Writing For Success by Katie Smith

Press releases and sales letters are key tools in marketing one’s business in today’s professional world. However, many professionals do not seem to understand the importance of enhancing their writing skills.

Few people realize that the written materials they send to clients can make or break their business. A badly written press release or sales letter can make one sound like an amateur to a potential client; but a crisp, well-written letter can prove to a client that you are the best in your field. You can utilize these marketing techniques if you follow a few simple rules.

First, take a minute to analyze your niche market. Who are these people to whom you are sending your materials? What will spark their interest? Use clear and concise words to detail your product or services, but do not treat your clients as though they cannot understand simple examples. Do not use words that are key words in your industry but not widely used elsewhere.

Second, determine what makes your business unique to your niche market. If you are sending your press release to a business magazine or newspaper, focus on the business aspect of your services. If you are sending a press release to a magazine for women, emphasize how your product can help women. Be sure to carefully research the target market of the medium to which you submit your press release. Most editors will not waste their time with your press release if it does not have an impact on their readers.

Third, make your materials attractive. Most people receive a lot of advertisements and “junk mail” every day and are quick to throw away these items without looking more closely at them. Make your sales letter or press release stand out from the rest by choosing attractive designs and interesting fonts. Add your company’s logo and offer a free service if you are able. Think of new ways to make even your sales envelope catch the eye of your client.

Finally, proofread your sales letter or press release before sending it to your clients. Make sure to check for spelling errors or grammatical problems as these errors can reflect poorly on your professionalism. Allow someone else to read your material before you send it as they will have a fresh perspective and may be able to clean up your letter or release for you.

Remember to not be overwhelmed by that evasive sales letter or press release. Follow these tips in order to utilize these important marketing tools. As you become accustomed to sending out written materials, you will become more adept at focusing on your client’s needs. Before you realize it, you will be standing out above your competitors. Start today enhancing your writing skills so you can begin marketing with this low-cost but effective technique.

If you’re ready to start promoting your business through press releases or sales letters, hire a professional. Katie Cruice Smith, a former newspaper reporter, will use her editing and writing abilities to create a professional press release or letter for your business. Visit http://www.katiespen.com today to jumpstart your professional campaign.

Article Source: DXArticle.com

Press releases have the potential to create incredible exposure. Looking beyond the linking benefits, a well written press release may land you in newspapers, TV, and radio. I write quick content daily for websites. When a good subject doesn’t come to mind, I turn to a news search engine for inspiration. Quite often the top results are press releases or news articles feeding from those press releases. Some of these releases inspire me; others are empty promotion with nothing of interest to me or my site visitors. Here are some tips on the making of a great press release.

Know your reader.

Balance between writing for the target audience (newspaper reader, radio listener, web surfer) and writing for an editor, reporter or journalist who may take up your subject or even reprint the story. Hooking both the media and the end consumer will result in a snowball of PR. Remember, a journalist scanning a PR source will make decisions based on the first few words of each article. Pack the opening with the hot topic points.

Style

A strong headline and intro is critical. It absolutely must capture the eye of someone skimming press releases and inspire further reading. Hit them with the news first. You can explain how and where it comes from later.

Keep it brief, accurate and readable. The media isn’t looking for full blown articles to copy, but may have use of some filler content or extra information within a report, column or website. Don’t exaggerate. If your PR is a success you will be getting phone calls and emails asking questions. It is possible to build or destroy credibility based on your accuracy. You may become a source for different reporters as you build on your record of knowledge and accuracy. If you use outside stats and facts, include the source. The press release should create confidence.

Grammar and spelling should be checked and rechecked. Read it; edit and re-read; print it out; read again; email to friends for corrections; give yourself many chances to catch mistakes. Then don’t rush to publish. Reading something again after a nights sleep is always an eye opener for me. Something about my focus during the writing process tunes out errors that jump off the page the next day. This is why an extra set of eyes, or waiting till your eyes are taking a fresh look can make a big difference in the writing quality. Printing a copy to read also helps you see it differently.

Attach images if the PR publisher allows it. If you have image rights or public domain images to publish then this is one more way to make your content usable by others. Permission regarding quotes is important as well within a press release since the exposure can be significant.

Anatomy of a Typical Press Release

Headline

Headlines should have a hook. Make people wonder where they stand or curious about an outcome. For example, “Are you a lunatic? Research may surprise you!”

Summary

Some PR publishers allow a summary after the Headline. This is a second chance to grab attention. Make it strong and to the point.

Date Instructions - capitals are often used

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR RELEASE BEFORE __/__/__

FOR RELEASE AFTER __/__/__

Contact Information

Make it as easy as possible to be contacted. You don’t want to even appear to be hiding. Reporters may work odd hours, so use a phone number you can answer day and night.

Body

Resist the temptation to tell it all.

