I want to give a free certified freelance account $25 value to the
copywriter that leaves the best headline in a reply to this post.

I own www.copylancers.com a freelance site built for copywriters.
And the first and only place to find the best in the industry is right
here.

I want to build you guys and gals a great site that I can promote and make us both money and I know that this niche has huge potential.

My press release is going out on the 21st, I'd love to give you a personal
endorsement on my site for developing the headline.

[Edit]

I also wanted to extend the offer for a killer headline for my home-page.


[End Edit]




Here's the release for "brainstorming"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Don't lose thousands of dollars hiring "second-rate" copywriters.

Irvington, Al May,19,2004 -
Certification guarantees the only proven Freelance copywriters with proven track records are accepted at copylancers.com

Stan Corley, Owner of New Image Company, a small firm with over 20 websites, just
released the newest addition to his ever growing network of sites, www.copylancers.com.

"As the worlds first freelance site dedicated to assisting freelance copywriters and website managers
find each other on the web, I must say I'm proud to offer this service that has been needed for a long time."
Stan Corley.

With the freelance market dominated by programmers, Stan Corley has taken a different route. By only
servicing the copywriting industry, he's looking to the future and quality assurance as the deciding factor.

"I believe as the web grows and expands, the need for targeted services will play a larger role in internet
business. With that said, I want to provide the highest quality service, and the best way to do this is
to simplify your business focus, and concentrate on providing more for your customers dollar." Stan Corley

Copylancers.com officially opens the doors May 19, 2004. With a certification process in place, we're able to ensure
customers that the person doing the freelance work is qualified, because they're interviewed by our staff.

"To the best of my knowledge we're the only website that pre-qualifies it's freelancers this way" Stan Corley

For additional information visit www.copylancers.com, or contact Stan Corley: 1-866-871-3722

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Stan Corley
Owner New Image Company
1-866-871-3722
http://www.copylancers.com


I'm working on tidying the site up now, Thanks in advance,

Hi Stan, first I'd like to tell you that I really like your idea on a copywriter's freelance site, I wish you the best of success with it.

Now to the good stuff... Here is a headline you may want to try for the press release and also for your website:

"Finding An Affordable and Proven Copywriter Has Never Been Quicker And Easier Than This"

Some quick notes on the headline:
- It tells the main advantage of your website, that is finding a copywriter that has a proven track record and that is affordable (because you choose which bid you can afford and accept it) in short time.
-The phrase "has never been quicker and easier" creates curiosity in the reader, specially when adding the "than this", which works like that famous headline "Do You Make These Mistakes In English?".
Let me know your thoughts.

Greetings.

Greetings,

Thanks, I've been working on this for a couple of weeks now.
I've heard too many HORROR stories about less than lack-luster projects and think the industry (freelance) could use a personal certification process to ensure the work being done for them is of the highest quality.

Most of the Horror stories have been about copy or programming, so I'm
tackling the one at a time. Thanks for your kind words.

I hope everyone benefits from this service.

The headline..

I like it but, (please don't be offended) it lacks the sizzle I'm looking
for. the message is right on, may just need to be "sizzlated"

Sizzle + translated = sizzlated..

Thank you for your contribution, it's fundamentally sound..

Hello Stan,

Generally speaking, you cannot use the kind of headline that works great for a sales letter for the headline of a press release. The audience for a press release is not the general public but journalists and media gatekeepers. They can smell hype 10 miles away and the least whiff of it sends your release straight to the trash can or the delete file. Instead, you need to be as factual as possible in a headline - including as much of the who, what, where, when and why of your publicity angle as possible.

You don't have to take my word for this. A survey of more than 150 newspaper editors determined that the #1 most disliked thing in the press releases they receive was "sounds like a sales piece."

In addition, you do not want mystery in a press release headline - there needs to be enough substance that anyone knows what your story is about right from the headline.

For example, here are two press release headline makeovers from work I've done for clients in the past:

BEFORE: Can You Boil Water?

AFTER: He Can Boil Water, Right? Father's Day Gets Cooking
with Flying Noodle's Suggestions
for Dads Who are Clumsy in the Kitchen

BEFORE: Brightscape Introduces Innovative Business to Serve Nation's Investors

AFTER: Brightscape Launches Innovative Financial Services Franchise That's a Perfect Match for Downsized or Not-Ready-to-Retire Executives and Managers

Also, please be sure you have someone proofread your release before it goes out. You have misspellings and grammatical errors all over the place. For a writing service, you'll have credibility only with a sparklingly clean, error-free release.

Marcia Yudkin
Author, 6 Steps to Free Publicity, 2nd edition and 10 other books
http://www.pressreleasehelp.com

Hi Stan, good to see you here.

PR is not my area of expertise... but I read from an interview with PR expert Paul Hartunian, the media is very interested in exposing scams.

