear of failure. It was another one of those things that I fought for far too long. Sometimes, you just have to admit that things aren’t going anywhere but down. When that happens, own up to it, cut your losses, and move on. This doesn’t mean give up or be afraid to push through the hard times. Pouring time, money, and effort into a sinking ship, however, makes it harder to recover. It’s one of those things. You just ‘know’ when you’re beating your head against the wall.
Climbing Out Of That Hole Has Its Rewards
When I was tired of working two full time jobs, welfare wouldn’t help, attacks seemed to come from all directions, and it just didn’t look worth it, I just kept going. Even after working myself out of that hole, I’ve found myself in situations where I’ve asked myself if it’s really worth it, or if I should just call it quits and take the easy road for a change.
I’ve found the copywriting and coaching/consulting business is much the same. This lesson can be easily forgotten in the heat of things. Thankfully, I have been blessed with great friends to help me remember.
The easy road may get you to where you are going, but the hard road has many valuable lessons and rewards along the way. Given either choice, I’ll take the hard road and enjoy the journey.
