Writing contest - 3 winners will get paid...

You could get your first paycheck as a writer… [The Writer’ s Life]( May 12, 2021 Hi {NAME}, Practice is always the answer when trying to improve performance … Athletes practice. So do musicians. Some professions require practice hours to maintain a license. So today, we've set up a detailed practice writing assignment … Only we've added in an extra incentive for you. 😉 Three winners will receive $200 prizes for their practice efforts! I love doing these contests, and so does digital marketing expert Nick Usborne. You get extra practice at what it feels like to write for clients, AND you get a chance to get a $200 prize for your efforts. Plus, today's challenge lets you practice writing from a "client brief," and can be used as a sample when talking to potential clients. Writing short-form copy like in this challenge is a surefire way to make money as a writer (and it's great for beginners) … Nick explains the project and new challenge details below — along with some valuable copywriting tips. And if you're not up and running yet as a professional writer, I want to help you launch once and for all … so you can start making great money as a writer taking on assignments like the one Nick shares today. [>> Go here and see how you can be up and running by next Friday.]( Rebecca Write a Powerful, 83-Word Email About a Countertop Hydroponic Herb Garden … And You Could Get a $200 Prize! By Nick Usborne [Wooden board with flowers next to wooden letter tiles spelling out the words you can't win unless you enter] This could be your first paid freelance copywriting job! I'm going to brief you on an online copywriting assignment, right now, in this article. You're going to be promoting a countertop hydroponic herb garden. (One of these would be great to own … Think fresh green herbs … good for your health … adds flavor … and a great activity to do with the kids!) And, if yours is one of the best three submissions, we're going to award you $200. Not a bad payday for 83 words! We're doing this because we want you to have immediate, hands-on experience with writing for the Web. We've done this a couple of times before, and HUNDREDS of people have taken part. It's fun! A team of us here at AWAI gets involved in judging all the submissions, and it's amazing to see so much creative writing. And yes, we send out those $200 prizes to the winners! Here's How It Works … First, keep reading. I'm going to brief you on the job, just like a real client would. Then I'm going to give you some tips on how to write the copy. Finally, once you've written your copy and gone through a few drafts to make it the best it can be, you'll submit it to us (instructions below). Think about it. Whether you're one of our three winners or not, this is a professional copywriting project you can put in your portfolio! And it's a great opportunity to get a sense of what it feels like to be given a brief to write copy for a real client. Are you in? I hope so. Let's get started … Here's Your Brief … Your job is to write promotional copy for the CounterGrow 12 countertop hydroponic herb garden. This copy is going to appear in an email. There'll be a headline of 8 words or less that appears at the top of the body of the email itself. Then a photo of the CounterGrow 12 in a nice kitchen, then up to 75 words of text, followed by a button for readers to click if they want to learn more. You probably get emails like this yourself … selling clothes, vacations, books, household items, and so on. To be clear … Headline of up to 8 words [photo of CounterGrow 12 (will be provided by the client)] Up to 75 words of body text [The More Info button (will be provided by the client)] You do not need to worry about providing the photo or the More Info button. And don't worry about providing the email subject line either. (Your "client" will provide those.) Your task is just to write the headline and 75 words of compelling text. And … in answer to a question we got last time … if you use just 6 words in the headline, no, you can't use 2 extra words in the body copy. And … the answers to other questions I've gotten asked … yes, two words connected by a hyphen still count as two words … quotation marks don't count as words … and don't use symbols like the & (ampersand) in your copy. CounterGrow 12 counts as two words. So, to recap, you're providing: Up to 8 words for the headline. Up to 75 words for the body text. Basic Product Info Your client will always give you some briefing information like this, whatever you're going to be writing. The product name is: CounterGrow 12. (I made the name up, but it's based on a real product!) Target Audience: People who want an indoor garden to grow plants with a water circulation system and zero soil. They want plants to grow faster, plus there's total control over the weather all year round with no mess and no limitations. Product: This is an indoor countertop hydroponic herb garden kit. Features: - 23-Watt LED full-spectrum lights simulate the sunlight spectrum, promoting plants' photosynthesis in any weather. - Two light modes: Vegetable and Flower/Fruit. - Extendable light post. - Automatic on/off lights. - Simplified control panel. - Super low fan noise. - Super silent self-watering planter with water pump circulation system that automatically runs 30 minutes and turns off for 30 minutes. - Visual window makes it easy to know when to add water. - Independent filling and draining watering ports. - Uses pods instead of seeds — can grow 12 plants at a time. - The item weight is 5.5 pounds. - Measures 15.35 x 11.81 x 6.3 inches. - Water Tank Capacity: 4L. What's unique: Having a year-round herb garden in your home for cooking provides fresh veggies and flavorful herbs. It's an educational gift for children, helping them to observe the process of growth. The height of the lighting part of the hydroponics growing system can be adjusted for plants at different growth stages. This indoor garden can be placed in the kitchen, and also the bedroom or office it's so quiet. Grow 12 plants at a time — smart soil sponge pods help plants take root and absorb water. Price: This is a $90 purchase. (Pro tip: Don't mention the price in your copy. The price will be revealed on the website, after readers have clicked through from your email copy.) How to Research and Prepare Copy and print out the briefing information above. Then go to Amazon and look at the features and descriptions of other countertop hydroponic herb gardens … Take notes. Get a feel for the products and the buyers. In other words, do your homework! This is how it goes with real clients. They give you a briefing, then you do your own research too, digging deeper and immersing yourself in the product or service. Pro Tips for Making Your Copy Better Once you've done all that research, you might think it's time to start writing. Not so fast! That's just Step One. Step Two is to immerse yourself in the lives of your buyers. