Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Effective, Compelling & Attractive Copywriting

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Tallent Agency VA Services

I recently did two press releases for my client Ann Evanston, AKA The Warrior-Preneur. I was very excited to try my hand at doing these as I had, frankly, never done any before!

The first was announcing Ann’s being named one of the TOP six Marketing Consultants by about.com ! The second was the announcement that Social Networking Coaching Club is now offering Certification and Licensing for Coaches! Not only did I get to write these press releases, I also
get to manage Social Networking Coaching Club as one of my duties as Ann’s assistant.

Here are some of the tips I have picked up about copywriting and writing press releases:

Copywriting is a special technique that allows you to promote companies, individuals
or some special events. Copywriting is one of the most significant elements of advertising.
It should be considered the tool that helps your company promote itself.

Your returning clients already know the quality of the products and service that you provide and reliability of your business, however, most people will find or “discover” your site by the terms they put into search engine boxes.

How is copywriting performed? Whatever company you have and products and services
you provide, you should stick to several important rules. Despite the fact that copywriting has changed during the last decade due to the wide use of the internet, some fundamental rules still apply.

Copywriting might look simple but it should comprise several indispensable elements.

First, it must have an intriguing and appealing headline that induces your visitor to explore your text further. It must contain a subheading where main features of the heading are restated. The most important part of the copywriting copy is certainly the body. This reveals the major points of your text. It should be easy-to-read, logically structured and coherent.
It should contain a number of paragraphs that should restate the major idea of the content.

Ideal copywriting content should emphasize the advantages of the company, its uniqueness and clearly state why visitors should purchase at your company. One should remember that there are plenty of other companies and web sites that might sell identical products and services. In order to be successful you should stand out from the crowd.

This applies in offline and online copywriting. If the technique is performed professionally,
it leads to the increase of traffic on your web site. When writing the copy, remember that
one of the most important elements of the copywriting content is persuasion. One should persuade your visitors to take further actions and purchase some products or services at your company.

If the principles of persuasion, action, desire and motivation are applied in your copywriting copy, one can be sure that it will bring the results.

I hope this post has helped to plainly define what copywriting is and how it is applied.
I checked the pricing structures for press releases and other announcement tasks
and found they seemed to be prohibitive for the average business owner so have made my own Press Release Service at what I feel are excellent rates and also guarantee that they will satisfy the client and the job is not considered complete until the client is happy!

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

Online Biz Owners: Avoid These 5 Outsourcing Mistakes

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Tallent Agency VA Services
For those considering outsourcing in their online businesses, the goal is to create a more profitable company while streamlining the owner’s work. Taking the time to avoid common outsourcing mistakes will make the process go more smoothly and avoid the feeling that you are spinning your wheels and getting nowhere. Or to quote Nicole Dean of OutsourceWeekly.com “You must plan your outsourcing wisely. Otherwise, you’re simply throwing money into the wind.”

As with any part of business, outsourcing has its good and bad points, however if you are aware of the potential problems before hand, you increase your chances of an enjoyable experience.

Here are 5 potential outsourcing mistakes every online business owner should be aware of in order to avoid making them.

1. Not Knowing Who You Are Dealing With

Most business owners who outsource will tell you the biggest benefit of doing so is the fact that their assistants work remotely. The number one problem when it comes to outsourcing, though, is not thoroughly checking out the contractor or company who will be performing the work. Keep in mind that sometimes this independence can work in the opposite direction if not taken seriously. Make it a point to carefully interview the people you are considering working with before assigning tasks or project to them. The person or company should be someone you can trust to represent your business.

2. Non-Communication between Owner & Assistant

Whether you are outsourcing tech support, writing, web design or something else, there is a great deal of effort needed in order to keep the lines of communication open. If you allow your workers to do work for you without communicating your goals and what it is that you need, you will find that your work might not be done as you’d hoped. Assistants are not mind-readers and do need guidance. Take some time to make sure that you and the people you outsource to understand your expectations. This is an important part of making sure that you get what you need.

