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How I Make a Living as a Writer (and You Can, Too) - 0 views

lifehacker.com/ter-and-you-can-too-1525380428 2014 writing WriteLink copywriting freelance tips writer author Altucher advice living guide
shared by John Lemke on 19 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • If you sit down at a blank screen every day and simply do nothing then you are a writer. If you write one word, even better. Some people will disagree. Maybe you will disagree. That's fine. We also can all disagree. Meanwhile, our DNA is telling us we are pretty much exactly the same.
  • I try to read pieces or chapters in 3-4 books a day or more. I read at least from one non-fiction, one or two quality fiction, and one inspirational. I try to read at the level I want to write. I do this in the morning before I start writing.
  • Destroy every gatekeeper.
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  • Do what you want. Self-publishing simply means you write a book and you figure out how to get it into the hands of other people. It might just be you sell it on your email list. Congrats! You're then a published author. In my post "How to Self Publish a Bestseller" I write about the details and the numbers.
  • This seems opposite of what I said above. But blogging is not such a bad idea. How come? Because it makes you write every day. And it also is fun to build friends and community around your blog. But if you want to blog, don't just register a domain name and start blogging. You won't get any traffic.
  • There's a thousand ways to build community and practice writing on the Internet. Blog is one of them but there are many others. My #1 suggestion: first practice on Quora (cc Marc Bodnick) If you go there, follow me and say "Hi!".
  • If you don't write every day, you won't know what your potential skill level is. You will be producing sub-par work. And in a world where 15 million books will be published this year, your book will have little chance to shine.
  • Do the math: if you just write 1,000 words a day that are publishable then you have a book every two months. 1,000 words a day is not easy. But it's not hard either.
  • No. You used to be able to make a living writing articles. Just a few years ago. In 2005 I made a good living writing about 3-4 articles a day for different publications while I was running my fund and before I started and sold Stockpickr. But those days are over. People just don't pay for content. And there are too many writers. It's a supply and demand thing.
  • ou have to write more than one book. And for most people, you have to write dozens of books.
  • John Lemke on 19 Feb 14
     
    A great article of advice from a published author.
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What happens with digital rights management in the real world? | Technology | theguardi... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...digital-rights-management rights 2014 DRM yourrights copyright DMCA copywrong security law legal litigation
shared by John Lemke on 10 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • In 1997's Bernstein v United States, another US appeals court found that code was protected expression. Bernstein was a turning point in the history of computers and the law: it concerned itself with a UC Berkeley mathematician named Daniel Bernstein who challenged the American prohibition on producing cryptographic tools that could scramble messages with such efficiency that the police could not unscramble them. The US National Security Agency (NSA) called such programs "munitions" and severely restricted their use and publication. Bernstein published his encryption programs on the internet, and successfully defended his right to do so by citing the First Amendment. When the appellate court agreed, the NSA's ability to control civilian use of strong cryptography was destroyed. Ever since, our computers have had the power to keep secrets that none may extract except with our permission – that's why the NSA and GCHQ's secret anti-security initiatives, Bullrun and Edgehill, targetted vulnerabilities in operating systems, programs, and hardware. They couldn't defeat the maths (they also tried to subvert the maths, getting the US National Institute for Standards in Technology to adopt a weak algorithm for producing random numbers).
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 10 Feb 14
       
      This is also why they have a hard on for developing a quantum computer.
  • An increase in the security of the companies you buy your media from means a decrease in your own security. When your computer is designed to treat you as an untrusted party, you are at serious risk: anyone who can put malicious software on your computer has only to take advantage of your computer's intentional capacity to disguise its operation from you in order to make it much harder for you to know when and how you've been compromised.
  • The DMCA's injunction against publishing weaknesses in DRM means that its vulnerabilities remain unpatched for longer than in comparable systems that are not covered by the DMCA. That means that any system with DRM will on average be more dangerous for its users than one without DRM.
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  • For example, in 2005, Sony-BMG music shipped a DRM called the "Sony Rootkit" on 51m audio CDs. When one of these CDs was inserted into a PC, it automatically and undetectably changed the operating system so that it could no longer see files or programs that started with "$SYS$." The rootkit infected millions of computers, including over 200,000 US military and government networks, before its existence became public. However, various large and respected security organisations say they knew about the Sony Rootkit months before the disclosure, but did not publish because they feared punishment under the DMCA. Meanwhile, virus-writers immediately began renaming their programs to begin with $SYS$, because these files would be invisible to virus-checkers if they landed on a computer that had been compromised by Sony.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 10 Feb 14
       
