Username: Password:
Links

The Edge

Success Strategies for People Who Work With Words

23 February 2009

In This Issue

  • Director's Spotlight: Welcome, New Members and Words Matter Week
  • Featured Success Strategy: "Article Marketing - How to Use it to Build Your Business" by Angela Booth
  • Featured Benefit: Free Legal Information Service
  • Announcements and reminders: Survey Results Press Release and the "Words Matter member discount" on in-house tech support

Director's Spotlight

Dear [[firstname]],
 
 Welcome to new NAIWE members and e-zine subscribers! You've joined us at a great time, as we're gearing up for the exciting events of Words Matter Week, March 2-6.
 
The celebration is less than a week away, and we have added more speakers. In addition to John Kremer (1001 Ways to Market Your Books), Peter Bowerman (The Well-Fed Writer and The Well-Fed Self-Publisher), Deborah Levine-Herman (Write the Perfect Book Proposal), and Jeff Herman (Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Agents), you'l hear novelist Linda Leigh Hargrove and award-winning copywriter and editor, Ruth Thaler-Carter. It's not often that you can hear so many respected experts addressing issues of concern to writers and editors, all without charge!
 
Remember, even if you can't listen live to the teleseminars, e-zine subscribers will receive links in the next e-zine to where you can listen to the interviews and workshops. You'll also receive a download link for the Words Matter 2009 Yearbook, a very special e-book with articles and handouts from our speakers and other experts in the publishing field. E-zine subscribers are also eligible for book give-aways during Words Matter Week, so if you've received this as a forward from a friend, be sure to visit www.NAIWE.com and sign up for your own subscription! 
 
The Featured Success Strategy for this issue is article marketing. I've been using this for over two decades, and have found it far more effective than traditional paid advertising in building and promoting my freelance business and my books. If the economy has left you with a bit of extra time on your hands, perhaps it's time to try this success strategy, as is a highly effective, no-cost way to build your business. The article I've included is from a copywriter who is using article marketing to promote her own business, so you are seeing an example of this strategy in action.
 
And finally, I received an e-mail from someone who was searching for a copyeditor. He said that he'd visited several NAIWE member sites, and at least half of them were missing contact information. When you log into your dashboard, you'll see your contact information, but that's just your behind-the-scenes view. NAIWE keeps this private so you can determine exactly what type of contact information you want clients to see. If you want potential clients to contact you, please provide a way for them to do so!
 
To your growing success,
 
Janice Campbell
Director, NAIWE

Featured Success Strategy

Article Marketing - How to Use it to Build Your Business

By Angela Booth

Are you cutting down on advertising because of the slowdown? You can't eliminate marketing entirely, so you need to find low-cost advertising solutions. Try article marketing: it's cost-effective, and the results in increased business can be dramatic.

Here's how to use article marketing to build your business.

1. Revamp Your Web Site for a Traffic Bonanza

Start with your Web site. Consider that the prospective customers who find you online via your articles will be responding to your resource box: the small ad at the bottom of your articles.

What site pages will you send them to? You'll get the best results if your visitors find exactly what they need on the page you send them to, so write several resource boxes, and matching landing/ sales pages.

You should also consider setting up a mailing list, so you can capture your visitor's contact details.

2. Who's Your Audience? What Keywords Do They Use?

Once your site's all set for an influx of traffic, do a little thinking, and research. Your site and business have a target audience. Make a list of the needs of your audience, and how your site and business meet those needs. Yes, I know you have all the information in your head -- but get it on paper. This information will help any writers you hire to write articles for you. Even if you're writing the articles, clear thinking and a clear description of your audience's needs will help you in the writing.

Research keywords. These are words which your target audience uses when they want to find you via the search engines.

3. Create Your First Article Marketing Campaign

Now you're all set to create your first article marketing campaign.

Decide:

* Which keywords and phrases you will target (one per article); * How many articles you'll write; * How you'll gauge the success/ failure of this campaign; * Where, where and how you'll use the articles. Make a list of article directories you'll use.

4. Integrate Article Marketing Into Your Marketing Plan

Your first campaign is a trial. Once you've checked the results, you'll need to integrate article marketing into your marketing plan.

Here's an important tip: every article you have online brings you visibility; the results are cumulative.

Get started using article marketing to build your business today!

Increase your profits with effective Web copywriting. Angela Booth's new ebook "Web Copywriting Profits: DIY Copywriting" at http://webcopywritingprofits.com/ helps you to make sales every day. Discover how to double and triple your conversion rates and much more. Angela's been selling online for years, and her ebook is packed with tips anyone can use.

Need direct Web copywriting help? Contact Angela at her Hot Web Copy site - http://hotwebcopy.com/

Article Source

Featured Member Benefit

Free Legal Information Service

You will have access to a law firm which has agreed to provide free, industry-related legal information and responses to individual questions concerning business law, intellectual property (including without limitation copyright and trademark issues), and business or publishing contracts.*
*Availabililty of legal information services and attorney responses, without more, do not constitute legal representation of NAIWE members, either by NAIWE or affiliated attorneys.

Reminder

--The "Words Matter $99 Rate" on one year of in-home tech support for members is good until March 7!

How It Works – Call a toll free number that's just for NAIWE members and receive unlimited computer support Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST.  Call as often as needed for as long as needed. For more challenging problems, technicians will connect to your computer remotely to solve your problem. Our members-only price is normally $120 (non-members $249), but through Saturday, March 7, 2009 you can receive the exclusive "Words Matter" rate of $99.00 per year.  You'll find more information and a coupon code in the member area of the website.

--Survey: We are still analyzing the results of the January survey, "What do you want most?" Be sure to take a look at the initial press release on the website! We'll continue to share comments and discuss the survey results in upcoming e-zines and articles.

--Remember, members are welcome to submit items for the NewsWire blog, including news about books completed or published, interesting projects, industry news, links to resources and articles of interest, funny writing mistakes you spot in public places, etc. Just e-mail your submission to editor @ naiwe.com

Announcements

Please invite your friends to Words Matter Week 2009, March 2-6. In addition to speakers, book give-aways, you have an opportunity to "Give a child a book!" through donations to First Book (just $2.50 will provide a needy child with a new book-- you can join our team through the link and donate any time). When you donate, be sure to comment on the event page on Facebook, and you'll get another entry into the book drawings.

 
If you're on Facebook , LinkedIn , or Twitter , you're welcome to send a friend request and I'll accept. 
 
If you haven't visited our February Member of the Month, Michelle Hill of Winning Proof, you'll want to check out her interview in print and podcast at the NewsWire blog. Michelle will be able to use her interview and podcast, along with her NAIWE website as a 24/7 introduction to her services. How priceless is that?
Reminder 
If your member website is ready, and you'd like to be considered for a future Member of the Month interview, please e-mail me at janice@naiwe.com. Being featured as a Member of the Month is news that you can share with your current and former clients as a subtle promotional tool. The information in the interview can help you begin to establish relationship marketing ties that can make a difference in how well your clients and readers remember you.
 
The next available interview will be for the April newsletter, so you have plenty of time to post a professional profile and other information to your website. If you're not yet a member, there's plenty of time to go to the "Join NAIWE " page, become a member, and post your information so that you, too, can be a Member of the Month.
Copyright 2009 by Everyday Education, LLC.
This issue of The Edge is brought to you by the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. If you're not a member, we invite you to join us , and experience all our success and support benefits!
 
You're welcome to forward this e-zine in its entirety to others who may be interested in building their word-oriented business. Please be sure to include a personal note, so they'll know whom to thank!