3. Forgetting to Budget Wisely

In order for outsourcing to work properly, you’ll need to keep a good eye on what you are spending for the work being done. While some projects will require single payments to your assistant, others may involve recurring or retainer payments and you will more than likely have some type of contract or agreement that binds you. Some of your assistants may charge by the hour while others may invoice by project or expect payment based on a commission of some sort. Take the time to figure out how much money you can afford to spend on certain tasks and budget appropriately.

4. Under Utilizing Your Contractor & Their Resources

When you choose to outsource certain tasks, make certain you are using your assistants to their fullest capabilities and not just outsourcing for the sake of outsourcing or splitting up work between two assistants when it makes more sense to have one handle both jobs. Sometimes you can find freelancers who are willing to work on a recurring basis or who will complete larger projects at a reduced rate in order to get and keep your business. Don’t be afraid to ask potential contractors if they have room for more than just one or two jobs and don’t outsource something just to say that you’re on the outsourcing wagon.

5. Misunderstanding Your Role as the Outsourcer

As the one doing the outsourcing, you need to understand your role. In order for the relationship between business owner and assistant to flourish, you’ll want to keep the lines of communication not only open, but clear as well. Be detailed in what you expect from your help. Also keep in mind that you are probably not their only client and as much as you would love to have them all to yourself, that probably isn’t the case. Be respectful of their time and give feedback on their work. This will help them do a better job and respect your time in return.

Making yourself aware of possible problems that often occur in the outsourcing relationship now allows your business to grow by leaps and bounds. Don’t be afraid to start your outsourcing journey, especially now that you are better prepared to do so.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

5 Tips To Make Blogging Easy

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Tallent Agency VA Services

This is a great article that I got in a PLR ( Private Label Rights ) package and I thought I would share it here today.

Many bloggers find it difficult to blog regularly.

On the other hand, other bloggers find it easy to blog everyday.

As you are aware, for your blogging to be effective, you will need to add fresh content to your blog on a regular basis. This article presents five tips that you can use to make blogging easy.

1. Write your blog content in advance and save it so that it’s ready to be posted everyday.

When you have time to write, try to write enough blog content that will be enough for several days or for the whole week. You can write and save your blog posts on your blog, and all you have to do is to publish the posts everyday.

This means that on those days when you do not have the time to write, you can still post fresh content on your blog using the blog posts you would have saved.

2. Blog about a wide range of things that relate to your niche .

Think about any information relating to your niche which your website visitors will be interested in seeing on your blog. Identify the sub-niches in your niche and write about those as well. You should never run out of ideas on what to blog about.

3. Invite your blog visitors to leave some comments relating to your posts and your niche.

This is an easy way of getting unique content on your website. The more interaction you allow on your blog, the more content you will have on your blog.

4. Research and look for the key questions and issues that people in your niche are interested in, and provide information that addresses those questions on your blog.

Look in the relevant forums for the hot topics that people are asking about and provide answers to these questions on your blog. This will make your blog useful to your visitors because it will have information which your visitors are looking for. This gives you a wide range of topics that you can blog about.

5. Use PLR content, customize it and make it unique and break it into blog posts.

It is essential that you make the PLR content very unique to avoid being penalized for duplicate content. Using PLR content as a starting point for your blog posts means that
you will be able to create blog content easily and quickly.

Use these five tips outlined above to make blogging easy.
The more you blog, the more traffic you drive to your website .

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing, proofreading
and transcription assignments along with research, blog posts, article submissions
and social media maintenance!

Why not Schedule a Project now?

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Over the past 13 years, Jan Tallent has spent countless hours providing writers and webmasters with free friendly tips on how to correct spelling and grammar errors in their written material.

From the feedback received she decided that since proofreading and editing help was so desperately needed she should build a business around something she enjoys doing, while at the same time providing a valuable service to business owners and writers.

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Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency
Phone: (636) 220-7853
Email: jan@tallentagency.com
Twitter: @jantallent
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