Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

A better elevator pitch? You be the judge

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At a SOHO Women International meeting this morning, Lynda Robertson of the Sandler Sales Institute gave a presentation about prospecting.

I'll be blogging more about the great tips she shared, but here's one I applied immediately when I was sharing my 30-second introduction ("elevator pitch").

Here's what I planned to say:

"I'm Linda Dessau of You Talk, I'll Write. As a ghostwriter, I take my client's great ideas and put them into writing, both online and in print. As an editor, I polish those words to a shine. I work exclusively with coaches, speakers and organizers. I've created an article writing tool and you can download it for free from my website at www.youtalk-write.com."

Here's (roughly) what I said, after hearing Lynda's presentation:

"I'm Linda Dessau of You Talk, I'll Write. My clients have great ideas, but they're intimidated by the writing process, or they're worried about not writing well. So, as a ghostwriter, I take their great ideas and put them into words, both online and in print. And as an editor, I polish those words to a shine. I've created an article writing tool and you can download it for free from my website at www.youtalk-iwrite.com."

Did you notice what was different?

Lynda asked us all to think about which EMOTIONS we include in our 30-second introduction.

She reminded us that people buy based on emotion, and so we need to help them make the link between our product and services and the EMOTIONS that they either relieve (e.g. stress, worry or  fear) or elicit (e.g. peace of mind, confidence or satisfaction).

Do you have any suggestions for how I could improve my 30-second introduction? What positive EMOTIONS do you think my clients experience when I deliver their completed writing project?

Quick Writing Prompt: Whether you're speaking or writing, how can you bring more EMOTIONS into your message? Which emotions are tied in with your product or service?

This Book is my Baby

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Awhile back, I finished my first round of edits of a book by Kamin Bell. She’s a coach, and has written an inspirational personal story, chock FULL of wonderful details.

Aside from general editing for readability, clarity, commonly misused words and grammar issues, I also pared down some of the details.

Did I take out too much?

I admit I was a bit nervous removing so much content, but as Kamin reported in our next telephone meeting,

“I loved what you did. Every time I came across a section you deleted I said, “Interesting!” and I could immediately see that those details didn’t add anything to the story. Other changes just made me say, “Wow!” Your editing and the engaging words you chose have made the story flow so much better.”

This book is my baby

Further, Kamin told me,

“From the first day we spoke, I felt I could trust you. There is a gentleness in which you communicate, even as you’re being honest and straight to the point. This book is my baby, and I knew that in your hands it would be cared for.”

Learn more about Kamin’s book, Journey to Abundance, at http://www.journey2abundance.com.

Business Week Says: Educational Marketing (Writing) SELLS

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Thanks to Dina Lynch at ADR Practice Builder for pointing to this great article on her blog.

It’s all about how educating your target market with valuable written information they is a MUCH more effective marketing strategy than talking directly about YOU and why they should hire you to help them.

Education-Based Marketing Sells, by Christine Comaford-Lynch was printed October 8 on the Business Week website.

If you’d like to put together an educational article, white paper or special report to educate YOUR target market, I’d love to help.

Trying to Write the Article of a Lifetime?

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One of the Top 5 Writing Mistakes that I identified in last Friday's "From Ideas to Income" teleclass was trying to cram too many points into the same article (or other piece of writing). I called it the "Article of a Lifetime" mistake.

When we're excited and passionate about the ideas we have to share, and when we're genuinely concerned with helping other people find solutions, we want to SAY IT ALL.

However, trying to bring together all of those ideas at once can make it very overwhelming for your reader. That means they might abandon your article before they get to the end. And that's where your most precious real estate lies – the "call to action" and invitation back to your website to join your mailing list in exchange for a free gift (a "pink spoon").

Instead, stick to one main point (with two or three sub-headings) in each article, and then celebrate the fact that you've got content for more articles!

So don't try to write the article of a lifetime. Remember, you have a lifetime to write articles!

Quick Writing Prompt: Look through a recent article that you've written and consider whether it can be divided into two (or even three) articles. Make sure each article has ONE clear main point.

Update (January 2, 2011): I wrote a new post on this topic in January 2011, called How to Focus Your Mind, Your Topic and Your Writing.

Anatomy of a Business Email

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An email is like any other piece of writing – it can greatly benefit from a few extra moments of editing.

Please have a look at this article I wrote, where I share some tips for sending professional and well-written emails.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Anatomy-of-a-Business-Email&id=520408

Quick Writing Prompt: Make your writing the best it can be! Before hitting "send" on that next business email, check it against the tips in my "Anatomy of a Business Email" article.