The Single Biggest Way Professionals, Businesses and Freelancers Hinder Their Success
No one goes into business, or starts a career with the goal of failing. Everyone starts with the best of intentions, works hard, and does the best they can possibly do. But, you need to also remember that nothing ever stays the same. Everyone is always looking for a better/faster/more efficient way of doing things. Failing to keep up with these changes, as well as what’s going on in your industry, can literally degrade the quality of work you do as well as the service you provide.
Don’t see it? Take SEO, or search engine optimization, for example. Say Google changes its algorithm, which determines how it organizes and presents search results. If you don’t keep up on what these changes are, you can’t adapt your methodologies and techniques accordingly. This means you are unable to do your job, and may even cause your clients to suffer terrible penalties by the search engines.
As a writer who provides a large amount of SEO copy and articles for marketing, I am passionate about the SEO industry and associated news. However, I also need to keep up on what’s going on in the writing industry as well as the areas my clients are involved in.
Is this time consuming and take a lot of work? You bet it does, but it I owe it to my clients. I wouldn’t feel right about doing my job and having others pay me otherwise.
You can find the latest news and information just about anywhere. Belonging to the right groups is often a good start. For me, I find Twitter keeps me up on all the important news bits and information in terms of writing and SEO. I am a huge user of Google Alerts and Social Media searches and monitoring. Lastly, I have an extensive RSS reader that pulls feeds from some of the most influential blogs and bloggers in these industries.
Of course, there’s other benefits to this as well. I’ve become well-versed in many different areas, which satisfies my information obsession. The amount of unexpected things I’ve learned and had the pleasure to do has been amazing. It is these things that really make this ‘job’ the absolute best I’ve ever had.
It has also allowed me to get in contact with and become great friends with great people from all industries and walks of life. There is always a good conversation or debate somewhere. When I’m having a down day, or an extremely stressful moment, or am having one of those ‘OMG what am I doing moments’, I always have support and the backing I need to succeed. I hope that I can do as much for them.
If you are not keeping up with your industry, you are doing yourself and your career just as much of a disservice as you are your clients.
For the Writer | No comments
10 RSS Feeds And TwitterPeeps Copywriters Should Know About
One way copywriters can find knowledgeable people to follow is by finding out who others in the area are connected to. Look to see who your friends are following and why. If you find them of value, add them to your list. This process can continue on forever. To get you started, I’ll give you my list of my 10 favorite people to follow and why.
Men with Pens (http://twitter.com/MenwithPens)
If you want to know anything about running a business or having your own website, these are THE guys to go to. (Well ok, it might have something to do with the fact that half of the team is Canadian.) They are tons of fun and friendly to boot. Perfect combination. You can find them on the web at http://www.menwithpens.ca
Freelance Folder (http://twitter.com/freelancefolder)
These guys in combination with their extensive list of talented guest posters can tell you anything you want to know about working as a freelancer. Their Twitter stream is fairly quiet, but you get a chance to catch their posts as soon as they’re up. (If you’ve seen how many commenters they get on a post, you’ll see why.) They can be found at http://freelancefolder.com/
Copyblogger (http://www.twitter.com/copyblogger)
Brian Clark tweets and writes about all different kinds of things that encompass copywriting. Granted, a lot of it focuses on blogs, but substitute the word ‘blog’ for your website or article and you have some of the best thoughts and ideas found on the web. His castle of copyblogging is located at http://www.copyblogger.com/
The Writing Spirit (http://www.twitter.com/WritingSpirit)
Creativity coach Julie Isaac provides the rest of us writing Twitterpeeps with a mix of ideas and inspirations for writing. She focuses on fiction writing, but here again, most of it applies to copywriting. Her website is http://www.writingspirit.com/
Havi Brooks (and Selma) (http://twitter.com/havi)
You can mention creativity without meeting the talented and interesting Havi Brooks and her trusty sidekick Selma the Duck. No, I’m not making this up. Check out her website at http://www.fluentself.com/blog/ and you’ll see what I mean. The duo specializes in destuckification and biggification. Another of those people on the web that makes you feel good about yourself and the world just by listening (or reading in this case).
