Karen Cioffi

Karen Cioffi Writing for Children and More
http://dkvwriting4u.com
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get TWO FREE eBooks:
The Self-Publisher’s Guide, 2nd Edition
The Blogger’s Checklist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Tags: Writing, writing clarity, writing consistency, writing focus

Critiques are Essential

August 14, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Writing

I’m the co-moderator of a children’s writing critique group. We cover picture books to young adult books to magazine articles. In addition to this, I’m a reviewer for a multiple of genres (BookPleasures.com and Muse Book Reviews). Reading a number of books, it’s easy to tell which authors haven’t bothered to have their work critiqued or edited.

Any advice I give, whether in articles, eBooks, or posts, I always include the importance of belonging to a critique group. Even experienced authors depend on the unique perspective and extra eyes that each critique member provides.

The critique group can catch a number of potential problems with your manuscript:

1. Grammatical errors
2. Holes in your story
3. Unclear sentences, paragraphs, or dialogue
4. The forward movement of the story
5. Overuse of a particular word, adjectives and adverbs
6. Unnecessary words to help create a tight story

The list goes on and on. And, there are even more potential problems to be watched out for when writing for children. It’s near impossible for even an experienced writer to catch all his or her own errors.

Your critique partners will also provide suggestions and guidance. Note here, it is up to you whether to heed those suggestion and comments, but if all the members of your group suggest you rewrite a particular sentence for clarity, hopefully a light will go off and you’ll pay attention.

Along with having those extras sets of eyes to help you along, you will begin to see your own writing improve. You will also be able to find your own errors and those of others much quicker. This will help you become a better and more confident writer.

Now, while the critique group does not take the place of an editor, they do help you get to the point where you think you’re ready for submission. At this point, it is always advisable to seek an editor to catch what you and your critique group missed. And, believe me, there will be something in your manuscript that wasn’t picked up on.

When looking into joining a critique group, be sure the group has both new and experienced writers. The experienced writers will help you hone your craft just through their critiques of your work.

If you haven’t already, join a critique group today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related Articles:

8 Steps Before Submitting Your Manuscript

Writing, Submissions, and Working with an Editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great Writing Tools and Programs:

Writing, Publishing, and Marketing – You Can Do It

Writing for Children One Step at a Time

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

Please mention my name if you join one or both of Suzanne’s programs–I am an affiliate of hers. But, I’d like you to know that I only recommend these programs because I belong to them, and I know their value if you’re serious about writing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get TWO FREE eBooks:
The Self-Publisher’s Guide, 2nd Edition
The Blogger’s Checklist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer, and Acquisitions Editor Intern for 4RV Publishing

http://dkvwriting4u.com
Karen Cioffi Writing for Children and More
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org

Tags: critique groups, critiques, Writing

Your Story’s Theme

August 8, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Writing

Theme is the take-away value your story provides; it can be a moral, a teaching, or insight (in regard to your perspective) into the world or human nature. Along with the plot, it is what motivates your main character, subtly, to struggle to get from point A to point B.

Interestingly, at times, we’re not aware of what our theme actually is, or whether it will have more than one suggested take-away. This can be problematic. I reviewed a wonderfully illustrated children’s picture book, not too long ago. The main character was cute and it was well written, but the authors didn’t realize there was an alternative message that young children could take-away from the story, one that might have children feeling they have to conform in one way or another to be accepted.

In the Children’s Writer June 2010 Newsletter, an article by Chris Eboch explained, “Try to envision the different messages someone could get from your story. [. . .] Having readers miss your intended theme can be a problem, if they are seeing messages that go against your beliefs.”
Eboch suggested that authors let children read the story and see what message they take-away from it. This is a great idea; what better way to determine if children can find alternative messages in your story. Another useful tool is to be part of a critique group; the members’ perspective can prove to be invaluable.

Another good point Eboch related was not to overly structure your story around a theme, “It’s [theme] a fragile concept, and we need to allow it to come out of the subconscious mind, which is where the best writing takes place.” The article goes on to explain that if we try to force a particular theme, it will create forced characters, and a forced plot.

Sometimes this is hard to accomplish, especially when you are adapting an old tale or myth into your own creation. The moral or teaching is already in place. This happened to me with my story, Walking Through Walls; it is loosely based on an ancient Chinese tale. I did change it drastically by using children instead of adults, and creating a full story with additional characters and plot around a sketchy outline of the tale, but it was the outline that motivated me to write the story. While the moral, or take-away value, is somewhat different than the original tale, there is a vague resemblance.