Hit the high points in a few paragraphs under 350 words.

Make the reader want to visit your site or call your company for more details.

Pack the best parts in the beginning, inverted pyramid style. This makes for it easy if an editor needs to shorten it.

About Us

If you feel the need to include a couple sentences about the company, this is a good place to tag it on. “In business since___, a member of____, awards include___” or a brief company mission statement will work here as extra information.

End of Press Release

### is often used to signal the end of the press release. Anything after the ### is not published.

Be Newsworthy

Don’t kid yourself. You either have a great story or you don’t. Generic name spreading press releases are a waste of a reporters time. Don’t write something that reads like an advertisement. And don’t keep re-submitting the same press release. Surely something interesting happens with your company every month? If you don’t have a great story ready to tell the editors and journalists, then wait for one or develop a story.

Do all this well and you may be talking live on a local radio show, or answering the questions of a national journalist. The power of a great press release, when capitalized on, can rocket an enterprise to success.

About the Author: Lee Goins is the hivemaster at http://www.Knewbees.com Webmaster basics are discussed and help is given without the sting! KnewBees is a forum for startup webmasters and those inclined to be helpful. Knewbeepedia is also featured as an openly developing webmaster knowledgebase.

Source: www.isnare.com

Do you love to write? Do you have a knack for making words come alive on a page? You may want to consider freelance writing as a way to make a good living from home.

Freelance writers write anything from newspaper columns to web content and even ebooks.

Getting Started

Before you go looking for freelance jobs, you should build up a portfolio of articles. You can write for your own website or blog, offer to write free articles for friends, or contact your local paper about writing a column for them. Work on some articles that you can use as samples of your work and build a list of references for your potential clients to contact.

Where To Find Work

The next step will be finding potential clients. You can visit some of the big freelance sites like elance and bid on projects. It is also a good idea to set up a website that showcases some of your writing, tells a little about you and your area of expertise, and of course you will have your contact information on the site. You may also want to consider adding a blog to your site. It’s an easy way to add articles, short tips and any other writings to your site on an ongoing basis.

Networking is another great way to find work. Think about friends, former colleagues, bosses and clients that would be interested in having some writing done and call them up. As you start building your own client base, ask for referrals. Do you know someone that successfully freelances now? Ask them for advice on getting started and spend some time with them. They may refer clients to you that they don’t have time for. Do the same for other freelancers if you are contacted with a project you can’t handle.

Many magazines will accept freelance work. Keep a spreadsheet with names and addresses of the editors of the various publications and pitch story ideas on a regular basis. It can be tough to get a foot in the door with magazines, but once you start getting published it will become easier and in many cases more lucrative.

Getting Paid

How much you will get paid will largely depend on the size of the project and how involved it is. Short articles on general topics that don’t require research may pay as little as $5.00 a piece while doing research for and writing an ebook may bring you several hundred dollars.

If you love writing about a variety of topics, I encourage you to give freelance writing a try. It’s a great way to do what you love and stay home with the kids at the same time. The main key to becoming a successful freelance writer is to practice writing all the time, whether you get paid for it or not. Just get out a pen and paper, or open you favorite text editor and start writing.

About the Author:

Nell Taliercio is the owner and founder of www.TelecommutingMoms.com – which is a leading resource website with work at home jobs and everything a telecommuting mom would need. Come visit us today! Source: www.isnare.com

When writing an article it not only has to be informative but interesting as well. Almost anyone can put words down and describe their company, product, or any topic really, but knowing how to effectively write an interesting article is not as easy as it may seem.

To write an interesting article you should start with the title, grab your reader’s attention with something both fun and attractive. As the first thing, a reader will see your title, so it should be catchy. It is a good idea to create your title after you have written your article. This will allow you to combine the contents of your article and create an effective title. The content of your article should combine information with interest.

Create an article that is not just a list of facts, but information to back up your facts. For example, if you are writing an article about Abraham Lincoln, include facts that made him a popular president, describe his childhood and/or adulthood home, include dates and facts that can be backed up in another article or later within the article.

Your readers want to gain something by reading your article. If you do not provide some sort of knowledge within the article, they will feel like they have wasted their time. Spice up your article with some humor; make it personable and appealing to the reader. Specifically make the reader feel as if you wrote the article directly to or for them. Writing an interesting article can become an enormous amount of fun, as not only will you appeal to your readers but you will most likely learn something about your topic while you research it.

Finally, perform a massive amount of research on your topic. Create a list of fun and interesting facts and combine them into your article. It cannot be said enough that writing an interesting article is extremely important for yourself and your company. You will create an avenue of marketing that can be extremely effective.