      How the Sony DRM created serious security issues.  It should also be considered a violation of our civil rights.  Who the hell gave Sony permission to modify my OS!  Furthermore why didn't the OS companies sue Sony?  Likely because they are in bed together.
  • If I was a canny entrepreneur with a high appetite for risk -- and a reasonable war-chest for litigation – I would be thinking very seriously about how to build a technology that adds legal features to a DRM-enfeebled system (say, Itunes/Netflix/Amazon video), features that all my competitors are too cowardly to contemplate. The potential market for devices that do legal things that people want to do is titanic, and a judgment that went the right way on this would eliminate a serious existential threat to computer security, which, these days, is a synonym for security itself.And once anti-circumvention is a dead letter in America, it can't survive long in the rest of the world. For one thing, a product like a notional Itunes/Amazon/Netflix video unlocker would leak across national borders very easily, making non-US bans demonstrably pointless. For another, most countries that have anti-circumvention on the books got there due to pressure from the US Trade Representative; if the US drops anti-circumvention, the trading partners it armed-twisted into the same position won't be far behind.I've talked to some lawyers who are intimate with all the relevant cases and none of them told me it was a lost cause (on the other hand, none of them said it was a sure thing, either). It's a risky proposition, but something must be done. You see, contrary to what the judge in Reimerdes said in 2000, this has nothing to do with whether information is free or not – it's all about whether people are free.
  • The DMCA is a long and complex instrument, but what I'm talking about here is section 1201: the notorious "anti-circumvention" provisions. They make it illegal to circumvent an "effective means of access control" that restricts a copyrighted work. The companies that make DRM and the courts have interpreted this very broadly, enjoining people from publishing information about vulnerabilities in DRM, from publishing the secret keys hidden in the DRM, from publishing instructions for getting around the DRM – basically, anything that could conceivably give aid and comfort to someone who wanted to do something that the manufacturer or the copyright holder forbade.
  • Significantly, in 2000, a US appeals court found (in Universal City Studios, Inc v Reimerdes) that breaking DRM was illegal, even if you were trying to do something that would otherwise be legal. In other words, if your ebook has a restriction that stops you reading it on Wednesdays, you can't break that restriction, even if it would be otherwise legal to read the book on Wednesdays.
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A Day in the Life of Maggie Koerth-Baker | - 0 views

www.theopennotebook.com/...n-the-life-maggie-koerth-baker life writing freelance 2014 WriteLink author interview advice howto
shared by John Lemke on 11 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • I’m a freelancer, but I have a couple of contract gigs that play a big role in my monthly and daily cycles. I’m the science editor at BoingBoing.net, a technology and culture blog with 6 million monthly readers. I also have a monthly column with The New York Times Magazine.
  • The rest of the day really varies a lot, depending on what I have on my plate at that given time. I have ADHD and it’s really easy for me to get distracted and be unproductive, so I have lots of little tricks I rely on to keep me focused throughout the day. I used to use a timer on my computer a lot, just to have something that, periodically, forced me to look up and think about what I was doing and what I had to do next. But I find now that the two hours between breast pump sessions actually does that job pretty well. I also jump back and forth between stuff on my to-do list, depending on what I feel motivated to do. If I just can’t get myself to write during a given two-hour block, I’m better off answering email or sending out interview requests than just sitting there, staring at a blank page.
  • Skype, Call Recorder, and Stickies.
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  • Word docs and/or Evernote
  • Livescribe pen. The Livescribe allows me to record audio and take notes, with the audio linked up to the notes, so that later I can find exactly the audio quotes and information I want quickly, just by tapping on the note that corresponds to what I’m looking for.
  • I’m experimenting with a new organizational system that I’m calling Just Put Everything in Evernote. All my research notes, papers, Livescribe notes and audio, everything … it all goes into Evernote, organized by story, and I can find it easily on my phone or my computer, even when I’m offline. The new Livescribe pen I got even uploads the audio and notes to Evernote automatically, whenever it has access to wifi.
  • I increasingly do my writing in Google Docs. Or Drive, or whatever they call it now. It’s been worth it for the couple of times I’ve already needed to access stuff when I’m away from my computer. And it helps with the nagging fear that I’m going to lose, damage, or destroy the laptop at some point, halfway through writing a story. On the same lines, I periodically save everything to Dropbox.
  • EasyCrop for quickly adjusting image
  • I do all my presentations in Prezi
  • Twitter and Facebook are both necessary for my work and a huge time suck
  • John Lemke on 11 Feb 14
     
    Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor for Boing! Boing!, a freelance writer and a columnist for The New Your Times Magazine. In this interview she discusses her life, motherhood and her work flow.
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9 Irresistible Incentives That'll Grow Your Email List Like Crazy - 0 views

boostblogtraffic.com/email-list-incentives 2014 email list traffic blog marketing
shared by John Lemke on 10 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Unless they see the value of joining your list, they simply won’t invest any of those valuable minutes in you and your blog.
  • Do something for me and I’ll do something for you. In this case, the bribe is “give me your email address and I’ll give you something that isn’t freely available on my blog.”
  • Minimum requirements: Useful and engaging content, whether unique to the bribe or already published on your blog, that you can easily break into pieces. On the technical side, you’ll need an email newsletter service (e.g. Mailchimp, AWeber (aff), etc.) with an autoresponder feature ($10-20/month).
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  • Minimum requirements: A word processor like Microsoft Word, Apple Pages or OpenOffice Writer is sufficient for creating a simple cheat sheet, but for a more sophisticated end product, you might require a desktop publishing package such as Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, or QuarkXPress. Alternatively, you can use a cheat sheet tool like Cheatography to generate cheat sheets based on a default template.
  • Minimum requirements: Your chosen word processor is enough to create a basic template, but to make it even more visually appealing, consider using some simple design elements such as colors, backgrounds and borders. If the template is meant to be printed, you can convert your .docx or .pages file into a downloadable PDF for your readers’ convenience.
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So, How DO You Promote a Blog Post, Anyway? - 0 views

www.makealivingwriting.com/how-to-promote-a-blog-post 2014 WriteLink writing freelance copywriting bloggin promoting post blog
shared by John Lemke on 12 May 14 - No Cached
  • Comment on their posts.
  • If you want to build a blog, the reality is that Twitter is one of the most important platforms for sharing, probably followed by Google+, at this point. If you’re in a home/food/how-to niche, Pinterest may be important to you as well. If Facebook seems like a place people talk about your topic a lot, it might be useful, too.
  • There are plenty of tools out there — among the most popular are AddtoAny, ShareThis, and Sharebar (which is what I’m currently using).
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  • Reverse-engineer your social-media success by noticing what sorts of posts get shared a lot in your niche, and writing something along those lines.
  • the key ingredient: Write a strong headline
  • Use hashtags
  • Use a scheduler
  • Don’t just keep retweeting your headline and link. Instead, vary what you say.
  • Be sure you share other things inbetween the repetitions of your new post. Do some scanning, find some interesting stuff, and lace it into your schedule as well, so you don’t start looking like an obnoxious salesman and continue to appear to be putting out useful, varied info.
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The Scientific Guide to Creating Sticky Headlines - 0 views

