New Gig: Let's Talk About Coffee

Today I've added a new gig: writing about coffee. Coffee is a popular topic, and as a coffee lover and a former caffeine addict, I enjoy writing about it.

A warm cup of coffee in your hands in the morning, or in the afternoon. The scent of coffee. The scent of cinnamon. The first sip. The aroma of coffee, of cinnamon, of brown sugar. Having fun with your friends while drinking it, or working with a nice smell right next to you. Or, something to do when you're bored, or when you're curled up with a good book. Coffee is a good companion.

Your brain waking up with the help of coffee. The comfort of the warm cup in your hands. The world around you is more clear after you've had your coffee. Or, more scary, if you've had too much.

Caffeine addiction: the dark side of coffee. Some people call themselves caffeine addicts even though they've never experienced the true addiction. Heart beating like crazy (there's also the possibility of a heart attack, if you go too far). Constantly being nervous and irritable. Snapping at others when, without the addiction, you would have just shrugged it off. Panicking when there's no good reason for it. Bowel problems. Serious. And if you try to stop immediately, as soon as you realize what's going on, you can't. Well, you can, if you want to suffer the worst headache of your life for about a week. If you want to avoid the headache, you have to go slowly. Little by little. Reducing the amount you drink every day. Apply self-discipline, or it won't work.

Been there, done that. Managed. Stopped drinking coffee for a while after that. Now, I can enjoy it again. The smell, the warmth, the aroma. The companionship. Good time with friends, or on my own. As long as I keep in mind the possible danger of overdoing it, it's all fine.

Coffee is a pleasure again, and a pleasure I'm happy to write about.

Gig Time: About Us Pages

My most successful gig on Fiverr is the one for writing About Us pages. It's not a surprise; many businesses and fansites need them, and as a storyteller, I don't find it difficult to write, basically, a story about a certain business or a passion project (or both at the same time).

What surprised me when I was still new was that some clients thought it wasn't necessary to provide me with information about their business or website. They'd tell me a sentence or two, and maybe send me a link to a Lorem Ipsum website. What was I supposed to do with that? I'm a writer, not a psychic. I tried my best, but quickly learned that, no matter how hard I tried, such clients were not satisfied. Now, when clients don't send me enough information to work with, I ask them for more, and if they still don't send it, I cancel the order.

The information can be in broken English, and/or all over the place. As long as I can understand it and as long as it's there, I can work with it, and shape it into a compelling page.

It took some trial and error until I came up with a solid list of questions to ask the clients. If you need me to write an About Us page for your website, the information I usually ask for is:

• the name of the business/website/project/person I should write about, and the website link, if available
• what does your company do, where is it located, and what area do you cover with your services
• the products or services you provide (at least several specific ones, if possible)
• why are the products or services you provide important, and who is your target audience
• what sets you apart from your competition (that is, why would someone buy from you instead of your competitors)
• what is your vision, what do you dream of, what do you hope to accomplish
• what are your short-term and long-term goals

When I get that information, I use it to create a page called About Us which actually speaks about the website visitors: what you can do for them,  why are your products or services important to them (how they solve their problems with as little hassle as possible), why they should choose you instead of your competitors, and what a great person or team you are, caring, helpful, nice, wonderful to work with. Because that's what your visitors care about: themselves, what you can do for them, and are you willing to put some effort into delivering.

People tend to love such pages. Not everyone will like my style, of course, and I will revise or refund when needed, but most find my texts better than expected.

To get an idea about my style, see the Samples page, and keep in mind that I'm like a chameleon: I adapt to the tone and voice of the client, or the content already on their website (if different from the client's voice), or I adopt the tone and the voice the client wants me to adopt. Every business is different, and I do my best to adjust.

That's it for today. Until next time!