|
Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru 
|
Posts Tagged ‘book writing’5 Things Your Freelance Sales Writer Must DeliverJuly 18th, 2011Hi All! The following blog is a guest post courtesy of Debbie Feldstein, a freelance non-fiction writer based in New York City. For more than 20 years, she has provided imaginative, unique, and persuasive copy in the form of press releases, brochures, sales letters, and autoresponders. She has authored dozens of books, reports, and articles on effective sales and marketing. Among her ‘best sellers’ are How to Use Social Media Marketing to Attract More Prospects, Make More Sales and How to Create Information Products. For more information, please visit www.creativeblocks.com or send a message to oddball@creativeblocks.com. Plus, I can personally vouch for Deb’s talent because she has been the Editor for my 3 books! She really is fabulous and great to work with. Okay! Let’s jump into Deb’s article: 5 Things Your Freelance Sales Writer Must Deliver The Internet makes it easy to find and hire freelance copywriters. But the question many entrepreneurs and small business owners face when they want to outsource their copywriting needs is this: How do I know which copywriter to choose? (My short answer is ‘Choose ME,’ of course.) If you don’t know anything about the product you’re buying, then it’s tough to get a good deal. For example, if you don’t know diddly about cars, you may end up buying a Yugo instead of a Mercedes. One way to ‘look under the hood’ of a potential hire that you want to handle your business writing is to ask them in their proposal if they know (and can deliver) the 5 essentials of a good sales message. Anatomy of a Conversion-Oriented Sales Message Whether it’s an advertisement in the Sunday paper, a postcard, an online sales letter, a television commercial, or even a flyer stuck under the wipers of an automobile, an effective pitch always includes these elements. To assess skills, ask your copywriter to provide portfolio samples of: ***Headline – A headline should be unique, powerful, and convey the biggest benefit of using a product or service. ***Body Copy – The body copy should be an emotionally compelling recitation of what the consumer will receive and needs to do. ***Social Proof – Testimonials and endorsements, prove that an offer is what you claim. The problem is that many testimonials and long and rambling. (Ask your copywriter for a sample of a before-and-after testimonial that he/she has edited.) ***Guarantee – Guarantees should remove risk so that the consumer has no fear of disappointment. ***Bonus – Offering something of additional value (“But wait, there’s more!”) should transform a sales offer from ‘good’ to ‘irresistible.’ ***Urgent Call to Action – Procrastination kills profits and, unfortunately, prospective buyers may be likely to put aside offers to act upon at a later date. Ask your copywriter for an example of a statement that tells a consumer how to place an order, with an incentive for them to act quickly. Important note: When asking for a sample of these various elements, it is appropriate to request something from the writer’s portfolio. It is NOT appropriate to ask your as-yet-unhired writer to do work ‘on spec’ and deliver samples based on your specific project. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs (and you don’t want to be one of THOSE) sometimes ask numerous copywriters to provide on-spec samples. Then they simply cobble those samples together to create their own sales message, without paying any of the writers whose creativity they are pilfering. Your prospects are waiting for you. And so are the talented copywriters that can help you turn those prospects into buyers. Go for it! Thanks, Deb, for the great advice! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa
 Cool Service For Publishing A Book and Product DevelopmentDecember 15th, 2010Hi All! I’m certainly behind on my blogging the past couple of weeks. My Father has been very sick so I’ve been away from work quite a bit to be with him. The good news is that it looks like he’ll be released from the hospital in time for Christmas! Go, Dad, go!!! OK…onto the topic of this post…a question I get a lot is,”How do I publish a book (or develop products)??”