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Excess Voice Newsletter
January 2007, Issue # 123
In this issue:
>> Intro: A mixed bag...
>> Review: Self Publishing – a business plan
>> Article: Discovering that writing for the Web is different...
>> And: An ebook, a blog and a page...
>> Survey: Do you have a work area at home?
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Greetings,
A review about building a self-publishing business...
An article about writing styles online...
And links to an ebook, a new blog and a page. All by yours truly.
Yes, it's a mixed bag. But I hope you find at least one of the elements in this issue useful.
And, as always, please take a moment to respond to this issue's survey.
Until next time,
Nick
Nick Usborne
Newsletter: http://www.excessvoice.com
Copywriting and consulting: http://www.nickusborne.com
>> Feedback: nick@excessvoice.com
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REVIEW: Self Publishing – Your complete business plan for creating a life without borders.
Written by Gary Scott and published by the American Writers & Artists Institute, this 350+ page guide will show you how to become a successful self-publisher. Its takes you through an eleven-step product development process, complete with case histories, exercises, sample sales letter and more.
Yes, I would love to make money as a self-publisher. I have the writing skills, after all. And you probably do too.
What I really like about this program is that Gary Scott has been self-publishing for over 30 years. He not only knows how to do it, but he also knows how to share the process he has used.
I like the fact that he has grey hair, and that his program is based on years of experience, trial and error...and success.
This isn’t a hyped-up “make a zillion dollars with one e-book” kind of thing.
This is a genuine plan and process with which you can build a self-publishing business.
Read my full review here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/self-publishing.htm
>> Previous Reviews
::: At ExcessVoice.com :::
#1. MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007
If email marketing is part of your business, persuade your employer to buy a copy of this guide. It will give you the benchmark figures you need, and insights into some important upcoming trends, like the growth in mobile messaging.
Read my review:
http://www.excessvoice.com/email-marketing.htm
::: At Freelance Writing Success :::
#1. Secrets of Writing for the Business to Business Market
There are 8 million business-to-business companies out there. And they all need good sales copy. The opportunity in B2B copywriting is huge, and this 350+ page course tells you everything you need to know about getting your own slice of the market.
Read my review:
http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/B2B-copywriting.php
#2. The Ultimate Travel Writer's Course
Part-time or full time, travel writing is a wonderful way to make an income from writing about distant lands, or even about your own community.
http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/travel.php
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ARTICLE: Discovering that writing for the Web is different... every day, for the first time.
Every self-appointed pundit on the planet is saying that users are the new “owners” of the online medium.
These hip gurus are thinking about MySpace, YouTube and every social networking site that has been launched over the last couple of years.
Well, pardon me for saying, “Duh...”
Users have ALWAYS been the arbiters of writing style on the web. Even before the first browsers appeared, back in the days of Usenet and the like.
And this same observation, of users being in control of the medium, has been made so often, by so many people, time and again over the last ten years.
But still, a new guru feels compelled to raise his or her hand each day and say, “Wow, I have had this INCREDIBLE new insight!”
Spare me.
>> However...
However, the growth in social networks, blogs and every other kind of site developed for people to group together and interact online HAS changed the landscape.
It has made it even more important for sales and information sites to get in tune with how people talk and interact online.
Users really do judge us by the tone and content of our writing.
A stiff, formal way of writing makes us stand out like a guy in a suit on a beach during spring break.
And an overly hyped-up style makes us sound like a Multi Level Marketing zealot at a family dinner.
However, there is a middle ground, and a tone and style that will connect better with your readers.
No, that tone is not wholly determined by writing styles on MySpace and Diggit. It makes no sense to write in a voice that clearly doesn’t fit your company or organization.
>> So how should one write for Web 2.0?
It’s not a matter of copying a tone or style.
It’s a matter of understanding how people like to read and how they like to gather information online.
I think user reading behavior is changing a little.
To me, the growing influence of social network sites, shopping comparison sites, blogs and video sites gives us two pointers worth exploring:
1. Web users like to gather information quickly, in simple bite-size chunks... from blog to blog, comment to comment, video to video, review to review, opinion to opinion.
What does this mean for our information and sales sites? I think, to put it simply, it means enabling people to find information written and presented in similarly bit-sized chunks.
Break up those paragraphs. Express yourself simply and clearly. Get to the point faster. Design your page to present information that doesn’t look too dense, or look like it’s going to take ten minutes to read.
In a way, this is simply direct marketing 101. But I think it applies online now more than ever before.
Simplify, simplify, simplify.
2. Be genuine and honest. They’ll catch you out if you’re not.
Web users have not only become the final arbiters of style and content, but have also become consumer watchdogs.
If you are not honest and transparent with your products, offers and text, they will find you out...and they will share their discovery.
But in addition to uncovering dishonesty, users now have BS detectors which are far more finely tuned than they used to be.
People have learned to sniff out insincerity. Online they are becoming expert at discerning when a writer is trying to manipulate their feelings.
This is the area which I think we, as online writers, need to address.
We need to find a voice for our companies and clients which is genuine, honest and transparent.
>> Concluding thoughts...
If you were talking to a friend over coffee about your company, product or service...
If you respected that friend, and spoke with enthusiasm, but also with honesty and transparency...
If you spoke naturally, without jargon, without any thought to reaching this quarter’s sales targets...
If your tone clearly communicated your personal interest in what you were talking about...
Then your friend would smile.
Then you would have hit the tone of a really good blog.
Then you would have been communicating in a way which, I think, is the best way to write online.
** If you would prefer to read this article on the web, or would like to forward the url to a colleague or friend, you'll find it here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/article123.htm
>> Feedback: nick@excessvoice.com
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AND...An ebook, a blog and a page...
1. If you work from home or are thinking about working from home, I have just written the first in a series of short ebooks on the subject. These are based on my own experience over the last thirty years.
Here: http://www.freelancewritingsuccess.com/quit-your-job.php
2. I have also started a new blog on being more productive in your home office.
Here: http://www.homeofficeproductivity.com
3. If you have a SiteBuildIt site, or are interested in creating one, I have started writing some articles about the system, based on my experience with my own SiteBuildIt site.
Here: http://www.excessvoice.com/sitebuildit-proof.htm
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SURVEY: Do you have a work area at home?
Whether you work at home full time or not, do you have a separate work area at home?
[ ] I work from home and have a separate work area.
[ ] I don't work from home, but do have a separate work area for work I do at home.
[ ] No. Home is home, and I don't work at home.
[ ] Other....
Comments: ....
(NOTE: Any comments and your name may be published in the next issue, or on the Excess Voice web site.)
Cut and paste your replies to me at nick@excessvoice.com
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NICK USBORNE'S SERVICES:
Yes, I do more than write articles and publish newsletters.
Ask me to write for your site, emails and newsletters.
http://www.nickusborne.com/copywriting.htm
Ask me to optimize your key offer pages...
http://www.nickusborne.com/consulting.htm
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Like coffee? Visit my coffee sites:
http://www.coffeedetective.com/
http://www.coffeebestbuys.com/
And my new blog about working from home...
http://www.homeofficeproductivity.com
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