Category: Blog

Do you have a website? As a writer your website may be your most important business tools. If you don’t have a website, consider a getting one here’s why:

Your Customers Search Online

The internet has grown to become a huge reference tools. You use it to find information on products. You also use it to find information about services. Your customers will likely use the Internet to find you.

Additionally, many of your customers are going to be online service business owners. This means they’re also looking for writers who are familiar with writing for the internet.

Your website demonstrates your ability to write for the Internet. It establishes your credibility as an online writer.

Your Website Serves As Your Portfolio

As a paid writer many of your potential clients want to see your work before they hire you. Your website can display your samples. It can also be a testament to your writing style. Each page of content on your blog or website is a writing sample.

Credibility and Authority

In addition to being able to display writing samples, you can establish credibility and authority. Both are buying triggers. They motivate a purchase. Credibility can be established through your content. You can also publish organizations you belong to.

Publish awards and recognitions you’re received. Perhaps most importantly you can publish your client testimonials. Some writers dedicate an entire page on their website to listing testimonials. You might also consider listing the companies you’ve worked with and linking to them.

Your Website Establishes Your Brand

As a small business owner your personality is your brand. It’s important. People connect with a brand. When they do, they remember you. They also want to buy from you. One of the primary buying triggers is likeability. If your website visitors like you, they’re more likely to buy from you.

Your personality is communicated through your writing each page on your website can further enhance your brand and your connection to your prospect. Whether you’re sarcastic, Zen, enthusiastic or serious, your brand helps sell your writing services.

More Effective & Efficient

Finally, your website can help you make your business more efficient.

On your website you can include an order form. Prospects can fill out the form. It’ll be instantly emailed to you and you can create a response based on their needs. You can also collect payment on your website with a pay PayPal link or other shopping cart software.

You can also include your policies, procedures, and FAQs on your website. This makes it easier for prospects to learn everything they need to know before they hire you.

If you’re a writer consider creating a website. It’ll help you build and grow your business. It’ll help you streamline your business. And it can help you find more ideal clients. You simply can’t lose when you have your own website.

Blogging is a part of most online business strategies, but sometimes we get into the routine of blogging and we forget that this content is the perfect opportunity to earn more income for our businesses.

So here’s your reminder to monetize your blog posts. And yes, you can even go back and monetize posts you’ve already published.

Here are a few monetization ideas for you…

Boost Traffic, Sell Advertisements:

How’s your blog traffic? The more traffic you have, the more you can charge for advertising. Choose from the vast assortment of WordPress widgets that make it easy to sell, manage, and position ads. Place them in the middle of your blog content, at the end of the post, or even in the header. You can charge different rates depending on the positioning of the advertisement.

Join a Program and Profit from Contextual Ads:

Contextual ads are links that are integrated into the text of your blog; think AdSense. Generally, you sign up for a program and agree to allow it to place relevant ads within the body of your blog posts. AdSense isn’t the only option. There are dozens of programs to consider.

Establish Clear Cut Goals for Your Affiliate Links:

You may already be using this monetization tactic. The key to success with affiliate marketing is to strategically plan and craft your content. The goal is to promote an affiliate product, not sell it. And the goal for your content needs to be focused on motivating a click. If you have too many goals for your content or the goal is unclear, you may not achieve the desired results.

Answer Common Questions with a “How I Do It” Page:

Do you occasionally get asked what blog template you’re running, who your website host is, or what plug-ins you’re using? Create a page that specifically answers those questions. Join the affiliate programs for those services and products and include links to their website sales page.

Promoting Your Own Products or Services:

If you’re an online retailer then it makes good sense to use your blog to help generate sales. This is most often achieved by establishing yourself as an expert in your niche. Show people why you’re the person to solve their problems. Provide them with evidence that you’re a credible and trustworthy authority in your niche. Then include a link to a sales page in the call to action.

