So, a bird flew into my studio…

Nope, not the beginning of a bad joke – it actually happened. And I wrote about it, of course.

Copyblogger got the post…and I’d love for you to fly on over there and check it out…it’s right up the Writing Roads blog-alley, promise.

Filed under Blogging, Myth or Reality | Tags: blog, blogger, Blogging, Copyblogger, fear, guest post, panic, writer, Writing | Comments (6)

We Have Lift off (and a Dragon Tattoo Exclusive)

This morning, I’m thrilled to announce, the Dragon Tattoo Blog Hunt launched into the blogosphere.

Here’s the official hooha on the social media campaign:

In anticipation of the March 19th U.S. theatrical release of Dragon Tattoo, Music Box Films will launch a clue-based Blog Hunt around the web on March 10th. Top bloggers will publish articles about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with an embedded clue leading readers to the next site in the Hunt. Readers will follow these clues for prizes including film tickets, books and posters. The contest will focus on blog topics covered in the film including technology, writing, violence against women, and tattoos. The Blog Hunt will begin on the movie’s official website where the first clue will be published.

And because I love all of YOU so very much, I’m giving you an exclusive clue – or rather to the answer to one of the clues.

Yours truly wrote one of the blog posts for the Blog Hunt and it’s published on Copyblogger. So, if you’re playing along and you get to the clue that talks about ‘copy’ and ‘blogging’ you’ll know right where to go. And now on to the post:

Blogging Lessons from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

A 40 year-old unsolved murder mystery. Strange cryptic codes in a bible. Sweden, sandwiches and many, many cigarettes. The badass-est female protagonist since…forever. And an author who has, posthumously, caused quite a ruckus in the book world and in the minds of conspiracy theorists everywhere.

Yes, I’m talking about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. If you haven’t heard of it, the rest of us are inviting you to come out from under your rock. Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) is topping bestseller lists as we speak and the theatrical release of Dragon Tattoo hits the U.S. next week.

I had the good fortune of screening an advanced copy and, of course, my mind went blog, blog, blog. Because that’s what blog obsessed people like us do. It’s almost like we’re wearing blog colored glasses as we look out onto our worlds. Here are the blogging lessons I learned from this tattooed ‘girl’…

Gasoline feeds a fire, but first there has to be a spark

At one point in the movie, a man lays under a car. Having just flown off the side of the road, both he and the car are demolished, gasoline is spilling out everywhere…and he waits, watching, trapped. Finally there’s a spark…and then fire, total combustion.

So often we have all of the ingredients, right? The design is just right, the writing is perfection, the research says that there’s a need for the content….but then, nothing. No traffic, no comments, no buzz. Why? What’s missing?

There has to be a spark. Maybe it comes in the form of a new partnership, a referral or an outside event (like a shortage of light bulbs) that makes your product (candles) suddenly burst into high demand. Or maybe you have a life changing event that triggers your passion, maybe you read a book that causes something to click in your brain or your heart.

And then, there’s no stopping the heat….

Read the rest of the lessons on Copyblogger’s slice of the sphere and get the next clue in the Blog Hunt!

Filed under How To | Tags: blog hunt, blog scavenger hunt, Blogging, Copyblogger, copyblogging, dragon tattoo, dragon tattoo blog hunt, dragon tattoo film, lisbeth salander, social media campaign, stieg larsson, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Writing | Comments (7)

The Sex and the City Guide to Copyblogging – (Copyblogger post)

Originally posted on Copyblogger

I’ve always been of the opinion that if Carrie Bradshaw had popped onto our television screens in 2010 instead of 1998, she would have been a blogger. But alas, she didn’t, so she wrote a (gasp!) print column for the fictional New York Star newspaper.

Yes, before there were blogs, there were newspaper columns – where readers couldn’t talk back or share good content. ‘Carrie the blogger’ would have been huge.

Though the words of Carrie and her cohorts have not been etched in permalink stone, their messages linger on. And despite the fact that Carrie was allergic to the internet and only used her Apple Powerbook for word processing her articles, the lessons, ideas and, more pointedly, the actual quotes that came barreling out of Sex and the City still speak directly to us Copybloggers.

