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Movies have trailers. TV shows have trailers. Video games have trailers. And they all work.

But book trailers? They’re terrible. Utterly terrible.

Lost in Translation

A movie/game/TV trailer is the perfect synergy of product and advert. It’s a visual representation of a visual medium.

A book trailer is a translation: a representation of one form of media (words) by another (visuals/audio). And as when anything is translated – page to stage, stage to screen, French to English, something is lost in that translation. Some emotional component, some nuance to the message.

Have you ever heard a TV or movie trailer on the radio? If so you’ll know what I mean. It’s very hard to convey how good something is when the audience can’t experience fully what it is you’re selling. Book trailers are the wrong type of advert for the product.

Interacting with the Box

Now that books are a part of the digital media fixture it should be the case that that problem is fixed, and that book trailers would be better; that through hyperlinks and hypertext embedded in trailers online you can connect with readers, taking them to a place where you can get a sample for your e-reader or an interview with the author, or exclusive content. But this just isn’t happening on any grand scale. Let’s take Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 as an example:

Now, all that trailer tells me is that Haruki Murakami has a new book out, that it’s called 1Q84, has two characters in it called Tengo and Aomame, and that things are not what they seem. That’s fine, but I can get that same information from a billboard or an ad in the newspaper – something I don’t have to go out of my way to click on. It’s just like every other book trailer – it’s just a box that, unlike the book, you can’t interact with or get emotionally involved.

You’re just watching, and you don’t watch a book. You take part in it.

Frankly, asking for something like a hyperlink in a book trailer is asking the bare minimum. That’s stuff that should have been happening five years ago. As the e-reader/tablet market has boomed the word has become another thing to prod with our fingers. Perhaps then the book trailer is obsolete. Telling a potential reader about a book in a 30 second moving picture show just won’t cut it. You need to create something someone can react to with a tap of the finger and/or something that will draw people in and want to find out more about your book. You need to create the itch.

The Itch

The purpose of an advert of any kind for any product is to connect with you. It’s to soothe an itch you didn’t know you even had. But rather than a connection there’s a weird fracture between a book trailer and it’s book. A book trailer always feels like a shadow of the work, rather than a representation. I think that’s because a book is a very personal experience, more so than any other medium of entertainment.

You and a book have a symbiotic relationship. You allow a book to sit in your mind, feeding it your imagination and being entertained by the results. You get out as much as you put in, and what you put in is your experience of the the world: all the accents you’ve heard, all the lips you’ve kissed, all the fear that’s slithered through you. Books are the ultimate interactive medium, so shouldn’t their trailers try to emulate that interactivity?

None so far have. They can only tell you what the book’s about, and maybe throw in a few adjectives for good measure – “Exhilarating!” “Moving!” “Hilarious!” – and the result is something like the 1Q84 trailer. Something that feels like a (well-made) Powerpoint sales pitch rather than something that’s trying to connect with you. There’s just no itch.

It’s all about You…

I wish I could think of a way to make book trailers better, or to find a replacement for them. I’m sure there’s a replacement/evolution, but I’m not an ad exec so I don’t know what shape that replacement would take. All I do know is that using a book trailer to notify people just that a book exists is unforgivably wasteful.

Books are about emotion, they’re about journeys; they’re the companion on the commute and the nightstand; they’re the conversation you share with a friend when you’ve both finished the final chapter. In short, Books are about YOU. What YOU get out of them. And the sooner book trailers understand the need for interactivity, and find a way to communicate it using the tools at hand, the sooner we won’t have to wince while watching them.

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Do you agree? Does watching book trailers grab your interest and get you excited for the book? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Image courtesy of Adam Rose.

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Do you think of yourself as a “writer”? An “author”? Or an “entrepreneur”?

Chances are that you’ve never referred to yourself as the latter. But perhaps now is the time to start acting like one.

Listen to Brian Clark

Brian Clark should be familiar to you. He is the founder of Copyblogger, one of the most respected writing advice sites on the Internet. But what sets Brian and Copyblogger Media (the company he created from the Copyblogger blog) apart is that they go beyond merely writing, to focus on effective content creation, marketing and good business practices.

Marketing yourself properly is incredibly important for a writer. Creating a brand, an audience, seeking out opportunities – these are the types of things that an enterpreneur does day-in, day-out to build a successful business.

It’s time you did that too.

Turning Writers into Entrepeneurs

I’ve been trying to convert writers into entrepreneurs for 6 years now, and now you might not be able to resist.

Last week, Brian launched Entreproducer, a multimedia email newsletter that will focus on the business of independent new media content, and why every smart startup is a digital media company.

