Some weeks back, a business owner approached me to ask if I'd consider writing for his newsletter. I'm an infopreneur, and turning words into wealth in any form sounds attractive to me. I decided to try it out and found it interesting enough to keep doing it.
How can you be a newsletter writer for hire too? It's easy if you consider two things.
First, business owners are too busy doing things and often don't have the time or energy to manage their newsletter. Second, if you have knowledge or expertise in an area, and are familiar with newsletter writing, it becomes more attractive for business owners to outsource the work to you than trying to do it on their own.
So the best way to become a newsletter writer for hire is to develop expertise in an area and find business owners in the niche to write for.
Become Expert in a Niche
If you are already an expert or specialist in a popular niche, good for you. If you are not already a specialist, you can become one by studying the available resources - websites, forums, newsletters, books and courses - until you are reasonably familiar with the niche.
Wait until you can confidently present yourself as a newsletter writer with some competence and knowledge.
Develop Expertise as a Newsletter Writer
The best way to learn the intricacies of publishing a newsletter is to do it yourself. Pick a subject you have skills, knowledge or experience with. Then start becoming a newsletter writer for real.
Create complete issues. Publish them electronically, or even in print. Offer them to your own audience. Gain experience in the various steps of the process. Figure out how to overcome hurdles and solve problems.
Find Business Owners To Contact
Search for relevant businesses that may be able to use your newsletter writing skills to add value to their customers and prospects. If you have gained expert status in dog training, look for businesses that sell things to dog owners like dog food, dog collars, dog kennels and more.
Once you have a list of potential businesses that may find your skills as a newsletter writer of value, approach them to discuss a proposal where you manage their newsletter for them in return for a payment.
Make an Irresistible Offer
When you contact the business owner, remember to focus on the right 'angle' - what's in it fo them. Don't harp about your knowledge, expertise and skills at writing. Instead, sell them on the value of having a newsletter.
Teach them how it opens up a line of communication with their prospects and customers. Show them how they can run product endorsements and special offers within the content of their newsletter and generate more sales. Explain how their newsletter will brand their business and attract buyers more frequently to their store.
Once they are convinced that publishing a newsletter is in the best intersts of their business, you can start positioning yourself as the best person to be their newsletter writer and create a newsletter for their business.
Run projections about how much extra profit you will help generate for their business, and then show how the rates you charge will come out of added profits, making it a zero cost venture for their business, one with infinite upside potential to grow their business massively.
By becoming expert at a niche topic, learning the intricacies of being a newsletter writer, and identifying a target market of related businesses to write for, and then convincing them to let you write for their newsletter, you can take advantage of this overlooked infopreneur opportunity and profit in a big way - easily.
by: Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Improve The Quality Of Your Writing In Less Than 60 Seconds
Writing is not really an art. It is a craft – and you can learn a craft. Follow these four techniques to improve the quality of your writing, no matter what type of writing you do.
Writing Tip #1: After you run your spell checking software, go back and re-read your writing. Few people are good spellers, which is why so many of us rely on spell checking software. Unfortunately, spell checkers have their own flaws and sometimes flag silly errors. For example, the words "form" and "from" are both good, legitimate words. But if you wrote a business letter that said, "We took $200 form your checking account to cover the payment," most spell checkers won't catch that oversight. Yet this simple typo changed the meaning of the sentence. Spell checkers are a convenience; they are neither authoritative nor foolproof, so don’t rely on them. Always read through your writing at least once after you spell check -- and keep a dictionary handy.
Writing Tip #2: Use that famous "KISS" principle for your punctuation. You know the rule, don't you? "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Apply this rule to punctuation. If you don't know how or when to use a semicolon, then avoid semicolons; you'll only display ignorance if you get it wrong. In keeping with that KISS principle, limit your use of commas. Far too many people use far too many commas. Just because a sentence is long does not mean it needs a comma. Well-placed commas make reading easier. Commas thrown in simply to break up words are incorrect and distracting. Another important rule of punctuation is to avoid using exclamation marks, almost always. If your choice of words, sentence structure, and overall prose don't convey the sense of excitement you are seeking, then using an exclamation mark won't do it. If your writing conveys your sense of excitement, an exclamation point is, well, pointless.
