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Here is an ever-growing laundry-list of copywriting resources so you no longer have to hunt and peck your way all over the ‘net. Find:
- links to professional copywriters’ associations
- links to major research databases and citeable sources–where you can pull all types of stats, current studies, numbers, facts, –(the meat of linkbait articles especially)
- links to free digital libraries and archival collections
- links to lists of article directories, RSS feeds, social bookmarking sites
- link list to online press release directories
- free online trusted writers’ style guides–get the final word on grammar, sentence structure, definitions for slang terms, how to cite sources in your webcopy, reference for copyright laws and content usage issues
- links to various niche market sources
- links to sites that offer writing and copywriting courses, training, and tutorials both free and paid
- links to swipe file lists
- links to keyword tools
Freelance Writers Associations:
who knew…
Editorial Freelancers Association
Society for Technical Communication (STC)
Association of Health Care Journalists
National Association of Science Writers
Association of Writers and Writing Programs
American Medical Writers Association
United States Harness Writers Association – “committed to the chronicling of harness racing through the print and electronic media…” Founded in 1947.
Football Writers Association of America
United States Basketball Writers Association
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
National Resume Writers Association
Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches
Golf Writers Association of America
International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association
North American Travel Journalists Association
Society of American Travel Writers
Washington Speechwriters Roundtable
Freelance Job Boards:
MediaBistro.com
Guru.com
eLance.com
Sologig.com
FreelanceSwitch.com
Monster.com
WritingCrossing.com
Research Tools:
New York Times News Navigator – must-have list of “wide-angle” and trusted sources, from the experts
Continental Radio and Television Company, from Duke University Ad Access Library
Wall Street Journal – half of this content is subscription (paid), but you can glean insight from the headlines
NYT Business Resources – list of links to sources covering U.S. Markets, Int’l Markets, market data, Investing, Banking and Finance, Company Information, Business Directories, Business/Finance news, and much more.
NYT Political Resources – gov’t links, sources for all political parties and “persuasions,” political media, academic sources, opinion sources, and more.
National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER
International Monetary Fund Research
Trendwatching – “consumer trends and insights from around the world.”
Writing Tools:
OWL, Purdue Online Writing Lab
Reuter’s Style Guide, Handbook of Journalism
Free or Low-Cost Online Writing Courses:
WOW! Women on Writing – site designed for women writers has a nice selection of free online tutorials
Databases of Copyright Free and Archived Sources:
(Before you “use” any of these materials be certain to check the source’s “use policy.”)
Library of Congress – massive digital collections; not just relevant for research…use historic prints, photos and more to generate new ideas and jab your creative, but lazy copywriter
New York Public Library – find books, find news, and find amazing digital collections
P.R. Mallory and Company, Incorporated, from the Duke University Library Ad Access Collection
Duke University “Ad Access” Library – eye popping free archive chronicling print advertising from 1911-1955
Duke Digital Collections – a much larger archive of images from DU
Pulp Gallery – copyright protected archive of stunning pulp art (imagine getting your brain unblocked with a visual romp through some of these art gems of a bygone era–there’s a story in every image 🙂
Keyword Research Tools:
Wordtracker’s Free Keyword Suggestion Tool – free and paid versions
Google AdWords External Keyword Tool
Google Search Based Keywords Tool (Sktool)
WordStream Keyword Management Tool (new as of 9/09; fully-functional with some nice features; get it while it’s free- early reviews are positive, even rank it better than those listed here; it’s got a great look, too)
Keyword Discovery – free and paid versions, claims to take the place of Overture’s now defunct keyword tool
Quintura – visual keyword/phrase discovery tool
**Get Your Content in Front of Eyeballs
Some people call this “traffic”– yawn. I call it “getting your content in front of eyeballs.” Use these resources:
Lists of Article Directories:
Caroline Middlebrook’s list of Article Marketing Directory Sites – to this I would add the following: ZeroMillion.com (Internet marketing, web marketing, eBusiness specific articles- you retain copyright), and OnlineArticleSource.com.
Online Marketing Researcher’s Articles Directories List: Ordered By Alexa Ranking
Arcana Web’s Directory of Article Directories– categorized and tagged with Google PR notes (not the most readable page, but comprehensive, nevertheless)
Social Bookmarking Sites:
Caroline Middlebrook’s list of DoFollow Social Bookmarking Sites – excellent resource probably more well done than any other, with tutorials and info on quickie submission tools.
Lists of RSS Feed Submission Sites:
Robin Good’s list of Blog Directory and RSS Feed Submission Sites (267 of them– by far the best list I’ve seen, with full explanation of WHY you should be leveraging these traffic sources for the good of your content – no pun intended)
Online Press Release Distribution Directories:
1888 Press Release – free
24-7 Press Release – free and paid
AddPr.com – free
Business Wire – free and paid
eWorld Wire – paid, but won’t break the bank
Free Press Release – free
i-NewsWire – free
PR.com – free
PR9.net – free
PR Leap – very popular; free and paid
PR Log – free submission
PRNine – low cost gets you a submission
SBWire – paid submissions based on geographical distribution, affordable options
SEO Press Releases – paid, but affordable
Big List of Free Press Release Distribution Sites, from Naked PR
**Niche Writing Resources:
Tech Manufacturing:
Small Times – micro and nano-tech manufacturing industry resource;
Online marketing, e-commerce:
Technology:
Ohloh – database of Open Source projects
Search Engines – huge list of search engines categorized by type and information, even includes a list of “defunct” engines
White House Technology site – current issues and national technology proposals
Education:
National Association of Colleges and Employers
Real Estate:
New Residential Construction Data
DQNews – “custom” data for real estate markets, lots of regional data charts
Trulia – city-by-city real estate stats
Texas A&M University Real Estate Center – emphasis is on Texas RE data, but the site also contains some useful national data
National Association of Home Builders – news and trends in homebuying
Agriculture/Farming:
Extension News — massive database of Ag-related resources, plus connection to university experts around the country
Farm Industry News — popular publication heavy on technology and industrial applications, lighter on newsy pieces
Farm Journal — another popular online industry mag; news, tech, interest stories
Healthcare:
Health News Review : current ratings on healthcare reporting and news stories
Swipe File Sources
Swipe files are valuable resources for copywriters of all types. There are plenty of swipe files for sale all over the web, a few below are copywriters’ swipe files or selections, and other sources are just that–well springs you should dive into yourself because the very best swipe files of all are those you ultimately develop on your own.
Info Marketing Blog – Lawrence Bernstein is curator of many many of the most legendary sales letters crafted by some of the most remarkable copywriters. He also offers a massive swipe file for membership subscription if you can’t get enough.
Makepeace Total Package – this swipe file includes some of the best examples from Gary Bencivenga, Gary Halbert, David Deutsch, Jim Rutz and more.
Ben Settle’s Remote Control Swipe File – one of my fave copywriter/marketers with some excellent swipes
Goldblogger – this blog is no longer being updated, but the author has cataloged his posts on swipe files and shares links and commentary to some excellent sales letters, many of them still in business (owing to their success).
The Gary Halbert Letter – simply a motherlode of resources…
Classic Auto Advertisements – amazing print ads
Washington Post Political Ads Database – this is a very nice resource–a well-categorized index of video/TV ads since 2006, subtitled so you can capture the script.
The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2008, from Museum of the Moving Image
Political Print Ads in Google Images
Duke University “Ad Access” Library – eye popping free archive chronicling print advertising from 1911-1955
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