5 Tips for How to Write More Flexibly

For many of us, writing is more than just a profession - it is a form of expression and entertainment. Therefore, to better express and articulate ourselves, it's essential that we master various writing styles and tones in order to maximize our writing skills.

There are many different types and styles of writing that you can pick and choose. Ultimately, we tend to veer towards one or two styles that suit us best and make us feel the most natural and comfortable to write in. The various styles include conversational, informal (slang), informational, poetic, research-based and literary/fictional. Of course, there are many other types, but I've chosen to outline the ones that I personally have dabbled in over the years. 

If you haven't already noticed the tone of this post, this post has been written conversationally. As a writer, I'm most familiar and comfortable writing in the conversational tone that is easy to read and feels more relaxed. However, you should always try to go beyond your comfort zone and experiment with different styles. This is especially true if like me, you write professionally and need to be willing to go the extra mile for clients depending on their unique requirements.

For example, at any given time, I could be writing a webinar script on cryptocurrencies, a research article on the benefits of homeopathy and a short story about an endangered talking tiger bemoaning the loss of his habitat. As is evident, if you want to excel in the professional writing arena (specifically copywriting), you need to improve your writing arsenal and improve your flexibility.

Here are 5 tips that will hopefully guide you in your quest to write more flexibly without sounding robotic doing so:

1. Practice makes perfect. The easiest way to improve your writing flexibility is to go out and practice! Though easier said than done, you should push yourself out of your comfort zone and either write in different styles for recreation or on the request of others. You can ask friends or family to come up with ideas. Or if you're fortunate enough, clients will pay you to do their writing work!

2. Read different sources of media and literature. Instead of just reading and taking in the same types of literature and media like your typical nonfiction or daily newspaper ad nauseam, try reading different media sources like fiction (also from different authors), tabloids and research journals to give you an understanding of how writing can be transformed depending on the particular context.

3. Improve your vocabulary. This means, not just looking up and memorizing 'big words' like myocardial infarction (science speak for hear attack) for example, but also getting a feel of local vernacular and slang which is trending in your particular city, region and country. Improving your vocabulary will simultaneously strengthen your writing skills and also vocabulary skills - not to mention help you more to 'fit in' with your neighboring homies. No longer will you have to resign yourself to writing and speaking in monosyllables. 

4. Learn new languages. Learning new languages not only improves your brain power and creativity, but it also bolsters your writing prowess. For example, if you start learning French in addition to your understanding of English, you'll find that the two languages share a lot of things in common. In fact, it's customary for many academics to sprinkle French words and sayings in their writings to add more flair and elegance, c'est la vie (French for that's life) as they say. 

5. Just have fun. Don't make writing feel like a chore and instead embrace it will passion. Treat it more like a hobby than a job and you'll surely see improvements in your writing flexibility and creativity. On top of the first tip, you should write just to have fun and channel your creative energies.

By following the above 5 tips, I'm sure you will improve your writing flexibility and also impress your friends and family and also clients who will appreciate the extra effort you put in into your writing.

We will continue posting about similar topics in the next few days, until then stay tuned!

Cheers,

Red R. 

(If you would like to reach out for any copywriting/content writing/blogging/marketing projects, feel free to contact me at frontierfreelancing@gmail.com or through my social links here.)

5 Tips for How to Write More Effective Copy

Writing effective copy (AKA copywriting) is a powerful skill and art that can make the difference between average and amazing content.

In a previous post about content marketing, I highlighted how this medium is increasingly becoming more popular and effective - especially among the most recent generations Y and beyond. The various forms of copy that can be incorporated into content marketing can be found in websites, blogs (like this one), articles and social media posts. 

By definition, according to copywriting.com, "copywriting is the art and science of writing to promote a product, a business, a person or an idea. And carefully selecting, editing, weaving and constructing those words in a way that they'll persuade the reader into taking a specific and measurable action."

Now that we have a general idea of what copywriting is, the next question is, how can we effectively write copy to improve our marketing efforts?

Here are 5 tips for how to write effective copy to improve marketing efforts:

1. Research more than you write. The old Pareto principle of 80/20 applies to copywriting also. In this case, you should spend about 80% of your time researching about a topic and only 20% actually writing. It's far better to write an informative and structured copy over one that's haphazard and running around in circles with large font to "fill up the spaces."

2. Start small, plan big. When you first start out in the realm of copywriting, it can seem quite daunting with the massive competition all around - especially in the major freelance marketplaces like Upwork, Freelancer and Fiverr. That's why in order to gain a footing, you need to start at the very bottom and scrap for your first few projects/gigs in order to build a reputation. To be honest, after such a long break from writing, I myself have found it difficult to re-orient back into the marketplace due to the huge gap in work history and samples. Long story short, start with small work and then steadily have a goal of achieving much more over time.

3. Be flexible. Similar to point number 2, you need to get started with as much work as possible (however meagre) and also work with as many clients as you can. Each client will have different themes, topics and requirements. Working with a varied list of customers will not only make you more flexible, but it will improve your writing skill and adaptability - not to mention provide handy samples/references for future clients. 

4. Give more, take less. Especially true for beginner copywriters, you need to be prepared to work for free and develop your writing craft before expecting to make the big bucks. I suggest you to create your own Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and other social media accounts to easily share your own content and relevant curated content around the web. This will help you to spread your name and increase your credibility. In one of our posts here, we provided some useful tips for new freelancers to spread their name and improve their earnings ability. 