His first article focuses on writers. Writers like you. In it, he examines the opportunities in ebooks, and argues why you should treat your book as a startup.

One way or another, you need to build an audience. And the smart entrepreneurial approach for authors involves creating free online content to build that audience before you try to sell a book (or anything else).

In other words, become an Internet publishing entrepreneur. Your first book is simply your first product, no matter the level of artistry you put into it, and your biggest asset is your audience.

Take Your Business Seriously

I think this last comment is key, and it definitely got me thinking. When an author begins to think like a business, then you realise the importance of taking the business of writing seriously. Of course, great content is paramount. But you need an audience, you need a market, you need people to care. On top of that, when you begin to think of yourself as an entrepreneur, you begin to look beyond the book. Why not think about publishing? Or speaking tours? Get your audience, and go from there.

Entreproducer

I would encourage everyone to sign up for Brian’s Entreproducer newsletter. No, I’m not getting anything for saying that, I just think it’s awesome. But you will definitely get something if you sign up. You’ll learn to think about your work in a whole new way.

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Let’s face it. The copy on your company’s site, press releases, and any additional materials could be improved. Copy is the most under appreciated element of design and more specifically of a company’s design.

It’s about writing the company, not just building the company.

Jason Fried, the co-founder of 37signals, stated that he would like teach a class on writing. He said,

I don’t care about the topic. I care about the editing. I care about the constant refinement and compression.

Furthermore he said,

I believe editing is an essential skill that is often overlooked and under appreciated. The future belongs to the best editors. Each step requires asking “What’s really important?” That’s the most important question you can ask yourself about anything.

Did you know that 37signals started from a list of 37 thoughts related to web design and related topics?

Forming Sticky Values

It is essential to form a manifesto of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. These are your sticky values and they are “sticky” because they should always be there in your head when trying to write your company.

Your established values should be included in your materials available to the public as well as your employees. It’s crucially important that everyone is on the same page. I’m not pushing that a company should be a cult, but I am pushing for a great, unified experience to be achieved.

Writing down established values will only help the process of building a company. Once you have your values written down (thinking them is not enough) you can begin to incorporate those values in everything you do. It’s engrained. It’s written down. We’re writing the company.

Express Personality

People need to know that deep down your company would say the things you say. That the words are true, and that the company believes them completely. A company needs to have a personality and the only way to truly portray that in very deep, yet literal binding sense is for it to be done through writing.

Words are powerful. They have the opportunity to show emotion, relationships, and opinions.

If you lack personality it is more than likely the people behind the company lack originality, creativity, or any passion. Do you think that company will last or do you even want to be part of that type of company?

Unless, of course, if the company is going for a very dry, straightforward personality.

The important thing is that you’re writing the company. Expressing personality in a company or brand is crucial to consistency and believability.

Understanding the Environment

An environment is how the company is positioned in reference to their product or service.

How does one stand out but also be understood by the consumers interested in their product?

For example: Apple is filled with many highly skilled engineers but they speak in a very simple and understandable way to their audience.

You must think about the environment you are in and be ready to communicate in a way that is understandable to them. But, in doing so, keep in mind the personality you’ve built and the sticky values you’ve formed.

Last Words

Finally, this is why the idea of a blog was truly created and beneficial to companies. It was a way to express the words of what the company or brand was about. To this day blogs are used to address the continuous struggle for proper image of how the brand is viewed by the people as well as the people amongst the brand.

If you don’t have a blog you create copy on your site, through your press releases, other physical materials, or through the words of your employees. Apple does a good job of this, because they don’t have a blog. I mean do they really need a blog? You don’t need a blog if you can portray the writing of your company in your existing material.

Writing is under-appreciated. It has the power to build a strong company. We’re writing a company.

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Do you know any examples of a “well-written” company? Please share them, and your thoughts/feedback, in the comments below!

Images courtesy of andymangold and 37signals.

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Getting the most out of online networking can be tough. Today on Fuel Your Writing, Grace Myers helps us to do so, by outlining the process for creating a professional and engaging LinkedIn profile.

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LinkedIn can be an extremely powerful tool for showcasing your professional skills and accomplishments. You can connect with others, learn from those in your field and let your business shine in front of over 135 million members worldwide.

Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn users are all serious professionals looking to build relationships and grow their knowledge of industry trends. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn offers access to a specific demographic – those interested in professional networking.

Despite LinkedIn’s boundless capacities for marketing yourself and business, few of us ever tap into its full potential. Follow these simple steps to write a better LinkedIn profile, which will appeal more to other professionals, potential employers and clients.