www.steamfeed.com/uide-creating-sticky-headlines 2014 writing WriteLink freelance writer list tips headlines guide
shared by John Lemke on 22 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • According to Social Triggers and Wired Magazine, George Lowenstien, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University developed a theory called “the information gap theory of curiosity.” Lowenstein says “curiosity is rather simple: It comes when we feel a gap ‘between what we know and what we want to know.’” (source) He goes on to say “This gap has emotional consequences: it feels like a mental itch, a mosquito bite on the brain. We seek out new knowledge because we that’s how we scratch the itch.” That’s why these headline formulas increase traffic.
  • Imagine again that you’re a blogger looking to leverage Facebook.  You begin to click on multiple posts titled “How to get more traffic using Facebook” and bunch of other variations. What happens?  All of the posts begin to run together becoming indecipherable to your brain.  Psychologists call this cognitive overload and you passively read post after post after post.  You never truly connect with the blogger or the message.
  • By adding a quantifiable benefit, you’re accomplishing two things.  First you’re laser targeting the type of reader you want to see the post.  And second, you’re giving them a realistic goal to strive for.
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  • When a person can see the finish line, they’re far more likely to start.
  • Take a look at what happens when you google “From 2,500 to 1 million fans in 2 years”.
  • Ask yourself if you can add either a quantifiable benefit or a specific time frame to your post.  Can you tell the story about how you got more readers to your blog in 30 days?  Or can you tell the story about how you helped a friend drop 15 pounds without starving herself?
  • John Lemke on 22 Jun 14
     
    This is a good list and also explains the "whys" of it.
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» Writing Jobs from TextMaster.com (Full Review) : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...rom-textmaster-com-full-review 2014 writing jobs review textmaster freedomwithwriting.com copywriting freelance
shared by John Lemke on 26 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • TextMaster.com is an interesting little site that is fairly new but already has a reputation for being a good way to get started as a freelance writer. They make the claim that they are writer centered and by all accounts are fair and honest.
  • To become a member of the site, you simply sign up and verify your email address. Then you can go and explore the site.
  • There are 3 categories on TextMaster that will be of immediate interest to you: Copywriter, Translator, and Proofreader. These are the 3 areas that you can apply to for work.
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  • You can choose up to 7 interest categories and then select a star rating based on your expertise in the area. Because your list of available jobs is based on this list, you might want to tweak it to get the best search results. It’s not a long list and the categories are fairly standard with one exception: There is a separate are for the sensitive topics of religion and pornography.
  • There are two methods of finding a job on this site: Look for one and wait for one to come to you.
  • there is no direct client to writer communication which almost always increases the issues with editing.
  • there is the warning that if a writer has a lot of requests for rewrites or changes their status may be downgraded and eventually suspended.
  • There are several different levels of writers on this site and they are ranked in two different manners. Your initial level after submitting your sample is going to be Bronze. This means that you have written less than 10,000 words. The more words you write, the higher your level is going to be. The levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum.
  • Basic, Standard or Expert. So if you do well on your sample then you might enter the site as a Bronze Standard. That would mean that your initial pay rate is 3.9 cents per word. It sounds low but you can move up quickly. If you do well you will be rated again and if you are granted the expert level then you get a bump to $0.10 a word. You can eventually make more than $0.15 per word.
  • payment threshold of $70
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New, inexpensive production materials boost promise of hydrogen fuel (Feb. 21, 2014) - 0 views

www.news.wisc.edu/22583 2014 production hydrogen fuel LL-Pub
shared by John Lemke on 26 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • The trouble with solar fuel production is the cost of producing the sun-capturing semiconductors and the catalysts to generate fuel. The most efficient materials are far too expensive to produce fuel at a price that can compete with gasoline.
  • "In order to make commercially viable devices for solar fuel production, the material and the processing costs should be reduced significantly while achieving a high solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency," says
  • Choi and postdoctoral researcher Tae Woo Kim combined cheap, oxide-based materials to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases using solar energy with a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 1.7 percent, the highest reported for any oxide-based photoelectrode system.
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  • "Without fancy equipment, high temperature or high pressure, we made a nanoporous semiconductor of very tiny particles that have a high surface area," says Choi, whose work is supported by the National Science Foundation. "More surface area means more contact area with water, and, therefore, more efficient water splitting."
  • "Since no one catalyst can make a good interface with both the semiconductor and the water that is our reactant, we choose to split that work into two parts," Choi says. "The iron oxide makes a good junction with bismuth vanadate, and the nickel oxide makes a good catalytic interface with water. So we use them together." The dual-layer catalyst design enabled simultaneous optimization of semiconductor-catalyst junction and catalyst-water junction.
  • In a study published last week in the journal Science, Choi and postdoctoral researcher Tae Woo Kim combined cheap, oxide-based materials to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases using solar energy with a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 1.7 percent, the highest reported for any oxide-based photoelectrode system.
  • John Lemke on 26 Feb 14
     