“You sleep with someone, all of a sudden you start rationalizing all of the red flags away.”

Now, hopefully, you aren’t sleeping with your clients, readers or other bloggers (on a regular basis). Typically, the copybloggers’ dangling carrot (no pun intended, I swear) isn’t sex, it’s money….

Hop on over to Copyblogger to finish reading this post, yo.

(And I haven’t forgotten the non-hoopla post…it’s coming!)

Image credit: 22

Filed under Blogging, How To, News | Tags: blog writing, bloggers, Blogging, Copyblogger, copywriter, copywriting, guest post, sex and the city | Comments (2)

Want to be a Better Writer? Get Your Ego Out of the Way (copyblogger)

Raise your hand if you’re a writer.

Now, raise your hand if you have a nice-sized ego.

And now, raise your hand if you lied on that last one and kept your hand down.

The thing is, writing and a big ego kind of go hand in hand. And if you haven’t quit, gone crazy, or offed yourself yet — which I know you haven’t because you were just raising your hand — then like it or not, you have a big ego.

How do I know this? Well…

To read the rest of this post, hop on over to Copyblogger where, I’m pleased as punch to share, I am now a regular contributor…

And I hope you don’t mind me making you click to read the rest, but this post (and I’m guessing all of the posts I put on Copyblogger) are also posts that I’ll want to share with you – AND (I’m hoping you know this already) it is bad, bad blogging behavior to reprint the whole article in duplicate here. Copyblogger owns it now…

Filed under Blogging, Critical Copywriting, How To, Writing | Tags: Blogging, Copyblogger, copywriting, freelancing, guest post, Writing | Comments (5)

I’m sending you off on an adventure around the blogosphere…and the importance of a landing page

Really, I am. I’m sending you elsewhere…(but just for a little field trip).

Because today, I have a post that lives on a different blog. It’s a little, teeny, tiny blog with oh, I don’t know, over 100,000 subscribers and god only knows how many daily hits. (I like to fantasize that it’s a million).

But before I send you off, I have to share an important trick of the trade that I’ve learned via this particular guest posting experience. How many times have you read a guest post on one of your favorite blogs, loved it and clicked through to the author’s site only to land on their home page or blog where you poke around directionless before either 1) subscribing because you liked the guest post so much or 2) leaving because it’s all just kind of blah or 3) finding this blogger’s blog so enthralling that you read everything they’ve ever written?

When Sonia Simone, Copybloggers’ Senior Editor, emailed me to arrange my guest post, she recommended that I create a landing page for Copyblogger traffic. Brilliant. Really, this is such a fantastic idea. I immediately created a page that my guest post bio would link back to on my site instead of just sending them to my blog url. The page tells new visitors:

• Who I am
• What I do
• Where to find the things I want them to find on my site (ebook, teleclass info, blog, services, etc.)
• Special projects

You could also include:

• Links for people to buy your products
• Favorite blog posts
• Contact information
• And on and on

I’ve seen people use landing pages for Google Ads, their Twitter (or other social media sites), conference bios, etc. It’s your landing page, you are directing the flow of traffic exactly how you want to, total control.

Guest posting is a very good thing. It’s critical for bloggers interested in growing their readership. But, ceating a landing page for new readers so they know where to go and what to do and how to get the most out of you? As I said, brilliant.

And now, without any further ado, I’d love for you to click on over to Copyblogger to read my post. And you can find my landing page here.

Thanks y’all.

Image credit: waywuwei

Filed under Blogging, How To, Marketing, Networking, News, Social Media, The Business | Tags: blog, Blogging, Copyblogger, copywriter, guest post, landing page, marketing writer, Writing | Comment (1)

Too many copywriters in the typing pool?

I subscribe to Copyblogger. I’m a fan of Brian Clark’s and I usually like the posts on the site…but lately, well, I’m seeing a theme and it’s making me a little queasy.