. There are many ways to do this, and here’s one solution that’s worth looking into. And, no, they don’t know that I’m writing a blog post about them! So I’m not receiving anything from them for posting this. The service is called FastPencil.com. They are ideal for self-publishers of ANY type of book. BUT, if you don’t want to write a book, they also create products like: ebooks, small how-to guides, picture books, etc. And they can be developed in printed and electronic formats. Plus, they offer a turnkey solution where they’ll upload to all the major online retailers for you, AND provide distribution services (meaning they’ll print and ship the orders for you). Another cool thing is that they provide templates, so you can design and layout your own book, guide, booklet, ebook, etc. This can save you money on having to hire a graphic designer. AND, they even offer book writing software to make the process easier for you! I also noticed on their website that they offer a service called “Premiere”, which appears to be a publishing imprint service for established authors. That’s worth looking into more for publishing your future books. Here’s a brief blurb from the About Us page on their website: FastPencil is book publishing without the pain. The traditional book publishing process can take many months of effort and more money than most writers anticipate. It’s no wonder authors get discouraged. You shouldn’t have to ask anyone’s permission to write and publish your own book! We have removed the hurdles inherent in traditional book publishing by combining amazing advances in print on demand technology with a sophisticated online workflow system. While powerful technology makes it possible for anyone to publish a high-quality book, our collaboration capabilities make FastPencil the easiest, fastest, and most exciting way to write and publish. Regardless of the type of book they’re writing, most writers need feedback as they create. When authors have ready access to friends and collaborators, the writing and editing process is faster and easier. At any point in the writing process you can connect with like-minded people, share knowledge, chat, gather feedback from reviewers and editors, and collaborate with other authors, all without leaving FastPencil. OKAY! Take a look at their website for more info…I’m interested in using them for e-books and short guide development, so I’ll be learning more about them soon, too! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa P.S. If you have used their service, please post a comment about your experience! How to Find a Literary Agent to Sell Your Book ManuscriptAugust 12th, 2010Hi All! You’ve been slaving over your manuscript forever, it’s done, it’s brilliant…everyone you know says it’s going to be a best-seller (and not just your Mom), and you don’t want to self-publish this work of art. Your dream is to land a publishing deal with a major New York publishing house and see their logo printed on the spin of your book cover. I respect that goal, and I have some clients who pursue it – some successfully, and some not so much. But what I find many new authors don’t realize is that nowadays you typically need to land a Literary Agent to represent you FIRST, and then they’ll shop your manuscript to Publishers. Most Publishers won’t even accept a manuscript unless a legitimate Literary Agent delivers it to them. And, quite honestly, I’ve heard endless stories from authors about how they tried to land a Literary Agent for a long time…and I’m talking 1+ years. This is a big reason many authors choose the self-publishing route…out of total frustration! But, for the sake of this blog topic, let’s say you are totally determined to land a publishing deal with a traditional publishing house. Here is some general info and resources that could help you grab the attention of a Literary Agent who may love your manuscript, and choose to represent you. Some common questions with answers: What exactly is a Literary Agent and what do they do? In general, they are marketing and sales experts who know how to make your manuscript sizzle. They determine the compelling pitch that (they hope) will make Publishers want to review your manuscript, and then offer you/agent a publishing deal. And, a good agent has the contacts you don’t. Do they charge a fee? Yes, but not up-front. Like a Talent Agent, they work on commission based on the deal they get for you. So if you contact an agent and they say they charge a fee for them to represent you, RUN! That’s a scam. Legitimate agents only get paid if they get you a publishing deal. Here’s a bit more detail from AgentQuery.com about this: Literary agents charge a commission whenever they sell the publishing rights (and various sub-rights) of a book. Standard commissions range from 10-15% for the sale of domestic rights and 15-20% for foreign rights. Major Publishers pay authors an advance against royalties. A literary agent negotiates the terms of the sale, then collects a commission for her hard work. I have no connections to Literary Agents, so how can I find one? You can do Google searches to find directory listings. And there are websites like these where they have agent listings: Association of Authors’ Representatives These types of websites also provide loads of great info about how to contact and approach an agent, how to write a query, how to avoid being scammed, and much more. Getting an agent to represent you is not impossible, but it can be very challenging. So if you really want to try to land a publishing deal, be patient and start by finding a great Literary Agent to represent you and your best-selling manuscript! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa |
