When Lisa Steeple of Learn Piano Online came to me for help, she was already:
- Clear about how writing could help her grow her business – she publishes articles online to draw traffic back to her website, where she offers a free pink spoon sample.
- Coming up with plenty of article ideas – she’s extremely creative and passionate about exploring the connections between music, healing and personal development.
So why hire a ghostwriter? Here are 3 good reasons:
- Two heads are better than one – Lisa was drawn to my background as a music therapist and creativity coach, and we are able to collaborate effectively about a topic we’re both interested in.
- Consistency is the key – Lisa and I have an ongoing schedule of one article per week. That way, she can consistently publish fresh content online and draw a steady stream of new visitors to her website.
- Delegation gets it done – Lisa loves to write, and will expand and develop what I send her. After all, as any writer will tell you, it’s easier to rewrite than it is to write from scratch. By delegating the job of getting the first draft done, Lisa makes it easy on herself to get more articles written.
When I asked Lisa what it was like to work with me, she said:
Linda took a huge burden off my shoulders. My time is very limited and so it is a blessing to have someone as talented as Linda to write for me, freeing me up to focus on other parts of my business. I was feeling so guilty before, that I was neglecting this part of my marketing campaign. Now I’m getting it done! I’ve also definitely noticed a spike in my website traffic, and in the number of people who opt into my mailing list.
Working with Linda has been a joy. She is very organized and easy to communicate with. She seems to have a knack for understanding what I want to say, and present it in a way that represents me well. And when she tells you she will have something ready on a certain day, then that is when it is ready!
Thanks Lisa! And if anyone is looking for a fun, effective way to learn to play piano, please visit Lisa’s site.
Sandra De Freitas AND Greg Halpen tagged me in a blog post. They each listed seven unusual things about themselves, and then challenged seven other bloggers to do the same. Thank you, I think! 7 unusual things you probably don’t know about me And now it’s my turn. I’ve chosen 7 people whose blogs you might enjoy, and who I would like to hear 7 unusual things about (instructions for bloggers are below): [Update December 15, 2012 – I’ve updated these website links to people’s current sites] Tag! You’re it! Here are the instructions for my fellow bloggers: On Tuesday, October 28th I attended my third seminar from the Editors’ Association of Canada. It was called Plain Language: Building Results and was presented by Frances Peck. Frances shared this definition of plain language: “The orderly and clear presentation of complex information.” At the time, she was going through a long list of myths about plain language – reasons that writers sometimes argue against it. Some of the myths were that plain language is just “dummy-ing down” the content (when, in fact, it’s just a clearer way of presenting it) or that it’s boring (when, in fact, it’s much more engaging to read something that actually makes sense). In her words, documents that are difficult to understand quickly become disposable. Writing Prompt: Are you buying into the myths that plain language “dumbs down” your message or it’s too boring? Are you puffing up your writing because you think you’ll sound smarter? Keep your message simple to keep your readers reading. I recently sat down for an email interview with travel writer Wendy VanHatten. It was part of a blog book tour to celebrate the launch of her book, Travel Writing as a Freelancer. Linda: You must love traveling. When/how did you first get the idea to turn your passion into an income stream? Wendy: I started traveling at age 5 and haven’t stopped. When we were young, my parents “required” us to keep notebooks of our travels. When my corporate America job in health care was eliminated, a friend suggested I get back into writing. I looked around and decide to try travel writing. After taking some travel writing courses and workshops I knew it was a good fit. You need to work and work to make money at it and that’s ok. I have branched out into speaking, writing books and ebooks, teaching writing, editing other writers’ works, photography, and now an online travel business. It all fits together! Linda: How does travel writing compare to other styles of writing? Wendy: Travel writing is similar yet different. You still need to “sell” something, but some times you are only selling a “picture” in the reader’s mind. You write to entice readers to go to a place. You write to give armchair travelers a complete picture of that place. You write about a place because you love it. That doesn’t mean, however, you can write a “what I did on my vacation” story. People really don’t want to read that! That is the hard part of editing a new writer’s works. Linda: What are one or two techniques that travel writers use to connect with their readers? Wendy: I think being able to describe for your reader a vivid picture is