As a writer, you may be itching to break into the freelance world, but be lacking important and necessary items - like a website, a sales page, or basic technical knowledge. If this is your situation - don’t despair! Consider using the power of barter to help you meet your basic internet marketing needs.

Spend time on any IM forum, and you’ll see posts on a daily basis - technically savvy individuals looking for one thing - content! Amazingly, you have the skills needed to provide them with what they need. Consider offering to trade your skills for theirs, and see what happens!

I speak from experience (and a complete lack of technical no-how!) My entire website
was built for me for free, in exchange for some proofreading, copywriting, and ESL help. I was able to exchange some content for updates to it, and got the header on my blog installed for some writing, as well.

I’m also getting ready to launch a huge new membership site - Bum Marketing in a Box. I’ll be providing weekly content, in a membership format. The membership was designed on….guess what…a barter basis! I’d never be where I am today if it wasn’t for the wonderful barter economy that the IM world has to offer. Put it to good use for you, today!

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As you break into sales copy, it is essential that you know the product that you’re selling. This allow you to write legitimate, benefits based copy. Before you write a word, take the time to do your research

•  Ask for a List of Features:  Ask the products creator, your client, for a list of features he or she would like highlighted in the copy. This gives you a great head start, and allows you to tailor your copy to the needs and desires of your client.
• Make Your Own List: Get a copy of the product from your client and make your own list of features. These are benefits that you, as a new user or reader, see in the product. They may be different from those of the client, since he or she is extremely familiar with the product. Add these to your list of features.
• List These Features as Benefits:  Go through your list, and rephrase each feature into a benefit. This is where your creativity comes in, and you can really begin the writing process. This list will become the skeleton of your sales letter. You can flesh it out by adding a headline, introduction,call to action, and so on. However, it’s nearly impossible to sell a product without a list of benefits.
• Check Out the Competition:  As you continue your research, be sure to check out the sales letters of competing products. How are they phrasing benefits? How can you make your product look better than theirs? Take the time to evaluate the competition, so that you are better prepared to blow them out of the water!

When writing sales copy, it’s absolutely essential to do your research first. Invest the time to research your product throughly, as well as your competitors’ products. This time spent reading instead of writing will serve you well.

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Know your audience

Before you even attempt to write a single word, understand your audience who will respond your copy. Knowing your audience will determine your story and your language.

Focus and have a clear goal. Be flexible and research thoroughly.

If your product is a new high-tech IT gadget and your target audience consists of IT talents, your ad will be so much different than if you are trying to build a product awareness to the mass consumers.

Copydiva.com has an extended version of the basic rule here

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