5. Check and check some more. This may seem too obvious a suggestion, but it's quite startling to see just how many entry level copywriters and freelancers barely check their work before sending. It's especially imperative for those working in the field of writing to not only check their own work, but if time affords, have family and friends also check and double-check the work for any grammatical errors, typing errors and other mistakes that may degrade the value of the content - regardless of how chock full of information it has. 

Of course, there are many other tips and tricks that can help the fledgling copywriter start their craft but I've provided the core tips that you should apply in order to improve your chances of success.

We will continue posting about similar topics in the next few days, until then stay tuned!

Cheers,

Red R. 

(If you would like to reach out for any copywriting/content writing/blogging/marketing projects, feel free to contact me at frontierfreelancing@gmail.com or through my social links here.)

We are back!

It's been an incredibly long time coming, but finally we're back!

From today onward, expect only the freshest content for all things copywriting, content marketing and social media marketing!

Cheers!

Red R.

5 Reasons Why You Should Use Video Marketing

Today, seeing videos online is something second-nature in our lives. We are literally bombarded with new videos whether it be from traditional video sites like YouTube or Vimeo or more ordinary social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Pinterest. 

Whether we are deliberately seeking to watch a video or it's presented out in front of us, there's no denying that online videos are now everywhere. 

Clearly, video is the way to go and gain traction fast for internet marketers. However, using video marketing will not in itself guarantee any results unless it is adequately integrated with your brand's other marketing methods like social media, email and website. 

Fortunately, we have narrowed it down to primarily 5 reasons why you as a freelancer or as a brand/business should be using video marketing. 

1. Videos are processing by our brains faster than any other marketing method. As the brain processes visual cues faster than other senses by as much as 60,000 times more than text (see our other article on 10 Tips on How to Run Your Business Online in 2020), it pays marketers to use video over other methods simply because videos are more easily understood - coupled with the very short attention spans of today's internet audiences. 

10 Tips on How to Run Your Business Online in 2020

With the widespread availability of internet technologies and devices, it has never been easier for people to start a business with the drop of a hat. In fact, the majority of new businesses created (especially after the onset of COVID-19) have been online-based enterprises.

However, just because it's easier to start a business nowadays doesn't exactly translate into increased success. With increasing competition and rapidly changing technologies and protocols, successful businesses need to be constantly on their toes in order to stay ahead of the curve and survive. 

Fortunately, we have identified 10 tips on how you can run your online business in 2020 with the collaboration of GetResponse and Silicon Valley Girl.

1. Go Fully Remote

Now is perfect time to go fully remote and scale your business by a potentially unlimited factor. 

Harness amazing and free applications like Google and Bing search; blog tools like Blogger/Wordpress; social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Webtalk; mail apps like Gmail or Proton Mail; communication and video apps like Zoom and ClickMeeting; and productivity apps like Slack and Asana to get your business organized and fully digital.

2. Simplify

No longer are entrepreneurs obligated to have a fully equipped team of marketers, salesman and developers looking after their online operations. 

Instead, they can do everything solo by using the power of technology and access professionally designed and ready-made templates and customizable landing pages to design their websites and campaigns. GetResponse is a great example of companies that provide such templates and development support.

3. Know Your Audience

In order to succeed as a business, you will need to precisely know the characteristics of your target audience - including knowing things like their demographics, location and the best time to contact them. Here, having a powerful analytics tool(s) will help you to significantly improve your targeting and sales funneling activities. 

4. Personalize and Give Them Personality

Related to tip 3, after you carefully identify who your audience is, it's time to personalize messages tailored for them.

This is achieved by setting up automated messages, auto-responders and chatbots all of which are increasingly becoming more common in today's digital marketing. 

5. Go Visual

As many of us are now well aware, visual cues generate the most response from any other form of output for marketing. 

Whether it be live videos, webinars, recorded video, photos, infographics and GIFs the options are massive and so is the potential to better engage with your audiences. 

6. Guide Customers to You

Depending on the needs of your business, chances are you will need some sort of funnel to achieve your goals.

If you are looking to increase leads, look for lead funnels. If you want to grow sales, choose sales funnels. And if you are seeking to build your online expertise through video, consider webinar funnels. 

7. Connect with Webinars

Webinars and live streams are increasingly becoming a popular method to spread your brand's message through the powerful medium of video.

There exist many different goals of webinars including monetization, upselling and cross-selling and as a powerful tool for content marketing.

8. Integrate with Ease

Instead of having to sort through and juggle between dozens of apps and software, it's suggested to integrate all your favourite apps under roof to improve the sharing of information, access data faster and serve as a one-stop hub for all your important applications. 

GetResponse has a wide range of available integrations with other major applications like Google Analytics, PayPal, Hubspot, Slack, Asana, Zapier, Zendesk and more.

9. Experiment and Evolve

Testing and trialing are key activities in carrying out your marketing activities. It's imperative to know what's working and what's not and which of your campaigns are getting the best type of response and engagement. 

A/B testing is especially important for social media marketing and email marketing as it helps your business to find out what the best ways are for attracting your audience and converting leads into sales.

10. Let Your Business Thrive Online

By combining all the tips mentioned above together, you will get a flexible, online-ready business that will be swift to respond to customers and market dynamics. 

In the next post, we'll be looking specifically into the power of video marketing and how it's changing the digital marketing landscape and forcing many companies to 'go video.' Till then, stay tuned!

Cheers, 

Red