Here is The Creative Writer’s guide to writing a great guest blog title:

1. Make sure the title reflects the article content accurately. Try and be too clever and you might leave a reader puzzled as to how the title fitted in with the rest of the article. An article on the ‘Five best Toddler Drink Cups’ is expected to have something on drink cups in there somewhere.

2. Make sure the language is suitable for the audience that you want to attract. A title aimed at a teenage audience is very different from one aimed at the small business owner market. You want your blog post to be authoritative and to offer information that your readers need. You should therefore choose your language carefully.

3. Puns are out! Well, ok probably not out completely, but a bad pun can put people off reading an article. Puns are plays on words that make you groan rather than laugh. People who are groaning may not read on.

4. Don’t be too clever if you play on words. It is easy to get carried away by your own brilliance and leave your audience puzzled. Some plays on words work, others should be cut in the edit.

5. You won’t always get the perfect title straight away. Sometimes you need to work on it a little. Using numbers can help – ‘Five Ways to-‘ or ‘Ten Perfect Blog Titles’ but it’s not always essential. It is more important that your title reflects your article and that it will encourage visitors to your site to read on.

Sarah Charmley is a UK-based freelance writer who offers guest blogs as part of her services. To discuss your blog requirements either use the contact form or email sarahthecreativewriter(at) gmail.com.

website ideas (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Guest blog posts are becoming more popular as the demand for website content grows. Introducing a blog to your website can help increase your traffic and bring more customers to your business, but maintaining a blog can be hard work. It can be difficult to constantly think of fresh ideas and easy to put off writing your blog until the last minute. One solution to this problem is to have a guest post.

There are two types of guest posting: one where people get in touch with you and offer to post. This is usually the case with a very popular website such as Copyblogger which is big in its own right. My comments on posts on Copyblogger rank higher in the search engines than my own website. If you are getting offers of guest posts, then my guess is that you have a highly ranked website in a popular topic.

More usually you might offer to swap blog posts with a friend in a similar field. You exchange like for like in return for links that might bring more traffic to your website. If you don’t have anyone that you think would offer suitable links, then there is a Blogger Link Up newsletter where you can post your guest blog requirements and see if there are any you could offer.

Then there is paid blogging where you hire someone to blog for you, usually if you really aren’t finding the time to write and keep your blog up to date.

Paying a blogger to write guest posts for your websites will give you a ready supply of blog posts to keep your website updated. A professional writer does this for a living: they are able to write new and engaging content that your readers can identify with. A good guest blogger will be able to write using a style similar to your own so that your readers feel that they are still getting the information from you, and of course, the final say over the content is yours. You need to feel that the post could have been written by you and that you can relate to the writing that you are posting.

A paid blogger is often writing in your name. Yours’ is the byline – they just happen to have written the words. It is happening more and more and if writing isn’t your strength, then it might just be the solution you need.

Guest blogs offer a painless way of bringing fresh content to your website and keeping it updated. Whether you accept guest blogs in return for links or money, they can offer a fresh perspective, a new voice and further opportunities to link up with other small business owners and increase your social network.

Sarah Charmley is a UK-based blogger who offers interesting blog posts for your website. If you would like to discuss your guest posting requirements with her, then please use the contact form or email sarahthecreativewriter(at) gmail.com.

website ideas (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Many businesses consider having a blog an essential part of their website. Blogging offers a chance to connect with your customers and enable them to see a little of what you do. Blogging brings fresh content to your website and that is a good thing when it comes to search engines.

Deciding to have a blog is a regular commitment. How often you update it is up to you, but updating it regularly ensures that visitors to your website can see that you use your website and that you still have a valid business.

1. Adding fresh content to your blog ensures that your website stays fresh and current. Coming across a website which has not been updated since 2007 says ‘I don’t care’ or even ‘I’m no longer in business’.

2. Finding new subjects to write about helps to expand your own learning and enables you to keep up with trends and learn more about your own business. It will also help you keep your brain active and engaged in your business. You might even get some new ideas to help your business.

3. Putting up a new blog post gives you the opportunity to promote your website and your business using social media. Keeping in touch with customers through social media is becoming increasingly important. You want your business website to be well-known through social media, although spam is not a good idea.

4. You can use your blog post to promote special offers or to offer other promotions designed to increase business and encourage return customers. This can be a great way to use a blog post. Design it carefully so that links leading to products or services are visible and easily accessed.

5. Regularly updating your blog will help to reassure your customers that you are a trusted company for them to do business with. Trust is increasingly important on the Internet. A trusted company will bring more repeat customers.