Dave Navarro (http://twitter.com/RockYourDay)
I’m a real Dave Navarro fan. If you think there’s something you can’t do, he seems to find a way to convince you it’s possible. (Within reason, of course!) Dave gets the most gold stars for his time management coaching. It’s nice to hear that you aren’t the only one suffering from disorganization, or whatever issue you may be struggling with. You can find him at http://www.rockyourday.com
Michele Connolly (http://twitter.com/MicheleConnolly)
This girl is all about getting your stuff together and in order. A true organizing genius. I requested a special program specifically for us writing geeks who need more help than one person can ever provide, but we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, you can see this ray of sunshine from down under at http://www.getorganizedwizard.com/
Diana Scimone (http://twitter.com/DianaScimone)
She’s a writer and publisher known for her children’s books and her devotion to ending child trafficking. She is also one of the nicest people you’ll meet on Twitter. You can find her at http://www.dianascimone.com While you’re at it, take a look at her children’s books and learn more about her non-profit cause.
Glenn Murray (http://twitter.com/divinewrite)
Glen is an SEO copywriter and owner of Divine Write Copywriting (http://www.divinewrite.com/). Even if you have been writing for the Internet since its creation, you really want to see what he has to say. I am eagerly awaiting his new book absolutely loving his new book too (it’s an update). He knows his stuff and if you follow him you can too.
Richard Branson (http://twitter.com/richardbranson)
How can you hear anything this man has to say and not be inspired to do better and reach higher? For anyone who doesn’t know, Richard Branson is Virgin. I’m not getting X-rated. I mean Virgin Records, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Airlines, etc. — the billionaire who started the Virgin Group. He is the poster boy for building something out of nothing. His blog is http://entrepreneur.virgin.com/ All I have to say is I really wish I was his 2000th follower!
There are many, many more that I read and follow, but these ten are a great start. Freedom Switch, All Freelance Writing, About Freelance Writing, and CuteWriting have great RSS feeds I suggest getting as well. You’ll learn a lot from them.
For the Writer | 7 comments
Twitter For Copywriters – I’ve Signed Up, Now What?
Twitter For Copywriters
As a copywriter and online writing coach, Twitter has become a priceless part of my day and a lifeline to the outside world. Getting there, however, isn’t quite so easy.
You eagerly sign up and the next thing you know, you are presented with a blank screen. You set up your profile, sit there, and wait for all the wonderful things to start happening.
And you wait.
Then, you post a ‘hello world’ tweet, and wait some more. Hmmm, now what?
Start Showing What You Are All About
It sounds funny to start tweeting when no one is listening, but it can help you get a better start. You get a chance to get familiar with the site and how it works without feeling awkward (well, at least you have a chance to continue tweeting to bump a bad comment off the bottom of the page so it’s less noticeable 
).
Send out some tweets before actively searching for friends. This will help show others what you are all about when they click on your profile to follow you. What do you post? Talk about posts you’ve found on the web you found interesting, give a few thoughts on the latest news, and answer the question ‘what are you doing.’
Don’t Be Shy
No one is more guilty of this than me. I’m what I like to call a ‘twalker.’ I often spend a lot of time just sucking in information from others if I don’t force myself to jump in on topics and make myself known. It’s just who I am. When someone follows you, say hello and introduce yourself by typing an ‘@’ followed by their id and your message. For example, @AngsCopywriting Hi there! It’s a pleasure to meet you…
Maybe I should rewind for a second. I always look to see who that person is. Twitter has attracted a lot of spammers and garbage in the last while. I look at their feed and if I see a string of “I made a million dollars in five minutes and you can too” followed by a URL, I don’t follow them back. If their stream interests me, I follow.
I find that I have become a little fussier lately. If the first thing the new follower does is try to sell me something, I automatically skip the follow. I think that if that’s what that person feels is the best first impression, it probably isn’t someone I will find valuable in any way. As far as I’m concerned, that’s spam. (Unless it’s a business such as Amazon deals and I’m interested in their sales.)
Finding Friends
You do have the option to search for contacts in your email accounts, but if you’re anything like me, you keep your contacts in your desktop email program making this feature pretty much useless.
I wouldn’t recommend sending invites to everyone either — I’d rather use that as an excuse to contact each person separately rather than fill their inbox with things they’ll likely never read.
You have three main choices for finding friends in Twitterland:
You can access the public timeline by going to http://twitter.com/public_timeline This is everyone’s tweets crammed into one place.
Twitscoop, located at http://www.twitscoop.com/ is another option. This tool gives you a live tag cloud of the most popular words tweeted at that very moment. Click on a word that fits your interests or type a word into the box in the upper-right to find people talking about your favorite subjects.