one of the hardest, especially for new writers. You need to learn the technique of talking about the most beautiful beach you have ever seen in a way that your reader can SEE it. In other words, you need to learn to “show”…not just “tell” your reader about that beach. Another technique is to develop your own style. I use humor. Depending upon the publication, find a style or a niche that works for you and perfect it. Most of my articles have a piece of humor in them. It may be subtle, but it’s there. Linda: I prefer to be an armchair traveler (I loved “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Eat, Pray, Love”). Can you offer an opinion of why travel books are so compelling? Wendy: I think everyone wants to travel…some in person, some as an armchair traveler. It’s the curiosity in us. I truly have never had anyone tell me they are trying to cut traveling out of their lives. We all want to know what the rest of the world looks like, how other people dress, what they ate for breakfast, or how hot it is in the desert. Usually travel books and articles have wonderful photos. I believe we all love seeing great photos of some far away place or some place we may have been. Isn’t it fun to see a castle in Germany or the top of a ski slope in Colorado and say “I’ve been there”? I read through a review copy of Wendy’s book and a lot of the content is relevant no matter what kind of writing you’re doing. It includes some gems about success as a freelancer (self-discipline is key, I hear you there, Wendy!), writing query letters and telling a good story. Plus, there is an incredibly useful explanation of the different kinds of “rights” that you may be asked to sell when you have an article published in a magazine. As an armchair traveler, I found that I got the same vicarious thrill from reading about travel writing that I do from reading about travel. I wasn’t expecting that! You can follow along with Wendy’s travels at http://travelsandescapes.blogspot.ca/. I had a great time the other night at the Talk is Cheap 2.0 conference put on by staff and students of Centennial College’s Centre for Creative Communications and Social Media Group. It was nice to hang out with June Li, Elizabeth Cockle and Barb Sawyers. I also ran into Terry Fallis, who I met, heard and blogged about at last year’s event. Congratulations to Terry for winning the 2008 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. I saw two sessions. In a presentation about The Ethics of Social Media PR, Dave Fleet and Michael O’Connor Clarke, both of Thornley Fallis, did a great job of explaining things like astroturfing, although in some ways the discussion raised more questions than answers. The question I was most interested in was why is it ok for professionals to have a speech written for them, but not a blog post? Their take on that was that a blog is meant to be a two-way conversation, and if one of those two people isn’t truly present in that conversation, it’s fake. They offered the point that when someone has a speech written for them, it is still them that is standing there delivering the words. Speaking of speechwriting, I also bumped into John Watkis at Wednesday night’s event. John (who, incidentally, attended the same high school that I did) made a big impression on me when he spoke about speechwriting at a PWAC Toronto seminar last year. Dave and Michael suggested that if you use a ghostblogger, you could include a disclaimer explaining that someone on your staff is writing the blog, but that you review and approve every post before it goes out. What’s the difference between ghostblogging and what I do when I edit and clean up my clients’ blog posts before they publish them? Is there a difference? I wouldn’t be comfortable blogging “as” someone else. That would definitely feel fraudulent to me. I agree that when someone reads and comments on a blog post, they should expect to be interacting directly with the blog owner. But ghostwriting or editing a blog post that my client then goes ahead and publishes themselves, that’s different. That’s just one of the many ways I help my clients get their own great ideas out of their heads and into writing. It means they can make use of this fantastic marketing tool even if they struggle with writing, can’t find the time do it or whether they just need some help to clarify and polish their words. The second session I saw was also really interesting. It was called Influencing the New Influencers, and was about how to “pitch” to bloggers to get them to review, endorse or simply talk about your product or service. The panel was moderated by Keith McArthur of com.motion and featured Brenna Flynn, also of com.motion and Eden Spodek of Bargainista. Not surprisingly, they talked a lot about the importance of building a long-term relationship (“make friends before you need them”) and also about customizing your pitch to demonstrate that you’ve read and followed the blog. Congratulations to the Talk is Cheap Team for another great event! I’m so glad I was there.7 unusual things you probably don’t know about me
Want your readers to keep reading? Plain language is the key
Help for travelers who write
Talk is Cheap 2.0 conference for PR writers