Working from a tale, and having an established theme in the back of my mind, didn’t seem to be a hindrance for me; I focused much more one the main character’s journey to fulfill his goal, and his enlightenment and growth in the process. The theme, I think, gently nudged the protagonist along and gave me the security of knowing the general vicinity of where he’d end up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Articles:

8 Steps Before Submitting Your Manuscript
Writing in Rhyme

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Writing Tools and Programs:

http://dkvwriting4u.com
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org
http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get TWO FREE eBooks:
The Self-Publisher’s Guide, 2nd Edition
The Blogger’s Checklist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Tags:

Determination, Focus, and Perseverance

August 1, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Writing

I’m a huge fan of positive thinking and projection. I believe our mind has a great influence over our well being and the direction our life can take. Granted, it’s not always easy to harness that influence, but there is enough content out there, including The Secret, to at least strive to think positive and project.

For example, Jack Canfield and co-creator Mark Victor Hansen, of Chicken Soup for the Soul, were rejected 144 times from publishers. Finally, in 1993, their book was accepted. Since they were in debt and couldn’t afford a publicist, they did their own promotion. In 1995, they won the Abby Award and the Southern California Publicist Award.

In a teleconference I attended with Jack Canfield as the speaker, he said the co-authors created vision boards of what they wanted. They even took a copy of the New York Times Best Selling Page, whited out the #1 spot, and replaced it with Chicken Soup for the Soul. They put copies of it everywhere, even in the toilet. They envisioned and projected success. The rest is history.

On a much smaller scale, my daughter and co-author of Day’s End Lullaby, Robyn, practices the philosophy of The Secret. For ten years she dreamed of being in the audience of the Oprah show. She actually got tickets twice, but for one reason or another, she was unable to attend. But, it didn’t stop her, she persevered and kept trying. Well, the weekend of May 8th, 2010, Oprah had her Live Your Best Life weekend in New York City. Robyn got a ticket for the weekend event and ended up being photographed. Her photo is now on Oprah’s website. In addition, she was about four feet from Oprah at one of the events, while she took a picture. This may not mean much to some, but for a young woman who has dreamed of being in the same room as Oprah, it’s a big . . . no HUGE deal. You can check it out at (she’s the one on the right, her friend Christine is on the left):

http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Photos-from-O-Magazines-Live-Your-Best-Life-Weekend/5#slide

So, what has this to do with you and me as writers . . . plenty . . . just about every writer has heard the adage, it’s not necessarily the best writers who succeed, it’s the writers who persevere. Stay determined and focused on your writing goals. Don’t let rejection stop you . . . persevere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Articles:

Releasing the Brakes by Jack Canfield
What is Holding You Back From Success?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Writing Tools and Programs:

http://dkvwriting4u.com
Karen Cioffi – Writing for Children and More
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get TWO FREE eBooks:
The Self-Publisher’s Guide, 2nd Edition
The Blogger’s Checklist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Tags:

Copywriting and Marketing at Its Best

July 24, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Marketing

Marketing and copywriting go hand in hand. You really can’t have marketing without some form of copywriting, even if your do it yourself. The third element of this trio, and which usually comes first, is an idea.

Put these three elements together and you can have a powerful marketing tool that can launch your business, or bring it to a new plateau.

Today, I have a great article from American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread. It shows how an idea combined with the right copywriting and marketing strategies sent a simple shirt company soaring.

The Man in the Hathaway Shirt
By Michael Masterson

“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.” ~~David Ogilvy

Have you seen The Most Interesting Man in the World?

I’m referring to the TV commercials for Dos Equis beer. They star a rugged-looking, silver-haired man who is always surrounded by beautiful women.

In one version of the commercial, he arm-wrestles a Third World general and releases a grizzly bear from a trap. In another, the narrator relates that even his enemies list him as their emergency contact and that the police often question him just because they find him interesting.

If you are a student of advertising, you know this is a knockoff of David Ogilvy’s famous ad campaign: The Man in the Hathaway Shirt.

If you don’t know the history of this ad, you should.

In Brief: It was 1951. Ellerton Jette, a shirt maker from Waterville, Maine wanted to grow his little business into a national brand, but he didn’t have much money. He had heard about the advertising prowess of David Ogilvy. So he booked a meeting with him.