About the Author:

Matthew Glanfield is an Internet marketing veteran of 3 years. Receive his free email course on how to use articles to build your website traffic at http://www.internetbusinessformula.com/article/

Source: www.isnare.com

Writing articles is one of the best ways to promote your service or product since it establishes you as an expert in the field and you can get hundreds, if not thousands of links back to your website. But not all articles are created equal. In order to get the maximum benefit from your article writing they should have a consistent layout and structure. Follow these tips to give structure to your content and your articles will have a much bigger impact and stand a better chance of getting published.

For people whose literate capabilities extend to that last school essay that they handed in with a sigh of relief, writing an article is a daunting task and the end result often looks like a wasteland of grey text. A good article is written in such a way that it pulls the reader in and guides him through the content. Conforming to a standard format also makes it easier for article directories and sites that publish content to pick up your article and publish it. It also contributes to a professional image of you, the writer.

Here are the components of an article and how you should use each one for maximum benefit.

~ Title ~

The title of your article, like the title of your website, is probably the most important part of your article. And, much like the title of your website, you are writing for both the search engines as well as human beings. For the sake of the search engines, include your main keyword or keyword phrase in the title. For the sake of your reader, you have to create a title that will “pull the reader in”. In other words, your title must persuade the reader to read the rest of your article.

But here is a tip from Christopher Knight of EzineArticles – do not start your title with:

“7 tips for …”
or
“5 ways to …”

The first 3 or 4 words are the most important, and by doing this you are wasting important space! Rather use your keyword or keyword phrase at the beginning, followed by the number or ways, or tips that you are going to discuss.

For example: Organize Your Office: 7 Tips For Never Losing That $1000 Check Again

Remember to capitalize the first letter of each word in your title - but don’t capitalize full words, this will get your article rejected in no time.

Another tip for coming up with a killer title is to use some of the headline making software that helps you come up with compelling headlines for your sales letters, like Headline Creator Pro. While you might not actually use the headlines it suggests, you will quickly have a list of 100 headlines to play around with and modify. Just be careful though of not loading your title with too much hype – you are, after all, writing an article and not a sales letter!

~ Summary or Introduction ~

The summary, or description, of your article is often overlooked. This might be the only piece of text that will be displayed when your article shows up in an article directory. Sometimes you have the option of submitting the summary separately, other times the article directory software simply takes the first paragraph or so of your article. I suggest that you focus on the first paragraph of your article to provide you with your summary and introduction at the same time.

Like the title, it should create curiosity in the mind of your reader to entice them to read further. Please remember that a good article tries to solve some problem for the reader – try and describe what problem THIS article will solve. Describing the problem by means of a story or example help to make it real in your reader’s mind. A personal example also helps to establish you, the writer, as a real person and creates a rapport with your reader.

~ Body ~

The body of your article will bring across your main solution to the problem that you have sketched in the mind of your reader in your summary and introduction. Please remember to stick to ONE topic! It is very tempting to branch off into different directions, especially if you are enthusiastic about your area of expertise. If you find that you are wandering off into other areas, even if they are related to your main topic, consider saving that information in a scratch pad and make another article out of the material.

DO use bullet points or subheadings to break up your article. Bullets and headings catch the eye and once more pull the reader into the text. But some article directories do not allow HTML code or other formatting inside your body. My suggestion is that you write for ‘text only’ as a standard. Simulate bullets and headings by making use of numbers, capitals, or a special character, like the tilde (~), or star (*).

~ Ending ~

The ending should summarise the reasons why the article solves the problem stated in the title and the introduction. Try and end with an interesting point or final quote, to invite readers to further investigate the topic.

~ Resource box ~

The resource box is the place to write a mini-ad for your site, service or product. You can send people directly to an affiliate link here, or direct them to your site. Try to make the link contain your major keyword or keyword phrase, for maximum ‘backlink’ benefit - if you can. A good resource box will persuade the reader to click through to your site. Offer something for free, and create a sense of urgency!

If you follow this simple layout structure (obviously combined with great content!) for your articles you will find that

- more article directories will accept your articles for submission
- you present a professional image that instils confidence in your reader
- your articles will get published on more websites, leading to more traffic

in short, your articles will get the exposure they deserve!

About the Author:

Christine Anderssen is the co-owner of the www.xpressideas.com Article Directory for Free Web Site Content. Authors - earn money from Google Adsense on this site by submitting your articles.

Source: www.isnare.com

Click here for the link.

1. Write the message when you are in the mood for love!

2. Clear your mind and focus on your loved one. Perhaps have a photograph nearby to remind you of their star qualities.

3. Play your favourite music - get the atmosphere just right!

4. Work on a rough piece of paper first and note your beloved’s positive points and your plans for your future together.

5. The opening and closing of the message has the most impact.

6. Personalise the message and write from your heart.

7. Don’t use CAPITAL letters as it LOOKS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING..

8. Be truthful and don’t make promises you can’t keep.

9. Check your spelling.

10. Add your email address if you want a reply!