A professional writing quote should be clear, concise, and informative. The goal is to tell the client exactly what you’re going to do for them and how you’re going to do it. The more detailed and professional the quote, the better chance you have of nailing the job.

Tip: for maximum effectiveness, make good use of bulleted lists, sub-headers, and a professional logo or header. Here is an example format you might use:

HEADER/LOGO

Introduction

Included Services:

• Service 1
• Service 2
• Service 3

Price & Terms:

• Price
• Terms

Below you will find specific guidelines a writer should follow when creating a quote for a client. These are guidelines that are unique to each project; others are sometimes interchangeable. For a full general guide to preparing a professional writing quote, see “How to Create a Quote for a Freelance Writing Job.”

Website Content/Copy:

When preparing a writing quote for a website, bulleted lists are essential. In the quote, include a bulleted list of every page you’re going to work on:

• List the names of the pages (home, about, contact, widget makers, how to make a widget, resources for widgets-you get the idea);
• The exact number of pages;
• If you’ll make the content SEO friendly;
• How many rounds of edits are included;
• Deadlines;
• Any other services you’ll provide.

SEO Articles:

In quotes for SEO articles, it’s essential to determine:

• Approximate word count;
• The number of articles;
• The keywords they’re using;
• If you’ll be doing the research;
• Who’ll provide the topics;
• What topics the client wants;
• Whether you relinquish all republishing rights;
• Deadlines;
• If you’ll be in charge of the article submissions.

When you’ve determined this information, include it in the quote with all the details. Let your client know if you charge additional fees for article submission and if you have different rates for specific word counts.

Ezine/ Magazine/Website Articles:

These articles, while they include many of the same elements of SEO articles, tend to be longer, more involved, and higher quality than SEO articles. When you’re creating a quote an ezine or website article, determine:

• Approximate word count;
• Topic (s);
• Whether you’ll retain republishing rights;
• Whether it will be ghostwritten or you’ll be credited;
• What deadlines you’ll have to meet.

Keep in mind that you’ll rarely be commissioned to write a magazine article unless you’re a known author or an expert in another field. Usually you’ll write a query letter, but that’s a whole other article.

Advertorials:

Advertorials are essentially informative marketing articles about a specific company or product. They require that you really explore a company and understand what exactly they do. Writing a quote for an advertorial involves the same requirements as a regular article (see directly above), but there are some additional elements to determine:

• Whether you’ll research the company on your own or if the information will be provided for you in the form of PDF’s, Word documents, or any other medium;
• How the company wants to portray themselves and what angle they’d like you to pursue.

Press Releases:

When providing a quote for a press release, you need to determine:

• If it will require technical writing;
• If it will require research or if the materials are provided by the company;
• If it is a press release from scratch or a rewrite;
• If the company has particular formatting requirements;
• Whether it will be released online, in print, or both;
• If they want you to submit the press release.

You need to have all of this information before you provide a quote; make sure the client knows if you charge differently for any of the elements above.

]]> http://www.auroramae.com/2006/08/12/how-to-create-writing-quotes-for-website-content-copy-seo-articles-ezine-articles-advertorials-and-press-releases/feed/ 0 http://www.auroramae.com/2006/05/22/todays-troublesome-tripe-techno-babble/ http://www.auroramae.com/2006/05/22/todays-troublesome-tripe-techno-babble/#comments Tue, 23 May 2006 06:55:09 +0000 Aurora http://www.auroramae.com/blog/2006/05/22/todays-troublesome-tripe-techno-babble/ Bad technical writing. It screams at you from every proprietary page of a comprehensive, network-enabled, specialized technology and advanced application company’s website…

What?

Welcome to the land of techno-babble. Fraught with pitfalls, sinkholes and swamps, it is a land where heavy paragraphs drag you down; sentences trip you up; your eyes glaze over strange words; and service pages provide hazy “solutions.”

Sadly, many people get lost in this land and don’t know where to go or what to do. Give them what they really want and lead them out of confusion; tell them what you do in bold, powerful language that is simple and effective.

Above all else, good technical writing must be accessible. Visitors should leave your site as customers, with a clear understanding of what your product or service does and what it will do for them.