Some people are natural-born writers. They hold a pen up to paper and words start flowing. On the other hand, there are people who struggle to write a few paragraphs. Having a unique writing style will help set your writing apart from others, even if you fall into the group of people that finds writing difficult. Here are some ways to develop your writing style.

The best writers have a love of words, and they are avid readers. Believe it or not, reading is a great way to develop your writing style. The types of things you enjoy reading are probably things you would enjoy writing.

Reading other peoples’ writing will also give you insights on your own writing. As you read, some authors’ styles will seem to pop out at you as very good or very bad. You probably have a writing style similar to the authors you enjoy reading.

What are your writing strengths? Some people are great at writing news-oriented stories, while some people prefer to write reviews and opinion pieces. If you like to teach people things, your writing strength could be how-to articles. If you enjoy coming up with slogans and catchy headlines, you might be a natural when it comes to copywriting. There are many types of writing to explore.

In order to develop your writing style, you need to write. Try to write something everyday. The more you write, the easier it will get. Experiment with different styles and techniques. You will see that some types of writing come easier to you. Blogs and journals are a great way to get writing practice.

These “practice writings” don’t need to be masterpieces, and you can delete what you write if you want. The point is to keep your writing muscles flexed by exercising them a little each day. Your natural strengths will come out as you try different forms of writing.

Embrace your personality and voice as you write. Use words that you would use when you speak. If your writing sounds unnatural and awkward, your reader will be turned off. Let your personality come out in your writing. Have a conversation with your readers as you would with someone you were speaking to face to face. If you like talking about certain subjects, write about them.

Free writing can also help you develop your unique style. Sit down in a quiet place and set a timer for five to ten minutes. Clear your head and start writing what comes to your mind, and keep writing until time runs out. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Just write whatever you think of.

When the timer goes off, read over what you have written. It may not make sense, but it can give you ideas for other things to write about.

You’ve just created a book and you’re ready to publish. Congratulations! The book market is still growing in demand. And publishing is a fantastic way to build your business and make money. However, it’s not enough to simply publish a book. If you want to sell books then you’ll need to do a bit of marketing too. Testimonials may be a key ingredient in your book-marketing strategy.

Before You Publish

Before you publish your book it’s a good idea to gather a few testimonials. These testimonials can be used on your website and sales page. They can also be used inside the cover or on the back of your book to help a prospect justify the buying decision. Collecting testimonials before you publish gives you the opportunity to hand pick the best testimonials to include in your book.

Who Gives the Best Testimonials?

Generally, it’s easier to ask for testimonials from peers and associates. They are the people you know and trust. If you have a sizeable rolodex of people in your industry or complimentary industries then you’re ready to ask the big question, “Will you write a testimonial for my book?”

People in your niche or in complimentary niches make the best testimonials because they add credibility. For example, if you wrote a book about “How to Get Started with CrossFit” and you have a testimonial from a personal trainer, that makes more sense than a testimonial from a home organizer. It adds more credibility to the testimonial.

Asking the Big Question

The best way to ask for a testimonial is via email. This is because it makes it easy for you to attach chapters from your book and sample testimonials. Write the email asking for the testimonial and describe the book and the book’s market. Even though you’re talking to people you know, they will still want to know what’s in it for them. So let them know how they benefit. Usually, the benefit is in the form of a link to their website and including their name on your book and/or website with that link.

It’s also recommended that you include the attachments already mentioned – a few sample chapters and a few sample testimonials. Let them know that they can modify the attached testimonials to meet their needs or they can write their own. Finally, give a time frame that you need the testimonial back from them and thank them for their consideration and their time.

As you gather your testimonials, don’t forget to keep the information organized and to send thank-you’s to each person who responds. These people have contributed to your future success and may continue to play a role in your book sales and marketing. Treat them graciously.

Getting a high conversion rate with your landing page isn’t just about writing good copy. Design can play a huge factor as well. Poor design can kill even world class copy. Yet many entrepreneurs don’t really understand what goes into landing page design.