Stage 1: Get Prepared

1. Research profiles of professionals in your field. Examine well-organized and effective profiles to gather ideas. Take a look at mine for an example of a simple profile.
2. Examine your skills from the perspective of a potential employer and/ or client. Include – and emphasize – your skills and accomplishments that employers want to know. Each section you write should answer the question, “why should I hire this person” or “why do I want to know this person” immediately.
3. Create an outline. One easy way to being your profile outline is to add your skills to the skills section, then write the positions you’ve held in chronological order. Take a close look at these two lists and determine three attributes or accomplishments that set you apart from others.
4. Fill in the details. LinkedIn allows you to add more specifics than a standard CV, so take advantage! Go into more depth about your accomplishments and projects that you’ve completed. Remember to always write from the perspective of a potential employer and client.

Stage 2: Build the Foundation

Now that you have a detailed outline, you can start filling out each of your profile’s sections.

Summary: First impressions matter. Make yours impactful by clearly describing your central skills and what you can offer them. Use an upbeat and highly professional tone to describe yourself in the first person. The goal of the summary’s writing is to clearly describe what you do while boldly illustrating your energy, confidence and enthusiasm for your work.

Experience: Simply listing your job titles along isn’t enough to create an impactful profile. Add lots of details about your current roles, achievements, leadership and projects. Similar to writing your CV, make sure to use active verbs and specific information whenever possible.

Past experience and education: When explaining your previous positions and education, use a similar writing style as the “experience” section. Include only three or four of your most important and pertinent accomplishments for each past position to prevent your profile from becoming too long.

Stage 3: Polish

Now that you’ve written the bulk of your profile, it’s time to polish the content so it stands out.

1. Keep writing concise. LinkedIn profiles can easily become cluttered and difficult to read because there is so much information. To keep things looking clean, keep sentences and points about 15 – 20 words long. Get rid of any unnecessary words to keep your content concise and powerful – and remember to write from the potential employer’s viewpoint.
   For example, change “My web design packages are of superior quality to change your business” to “Your website will drive growth after improvements with my superior web design packages.”
2. Keep layout clean. Visually separating the content is vital for improving your profile’s readability. However, this is very much a matter of personal preference. Experiment with adding spaces between points, moving sections around and using different symbols to separate key points.
3. Use LinkedIn tools to keep your profile looking sharp. LinkedIn offers several quick fixes to improve your profile’s look. Customize the names of your websites by choosing “other” in the drop-down menu. Customize your public URL to be easier to read and remember. Finally, instead of using simple bullet points or dashes to denote your points, use one of your browser’s special characters and symbols.
4. Edit, edit, edit. Print out the PDF version of your profile to check for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Stage 4: Add Extras

Take advantage of LinkedIn’s many applications to make your profile more dynamic and interesting. Include your blog posts with the WordPress or BlogLink so your connections stay up-to-date with your projects, events and thoughts. Let others know what you’re reading with the Reading List by Amazon. You can also display some of your best presentations or documents with the SlideShare and Creative Portfolio Display apps.

Stage 5: Update

Now that you’ve created a lean-and-mean profile, make sure that others continue to view it over and over by updating frequently. Every two weeks, change something in your profile – your summary, a description of your experience or an application. Another easy way to keep your profile’s content fresh is to routinely update your status with links to articles you’ve written, articles about your projects and business, thoughts and ideas.

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These five stages are simple ways to improve your LinkedIn profile’s content. Do you have other strategies for creating a great profile? Have you found a particularly great profile? Please share your thoughts!

Images courtesy of LinkedIn and Robert Occhialini.

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Today, Grace Myers gives us some important advice on scoring those corporate writing jobs. They may not always be the most fun, but they can pay the bills!

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Large corporations are always in need of organized and skilled freelance writers for help writing or editing projects. Corporations – with their numerous departments and organizations – produce almost every type of written material. They frequently require outside assistance for ad campaigns, annual reports, manuals, brochures, web copy, blog entries, speeches, technical documents and training materials.

It can be difficult, however, to land your first corporate writing job. Corporations always want to hire writers with experience writing at similar corporations. To make matters more difficult, corporations often keep their contact information private, unlike advertising or design agencies, for example.

Don’t despair. When you market your services to corporations in the right way, you’ll soon land your first job. Plus, once you finish your first writing assignment for a corporation, it’ll become easier and easier to land other challenging and exciting jobs at large businesses.

Do you want a few Fortune 500 companies listed on your resume, but not sure where to get started? Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to landing your first corporate writing job.

