Looking for some really good business writing resources? Check out the The Ultimate Guide to Better Business Writing: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources which offers links to… well, 100 tips, tools, and resources to help with your business writing.

This includes resources to help with writing memos, email etiquette, tone in business writing, prioritizing content and much more. It’s a great help for beginning or experienced writers. Bookmark it, and reference it often.

Jimmy D. Brown is one of the most respected, well-recognized Internet marketers you’ll find. I’ve been reading Jimmy’s articles, ebooks and reports for years and can highly recommend his advice. Read and learn!

The Key To Creating Information Products That Sell Even In Overcrowded, Highly-Competitive Markets
by Jimmy D. Brown

I want you to add a new word to your business vocabulary -

The word is “specialization”.

A new age has dawned in information marketing. And it’s the age of “specialization”.

Before I explain how this will help you create information products that sell like crazy, let me give you a very brief history lesson.

(I promise, this won’t hurt a bit.

Information products online have evolved since I logged onto the Internet back in 1999…

1) The Simple Age.

Times were simple back when I first came online. And so were the information products. Way back when, information products weren’t readily available online like they are today. If you could find ANY information on the topic you were interested in, you grabbed it.

2) The Systematic Age.

As more and more people learned how to create and market information products online, a new era emerged: the “systematic” era. This was a time when huge information products were created with hundreds of pages. The idea was to create comprehensive courses on a particular topic.

3) The Separation Age.

As “internet marketing” and other business-related markets became inundated with product offerings, the birth and rapid growth of “niche marketing” occurred. People began separating themselves from the crowd and focused on “tiny niche topics” of interest.

4) The Specialization Age.

Again competition came – even in these small niches. While there is still money to be made by focusing on these tiny, untapped markets — the well is drying up at a fast rate. Now enters a new age … the “specialization” age of information marketing.

Which brings us to the lesson -

There is a LOT of money to be made by creating small, 7-15 page reports
on PRECISE topics.

Most consumers would rather NOT sift through 100 pages of information to find out how to do something they are interested in, nor would they like to pay for 100 pages of information when they only need chapter 3.

With more and more products available on the market, consumers are getting pickier and pickier. They want what they want and only what they want.

Perhaps the biggest untapped information gold mine lies in this concept of creating small reports on precise topics.

* 17 Ways to Find New Affiliates Using Google.com

* How To Walk Off 7 Pounds in 7 Days

* 3 Ways To Get Your Next Vacation Free Of Charge

* The 15-Minute Guide To Stalling A Divorce

* Top 7 Ideas For Starting A Homeschool Support Group

Specialized information.

7-15 page reports that sell anywhere from $10-$100, depending upon the information.

And the benefits of writing these small reports are staggering -

1. You can write a small report in just a few hours of one day.

2. The profit per page ratio is astounding – 10 pages for $10 is a dollar per page per customer.

3. Small reports are MUCH easier to write than full-length courses.

4. There is a never-ending supply of topics for small reports.

5. You maximize the lifetime value of your customer. In other words, you can sell report after report to the SAME customer.

6. A series or collection of your small reports can be bundled into premium-priced courses over time.

7. When “hot topics” emerge (almost daily!) you can quickly crank out a small report to strike while the iron is hot.

8. When other marketers are seeing success with their products, you can create a complementary report to offer for sale as a supplement.

9. Many people can’t afford to buy (or refuse to buy) high-priced courses – but virtually anyone can whip out $10-$15.

The list could go on and on.

I’ve been creating small reports for a long time. In fact, I make over $15,000 in PROFIT every month from just ONE of my sites.

I know this works.

And not just for me.

I had a customer recently email me to let me know he sold 420 copies of his VERY FIRST small report, during its first month.

So, what I want to convince you to do is this -

Try it for yourself.

Create a small 7-15 page report and begin selling it online and see what kind of results you see.

A new information age has dawned – the age of specialization!

Create your own “special” reports and get your piece of the pie.

Do you have an idea for a great Small Report, but need some help? Check out “How To Improve Your Information W.R.I.T.I.N.G.™”. You’ll learn useful tips to help you in the writing process – so you’ll be able to create information products faster, easier and, ultimately, better — and that’s more money in the bank.

Guest writer, Amber Riviere, offers some great ideas for writing as a tool to build your business. Read and learn!

