Welcome!

Clipcopy Content Solutions, as the name implies, is all about ‘content‘, especially (but not exclusively) newsletter content. We specialize in what are popularly known as ‘newsletter fillers‘ but which we prefer to think of as newsletter enhancers, such as jokes, amusing verses, witty quotations, unusual facts and anecdotes, quizzes, cartoons, recipes, word puzzles and so on. As well as these, we have a large ‘library’ of articles, many of which are exclusive to us, and which cover a wide range of topics. We are also one of the longest-running sites in our field on the Internet, having started over a decade ago—but our stock of material is still growing month by month.

How The Site Is Set Up

The site is divided into three areas: the ClipCopy area, the members area and the blog area.

The ClipCopy Area

This is where you can get an understanding of what ClipCopy is all about and evaluate it for yourself by viewing and sampling our ‘product’ (see the ClipCopy Area menu to the right). ClipCopy is an easy way (think copy and paste) of enhancing any ezine, hard copy newsletter, online newsletter, or virtually any other publication you might think of. The best place to start is the ClipCopy Main Page link under Site Navigation.

The Members Area

This part of the site is exclusive to members and is where they go to download ClipCopy content plus the various programs, ebooks, etc provided for them (see the ClipCopy Main Page link under Site Navigation). As mentioned in the previous paragraph, non-members can sample ClipCopy by clicking on the links that appear under ClipCopy Area to the right.

The Blog Area

This is where you are now and where all our guidance files are to be found including articles on how to use ClipCopy, news and articles about content in general (and article marketing), as well as things like using and finding different types of content and so on. All blog posts appear in order of posting directly below here (most recent at the top), as well as under Post Categories in the right column (where they are grouped according to topic). Be sure not to miss our Resource Directories too, where you can find hundreds of links to sites that provide content of every conceivable kind (click on the Links tab at the very top of the site).

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Foreword By The Author (Mike Alexander)

How to create a newsletter is a common enough question in this field but creating a newsletter is often only part of the story. Writing a newsletter, if you want it to be read, has to be considered first and foremost as an exercise in relevant content production. Most newcomers to the field make the big mistake of thinking that the newsletter’s main role should be as an advertising vehicle and/or that its content should take the form of advertisements in disguise. Nothing could be further from the truth. Powerful relevant content should be the number one aim and any promotional accompaniment should be as subtle as possible.

Why Promotional Stuff Needs Downplaying

Not long ago I received a flyer in my mail box (my actual one, not my virtual one) from a land agent. It opened with the question of whether or not I was thinking about selling our house and followed with a summary of properties in the area that were up for sale. It was a well-crafted piece of work. Plenty of consideration had been put into the structure, paper style, typeface and so on. All in all, it was an extremely competent business presentation. So what do you imagine I did with it? Yes, I did exactly what most other individuals who received it surely did. I relegated it to the waste basket without further study.

That is what happens to most advertising that intrudes on our lives or is thrust under our noses. For example, many families make use of the TV remote control a lot, more for muting the advertisements than anything else. ‘Giveaway newspapers’, due to the volume of ads they invariably carry, are similar. Some have so many advertisements that it can be difficult to find anything that you might want to read (and, most often, they therefore assume that there isn’t anything, so don’t bother looking).

The Challenge Of Written Material

So how do you get your message across in writing? In fact, how do you get people to read what you have to say? Answer: by giving them something to read that they find utterly compelling!

Why don’t we look again at the real estate agent’s answer to the issue of locating customers. He or she was obviously advised that selling is really a numbers game. Relate your sales message to a sufficient number of potential customers, they are told, and product sales will inevitably follow. And, to be honest, it’s true… to an extent! But it is also true that if you asked everybody you met, “would you like to buy a house?”, it would only be a matter of time before somebody would reply, “Okay. How much?”. A very, very long, time. It would really be a total waste of time because the vast majority of people would respond with that old retort, “not interested, thanks”. And a flyer is basically simply asking that same question; so it solicits the same response. The recipients are not being presented with any particular reason to even look at the material, let alone study anything in it that might be of benefit to them

So what should the agent be doing? The answer is: produce a regular newsletter filled with such powerful content that its recipients will feel compelled to read it. And what’s more, they’ll then look forward with keen anticipation to the next edition! That way they become regular readers, and the moment they first so much as think about moving, they will know exactly who to turn to.

So What Makes Powerful Content?

