Category Archives: Writing for Business

Business Blog Writing Tips for People Who Don’t Like to Write

What’s your freelancing or small biz fancy? Graphic design? Virtual assistance? Accounting? Well, if it’s *not* writing then sitting down to bang out that next blog entry might not be your favorite task. Yet if you’ve decided blogging is a sound strategy for promoting your business and connecting with customers, then you’ll need to get those fingers on the keyboard.

The good news is that even if you’re not a pen-monkey by trade, learning how to write a blog isn’t tough. No special literary genes required. No magic wands either. Heck, you don’t even need to have passed senior year English. Check out these simple tips for writing blog entries for your freelance business:

Write like you speak.
You’re blogging, not writing a college thesis. Resist the urge to use 5-syllable words or write sentences worthy of a Russian author. Imagine the ideal person you want to read that blog entry. How would you explain your point, share your tips, or relay that info to that specific person if you were speaking to them in person or on the phone? That’s the language and terminology you’ll use to write a blog entry. No more, no less.

Don’t fall for the SQUIRREL.
What’s your blog entry about? If you’re a photographer writing about how to coordinate outfits for a family photo shoot, then the article should include tips and tricks pertaining to that and only that. It can be easy to be distracted by a SQUIRREL!, and dive into a discussion of outdoor lighting conditions or add several paragraphs about what time of day is best to take infant pics. Stay focused, freelance-san!

Make it scannable.
Blog readers scan pages to pick out the relevant information rather than read word-for-word as they would from a piece of paper. Help your client or customer find what they need quickly–before they hit that back button–by breaking down your article with one of these:

Bullet points
Numbered lists
Short phrases or sentences (like in this article)

Edit. Edit. Edit.
Spell check alone does not a blog-ready article make. Editing is about ensuring the entry is easy to read and understand, and–by default–portray yourself as a professional. After all, when a prospect reads an article lousy with mistakes, he or she is bound to ask: If this web designer is so sloppy with her own blog, how sloppy will her work be if I hire her?

As you re-read your blog draft:

Remove extra words
Delete repetitious statements
Made sure your headline and main idea match what you wrote about
Check for words that sound the same but are spelled differently (allowed vs aloud)

Keep an idea list.
Ideas are all around you. Really! Blog ideas for freelance businesses can come from a conversation with a client or colleague. They can come from problems with your last project or something your 5-year-old says. Remember that tip above about sticking to your topic? Well, those thoughts about outdoor lighting or infant pics would be fantastic ideas for their own blog entries.

Carry a small notepad in your purse or car, keep lists on a note-taking app, or make voice notes into the smartphone—whatever works. Refer to the list when you’re scratching the noggin, saying “What the heck should I write about?”

If you’re not a pro writer, what is it about writing that makes you want to chuck your keyboard?

Can I Use That Photo on My Blog or Site? Basic Copyright Info for Small Biz, Bloggers

I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Do not take it as such.

Over the years I’ve spoken with more than a few clients who’ve said some variation of the following:

I’m copying pictures from the web for my new website.

We just copied-and-pasted the content we found on a similar business’s website.

Don’t worry about a blog image–I’m going to use a pic I found on Google.

I don’t think these clients viewed what they were doing as stealing or copyright infringement. Instead, I think many of us don’t fully understand how copyright works. I don’t know about you, but I never had a copyright course in school. What’s more, the social sharing environment is so relatively new–if Twitter were human, it would be in elementary school–that lines regarding what’s appropriate and what’s not are still a bit blurry to some. So what’s a blogger or small business person to do?

Here’s a basic, not-legal-advice FAQ guide for using images you don’t own on your blog or website:

I found a cool image on Google that I want to insert into my blog post–can I use it?

Short Answer: Probably not.

Long Answer: Just as Lord Voldemort descends on Hogwarts every school year, copyright is a magical cloud that descends the moment a person creates a work in a tangible form, whether it’s writing the first words of a novel on a bar napkin or taking a pic of a dog shredding a pillow. The person who created the work owns the copyright, unless he or she created it as part of their responsibilities as an employee–in that case the company usually owns it.

The copyright owner gets to choose when, where, and how the image is used. If I find a dog shaming pic of a pooch who poops Legos, I can’t use it on my blog unless:

I receive explicit written permission from the image owner;
The pic has been licensed for use, like through a Creative Commons license;
The image has been placed in the public domain, which means the copyright expired or the owner has given up rights to it.

But the image owner wouldn’t have posted the picture online unless they wanted the exposure…so I can use it, right?

No. Really, no. Frankly you or I usually haven’t the foggiest idea why a particular person posts a particular pic. If you want to use an image that’s not licensed for use or within public domain, the copyright holder is the boss of you.

The image doesn’t show that little copyright circle. So I can use it, right?

No. A formal copyright notice isn’t required anymore (although it used to be). Remember, copyright is a magical cloud of protection that descends upon creation.

But isn’t there a fair use sort of a thing?

Yes, but it’s only applicable under specific circumstances. Fair use is generally limited to purposes like teaching, criticism, news reporting, etc. Think…

A book reviewer quoting a passage from the novel being reviewed;
A teacher showing a print of a painting during an art lesson;
A journalist quoting from a magazine article for a news report.