The Secret to Writing for Business
by Amber Riviere, BrownBugProject.com

Writing online is one of my biggest sources of new business. It’s how most people find me, so it’s important that I focus on posting relevant content on a regular basis. The more often I post, the more consistent my incoming leads.

If you’re a small business owner or solopreneur, here’s the secret to accomplishing more with your writing. Focus on your ideal client. How can you do that?

Identify your ideal client.

First, you have to specifically (very specifically) identify who your ideal client actually is. Who do you serve? Why do you want to serve that person?

To give you an idea, my ideal client is the solopreneur who wants to create a website that’s a true expression of his or her personality, as well as one that’s easy to maintain and update (not a $10,000 site that requires a designer all the time).

Why do I want to serve this person? Because I know this person best, because this person is just like me in the way he/she manages a business and in his/her aspirations for that business. I understand first-hand what my clients experience as small business owners, specifically as solopreneurs wearing all the hats.

Identify who it is you intend to serve, understand why you want to serve that person, and have very clear reasons for why you’re the best person for the job.

Speak to your ideal client.

With that information in hand, think about how your blog and website can best serve that person. What would help your ideal client? What information would he or she want to hear and learn?

I’m a web designer, and if you visit a lot of web designers’ websites, you know what you’ll find? Many tend to focus their writing on information relevant to other web designers. While I have no doubt that this positions them as experts in their field, I have two problems with the approach to getting into the hearts and minds of my ideal client. First, it would seemingly position me as a “coach” of sorts to other web designers (my clients might wonder if I’m too busy to take on their projects). Second, other web designers are not my target clients. What do my clients care about the tools and techniques of the job? That’s all way too technical for them, and they just don’t care. They want to hear about things relevant to them.

So, what do your ideal clients want to hear? Not your colleagues, not professionals in your industry, but your ideal clients.

Know who they are, know what they want, then deliver it consistently and on a regular basis. Before long, you’ll start seeing the results of your efforts, and so will your bottom line.

———-
Amber Riviere is a web designer with BrownBugProject.com. You can follow her work through her blog and through her newsletter, Inside Brown’s Brain.

Protecing your copyright is a major issue when working online. Here are some ideas to help you guard your original content and deal with offenders if the need should arise.

How To Protect your Data From Copycats

You can be in a very difficult situation when being a webmaster you discover that the contents of your site have been copied by someone else. Each and every time copyright laws are violated you feel frustrated. But instead of being annoyed, you have to follow some easy steps to prevent violation of copyright laws. In this article I am going to discuss a few software programs and tips which can help you protect your online data from being copied

CopyScape – CopyScape allows bloggers to feed the URL of their individual pages, and searches for content matching that of website. The results clearly indicate whether your site has been copied or not..

Doc cop – This is another software available to combat this serious issue. It requires registration from their onsite. The demo version can check up to maximum of 75 words and can perform only two checks per day. It searches all the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN and reports through e – mail if duplicate content is found.

Plagiarism detect – This requires initial registration online. It randomly picks text strings and explores Google for identical text. A report consisting of all the found results is displayed.

Copyright spot – This Software checks the Internet protocol addresses and finds out any culprit if any on the web. The most crucial content of your page is analyzed and checked for piracy. It is available as both demo and purchased version. The later version is better suited for professional use. The tool is new and effective for tackling this problem of content copying.

WP CopyProtect – This Plugin can protect your blog data from getting copied. This plugin will disable the right click on your blog and selection of text. So that Nobody can copy the content of your blog.

Contact the Site’s Owner and Host – You can also Contact the owner of site concerned and ask him to remove the duplicate content and if you did not receive any reply then the next step you would like to do is to contact the host of that site. Hosting companies are much concerned about their reputation in the market and does not want to host the site in breech of copyright. You can ask the hosting company to contact the site owner and ask them to remove the duplicate content. The hosting company can also remove the site in for breeche of copyright.

DMCA – Next step should be to issue a notice of infringement of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act with Google. As a result chances are there that Google would not display the site in Question.

Legal Action – This is the last step on the list. You can take legal action against the Site in question under Copyright act. But Legal case takes lot of resources in form of time and money and in Most of the cases it is not feasible to take action on a website owner in any other country. So Use this method only if it is worth it.

—–
Edward Kung is the Owner of Seedin, a leading Vancouver Web Design Company which provides complete web design solutions in Vancouver

As a writer, blogger, or article marketer, you definitely want to publish the best content you possibly can. While you may not write like Stephen King or John Grisham, you can – and should! – strive to continually improve your writing. Here are three quick ways to help you make your writing better beginning with your very next project.