For the provision of powerful content there are really only two questions that have to be answered:

For instance, a newsletter for a real estate agent could be distributed to home owners and current customers. These people, not the realtor, are the ones who make up the readership. Important motivators for these folks are such things as redecorating, home owner insurance, gardening, furniture, household finance, and so on. At a secondary level, you should be looking at an even broader collection of pursuits pertaining to the kind of people that you are aiming at. Using the same example, home owners are usually family men and women, parents, automobile owners, vacationers and so forth. Virtually anything covering these topics could therefore be considered by them to be gripping content.

Good results for a newsletter depend on the quality and quantity of such engaging content. Frequency of publication can vary according to the target market as well as the means of distribution but just by issuing such a publication on a regular basis you will soon become an accepted authority in the minds of your readers. Therefore, any subtle messages you convey through the newsletter will be like seeds falling on fertile ground.

Creating Your Own Newsletter

You might, needless to say, create the required content yourself as long as you’re fairly proficient at grammar. Spelling shouldn’t pose a dilemma because you’ve got a dictionary with a spell checker (you do utilize the one you have, right?) so it is just a question of understanding the difference between similar sounding words, e.g. ‘there’ or ‘their’. On the other hand, if you employ writers to produce your content, at least you know now what you should want them to write about.

Whether you want to publish a hard copy (paper) newsletter or an electronic version (ezine) is your own choice; the advice in this article remains valid either way. There are many guides to creating a newsletter on the web, including our own (ClipCopy Content Solutions and our sister site, 101 Newsletter Answers). There you will discover a variety of material, including our renowned newsletter fillers, so developing your own newsletter should be no big mystery.

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Foreword By Mike Alexander

The following article by Elisa Whealer discusses some of the issues around press release distribution agencies and offers tips to improve your chances of making yours more effective. Be sure to read the paragraph entitled About The Author for further information.

Online Agencies

There are many distribution agencies online that you can select from to post your press release. However, it is important to know that you should look further than just a pretty website. Many sites appear to offer tremendous value but don’t forget to do your homework before finally deciding.

If you have been around the Internet for some time, you will know that some websites are in there for the business they can provide you and other sites are there only to get business out of you. The difference is that the former are there to provide a quality service whereas the latter are there only to effectively milk your business.

When you are looking around in the Internet for providers, do not be easily swayed by the catchy, smart appearance of the site with power words that promise you success. Go past this facade and research deeper to test the level of competence of each provider.

The more service providers there are to choose from, the more careful you should be in finding the one best for your company’s needs. You cannot afford to make a mistake by using the wrong service provider. It would be a waste of money should nothing come from the news distribution done by the provider you choose.

Here are some tips to help you make the choice.

The Company

How reliable is this firm in terms of quality of service and delivery? Get to know its past results and also  its current record. Is it a respected provider and a leader in the press release and distribution sector? Check its performance on online forums and similar postings. Can it be trusted to produce the results that it promises?

Personnel

Are the people manning this firm knowledgeable and capable of delivering a quality service? Do they have the proper credentials to put together a good job that will result in a positive impact on your business? For your full satisfaction, choose a firm that hires excellent editors and people with superb marketing skills.

Free Versus Fee

There are two types of service: the free service and the premium service for a fee. If you want the best package for your company’s results, then the fee that you pay for your service provider will be worth it.

There are many things that must be clearly spelt out and discussed like pricing, other fees, the exact work to be done and when it can delivered. Do your homework and read the contract thoroughly before closing a deal.

Be Safe, Rather than Sorry

If you follow these tips in your quest for a news distribution service provider, you should have no problems in selecting the right one. Needless to say, you will occasionally be bothered by some concerns but with these three main factors to guide you, you should feel confident enough to pick out the best for your company. Determining whether you made a good deal will depend on the firm and the people behind it, and if they can deliver on their promises.

It is thus always good to be sure and safe by doing sufficient research. Otherwise you will get yourself a firm that is big on promises but lacking in the performance area. Having a reliable concern to do press distribution for you should ensure that your business gets the exposure it needs to grow properly.

About The Author

Boost your web visibility with a free online press release. Find out more about news distributionand press releases at I-Newswire.com.

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Questions To Consider

When trying to find fresh ideas for your newsletter content, start by resolving two fundamental questions. First, exactly what actual information would you like (or need) to put forward to your readers? Second, precisely what kind of topics would your average reader consider all-absorbing?

Giving an answer to the first query helps to make sure that you stay with the newsletter’s central point. The second answer focuses attention on the need to include reader-oriented content. For instance, a human resources newsletter’s primary goal (from the employer’s angle) could be to relate company policy as this effects personnel. The fact is that it then runs the risk of turning into a summary of regulations unless the readership are taken sufficiently into account. A more rewarding approach would be to have the ‘rules’ prioritized, broken up into effortlessly consumed slices and put aside under the title ‘information we have to transmit’. They can then be balanced with material which the target audience is more likely to want to read. Another useful method is to include articles that explain the thinking that produced these guidelines. Or even one which tells stories explaining what might come to pass if a particular ‘rule’ is ignored.

