Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

What is a Ghostwriter?

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ghost-writerYou’ve probably heard the term ghostwriter before, but you may not be altogether sure what a ghostwriter is and what they do. The word ghostwriter sounds pretty mysterious, but the idea behind it is simply that the writer is a ghost that can’t be seen.

A ghostwriter is a trained writer who will create your content for you and give up all rights to it upon payment. Once you have paid your ghostwriter, they will have no rights to the content and you are free to use it as you wish. You can edit it in any way and even put your name on it as the author. When you’re hiring content to be written on your behalf, you probably want to put your own name on it. In order to do this, you need to hire a ghostwriter.

A ghostwriter stays in the background and doesn’t take credit for the content, although they may sometimes be acknowledged. When you see a book by a celebrity written by the celebrity “and” someone else or “with” someone else, you can be sure that the someone else is the ghostwriter who did all or almost all of the writing. Charles Barkley famously claimed that he was “misquoted” in his autobiography and that he had not even read it before publication.

Once you realize how common ghostwriting is, you probably won’t ever look the same way at books in the bookstore! Believe it or not, many books have had the participation of a ghostwriter for all or at least part of the book.
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Ten Quick Ways to Improve Your Writing

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With blogs and social media, it seems that we are doing more writing than ever before. Being a better writer means that you will expand your influence with clients and potential clients. And, as you become a more confident writer, it will take you less time to write.

Here are ten quick tips to improve your writing:

Write conversationally. Imagine that you are talking to one person in your audience, and write to that person.

Avoid jargon. If you must use technical terms and jargon, explain it. Don’t make your readers feel stupid if they don’t understand something.

Vary sentence length. Short sentences are easy to read and comprehend, but using only short sentences can make your writing choppy.

Include just one main idea in a paragraph. Readers will be able to follow and understand better.

Use subheads and bullet points. Subheads and bullets make copy easier to read and help to reinforce main points.

Use an introduction, body and conclusion. Start by introducing your topic, deliver the meat, then summarize and wrap it up.

Give examples. Examples help your reader understand the point(s) you’re trying to make in your content. They can also help personalize the content and make it more accessible.

Keep it simple. I used to work with someone who loved to use long words in his business letters. There were at least two problems with that: He was often writing to people with very little education, and they didn’t understand what he was saying. And sometimes, he didn’t know what he was saying—he did not always use the words correctly. ;o) Use simple, easy to understand words.

Avoid inappropriate emphasis. Bold, italics and exclamation points are often used to emphasize certain words or phrases. Use them sparingly for the greatest effect. After all, when everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized.

Smile when you write. Your mood affects your writing. Sit up straight and smile while you write. It will show in your work.

These ten tips are easy to implement and will make your writing flow more easily and be better received by your audience.

Getting Content Ideas

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get-content-ideas

To keep your business going, you may need to create content regularly. So what can you do when you need an idea and your muse is AWOL?
Do you get stuck trying to come up with topic ideas for articles, podcasts, blogs, books, newsletters, ebooks and other content? You may have times when ideas come easily and the words flow, and others when your mind seems to go blank.

Here are some ways to come up with ideas:

Look for something new. Check news sites, blogs, press releases and other sources of information about what is happening in your field. Subscribe to Google Alerts at http://www.google.com/alerts to be updated by email when there is news involving your topic. For example, I get an email from Google whenever they index a page including information about mystery shopping, the subject of one of my books.  You can also subscribe to RSS feeds from your favorite sites to get the latest news.

Read articles written by others. Do NOT copy their articles or just paraphrase what they have said. However, even reading an article on a topic unrelated to yours could give you ideas. For example, “Six Ways to Get More Customers to Your Retail Store,” might give you the idea to write, “Five New Ways to Get More Patients for Your Dental Practice.” The ways will be different because the businesses are different.

Do a review. Talk about a new product, book, tool, web site or something else that would be of interest to your audience.

Do a keyword search. Use the Google Keyword Tool or Google Suggest to find ideas on your topic. In Google Suggest, you can enter a search term and, as the name implies, Google will suggest related terms. So if I enter “fly fishing,” I get terms including fly fishing knots, fly fishing equipment, fly fishing rods, fly fishing show, fly fishing reels, fly fishing tackle and more. Any of those might make a good topic for an article, podcast or blog post. Maybe even an ebook or book.

Look at pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and a picture can certainly inspire a lot of words. Go to a photo site such as Flickr.com or a video site such as YouTube.com and search for images related to your topic. As you look through the pictures and captions, see what ideas come to mind. Clip art and stock photo sites are good, too. Try ClipArt.com or iStockPhoto.com.

Use a template. Create an article using a standard format, such as Top Ten lists, Q&A, common myths, step-by-step and others.

It doesn’t always have to be words. When I wrote a weekly newspaper column, each column had to be words, and a certain number of them at that. However, your blog post or newsletter item could be a video, a picture, an audio, a graphic or something else. Don’t assume that content always means written words.

Keep a notebook. When an idea comes to you, write it down. I used to think that I would remember the great idea I had for a product or an article, but I often did not. Or at least I could not recall it on demand. WRITE IT DOWN! Instead of a notebook, you can use an electronic form, such as a PDA, text messages, voice recorder or whatever you have with you all the time to capture ideas as they come to you.

P.S. – Please Read This

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You’ve spent hours (or days) polishing that sales letter. You’ve got a dynamite opening, powerful benefit language and a killer close. What’s missing? The P.S.

Customers may or may not read your entire letter, but if they read anything it will be the P.S. Not an afterthought, the P.S. is so important it had to be added to an already complete letter. It certainly must be read! Or, maybe we have just been trained that the “good stuff” comes in the P.S.

Whatever the reason, research shows that your prospects will read the P.S. in your letter or email–so make it count. Put your call to action and your best offer there. Make it urgent–include a deadline. Then, watch the results pour in!

Writing Quotes

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Do you find it hard to get ideas or start writing? Lots of people–even famous authors–share the same problem. Here are some of my favorite quotations from writers and others about coming up with ideas, writing and not writing.

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any. – Orson Scott Card

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats. – Howard Aiken

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word. – Margaret Atwood

Nighttime is really the best time to work. All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep. –  Catherine O’Hara

Don’t get it right, just get it written. – James Thurber

If you’re going to be a writer, the first essential is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start writing something and the ideas will come. You have to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow. – Louis L’Amour

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. – Mary Heaton Vorse

Lower your standards and keep writing. – William Stafford

I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning. – William Faulkner

Do you have a favorite quotation that motivates or inspires you to write?