The design of a landing page doesn’t use the same rules of design as graphic design. The goal isn’t necessarily to look good, though that doesn’t hurt.

Instead, the goal is to direct attention flow as clearly as possible. You want to first make it easy for the headline to catch attention. Then you want to direct that attention in an unobstructed way.

Here are a few tips on landing page design.

Headline Color and Font

Red has traditionally been one of the highest converting colors in any market. This is still true today, with a few notable exceptions.

In markets that are heavily marketed to, such as the “make money online” market or the “lose weight” market, red headlines can actually decrease conversions. People are tired of hardcore sales messages and start to tune them out.

In a heavily marketed market, try a deep blue color instead. In other markets, red is still a healthy choice.

For fonts, always go for a sans-serif font. Tahoma has been tested to pull extremely well. Make the font as big as possible to fill the whole screen.

Graphical Headline, Graphical Subheads

Instead of just using plain text for your headline, you can really bring it to life by making it a graphic instead.

This allows you to add drop shadows, yellow highlights, creative punctuation and so on. This applies to both headline and subheads.

If you use this technique, always try to compress the image as much as possible. Your headline should load instantly when visitors load the website.

Color, Background and Width

The background of your sales letter should be as unobtrusive as possible. Many top sales letters just have white backgrounds. If you want something a little better looking, you can use a slight color or a mild pattern.

Never use a background that calls attention. Your reader’s eyes should be on the sales message, not the design.

Always use black text on a white foreground. Different text colors and different foreground colors never, ever work.

The width of the sales letter should be relatively narrow. This helps create the sense that the content is easy to read. The width should be no more than 700 pixels wide, preferably below 650 pixels.

Have you thought about using an ezine to market your business? If not, consider using an online magazine to gain interest and traffic. Here are a few tips to use as you craft your magazine.

People love to read magazines. They provide articles, ads and photos to view. You can use one as a way to market your business.

With magazines also come subscribers. It is one step closer to getting people to try your products and invest in your business. Here are some ways you can use your ezine to leverage your business position.

Offer a free subscription – Just for signing up and giving their name and email address, you can offer free subscriptions to your online magazine.

Write articles about your products – You can write articles related to your niche market, helpful ones that offer timely and expert advice to your reading audience. But, don’t forget to write pieces about your business products. Let people know that you are an expert and then tell them about what you do.

Create a readers section – This is where readers can have their questions featured and answered by you. Include an email address where they can send them.

Offer advertising for free or at a discount – This is one way to pay for your magazine efforts. Offer a free month of advertising in exchange for subscription. Also include the price for advertisements depending on where on the page their ad is located.

Have guest writers – Ask readers and colleagues to write articles. If their submission is accepted, then they can get a discount on their total product order on your site. And, you can give them a byline.

Use directories – Ezine directories such as ezine-dir.com allow you to create a page to promote your magazine. Include links to your advertising page, your magazine site and your website. Even create a page that gives them a sample of the online magazine to read.

Hold contests – Everyone loves contests. The prize could be a free item from your store (within a certain price). Second and third prizes could be discounts upon purchasing. Feature the names of the contest winners in the next edition after the contest ends.

Send out mailings to your email list – To those that have opted in for contacts on your website, send them an email autoresponder with a link to where they can subscribe to your online magazine. You can advertise a free report as incentive to sign up.

Promote it on social networks – Do you have a Facebook business page? Talk about your ezine there. Even create a magazine page where subscribers can give feedback on your work.

Ezines can be used to promote your business by providing vital information about your business to current and prospective customers.

If you’re ready to ramp up your marketing efforts, then you need my weekly Biz Tips ezine. By subscribing now, as a bonus you can have a copy of my ebook Biz Tips: The Book – Entrepreneur Edition absolutely free, filled with business and marketing tips designed to help you where you are right now. The weekly business tips, Biz Tips for Solo Business Owners and Entrepreneurs is delivered to your inbox every Tuesday.

Please know that your information is safe with us. We will never rent or sell your information. Period.