1. Take time to outline.

Decide what you want to say before you touch the keyboard. Jot down some simple points you’d like to make. Plan the best approach to get each point across. This will give your writing more authority and a stronger voice, and your words will flow more smoothly when you do begin writing.

2. Use a thesaurus to find the perfect word.

You can get carried away with this by changing every common word to something outlandish and stilted. But spending time in searching for more original and unique words will get your meaning across better. For instance, instead of using “she said” every time a character speaks, try balked, whispered, shouted or cried.

3. Use an active rather than passive voice.

In an active sentence, the subject of the sentence receives the action which makes for lively reading. In a passive sentence, the subject is simply acted upon. Boring.

Use the active voice whenever possible. For instance: “The ball hit the dog,” helps you visualize the ball flying through the air and whopping the dog upside the head. (Hope it didn’t hurt him!) While the passive voice, “The dog was hit by the ball,” gives less visual impact and imagery. Always choose to show your readers rather than simply tell them.

The importance of articles on your website is immeasurable. To a large degree, they control the level of your online business success. They drive traffic to your site. They increase your page rank. Articles are critical to your success. They are truly a key element in making your site work and earning you a profit. A webmaster must include articles that fit with the theme of the site.

Articles have are often the driving force behind getting targeted traffic to a website. Articles are also a factor in getting high rankings in search result pages. The higher a site ranks, the bigger slice of the traffic pie it gets. With high traffic comes more profits and more potential for other income generating schemes. They cycle continues.

But you can’t simply stuff your site with articles. The articles you choose must follow certain requirements. These conditions must be met to gain the maximum benefit from your article marketing. A well written article will interest customers and prospects, draw them to your site, and bring them back for more. It will also influence site visitors to recommend your site to others via twitter, Digg, Facebook and other social media outlets.

Here are four tips to help you write and choose the best articles for your site. Consider all four of these aspects with every article you use.

• Keywords and Keyword Phrases

An article must always be centered on the keywords and keyword phrases that apply to your site. Few website visitors will go to you site to merely browse. Most are looking for something specific and they found your site by searching for what they need.

It’s Important that your articles use relate to the theme of your site if you want to keep your visitors once they find you. For instance, if you run an auto parts site, you must have articles about cars, auto parts, auto repair, auto maintenance, etc. If you’re unsure of what keywords are best for your site, use one of the many keyword tools available online to help you determine which keywords and keyword phrases are the most popular, and which ones would fit your site the best. Then, use those keywords in your site content and articles for the best results.

• Keyword Density

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in an article. The number varies depending on the number of words used in the article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the essence of the article is lost and may turn off a reader as well as the search engines. It comes off as overeager. A low number may be ignored by the search engines.

Now that you know your desired keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them to capacity, but not overuse them. Each article must have a certain keyword density for a search engine to “feel” its presence. Typically, keyword density should about 10-15 percent of your overall content for the best search engine ranking. Getting a high search engine rank is why you use articles in the first place, so make the most of them.

• Good Content

As stated above, you can’t just riddle an article with keywords. Your article must also be good reading. Your article must entertain while providing valuable information and helping meet your customer’s and prospect’s needs. Articles should be well written with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, write quality articles, or hire someone to do it for you.

Keep in mind that people respond well to statistics, facts and figures. Use information from other sources online. Backup your assertions. Search for facts that relate to your topic, not simply opinions. A well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field. And as more people come to believe in you, they will learn to trust you and your products.

• Resource Box and Link

Another important thing to remember if you are going to submit articles to other websites, ezines and newsletters, or article directories is to never forget to include a link to your site. A short resource box/bio with a brief description of you and your business should always be included with articles you submit for free reprint. If people like your articles, they will most likely click on the link directing them to your site.

Obviously, there are many other tips to article marketing, but following these four will help ensure your success when using articles to build your business online.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart as a professional writer. I hope you’ll read and consider all the valuable tips Nicole offers. She is one of the few people who I know is really making money online. Learn from her… it will be good for your business!

Commonly Misused Words in Article Writing
by Nicole Dean

In business we use writing every day. Does your writing make you look more professional or less professional? Look at these commonly misused words to see if you’re making mistakes.