The fact that some people write blog posts ‘to sell’ makes sense. If you study the last month (at least) of postage on Copyblogger, ‘what the people want’ would be clear: they want to know how to be good copywriters, how to make their copy sell, how to get a lot of copywriting work. Here are a few recent post titles:

• Why a Few Freelance Copywriters Make Most of the Money
• 10 Tips for Kicking Ass as a Freelance Writer
• Freelance Copywriting Success: How to Tie a Bow Around Your Work

From these titles, a few conclusions can be drawn:

1. A lot of people are trying to be copywriters, but are failing.

2. The copywriter market is saturated.

Of course everyone doesn’t succeed, so #1 has to hold some truth. Add to that this scramble for ‘how to make it work’ information.

But, I’m very interested in #2.

When I started my business several years ago, I was one of a very small number of copywriters in my local area. I think there were three or four others. Note: you couldn’t turn around without bumping into a web designer.

Now go on Twitter, or even to Google, and search for a copywriter – there are a bazillion. Oddly, while the pool of prospective work has grown dramatically because of the Internet and social media, the chances of standing out in the crowd and getting hired have decreased. (The Reversal Theory strikes again, eh Dad?)

So, why are these ‘how to succeed’ posts making me queasy? I think it’s the desperation. And the lack of interest in the writing. The vision in my head is of millions of freaked out people trying to make it up the side of a cliff in order to make a buck.

And now I’m laughing at myself because the next logical step here is to make a list of things you can do to stand out…but then this would be one of those posts too. So, I’ll resist…unless any of you ask me for my version of that list. Because whether or not you’re trying to sell something or not, your blog should aim to give your audience what it needs and wants to hear, what they respond to and what they crave.

Although…there is one thing that’s been gnawing at my brain, a possible solution to lift ourselves out of the crowded copywriter pool. I’m still stirring the pot on this one, but when the soup’s done – you’ll be the first to know.

Image credit: mhaithaca

Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To | Tags: Blogging, Brian Clark, content creation, Copyblogger, copywriter, copywriting, how to be a copywriter, Julie Roads, marketing writer, Writing Roads | Comments (15)

using your blog as your portfolio or case study display, part 2

I can’t stop thinking about this ideas of using your blog as your portfolio. I’ve run it by some folks – and the excitement and possibilities are building. One of my clients whom I’m consulting as she begins her work as a freelancer realized that with this idea she could save thousands of dollars, and weeks of site-build time, she could start tonight. And she will.

Here, so far, is the best part. As Gem mentioned, why wait until the project is done? Why not document the entire project, Case Study-like on your blog? If you go back to my post on case studies, you’ll see that one of the benefits of this platform is that you’re allowing people to see your process, what it will be like to work with you and how good you are on the job. It’s transparency at its best, right?

That said, you have to have the right attitude because this calls for a fair amount of reveal. You can’t really hide the little man behind the curtain.

To use your blog to display case studies, here’s what you need to do:

1. Pick a project that is not top secret, of course.
2. Clear it with the client. Make sure you explain to them that this is free publicity that will last forever.
3. Choose a project that you feel uber-confident about. (you do want to look good here, afterall)
4. If snafus or issues arise, use them to your advantage. We are all learning here, and part of your skill is being able to handle whatever comes along and make it work in light of the fact that things have a habit of getting messy.
5. Depending on your industry, use print, audio, images, even video to capture the process.
6. Engage your audience. Give them a voice, literally. If you have 3 taglines you’re choosing from, why not let the people help you decide. Use the internet as a testing ground – so many people do it wisely and to their benefit.
7. Share your pride, enthusiasm and talent. Never under-estimate or under-promote your hard work or yourself.

Final piece for now (why do I have the feeling that I’ll have more to say on this topic?): I’m a WordPress girl. And Brian Clark over at Copyblogger, with his partner, Chris Pearson, have developed a stunning, productive, dare I say, brilliant WordPress theme called Thesis. Just one of the zillions of components it features? A customizable, rotating image box at the top of the page – the perfect showcase for your blog portfolio images, the perfect showcase. Don’t be surprised if my blog has a whole new look sometime soon. Click here to try Thesis for yourself.

Filed under Blogging, How To, The Business | Tags: blog, Blogging, Brian Clark, case studies, Chris Pearson, Copyblogger, DIY themes, Julie Roads, marketing writing, portfolio, thesis wordpress theme, wordpress themes, Writing Roads | Comment (0)