Writer’s block is a common ailment among writers, whether it is a news reporter under a deadline or a student trying to finish a report. If you are a blogger, you may find yourself suffering from “blogger’s block”, the condition of not knowing what to put in your blog.

Your blog should feature your voice. It is easy to find reprint articles when you feel stuck, but try to avoid putting them in your blog. You can publish a reprint article on your website and create a blog post that links to it, but keep the blog content your own. This will enable your readers to get a feel for your personality, as well as develop a relationship with you.

The media is a great place to find things to blog about. Watch the local news, read the paper, or check media websites. Take a look at what is going on in the world and spin the stories into a tale for your readers. If you have a website about coaching solopreneurs and come across a news clip that features something they would find interesting, by all means, blog about it. After you give your opinion on the story, link to the original news source as a convenience for your readers. They may find your post so interesting; they’ll want to read the original story, too.

You can blog about your affiliate programs and make money at the same time. If you are an affiliate for something, find a way to create a blog post about it. You can review the item, give tips on how to use the item and so forth. You will have something to write about, and if your reader clicks on your link and purchases the item, you’ll make money at the same time.

Blogs are also a great way to promote your website. Let your readers know when you have made a change to your site, such as publishing a new article. Create a blog post that contains the first few lines of the article to tease your readers, as well as a link to the page that features the full text.

Keep your posts timely and helpful. If it is almost Labor Day, adding a post with tips on “spring cleaning” your business isn’t very timely. However, tips on rejuvinating your business when kids go back to school, would be both timely and helpful.

To help your readers stay up to date with the new posts that you add, install Google Feedburner. Once you register, you will be given a small amount of HTML to add to your blog. Your readers can choose to subscribe and have your new posts delivered to their email or computer’s home page.

Turn on the news and you’ll get an earful of how bad things are – not only in your community but around the world. Head to the coffee shop and conversations will battle for your attention as folks around you discuss their woes. The financial situation and the disposition of people around you are enough to make you want to bury your head in the sand.

Yet, when you can harness a positive mindset, the sky is the limit. A positive mindset not only helps you get through the tough times, it helps you profit from them and continue to grow and succeed. The trick, of course, is actually being able to think positively in tough times. Here are a few tips and ideas to help.

Gratitude

Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions human beings are capable of. It’s right up there with love as a potent and significant emotion. One of the easiest ways to stay in a state of gratitude is to create a gratitude habit. Start or end each day by listing the things you’re grateful for. Also consider turning to gratitude when you feel negative emotions sneaking in and taking over.

Focus on What Is Working

If something is always going wrong, rest assured something is also going right. The trick is to focus on the things that are working. So make a list. Right now, make a list of the things that are going right in your life, in your business, and in your relationships. Print the list and hang it in a place where you often feel overwhelmed. When negative thoughts begin to creep in, take a glance at your list. Read it aloud if it helps. Absorb it and change your thoughts.

Create Positive Surroundings

Surround yourself with things that you love and people that support you. Emotions are contagious. When the people around you are negative, it’s easy to become negative too. However, the contrary is true too. When you’re surrounded by positive people it’s much easier to feel positive.

And when you’re surrounded by things you love and things that make you feel good, it’s easier to focus on the good. Make your home comfortable. Place personal pictures on your desk. Buy pillows and blankets in colors that you like. Paint your room or office a color that makes you smile. Change your surroundings and change your life.

Personal Care

Taking care of your mind and body makes a huge difference in your ability to stay positive. Exercise, eat well, get plenty of sleep and take time during the day to meditate. A little self-care goes a long way.

When it comes to maintaining a positive attitude, it can be a real challenge during the tough times. Small things matter and can make a big difference. Take care of yourself. Surround yourself with people and things that make you smile and remember to focus on what is good in your life. If you have to, make a list and keep it handy.

Is the thought of blogging for business stressing you out?

Is your blog neglected and in dire need of refreshment?

Do you want to attract the right type of client to your website?