Using a photo owned by someone else to add visual pop to your blog, my blog, or anyone else’s is, in many cases, not fair use.

Takeaway:

Don’t use random photos off the web–each one belongs to somebody. Choose pics licensed specifically for use on websites or blogs. I’ll post more blog pic resources and ideas soon, but in the meantime check out this fantastic list from Carly Spec on HubSpot Blog: 10 Sites for Free, Non-Cheesy Stock Photos.

Again, I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Do not take it as such. For more detailed information, contact a copyright law attorney or visit these resources:

Cornell University Legal Information Institute

Social Media Today’s What Bloggers Should Know About Copyright

4 Reasons to Cozy Up to Coworking

Working from home rocks. Except when it doesn’t.

For instance, sometimes you find yourself trying to plug up your toddler’s horror show nosebleed as you attempt to phone interview an Amish businessman you’ve been chasing for weeks–and you must do both simultaneously because the deadline for the article is tomorrow.

Although my toddler tending days are done, I’m feeling the need to sprawl out from the home office–and the challenges that come with it. Hence, I’ve taken baby steps into coworking by investing in a few day passes for Warehouse D at The Candy Factory. It’s been cool so far, even though actual candy has been inexplicably, and sadly, absent.**

Here are the reasons I’m considering making shared coworking space a regular to-do—and maybe they’re reasons to think about a coworking office for your small business too:

1. You’d rather pull your own tooth using dental floss and a frisky husky than attend a formal networking event.

[Hi, welcome to the club. We should totally get t-shirts.] Whether the desire to seek the quiet of a bubble comes from anxiety or introversion, a coworking space provides social interaction minus the stress and the ohmigod-what-am-I-supposed-to-say-now quality of events like chamber mixers or networking meetings.

2. You want to interact with living, breathing adults.

Freelancing or running a small business from home can be a bit isolating, especially if you’re bound by the schedule of tiny humans. And, as much as virtual tools have made collaboration with clients a breeze, they also have a tendency to sterilize interactions. For example, I worked with one West Coast client for several years, and we never–not once–spoke by phone, largely due to the logistics of our schedules. Coworking puts you in a room with actual in-the-flesh folks…laughs, jokes, chit-chat, etc. Bonus: they’re adults. If you’re a work-from-home parent who’s ever gotten stuck in the hell of a Cailliou marathon, you understand the supreme value of that.

3. You want a remote office space without the overhead & hassle of renting.

From what I’ve seen, most coworking spaces seem to be plug-n-go affairs. The space takes care of utilities, building maintenance, and furniture, as well as some of the related day-to-day snags that would otherwise subtract from a small biz owner’s billable hours–and bottom line.

4. Your work and home life don’t seep into each other…they bleed into each other.

Many people struggle to find that elusive work-home balance. However, for those of us in the work-from-home trenches, particularly those with little ones, nosebleeds can happen every day…sometimes all day! A coworking space might give you extra cushion to build some of the boundaries that will keep you sane.

Have you considered coworking for your freelance or small business? Share your thoughts below or tweet them to @AmyGWrites.

**Candy has been found:-)

How to Research and Write Faster- 5 Quick Tips for Freelance Writers

Faster research + faster writing = more billable hours. I never learned that in math class, but it’s a gotta-know for freelance writers. The “faster” part isn’t permission to research badly or write sloppy content, of course, but it is a smart way to boost productivity and, by extension, your income. Try these 5 quick tips for researching and writing blog entries and web articles more efficiently:

1. Learn to love your browser’s Find feature.
Need to scan a science article for norepinephrine references? Want to find the sole quinoa dish in a list of 50 or 75 recipes? Hit Control + F or your browser’s Find button to search for terms. Using Find doesn’t mean you won’t need to read more for context, but it does speed up the scanning process so you can hone in on the needed info faster.

2. Block similar topics together.
Some freelance writers work in a niche. Others write across a variety of topics. No matter which particular animal you are, one way to streamline is to group similar topics together during research, when possible. If the freelancing gods are good, you may be able to use the same resources for those articles…or you might find that researching one article provides insight into writing the blog entry or article for the similar topic.

3. Tackle ugly topics first.
Procrastination won’t make a toughie go away—and it can make the task take longer because you boost the risk of last-minute snags that lead to flurried hassles, like fumbling through jargon you don’t yet understand or scrambling to find proper sources. Save time (and sanity) by placing tricky or unfamiliar content high on the to-do list.

4. Take a break.
Seriously. Research shows that taking regular breaks makes workers more productive and–this is a biggie, fellow writers–more creative. Find a regular work-break schedule that makes sense to you. I tap online timer e.ggtimer.com to use the Pomodoro productivity method—work intervals of 25 minutes followed by 5 minute breaks (h/t Jennifer Mattern who shared this technique on All Indie Writers). Try it out, or check out the many other apps available to keep yourself awesomely productive.

5. Go for a two-fer.
Monitors, that is. Stop flipping back and forth between a research tab and draft document. Stop squinting at squished-up windows on your single screen. Consider investing in a second computer monitor. When they’re placed side by side, you can use one for researching, the other for writing. I went dual-monitor about 3 years ago and it was a serious productivity boost.

Don’t ever try to take away my second screen. Ever. I *will* go bad-fairy Maleficent…and smote you.

What quick productivity hacks do you use while writing or researching content?