Use Your Current Network

Your network, no matter how small, is enough to build on. Ask family, friends, former colleagues and fellow alums to spread the word about your writing services. Ask them to introduce you to a colleague who works at a large corporation who can introduce you to other employees. Who you know can be crucial to landing your first job, so always continue to network.

Emphasize Your Niche

Leverage your skills and tap into a specific corporate niche. You’re more likely to be hired when you are known for your specific skill. Once you’ve been hired, you can tell them about other projects that you’re willing to work on.

If you have lots of experience writing web copy, market this skill to the human resources or corporate communications departments to write content for their intranet or public websites. If you have experience writing news releases or articles, contact employees who work at the public relations department.

Create a Simple Website

Emphasize your services for corporations and your corporate niche. The website should promote yourself as an expert writer and make it easy for prospects to contact you.

Leverage LinkedIn

This powerful tool is perfect for building your professional networks. Introduce yourself to lots of people and use LinkedIn to keep in touch in the future. When inviting someone to join your network, never use the standard message. Instead, your message should be specific to their organization and your services. For example:

Hi Ms. Blake,

I’d like to add you to my professional network. I’m a freelance writer and editor specializing in technical writing. I’d love to connect with you about your projects at XYZ Corp., your approaches, content and how my services could make your life a little bit easier.

Warm Wishes,
Ted McNeil

Use Snail Mail!

This is necessary for introducing yourself to a broad array of corporate professionals. It may seem outdated, but direct mail is an effective way to reach hundreds of corporate employees.

To collect corporate employees’ names, titles and addresses, use the resources at your local library. Online prospecting tools, such as Jigsaw, are very useful, but often cost a small fee per contact. When writing your direct mail letter, keep things simple and no more than one page in length. Introduce yourself as a writer or editor, your specialty and qualifications. Then, point the reader to your website.

Direct mail letters usually generate a 3-5% response rate. It may seem like too little worth caring about, but remember, just one of those responses could turn into a large contract and a steady client for years to come.

Just Get In The Door

Set up coffee meetings with contacts. Your goal is introducing yourself and networking, not landing a job. Dress sharp and bring lots of business cards. Introduce yourself to the prospect and emphasize that you aren’t searching for an immediate assignment – you’re simply interested in learning more about their business and projects.

Focus the conversation around their work, not yours. Ask about the types of projects they write, their organization’s long-term goals, writing strategies and ideas for new projects. They’ll appreciate your interest in their work and smart questions.

After the meeting, keep in touch by sending an email or calling once a month. Once a project arises for them, they’ll think of you straight away. Since you’ve discussed their business and long-term goals, you’ll have an “edge” in crafting a successful writing project that will exceed their expectations.

Go Above & Beyond for Your First Client

In fact, you should go above and beyond for every client, but definitely for your first one. Once you complete the assignment, ask them to refer you to their colleagues within the department or at another branch of the corporation. This recommendation is gold; it’s proof that you understand how their business operates and can produce results. Leverage these recommendations to land jobs at other corporations and expand your business.

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Do you have any tips on landing those money-paying corporate jobs? Please share your thoughts and advice in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Andreas Flohr and LinkedIn.

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In today’s article, Grace Myers offers advice on an important aspect of business and freelance work that many writers neglect: emails.

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Email makes sharing information cheaper, faster and easier, and has transformed the way that we do business. More importantly, email has changed our business relationships. It’s now the most common way to communicate, ask questions, mentor and build your personal “brand.” Email is how we welcome, motivate, engage, inform and recognize achievement.

Yet, many of us dread a full inbox and consider emails the most headache-inducing aspect of our work. This isn’t surprising – it’s a venue where terrible writing and even rudeness pass far too easily.

Take this example string of emails:

Subject: BP Report Needed!!
Sent By: Karen@xcorp.com at 9.30 AM
To: Tim@xcorp.com
Please send me the marketing best practices report ASAP. Thx.

Subject: Re: BP Report Needed!!
Sent by: Tim@xcorp.com at 2.30 PM
To: Karen@xcorp.com
Attached.

Subject: Re: BP Report Needed!!
Sent by: Karen@xcorp.com at 2.50 PM
To: Tim@xcorp.com, Lisa@xcorp.com
Thanks for the PDF. I understand you’re currently very busy with a sales project, but I need the marketing BP report to be formatted to the layout guidelines sent to you last week. This won’t work for my upcoming meeting.

Karen, the writer, focuses solely on her immediate needs – getting the report – and not on giving background information, specificity or using this opportunity to build their working relationship. When there is a small problem, she immediately brings in a supervisor in on the conversation without any introduction or explanation.

These types of emails not only slow productivity, they create tense workplaces and strain working relationships.