    I am an advocate of switching to hydrogen for combustion engines.  One of the best reasons is that combustion produces water.  Furthermore, it is much safer than most people believe.  (Your car is not going to turn into the Hindenburg.) In Ben Bova's Book "Break Throughs" he talked of huge floating solar powered hydrogen producing plants.  In Room's "The Hype About Hydrogen" he painfully points out that H2 production is still not cost effective enough to complete with Gasoline.  That said, research like this leaves us hope for the future.
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Our Free Society Stands Or Falls With Our Defense Of Sharing Knowledge And Culture | To... - 0 views

torrentfreak.com/g-knowledge-and-culture-131215 2013 censorship lobbying politics yourrights LL-PUB
shared by John Lemke on 16 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • For once the censorship regime is in place, you won’t think for a second that it will stop at culture-sharing sites, would you? Once such a tool is available in the bureaucrat toolbox, it will be applied to anything and everything considered insubordinate or troublesome. There is a reason the copyright industry loves child pornography so much – the reason that industry lobbied hard to create censorship of child abuse sites, actively hiding the problem and preventing assistance. They knew politicians wouldn’t dare disagree on such a toxic subject, and once the box was open, “other illegal sites” – those that circumvent the harmful copyright monopoly – were next in line. In reality, the culture-sharing hubs had been the target all along, and mentioning “child pornography” had merely been a battering ram to get the censorship started – notwithstanding that the censorship actually creates more child abuse and protects predators, something the copyright industry doesn’t care about at all.
  • In the UK, censorship that started as “violent pornography” has crept to “all pornography”, already censoring a lot of political opinion under that definition, and crept further into “extremist views” and other clearly political material.
  • John Lemke on 16 Dec 13
     
    The problem with censorship is that it starts with child porn, like who would object?, moves to Pirate Bay, then opposing political view points and, eventually, your Bible. Either all speech is free and protected or we are on the slippery slope of "what next" in order to protect "the greater good".   The best form of censorship is when free thinkers choose not to buy porn through the exercise of free will.
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Writer Unboxed » A 'Logic Model' for Author Success - 0 views

writerunboxed.com/...logic-model-for-author-success 2014 writer model author WriteLink copywriting freelance tips marketing management GTD
shared by John Lemke on 14 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • in this age of the “writer as an entrepreneur” responsible for a growing share of the work required to not only create but also sell a book, adding management skills to our repertoire of abilities is not at all a bad idea.
  • as launch time approaches, authors get overwhelmed by thinking that they have to do “everything:” Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, ad campaigns, bookstore talks, conference panels, media articles, email newsletters, book clubs…you name it.
  • what our goals are beyond sales
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  • Based on our mission and our definition of success, we can then work out a manageable set of steps to take in line with our specific interests and goals. We feel more in control and less anxious about having to “do it all.”
  • A more viable definition of success does have a quantitative element, but it doesn’t necessarily mean “number of copies sold or dollars earned.” It can mean other measurable outcomes such as landing a teaching job or a column in a respected publication.
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» "Is there really writing work out there?" : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...-really-writing-work-out-there 2014 writing freelance copywriting reference WriteLink
shared by John Lemke on 10 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • How, then, do writing opportunities work? To be paid for writing, you need to look for a person with two characteristics: They’ve got money to spare. They’re looking for writers. This could be: A magazine editor who is looking for feature articles. An aristocrat or multi-billionaire who wants to support the career of an aspiring artist. A blogger who makes money from advertisements, or from selling information products, but is too busy to do all their blogging themselves. A book publisher who is looking for the next Da Vinci Code or Harry Potter. A business owner who needs help from a writer to promote their business. Do you see where this is going? There are writing opportunities out there, if you know where to look, and if you know the right people.
  • First, the more money a potential client has, the more they’ll be willing to pay you. Bloggers and content creators don’t typically earn much money from advertising. That’s why revenue sharing sites, which share advertising revenue with writers in exchange for content, often pay a relatively low rate. Magazine editors and book publishers are somewhere in the middle. They pay reasonably well, but they’re looking for extremely high quality, so you’ve got to be real good to get their attention. Business owners who have a steady income usually pay the most generous fees to writers. Businesses have a budget for marketing, so they’ve got cash to splash.
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The New Year's Writing Resolution You Can Actually Keep - Copyblogger - 0 views