Get Them on Your List:

Never assume that the subscription box in your side bar will do the trick in growing your list. If you have a newsletter or opt-in offer that will benefit your reader, include the information right inside the blog post. Most people are too busy to be looking around to see what else is on your site. You have to tell them.

So if you’ve been publishing for publishing’s sake and hoping that your readers will find your products or sign up for your mailing list, cut that out! You’ve got to tell what your visitors what to do, why to do it and how to do it.

Are you interested in becoming a paid writer? There are a number of opportunities for writers. It’s a lifestyle that offers many freedoms and joys. The good news is that it’s also pretty easy to get started as a paid writer.

Here’s what you need:

#1 You need a computer.

Even if you’re not writing for online clients, your clients will be using computers. Typewriters just aren’t used anymore. However, the type of computer you use is up to you. You might choose to work from a laptop or a desktop. You might choose to work from an Apple computer or a PC. The type of computer doesn’t matter. It just needs to support common word processing software.

#2 You need good word processing software.

The majority of your writing clients will want either documents or text files. That means you’ll want word processing software that fits those demands. Microsoft Word comes standard on many computers. If you don’t have Microsoft Word and it’s not in the budget to purchase it you can use open source word processing products like Open Office. Text files are easy to create with an application like Notepad.

Additionally, you can create documents with a Google account and share them with your clients if they have Google accounts too.

#3 You need to have knowledge about your chosen writing specialty

You want to have a solid understanding of two things. The first is the basics about your chosen writing formats. For example, if you specialize in writing blog posts then you need to know how blog writing differs from other types of writing. If you specialize in sales copy then you need to know how to write a good sales page.

You also want to be informed about your chosen niche. For example, if you write for the health industry then you need to have a basic knowledge about health related topics. You want to be comfortable writing about them.

#4 You need marketing and a website.

Instead of always knocking on doors, you want clients to come to you. This means you’re going to want to market your services. There are many marketing tactics to choose from. Publishing content is a good way to gain credibility and authority. It’s also a good way to demonstrate your writing ability.

Consider also using social networking, blogging, partnerships, and advertising to market your business. In this day and age a writer must have a website. Your website is the place where potential customers can learn more about you. It’s where they can have their questions answered. And it’s where they can review your samples and your writing style.

#5 You need to have a positive mindset.

Writing for pay is a great lifestyle. However, like any business it has its ups and downs. In order to persevere, a positive mindset is a must. Your enthusiasm and positive attitude will help you connect with clients. It’ll help you stay positive and focused. It’ll help you succeed.

Getting started as a paid writer doesn’t require much. In addition to these five starters, take the time to create a business plan. Write down your goals and how you’re going to achieve them. Your business plan will help you stay on track to achieve your writing business goals and dreams.

It’s Alice here. Ron is off vacationing in Grenada with his lovely wife…but me, I’m still here toiling away. Sadly, my suntan is slowly fading, but after spending a lot of summer on the road and now that the kids are back at school, it’s great to just dig in and immerse myself in some work.

It’s hard to believe we’re nearly into the last quarter of 2016 and before you know it, 2017 will be here. But the best part of that is that means our 2nd annual online Best Sellers Summit will soon be here! I’m super excited and we’ll share more details as they develop.

As we’re getting ready for all that, I wanted to take a moment to share our presentation, if you haven’t seen it before:

5 Lessons Learned After Selling Over 1.4 Million Books and Ebooks (Click here to access it for free)

In this presentation, Ron talked about his experience in becoming a New York Times Best Selling author and selling over 1.4 million books and ebooks.

By the way, this was recorded in January of this year and soon after, his publisher informed him he has actually sold over 1.5 million books…and that total only includes traditionally published books/ebooks now. His self-published ebooks are on top of that total. WHOA!

Here’s an email he got from his publisher in February and he shared it with our Elite Writer’s Lab members at the time…

That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at, right?

If you want to learn 5 of the secrets he used to achieve that, go here to watch the presentation.

Bring a pen and paper…be ready to take some notes on what you need to do to finish 2017 the way you planned.