A Little Effort Goes A Long Way

When you take the time to write clear, thoughtful emails, you are more likely to accomplish your short-term goal (getting the task done), as well as your long-term goals (building affable and productive working relationships).

Sound like lots of work? Well, it can be. Writing effective emails is difficult – it requires planning and editing. But it is worth that effort. There’s a significant return; when you write better emails, you’ll write fewer of them, get things done faster, improve relationships and receive better emails into your inbox.

Take this example email:

Subject: Re: July – August Best Practices Report
Sent by: Karen@xcorp.com at 9.30 AM
To: Tim@xcorp.com

Hi Tim,
Do you remember the marketing July – August best practices report you spearheaded for your team?

I have a meeting with Jim on Monday about the division’s marketing strategies. I’d like to incorporate the information from your report. Maybe even brag a little bit about your team’s success!

Could you please format the report to the layout guidelines we agreed upon last week (attached)? I need the formatted version by the end of the day tomorrow.

Thanks for your leadership on this! Looking forward to touching base with you after the meeting.

Warm Wishes,
Karen

This email is certainly longer, but it gets the job done straight away. The recipient, Tim, feels respected and valued, strengthening their relationship. The email also gives Tim the big picture of what is happening and the specifics he needs to get the task done well and on time. In fact, Tim will probably get this done right after finishing the email.

You may feel like you don’t have the time to work on your emails, seeing them as unimportant when fighting for time against bigger, more pressing projects and pressures. But the rewards are more than worth it.

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How do you make sure you write productive and efficient emails? Have you struggled with receiving poor emails in the past? How have you coped? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Image courtesy of ProBlogger.

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Today on Fuel Your Writing, Grace Myers helps you write the story behind you and your business, great advice for freelance writers and small business owners.

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A well-crafted business story connects prospects to your business on a deeper level than traditional benefit-orientated marketing. Why? We are wired to enjoy and pay attention to stories. More importantly for your business, we become personally invested in engaging stories and their outcomes.

Yet, most business writing never leverages the full potential of storytelling and, therefore, never stands out.

Here are 5 simple ways to take your marketing and business writing beyond straightforward selling and create lasting connections with prospects:

Get Personal

Tell the personal story behind the business. Prospects respond best to your authenticity and passion – so let this shine. Did your business grow out of a personal loss or a difficult challenge? What was the business’ original mission?

By painting a personal, human picture of your business, you remind prospects that your business is built by people with whom they can relate and connect to.

How Will You Help Your Customer?

Connect with your prospects “pain points.” Zero in on your prospects and clients’ challenges, and demonstrate your thorough understanding of these problems.

Focus on the End Result

Explain the solutions your business offers. Describe how your understanding of, and experience with, the “pain points” helped you create an ideal solution. Don’t dwell on selling the product or service. Instead, illustrate how it has improved your or others’ lives and businesses.

The Big Picture

Go beyond your business’ solutions. What is your business’ larger mission? How do you want to make a lasting impact? Sharpie, for example, aims to create a more creative world. Starbucks offers an inviting gathering place and promotes small luxuries.

Prospects and clients will engage with your business’ unique goals more meaningfully than descriptions of your products’ benefits.

Engage!

Show your readers how to take the next step. After reading your engaging business story, your prospects will want to take action. Make sure they know exactly how to contact you, learn more about your service or purchase a product.

Creating a connection with your prospects and clients through your stories will build these important relationships. Keep the relationship strong by updating your story frequently and tailoring it to be told in many different venues.

Image courtesy of FtMyersMarketing.

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In this guest post from Vick Guthrie she outlines how freelance writers can use Dropbox to organize their work.

Dropbox is a reliable and simple freeware file hosting service which uses cloud computing to store and transfer your computer files and data. Any file you sync to Dropbox will be available on any computer by logging into the cental website. Alternatively, (or as well as) you can download their software, to make your files available as in a local file. You can sign up for 2GB of free space, and Dropbox promotes sharing by offering you extra space to invite others to join (5.25GB max free space). If you need more than the offered free space, then for a small fee, you can purchase extra storage. The great thing about it is that it doesn’t require any technical knowledge in order to use it. You can use Dropbox in so many different ways – this is what makes it more than just a file syncing service.

I was grudgingly signed up to Dropbox by my computer-whizz boyfriend, who wanted extra space for his own account. He’d been mentioning it to me for months, and I kept putting it off, meaning to have a look at it, but never really finding the time. So when I did eventually get around to trying it out, I was impressed, to say the least. Dropbox is now essential daily equipment for me – as much as, or possibly more so than my pen!

