Questions

The Mysterious Woman

She was a woman of mid age, about 55 or so, who just had a mysterious phone call at her house. She didn’t know exactly who this person was, or why they were calling her house at such wee hours of the morning on a Saturday, but she was determined to find out. The woman was looking for her husband, who was out of town on a business trip.
The woman said her name was Maria Santalos. A Spanish person perhaps, calling from a private number, as seen from the out of range signal coming from the caller ID. Judging from her soft spoken voice, one can assume that she was a lot younger than herself, maybe even a person in their mid twenties.
The wife frantically started having a ton of questions in her mind. She wasn’t sure what her husband was doing with such a young woman. Was he cheating on her? Was he surprising her with something? Was this a child of his, from an ex girlfriend, that she did not know about? All these questions started rushing through her mind. She was eager to find out whoever this person was that her husband was “so-called” hiding from her.
She hurriedly ran towards the nearest computer at her house and typed in Maria Santalos under Google search. Nothing came up about this person. She was really confused and thus got scared and worried about what her husband was doing with this young woman. She had to find out more details.
She then raced downstairs and grabbed her car keys. She hustled out in her white Mercedes Convertible and drove to the nearest library in town. She asked the receptionist if there were any books or references on a woman, named Maria Santalos. The receptionist couldn’t find any sources mentioning that woman’s name. She continued to go frantic. She did not know what to do and the thoughts - particularly the unanswered questions - kept racing through her mind.
The woman stormed out of the library with no success. She went back into her white Mercedes Convertible and called her best friend via cell phone. The best friend could tell she was having an off day and invited her over for some tea.
Twenty minutes later, she arrived at her best friend’s house. Her husband answered the door and led her inside. The best friend was in the kitchen brewing the hot water. The best friend told her to sit down and make herself comfortable in the living room, and she’ll be there in a minute. Fifteen minutes passed and the best friend came in.
“Is everything okay, Lynette?” asked the best friend.
“Not at all Eliana, but we could discuss this over tea.”
The best friend understood and nodded. She brought out a mixture of teas and two cups of hot water for both of them. They each reached and grabbed for the Green Tea. They had similar tastes in everything and that was one of the many reasons why they were best friends.
Lynette started speaking. She explained to Eliana of the mysterious phone call she had from a young woman named Maria Santalos and how there were no records of her in the library or over the internet. Eliana was shocked and surprised by all this and never suspected Lynette’s husband to go against her best friend like that. They were high school sweethearts and were inseparable ever since senior year. She suggested for Lynette to hire a detective.
- Jenna

You’re a professional writer and run your own small business providing writing services to the wider community. Whether you’ve been doing this for a long time or you’re just starting out, there are several reasons why having a website will put you a step ahead of the competition. What makes a good writer? It’s their style. There are a lot of different kinds of writers in the world: journalists, creative writers, copywriters, science specialists, biographers, scriptwriters, poets, and children’s authors. The main reason having a website will work for you is that you get to share your unique style and areas of ability to the world. You get to show prospective clients who you are.

Let’s imagine a graphic designer who needs someone to write the text for a children’s book that they’ve just drawn the pictures for. Traditionally, how would they find a writer? Asking colleagues, word-of-mouth suggestions, and networking? If these options run out they’d look in the Yellow Pages telephone directory, or possibly some local advertising. What do you find in the phonebook under ‘writers’? I’ll tell you because I’ve looked for them before. You usually get a name and a phone number. That’s it. Then you make the phone call.

If you get through to the actual writer (depending on the size of the company you may only speak to a receptionist), all you have to go on are three things:

1.The tone and style of their voice. Someone may sound nice, but that doesn’t mean that their writing’s going to be any good.

2. Their word. Everyone wants business (unless they’re so popular they can afford to turn new clients away!), so each person is going to do their best to sell themselves. How do you know if they’re telling the truth?

3. Their price. Are they over-priced for their abilities and experience? Just because they’re cheap doesn’t mean that they’ll meet your deadlines. Are they worth it?

However, you’ll now see that in the Yellow Pages some writers have website addresses. These people aren’t futurists; they’re living in the present. Straight away I can go to their website and discover so many things about the person or organization. What helps as a client, is the genuine insight I get into the writer’s content and style. Their website doesn’t have to be fancy or complex to impress me. On the contrary, their site’s simplicity tells me something of their character.

Depth of identity is what it’s all about. A good writing business’s website will have several components. The first is of course samples of their writing. What better way to know if someone is right for a project than by seeing writing from previous jobs? If you’re looking for someone to write poetry on your wedding invitations, you can peruse their portfolio. Instantly customers will know if you are what they’ve been searching for.

Secondly, on your website you can have photographs that give visitors even more of an idea of who you are and what you’re about. Have photos of yourself, your family, your company, and projects you’ve completed. You could even have pictures of your work processes, giving people a view into the structure of how you go about your art. Colourful photos can also add a positive atmosphere to your online persona. I’m always much more inclined to work with or buy from someone or some place that affects my senses. Insight emotional responses from people and again you’re so far ahead of age-old business cards, mail pamphlets (admittedly these can have colourful photos, but if so, are quite an expense), and local Newspaper advertisements. Traditional methods of business are not to be ignored, but take some of the overhead cash flow and use it to create an online presence. The payoff far exceeds the outlay.

Next, your website can have frequently asked questions answered before they’ve even been asked. This gives prospective users of your service a look at the depth of knowledge and wisdom of experience you have. They discover what you know, and what you’re especially interested in. If their need coincides with your professed expertise, bang, you’ve hooked the proverbial bite. Again you could feasibly answer important questions on a mail flyer, but think of how many you’d have to print and send to get the worldwide access that your website by nature is equipped with.

What next? You can add links in your website’s sidebar to other reputable sites that you relate to, work with, or just see as inspiring or helpful. This can show people that you’re genuinely passionate about your field of work. If I see a writer has a bunch of links related to cool authors I like, or to other websites that they’ve had a hand creating, I can feel I know the person even before I speak to them. That is of course presuming that I ever have to. If the job is small, I could simply communicate via the website’s inherent email address. A good site will have the writer’s fee, so unless I’m keen to haggle I can hire them instantly without ever lifting up the phone. What a time-saver.

Having a website is really important today. Don’t get caught up in all the technical jargon and garbage that some people think are integral new technologies. All this stuff has already been figured out by the tech-heads to make it easy for normal people. Keep your website clear, concise, and inspiring. Via a simple and effective approach, people will feel more comfortable relating to your online ‘identity’.

That’s the key: Show your customers who you are, what you can provide, what you charge, and all of their fears and doubts are automatically alleviated. You could even have a testimonials section on the site where former clients express their opinion about your work. How much more authentically genuine and transparent can one be? If you’re more proactive you could even set up a blog connected to the website where you can relate and communicate to the public…

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Keep it simple and easy. If you want your writing business to excel, get a website. Then, share your real self with the world. People appreciate a person or business that lets us truly know who they are.


- Jesse S. Somer