Posts Tagged ‘writers’

Women Mag Writers: Breaking into the Game

Friday, January 27th, 2012
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As girls, we have an edge over men when it comes to our abilities to listen and to speak. When we combine those qualities with powerful writing skills, we can become topnotch stories and feature writers for mags. But , as anyone that has tried to build a name in magazine writing knows, it's not necessarily straightforward to break into and stay in the game. Here are some tips to give you an edge.

Build a Portfolio

If you need to be a mag writer, you're going to need a portfolio of made public work. If you haven't been published, start writing for the Web - it's the easiest place to be published these days. If you are unable to get a paid writing gig, then write for free - but make sure that the pieces you write have your byline. You can also write for your own website or blog; just make sure that you are impeccable with your writing style and grammar, and avoid ranting about debatable subjects.

Whether you've a fistful of clippings or only have a few links, it’s important to get your portfolio on the web. Keep under consideration that content on the Web is continually changing, so don't depend on links to your articles. If you have Web content in your portfolio, take a screen shot of your piece and make it into a PDF file. The same holds true for your print articles. Editors don’t want to receive a pile of copied clippings; they'd like to be well placed to see your work with a few button clicks. So turn your portfolio into a collection of PDFs and put them on your internet site.

Find Your Niche

If you are a good writer, you can likely write about almost any topic. Nevertheless, to market yourself, it is smart to find your niche. Maybe you excel in digging into medical books and writing about health subjects. Perhaps you're an ace interviewer and can write remarkable profiles. It may be that you have a depth and breadth of knowledge on the subject of a specific subject, eg women’s sterility. Or, perhaps you have got a natural ability to write for a teen readership. Understanding your niche will help you pitch the right subjects to the right mags.

Be Pitch Perfect

Most mag editors receive pitches from dozens of consultants every week. So as to get noticed, your pitch needs to be wonderful. Start by doing your research, and only pitch to magazines that fit your niche. Don’t overlook local or regional magazines; in fact , savvy writers can turn their regional writing into syndicated pieces that they can sell repeatedly again.

It's also crucial to make your pitch specific. If you are going to pitch an article about women’s infertility, for instance, tell the editor the angle you're going to use and why it’s fresh, the specialists you are going to interview, and what her readers will get out of the article. Suggest sidebars and, if you can provide design, include that as well.

Underpromise and Overdeliver

Once you get the gig, make sure you’re every editor’s dream-come-true. Upload your article early, provide the names and contact info of your sources so that they can be fact-checked, and do not whine if you want to do a revision or two. Once your piece is released, drop the editor a thank-you note and tell her that you’d like to work with her again. That way, you're sure to be at the top of her list the next time she is giving out assignments, and you will be a bone fide women’s magazine writer!

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Neverblue is a Must Have Affiliate Network

Thursday, August 6th, 2009
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Affiliate marketing is very attractive to aspiring online entrepeneurs. It seems like a simple recipe. Identify products or sites willing to pay affiliate marketers to advertise them. Success requires identifying quality products with a large market, advertise it, and create more in commissions then you spend in advertising. Affiliate networks allow marketers to view a large amount of potential campaigns. Neverblue is an affiliate network that every marketer should investigate.

Neverblue is dedicated to serving affiliate marketers and advertisers. Support begins with interviewing potential affiliate marketers. After you apply to be an affiliate marketer, an affiliate manager will contact you. First, they review what you can expect from Neverblue. Second, they discuss your plans including how much traffic you currently get and how you plan to market Neverblue campaigns.

Even Neverblue’s main affiliate screen provides crucial information. When you first login, you will see why Neverblue is highly acclaimed. You can view the most popular campaigns, newest freebies, and offers. In addition, you can sign up to be notified immediately of new offers by email.

Neverblue offers affiliate marketers a pleuthra of information to track their campaigns. Successfully tracking campaign information allows marketers to tell whether or not they are making money. Neverblue’s reporting system provides information including:

1. Number of people who have viewed your ad

2. How many clicks your ad has received

3. Number of people that completed the offer (i.e. signed up, etc.)

4. Your ads average CPA

5. How much revenue you received

6. Conversion percentage of the ad

8. How much each click is worth (based on current conversion percentage)

Neverblue offers a pleuthora of choices for running campaign reports. You can create reports based on campaign, date, today, yesterday, a month, by sub id, and much more. Allowing you to tweak your campaigns for maximum revenue.

Reporting is not the only advantage to Neverblue’s affiliate network. Neverblue’s campaigns come complete with a selection of creatives. Neverblue offers creatives for search, e-mail, banners, and even an other category. Neverblue’s not only come in standard sized (i.e. 125 x 125) but also in a variety of additional sizes. Want to try several different campaigns? Neverblue allows you to add creatives to a banner rotator. This allows you to test several different campaigns and see which ones your visitors respond to.

My experience with Neverblue has been very positive. Reporting tools have allowed me to “dial in” my campaigns to achieve maximum profitability. A test campaign has achieved almost a 10% conversion rate. My affiliate manager has promptly answered each of my questions. Couple these features with exception campaign offers and you have an affiliate network that will launch you to the next level. You owe it to yourself to try Neverblue today.

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Consider Neverblue for Your Affiliate Marketing Campaigns

Friday, July 31st, 2009
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Affiliate marketing is very attractive to aspiring online entrepeneurs. It seems like a simple recipe. Identify products or sites willing to pay affiliate marketers to advertise them. Success requires identifying quality products with a large market, advertise it, and create more in commissions then you spend in advertising. Affiliate networks allow marketers to view a large amount of potential campaigns. Neverblue is an affiliate network that every marketer should investigate.

Neverblue’s affiliate support begins the moment you submit your application. One of the affiliate managers calls to go over what you expect from Neverblue. Neverblue’s affiliate manager asked me some very simple questions such as How do you plan on marketing our service?, What blogs do you already have?, and What kind of traffic are you getting? The last question made me nervous that I would not meet Neverblue’s affiliate requirements. I was pleasantly surprised. Even with a newer blog, I had no trouble gaining membership.

Neverblue makes it easy to browse their offers. From Neveblue’s main affiliate screen, you can view Neverblue’s latest offers, top campaigns, and newest freebies. You can subscribe to be notified as new campaigns become available. You can even see the latest Neverblue news, right from you main affiliate screen.

Neverblue offers affiliate marketers a pleuthra of information to track their campaigns. Successfully tracking campaign information allows marketers to tell whether or not they are making money. Neverblue’s reporting system provides information including:

1. Number of people who have viewed your ad

2. How many people clicked on the ad

3. Number of conversions each ad has

4. Your ads average CPA

5. How much revenue you received

6. Your ads conversion percentage

7. Your ads estimated pay per click

Neverblue offers a pleuthora of choices for running campaign reports. You can create reports based on campaign, date, today, yesterday, a month, by sub id, and much more. Allowing you to tweak your campaigns for maximum revenue.

If quality products are the lifeblood of affiliate marketing then creatives are the vessels the blood flows through. Creatives are what marketers are given to promote the product. Some advertisers do not allow marketers to change the creatives. Neveblue’s creatives include options for email, banners, or search. Each creative is available in a variety of sizes. Marketers can find sizes that work best for them.

My experience with Neverblue has been very positive. Reporting tools have allowed me to “dial in” my campaigns to achieve maximum profitability. A test campaign has achieved almost a 10% conversion rate. My affiliate manager has promptly answered each of my questions. Couple these features with exception campaign offers and you have an affiliate network that will launch you to the next level. You owe it to yourself to try Neverblue today.

About the Author: