St. Louis, MO. - Marketing and Graphic Design

I posted before Thanksgiving about the 17 Tips to Becoming a Successful Freelance Writer. I received a lot of great feedback, which I thank you for, but there was also a feeling that what I was saying was for beginners, and didn’t actual pertain to published authors. I apologize for that, and while I agree with you, I wish I had stated that from the beginning so as to not waste anybodies time.

As a symbol of gratitude, I wanted to offer some tips to the published authors, who may have a few books under their belts, are still struggling to best market their works, and not only grab their readers attention but hold on to that attention and build a relationship. One single fan, if they are engaged and excited about your work, can potentially bring you thousands of readers. Read the rest of this entry »

As a freelancer, remember you’re working without a net – no staff copy editor, no proofreader, no company style manual. Just you. So you have to be careful and become your own severest critic. In short, learn to be excellent without supervision.

The key is the more work you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. Here are some pointers in no particular order on how to be an effective freelance writer.

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In the last ten years, independent publishing has grown in popularity at a staggering pace. In a market once reserved for high dollar authors and big named publishers, the independents have broken through, and have solidified a foothold in the industry. With the advent of the internet, the publishing industry found themselves in a rapidly expanding market, full of small and independent publishing houses, which were more nimble and agile and could quickly adapt and produce to the whims of a new consumer driven market. Through Blogs, E-Books and RSS (Really Simple Syndication), these smaller publishers were able to deliver their content directly to the consumer, creating new and scalable business models, that the major publishers were too big to implement, or were too risky to try. As websites like Amazon.com and Lulu.com have taken off, they have empowered the independent publisher, allowing them to reach not only niche target markets, but to have access to world wide distribution.
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Obviously, kind of off topic, but I came across this very cool, ajax enabled, home bathroom design interface.

While the specifics are limited in what you can create, I think this is a great way to get potential customers involved with your product, and pulling them in to further inquiry.

Anyways, I just wanted to share a neat find. It’s very cool and worth a look. Check out Rebath - One Day Bathroom Remodel

Powered by ScribeFire.

For the past three years, I have been using my mini Moleskine notebook religiously. Every random marketing thought, every crazy business idea, every note taken in a meeting, is stored in my Moleskine.

Being as such, I have developed a few different pocket mods for my Moleskine to keep track of my massive list of social network logins, or my assorted affiliate sites, so that I can have them at my fingertips without having to thumb through my multiple Moleskines to find the information.

One of my pocket mods that I have found to be the most useful, and even popular amongst my friends is my CSS pocket mod. It’s just a CSS cheatsheet, that can be printed out, glued to a piece of cardstock and kept in your Moleskine pocket for easy access. If you are anything like me, when you are in the thick of coding, and your brain seizes and you can’t remember how to apply a different border thickness to one side of an element, it’s great to have this handy little cheatsheet to help you out.

Enjoy!

The CSS Pocket Mod

Another post for the Client Questions Answered Series.

This question comes from author, Dennis AuBuchon

Dennis writes, …“I would like your opinion on my web site and the exposure I have received through my articles and interviews. The exposure I have received on my name has grown a lot in the last few weeks. My web site is getting better page rank in google.”
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In my previous post, I talked about Leading by Example, and the approach I am taking to running my business and this website. In an effort to lead by example, I have decided to publish the answers I provide to those that ask a question through the form on the main page of my site. By publishing these answers, I feel you can all learn from each other, and possibly gain some insight into your own marketing efforts.

The first question comes from author,Douglas J. Archambault.

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When I started building this business and ultimately, this website, I decided that I wanted to be as open and supportive as I could be to my clients. I wanted to provide the best service possible, and do it in a way that could help people learn something about their own businesses.

Sure, I can be hired to come in and help straighten out your marketing efforts, and start executing campaigns to build buzz around your product, but in the end, what have you learned? Read the rest of this entry »

As a consumer, I love a free gift, and always remember the companies that give them to me. I am not alone in this regard. I can honestly tell you that at least every couple of months, Read the rest of this entry »

If you happen to be reading this, welcome to the site. Please excuse some of the loose ends, we are still adding our content, but should have the majority of the site finalized in the next week or so.

If you are trying to figure out what this site is about, I could bore you with our mission statement, and all that formal stuff, or you can head over to the FAQ and quickly read through the questions to get a feel what our company is about. Read the rest of this entry »