Storage

Dropbox provides you with more storage than the average computer user will ever need. A great way to use the service is to back up your entire computer onto it, as it saves the lengthy task of backing up your data to discs, and that way, you can access anything you need from any location.

You can also keep all of your passwords saved on Dropbox with a piece of software/freeware called KeePass. It is a free open-source password manager which keeps your passwords secure using encryption so you only have to remember one password to unlock the rest. KeePass is a great tool — who can remember all their passwords for their emails accounts and website logins?

Uploading to Dropbox is as simple as dragging the relevant file into the Dropbox folder. It even has an ‘restore previous version’ feature which means that if you accidentally delete a file, you can retrieve any earlier saved version of it. This works by keeping track of your files every time they are updated. To retrieve earlier versions or deleted files, simply log into your account on the website and select ‘Show deleted files’. The only downside is that you can’t access your files if you don’t have access to the Internet.

Freedom and Portability

In this day and age, with so many outlets for accessing the Internet, accessibility and mobility are essential to any freelancer. Whilst you can download the Dropbox freeware onto your computer, you don’t need to, you can just log into the website and download the file you need to work on, then upload it again once you’re finished. This is ideal for accessing your information from various different computers and devices and means no forgotten USB sticks ever again!

No need for one of these anymore?

As well as synching your files, you can access portable applications from Dropbox for use on every major platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) – extra handy if you’re meeting with a client and need to show them a presentation!

Sometimes, when uploading a file the conventional way just isn’t appropriate, you can upload your data by emailing it to your account. This is great if you’re out and have written notes on your phone that you want to be available elsewhere.

Dropbox even provides a free application for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones which means you can view your data from your phone.

Sharing

One of the highlights of Dropbox is that it’s a great collaborative tool – perfect for sharing drafts of work with clients, making and tracking changes quickly between a variety of different people in a range of different locations. More than one person is able to work on the same document at the same time and it will save both copies to ensure you have a copy of each. Plus, you’ll be pleased to know, signing up to access a shared folder is quick and painless (and free).

TIP: If you’re like me and one for getting easily confused when you have more than one version of the same file, put a shortcut to your Dropbox folder on your desktop and use it as you would ‘My Documents’.

Finally…

It appears Dropbox is quite the handy little piece of web based file management solution! My only niggle is that when viewing you files online it won’t show you thumbnails of images. Also, if you have installed the Dropbox folder on your computer, every time you add something, it will upload it to ALL your synced up computers. If you don’t have Dropbox, download it, you’re missing out. You’ll wonder how you lived without it!

So, have you used Dropbox? What do you think of it?

Images courtesy of Dropbox.com and peppelena.

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Remember all the talk years ago about how technology would make us a paperless society? Since that didn’t happen, we still handle tons of paper, nearly all of which involve written communications.

In light of ongoing technological advances, the need for good writing skills remains constant. Little things like correct punctuation and verb tense are as important today as they were hundreds of years ago. I just cringe when I see some of today’s “professional” writing. From national level ads (XYZ mini’s are available) to local marquees (There our hometown champions), it’s disturbing to see this bastardization of the English language.  And don’t even get me started on spelling! One of the major networks recently spelled “mortgage” as “mortage” during an entire series on the real estate market!

Call me a dinosaur, but I believe it’s up to each of us to ensure that our writing skills appropriately reflect the beauty of our language. If not now, when?

Have you seen any “cringe-worthy” writing lately?

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One of the best skills I gained while at University was the ability to write under pressure.  I was an English major which meant a mountain of essays on a multitude of topics.   Responsible students took the course outline provided by the Professor at the start of the year and scheduled and planned for their essay deadlines.  Those individuals would never have to deal with last minute, late night, no sleep, Red Bull-infused, using an ancient computer in the over crowded student lounge, writing sessions.

With the obvious assumption that I enjoyed this masochistic tendency, my brain settled on a workable pattern. A few weeks before my essay was due, I would complete the required reading, research and notes.  All the information needed to write my essay was now ready for me.

As time elapsed I started to believe that writing under pressure had less to do with the mechanics of time, and more to do with self-restrictions and limitations, i.e. stress, worry, doubt and disbelief.

As I’m sure many people can attest to, no one placed greater pressure on me than I did. It was just my way.  While I wrote my final submission for a course, I fought to keep the pressure at bay.  I did not want to allow destructive thoughts to cloud my words or ideas.  I began to visualize and believe that writing under pressure was an exercise in my personal growth.  I knew I had the ability to write an engaging short story. I did not fight or try to hide from the weight of the pressure. Instead I used it to my advantage.