So perhaps you could position your press release as "helping small businesses avoid advertising scams"... give a little info on how small businesses can get ripped off by freelancers who give false qualifications because no other freelance site cares to verify. And explain why most freelance sites don't verify qualifications (for profit reasons).

Possible headline: "New Image Company Announces Pre-Launch Of New Web Site To Help Small Businesses Avoid Common Scams When Hiring Advertising Writers"

I would use the term "advertising writers" instead of "copywriters" because people outside of direct-marketing always seem to confuse "copywriting" with "filing for copyrights".

Also consider providing the URL of a page on your website that is more infomation-based, rather than simply the main page of your website.

Sincerely,
Yeo

I understand Stan, and I also agre with Marcia. Stan, I know what you mean by sizzle ... Not hype, but something that "grabs you by the collar." Someting that gets people reading the press release. Here are some suggestions. (On me. I don't want to be in any contest, thanks.)

The Last Copywriting Resource You Will Ever Need

From Project Bidding To Reference Checking, Business Owners Save Big As Online Freelance Copywriting Network Launches.

Loss For Words Shouldn't Mean Loss For Money

Fed Up With Second-Rate Copywriters, Business Owner Takes Matters In His Own Hand By Launching Online Freelance Bidding Network.

I'll let you know if something else comes up...

Off-the-cuff...


Finally The Greatest Copywriting Resource On The Planet Reveal The Truth About... How You Can Make Your Personal Fortune With Sales Letters, Web Copy, Advertorials And Your Marketing

WARNING: Do Not Try Another Copywriter or “Writing Master” Until You Get This FREE Report And Audio Tape On The Seven Lost Secrets To Successful Laser Guided Copy

Here's A Secret Weapon That You Can Use To Help Increase Your Profits AND Reduce Your Workload. Copywriters. Copywriters. And More Copywriters!



and one for me...


Ex-Hairdresser Finds Full Time Goldmine Playing With Words

The release has been edited and wordsmithed.

Still haven't changed the headline yet. I'm going to choose from these
great choices you've left.

Is this better Marcia?

Don't lose thousands of dollars hiring "second-rate" copywriters.

Irvington, Al May,19,2004 -

Certification is the only way to guarantee that only Freelance copywriters are working on your web site.

"At present the freelance market is dominated by programmers," said Stan Corley. "That's why Copylancers.com will only service the copywriting industry, and target web owners."

Copylancers.com officially opened its doors on May 19, 2004 with a certification process already in place. "To the best of my knowledge we're the only website that pre-qualifies it's freelancers this way."

Mr. Corley is looking to the future and using quality assurance to build traffic. "We're able to ensure customers that the person listed on Copylancers.com is certified to do the freelance work. Copylancers.com will know that person is qualified because they are all interviewed by myself or my virtual staff BEFORE they can be listed."

As the world's first freelance site dedicated to assisting freelance copywriters and website managers find each other on the web Mr. Corley is proud to offer this service that has been needed for a long time.

"I believe as the web grows and expands, the need for targeted services like this will play an ever expanding role in internet business. That's why I want to provide the highest quality service, and the best way to do this is to simplify my business focus, and concentrate on providing more quality in every business transaction." said Mr. Corley

Stan Corley is the Owner of New Image Company, a small firm with over 20 websites already running profitably on the web. "I know what customers need, and I know how to deliver. Using Certified Copywriters is the only way to go."

Copywriters wanting to prove their worth are invited to visit http://copylancers.com/ and sign in immediately. Webmasters needing certified quality work done by copywriters will have to wait a few days, but they are invited to visit the site immediately to see the work in progress.

Thanks again for the great contributions everyone. Keep them coming

P.S great angle Jerry, your on top of things as usual. Hope you've been doing good. I'm writing a bit to add with the suggestion you made. That's a Powerful point that I skated over. Thanks

Stan,

No, you need another draft of this release. It will not pass the highly developed "B.S. detectors" of the media.

Besides your headline being too sales-oriented (Michel's headline suggestion is a good one - you should use it), the following statement is quite clearly false:

"Certification is the only way to guarantee that only Freelance copywriters are working on your web site."

There are clearly many other ways someone could guarantee that they were hiring freelance copywriters to work on their web site. Think about it - this is not a factual statement.

No reputable journalist would read any further. I say this not to criticize you but to save you from sending out this version. It will not work.

Publicity writing is VERY different from sales writing. I can do both, as can some others. But you do not want to be asking web site copywriters to come up with sizzling headlines for your press release. The result may be a complete waste of your time and effort.

Sincerely,

Marcia Yudkin

Also using 'embedded negative commands' like "don't lose" and "second-rate" in headlines are obvious no-no's, as any experienced copywriter will tell you. It creates a bad association with the product/service being pitched. So again, a credibility issue.

Feature whatever the USP is using positive, high-energy wording.. I avoid using negative words in body copy, headlines and subheads. Create a positive association in your pitch instead.


ken