First Question

The list below suggests a few other things which you may want to think about regarding question one. A few of these might not make sense insofar as your own publication is concerned but these are just memory joggers. Disregard what’s inappropriate and replace them with your own more relevent inclusions:

• Calls for helpers
• A timetable of recurring events
• Planned activities and happenings
• Task updates, especially in the event that readers have already shown support, and add progress graphics such as tote boards, graphs and so on
• Brand new, as well as pre-planned assignments, staff required, goals, type of help wanted and so forth
• Additional reports from the organization (assuming that there is one)
• Contact details of the main institution (as distinct from the publication masthead, where contact data about the newsletter is shown)
• Updates about things concerning the organization (such as report etc)
• Information about connected concerns, business contributors, sponsors etc
• Notices regarding benefactor rewards, discount rates to associates of the host (readers) etc
• Case studies and accounts of successes concerning the company and just how it performs

Second Question

The second query (what kind of information the readership finds all-absorbing) is not nearly as straightforward. Nevertheless there is a lot more scope from the creativity perspective. Persuasive topics are those which the typical audience wouldn’t pass up without, at the very least, having a second glimpse. For example, in the event that your newsletter was created for the Elvis Fan Club, anything at all to do with the club, or Elvis, could clearly be eligible but then again, so would anything at all to do with rock & roll in general and possibly anything to do with popular tunes of the fifties and sixties, teens from the same period, styles of the era, etc.

Here, then, are several more creative ideas you might want to think about for the second answer:

• Stories about those who were assisted by the organization (or the newsletter readership)
• Various articles round the general theme of the group’s primary pursuits
• Data on the number of individuals among the readership who put their hands up to assist or who gave willingly
• Listings of present helpers etc without regard to the actual value of their contribution
• Thumbnail jottings covering specific volunteers or benefactors
• Report of challenges set in place by other volunteers or benefactors
• Extracts from articles and reviews (found in newspapers, periodicals etc) concerning the organization or the group’s common fascination, particularly if quirky or humorous
• Features on the operation, success and (particularly) workers of departments within the host organization
• Profiles of celebrities associated with, or who are known to possess sympathetic opinions about, the readers’ pursuits
• Tales concerning earlier times of the typical interest or concern
• Wellness news or illness avoidance tips, health and safety tips etc
• Motivational messages, quotations and snippings
• Calls for input to the publication coming from within the readership

Looking For More Ideas

Most of us run out of creative ideas from time to time. All a lot of us need is a prod in the right direction to get us back on track. If you’d like some newsletter content options, or are running out of ideas, I hope this information helps by delivering such a nudge.

Newsletters tend to be tightly targeted towards a niche market or readership. Frequently there’s a pre-existing outfit like a club, business or Association, to which all or perhaps the majority of readers belong. The result is that a relationship almost always prevails among the people that define the target readership; they share some sort of mutual interest or realize a ‘common good’. If there’s no such bond, a newsletter could be the ideal medium for cultivating one. Each and every newsletter publisher, consequently, should make their primary objective the cultivation and nurturing of such a bond. A regular journal or newsletter for this type of group ought to provide a balance of reader-oriented and interest or organization-related reading. For this purpose you need to have a clear image in your mind of who your readers are, what their preferences are, etc.

Involve The People

Never neglect to feature newsletter ‘fillers’ like jokes or humorous anecdotes whenever possible, provided they’re acceptable. Additionally, if you’re able to, and particularly if it matches your newsletter’s theme, interactive pieces such as quizzes and puzzles. ClipCopy Content Solutions can be an outstanding resource for these kinds of things, in addition to articles etc addressing a wide range of subjects.

And one final word of guidance: whenever you are able to, include lots of faces. Folk have an eternal fascination for seeing themselves in print, as well as reading about others that they know or remember.

Mike Alexander

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Foreword By Mike Alexander

The following piece by Edward Jackson Jacobson is about what might be considered the most important part of article marketing: directory submissions. You might be capable of writing the best articles in the world for your niche but, from an article marketing standpoint, if you don’t distribute them widely enough you won’t get the backlinks you need for the system to be effective.

Article Distribution Services

Article marketing is the most effective way to build links to your landing pages and the best way to get your material out there is to use an article distribution service such as one of those listed below.