The best way to find copywriters and great friends on Twitter is to do a Twitter Search. Located at http://search.twitter.com/ , you type in words associated with people you want to talk to and you get a great overview of who’s who in those areas.
For copywriters, I would recommend words such as:
copywriting
Online writing
Writing jobs online
SEO
Online marketing
This is just the very start of Twitter for copywriters online. Don’t limit yourself to these by any means. Tons of tool exist and are coming into existance every day. (Tweetwasters, which measures the amount of time you spend online, told me I had wasted 4.4 hours. I was shocked. Tweetwasters told me I was boring and suggested I get a cat. Apparently, 4 hours isn’t a lot. 
) Feel free to come back and let me know how it goes!
(Pic by darkmotion)
For the Writer | 2 comments
5 Reasons Why All Copywriters Should Use Twitter
Twitter -- A Must Have Tool For Copywriters
When I first started using Twitter, I seen it as nothing more than a good place to visit with complete strangers. Boy was I wrong! In fact, I’m a firm believer that Twitter should be a requirement for writers regardless of whether you are new to writing or are a world-renowned author.
#1- Writing Techniques
Good writers understand the importance of concise writing, but it isn’t something that you will pick up easily without training and practice. If you want practice, attempt to carry on an intelligent conversation in bits of 140 characters or less.
It isn’t as easy as it sounds at first. When you find that easy, try several at once. This doesn’t always work (particularly when you have a great idea!), but you will certainly notice a difference in your work.
#2- Networking
Unless you snagged a steady job that pays you an amazing amount of money, you need to stay in the public eye. Look for designers, other writers, business owners, and any others that may supply you with potential work. I personally don’t think pushing your work on potentially leads is a good policy on Twitter. It may even get your account suspended for spamming. Instead, build relationships with them.
Take time to get to know them and their business. These relationships will put your name in the front of their minds when they do need a writer. When they ask, you will already have an in-depth look at their brand. You can produce far better content for them at this point because you know them better than your competition!
#3- Education And Information
As I have stated previously in the post entitled ‘5 Things I Learned With The First $5000,’ copywriters need to learn several different concepts in order to be successful online. Who better to learn it from than the gurus who are setting the standards! If you write blog posts, follow people who know about the ins and outs of how to blog profitably. The same holds true for SEO, marketing, and any topic you can think of. You can even use them to help get over your writer’s block.
#4- Connecting With Other Copywriters
Every writer does things differently and has different connections. When you connect to them, you get to learn what they’re up to and how they work. You will find that you are constantly learning new skills or discover a new way of doing things. It could even lead you to future partnerships that could make you crazy rich (well ok, maybe not crazy rich, but you should at least think big!)
Connecting with copywriters on Twitter increases your accessibility to industry news as it happens. It could be a jump on a new lead for future work, breaking information on the latest writing resources, or learning how to deal with certain situations.
#5- Friendship And Support
I never really thought about Twitter as an extension of my real life until the last few weeks. Sure, Twitter is an excellent way to waste time and alleviate the loneliness of being a WAHM, but it truly develops into much more than that.
On the Ittybiz blog, Naomi discovered a woman who was in dire need of some help. She blogged about it, but it hit Twitter and it made others aware of the situation. I was shocked to discover how many people actually showed up to help.
What really convinced me of the value in Twitterpeep friendship was when Remarkablogger decided he would test his will and that of his Jeep against a rock wall. He showed he had gumption and survived, but his four-wheeled buddy died instantly. It didn’t take long for his friends to rally together and help him out with donations to his car fund.
I have no idea how much he received, and I don’t want to know. The fact that it actually happens says a lot. Seriously! How many times have you noticed someone in need and walked away? How many times have you heard about scammers using this same sort of tactic? (not the rock wall, but the donations…) It means he has built a solid trust that some married couples are incapable of in today’s society. That, my friends, is priceless.
When I consider this list of benefits of Twitter for copywriters, I don’t know how I would get along without it. If nothing else, it’s a perfectly acceptable way to stalk others when I can’t focus.
Twitter has other benefits haven’t been mentioned here, but I’ll leave them up to you to add on. If you would like to connect with me on Twitter, you can find me at @AngsCopywriting
Happy Tweets!
For the Writer | 6 comments