www.copyblogger.com/just-write writing resolution 2013 freelance copywriting WriteLink
shared by John Lemke on 30 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • Every day in January, write for 20 minutes. By every day, I mean every day. Including weekends. Including the Martin Luther King holiday. Including the days that get crazy.
  • To become a better writer (whether it’s for text, podcast scripts, video scripts, or anything else that needs words to be strung together effectively), you need to write. And the best way to write more is to build the habit of writing every day. Give it a try for 31 days, and let us know how it’s going! And if you’ve ever tried a daily writing practice, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
  • John Lemke on 30 Dec 13
     
    This is a pretty decent tip.  The reality is simple.  If you don't love to read, you have no business even considering being a writer.  Furthermore and more on the topic of the article, if you are not writing daily, you shall never be a writer.
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Use Hemingway's Advice to Rewrite Like a Pro - 0 views

thewritelife.com/s-advice-to-rewrite-like-a-pro 2013 writing advice rewrite copywriting tips tricks howto
shared by John Lemke on 30 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • Hemingway, like all experienced writers, showed a willingness to sacrifice each fresh layer of words in order to stay true to his overarching story.
  • Give yourself some distance Don’t confuse taking time away from a project with slacking off or quitting. A little distance may give you a new vantage point from which to look again. The word revise comes from the Latin revisere, “to look at again.” Tell your story aloud Share your story over coffee (or on the phone) with a friend or acquaintance. If you can, record yourself doing so, using free conference calling or pairing Skype with Audio Hijack or another program. Then listen back.
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20 Rules for Writing So Crystal Clear Even Your Dumbest Relative Will Understand - 0 views

boostblogtraffic.com/crystal-clear-writing 2014 writing freelance copywriting tips list writer WriteLink
shared by John Lemke on 15 May 14 - No Cached
  • Spreading an idea means getting it from your brain into someone else’s. It means putting together the essential facts, the logical arguments and your insightful conclusions together in exactly the right way to recreate your brilliant idea in the mind of your reader.
  • Try to describe your audience with this simple formula: X who Y. For example: “Bloggers who want to get more traffic”.
  • If you can’t explain what your post is about in one simple, short sentence, it’s probably too complex or unfocused.
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  • Make sure a clear connection exists between the opening of your post and the headline.
  • If a sentence, phrase or word is particularly important or significant, use bold or italics to add stress. But don’t overdo it.
  • Always be consistent with your terminology.
  • If a point is worth making, it’s worth making twice. Or even three times.
  • Only tell them what they need to know to follow your argument. Share the minimum you need to convey the desired message.
  • Clear examples help readers understand difficult concepts.
  • Concrete language describes something detectable by the senses. Something you can see, feel, hear, smell or taste. Abstract concepts are much harder to imagine.
  • When you provide specific detail in your writing, there’s less room for ambiguity. Your reader is far more likely to end up with the same idea in their head as you have in yours.
  • Clarity does not tolerate “might,” “may” or “possibly.” If you can’t say something with certainty, perhaps you shouldn’t be writing about it at all.
  • if you’re in the business of spreading ideas, you must make friends with bullets.
  • Bullets are a valuable tool, but you should never drop your reader into a list without first setting the scene.
  • make sure each point is recognizably related to the others.
  • If you were giving your reader a list of steps, you’d present them in the order they needed doing, right? Obviously. But if the items in your list aren’t steps, they often still have a natural order – even if you didn’t have one in mind when you wrote them.
  • always supply everything the reader needs to fully understand your points within the post itself.
  • You think you’re being generous but truthfully you’re being greedy. Greedy with your reader’s time, their attention, and their patience.
  • include a clear call-to-action. Tell your reader what you want them to do.
  • John Lemke on 15 May 14
     
