Work At Home Business Options

Posts Tagged ‘writing tips’

Are you in Direct Sales? Are you thinking about writing articles for your article marketing campaign? If so, finding topics to write about within your own business niche can be a daunting task for new direct sales professionals, who are just getting into article marketing.

Today I would like to share with you how you can come up with new topics to write about each and every day for at least the next few months, if not years.

1. Talk to your fellow business associates and ask them about topics they want to learn about in regards to the niche that you represent. You can take their questions and turn them all into informative articles.

2. Talk to your newly added team members and ask them what they would love to learn about in regards to the business you represent. Often times the newly recruited members need basic information that you are already educated about. Use your education and experience in the field to draft up new articles that are geared towards beginners.

3. Talk to your customers and ask them what they would love to know about in regards to the products you sell and about the business opportunity that you represent. Use their questions to draft up new articles related to the niche you are trying to target.

4. Visit online blogs and web sites that are geared towards your niche. Spend some time reading the posts and articles on those sites to see what everyone is talking and writing about. Use these subjects to generate your own ideas for new material.

5. Visit online article directories and look for categories that are related towards your niche. Read through old and current articles that have already been published to see if any of those spark new ideas for you. One of my favorite things to do is to read old material and rewrite that material to include updated information and advances in technology.

6. Educate yourself in something new that is within your own niche. Often times when we learn something new (like new technology), we can use what we have just learned to our advantage by writing about it.

7. Join a few social media networking sites and make friends with others who are in your niche. Spend time networking and sharing information with them. Often times my article ideas have come from just chatting with other professionals on social media networking sites.

As you can see, these 7 tips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding new topics to write about that pertain to your business niche. I like to keep a little notebook beside me or with me at all times so that when new article topic ideas pop into my head, I can quickly write them down.

Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989 and is a professional ghostwriter. You can visit Shelly’s Two Classy Ghostwriting Chics web site at http://www.twoclassyghostwritingchics.com to learn about the ghostwriting services that she and her partner Chris Carroll have to offer.

Do You Need More Bookings? If so, check out this site!

 Why do people online feel that it is okay to snag (steal) content from other people’s web sites, blogs, newsletters, social media postings, etc? Didn’t your momma ever teach you that stealing is wrong?

When you come across content online (text or images) that is NOT yours…you do NOT have the right to take it and use it on your own sites, blogs or newsletters. If you are not the author or original poster of that information/images, it is not YOURS to do with as you want. Stealing is WRONG and stealing is ILLEGAL and that includes stealing things from others online!!!

I am really getting tired of people who have been caught stealing content online saying that “They didn’t know any better and they didn’t know that they couldn’t use it.” Who are you kidding? Would you go over to your neighbors house (one that you didn’t know) and borrow their lawn mower without asking? Would you go down the street to the local store and walk out with a candy bar without paying for it? Of course not…because it would be considered STEALING!

When you come across something online that you would like to use you need to ASK the original author for permission. The only time you don’t is if you are posting an article for an article data base site onto your site and even then…you have to include the original Author’s resource box with live links with your posting of that article.

The internet is not a Free-For-All…you can not run around online “stealing” material and images that don’t belong to you! Remember…you wouldn’t like it if someone took your material and used it so please don’t do it to others!

Well folks…that is my RANT and TIP for today. Content & Image stealing is NOT a good thing!

Marketing to Moms – Why You Should be Writing Articles for Work at Home Moms by D. L. Willms

If you sell a product or service for almost any target market, you’ll want to make sure moms know about it. Moms have a lot of buying power, and are responsible for making most purchase decisions for their families.

How Publishing Articles for Moms Helps You

A recent survey of North American moms revealed that more than 70% of moms look online for the information they need. Writing work-at-home-mom (WAHM) articles and distributing them on the Internet is an effective and affordable way to get your information online, where these moms can easily find it.

You don’t need to be a mom to write WAHM articles, but it might help because you’ll know first-hand what kinds of information they want to read about. However, writing WAHM articles can be lucrative for anyone who takes the time to learn about the information moms are looking for, and make it accessible to them.

