Wednesday’s promoting tip for authors

Peter Bowerman’s Well Fed Writer website has numerous marketing lessons to teach authors and freelance copywriters.

Branding

The tone of Peter’s site is set by the wording of the “Well Fed Writer” name, the colors, and the cartoon of a busy multi-armed copywriter above the following caption:

Where the words “starving” and “writer” are never seen together in public.

Clearly, this is not a site for writers or clients who take themselves too seriously; rather, it’s a joyful and slightly irreverent site that is memorable because of it’s so different than most.

Search Engine Optimizatized

The site’s lessons continue with a clever, but clearly-stated, mission statement: Income-boosting resources for commercial writers.

Note how the Page Title in the web browser at the top of window restates the site’s mission statement for the benefit of search engines:  “The Well Fed Writer: Commercial freelance writing–land lucrative freelance writing jobs.”

Visual display of products and services

Located in the prime real estate at the top left of the home page are drawings representing the various types of products and services that Peter Bowerman offers clients as well as other freelance copywriters.

In several recent postings, I have called attention to the ways authors use bullet lists to describe the various products and services they offer.

Peter’s use of drawings that match his site’s style are an even more effective way to list, and link to, his product and service offerings. The drawings not only visually communicate the links, but they reinforce the image established with the cartoon.

There’s even a link in case you want to become a Well-Fed Affiliate!

More navigation options

The reversed navigation links, below the pencil in the Menu, below the pencil at the upper right of the screen, contains links for visitors who know what they’re searching for.

This area contains links for academic visitors, and for learning more about Peter’s offerings for popular topics like mentoring, public relations, speaking, training, working mothers, and seminars.

Who is Peter Bowerman?

The home page of Peter Bowerman’s site contains just 3 paragraphs of text. Yet, it’s sufficient to provide a context for understanding who Peter is and why it’s worth paying attention to his books, products, and services.

This personal statement is written in a friendly and engaging manner, describing his background and one-time employment as a salesman in a video dating business, plus his 4-month journey to becoming a self-supporting freelance copywriter.

All in all, the Well Fed Writer is a site worth visiting for it’s on-target combination of layout, graphics, text, and links which create an engaging and memorable brand.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree that the parts, as well as the overall branding, of this site is both appropriate and functional? Would this site work for you? Do you know of other sites you’d like to share with others? Share your views as comments, below.