    20 tips on writing with clarity.
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Is Software a Mass Noun? - 0 views

www.dailywritingtips.com/is-software-a-mass-noun writing 2014 WriteLink grammar mass noun noun
shared by John Lemke on 05 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Abstract nouns such as courage, cowardice, intelligence, and happiness are mass nouns because they cannot be combined with an indefinite article. For example, one can’t speak of “a courage” or “a cowardice.” Mass nouns cannot be preceded by a numeral without specifying a unit of measurement: “a ton of coffee,” “a modicum of intelligence.”
  • John Lemke on 05 Mar 14
     
    A decent read on some types of nouns.
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5 Quick Ways Busy Freelancers Can Keep Marketing - 0 views

www.makealivingwriting.com/freelancers-can-keep-marketing 2014 writing copywriting tips marketing business
shared by John Lemke on 06 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • The clients are “not there” for all freelancers, until we go out and proactively market and find them. Take responsibility for your business success and realize it’s up to you to get out there and look for new clients (or new projects from current clients).
  • Don’t have a writer website? It’s time to get one. You really can’t present yourself professionally these days without a site.
  • Tweaking your site copy is something you can do 10 minutes a day on, and it’s well worth it to up your odds of drawing prospects to you.
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  • The writer who sent this comment may be missing out if they’re not active on LinkedIn, the one social-media platform where self-promotion is more acceptable.
  • My experience is LinkedIn connections are happy to recommend and refer you, if you’ll only ask. And it takes just a few moments a day to reach out. You can even mass-mail your LinkedIn contacts 50 people at a time, but use this option with caution to avoid coming off spammy.
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This One Tiny Habit Can Help You Become a More Productive (and Wealthier) Freelancer | ... - 0 views

www.therenegadewriter.com/...mini-habits-stephen-guise 2014 writing copywriting tips freelancer writer
shared by John Lemke on 06 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
  • Not only did his book confirm for me that the best way to create a positive change is through small acts repeated daily, but the book was exceptionally well written and researched — impressive in that the author is not a professional writer — and so applicable to the many writers I meet who struggle with getting query letters out the door or writing big projects like books and novels.
  • There are two kinds of motivation. The first type is having a reason for doing something. My motivation for exercise is to look and feel healthy. My motivation for doing this interview is that you asked me to do it and I want to spread the word about mini habits. Unlike the next definition of motivation, your reason for doing things is generally very stable and changes very little over time. There’s also emotional motivation, which is rooted in enthusiasm and determines your willingness to take action in the moment (“This year I’m going to get in shape so I’m off to the gym!”). Most goal systems rely on this type of motivation; they’ll tell you that you need to find this motivation to succeed. The problem is that emotional motivation isn’t reliable or habit friendly.
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  • There’s a quote from Sun Tzu’s Art of War which sums up the Mini Habit system: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” By taking one small action a day—just one small behavior change—we start with a win. After that point, you’re free to do more.
  • John Lemke on 06 Apr 14
     
    The article talks about taking small steps to make a big difference.
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The Complete Flake's Guide To Getting Things Done - Copyblogger - 0 views