“I have an advertising budget of only $30,000,” he told Ogilvy. “And I know that’s much less than you normally work with. But I believe you can make me into a big client of yours if you take on the job.”

If he’d stopped there, Ogilvy would have thrown him out of the office. But then he said something that sold the great salesman.

He said, “If you do take on the job, Mr. Ogilvy, I promise you this. No matter how big my company gets, I will never fire you. And I will never change a word of your copy.”

There is a big lesson here. So let’s stop for a moment and talk about it.

What Ellerton Jette did was a little bit of genius, in my opinion. In two short sentences, he changed the mind of one of the most powerful men in the world of advertising. At the same moment, he made himself a very rich man.

Not a week goes by when I don’t get a letter from a complete stranger who sees me as his David Ogilvy. They are direct and to the point. “I know I can get rich if you help me, Mr. Masterson,” they say. “So how about it?”

What makes them think I have the time, if not the inclination, to help them? It never even occurs to them to offer me something in return for what they are asking.

Jette’s $30,000 budget might have put $3,000 in Ogilvy’s pocket. Though it was a paltry sum then and a mere pittance now, at least it was something. But what really cinched the deal was the two promises Jette made.

Going into the meeting, Jette knew he had one chance to forge a relationship with Ogilvy. He somehow understood that Ogilvy, as successful as he was, had two big problems. He worried that his biggest clients would walk away from him. And he hated it when his clients screwed with his copy. So, instead of thinking only of his own goals, Jette took the time to figure out how he could offer Ogilvy something that would be of immense value to him. (This, by the way, is one of many lessons I teach in my Special Theory of Automatic Wealth.)

When Jette made his two promises, Ogilvy realized that he was talking to a businessman who would eventually become a partner. He could see that Jette was a man of good faith who would let Ogilvy be in charge of his marketing. And that he would reward Ogilvy with a lifetime of loyalty.

Now, let’s get back to the story of the Hathaway shirt ad …

After accepting Jette’s offer, Ogilvy spent days doing in-depth research on Jette’s client base. He came up with dozens of ideas. The one he settled on was a campaign built around the image of a distinguished man in a romantic location dressed in a Hathaway shirt. He selected a model that looked like William Faulkner and booked the first photo shoot.

On the way to the shoot, he passed a five and ten cent store where he bought a few cheap eye patches. At the shoot, he asked the model to wear an eye patch for a few shots.

The moment he saw the photos with the eye patch, he knew.

The Man in the Hathaway Shirt campaign was an instant success. The ads were carried in papers around the country, and were mentioned editorially in Time, Life, and Fortune. Before long, hosts of imitators appeared. Other companies ran ads featuring eye patches on babies, dogs … even cows. A cartoon in The New Yorker shows three men looking into the display window of a shirt store. In the second panel, they are coming out of the store, with eye patches on.

Ogilvy got the idea for the patch, he said, from a photo of Ambassador Lewis Douglas, who had injured his eye while fishing in England. But he got the idea itself – the idea of this aristocratic man with a romantic life – from the James Thurber story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” (Actually, Kenneth Roman pointed out in The King of Madison Avenue, it could have been from the secret life of David Ogilvy. As a young executive, Ogilvy was prone to wearing capes and bowties while everyone else was in grey flannel suits.)

Of course, it wasn’t just the eye patch that made the ads work. It was the combination of the model, the situation he was in, and the copy itself.

And the copy was brilliant. Here’s the first line of the first ad:

“The melancholy disciples of Thorstein Veblen would have despised this shirt.”

Most readers of the ad had no idea who Thorstein Veblen was. But they got the idea. Veblen was some sort of snobby aristocratic. By posing a handsome, silver-haired model with an eye patch in a Hathaway shirt and putting that line underneath the photo, Ogilvy struck a chord in the American imagination. We all hate aristocrats, but we would like to be one.

There was another brilliant thing about the ad. Putting the model in a romantic location gave the pitch a fictional element. It had “story appeal,” as Ogilvy put it.

Ogilvy said he discovered the concept of story appeal in a book by Harold Rudolph, a former ad agency research director. This was the first time, Roman says in his book, “that shirt advertising focused as much on the man wearing the shirt as on the shirt itself.”