Whether you are a student, a journalist or a copywriter at an ad agency or large corporation, the ability to produce your best work can very well be attained from writing under pressure. You are forced to align your creative and productive natures into a cohesive unit. The result, well, you tell me.

What happens when you are forced to write under pressure?

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As a young reporter for a news weekly decades ago, I had been assigned to cover a controversial story regarding whether or not the faculty of a large university was going to issue a vote of no confidence on its president.  I went to the meeting, made copious notes of who said what on which side, and dutifully reported back to my editor. Even though the deadline was days away, he told me to write the story right away – some of the best advice I’ve ever received as a writer.

Writing is all about timing.  While the events, research, interviews and other due diligence are fresh on your mind, start writing. Even if this means you have to write on a piecemeal basis following the gathering of new information, the outcome will be much more reflective of the facts.  For example, you’ll be able to include the visuals and tone of an interview through your choice of adjectives and verbs.  “Academicians took turns at the microphone” versus “dozens of academicians anxiously awaited their turn at the microphone”.  Similarly, “We voted him out,” said Professor Jones doesn’t convey “We voted him out,” shouted Professor Jones.

As writers, our job is to accurately relay an experience to people who weren’t there. When you can pen the story as soon as possible after you’ve completed an interview, researched some facts, confirmed some details or attended the event, you and your readers benefit.

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Blogs of every genre are practically begging for writers to help develop content. Here’s a short list of websites that are all looking for writers. Many are paid gigs, and many are not, but all of them are great opportunities to get published now.

This is not a definitive list; I tried mixing some well-known blogs with some not-so-well-known ones. If you have a site to add, please feel free to make your suggestion in the comments section!

Culture

Absolute Arts This is actually a niche-blogging community, where you can start your own art-related blog. You can place your portfolio on this site as well, under one of three different portfolio offerings. There is a free portfolio level, as well as an “Artist” level for $44 per year, and a “Premiere” level for $100 per year. Premiere level portfolios are judged by a jury for acceptance, for which there is a $25 fee.

Book Reporter – This site, and its sister sites, reviews books. You can sign up to be a reviewer for a variety of genres including fiction, memoirs, mysteries, nonfiction, fantasy, science fiction, romance, youth, and graphic novels.

CPAL – Officially known as the “Cultural Property & Archaeology Law” blog, this legal blog accepts submissions for “scholar[s] looking for a forum to discuss [their] area of special interest.”

Design/Web

Pro Blog Design – Every accepted post is $50 in your pocket, but you get a $30 bonus if the article is a “social media success.”

SitePoint – Both articles and full-length books are accepted at this site. SitePoint is well-known for publishing definitive how-to guides for web designers and developers.

Smashing Magazine – Seriously one of the largest design blogs out there. A post here gets you exposed to over 138,000 subscribers. They’re looking for both single article submissions and long-term contributors. Payment varies depending on article length and quality.

Tutsplus – The TUTS+ network (psdtuts.com, nettuts.com, etc.) accepts tutorials and other articles for submission on any of their eight niche sites.

Webitect – For $150 per accepted submission, Webitect is “a resource blog for webmasters” looking for interesting tutorials or articles.  Their topics range from blogging to development to website traffic.

Yanko Design - If you have a review or article you’d like to post about any design related topic, you can share your 250 word post to this blog. They like things short and sweet and related to modern industrial design.

General

Associated Content – You can write about any topic, or choose from the assignment desk. Submissions can be in any medium — text, video, audio, or images. Money is paid upfront and over time as people read your posts.

Freelance Writing – This website lets you search through thousands of jobs that you can either apply for or bid on. Other site features include writing advice, discussion forums and a reading room.

Fuel Brand Network – A network of blogging sites “dedicated to creative development.” Each of the 12 niche blogs focus on a separate topic, and are always looking for contributors.

Funds for Writers – Recipient of Writers Digest’s accolade as one of the “101 Best Websites for Writers,” this site lists paying opportunities for writers as well as offers payment for articles submitted to its site. They’ll even pay for articles you’ve already written elsewhere.

Health

Disabled World- This online community for “persons with disabilities” accepts articles of at least 400 words that are related to health or disabilities. Subject areas include seniors, assisted living, disability sports, and more.

The Health Care Blog – This health blog posts original material only. It’s been mentioned in a number of media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Economist, to name a few.

Marketing/Media

Marketing Profs – Over 350 contributors help develop the content over at Marketing Profs already. Exposure is a guaranteed with this site, which publishes the blog as well as daily newsletters.

Mashable – The Mecca of all things social media related. Quality content on new media, technology, and social media fill this site. With over 280,000 subscribers, and over 1.15 million twitter followers, guest writers have to apply to the popular program.