If you answered YES to any of these questions have I got a treat for you! I am giving away ONE seat to Laurie Foley’s class “Blog More, Stress Less: Six Steps to a Sustainable Blog” valued at $497. You can find out more about the program here but now for the best part…how YOU can WIN!

We’re going to have a contest and here’s how it’s going to go:

#1 – To enter, simply create a post on your blog about why you would like to be in the class “Blog More, Stress Less”. You’ll even get bonus points in the contest if you link to Solopreneur.biz and the “Blog More, Stress Less” websites here:

http://www.solopreneur.biz

http://blogmorestressless.com/

#2 – After you post to your blog, simply go to our contest page on Solopreneur.biz on Facebook and post a live link to your blog post.
That’s it! You’ll be entered into the contest. We will be reading your posts everyday and promoting them on the Solpreneur.biz on Facebook Wall and we’ll pick the final winner on Friday, March 2nd.

You’ve got nothing to lose (except perhaps STRESS) and everything to gain. Have fun and be creative, which relieves stress too!

About Laurie Foley:

Laurie Foley is an online business coach with a thriving practice that specializes in branding. She got off to a rough start with her blog – Laurie wanted it to work but felt clueless and unsatisfied for months and months. Then she read in the New York Times that 95% of blogs are abandoned within 4 months, and she knew she wasn’t the only one who had been struggling to sustain a creative and helpful blog.

Laurie then spent a solid year (and a lot of money!) studying blogging to learn how to create a blog that is easy to sustain and helps you achieve more in your business as a coach or consultant. She put what she learned into practice and was awarded one of the “Top Ten Coaching Blogs” from the School of Coaching Mastery in 2009 and 2010 for her blog at lauriefoley.com

About Janet Slack and Solopreneur.biz:

Janet is a Professional Certified Coach, well-known author, speaker and blogger on topics related to running a successful small business. She has mentored, coached and supported hundreds of others as they started or grew their own small businesses. Her passion is coaching people to succeed in life through seeking fun, challenges and rewards whether they are small business owners, women in transition or even those conquering fear and learning to find joy. Her first book, Mind Your Own Biz, is a guide to starting and developing a coaching business. Janet is a coauthor of How the Fierce Handle Fear.

There are a few pages that every blog should have. These pages will help give your readers an idea of who you are and what you blog about. They’ll help your readers navigate your website. Also, some pages are required for other reasons, such as web regulations or search engine optimization.

Here are a few of the pages and widgets that every blog should have.

An About Me Page

At the end of the day, people want to know about who you are.

If they’re reading your blog and taking advice from you, they want to know who you are. They want to know about your past accomplishments and failures. They want to know what makes you who you are. They want to know your story.

Put this in an about me page and make it easy to find.

Contact Page

Not all bloggers want to be contacted. However, it’s a good idea to at least have a contact form. Why?

You could be contacted by potential partners or someone could be considering referring a buyers to your site and just wanted to ask you a question.

You don’t have to answer every single question you get, but it still helps to have contact information up.

Social Media & RSS

Give your readers a number of different ways to follow you.

In your sidebar, have buttons that allow people to follow you on Twitter, on Facebook and even on Google+.

You should also have a clearly displayed RSS button that allows people to subscribe to your feed.

The Best Posts

Also in your sidebar should be a list of your best posts, most popular posts or your personal top picks.

When someone lands on your site, they don’t necessarily just want to read your blog in chronological order. A lot of people would prefer to start by reading your 5-10 best articles to decide if they like your content.

If they do, then they’ll start reading your blog regularly. Having these 5-10 top posts easily accessible helps give new visitors the best stuff right up front.

Privacy Policy, Disclosures, Sitemap and Terms of Service

These four pages are meant mostly for search engines and regulatory agencies.

If you’re using Google AdSense, collecting email addresses or using tracking software, you need a privacy policy.

Google strongly recommends having both a privacy policy and a terms of service. Not having them could be detrimental to your ranking. They’re also required for AdSense.

Having a sitemap will help search engines index your site.

These are a few of the pages and items that every single blog should have. Adding them will increase both your usability and your compliance.