And now, back to The Most Interesting Man in the World …

I am a fan of these Dos Equis commercials. I like them both because they are a salute to David Ogilvy and also because they successfully replicate the key elements in Ogilvy’s ads for the Hathaway shirt. They have the handsome, silver-haired model. They have the eye patch. And they have the anti-aristocrat touch. (The product is beer, after all.)

They also have the romance and the story. Each new edition of the commercial is another episode in this most interesting man’s life.

They fall short only in one respect. They don’t do a great job of equating the product with the concept.

When I remember a Dos Equis ad, I remember the actor’s face. I remember the pretty girls in the background. I’m aware that he is a man that women find irresistible. And that when he drinks he drinks … Wait a minute. What does he drink?

There’s the rub.

We find out that The Most Interesting Man in the World drinks Dos Equis. But he could just as well drink Pabst Blue Ribbon. The creative people behind this very good ad campaign get a big demerit for that. Ogilvy, on the other hand, put the name of the product in the headline. The fact that his man was wearing a Hathaway shirt was integral to the story.

Grabbing the prospect’s attention with an entertaining story or idea or photo is essential for any sort of advertising campaign. But you have to do more than that. You have to sell the product. And to do that, you must link the initial sentiment created in the headline with the final emotion needed to close the sale at the end.

In AWAI’s copywriting program, I call this “the Golden Thread.” It’s pretty simple. The product is at one end of the thread. The prospect’s heart is at the other end. Every element of the copy must be connected to the product as well as to the prospect. And the connection must be taut. If the thread goes slack, even for a second, you lose the sale.