Sports

Sports Blog Net – This is another blogging community, where your blog is connected with others that will help you to promote and build your own site. Content on your blog is fed through the main site to help drive traffic. There are many, many other sports blogs looking for content, but most are targeted to specific areas.

Technology

Digital Inspiration – Over 37,000 subscribers comprise the readership of this technological blog.  This “online tech magazine” publish reviews, guides, tutorials, news, and tips.

GeekEstate Blog – Specifically for the real estate industry, this blog is founded by Zillow.com. Contributions should related to technology uses or applications for the industry, including MLS, APIs, SEO, and office gadgets.

Read Write Web – This blog focuses on web technology news and reviews, often reporting on trends and popular tech use. Guest posts are accepted upon approval of topic and content.

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In my personal experience as a Marketing Assistant, I had to improve my skills in graphic design, public speaking, project management, planning and negotiation. But when you have to learn something from scratch and you’re not at school anymore, you may end up running into some difficulty.

In those times, whom do you call upon? Google, of course. Google introduced me to all those blogs, guides, tutorials and cheat sheets – any helpful, wonderful and FREE tips. I am grateful for all of those experts-in-their-field sharing their experience and know-how for the sole purpose of contributing to the web community, thus giving a hand to budding professionals like me.

That’s precisely the point. It’s my turn now! Copywriting is what I’m good at (please, don’t contradict me on this point), and I’d love to share some tricks with the non-copywriters out there who need to make up a formal letter, do a PowerPoint presentation or write a product description. Of course you don’t have to become a professional copywriter to do all of these things. I haven’t become a designer just because I watched all of the Photoshop video tutorials available on the Internet. But I did achieve better results thanks to those tutorials, so maybe there’s something I can do to help you write effective, engaging text.

Well, exhaustive enough for an introduction! Let’s start right away with some links you might want to add to your bookmark list:

WordReference

WordReference is my favourite site free translation dictionaries. It might come in handy with idiomatic expressions in foreign language. The Spanish, French and Italian dictionaries and forums are the most popular.

Online Spell Checker

Online Spell Checker is a free and accurate tool for spell-checking in 28 languages.

Advanced Text Analyzer

Get useful statistical information out of your pieces of text such as word/character count, lexical density, readability, word analysis, phrase analysis and graded analysis with Advanced Text Analyzer . It’s free, but it requires registration: Wordcounter is a plug-and-play alternative.

Visuwords

Learn how words associate with Visuwords. This graphical dictionary draws diagrams from the words you look up, highlighting their meanings and the type of relationship with other words and concepts.

Definr

Definr is a nice, suggest-as-you-type English dictionary. You can add it to your Firefox search box for turbo-charging your word search.

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So you have a new product or service to publicize. What’s the easiest way to reach a lot of people? A press release, of course!

But just sending out a press release won’t guarantee that the news outlets will bite. If the press release isn’t written properly, even the best product won’t be given an inch of white space.

Mayra Flores de Marcotte, Editorial Projects Manager of Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, gives us some tips on how to write a successful press release.

Address your audience at the top of the press release.

“Why should a San Jose publication want to know about this event? For instance, a San Jose resident spearheads an event in Cupertino. This makes it appropriate and attractive to San Jose publications,” said Flores de Marcotte.

Be sure to let readers know why the information is important.

In other words, don’t fluff your press release with excessive adjectives, quotes, or commentary.

“Press releases should be informative in a concrete way. The number one press release that gets eye rolls in the newsroom is the one that glows about something or someone and provides quotes but never any tangible reason for the editor to care,” said Flores de Marcotte.

“Remember the most basic rules are usually the most effective. Always include the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. The order of this information may vary but if your press release doesn’t answer these questions, it will get tossed to the bottom of the news pile and your event or product unnoticed,” she continued.

Be concise.

As mentioned in Tip #2, include the basic info and don’t fluff it up. A press release isn’t just an advertisement, it’s a key public relations tool.

Flores de Marcotte remarked, “The editor or reporter should be able to read the release and find out the following: what it’s about, why it’s important and why this paper should follow up.”

Know to whom you’re addressing your press release.

Make connections with news outlets by finding out the correct contacts.

“Don’t send out mass e-mailings of press releases without finding out a little about the publications you are sending it to. As with most things, quality over quantity. Most have websites as well as contact information. Always address your press releases to SOMEONE. Again, the website is a good tool for this too,” commented Flores de Marcotte.

Bottom Line

If you want people to care about your product, take the time to care about the information you’re putting out. Just remember that your press release basically has to cover these two important things: audience and importance.