Regular blogging can bring many benefits to you and your business website, so stop reading this post and go and get writing!

Sarah Charmley is a UK-based writer who offers blogging as a speciality. If you would like a carefully crafted blog post on a topic of your choice, use the contact form to get in touch or email sarahthecreativewriter (at) gmail.com.

I am of course my own first subscriber! Come and join me so I don’t feel lonely.

I went to a Big Circle event in Worcester which was fairly local to me. Your local Chamber of Commerce runs events, there is also breakfast networking and other organisations set up to facilitate networking including some that are women only and others that only allow one of each profession into the group. Some people feel that they are the best way to get referrals while others find them difficult to do, especially if you are a quieter type of person.

I am fairly outgoing. I have been known to do some cold calling on the telephone and I enjoy meeting and talking to people. Even so I was a little unsure of myself as this was not something I had done before. However I really wanted to make the effort to get away from my keyboard for a while and give myself the opportunity to meet some new clients.

I found the Big Circle event to be friendly and small. It was billed as having 300+ people booked in to attend, but there were only about 20 exhibitors. There were however lots of people milling about. The event lasted for a morning: between 9.30 and 1.30 which allowed people to get there in time and to get back to the office if they need to. The refreshment stand was quite expensive considering I only wanted a hot water because I drink decaf tea and take my own teabags – they still charged me £1! I decided not to ask about any of the snacks!

I met some great people at the Expo. I would like to say hi to Natalie of Nutcracker Design, Rosie of Revmarketing, Richard and Ian at Charles Design and Adrian of Clarify Copywriting. I also met a friend there who had gone quite independently. I enjoyed my time and gave out some of my (new) cards (thanks, Beanprint!).

So if you are thinking of going to your first networking event, here are five things that you should bear in mind:

1. Know where you are going. Obvious, right? I’ve gone past the stadium a few times, but I’ve never gone in before. I ended up going round the wrong way before I found my way in and I was already late because I didn’t…

2. Allow plenty of time to get there. This is not always easy when you have a family to get out the door as well. Then you get on the M5 and it is crawling at 20 mph due to roadworks! I was not on time yesterday, but I didn’t give up and made sure that I did eventually arrive at the exhibition.

3. It actually doesn’t matter if you’re late. I missed a speaker and it took me a little while to organise myself, but as I arrived, people were leaving and others were arriving. People were working to their own timetables and that’s the nature of business. At least I had arrived and I was giving myself that chance to network.

4. You don’t need to do everything straight away. I decided not to take part in the speed networking and I missed the speakers. I arrived too late to hear one speaker, and I was enjoying talking to one of the exhibitors during the start of another one. It would be interesting and next time I might factor in one of the speakers. I might also decide to speed network, but I met some interesting people and still got to chat.

5. Remember your business cards. I had some new cards made because my last set did not have my website on. I have also changed since I last had some cards done. I enjoyed swapping cards and it’s a great way to pass on your details.

I would recommend taking the plunge and starting to network as a way of increasing your freelance business. Freelancing can be lonely and it is great to get out of the office and talk to like-minded people and make new contacts. I will definitely attend one of these events again. It could get addictive.

Related articles

• Circle Events Network Big Expo September 2012
• The Introvert’s Networking Survival Guide: Large Events

It’s not too far away, it’s a morning event and I can fit it into my schedule. I’m hoping to meet with lots of business owners, introduce myself and talk to prospective clients. It’s the first time I’ve done something like this, but I’m hoping that it will enable me to increase my client base. It will also be interesting to see what is going on in the business world.

Let me know if you are going, or what kind of business networking events you have attended. What kind of advice would you give to someone going to one of these events for the first time?

Related articles

• Event: Portsmouth Business Expo: Thursday 18th October
• Hate Networking? 3 Ways to Get Over It

London Olympics 2012 (Photo credit: Andrea Vascellari)

If you have just come out from under a rock, or been hibernating in a cave then you might not be aware that the UK is hosting the Olympics this year. I think most people might know.

I don’t live anywhere near London, but even my family has taken a trip, paying extortionate money to sit high up in the gods and watch an hour of swimming heats. We enjoyed being greeted by a horde of cheery volunteers, even at an ungodly hour of the day. We were processed quickly and efficiently through security and then we were free to enjoy the park.

The atmosphere inside the Aquatic Centre was electric. Everyone was there to cheer on the athletes and have a party. Each row of swimmers was greeted with loud cheers and if there was a Team GB swimmer in the group then the cheering raised the roof. For just over an hour, heat followed heat in rapid succession; each enjoyed and cheered by the crowd. At the end of the session, the audience was given time to take photos and enjoy their time but all too soon it was over.