Writing Tip #3: Make sure your writing is grammatically correct. You don't need the skills of an English teacher to use correct grammar. You simply need to learn the basics -- verbs and subjects agree in number, for example. That is, "he was" is correct; "they were" is correct. To say "they was" is incorrect. If you are not sure about using grammar, especially if English isn't your "first" language, go to some good reference sites for fundamental English grammar and usage. (If you are writing in another language, the same advice holds true for that language.) Invest in a good, basic grammar book or style manual. Check with any bookstore, online or offline, and you can find one.
4. When you finish some writing, put it aside for a couple of hours or days (if possible), then re-read it before you let go of it. Of course, if you're writing or dictating a business letter or other "time-sensitive" document, this may not be possible. If you set your article or story aside for a day, then re-read it, you may notice glaring errors or want to make significant changes. And you thought before you had finished. Many writers and teachers have commented that all true writing is done in the rewriting. Take that advice to heart and you will significantly improve your writing.
These four steps, rechecking your spelling, taking care with punctuation, watching for fundamental grammar errors, and rewriting, will improve your writing. They are proven tools used by every wordsmith.
by: Jesse Dawson
Writing Tip #1: After you run your spell checking software, go back and re-read your writing. Few people are good spellers, which is why so many of us rely on spell checking software. Unfortunately, spell checkers have their own flaws and sometimes flag silly errors. For example, the words "form" and "from" are both good, legitimate words. But if you wrote a business letter that said, "We took $200 form your checking account to cover the payment," most spell checkers won't catch that oversight. Yet this simple typo changed the meaning of the sentence. Spell checkers are a convenience; they are neither authoritative nor foolproof, so don’t rely on them. Always read through your writing at least once after you spell check -- and keep a dictionary handy.
Writing Tip #2: Use that famous "KISS" principle for your punctuation. You know the rule, don't you? "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Apply this rule to punctuation. If you don't know how or when to use a semicolon, then avoid semicolons; you'll only display ignorance if you get it wrong. In keeping with that KISS principle, limit your use of commas. Far too many people use far too many commas. Just because a sentence is long does not mean it needs a comma. Well-placed commas make reading easier. Commas thrown in simply to break up words are incorrect and distracting. Another important rule of punctuation is to avoid using exclamation marks, almost always. If your choice of words, sentence structure, and overall prose don't convey the sense of excitement you are seeking, then using an exclamation mark won't do it. If your writing conveys your sense of excitement, an exclamation point is, well, pointless.
Writing Tip #3: Make sure your writing is grammatically correct. You don't need the skills of an English teacher to use correct grammar. You simply need to learn the basics -- verbs and subjects agree in number, for example. That is, "he was" is correct; "they were" is correct. To say "they was" is incorrect. If you are not sure about using grammar, especially if English isn't your "first" language, go to some good reference sites for fundamental English grammar and usage. (If you are writing in another language, the same advice holds true for that language.) Invest in a good, basic grammar book or style manual. Check with any bookstore, online or offline, and you can find one.
4. When you finish some writing, put it aside for a couple of hours or days (if possible), then re-read it before you let go of it. Of course, if you're writing or dictating a business letter or other "time-sensitive" document, this may not be possible. If you set your article or story aside for a day, then re-read it, you may notice glaring errors or want to make significant changes. And you thought before you had finished. Many writers and teachers have commented that all true writing is done in the rewriting. Take that advice to heart and you will significantly improve your writing.
These four steps, rechecking your spelling, taking care with punctuation, watching for fundamental grammar errors, and rewriting, will improve your writing. They are proven tools used by every wordsmith.
by: Jesse Dawson
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