Steve Oliphant’s Musings

Again, this is posted here more for my benefit than anyone else’s. when I archive stuff this way I am guaranteed to see it again.

The Six Top Opportunities for SEO Copywriters
By Rebecca Matter

If there is one area of web writing that everyone should learn, it’s SEO copywriting (Search Engine Optimization).

If you’re not already familiar, SEO copywriting involves re-working the copy on a web page in a way that makes the page appear near the top of the search results when a person uses a search engine (like Google) to find what they’re looking for. The ideal end result is to drive more visitors to your client’s website, without paying a dime in advertising campaigns to get them there.

I recently sat down with the pioneer of SEO copywriting, Heather Lloyd-Martin, to get the low-down on how the opportunities are laid out.

What I found out is that a brand-new copywriter can jump in right away and start making solid money from day one. And as they learn and continue to build their skills, each opportunity builds on the last one and warrants a much higher fee. It very well may be the easiest and fastest way for a web writer to get started working with paying clients.

Let’s take a look at the opportunities in order, starting with the easiest …

Opportunity #1: Keyphrase Research

This first opportunity is an easy one, once you learn how it’s done. Here, a potential client doesn’t know what keyphrases would be good for their website. And they don’t know how to use the available research tools to get that information.

Since you understand what keyphrases are intended to do, you’re able to look at their website in a very unique way, and see whether or not a keyphrase is going to work within the copy. For example, you might find some keyphrases that people are using to search for information on the Internet, but they aren’t grammatically correct. Or you might find that people are searching using a different set of words than what the client is using to describe his product or service. At this point, even a very new SEO copywriter is able to easily do the research and say, “Here’s a list of really good keyphrases, all of which will work within your copy.” And that’s it!

Opportunity #2: Keyphrase Strategy

The next step you can take as an SEO copywriter, whether your client is a small business or a Fortune 500 company, is to take that keyphrase list you created and say, “Here are all the pages on your website, and here are the keyphrases that would fit every single page of your site.” At this point, by showing the client where to use the keyphrases, you’re actually helping your client guide his or her SEO strategy. You’ll go as far as saying, “On this particular page, if you were to rewrite it, the words that you would want to focus on would be X, Y, and Z.”

Opportunity #3: Keyphrase Editing

Many of your potential clients will have really good content on their websites, but that content isn’t good for search engines. The copy is very well-written, but it’s not really relevant to how people are actually searching. Your job here would be to actually edit the copy to make it more relevant, and ensure the keyphrases you identified in the last phase are used within the copy. To do this, you would insert the keyphrases within the copy where they fit to make that copy more specific. This could involve rewriting a headline or subhead, or even adding headlines and subheads. Or it could simply mean taking copy that’s not as specific, such as the phrase “our product,” and replacing it with a keyphrase “our copywriting course.” Easy, right?

Opportunity #4: SEO Copywriting

At this phase, you’re performing the services of a real SEO copywriter. You’ll begin rewriting entire web pages, and clients will come to you and say, “We don’t have an FAQ page, and we need you to write one” … and you’ll end up writing new pages from scratch. At this point your fees will increase exponentially. Because whether you’re revising existing copy or starting from scratch and creating brand-new copy, you’ll be using your direct-response copywriting skills – plus your keyphrase research skills, plus your SEO editing skills – to provide your client with a well-written, high-converting page. Whether that page’s job is to get the visitor to download a newsletter, buy a product, or go to another page, you’ll be able to get visitors to it via the search engines and take the appropriate action.

Opportunity #5: The Total SEO Package

If you can provide all four of these services (and why wouldn’t you!), you’re able to provide the total SEO copywriting package that gives your clients everything they need. But wait, there’s more …

Smart marketers know they need to add fresh content to their website on a regular basis, to keep both the search engines and their customers and prospects coming back again and again. So once you get started offering the total SEO package, you’ll soon find that many of your clients will want you to write content for them on an ongoing basis. Sometimes it may be only a couple of pages if it’s a smaller business client. Or, for larger clients, you could be doing 100 pages a month just for that one website, because they have enough products and customers to support that.

Bonus Opportunity: Training

Once you get good at any one of the opportunities listed above, you’ll become eligible for this bonus opportunity.

