More freelance copywriter

They say everybody has a story to tell. The problem is in the telling. Let's face it. Some of us can string words together into decent, readable sentences, and others of us cannot. The former sometime go on to string words together professionally, helping out the latter, and getting paid for it in the process. And it's no shame to admit that, although you've got a super nice keyboard, the latest word processing program, spell-check, punctuation-check, grammar-check, and all kinds of other checks, you're just not able to write something that reads the way you've got it in your head.

That's the problem with writing. It seems easy. The materials are cheap enough. (You can use a pencil and a notepad, for crying out loud.) You know the alphabet. You've got a decent vocabulary. And you've got a great idea. Unfortunately, there's a significant gap that stretches from mind to paper. It's a long ways to go. From the time most people ride their idea from their brains all the way down to their fingertips to push the letters on their keyboards, something invariably gets lost. And what they end up reading on the screen in front of them is nothing like what they had imagined it would be. Worse, some people can't even get past the idea stage and don't even know how to get started, let alone see their efforts materialize on paper.

If this sounds like you, then maybe you need somebody to help you with your writing. Maybe you need a ghostwriter. What can a ghostwriter help you with? Anything from an article to a book. Want a little publicity for your business? How about writing an article about what you do for publication in your local paper? It's a good way to become an expert in the eyes of your potential customer base. Have an idea that you're sure will be a bestseller? Write a book! Don't let your ideas go to waste just because you're having trouble putting them on paper. That's what ghostwriters are for.

Ghostwriters can either write from scratch, or edit and rewrite something you've already written. If you have any writing talent at all, the second way is obviously a cheaper route. But if you're completely stuck and can't even get started, a good ghostwriter is worth his or her weight in gold.

An effective ghostwriter will talk to you and, more importantly, listen to you. He or she will be skilled in the interviewing process, making sure to get all the information you have so that it can be translated to the written word. A good ghostwriter will get into your head and become a natural extension of your thoughts. He or she will bridge that gap from mind to paper.

It's a partnership, the relationship between writer and client, and, depending on the size of the project, it can be a long one. Therefore, it's important to choose your ghostwriter carefully. First and foremost, make sure you're comfortable with the writer. Make sure you feel as though the ghostwriter is a person with whom you can communicate. This is somebody you're going to spend some significant time with so you'd better feel a healthy level of trust.

Secondly, especially in the case of a book you hope to get published, the writer ought to have some rudimentary knowledge of the publishing industry. No ghostwriter can guarantee publication (run screaming from one who does), but they should at least be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to finding an agent or a publisher. They should be able to help you write a book proposal that summarizes your work (most agents and publishers will prefer to see this first, rather than the whole book), as well as help you with a query letter, a letter sent to agents and publishers to get them interested in the book proposal in the first place.

Naturally, of course, you also need to work with a writer that can deliver within your budget. Be aware, though. Good ghostwriters do not come cheap. A book might take several months to write. Don't expect a writer to basically put his or her business on hold for that period of time to write your book, for mere peanuts. A decent ghostwriter might charge anywhere from $50 to $200 per page. Those who charge on the lesser end sometimes look for compensation by taking a percentage of the book's potential royalties, sometimes up to 50%, while those charging on the upper end might take nothing at all.

It might be wise to look for somebody in between. I personally like the idea of giving the ghostwriter an incentive to finish the book by giving him or her some percentage of the royalties (even ten or fifteen percent). This makes the writer just a little more invested in the book's outcome.

Terms of your deal with the ghostwriter should be spelled out in advance. Make sure there is mention of a timetable. And your payment to the writer should be split over this time frame. If it's going to take four months to write the book, then your payment ought to be split in quarters.

Other terms include an understanding of how the ghostwriter is to receive your information, the fact that the work will belong to you and appear to the outside world as though it was written by you and not the ghostwriter, and a note on non-disclosure to ensure the writer will not divulge your story to anybody without your approval.

Do you have a story to tell? Don't let it just sit there in your head. Find the right person to put it into printed words and get it out there for the world to see.

With the Internet being such a visual medium, it's easy to understand why there is such a premium put on eye-catching, graphic design. Companies want their Web sites to be visually appealing. They want to make a great initial impression and draw visitors into the site.

When you think about it, it's not all that different than dressing up for a first date. You take a little time to think about what you're going to wear, and a little extra time to get ready. You want everything to be just right. You want to make an impression right off the bat. But of course, sooner or later, maybe over dinner, perhaps, or a drink, you're going to get beyond the appearances and have a real conversation. And this is where you really begin to find out about the other person, and they begin to find out about you.

The problem with a lot of Web sites is that we're left at the "appearances" stage. We try to navigate through the site, just like we might ask pertinent questions on a first date, but often come up empty. It's a common problem. Companies become so focused on the design elements of their site that they neglect the actual content. Eventually, even the most mesmerized visitor is going to want to actually read about the company to learn more about it.

For a Web site to be successful, a business should spend as much effort on making sure their content is effective as they spend on making sure their design is. Web sites, like any piece of visual marketing (e.g. brochures, postcards, etc.) have two components that are equal in value – design and content; consequently, both should be considered equally.

For content to be effective, one needs to keep two major concerns in mind. First, the audience. Who is going to actually be reading the verbiage on the site? Who will be the typical visitor? Are these first-time visitors finding you on a search, basically out of the blue, who know absolutely nothing about your company? Or are they people already familiar with you who might be navigating to the site because of some promotion you're advertising elsewhere? Are they current customers, potential customers, vendors, distributors, or all of the above? Giving a little thought to who will be reading your material will allow you to better focus the content. One needs to empathize with the reader, try to see things through his or her eyes to best determine what information needs to be there and, just as important, what information doesn't need to be there.

The second concern is what you want the visitor to do. With any piece of writing, one needs to have a goal in mind. What is the purpose of the content? Is it to effect a sale? To get the visitor to navigate to a "contact" page where they can submit a form? To get them to want to pick up the phone and call you? Or maybe it's merely to give them an introduction to your company, or educate them on your products or services. Whatever the reason, every single word needs to be written with that goal in mind. How are you going to get your visitor to respond the way you want them to? That's the question.

With these considerations in mind, it's time to actually put the words together that your Web visitors will be reading. This is a task not fit to be left to chance. Even companies that seem to understand the importance of the content of the site will often skimp when it comes to the actual writing of it, sometimes having an employee, unskilled in the art of wordsmithing, cobble together the verbiage. And, often, it shows. Grammatical mistakes, misspellings, awkward phrasing, sentences that go nowhere – these can all routinely be found on Web sites that are otherwise very professionally done.

If you don't have a decent writer on staff, seriously consider hiring a freelance copywriter. These are people who are skilled in getting your message across. It's what they do, and it's worth the extra money. Your site might look beautiful. But don't stop there. After all, if you're going to spend the effort to make that first great impression, make sure you spend a little effort to make certain the second and third impressions are great as well.