There are some words that are commonly used interchangeably, when in fact they have different meanings. Here are a few of the words that are frequently used incorrectly.

You’re and Your:

The word “you’re” is a contraction for “you are”. Correct: You’re a good friend. (you are)

The word “your” is used to imply possession or ownership. Correct: Is this yours? (possession) Correct: I like your new car.

Sale and Sell:

The word “sale” and “sell” are not interchangeable. Sell is a verb, used to show what the noun (person, place, or thing) in the sentence is doing. “I am going to sell this.”

Sale is most commonly used as a noun, such as in the sentence “There is a big sale at the mall.”

Correct use of both words: “I am going to sell this shirt at a garage sale.”

Too and Two:

The word “two” is the number 2. Correct: There are two flowers in that vase.

The word “too” usually means “also”. Correct: I would like to swim, too. (I would like to swim, also.)

Prefixes Such As “Un”, “In”, and “Non”:

Each word has only one correct prefix.

Correct: Unpleasant Incorrect: Impleasant, nonpleasant

Correct: Irreversible Incorrect: Inreversible, nonreversible, unreversible

A Lot and Alot:

The words “a lot” are correct. “Alot” is incorrect and there is never an occasion in which it should be used.

Good and Well:

Good is an adjective. Adjectives are used to describe nouns. Correct: You are a good dog.

Well is an adverb. An adverb is used to describe a verb. Correct: You are behaving well.

You wouldn’t wear a dirty shirt to a business meeting, so don’t let your writing make you look bad, either.

—–
Nicole Dean doesn’t pay for advertising – ever. She uses Article Marketing to get free advertising on websites and in newsletters worldwide. You can use articles to get free traffic, too. Visit http://tinyurl.com/cpn72g to find out how.

Have thoughts to share on this topic? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Knowing the importance of article marketing, and wanting to write articles to promote your business and gain new blog readers or ezine subscribers isn’t always enough. Sometimes we just have to push through that force within us called “writer’s block” that hinders our progress and makes it hard to produce those all-important articles.

Today is one of those days for me.

It’s rainy here in Knoxville, Tennessee. That makes me sleepy… and lazy. And I don’t want to write on days like this. I want to curl up with a good book and read all day. But I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon so I have to get my work finished early since. That’s why I’m forcing myself to sit here at the keyboard and write.

Writing, whether I feel like writing or not, is truly one of the best ways I’ve found to get past that dreaded writer’s block. And I’ve been writing for over 30 years, so I’ve had many bouts with it.

The key is discipline. One of my twitter friends and I were laughing about our lack of discipline to get going this morning. She posted “gym gym gym u need to get outta bed” and I replied that if we keep saying it, we’ll eventually listen. (Hopefully!) My mantra for today is work, work, work.

That’s what discipline is… you do what you need to do, whether you feel like it or not, and you keep doing it until it’s done. It’s not easy at first, and it may never be fun. But you do it anyway.

That’s the key to getting past writer’s block. Discipline. Nothing profound or original. Just write. And keep writing. And write some more. Maybe what you write at first won’t even be readable. But keep writing and I promise you will get the writing done. And you’ll get past the writer’s block. And at some point, it will even become easier.

Remember that old joke… How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

Well, the way you get past writer’s block is to write, write, write.

What are you writing today?

I’m taking part in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge so I’ve been reading and researching a lot of blogs that deal with article marketing and home-based business, which is my niche for Quality Business Writing. I’ve learned a lot through my research.

Article Content Provider taught me, by example, a neat way to use articles written by others on my blog. In his post, An Article Marketing Strategy That Works, Allen used an article written by another marketer. He put the entire article in blockquotes and added a comment at the end. I had never thought to do that, but I used the same technique on my Steps to Writing an Effective Press Release, also adding a comment at the beginning. I really like the ways this looks and works.

Lynne Lee, in her post, What Is PLR? And How To Use Private Label Rights To Write More Articles Quickly, gave me some good ideas for using the flashdrive full of PLR articles I have.

Copyblogger offered several helpful posts on writing good headlines (one of my greatest challenges as a writer!). I especially liked 7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work. I need all the help in this area I can get!

Sadly, as with anything on Google anymore, I had to weed through so many non-related results to find even a few posts worthy of mention. (What does an article titled “How to Speed Up Your Commercial Mortgage Application” have to do with article marketing blogs?!)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a search engine that could actually read what I type and give me results based on those words rather than trying to be smarter than I am and returning what it “thinks” I want? But I digress.