Free Traffic System

The biggest plus with this particular article distribution service is that it’s free. If you don’t have much money to invest, this is a huge positive! There is a paid (pro) version too, and I do recommend that you pay to become a pro member if you can come up with the cash because it can help you out a lot in the long run. Investing some funds now can lead to a lot of money later.

Like all three of the services listed in this article, you can ’spin’ your articles using the Free Traffic System. This is important because it allows the articles that you submit to avoid the annoying “duplicate content filter” which Google and the other search engines use. This will help your links to stay active for the long haul.

Article Marketing Automation

This article distribution service costs $47 per month (as of right now) and I’ve been using it for almost a year now. I strongly recommend it because it’s a good fit for any online marketer looking to get an edge on their competitors. It’s also a brilliant service for those servicing ‘mature’ markets because they don’t have any restrictive rules on what the articles can link to.

I’ve received as many as 100 backlinks by submitting a single article with Article Marketing Automation.

Unique Article Wizard

This article distributer costs $67 a month (at the time of writing), which makes it the most costly of the three but it also may be the best. I’ve had tremendous results in Yahoo, Bing, & Google using Unique Article Wizard and, in my opinion, it is definitely worth the investment.

Summary

In fact, I think all three of these services should be used together. There are those who maintain that they can get brilliant results using only one article submission service and that very well may be the case, but I think it’s a good plan to get as many backlinks as you can from many different websites.

About The Author

Article Marketing is the recommended way to build links for Internet Marketing. Using article distribution sites like ArticleMarketingAutomation.com make article marketing a breeze.

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The Five Rules

Rule number one for just about every newsletter is that it ought to contain up-to-date material. In other words, it should show news, for that’s what makes it a NEWSletter. The second and third rules are that every newsletter must be easy to read, and furthermore, comprise practical information of value to the reader. Number four: the most important information must be countered against different, probably less important information, so as to make the entire publication properly balanced. Fifth, it needs to contain a strong level of reader appeal. What is meant by this is that the features the newsletter contains should be of the type that the reader expects, or perhaps hopes, to get from it. Next, I’ll deal with each of these points individually.

Topicality

Every newsletter, just as each and every newspaper, should be completely topical and contain the very latest news to justify itself as a newsletter. The person in charge of supplying copy for a newsletter should therefore have a system to keep clippings and reminders that may be useful when arranging upcoming editions. A correctly kept and maintained portfolio of notes and reminders will assist in ensuring that he or she never runs out of ideas or topics to compose or comment on for forthcoming editions and that they are always timely.

Readability

At all times keep in mind the readers and write to them in a conversational style if you possibly can. This is often better than a more formal approach, particularly when you have a ‘wide spectrum’ readership. It’s mostly a matter of getting to know your readers. Employing a spellchecker is also crucial if you happen to be a bad speller, as is using correct language rules to accurately express what you want to say. As well as sending out a feeling of professionalism and reliability, an easy-to-read newsletter has a greater chance of being read thoroughly, rather than being  just ’skimmed’.

Information

Useful information has to be top of the list of specifications for any newsletter. This can take the form of advice for new people, an historical background narrative about some convention or other, a ‘How To’ item like how to apply for this, or how to get that, and similar matters. The entire point of the publication, from the reader’s standpoint, is to offer useful facts and information. If it does, it will be perceived as having a high intrinsic value.

Balancing

Trying to achieve equilibrium is not invariably easy, especially for beginners. To put it in simple terms, any heavy or grave content should be balanced(wherever possible) by light- hearted or trivial material. As far as the visual content of the newsletter is concerned, significant areas of wording ought to be balanced by the generous use of white space whenever possible, or by inserts such as ‘pullquote’ additions, subheadings and the like. Some people might feel the balancing undertaking a bit difficult initially but it usually improves with practice.

Reader Appeal

How do you make your newsletter engrossing? By including newsletter content that’s irresistible to your reader; in other words, the things that they’re all occupied with. You must understand your readers. The more you understand about your readers, the more relevant you can make the content and the more compelling your newsletter. Don’t forget how compelling it is for folks to read about themselves, either! Even better is seeing a photograph of themselves or one that includes them or their party. What about a regular feature such as ‘Volunteer (Worker, Committee Member, Customer and so on) of the Month’ or randomly picking somebody in your club for a ‘Focus on a Member’ spot?

Summary

These five rules must be applied to every newsletter regardless of its readership. They should also be applied whether your newsletter is for a commercial concern or a non-profit organization. Look into your newsletter today ascertain if it complies. If you are new to newsletters you will discover a noticeable improvement in your reader’s assessment of the superiority of the publication if you always utilize them. It means it will possess unmistakable reader appeal and as a result become a medium of communication with no match.

Mike Alexander

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