As a professional writer/editor, you would think that I would never make a mistake in my own writing, right? After all, I spend my working hours carefully critiquing the work of others for spelling and grammar errors, so my own writing should, by nature, be picture perfect. Right? Unfortunately, not so much.

Just this morning, I fired off an email to a client, a fellow writer whose work I regularly proofread and edit. When I read her response, I happened to glance down at my original email and – oh, the horrors – stumbled across a glaring grammatical error. One that my little red pen (or, rather, Microsoft Word’s little red tracked changes marker) would quickly catch in a client’s article, web copy, etc. But there it sat, overlooked and dangling in cyberspace for all the world too see (okay, not all the world, but an important client, whose confidence in my editing abilities could have easily been shaken).

So, the point is that I made a mistake – a simple mistake that could have easily been caught had I taken the time to proofread my own work. Nobody’s perfect, so if you catch a mistake, chock it up to a learning experience and do everything you can to avoid messing up in the future.

Let me clarify: I don’t mean to say that you have a free pass to the sheer laziness that I faced this morning. The next time you’re sending an email or other semi-informal document to a client, PLEASE don’t make my mistake. Clients notice these things. And if your writing something that is going to be published for all the world to see (like an article, blog post, website copy, etc.), you might want to consider asking a trusted friend, colleague, or professional editor to look it over first. Takes a little more time, sure, and maybe a small investment, but the end results are worth it.

Tip of the day: Find a business buddy to proofread your writing, and you in turn can proofread theirs. It can be near impossible to catch our own mistakes, so having another set of eyes can never hurt. And if you work out a you-scratch-my-back, I’ll-scratch-yours type of deal, everybody wins.

Bonus: Can you catch the two grammatical errors in this blog post? Yes, I put them in there on purpose…you better believe I’m going to be checking and triple-checking my writing from now on! If you catch them, reply directly to this post or email me at tammim at writeassociate.com.

I don’t know about you, but my creative muse is a sneaky little sucker. She shows up at the most inopertune times, flinging ideas at my head faster than I could possibly catch them. I might be fighting traffic, standing in line at the grocery store, dozing off to sleep…basically, she picks the times when my computer is either nowhere in sight or has been tucked in for the night. Sometimes she shows up when I’m busy with a client project and really don’t need the distraction.

There have been times that I’ve ignored her, tucking her ideas into a mental folder to be accessed at a more convenient time. She doesn’t like this game, however. To spite me, she usually sneaks in and snatches the thoughts right out of my folder, or she moves them to some obscure file that I’d never even think to look in. She’s crafty like that.

So I’ve learned not to cross my muse. I’ve got to play her game if I want to have any hope of creativity.

Here are a few tips to help you capture your own creative muse:

• Buy a small notebook and carry it wherever you go. Stick it in your purse, your car, your back pocket…whatever, just keep it with you at all times. Use it to jot down whatever ideas your muse throws your way.
• Don’t throw out any ideas, judging them as no good right off the bat - they may seem farfetched at first glance, but you just might be able to mold them into something useful when you have more time to think them through.
• Once a week (or once a month, or whatever schedule you choose – just pick one and stick with it), go through your notes and use them to put your blogs and/or articles together. Trust me, it’s much easier to write when you’ve got some fresh ideas than if you’re staring at a blank slate!
• Don’t discriminate against the “little” ideas. You’d be surprised at how often simple thoughts can balloon into amazing, full-fledged plans of action if you let them stew a while.

I hope these tips help you catch your own sneaky creative muse, but if you need extra help, just give me a shout.  I’d love to help you brainstorm and draw out your ideas before they escape you for good. If you’re a die-hard do-it-yourselfer, check out my new free web copywriting report, ”Top 10 Copywriting Tips: Writer Killer Web Copy That Will Sell Your Services!“ 

Happy writing!

E-newsletters can be a great way to stay in contact with current and potential customers. Not only will you keep them updated on new products and services to keep them coming back for more, but you’ll also provide helpful information that will establish you as an expert in your field. But you may have no idea how to actually write content that will foster action from your readers. This is a tricky task that the experts have spent years perfecting. Forunately, though, you can learn from their trials and tribulations and start your own e-newsletter that will bring you many positive results.

First, think about your own subscriptions. Do you have any e-newsletters that you regularly read? Have you ever read an e-newsletter subject line that was so intriguing, you couldn’t wait to see what’s inside?

If your own e-newsletter isn’t getting the attention you’re after, try studying the experts, or the people who write e-newsletters that do get attention. Sign up for e-newsletters of people who are prominent in your industry and also those who are well-known for being successful e-newsletter marketers. A few names that come to mind are Ali Brown (a.k.a. the Ezine Queen) and Alice Seba (a.k.a. the Internet Marketing Sweetie).

Think about the techniques that actually capture your interest. Do the authors use mystery? Excitement? A promise to give you the secret to more money, a more successful business, a better life overall? Or maybe a combination of the above?

The point here is that there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. If you see a strategy that seems to be working for others, feel free to apply it to your own business (please note that I’m not condoning actually plagiarizing the content itself, only copying the overall strategy used).

If you’re not on Twitter yet, you’re missing out on one of the newest, most exciting marketing tools available to you. As a service professional, you can connect with potential clients worldwide. It’s like attending a local networking event without ever leaving your computer. I don’t know about you, but that sounds great to me!

I just made the leap to Twitter a few weeks ago, and already I’ve gained one new client. (She was someone who I’d had contact with in the past, but when I started following her on Twitter, she immediately contacted me to see if I had time to work with her. Said she’d been thinking about me for months but had been too busy to dig out my contact information.)

I’ve also made interesting contacts with people from around the world that I would have never had access to otherwise. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of fun experiences and discussions with new people. I can’t say enough about this great platform for connecting with other business people!

If you’re just getting started, be sure to read social media expert Chris Brogan’s blog, 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business. Heck, even if you’re an old pro at Twitter, I bet you’ll pick up a few cool tricks.

Okay, I know I haven’t logged into WordPress in a while (shame on me!), so this new look may be months old, but it’s new to me!

It just made me think that it’s nice to have a fresh look. If you have a steady following for your blog, it might be nice to spruce it up once in a while, maybe change your template theme (if you’re using a template).

Give your readers something new to look at. Of course, the main source of interest is your content, but at least you can make it aesthetically pleasing.