One final thing I learned that was really more about blogging than strictly article marketing. And that was when I visited the Article Marketing Blog from The Phantom Writers. For a purported article marketing blog (it’s in their title, after all), their front page was filled with post that had nothing to do with marketing with articles, though it was about building a business. It made me aware of my own failings in this areas, since I sometimes post on a non-article marketing topic for several days in a row. I’ll try to be more diligent not to do that anymore.

Have a good tip for article marketing and writing? Leave a comment and let us know!

You’ve heard me say many times that a press release is a tremendous way to get free publicity. That’s what they’re all about. This article by Diana Ennen explains in great detail how to create one.

Steps to Writing an Effective Press Releases

Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a GREAT press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. But wait!! I’m going to show you easy methods to make your press release work for you and get the attention it deserves. Ready? Let’s go.

We’ll briefly go over the basics because of their importance. Editors want to see things done the RIGHT way. I would bet that a lot of good releases simply get tossed out just because they aren’t set up properly. To a busy editor, that all too familiar “10 second glance” says a lot for you and your business; it let’s them know if you’ve done your research enough to warrant that release to be placed in their newspaper or magazine.

Here are your essentials:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” on the top left of the page.

Your contact name, phone number, e-mail address, and website follows.

Headline is next, normally in bold and centered on the page. Summarize what the release is about and capture their attention. Spend almost as much time on your headline as you do writing the release. It’s that important.

The press release body starts with the location of the release and the date (Margate, Florida, May 5, 2009.)

Most press releases are between 200-500 words, and no more than a page. The first paragraph has the most important information. Don’t save the best for last, it won’t get read. In this paragraph answer the questions, who, what, when, where and why?

It is recommended that you write press releases in the 3rd person and use short sentences and paragraphs. Do not go over board, trying to dazzle the editor, it won’t work.

Target your release. You will be sending your release to a specific audience so make sure that in your release you keep to what would appeal to that audience. What don’t they know that you can add? Nothing works better than getting an “AAH HAA” when an editor is reviewing your release.

Provide statistics. Do some research and find some relevant information that applies. You can easily do this through Google. Once you find your quote, do a Google search or Yahoo quote on that particular topic. However, don’t stop on the first Google link and take that for gospel. Research it a bit further. Have it come from a respectable company or magazine.

Include relevant quotes from experts in your field that will reinforce what you are saying. Approach authors, leaders in your Industry, and other experts that back up the facts you are stating in your release. They will normally appreciate the added publicity and you get the quote you’re looking for. For example, as an author I’ll often get asked to provide a quote for an article on home-based businesses or the virtual assistant industry. I welcome the opportunity as it provides me more publicity.

Also, if you have a satisfied client that you feel will add credibility to your Release, add a quote from them as well. The first time you mention the expert, write out their full name. Then list them by last name or Mr. and Mrs. Smith only. I normally prefer the last name.

The last paragraph should be your call to action. you’ve talked the whole release about your business or product, now tell them what to do with the knowledge they just acquired.

At the bottom of the release include ### to indicate you are done, followed by a short bio. Make sure if you include your website that you include http:// in front of it for search engine recognition.

Your bio should include your information, any books authored, etc. Double check this for accuracy. At this point, you’re tired and done with the Release. But if it goes out to the world with the wrong web address, the valuable time spent even writing the Release has been wasted.

That’s it! The basics for writing a press release. Now one other thing I’d like to add in, they work! They truly work. I’ve had a recent release get accepted by PRWeb (and yes they do reject bad ones!), and then go on to hit several other major newspapers and media outlines and the Google alert, which resulted in our paper in the area contacting me. You want to set up a Google news alert for your name so that you can follow the path and see when you make the news so you can follow up. Also, PRWeb at http://www.prweb.com has complete guidelines for setting up a good press release. Go with the extra money and spend $20.00. It’s worth it to get the additional exposure.

———-
Diana Ennen, Author; Virtual Assistant the Series, Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA, and Words From Home, Start, Run and Operate a Successful Word Processing Business available at http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com. She also does publicity and book marketing and has published the science fiction thriller, Sledgehammer by Paulo J. Reyes, M.D.

While this article is designed to help you write your own PR, remember that not everyone feels confident doing that. If you need professional help, Quality Business Writing is here for you!