Is the latest "Google Plus" news making you think that traditional copywriting is dead - and it's all about social? I received this note from a talented SEO copywriter: "It's really true that it's important to do what one loves - and because I have ADD, I find social campaign management/monitoring, etc. to be extremely difficult, staying on top of Twitter and Google+ and FB and LinkedIn and StumbleUpon and YouTube and and Hootsuite and hash-tags and likes etc.

Once upon a time, long before Twitter, Google + and Facebook, there was a powerful piece of marketing collateral that's all but ignored now. The "tips" booklet. Companies would pay a lot of money for writers to pour through their past articles and ferret out tip-worthy content. These tips were typically turned into a softcover booklet )like "101 Pet Care Tips." Or "50 Ways to Stage Your Home,"( that sold at trade shows, given away as prospect "leave-behinds,

Have you ever said, "If I have to write one more post about )something you've been writing about a lot( I'm going to go completely insane?" Yeah, me too. Once upon a time, it felt like I wrote copy for every cosmetic dentist in North America. At the drop of a hat, I could talk about veneers, teeth whitening and "laser gum surgery." Yeah, I was great fun at cocktail parties. I was also bored too. So very, very bored.

"I'm working my butt off and writing all the time, but I'm barely scraping by. What's wrong with me?" You know the difference between a successful copywriter with disposable income and one that's just getting by? The first copywriter isn't just a good writer. She's a smart businesswoman, too. Every year, I hear about new copywriters entering the space - and that's a wonderful thing. But there's a scary side to this too.

Lately, I've been seeing quite a few posts discussing how SEO content marketing should be on the top of every businesses' resolution list. For instance, there's this post . And this one . And this one . These are all great posts. But here's the thing' 'I've read these "write more quality content" resolutions before. For about 14 years now. And you know what? Very, very few companies follow through. They want to. They mean to. But then,

Wow, it's the end of 2011 already' 'And that means that it's time for the "Most popular posts of the year" roundup )cue applause!( 2011 was a big year for Google updates - and a big year for SEO copywriting. Most of the top-10 post topics aren't overly surprising )Panda, anyone?( Other top ten posts surprised me - and showed that many folks are still mastering the "writing for search engines and social" balance. Without further ado,

Last week, a prospect asked what I thought of his site copy. I took one look and resisted the urge to say, "Um, how much did you pay for this?" The writing was'bad. Picture a 500-word, below-the-fold paragraph with no hyperlinks, no call-to-action'and what's worse' All of the copy was italicized. All of it. Imagine reading that on a mobile device. The prospect knew that something seemed "off." But he thought, "I hired someone who specializes in SEO copy.

Are you looking for more Google love? Want to drive highly qualified traffic? Do you want to reach readers at all phases of the purchase cycle? You got it. All you have to do is learn how to leverage the long tail. Google just announced another algorithm tweak, and this time, it's targeting long-tail documents. According to the Google Inside Search blog: " More comprehensive indexing: This change makes more long-tail documents available in our index,

Thinking about starting a career in SEO copywriting? Here's a reality check. Making a living as a copywriter )whether you work in-house or freelance from home( is hard work. First, there's a learning curve - it takes some time to master SEO copywriting best practices. Second, you'll need to keep up with )and understand the ramifications of( the search engine's ever-changing whims. Plus, you need to know how to write. Really well. But you know what else'?

Are you wondering if your "SEO expert" has been around as long as he claims? Feeling like you've been in the business since the beginning of SEO time? Here are 18 ways to tell if you're an SEO O.G. )"old guard" or 'original gansta".( Plus, you'll find even more tips, thanks to a little help from my SEO friends. If you're new to the SEO world, you'll enjoy reading how much things have changed. And if you're an O.G. SEO too - enjoy!

I've been reading a few posts about how meditation can help the writing process. One person insists that meditation will make you a better writer . Another person uses it for business brainstorms . I would agree with these statements. Shutting down your external thoughts - even for a short time - can lead to transformative results. The challenge is, the word "meditation" means different things to different people. For some people,

I'm writing a shorter post this week as I've been hit with some crud that feels like the plague. OK, I'm sure that it's not the plague. I'm sure that it's just a cold. But still' it feels "plague-y" to me' I've been doing a lot of surfing while I've been stuck on the couch - and I've noticed a lot of sites making the same mistake. Instead of their home page providing an excellent introduction to the company's product or service,

What's scarier than zombies, witches and vampires combined? Bad sales copy that sucks the life out of your conversions. You may say, "Well, our sales copy is performing OK - I check our analytics." And that's good. But I want to teach you how to transform your "good" sale copy into "great" - and turn your sales up to a Spinal Tap 11. And all it's going to take is a little bit of time. It's easy to develop a blind spot around our Websites.

Are you looking for a way to prompt your prospects to "buy now?" Maybe you should make your product or service less available. In today's "I can get anything I want anytime I want it world," an approach like that seems counter-intuitive. Yet, the psychological principle of scarcity is alive and well online - and many top retailers are making lots of money from it every single day. What's the principle of scarcity? According to Robert Cialindi,

Recently, InboundWriter released a report called The Impact of Real-Time Content Optimization: Does Access to Search and Social Intelligence Make You a More Effective Writer? Of course, you can guess that I'd be all over an SEO content writing study, so I definitely had to check this out. The report discusses three different content scenarios - category landing pages for eBeanstalk.com, a new blog network )Link Orbit,

Sometimes, it's not so fun to be right. Recently, Search Engine Watch ran a great post called, "How to Help SEO Customers Who Aren't Always Right" . If you've been working as an SEO consultant or SEO copywriter, you've come across this issue. Your client insists that you should do things one way. You know that it's not a good idea. And suddenly, you're faced with a dilemma - how can you burst your client's SEO bubble and still keep the gig?

I am about to embark on a journey that most people dread. I am moving )and in my world, that means both my home and my office.( My family moved about 1,000 times when I was a kid. OK, maybe not 1,000 - but definitely over six times. There were times when I attended a different school every year. I have such a negative Pavlovian response around moving that my heart rate will increase if I even se e a moving box.

Hi, my name is Heather, and I'm an old-school Trekkie )"Hi, Heather!"(. When I was little, I would religiously watch the original Star Trek. In fact, my world stopped when I heard the theme song's familiar "do do doooo" opening notes. From the first "space, the final frontier" to the end credits, the show mesmerized me. I had Star Trek earrings. I wrote book reports on Star Trek books. Heck, I even had a Tribble. And I loved Spock.

Panda is everywhere! I'm here at SMX East, and "Panda" is definitely the hot conference buzzword. My argument? Google's Panda update forces marketers to go back to basics - that is, quality, original content that speaks to their prospects and tells a story. The update is a good thing and provides quite a bit of opportunity. It's just understanding how to leverage it and make it happen. Yesterday,

Today marks a sad day for a member of the SuccessWorks family. Laura Crest's mother, Jane Cairns, passed away yesterday. Laura told me the news last night and said that her mother was a beautiful soul who's gift was to give. Instead of Monday's video post, I wanted to dedicate this post to Laura's mother. I didn't know Jane, but I figure she had to be a cool woman - after all, look at Laura. The blog will return to "normal" tomorrow.