www.copyblogger.com/flake-productivity 2014 LL-Pub guide GTD
shared by John Lemke on 23 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • What we lack is focus. Everything looks good to us.
  • You’re not going to get a damned thing done until you actually know what you want to get out of it.
  • Just know what you want to get out of the thing you’re thinking about doing.
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  • “Pivotal Technique,”
  • Step 1. Get nice and clear about what you want. Step 2. Get completely, impeccably, bullshit-free clear about where you are now, with respect to that.
  • Flakes are flaky because the map seems impossible. Productive people are productive because the map seems real. The flakes are actually right, but a fat lot of good that does us. The productivity people follow their imaginary map, and because they’re doing something, they get somewhere. (Curse you, productivity people!)
  • Allen is very smart about this. It has to be the single next thing to take action on.
  • If you can’t do it in 20 minutes, it’s probably not the next action. Find the next action.
  • The plan in 7 reasonably painless steps When you’ve got something to do, figure out what you really want to get out of it. Do the Pivotal Technique. Think about what you want, then get clear about where you are right this minute. Notice the difference. Figure out the next action. Do what you feel like. Rinse, lather, repeat. Start a compost pile for ideas, notes, plans, and insights. Stick to a few primary areas of focus — three or four is a good number for a lot of people.
  • John Lemke on 23 Apr 14
     
    A good article on why "flakes" actually rule.
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Attention: You're Now a Storyteller - Get Used to It » SEO Copywriting - 0 views

www.seocopywriting.com/...youre-now-storyteller-get-used 2014 seo copywriting attention tips tricks howto writing content freelance
shared by John Lemke on 28 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • You have to go above and beyond your keyword list to get a reaction. There has to be a general theme – or story – that runs through the entirety of your marketing. People are getting the story in pieces from different platforms so it has to be consistent.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 28 Jan 14
       
      Have things changed?  What happened to the not-so-old-but-old-as-the-Internet saying "Content is King"?  All Google did was bring it back to what great authors have been saying since the beginning of stories.
  • You’re a storyteller now – whether you like it or not.
  • The “just the facts” approach to your website may cover all of the bullet points you need covered, but it’s not engaging enough to keep people around.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 28 Jan 14
       
      This means finding your voice.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Your role is to sell your products or services – but in order to do that you have to engage and encourage your audience. Your content can’t read like you’re in it for the sale. Your job is to be an advocate for your audience. You’re there to help. Learn how to engage on each platform you’re using for marketing, and then be present as a helpful, encouraging voice to guide your audience to the right decision.
  • Unlike the early days of SEO copywriting, you can’t keyword stuff and get great results. You can’t even rely on customers to visit your website before they make a decision about company.  They are connecting with you on Facebook, following you on Twitter or reading a landing page.
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» Increase Your Freelance Writing Income in 5 Days : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...lance-writing-income-in-5-days freelance writing copywriting 2014 increase income tips tricks howto tutorial steps
shared by John Lemke on 30 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Spend a few minutes setting up an email system that you can use to contact potential clients. The ideal system will let you contact many people at once, based on a custom list that you create.
  • you need to spend the time to create a custom pitch to that matches your potential clients very closely. Once that is done, set your email system to send the email out at 8am on Tuesday
  • look for potential network possibilities. This should only take about 5 minutes of your time. You want to check Meetup.com for both freelance writing networking as well as networking opportunities within your writing specialties. Check for local community meetings such as School board and city/county council meetings. All of these are great places to meet potential clients.
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  • oday is the day for cold calling. Most people don’t particularly enjoy this aspect of marketing but it is extremely valuable. Use the list you made on Monday and call each company.
  • By now you are getting some serious responses to your quick burst activities. So today you want to focus on social media. If you don’t already have Facebook and Twitter accounts for your freelance writing business, this is the time to set them up. You should also have a LinkedIn account. If not, set one of those up as well. Then go into the settings of LinkedIn and Twitter and set them up to update whenever you post to the associated Facebook page. Properly setting up your social media pages is extremely important; you are selling yourself. Make it look good.
  • PLEASE do not use your personal Facebook page for this. You do not want clients and potential clients to see the funny faces you made during your best friends wedding reception! Use your professional Facebook page for this and close your personal page to anyone but friends. If you are thinking it doesn’t matter, look at your page as though you were the client. That should do it.
  • Ok we are at the end of the week. You have set up an email marketing blitz, found and attended networking opportunities, written a letter to your local paper, cold called potential clients and set up your social media sites (and are updating them!) The only thing left is to update your Freelance Writing Website.
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