Instruction and inspiration for freelance online writers and copywriters.

My Newsletter, Books & Programs About Writing For The Web

Popcorn Content – The craft of writing short-form content for social media.

popcorn content how to write social media content Writing for social media is a whole new craft. Social media streams move quickly, so you have to hook your readers fast. But you also need to listen attentively…all of the time. And you have to engage with people.

This, my latest book, teaches you how to write this critically important type of content.

Popcorn Content is available on your Kindle, or the Kindle App for your computer or smartphone, for just $3.45.

Learn more about Popcorn Content

How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites.

write money making websites

If you have a hobby or interest, and would like to write a website about it, now you can do just that -- and make a healthy second income at the same time.

This is the complete "how-to" package.

You get complete instructions, including lists of the tools and services you might want to use to make sure your website attracts plenty of visitors and generates a healthy income.

Learn How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites...

Copywriting 2.0 - Your Complete Guide to Writing Web Copy that Converts.

online copywriting course This course is about 300 pages in length and is designed to teach you the best practices in every major aspect of writing for the web.

After taking the course you'll have the expertise required to write any kind of web page – whether it be a homepage, sales page, landing page, information page, subscription page, catalog page...and so on.

Learn more about Copywriting 2.0...

Profitable Freelancing – Quit your job as a freelance worker being paid by the hour, and build a freelance business that works for YOU.

profitable freelancing course This course is my "coaching in a box" course for freelancers.

I reveal massive weaknesses in the traditional, accepted model of freelancing most of us take for granted - and show you how to get in the driver's seat of a much more profitable freelance BUSINESS.

Learn more about my Profitable Freelancing program...

How to Make Money as a Social Media Expert - The definitive guide to using social media marketing to generate multiple streams of income for yourself and your clients.

social media expert As a freelancer you are in a unique position to make money by offering social media consulting and writing services to your clients.

You'll also learn how to use social media to promote your own business and websites.

This is a huge opportunity for you...right now.

Learn How to Make Money as a Social Media Expert...

New e-Book - 101 Web Content Ideas, Tips and Resources

This 152-page downloadable book is focused on writing quality web content.

These ideas, tips and resources will help inspire you to create a wider variety of quality pages...all them designed to rank well with the search engines, delight your readers, and get shared enthusiastically through social media.

In the post-Panda world of web content, new rules apply. And this book will give you a head start on learning those new rules.

101 Web Content Ideas, Tips and Resources

Writing Kick-Ass Website Sales Copy


 This is a 45-page downloadable guide and is focused just on writing web pages that are intended to sell.

In other words, if you want to focus on sales pages and landing pages, this guide will take you through every step in the process.

Writing a sales page online is not the same as writing a print ad or a sales letter. Some of the skills are similar, while others are very different.

Writing Kick-Ass Sales Copy...

Get this 35-page Web-Writing Guide FREE when you sign up for Nick Usborne’s Excess Voice Newsletter.

Get your copy of Writing For The Web #1 -- Plus, in each issue of my weekly newsletter, you’ll receive my latest post and news of my products and services. Sign up NOW and I'll send you the link where you can download this 35-page guide. (You'll be free to unsubscribe at any time.)

Why do some freelancers say Yes, while most say No?

Published on April 26, 2012 by Nick Usborne

say yes to opportunitiesI was talking with a coaching client earlier this week, and we were discussing an opportunity that was there in plain view, right in front of her. In fact, she had identified the opportunity herself.

When I asked her when and how she was going to grab hold of that opportunity, her immediate response was to start talking about why she couldn’t, wouldn’t or didn’t want to.

In other words, she began to talk herself out of taking action.

As her coach I asked her to stop for a moment. I wanted to explore her reaction. Why was she finding reasons not to jump forward and take action?

Continue reading...

Monday Spark: Find the courage to be imperfect.

Published on April 23, 2012 by Nick Usborne

imperfect kid's drawingIt’s odd that we should even think about having to find the courage to be imperfect. Because, of course, we are always imperfect, however hard we try.

According to Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, we strive for perfection because we feel that to be worthy, and to deserve the admiration and love of others, only our perfect selves will suffice.

Again this is clearly wrong. As she says in the video below, we attract the attention and admiration of others not by being perfect, but by being ourselves - authentic, accessible and vulnerable.

Continue reading...

4 Ways in which the best e-newsletters are a little like blogs.

Published on April 19, 2012 by Nick Usborne

[Note: I first wrote and published this article about 5 years ago. But it still strikes me as relevant and useful.]

blogs and e-newslettersThe best e-newsletters share many of the same qualities as a good blog. It may seem strange to be comparing an e-newsletter with a blog.

But when you think about it, it's not so strange at all.

Just think back to the days before blogs existed.

It wasn't so long ago.

Back then, where did you turn to find interesting, engaging, timely, and topical news and information?

The answer for many of us is that we signed up for some great newsletters. We didn't go to Web sites for the latest information and opinions, because in those days most sites tended to be too static.

If we wanted to know what was new, important, and interesting, we turned to newsletters.

Here are four ways that good newsletters share the same qualities as blogs.

Continue reading...

Why every web page needs rewriting over and over again [VIDEO]

Published on April 17, 2012 by Nick Usborne

old web pages new web pagesLook back twenty years and you’ll find that marketing materials had a slightly longer shelf life.

A company could have a brochure written and reasonable expect that brochure to be as relevant in a six months as it was the day it was printed.

Companies came to the web with similar expectations.

Oops.

The thing about the web, particularly today, is that companies are no longer the sole authors of their messages. In fact, their very brands are being formed and changed not by their marketing departments, but by their customers, fans and detractors.

Continue reading...

Monday Spark: Have you lost your song?

Published on April 16, 2012 by Nick Usborne

lost your songRobb Braun isn’t famous. At least, I don’t think he is.

What you’ll see in the video below is a talk he gave at Toastmasters. Not at some fancy conference.

But he has a great message. And he’s right. As kids we all had our own song, that sense of who we were, what we felt was special about ourselves, and how we saw ourselves in the world.

But as Robb says, over time most of us learn to quieten that song, because it rarely fits in with what is expected of us…from our families, our schools and our friends. We turn down the volume in order to fit in and not rock the boat.

Continue reading...

As a freelancer, you can make 6 figures a year with just three strong relationships.

Published on April 12, 2012 by Nick Usborne

freelance business relationshipsIf you’re a freelancer, you don’t need thousands of friends, followers and connections.

You don’t need to spend hours on Twitter and Facebook, trying to hold the attention of tens of thousands people who are, essentially, complete strangers.

You really don’t need to be connected with that many people.

Just three. Maybe four. Could be five.

When I look back over the last 30 years of freelancing, almost all of my work has come to me as a direct result of the strong business relationships I have had with a very small number of people.

Continue reading...

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