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.)

10 Tips for Writing More Effective Copy

Hello everyone,

When it comes to writing compelling, informative and original copy, it can often become tough to figure out where to start first. As freelance copywriters, we are expected to deliver 110% each and every time we write up new content. So when it comes to improving our game, what are some tips that we can apply to write more effective copy?

I have prepared a modest list of 10 tips for your viewing consideration to make you (as well myself) more proficient in writing copy - whether it be for marketing, informational, academic or any other purpose.

Below are 10 tips for writing more effective copy:

10. Grammar - as a prerequisite, you should know where semicolons belong, where to place exclamation marks and the best times to use contractions. Basic English is a must to advance to better copywriting.

9. Avoid cliches - you should at all times expect your audience to be seeking only relevant information and content that's entirely original and genuine. So try to not quote Shakespeare or Hemingway the next time you write up a professional copy and instead make up your own quotes or at least use something more relevant and up to date!

8. Use action words - whether your writing a sales letter, PR email or padding your personal resume, you should include a few power words like "challenge," "succeed," "delight," or "love" - among others. Be sure to check specialty websites that provide loads of lists relating to actionable words and verbs used for copy.

7. Be wary of jargon - try to avoid using technical language and jargon as best as you can. You don't want to alienate readers. However if the situation warrants, then use it moderately so as to not sound too pretentious or full of yourself.

6. State the facts - avoid inserting value judgments and personal opinions into the copy as doing so will undermine any credibility that you seek to attain. Instead, use concrete, reliable sources for supporting your argument and validating your conclusions.

5. Be flexible - any decent writer can write on a wide variety of topics with ease. However, it takes a good writer to write topics using different angles and styles. Good writers can write an article humorously, tragically or in a totally stone-cold no-nonsense manner with no emotion whatsoever. What's important is that the angle must be the most appropriate for your audience.

4. Generate feeling - you wan't your audience to relate to you and express sympathy, affection or support. Whether it's to urge them to a call-to-action or sign them up to a newsletter, you need to captivate readers and make them some desired emotion(s).

3. Know your audience - even before putting pen to paper (excuse me for the outdated cliche), you need to first figure out who you are writing to. This helps you tailor your writing more to the interests of your target audience better by making the content more relevant and worthwhile for their viewing.

2. Mind the formatting - if your content looks sloppy and unprofessional, then the chances of the audience reading on will drop significantly. You'll have to familiarize yourself with the basics of copy formatting whether it's: optimum sentences per paragraph, where to place bullet points and lists and how many, choice of titles and subtitles and use of summaries before the main article. Basically, you want your copy to look as amazingly eye-catching as possible to entice your audience to read it and take action.

1. Have a goal in mind - what's the purpose of your copy anyway? Is it to provide information? Is it to generate goodwill? Or is to sell your company's products? Having a clear goal in mind before writing your copy will help to ensure that your final draft will have the correct call to action and will maximize you and your company's targets and objectives seamlessly.

So there you have it. A humble list that you can reference to hone your article writing and copywriting skills. Frankly speaking, I myself am still learning a great deal about the fine art of copywriting and am acquiring something new everyday. There are practically HUNDREDS of tips out there that promise to improve your copywriting so in no way is my list comprehensive. What's important is that it should serve as a foundation for improving your writing and copywriting abilities.

For my next article, I will dabble on the mystical nature of inbound marketing and it's important for online (and offline) businesses.