What Information Do Moms Need to Know?

Think of everything a mom might do in a day. She’s a nurse, a chef, an organizer, an event planner, a teacher, a decorator, business person, and the list goes on and on.

Work-at-home-moms are constantly looking for all kinds of information. They
need a lot of information on hundreds of topics to help them balance their busy
lives.

Whatever it is you know, chances are that somehow that information could help a work-at-home-mom. Here are some ideas to get you started:

How to Start a Home Business
Home Business Ideas
Websites and Blogging Information
Marketing Ideas
Childcare Issues
Marriage
Family relationships
Hobbies
Education
Product reviews
Book reviews
Pets
Health and Fitness
Food and Nutrition
Crafts
Scrapbooking
Entertainment
Holiday Celebrations
Parenting
Money Management Tips

These are just a few that I thought of. What else do you know about that could
help a busy work-at-home-mom?
Give it some thought… you might be surprised!

Denise Willms is a work-at-home-mom and the owner of WAHM-Articles.com, a busy article directory for moms. To learn more about how you can profit by writing WAHM articles, please visit http://www.WAHM-Articles.com and download a copy of the free e-book Get Started!! Making Money by Writing WAHM Articles.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Article Marketing to Boost Your Business by Genesis Davies

Article marketing is one of the least understood and much underused methods of free business promotion around. Despite this, quite a few business owners have been using this free method to give their companies a huge boost without spending a penny.

Let’s look at a few ways article marketing can help increase your business.

Online Reputation. Even if your business is a real world one, such as a coffee shop, establishing an online presence is vital. All businesses need a website now and to ensure that yours isn’t just one of millions of unknown websites stuck in the corner, you can use article marketing to break into the public eye.

Expert Status. While this is related to online reputation, YOU are the expert, not your business. When you have promoted yourself as an expert, whether it be in the world of taxes or shoe sales, you can take this fame and turn it toward any business you choose to start up, as well as your existing one.

Traffic. Article marketing will help your sales go up, if you have great website copy that convert. The higher the number of visitors to your website, the better the chances that you will make a sale. Article marketing promotes your business far and wide, when done correctly and you’ll see more traffic as a result, usually quite quickly.

Search Engine Optimization. A benefit of using the more popular article directories and sites where you can submit business articles is that they usually boast a high PageRank. This means that effective use of keywords in article marketing will result in your articles appearing in the top search results, with a link back to your site. In addition, your backlinks will go up each time the article is published, either on the article directory site or on someone’s website.

Education. Informed clients equal clients who know what they are looking for in a service or product. When you’re the one offering what they need, it’s quite likely you’ll be getting a boost in sales. You’ll also build client trust, as you are the provider of free, useful information that they can use. Trust is essential when you are trying to grow a business.

Article marketing is something that every business could and should be using. It’s completely cost free and requires little more than time to accomplish, yet the results are amazing.

What are you waiting for? Start working on your own free marketing strategy today with article marketing! Or, if you aren`t interested in writing your own articles, try hiring a professional freelance writer.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Steps to a Writing Effective Press Releases by Diana Ennen

Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a great press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. But wait. I’m going to show you easy methods to make your press release work for you and get the attention it deserves. Ready? Let’s go.

We’ll briefly go over the basics because of their importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would bet that a lot of good releases simply get tossed out just because they aren’t set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar three-second glance says a lot for you and your business and if you’ve done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their newspaper or magazine or even on their website.

Here are your essentials:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the top left of the page.
Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and website follows. Double check this. No, triple check this. You don’t want to waste a good release because they can’t get ahold of you.

The headline is next, normally in bold and centered on the page. Summarize what the release is about and capture their attention. Spend almost as much time on your headline as you do writing the release. It’s that important. Make sure to get those valuable keywords in there and hopefully in the first few words.

The press release body starts with the location of the release and the date (Margate, Florida, January, 200X.)

