In our eagerness to promote our businesses on Twitter, we sometimes forget what the “social” in social media actually means. If we want people to follow and pay attention to us, then we need to follow the same rules of social intercourse that apply in the real world.

Making interesting, useful and relevant contributions to the conversation, and giving recognition where it’s due, is appreciated by our followers and makes us feel good. Plus, according to research done by Twitter and others, it’s also the best way to get our tweets retweeted and favourited, and build a large following quickly.

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I don’t know about you, but I know my Google Analytics are a gold mine of information but much to my shame, I don’t check them very often.

I see the traffic graphs go up, and I’m happy. I check where traffic comes from along with the keywords people are using to click to my site and I’m gratified (and bemused). Sometimes, I even click around the other menus but I rarely linger because, to be quite frank, I don’t really know what I’m looking at.

If you’re in the same boat, then you’re in for a treat!

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As a writer, particularly one who enjoys the many benefits of working from home, there are few things less appealing than having to work in an office every day. However, office life is no longer about working the 9-5 grind in a solitary cubicle. In fact,  working in one of the growing number of co-working spaces could actually benefit a lot of freelancers and other professionals for that matter.

Here’s how.

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Last week I got a lovely surprise. A tweet peep, Jen Dainer, tweeted me a picture of some Google search results. She’d started typing “copywriter” into everyone’s favourite search engine and before she’d completed the word, there I was ranked at number two (right after Wikipedia). Someone else then told me I was ranked number three for the word “copywriting” *.

To say I was pleased is a massive understatement. I don’t pay an SEO company. I’ve done it all myself and SEO wasn’t my primary focus. Do you want to know how?

* Before you call “bullshit”, read the post and the disclaimers at the end.

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You’ve got that sinking feeling in your gut. This project isn’t going well. Your client keeps changing their mind and you’re spending way more time than you had allowed. They can’t expect you to do all this extra work at no charge, can they? Well, unless you told your client this situation wasn’t covered in your quote – yes, they can.

Enter: terms and conditions.

Terms and conditions are much like the rules of a game. They let everyone know the basic parameters in which they must operate and how all the players interact.

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You might be a Twitter officiando or a newbie still getting your feet wet. Whichever end of the tweeting spectrum you sit, I bet you’ll find something of interest in this week’s guest post from Jonny Lis.

There are lots of social media sites you can use to stage a promotional campaign for your business, but if you want a platform that’s doesn’t weigh you down with lots of text, then Twitter is the right fit for you.

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If you want your copywriting to be just like you bought it from the shop, it needs to be tight. But what does ‘tight copywriting’ really mean?

Imagine your copywriting as a wet towel. You have to wring out all the excess water before you can use it, and that’s what ‘tightening’ your copywriting is. It’s getting rid of excess adjectives, superlatives, metaphors and …waffle.

You might be wondering how your blog post, web copy or brochure can possibly be interesting once you take out all the ‘good bits’.

Painting a mental picture for your reader is important, as is telling a story. However, copywriting that’s too wordy wastes your reader’s time and makes your message harder to understand. It’s also a sign that you don’t know what you want to say.

Good copywriting doesn’t use a single unnecessary word. That’s what tight copywriting is.

Here are some handy tips to help you wring out your marketing copy.

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© Irina Brinza – Fotolia.com

Have you ever wondered if ‘they’ aren’t telling you something? That you don’t have all the information? Well, never fear. This week’s guest post takes away the fourth wall when it comes to headline copywriting. Over to you Jacob!

Ladies and gentlemen; we are fighting a war.

A war for attention; for eyes on screens, for the precious minutes consumers have to spend each and every day. The audience’s time is the target, and the weapons are glitzy commercials, stylish billboards, ear-splitting radio ads, flashing banners and magnetic content.

As copywriters on the frontline, our standard-issue sidearm is the headline, without which our killer copy would be lost in a relentless bombardment of ‘me-too’ articles and ‘seen it before’ posts. As a result, we need to make sure that we’re locked and loaded by fully understanding how to use our weapon to its best effect – we need to know the truth about great headlines.

Sure, there are plenty of ‘how to’ articles out there, but they inevitably run through the same top 10 tips and then leave you on your own. Today, I’d like to go deeper than that. Much deeper. Here’s what they don’t tell you…

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In today’s slow economy, many online businesses cannot afford not to have their business overshadowed by competitors. What do you do when you need to get paying customers to your website but you don’t have the budget for an expensive marketing consultant or paid advertising? Luckily, there are a few ways to market your business online, without going over budget.

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I am thrilled to contribute this article to Copywrite Matters – it seems a perfect match. My company offers intellectual property services, which covers copyright and related matters and obviously Copywrite Matters provides copywriting services. We’ve discovered that we are each asked about the other copywrite/copyright by our clients. So, it seemed a good time to set the record straight.

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