After the world’s longest queue in the world’s largest MacDonalds, our family enjoyed lunch before heading off to the Tate Modern for the afternoon. After all we had been provided with Oyster cards so that we could travel in London for the day.

When we got back to our hotel at the end of the day, we were exhausted, but we all agreed that we had had a great day.

What have been your experiences of the London Olympics this year? And have they done anything for your business?

Sometimes it can help to examine your business minutely – strip it back to the bare bones and see where it is that you intended to go. Look at your marketing – is it achieving all that you hoped or do you need to refresh and refine it and make sure that it is fit for purpose? What about your website? Does it carry out the right function in giving customers the information they need to make a sale? Think about the processes your business uses – do they work correctly and efficiently, enabling your business to make the most of selling to your customers and your customers to acquire all they need.

It’s been ten years since we moved into this current house. It was in good repair at the time and we saw no need to change what had been done – we just added touches of our own. Now the wallpaper is fading, the moisture marks have begun to annoy us and it was definitely time for a change.

Knowing that it’s time to look at your business afresh is not always an easy choice but it is worthwhile. Stopping to look again at the things you have taken for granted will enable you to ensure that your business remains a solvent business and one that can continue to grow.

Photo Credit: Office Repaint by Kelly K.

ff51_photoshopmagic (Photo credit: Stefson)

try to catch it every week.

This week there was an article on there that suggested that the global recession has been good for freelancers It was entitled ‘Online Jobs are on the Rise by Melanie Brooks. It did spark a discussion on the nature of poor payment rates for freelancers, but I believe that you don’t have to accept those rates. Better paying jobs are out there. The article made the point that we as freelancers are finding it easier to find work as we no longer have to look in just our backyard. The Internet enables us to search on a global scale for work.

From my own experience, I would say definitely that things are on the up. The UK as a whole is apparently stagnant at the moment, growth is slow and seems almost to be getting slower. However there are signs that things are changing. I have had more offers of work this year already than in the whole of last year, when it felt like I was constantly trying to market myself. Good content writers are in demand and they don’t have to settle for rubbish rates.

The article suggests that freelancers are best placed to take advantage of the market conditions. We don’t carry big overheads we can negotiate quickly and often network with other freelancers so that we can offer extra skills to our customers. We are attractive in that we pay our own taxes and in the UK at least our own National Insurance too.

Let me know in the Comments: do you use freelancers? Do you find them easy to work with? What advantages can we offer to you as a business?

Related articles

• What Does Your Freelance Office Look Like?(freelanceswitch.com)

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• Why We Keep on Freelancing Despite All Warnings(freelancefolder.com)

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website ideas (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Have you ever done this?

Found a bright shiny website with whistles and bells, looking pretty and inviting.

So you decide to stay and look round. Then you discover that although it looks like it will be informative, the website content lacks something…you cast around for the word…what is it again? Oh yes, I know. It lacks INFORMATION!

The content is lacklustre and the information is badly written, poorly punctuated and there’s a few spelling mistakes for good measure. There are some keywords, but they seem to have been sprinkled liberally rather than used sparingly and in context. Perhaps the owner of the website has written it for themselves, or perhaps they have relied on a web developer to write it for them. After all everyone can write, can’t they? We all learn to write at school. It’s just a matter of stringing a few sentences together and bunging it up on a website.

What’s the result of this cobbled-together content?

Visitors don’t stay around. If you’re selling something, then they may not bother to see what it is. They may proceed to buy, but then they were going to anyway and if they’ve seen it cheaper on another website then they won’t bother. There’s no interest to keep them here, nothing to learn and no real information that they can use.

What lessons can you take from this as a business owner?

• Bright shiny websites are all very well, but it’s the content that keep people around
• Everyone might have learned to write at school, but only certain people have kept in practice
• SEO is an art which is learned. Just adding keywords here and there will not do the job of carefully crafted content which has been optimised for SEO
• The website has ten seconds to attract a visitor’s attention. Give them something interesting to read and keep them for longer

Talking to a copywriter can help save your website. Organise your information, create interesting content on relevant subjects and your website will instantly improve. Copywriters can create landing pages to entice visitors further, sales pages to help pitch your products and informative articles which can help to sell for you.

If your bright and shiny website also has sparkly and exciting content to match, then your website visitors are going to come back again and again.

Sarah Charmley is a freelance copywriter who specialises in making web content bright and shiny too. Contact her using the form for a personalised quote to save your website.