I will end this essay by saying this: You have just read about half a dozen of the most powerful marketing secrets I know. If you put this essay down and forget about it, you will be making a terrible mistake. Read it at least half a dozen times and think about it. If it doesn’t make you a multi-millionaire, I’ll eat my shirt. Hathaway, of course.

~~~~

This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other articles you may find of interest:

Create an eBook Today

There’s More Than One Writing Path

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Writing Tools and Programs:

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

If you do take my advice and join one or both of Suzanne’s programs, please mention my name–I am an affiliate of hers. But, I’d like you to know that I only recommend these programs because I belong to them, and I know their value if you’re serious about writing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get TWO FREE eBooks:
The Blogger’s Checklist
The Self-Publisher’s Guide, 2nd Edition

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Karen Cioffi Writing for Children and More
http://dkvwriting4u.com
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org

Tags: copywriting, Marketing, marketing strategies, marketing to success

Content Reprint Strategy

July 17, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Marketing

Offering your articles/posts/e-books to be reprinted by others…might be a valuable marketing strategy.

While it seems most writers don’t allow their articles/posts to be reprinted by others, I have come across a couple of writers/marketers who generously do allow this practice. They allow their posts to be reprinted by other writers to be used on their blogs or in their FREE newsletter. Obviously, anything being offered to reprint should never be reprinted in something you are selling, such as an e-book or report.

I’m surprised that more writers don’t take advantage of this reprint strategy. The benefits seem obvious – let’s look at four of them.

Four Benefits of Allowing Content Reprints

1. You have written something that someone else views as valuable.
2. You increase your visibility.
3. You increase traffic back to your site.
4. You never know who will see that article/post or where it will end up.

What About Giving Your E-books Away?

I have also seen this reprint practice utilized with e-books, and it peaked my interest. These informational e-books plainly state, in the beginning of the content, that readers may freely pass it along. This technique generates additional visibility and is a great promotional tool and marketing opportunity.

In fact, I recently started taking advantage of this practice with one of my e-books. All the writer needs to do is request permission to offer my e-book as a freebie on their site.

Yes, at present I require permission, but that may change as I begin to write more e-books.

Word of Caution Here

Please remember, it’s essential, when taking advantage of a writer’s reprint offer, to always keep the article or e-book intact. Be sure to use the author’s byline and/or any other text and links that they have as part of the bargain.

It’s a win-win situation: the author increases his visibility and you get an article to use on your blog or in your newsletter, or you get a free e-book to offer on your site.

Drawback to Using Reprints or Offering Them

Obviously, there are a couple of circumstances in which offering or using reprints isn’t advisable, such as: you wrote the article specifically for a magazine or ezine and publishing elsewhere is restricted, or you may not want to use an article with a byline that will send your reader to a site that offers the same services you do (a competitor’s site).

One other possible drawback is dilution. What this means is that if you have your article available on a number of sites, when someone does a search for the topic of your article, it may not be your site they end up going to.

But, all-in-all, this is a practical marketing plan.

Why not try this practice. It will be a supplemental tool to be used along with your ezine article marketing. These two strategies combined will certainly generate and increase visibility and traffic back to your site.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For book promotion tips check out these articles:

10 Free Surefire Ways to Promote You and Your Book: Part 1

Beyond Book Sales Income: Marketing and Diversification

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great Writing Tools and Programs:

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get a TWO FREE eBooks!
The Self-Publisher’s Guide
The Blogger’s List

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Karen Cioffi Writing for Children and More
http://dkvwriting4u.com
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org

Tags: allow reprints, article reprints, content reprint strategy, e-book reprints, Marketing

Using Blogging Comments as a Marketing Strategy

July 10, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Uncategorized

Blogging Comment Marketing Strategy
By Karen Cioffi

Marketing is all around us. It’s part of every business and every writer’s life, that includes a blogger’s life. One avenue some marketers take is the blogging comment marketing strategy. Anyone who has a website or blog knows that occasionally you’ll get comments from marketers, affiliate marketers or VAs (virtual assistants) who use your site to promote products or services.

So, what is blogging comment marketing strategy?

In the purest sense, blogging comment marketing strategy is a useful tool to create visibility with other bloggers and with others in the field you are working in. It can also help boost your efforts in establishing yourself as an expert (if your comments are pertinent and informative).

In addition to this, each time you leave a comment on another blogger’s site, an article directory, or other type of site, the search engines nod their head and say, “Hi.”

Yes, the search engines acknowledge your activity. If you have a Google alert on your name tag, you’ll notice that Google picks up your commenting activity. This in itself is a marketing strategy creating visibility and activity in the search engines. To be picked up, you do not have to leave your url after the comment, it’s already in the name tag and link you use to comment.

The blogging comment strategy is a useful tool – it’s a multi-functional tool. Unfortunately, some marketing commenters are actually spammers – their sole mission is to bring traffic back to their site. But, if they are leaving a pertinent comment reflecting the post should it be allowed? A while ago, I had a commenter actually write a couple of paragraphs promoting his services. While he did leave a valid comment,

I think this is pushing the blogging comment marketing a bit far. So, what are some basic guidelines for being a courteous commenter?
Basic etiquette for using blogging comment marketing strategy?

1. Read the blogger’s post.

2. Make a comment that reflects the post.

3. Do not overtly make a comment just to promote you or your services.

4. Don’t promote a product or service that is in competition with the blogger’s.

5. Always put your name before you add a link.

6. Be respectful of someone else’s blog.
Any marketing you do should be thought out and used properly. Useful internet connections are made everyday, don’t be an over zealous marketer – you never know what opportunity or connection you may lose out on in the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Articles:

Writing for Article Directories: 7 Steps
Focused Keywords and Your Content
Determination, Focus, and Perserverance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Writing Tools and Programs:

Writing, Publishing, and Marketing – You Can Do It

The Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club with Suzanne Lieurance

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program
With Suzanne Lieurance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get a FREE eBook!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? Do you need blog or article visibility for your business? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Karen Cioffi – Writing for Children and More
http://dkvwriting4u.com
http://nothingventurednothinggained.org

Tags: blogging commenting marketing strategy, create visibility, Marketing

Beyond Book Sales Income: Marketing and Diversification

July 4, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Marketing

I love the internet . . . you can find almost anything and learn just about anything by doing a search. My latest learning session was on a teleseminar and the guest speaker was Jack Canfield. For those of you who haven’t yet heard of him (this would be amazing if you are in the writing field), Canfield is the co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen had a dream. They would have a New York Times best selling book. But, the road to success wasn’t easy . . . they received 144 rejections from publishers. This did not stop them—they moved forward with visualization and positive projection techniques. Chicken Soup for the Soul came out in 1993. Since they didn’t have enough money for a publicist, they did their own marketing. By 1995, they won the Abby Award and the Southern California Publicist Award.

The information offered during the teleseminar was geared toward the strategies needed to make money publishing books through marketing and diversification.

Tips to Make Money Along with or After Book Publication

1. Have a platform

Start your platform when you are thinking of writing a book—don’t wait until you are published. Creating connections, contacts, and readers takes time.

2. Realize you will most probably not get rich writing books.

Yes, that’s right, you will not automatically become wealthy from book publication. But, while you won’t get rich, it will open doors that will not otherwise be open. This is the opportunity for diversification—don’t just look straight ahead—use your peripheral vision.

3. Learn how to market and sell YOU and your books.

Never stop learning about writing, marketing and promotion. Read about the subjects; attend conferences and teleseminars; join writing and marketing groups, and follow blogs that provide valuable and up-to-date information. But, remember, you don’t want to just sell your books, you want to sell what you have to offer along with your books.

4. Research areas you can diversify in

If you are published, there are a number of doors that will magically open. You can create e-books; you can present teleseminars or workshops; you can offer classes or coaching; you can even write a book about your experiences and successes.

Tip: Before you start charging for your expertise, offer some free services to help others learning to write and learning to market their books and themselves.

5. Never stop selling

Find new avenues to sell your books and services. Utilize some of the suggestions in #4 above.

6. Believe you can do it

This is probably the most important tip for success. Canfield is a firm believer in the power of tweaking your subconscious, and projection.

7. Pay it forward

As the Bible tells us, “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” New World Translation, Acts 20:35.

Aside from being good for you as a writer and marketer, giving back is good for the universe and our troubled world.