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the home of someone who might be interested in buying a CounterGrow 12 countertop hydroponic herb garden. Will this be their first purchase of this kind or product? What's motivating them? Why now? Are they motivated mostly by the idea of growing their own plants indoors? Having fresh green herbs to improve their health and add flavor to their meals? Are they looking for a fun activity to share with their kids? Do they have limited access to an outdoor garden? Not sure how to answer those questions? Here's another pro tip for you … Go back to those Amazon listings. Now, instead of reading the product descriptions, read the buyer reviews! THAT'S where you get to know how it feels to be in your prospects' shoes. Totally immerse yourself in those reviews and opinions. Get a feel for the language buyers use when talking about these products. Do that and THEN you'll be ready to start writing. Remember … nobody truly needs a countertop hydroponic herb garden. But more and more people might WANT one. Why? Why do we want them? How will our lives change if we have one? Answer those questions and you'll be well on your way to writing some great copy. Three More Important Tips First … I've been a professional copywriter for over 40 years now. But still, after all those years, my first draft is NEVER my best draft. So … if you want to be one of the three writers who is rewarded with a $200 prize, write several drafts of both the headline and body text. Keep writing new drafts until it's the best you can do. Second … Almost every purchase we make is driven more by our hearts than our brains. We buy stuff to satisfy our emotions. We buy stuff to make ourselves feel good or to fulfill something in our lives. So … don't focus just on the features … give thought to the emotional triggers too. Third … You're not trying to close the sale with this copy. There's no buy button. Your task is to make the reader want to click through to a sales page on the company website. The purpose of the email copy is to make people interested enough to want to learn more. Make them click that More Info button! There Are Two Rules First rule … Play fair. Don't copy text from the Web. Make this all your own work. Remember, the real value here lies in the practice, and in having a piece of writing for your portfolio. Second rule … You have a deadline. There's always a deadline! We will cut off entries at 11:59 p.m. EST (one minute before midnight) on May 17, 2021. We'll then announce the three winners in The Writer's Life. When? That depends on the number of entries. But we should have our winners selected within a couple of weeks. Submission Details Again … Your submission needs to be dated by 11:59 p.m. EST, May 17, 2021. Submit your entry [here](. Only one entry per person. Remember, following the guidelines from a client is very important. So any submissions that do not follow these guidelines will more than likely be removed from consideration. I look forward to seeing your work! Time to get practicing on your writing … and good luck! Do you have any questions? [Let us know in the comments.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- If You're Looking for a Writing Path with a Vast Number of Options, This Is It … No matter what niche you want to write for … no matter what style of copy you want to write … chances are almost 100% certain that your client will need tons of web copy and content! Which means you can be booked solid for a very long time, with just a few clients … [>> Get all the details here.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- How 5 Days Led to a New Career, a Fast-Growing Income, and 4 Retainer Clients (and Counting) … When the pandemic crushed EG Orren's career as a busy and well-known photographer for the music industry, she looked for an alternative to help her start earning money fast. She joined AWAI's 5-Day "Launch Party" and went from not knowing what a "copywriter" was to earning $17,000 in just 10 weeks. Since then, her story has been one win after another … [EG Orren social media post 1] [EG Orren social media post 2] [EG Orren social media post 3] She also recently won a $5,000 start fee plus royalties for AWAI's Sales Letter Writing Certification & Mastery copy project! Now it's your turn to get started. The next "Launch Party" kicks off Monday — and you should be part of it. With a team of experts to guide you and plenty of community support, see how everything can change for you in just 5 days. [Go here for all the details.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Full Access for Just $1 You can start making money as a writer within a month — even if you have no experience. Check it out for yourself for free right now … And if you decide to give it a shot, you'll gain access to every resource you'll need to execute that blueprint for just a dollar. - All the success roadmaps … - All the writing templates … - All the articles … - All the how-to videos … - All 150+ training webinars … - The Forum, the Job Board, the tutorials, the tools … All of it! [Check It Out Now.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble viewing this email? [View in your browser, here](. 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