For many of your clients, regardless of size, SEO copywriting will be new to them. However, they might want to do the writing themselves, and simply need someone to teach them how to do it as it relates to their website. They’ll rely on you to go in and say, “Here’s your existing website, here are the improvements I recommend, and now I’ll teach you how to do it yourself so you’ll feel confident moving forward on your own.”

Once you’ve worked with a lot of websites, you can move yourself more into this consulting side of the business. Even though a company might not want to outsource and have a recurring expense indefinitely, they will be happy to make a big investment up front. They know they need to do something with their search campaigns, but they don’t know what. You’re seen as a lifesaver when you come in and tell them exactly what to do, and can demand a high fee accordingly.

Truth be told, the landscape for being an SEO copywriter is really endless. And potential clients are out there and are hungry for all of it.

So, if learning SEO copywriting isn’t on your goal list, add it now. No matter what area of copywriting you’re specializing in, understanding SEO will improve your copy when your clients want to use it online. And if you don’t know how to do it, you’ll be leaving money on the table for someone else to take from your clients.

This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread

Brian Tracy’s Five Must-Have Qualities for Success
By John Wood, AWAI Staff Writer

Sometimes we focus too much on learning all the great tips, strategies, and techniques for mastering a skill … while we ignore the “mechanism” that’s responsible for putting them into action.

Recently I was reading best-selling author and internationally known speaker Brian Tracy’s “How You Can Start, Build, Manage, Or Turn Around Any Business” program. He starts off his program talking about the five essential personal qualities you need to be successful.

Not surprisingly, these qualities are the same qualities you need to achieve success in copywriting. Because if you don’t possess them, truth be told – all the know-how in the world won’t get you to where you want to be in life.

The good news is they’re not things that only a select few are born with. They can be acquired by anyone.

Here are Brian Tracy’s five must-have personal qualities to achieve success in business and in life (with a “copywriting twist” to each, added by me):

Have an intense desire to be successful. How bad do you want to be a copywriter? Is it just something that if it happens, it happens … and you’re okay if it doesn’t? To be successful at something like copywriting, you have to want it badly. You have to be passionate. Your desire for success must be overwhelming. And just as importantly, the actions you take have to reflect your intense desire. So, what is your “copywriting career level of desire,” and what sacrifices are you willing to make to turn it into a reality?

Have clearly defined goals. No secret here. As long as we survive on this planet, somebody will be telling somebody somewhere that they should write down their life goals. What are your copywriting career goals? Have you written them down? Have you added a timeline to them? Without firm goals and a schedule to meet them, chances are you’ll just plod along and never accomplish anything significant in life. So if you don’t have a goal-setting and achieving system in place, there’s no better time than right now to put one into action.

Have an unwavering belief in yourself. Do you believe in yourself? Do you really think you can be a six-figure copywriter? Or do you think it’s too difficult? Perhaps you feel you’re not smart enough … or you just don’t have the time, etc., etc. If you don’t believe you can do something, you’re probably right. To be successful you must refuse to participate in negative thinking about yourself. Never doubt for a minute that you’ll become a successful copywriter. You must believe in yourself

Have patience. It takes time to be successful. There are no overnight successes in the world of copywriting. So, if you don’t feel you’re progressing as fast as you should, make the necessary adjustments. Success will come.
Know when to delay instant gratification. You must be prepared to sacrifice today for rewards in the future. A perfect example of this is Olympic sensation Michael Phelps. He swam everyday from the age of 12 to 17. He swam on holidays, on his birthday … he didn’t miss a day. I’m not saying you have to write a promo on Christmas morning … but to be a successful six-figure copywriter, you have to adopt the “Michael Phelps mindset.” You have to commit to do whatever it takes – and accept any sacrifices you have to make – so that tomorrow you’ll have a better, more enjoyable, and fulfilling life.

Work on developing these five personal characteristics, and you’ll be successful. Because in the end, it’s not what you do, but who you are that makes all the difference.

This article appears courtesy of The Golden Thread, an e-letter from AWAI that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on how to build your freelance copywriting business. For a free subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/thegoldenthread