Most press releases are between 400-500 words, and no more than a page. The first paragraph has the most important information. Don’t save the best for last, it won’t get read. Make sure that you explain the title of the release in this first paragraph.

It is recommended that you write press releases in the 3rd person and use short sentences and paragraphs. Do not go over board, trying to dazzle the editor, it won’t work.

Target your release. You will be sending your release to a specific audience so make sure that in your release you keep to what would appeal to that audience. What don’t they know that you can add? Nothing works better than getting an “AAH HAA” when an editor is reviewing your release. Also, keep in mind with the Internet today, that press releases, or news releases as they are now frequently called, are read by your target audience just as much as the editors. The buyers of your products or services are reading this, tell them what they need to know.

Provide statistics. Do some research and find some relevant information that applies. Research and make sure that if you are providing accurate quotes and not from some fly by night company. Remember your reputation is riding on this release. (Well, not exactly, but you don’t want the editor to read this and red flag you.).

Provide a quote from yourself or include relevant quotes from experts in your field that will reinforce what you are saying. You can approach authors, leaders in your Industry, and other experts in your Industry for a quote. They will normally appreciate the added publicity and you get the quote you’re looking for. For example, as an author I’ll often get asked to provide a quote for an article on home-based businesses or the virtual assistant industry. I welcome the opportunity as it provides me more publicity.

The last paragraph should be your call to action. You’ve talked the whole release about your business or product, now tell them what to do with this knowledge they just got. Too many leave out this vital step.

At the bottom of the release include ### to indicate you are done.
Double check this for accuracy. At this point, you’re tired and done with the Release. Well if it goes out to the world with the wrong web address, you’ve wasted your valuable time even writing the Release.

That’s it. The basics for writing a press release. Now one other thing I’d like to add in, they work. They truly do. You also want to make sure that you submit them out, but that’s another article.

Diana Ennen and Kelly Poelker are the co-authors of numerous books including Virtual Assistant: the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and accompanying Virtual Assistant the Series Workbook, and Virtual Assistant – The Series: Working Virtually, A Guide to Working Remotely as an Employee. Stop by their site for complete information on starting your own VA business http://www.vatheseries.com. Article is free to be reprinted as long as the author’s bio remains intact.

Article Source: WAHM Articles

Every day I see more and more people starting up their own Product Review blogs but for most of these people, they don’t realize how much work it takes to keep that blog running smoothly. A lot of bloggers have the misconception that they can throw together a blog quickly and that the blog will practically run itself. That is so wrong!!!

When you set up your blog you will need to do many things to it before you can even start publishing product reviews. You will need to install a template design, a stat tracker, a contact you form, social media share buttons, a disclaimer policy, a terms of service policy, a RSS feed and several other things. All of these things will take some web site technical experience and it will certainly take you several days to just get all of those tasks done.

Once you have the design and technical aspects done, you will need to work on some content. I can tell you first hand…no company is going to sponsor a product review or giveaway on a blog that doesn’t have any content or blog followers on it. I recommend that you start writing and posting on your blog a minimum of 15 posts for at least 2-3 weeks before you even solicit a company for a review. I suggest picking several things from around your house that you personal use and enjoy and write about them and post that on your blog for your content. Once you have content, it is now time to solicit a few companies for sponsorship.

Once you get your blog rolling, it will consistently need your attention. Running a product review blog is a lot of hard work. You will need to spend countless hours every week searching out new sponsors, writing up new reviews, hosting a few giveaways, updating your web site, advertising your web site on various social media outlets, etc. You certainly can’t slap up a product review blog and expect it to run by itself, that simply is not a realistic expectation.

For those who are considering starting a product review blog, make sure you have the time and skills that will be needed to make your blog successful. You don’t want to start a blog that you can’t possibly manage in a few weeks. Doing this type of work takes a lot of hard work and can be very time consuming, but in the long run…it is also very rewarding.

Shelly Hill is the Co-Owner of the Two Classy Chics Product Reviews Blog with her partner Chris Carroll. You can visit their product review blog at http://www.twoclassychics.com to read their product reviews or enter a few of their giveaways.