~~~~~
Please note: I am not promoting Quantum Leap; I do not belong to it—I can’t afford it. I do however, attend a number of teleseminars that Steve Harrison presents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RELATED ARTICLES

Focused Keywords and Your Content
Marketing 101: Improve Your Website
Benefits of Creating an e-Book

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter (A Writer’s World) and get a FREE eBook!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND, if you haven’t heard yet, DKV Writing for you is have a Sizzling HOT July Writing Services Special. Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com/blog/

You can also check out our team at:
http://www.dkvwriting4u.com/dkv-writing-team/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter-for-hire, Freelance writer, Reviewer

Karen Cioffi – Writing for Children and More
http://dkvwriting4u.com

Tags: build a platform, create an ebook, create visibility, ebooks uses, jack canfield, Marketing, project success

4 Tips for Final Stages of Self-editing

June 27, 2010 by admin · 2 Comments
Filed under: Writing

There is so much involved in self-editing; the lists and checkpoints can fill a book. The very first step is to be part of a critique group and have your manuscript critiqued in its various stages. When you’re sure it’s in good shape, then you move on to proofreading and self-editing. Be sure to check grammar, storyline, punctuation, showing vs. telling . . . you know the deal. Now it’s time to do a fine tuning self-edit.

1. Read you manuscript

Read it again. Try to read it slow and watch for all the self-editing tips you’ve learned and think you’ve applied. Spotting our own errors is difficult since we know what we wrote and intended. Some of the other tips here will help with this problem.

2. Change the font and read it again.

Surprisingly, you will spot errors you just glazed over before. You won’t run through it the same way you did with the original font.

3. Read each paragraph from the last sentence to the first

This is an interesting method for an additional self-edit. It’s helpful because your brain won’t be on auto-pilot. You will spot glitches within sentences that you would glaze over when reading normally.

Note: I don’t mean reading each sentence backward; read each sentence as you would normally, but read the last sentence first and work your way to the beginning of the paragraph.

4. Print your manuscript

Okay, I know what you environmentalists are thinking . . . I’m one also. I try very hard not to waste paper in order to protect and save our trees. But, there is a difference between reading on a computer and reading paper copy. I’ll be honest, I don’t know why our brain perceives it differently, it just does.

As you’re reading your manuscript, use a colored pen or pencil and mark the text you find errors in. Once you finish, go back to your computer document and correct the errors.

The other practical aspect of this process is it’s a good idea to have a hard copy of your manuscript near its final stage. Unless you have an offsite backup, you can’t be too careful (I’d be skeptical of this also – you never know with any online system). I’ve lost a number of files when my computer broke. And, I’ve even lost files on zip drives when the drives failed. So, from experience I’m cautious when it comes to saving my work.

If you do actually utilize Step 4 and print your manuscript, be sure to recycle it if you no longer need that copy. I reuse paper I print by using the back for notes; when it can be discarded, I recycle! You can either rip it into pieces or shred it so your valuable content isn’t usable to others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may find these articles of interest also:

6 Stepping Stone to Publication

Freelance Editors: Should YOU Hire One?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great Writing Tools and Programs: