Excess Voice Issue 46: Expand your Skills in 2004

For information on my coaching service for freelancers copywriters, visit:

January 2004
Issue # 46

Top reviews:

Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting Originally I had some reservations, based on a lot of hype I had read online. But having gone through a copy of the course in detail, I'm happy to say I think it is really excellent. Read my review of Michael Masterson's course.

Make Your Content PRE Sell This e-book by Ken Evoy covers a lot of ground, but is essentially about writing great content that makes your web site visitors WANT to buy. Highly recommended. Read my review of MYCPS.

Monthly Copywriting Genius One of the best ways to improve your copywriting skills is to study direct mail letters that have performed incredibly well. This is how you learn to write copy that drives action - offline or online. Read my review of Monthly Copywriting Genius

In this issue:

>> Intro: 2004 For Online Writers
>> Announcements: Seminars
>> Review: WordTracker
>> Article: Expand your Skills in 2004
>> Readers Write Back: Best Sites
>> Survey: What Do You DO?

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Greetings,

And welcome to 2004.

Do you have a clear view of what 2004 has in store for you? Not me. And that's because my crystal ball is in sleep mode right now, awaiting my upcoming vacation. I'll be gone for two weeks with no email, no phone calls, no work : ) And I have no doubt that two weeks away will bring me some new perspectives on the year ahead.

One consequence of my vacation is that there will be no issue of Excess Voice in two weeks time. But it will be back in February. Just one issue skipped.

In the last issue I asked for recommendations of the best written sites. The response was skinny, so I have listed the few sites submitted, and accompanying comments, in this issue's Readers Write Back section.

For this issue's survey, I'm asking what it is that you 'do'. A writer of content?

A copywriter? A designer? If you have a few moments, it would be great to get your feedback on this. As always, I'll share the results in the next issue.

Until next time.

Nick

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com

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ANNOUNCEMENTS: Seminars

>> UIE Roadshow

Hosted by the good folks at UIE.com, I'm giving four full-day seminars early this year.

The cities and dates are:

Minneapolis, MN -- February 23
Seattle, WA -- March 10
Bethesda, MD -- March 12
Chicago, IL -- March 24

If you decide to attend one of these events, be sure to enter this code - NU01 - in the promotional code box and you'll get a fat discount on the regular price - up to $90 off.

If 5 or more people register from an attendee's organization, they automatically qualify for the group discount: Group Price: $334 for one seminar, $668 for two seminars, $897 for all three seminars in the series (From now until 7 days before the seminar for groups of 5 or more).

You can find full details on their site at: http://www.uieroadshow.com

>> Upcoming CAN-SPAM Compliance Teleseminar

If you haven't made all the necessary changes to your email and newsletter programs to ensure they're in line with the new CAN-SPAM Act, you may want to sign up for this teleseminar hosted by MarketingSherpa.

Even if you don't take part, you can download a pdf file of the Act from their info page, which you'll find here:

http://www.sherpastore.com/c

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REVIEW: WordTracker

Here's a tool I use on an almost daily basis.

Working from a database of over 350 million terms, WordTracker helps identify the most profitable keywords and phrases for Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Overture and a host of other search engines and directories. Using WordTracker has had a huge impact on the amount of traffic I get to various site pages from a number of engines.

If you want to check out the system without signing up, they offer a free trial.

It doesn't include all the elements you get as a subscriber, but does give you an idea of how it all works.

As far as I know, WordTracker is the most complete and sophisticated keyword search tool available. If you know of anything better, please let me know.

Click here for the full review...
http://www.excessvoice.com/wordtracker.htm

>> The Most Popular Reviews from Previous Issues:

- MarketingSherpa Report:
Excel at the writing, design and delivery of online newsletters.

- Site Build It!:
Small business Web hosting, Web design and SEO.

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ARTICLE: Expand your Skills in 2004

A sure way to find new work opportunities is to expand the range of skills you offer your employer or clients.

In the offline world writers carve out a nice living simply by concentrating on their core skill – writing. But online, a high value is placed on writers who offer additional skills.

Here is a short suggestion list.

>> Learn More about Writing for Search Engines

SEO has been a hot topic for many years. Several writers have made a switch to become specialists in this field alone. But even if you want to be known principally as a copywriter or content writer, it makes sense to learn as much as you can about SEO.

Not only will it help you write copy and content that is attractive to the search engines, you will also find yourself writing with words and phrases that are more relevant to your readers and their specific searches.

Becoming skilled in SEO can significantly increase your value as an employee or outside supplier.

>> Understand the Metrics of Online Marketing

The Internet, whether through websites, emails or newsletters provides the opportunity to collect huge amounts of response data.

All too often, as writers, we simply do our work, walk away and start on the next job. We don’t follow up and see what happened as a result of our work.

How many people opened that newsletter you wrote? Which element in the newsletter was most popular? What was the clickthrough? How well did that convert into sales or subscriptions?

The more you understand the metrics, and what drives results, the better the writer you’ll become. And when you become an expert on conversion metrics, you’ll have a very valuable new skill to add to your resume.

>> Improve your Software Skills

When it comes to writing, knowing 10% of MS Word is pretty much all we need to know.

But if you truly want to become a valued and respected member of the development team, you might want to learn one or two other programs.

Learn to write HTML and you’ll better understand the role of site integrators and programmers. Or learn an HTML editor like Dreamweaver or FrontPage.

Once you understand the code behind the site a little better, you’ll have a deeper appreciation of the constraints and opportunities that come with writing and designing online.

If you have a leaning towards design, learn at least the basics of a program like Photoshop.

Again, whatever programs you learn, add them to your resume.

>> Learn it all - With Your Own Online Business

Writing for your employer or a client is one thing, doing the same for your own business is quiet another.

When you write your own site and wait for those dollars to come in, it really sharpens your attention. After all, if you can’t succeed with your own online business, how can you present yourself as an expert to potential employers or clients?

In addition, writing for your own business dramatically accelerates your learning curve. You’ll find yourself compelled to learn everything you can about SEO. You’ll have to learn Dreamweaver or something like it. You’ll understand and obsess over your site metrics, day by day. You’ll learn to test everything, step by step.

However you choose to expand your skills, it’s my guess that online writers will find themselves valued more if they can offer a broad expertise that is not limited to writing alone.

** If you found value in the article, please forward this newsletter to colleagues and friends who might be interested.

** The archives of all previous ExcessVoice articles can be found here:
http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com

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READERS WRITE BACK: Best Sites

"Under the B2B category, I would list Business 2.0 at the top. The weekly newsletters absolutely stand out when it comes to “interest” – always humorous & insightful. Their website is equally pleasant & packed with content I don’t see everywhere else."

- Marge Purnell

"The writing on www.nzloans.co.nz is really good.

Full of personality, determined to make the whole finance process friendly and non-threatening - the equivalent of dealing with a really nice person by phone or over the counter.

What's especially good is that they've extended that character right through to the application form - marital status includes "Single and happy" and "Single and bitter" as well as the usual."

- Simon Young

"The Microsoft TechNet site for their product called Tweakomatic.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/
scriptcenter/Tools/twkmatic.asp

Excerpt:

"At the same time, however, it's true that there are certain values in the registry that should never be changed; in fact, changing them can pretty much wipe your computer out, once and for all. It's like working on the bomb squad:

if you snip the right wire, the bomb is defused and everything is fine. But if you snip the wrong one-Boom! You just created Microsoft Bob!"

- Eileen George

"Take a look at http://www.ZuniLink.com

Why do I think this is good?

It combines well-target specialized copy to the collectors of Zuni fetish carvings laced with keywords in a sensible, readable fashion. It also delivers "information", the sine qua non of the Web search engines (yes, Google)."

- William Ernest Waites

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@excessvoice.com

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SURVEY: What Do You Do?

This has become something of an annual survey. Indicate your areas of expertise, and I'll share the results in the next issue. It might be interesting to see what else 'writers' do.

Check one or more...

[ ] Copywriter
[ ] Content writer
[ ] Search Engine Writer
[ ] Designer
[ ] Search Engine Marketer
[ ] Online Marketer
[ ] Programmer
[ ] All-in-One Webmaster
[ ] Other...Please specify

Comments:...

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