Content is an investment. You spend a lot of time writing it. You probably also spend a lot of time planning and researching it. It makes good business sense to make the most of your investment. When you repurpose and reuse your content, you maximize your return. Here are five tips and ideas to repurpose and reuse your content.

Build it up - Gather articles that fit together nicely and create a report. You’ll want to add an introduction and a conclusion. You may also need to add some transitions and polish the content to fit a cohesive theme. To monetize the content, consider adding affiliate links where appropriate. You can also include the occasional product or service promotion for your own business.

Break it down – If you have existing reports, then they’re perfect to create articles and blog posts. You have many options here, too. You can simply pull apart segments of the report to create articles. Add an introduction and conclusion paragraph and you’re ready to publish. Or you can take it further and create lists and other information-packed articles.

For example, if you have a “how to” report with ten steps and ten pages of content, you could create an article that’s a much abbreviated version of the report. List the ten steps with a one or two sentence explanation. You could also write a “three things you need to do to…” article. In fact, with ten steps you could write three of those articles.

Republish old content with updates - Often evergreen content isn’t as evergreen as you hope. The world moves quickly and most industries grow and change regularly. Take a look at your “evergreen” articles and blog posts. How can you refresh them with updated content?

Partition ebooks - This method is similar to breaking down reports to create articles and blog posts. You can break ebooks down into reports, articles or blog posts. In fact, you can get quite a lot of content from an ebook. Take a look at the ebooks you’ve purchased or written and brainstorm content ideas.

Group reports – If you’re looking to create a new information product, consider grouping them to create an ebook. You’ll want to organize the reports in a logical manner. You’ll likely also need to add an introduction as well as a conclusion. Transitions will be necessary and you can add some nice graphics. Add checklists, worksheets and lists to add value to your ebooks and reports for extra value.

Repurposing your content is a smart business strategy. With each new piece of content you create, consider how you might be able to use it in the future. Content is essential for online business success. Make the most of your efforts and maximize your content to the fullest.

My friend and colleague, Linda Claire Puig, has me wondering how she has grabbed so much wisdom and fun at the same time!

You see, she has an important free 75 minute training on Tuesday (Oct 11^th) called “Subject Line Secrets: How to Get Your Emails Opened and Acted Upon So You Can Have a 6-Figure Business and the Life of Your Dreams!” If wisdom and fun are a combo that work for you, you will want to be there.

Here’s the wisdom:

Your email subject lines are vital to your success.  If your readers don’t open your emails, they won’t sign up for your services, buy your products, or register for your programs.

It doesn’t matter how amazing or persuasive your information and product are.  If your subscribers don’t open your email and see your words, all you get is wasted marketing efforts and disheartening results.

Linda is an expert in subject lines and taught me tips that make a difference in my business to this day.  More than 3000 people have already signed up to learn from her on October 11^th.  Wouldn’t it be wise for you to be there too?

Here’s the fun:

Because she is such a wise biz person, Linda is giving gifts to you just for registering for this exclusive training! First, you will receive Linda’s “Subject Line Success Checklist” which is a $79 value.  Then you will also receive a fun series of short training videos from Linda about using newsletters and other emails to create a 6-figure business (videos that were shot in Italy as she runs her own 6-figure business abroad!).

And there is fun for me too.  Linda is wise enough to have a contest for those of us who are recommending her free training to see who can get the most signups. She’s giving us great gifts from Italy  – including time in her home there that goes to the big winner.  (I am currently in 5^th place so I am thinking more about the Italian pizza prize. That’s fun too!) If you sign up to help me, I guarantee Linda will help your business as well.

I’ll be joining Linda on the “Subject Lines Secrets” training for a dose of her wisdom and a side of fun.  I hope you’ll be there too.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 11, 2011, at 1 pm Pacific, 2 pm Mountain, 3 pm Central, 4 pm Eastern, 9 pm UK (London), 10 pm Italy, 7 am Australia (Sydney, Oct. 12)

Save your spot now!